I flop down onto Kaito’s spring mattress, letting my exhausted body sink deep into the fluffy duvet. Five days. One hundred and twenty hours have passed without me closing my eyes for a single second. While sleep deprivation is not a fatal issue for a deity, staying like this indefinitely is undeniably stressful. My nerves are currently stretched taut like cello strings tuned an octave too high. One more tiny pluck, and they will snap.

  Kaito is drowning in a pile of math review outlines. The boy has propped his spirit-phone on a stand, engaging in an online tutoring session with Reo.

  "The derivative of this function isn't calculated like that, you idiot," Reo's voice rings out, carrying the lethal precision of a veteran math teacher. "Are you doing calculus or drawing magical seals?"

  I let my heavy eyelids droop, intending to snatch a quick nap while this teacher and student duo wrestle with dry numbers.

  "Wait a minute," Reo's tone suddenly shifts, laced with concern. "Kaito, where is Itsuki-sama? Why don't I see him?"

  I frown, cracking one eye open. I am lying sprawled right behind the kid. Are your eyes painted on?

  "Huh?" Kaito turns his head blankly to look at me, then back at the phone screen. "He's sleeping on my bed, Sensei."

  "On the bed? I don't see anything but a messy pile of blankets," Reo snaps. "You scared me to death. I thought the old fox left you alone to go drinking."

  Kaito blinks a few times, then as if suddenly remembering something, he slaps his forehead.

  "Ah! Shoot, I forgot!" He fumbles with the phone. "I'm using Line to call you! It's a habit from my old online classes... I forgot to switch to Solak!"

  "Good heavens," Reo's long, weary sigh echoes from the speaker. "Do you realize human apps don't have divine spectral filters? They can only capture physical matter. Switch to Solak immediately. I need to see his tail to have the peace of mind to teach."

  I snort, not bothering to move. Human technology... painfully outdated.

  After a moment of fumbling to reconnect, the tutoring session resumes accompanied by the murmuring of calculations. I tell myself just a quick shut-eye will suffice. After all, the kid is inside the house.

  "Safe... definitely safe..."

  The apartment is surrounded by a multi-layered warning barrier. If an intruder carrying malicious intent so much as brushes against it, the thing will scream louder than an air raid siren. No one can sneak in without waking me up.

  But then, for some reason, the more I think, the more I start imagining the worst-case scenarios.

  What if...

  What if Gakai doesn't bother breaking in?

  The image of Ogawa's death flashes vividly in my mind. With the Law of Probability combined with Soul Destruction, that cursed arrow could suddenly materialize from some corner I didn't anticipate and plunge straight into Kaito's soul.

  I snap my eyes open, staring at the boy's skinny back.

  "No... Probably not," I mutter, trying to banish the grim script.

  "Investing a cruise missile just to kill a mosquito?" I shake my head, closing my eyes again. "Gakai isn't stupid enough to waste resources like that."

  Despite my reason saying so, my tail unconsciously wraps tightly around the bedpost, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

  If you are wondering how a deity, a powerful entity with eternal life, sleeps, let me be blunt: It is nothing like the way humans close their eyes and wait for consciousness to fade away.

  The moment my consciousness leaves reality, I know immediately that I am dreaming. This is not just a privilege but also a curse of the divine. Even in sleep, we are always lucid. But unlike human Lucid Dream hobbyists, we cannot simply snap our fingers to conjure supercars or castles.

  A deity's subconscious is a titanic monster submerged in an endless ocean of restless energy. Controlling the dreamscape for a deity is an endless war between the Consciousness that craves order and the Subconscious that desires chaos. So, to keep it simple, I choose to take a walk and then lazily lie down instead of trying to build or alter the dream.

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  Currently, my consciousness is anchored at the First Dream Layer where the laws of time are mercilessly stretched. One minute on Kaito's bed equals twelve minutes down here. Roughly calculated, I can enjoy a short vacation while that kid hasn't even finished a single integral problem.

  I let myself freefall onto a stretch of fine white sand, sprawling out under the shade of a fruit-laden coconut tree. Before me lies a perfect tropical beach with turquoise waves lapping against the shore in a soothing rhythm and gentle golden sunlight warming my fur, which has been bristling with stress.

  "Aaa... This is the life," I exhale, feeling the tension in every muscle melting away like ice cream in the heat.

  Actually, I could dive down to the Second Dream Layer, or even the Third, to snatch even more rest time since each layer jump stretches time by another factor of 12. However, this action carries risks proportional to the reward.

  The deeper you go, the thinner the boundary becomes between the "Self" and the chaotic subconscious flow of a deity. Waking up from those depths requires an iron will to avoid being swept away. More importantly, if Kaito runs into trouble up there, it would take me too long to surface to reality. By the time I opened my eyes, the kid might have already reincarnated into his next life.

