This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

Lord Dilon? That must be one of the powerful beings in the hierarchy of the Dream Realm Lords that Earl Sanaxis had mentioned before, right?

Thinking of the terrifying figure, whose mere glance almost claimed his life, Lucien’s breath hitched slightly, feeling that perhaps Earl Sanaxis had led him into a trap.

"Is it the same one we met before?" Lucien tried his best to remain calm, but the words that came out were somewhat stiff due to the tension in his heart.

"Lord Dilon, that vermin, worthy?" Earl Sanaxis let out a snort of disdain, seemingly dissatisfied with Lucien’s conflation of Lord Dilon with the formidable entity they had previously encountered.

"That’s good..." Lucien breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could fully relax, Earl Sanaxis’ following words made his heart tense up again.

"He’s only middling at best among the Dream Realm Lords. According to the hierarchy of your Wizard World, um... He’d be considered a top-tier fourth-level Wizard."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Lucien’s vision darkened.

Top-tier fourth-level Wizard? Wouldn’t that still mean a top-level powerhouse capable of crushing him with ease? The only difference might just be the difficulty in doing so... The difference between swatting a mosquito and crushing a cockroach.

And given the relentless pursuit of his forces... Lucien was now genuinely curious about what exactly Earl Sanaxis had done to them.

...

"What a nuisance, I thought we could shake them off quickly..." Earl Sanaxis muttered softly, somewhat helplessly, as he looked at the persistent tails they still hadn’t lost.

"Now I somewhat understand why you don’t like to stay in the Dream Layer usually," Lucien’s mouth twitched, but he had already lost hope for this exploration of the ’Land of Reality.’

"It seems better for us to leave temporarily, since we probably won’t have a chance to access the kind of node you mentioned until we’ve shaken off these tails..."

"If I could go back, I would have gone a long time ago..." mumbled Earl Sanaxis. However, this time his voice was accidentally louder, and Lucien heard him clearly.

"What... What do you mean by this?" Lucien looked at Earl Sanaxis, his eyes somewhat dazed.

"It’s nothing, just a minor scene," Earl Sanaxis, who never missed a chance for tough talk, ignored Lucien’s further questions and started controlling Helen Wizard, speeding up again.

"Go in."

Soon, Earl Sanaxis found an area that looked like a flat mural, his eyes lit up, and then he controlled Helen Wizard to smash into that mural without looking back.

Bang—

The collision Lucien expected did not occur; instead, he felt the sensation of weightlessness that came with entering a sanctuary.

And when that floating and nauseating feeling disappeared, the scene in front of him had changed into what seemed to be a very ordinary-looking bedroom.

"Bipedal furry monster, get out!" Beside him, Earl Sanaxis’ voice sounded somewhat urgent, urging Lucien, who was still dazed, to hurry.

Lucien wasn’t clear about what happened, but he instinctively followed Earl Sanaxis’ request, swiftly emerging from within Helen Wizard.

In the next moment, invisible rules descended, taking effect upon them.

"Is this the Land of Reality?"

Lucien stared blankly at his hands. He could feel that his body hadn’t changed at all. But when he looked at the mirror, he found that his reflection had turned into a strange girl about five or six years old.

Aside from him, Helen Wizard and Earl Sanaxis were in an even more pitiful state. As creatures of the Dream Realm, they were even more heavily suppressed by the Land of Reality. At that moment, the power of Helen Wizard had been completely sealed, turning her into a doll, which very much matched Lucien’s identity in the Dream Realm. Earl Sanaxis, however, turned into a green, fluffy ball, lying motionless on the ground.

"Bipedal furry monster, be careful. I sense that the Land of Reality we have encountered this time may be the most troublesome one. It involves a special dreamscape belonging to a certain being, and you, at the moment, might be ’playing’ a critical role within its dreamscape."

Earl Sanaxis’ voice gravely resounded in Lucien’s mind, offering him a slight relief. Earl Sanaxis was still conscious and able to share some secrets about the Land of Reality with him.

"Role-playing?" Lucien appeared calm on the surface, but internally, he couldn’t help but inquire about pertinent information concerning Earl Sanaxis.

