Emily Thompson let out a sigh of disappointment.

　　Seriously... what a great opportunity to showcase! This silly kid doesn't appreciate it at all!

　　Quite a few colleagues were amused by Henry Clark's remark—so bold!

　　Meanwhile, Grace Harris smiled and nodded:

　　“Daytime thoughts become nighttime dreams. Many great inventions in history were completed in dreams.”

　　“The chemist Mendeleev, after working for three days and nights, assembled the ‘Periodic Table of Elements’ in a dream.”

　　“Einstein was also inspired by a dream of skiing, which led him to ponder the effects of the speed of light and eventually propose the ‘Special Theory of Relativity.’”

　　“But undeniably, without prior effort and accumulation, just dreaming alone would never yield results. I’m sure Henry Clark... has put a lot of hard work into this project.”

　　Clap clap clap clap clap!!!

　　No one knew who started it, but the whole meeting room erupted in applause for Henry Clark.

　　It made Henry Clark a bit embarrassed.

　　He felt unworthy of the praise.

　　“But...”

　　After the applause died down, Grace Harris picked up the draft paper again, looked at the cute cat head, and said:

　　“A cat head alone definitely isn’t enough. Whether it’s for printed packaging, posters, or brand collaborations... we need a full-body illustration.”

　　“Limbs, clothes, shoes... these can all be changed later, but we need an original design as a reference.”

　　Grace Harris put down the draft and looked at Henry Clark:

　　“Henry Clark, could I trouble you to draw the cat’s body and outfit as well?”

　　After hearing Grace Harris's words, everyone realized they’d celebrated too soon.

　　True.

　　A head alone isn’t enough!

　　What does this cartoon cat’s body look like? What proportions? What pose? What clothes? What shoes?

　　Everyone looked at Henry Clark with anticipation.

　　At this moment, Henry Clark... was taking a tactical sip of water.

　　Well...

　　He took a sip of tea.

　　The mask worn by the big-faced cat only had a cat head—who knows what the cat’s body looks like!

　　But this wasn’t a problem for Henry Clark.

　　Whoever tied the bell must untie it.

　　He’d just go back into the dream, find the big-faced cat again, and ask about the origin of the mask.

　　“No problem.”

　　Henry Clark put down his teacup:

　　“All the design drafts are at home. I’ll bring them tomorrow.”

　　...

　　Night.

　　After washing up.

　　Henry Clark glanced at the clock by his bed. It was 21:01.

　　Thanks to yesterday’s dream, Henry Clark had already figured out the whole story—

　　It all started when the big-faced cat and that female cryptography expert agreed to rob a bank together.

　　They didn’t know each other, so they set up a secret code.

　　The one wearing the cat mask was the big-faced cat.

　　The one wearing the Ultraman mask was the cryptography expert.

　　Yesterday, because Henry Clark casually picked up an Ultraman mask and put it on, the big-faced cat mistook him for the cryptography expert and took him to rob the bank.

　　“So, today, as long as I do the same as yesterday and put on the Ultraman mask... the big-faced cat will definitely show up again.”

　　Henry Clark closed the window.

　　He’d already experienced the cold winter wind yesterday—tonight, he needed an extra blanket.

　　He set his alarm, put his phone on the nightstand, and turned off the light.

　　“Sleep.”

　　...

　　...

　　Whoosh!

　　A hot summer breeze swept by, and Henry Clark caught the fresh scent unique to tender green leaves.

　　He opened his eyes.

　　On the brightly lit square, children were chasing each other.

　　“Hee hee hee! Catch me! Catch me!”

　　“Take this! Ultra sliding kick!”

　　“I just want candied hawthorn! Waaah!”

　　“I’m not going home! I want to play more!”

　　“Mom! I want to ride my bike!”

　　Henry Clark looked up at the electronic bulletin board standing in the center of the square. The time in the upper right corner read—

　　【August 28, 2624】

　　【21:37:17】

　　...

　　【21:37:18】

　　...

　　【21:37:19】

　　...

　　【21:37:20】

　　...

Chapter 4 Kelly

　　All along, Henry Clark felt the most unreasonable thing about his dreams... was the time setting.

　　August 28, 2624.

　　That’s 600 years ahead of Henry Clark’s real world.

　　But the scenes of daily life and the level of technology in the dream... were no different from 2022.

　　It was utterly ridiculous!

　　How could human technology not advance at all in 600 years?

　　He tried searching for answers in the dream’s library and on the internet, but all historical information in the dream was vague—lottery numbers, major historical events from centuries ago, big news—none of it had any concrete descriptions.

　　The history available in the library was all too recent, and reading it felt no different from reading some alternate-universe pulp fiction. It still didn’t explain his question.

　　“Maybe... it’s just your lack of imagination!”

　　Henry Clark had discussed this with his best friend before.

　　The friend said:

　　“In the end, dreams are just creations of the brain’s imagination.”