“[Therefore, nothing outside your cognition will ever appear in your dreams.]”

“Your brain simply can’t imagine what the world will look like 600 years in the future, so naturally you can’t dream about it. Maybe if you watch more sci-fi movies in the future, it’ll get better.”

Henry Clark thought this explanation was quite reasonable.

But unfortunately...

Even after watching hundreds of sci-fi movies, his dreams remained the same day after day, never changing.

Later, after having fun in his dreams, he just accepted this illogical setting:

“[Dreams themselves are fictional—being illogical is actually more logical.]”

……

He ran into Big-Faced Cat yesterday, around ten o’clock.

Now it was time to act.

Henry Clark walked toward two little boys who were chasing and playing.

“Ultraman flying kick!” “Ultraman elbow strike!”

The two kids got more and more excited as they fought, running farther and farther away, not even noticing when their masks fell to the ground.

“Key item, Ultraman mask, acquired~”

Henry Clark picked up the mask and put it on his face.

Whoosh—

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two sharp whistles.

Just as Henry Clark turned around, a strong arm grabbed Henry Clark and started running:

“Here you are, bro! The whole square is full of kids wearing Ultraman masks... you were really hard to find!”

In front of him was the familiar cat mask, and the familiar face full of flesh.

“Come with me! The car’s over there, my little brother already went to the bank ahead of time.”

“Wait, Bro.”

Henry Clark grabbed Big-Faced Cat:

“I have a question.”

“Say.”

“The cartoon cat on your mask—what’s its name?”

“You mean this one?”

Big-Faced Cat pointed at the distorted mask on his face:

“This is [珂珂猫], you don’t even recognize it? It’s super popular.”

“You sure have a wide range of interests for your age.”

“My daughter really likes this cat, I’ve bought quite a few plushies before.”

“Alright then.”

Henry Clark shook off Big-Faced Cat’s hand and turned back toward the toy store:

“I forgot something, you go wait for me in the car.”

Smack—

A chubby hand suddenly pressed down hard on Henry Clark’s shoulder!

“Have you met me before?”

“This is the first time.”

“Then why did you call me Bro?” Big-Faced Cat stared intently at Henry Clark.

……

……

A stifling summer breeze blew by, as if time itself had stopped.

Neither of them spoke.

Laughing children ran past them, the huge square feeling completely isolated from the world.

Big-Faced Cat reached toward his waist with his left hand...

Henry Clark slowly turned his head.

Ultraman stared at 珂珂猫:

“You want to know?”

“I do.”

……

……

“Because your face is just way too big...”

“Huh?”

Big-Faced Cat frowned, and the 珂珂猫 mask was squished flat.

Henry Clark brushed the hand off his shoulder:

“Sorry, I really can’t ignore that huge face of yours. If you mind, I can call you something else.”

“Hahahahaha!” Big-Faced Cat burst out laughing:

“You guessed right, kid! Everyone calls me Big-Faced Cat on the street, you can just call me Bro!”

“Hurry up and get your stuff! We’re on a tight schedule!”

Henry Clark waved his hand and walked into the toy store.

This Big-Faced Cat...

He’d thought he was a rough and reckless guy, but it turned out he was actually pretty thoughtful.

“Hello.”

Henry Clark walked up to the toy store counter:

“I’d like to buy a [珂珂猫] plush toy.”

“Of course, sir, they’re on this shelf over here.”

The clerk led Henry Clark to a shelf full of plushies, several rows all lined with 珂珂猫.

Looks like Big-Faced Cat was right—this thing really is a hot seller.

Henry Clark picked up a basic model and started examining it from top to bottom, carefully studying the cat’s structure, proportions, limbs, clothing...

He needed to look closely here and memorize the details.

When he woke up at 00:42, he could draw it from memory.

He had to admit, this 珂珂猫 was designed to be extremely cute, in every way no less than Hello Kitty.

Henry Clark changed angles, scanning it with his eyes.

Although in the design world, this would count as plagiarism...

But, can you really call it plagiarism if you’re copying your own dream?

“Everything in my dreams is just my own imagination, right? I’m the original creator.”

Henry Clark studied it carefully.

“Hey! What are you doing over there!”

A loud shout—Big-Faced Cat stormed over, fuming! He grabbed Henry Clark and started dragging him away:

“Don’t you have any sense of time, bro? Hurry up already!”

Smack.

As they passed the register, Big-Faced Cat slapped down a golden thousand-yuan bill:

“Keep the change!”

Big-Faced Cat’s car was parked right at the door, and Henry Clark, holding the 珂珂猫 plush, was shoved straight into the car.

Vroom—

Big-Faced Cat floored the gas, grumbling as he glanced at the plush in Henry Clark’s arms:

“You’re really going to use that thing to crack the code? You—”

“It’s for your daughter.”

Henry Clark placed the plush in front of the steering wheel.

“Uh...”

Big-Faced Cat was instantly speechless.

The ferocity and anger froze on his face, his half-cursed mouth hanging in midair.

A few seconds later.

The ferocity slowly faded...

And his mouth slowly closed...