"Um, it’s like how you’ve now become this... little girl, so your behavior and style should fit the identity of this little girl, at least not expose your secrets in the sight of certain key figures," Earl Sanaxis said with a stern tone.

"Moreover, I reckon that inside this secret realm, there will probably be others playing different roles as well. You’d best find them, then remember them." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"It’s really troublesome indeed," Lucien muttered with some helplessness as he rubbed his temples, and in the mirror, the little girl wearing a nightgown mimicked his actions.

Pretending to be a little girl? Lucien felt this dream might just be troubling him on purpose.

"You’re not meant to truly become her. Think of it as a kind of misdirection. In the eyes of others, you are now this kid named ’Lurah,’ and you’re currently replacing her identity to explore this dream," Earl Sanaxis explained, but the tone that sounded like he was holding back a laugh made Lucien’s corners of the mouth twitch unconsciously.

He was about to say something, but quickly, a stream of special information directly entered his mind, allowing Lucien to swiftly understand the actual rules of this role-playing dream.

"Rafael..." Lucien silently recited a boy’s name in his mind—the name of the central figure of the dream.

And there were three rules in this Land of Reality:

First, one must not reveal their identity or perform actions inconsistent with their role except after falling asleep at night. Especially, they must not let the Dream Realm Lord, Rafael, notice.

The second rule was concerning battles at night. After their "identities" fell asleep, they were permitted to leave their assumed personas to fight. However, if the "identity" sleeping was killed, they too would be destroyed.

The third rule was to prohibit killing or interfering with non-"players" or destroying the main structure of the dream. An accidental killing would result in being directly erased.

"It seems Earl Sanaxis was right; in this dream, the most important thing is to avoid having your identity discovered by others, otherwise, when you go out at night, it would be all too easy for other entrants from the Land of Reality to stealthily assassinate you. After all, these assumed identities are merely regular people, and even a slight cut would leave them utterly defenseless in their sleep."

"In such a case, a third-level Wizard, if discovered by a Wizard Apprentice, would likely die instantly..."

Lucien quickly grasped the gameplay of these Dream Rules, and a heightened sense of vigilance arose within him. After calming his emotions with closed eyes, he began to search for information about his current identity.

Lurah, the youngest daughter of the Katuer family, with two elder brothers, and a mother who had passed away early...

"Miss, have you woken up?" Just as Lucien was silently memorizing everything about the identity of "Lurah," a rhythmic knocking and a somewhat unfamiliar female greeting came from outside the door.

Lucien got up, about to walk towards the door, but quickly realized something and hurriedly laid back down on the bed, feigning the appearance of just having awoken.

"I haven’t gotten up yet..." Lucien felt somewhat uncomfortable with himself, but to "play" the role of "Lurah" well, he had to respond according to the character’s usual demeanor.

A stifled chuckle from Earl Sanaxis echoed in Lucien’s mind. "Kid, you’re adapting quickly. You’ve got potential!"

Meanwhile, two Maids had already entered from outside the door. Lucien carefully observed them while contemplating the possibility that they might be "players."

"Miss is just too cute."

"Yes, this outfit suits the miss very well..." The Maids busied themselves with helping Lucien "change clothes," but from his perspective, he simply stood motionless, silently watching the Maids lift a non-existent person...

"From what I’ve observed so far, the movements and expressions of these two Maids aren’t out of the ordinary; they’re likely not ’players,’ but regular identities within the dream... Indeed, this is the ’Dream Realm Lord’ Rafael’s domain, so the players who entered probably at least play roles that have names, rather than insignificant extras whom even the lord of the dream can’t remember."

Lucien silently analyzed the situation at hand.

"Miss, don’t space out, we’re going downstairs to eat," a Maid said after helping Lucien into the clothes, mistaking Lucien’s contemplation for a child’s daydreaming. She gently patted Lucien’s shoulder, causing him to shiver.

"Kid, if that Maid just now was another ’player,’ you would’ve risked exposing yourself," Earl Sanaxis’s voice echoed in Lucien’s mind, causing a slight cold sweat to form on his back.

"I know, thank you, sister." Lucien hurriedly mustered a bright smile and obediently went along with the script of the dream to start heading downstairs, all the while being even more cautious in his heart.

After all, being discovered by another "player" could be a matter of life or death.