After the twentieth time, I stopped counting. 0

I never once managed to overpower Ellen. The pain I felt in my mind was being amplified and was more excruciating than any real wound, yet it wasn’t enough to wake me from the dream. 0

After all, my state of consciousness was artificially controlled by Airi.0

Rumble…0

When I finally awoke, the morning sky outside was laden with dark clouds, and thunder rumbled ominously. It seemed a storm was approaching. 0

I could still feel Airi’s hand resting on my forehead, just as it had been before I’d fallen asleep.0

“Did you sleep we—I guess the answer is no…”0

Airi had probably been focused on maintaining my dream state, which meant she hadn’t slept herself at all. 0

She looked pretty terrible, likely because she had witnessed my repeated, miserable deaths in my dream.0

I didn’t know if this was a good strategy or not, but upon waking, I discovered a definite side effect.0

“I don’t feel like I slept at all,” I said.0

“That’s to be expected…” Airi replied.0

I felt more exhausted after waking up. 0

It was only natural. Dreams weren’t supposed to last for hours, yet I had been trapped in a nightmare for the entire duration of my sleep. No wonder my mind felt overloaded and dazed. It was as if my mind had been working overtime all throughout my sleep.0

If we continued this, both Airi and I would be too exhausted to muster our strength when we truly needed it.0

Doing this every day seemed too much. We probably needed to have breaks every other day or so. 0

Across from me, Harriet was asleep, hugging a large pillow.1

“Mmm… Reinhart…”0

Airi hadn’t interfered with her dreams, but Harriet mumbled and hugged her pillow tightly, as if dreaming of something.0

‘Our little Thick-Skull… Sometimes she’s so cute it hurts.’0

“Do you think this will be effective…?” Airi asked softly, careful not to wake Harriet. 0

I had been killed dozens of times in one night. The pain experienced in the dream had been horrific, much worse...0