  So, staying on this beach is the safest bet.

  Besides, sleeping here has security benefits. Since deities are always aware of their dreams, our minds are like heavily guarded fortresses. Any intruder, be it Gakai or another high-level Evil God, who dares to infiltrate my subconscious to read thoughts or sow nightmares, I would detect instantly.

  I pick up a coconut, calculating in my head.

  "How long has it been? Probably about... three minutes in reality?"

  Still plenty of time. The dull headache from five days of sleep deprivation hasn't fully subsided; it feels like a small hammer tapping against my temples.

  "Rest a bit more, Itsuki," I tell myself, half-closing my eyes, listening to the murmuring waves. "Get up only when you feel truly refreshed."

  Because of the stubbornness of the subconscious, altering the dreamscape for us deities is literally a luxury service. Want to switch from this boring beach to an ancient library or a frozen palace? Better have your wallet ready. There are entire corporations dedicated to designing high-end "dream packages" customized down to every twig and blade of grass.

  The more I think about it, the tighter my chest feels with regret. That vacation package at the "Drifting Cloud Island" super resort that I missed at the last quarterly party was the pinnacle of extravagance. The most premium service there includes access to a library of tens of thousands of dreamscapes custom-designed by top psychological experts.

  Lying here exposing my white belly under this boring coconut tree, I feel a sting in my wallet remembering the flashy advertisements hung along the boulevards of the Zenith District. In that place where money is spent like trash, filthy rich Prime Deities are enjoying dreamscapes that a pauper like me wouldn't dare touch even in... well, a dream.

  Like the "Sanctuary Library" package that my big sister Alethea would definitely go crazy for. It is a majestic metropolis with skyscrapers built from billions of ancient leather-bound books floating amidst a dreamy purple nebula. If she fell into that, she would voluntarily lock herself away until the heat death of the universe.

  Or the "Infinite Bedroom" package, something tailored for laziness at the master level. Imagine curling up in a luxurious penthouse, warm blankets and soft pillows, while outside the window is the pouring rain of a Cyberpunk city with neon lights blurring on the wet glass. If you get bored of the rain, you can switch to another bedroom with a crackling fireplace while a blizzard howls outside. An endless chain of bedrooms, settings changing with every breath, turning loneliness into an expensive art experience.

  But the ultimate peak, the thing I am pinching every penny to save for, is the "Grand Hydrothermal Park."

  Just thinking about it makes my tail tremble with joy. A galaxy of hot spring water always maintained at a perfect 42 degrees Celsius stretching infinitely with no end. Users just have to float on a soft silk raft, letting the lazy river carry them past magnificent wonders. What's more special is that the surrounding background is designed to be extremely diverse, eye-catching, and can automatically change according to the user's needs. From sky-high waterfalls to dazzling cityscapes.

  "Why is my luck so rotten?" I mutter, slamming my tail into the sand. "Missed by exactly one digit... just one digit and paradise turned into a dump."

  While I am busy wallowing in self-pity, a strange sound suddenly tears through the peaceful atmosphere of the beach.

  Wooooooooooo... zzzzzzzzzzt...

  The alarm from the barrier around Kaito's apartment sounds. Due to the time dilation between the dream realm and reality, the normally piercing siren is now elongated, distorted, and deep like a malfunctioning cassette tape.

  I jump, my heart pounding. The tropical beach scene shatters into ten thousand shards of glass.

  I bolt upright on Kaito's bed, breathing heavily, my nine tails fanning out in a defensive reflex. The desk lamp is still on, but the air temperature in the room has dropped abnormally.

  As soon as I open my eyes, I see a sight that could stop any normal person's heart instantly.

  Behind the glass balcony door looms a giant woman's head.

  It is so large it fills the entire door frame. Skin pale as parchment, long strands of wet, black hair clinging to the glass like rotting seaweed. Its eyes have no pupils, just two solid white orbs staring diagonally into the room. Its mouth is stretched wide, purple lips trembling slightly.

  "That bastard Gakai... he couldn't wait until phase one ended?" I grit my teeth, claws digging into the bedsheets.

  Kaito dropped his pen a while ago. The boy stands rooted to the spot next to the desk, his face drained of all blood. Reflexively, he immediately runs to hide behind my back.

  Even though I am physically a head shorter than the kid, to Kaito right now, my small back is the only thing in the world he feels he can trust.

  "Itsuki-sama... that... that thing..." Kaito's voice shakes violently, his hands gripping my shoulders tight.

  "Calm down, kid. This level is nothing. Let me see what he's plotting."