When I looked down at the chasm, I saw the golem gardeners scratching the smooth walls, trying to climb up and failing.

They were just like in the game: tall creatures with skull-like faces, wearing bone-white coats with bone buttons and swinging gardening tools.

Deviants of the weirdest kind.

“Merry Christmas, you filthy animals.”

“Moving bone statues? Interesting.” (Crys)

“They're basically just a mechanism to keep this rock garden in order. When I saw them for the first time and realized that it's impossible to kill them, there was one of those short moments of hopelessnesses, but once you learn that the trick is to simply drop them down there, they are just slow morons.”

One fan theory suggested that these golem gardeners were the last remnants of Strangers; that Strangers were an automaton civilization moving from world to world like in a 4X game – exploring, expanding, exploiting and exterminating without control and without end.

Just bots being bots.

Crys was definitely interested in researching these rare non-humans, but he stayed quiet about that aspiration; researching abnormal individuals was a taboo topic when Rain was listening.

“Dancer, there are bone keys that look like cat skulls in some of those white pavilions over there. They should be near the skull altars. Could you collect one for each of us? They are like master keys to this place. If the vault door is locked, we can use those keys to get back in.”

“Got it!” (Dancer)

“What is that?” (Crys)

Crys pointed up.

“Oh, the floating platform. It's just a small puzzle. You can climb up there using a chain that connects to the back of the garden pavilion over there, but I don't think there's anything you would find interesting.”

“I see.” (Crys)

Now then, this is where things might get freaky. My glitch hunter instincts are tingling.

Petrified Garden, just like other roomworlds, was separated from the main world outside.

Never mind the floating platform, there was a whole different sky here. Diffused sunlight always came straight down and shadows stayed still. There was no day or night, no clouds or changes in weather.

“There's one thing I want to check before we continue. Rain, could you come with me to that pavilion tower near the wall? I'd like you to help me reach the top of the wall.”

The border walls surrounding the Petrified Garden were about as high as the tallest pavilion towers.

“...Help you how?” (Rain)

“We climb at the roof of that pavilion tower from the top floor window. Then you can throw the rope hook up to the wall.”

“I'm going–” (Rain)

“Sure, of course, go check Sorry Man first.”

Speaking of hard skulls, the goal of the original writer was to make the game one-to-one with the anime series as far as possible, but obviously there were differences that went beyond differences between formats.

In the anime, Rainwoman climbed at the top of the garden wall to look what was outside and what she saw was a lifeless stone desert with countless circular summoning formations made of small rocks – The Outside of the Inside, as fans called it. Rain didn't try to enter the desert back then, she just returned down to the garden with an annoyed look.

In the game, you could use the same tower roof route to get at the top of the wall, but there was nothing outside the walls. It was out of bounds area – a tan-colored nothingness.

It was like this out of bounds area was left in the game intentionally, but there was an invisible wall stopping you from leaping out of bounds. You could see the endless void from the top of the wall, but you couldn't go there.

I had previously concluded that this world was closer to the game than the anime, but if it really was so, would I see the out of bound nothingness here?

Anime or game? Stone circles or nothing?

We ascended the spiral stairs up the pavilion tower and then we climbed to the thatched roof of the tower.

I was so excited that I wasn't even thinking what would happen if I fall down.

“Clip on through to the other side, clip on through to the other side...”

“...Huh?” (Rain)

“Sorry, just an old song from the future. I wasn't giving you orders or anything.”

Dancer found around dozen skull keys during the time Rain was setting up the hook rope. Spares for future Revolution Movement members.

“Hey guys! If you have nothing else to do, the red pavilion there has two jewels hidden under the bone horse statues! If you want to get those!“

I shouted from the top of the tower and Crys gave me a hand signal before walking over at the small red-roofed pavilion. Kimono and Dancer darted after him.

Sorry Man kept caressing the petrified tree branches near the vault door and Mirim stayed near him.

“The rope is ready.” (Rain)

“Thanks, Rain. Please keep it steady when I climb, okay.”

“...Get going.” (Rain)

“I'm going to move a bit slowly, but you don't need to kick me or spit on me, alright?”

“Sure.” (Rain)

“And don't look at my butt.”

“...Ha?” (Rain)

“Tough audience, tough audience...”

When I reached the top of the garden wall after a long effort, I felt a bit disappointed.

It was the stone desert from the anime, not the nothingness from the game.

So this place was closer to the anime then. Glitches didn't work and going out of bounds seemed impossible, so it was what I expected.

If the showrunner of the series really saw lucid dreams about this world, he was probably dreaming in third person, I would think. He probably wasn't observing this place as particular character, just as incorporeal spectator.

“What are you looking at?” (Rain)

“A dream. Speedrunner's dream.”

There's nothing you can do with it. But you can admire it.

Rain got curious and quickly climbed up to the wall using the rope. Her agility was not on the same level with Kimono, but she was still as nimble as thief.

“...It's just some strange desert.” (Rain)

“Well, so it is.”

I had nothing more to say.

We abseiled back to the pavilion tower roof, detached the hook rope from the wall and returned to the ground level.

“Alright, everyone. We've had a long day, so we should rest before we continue exercises. Let's allocate private rooms for everyone. Rain, Mirim and Sorry Man will be staying here in the Petrified Garden. Crys and Kimono will stay in the second floor bedroom, I'll show you the room on the way back. Dancer, you will sleep in the Skylight Room.”

“...Why are you the one deciding where we sleep?” (Rain)

“Well, Sorry Man wants to stay in the garden because it's the center of the anomaly, and he's more active here, so you are happy about that, and your curse doesn't actually affect this place because the sky is a skybox, categorized as being inside the house, so... I'm just saving time, you would have picked these particular rooms yourself anyway.”

“We will then stay in the room I chose in the future.” (Crys)

“Yes, brother.” (Kimono)

“When Caliph is dead, I will leave this place with Sorry Man–” (Rain)

“– and you will find a safe place outside the influence of Caliph's followers? Rain, this is that safe place you've been looking for. We already went through this, Loönois Anomaly and Starfish Mansion are those safe places for you. Even if you don't trust me, and even if Caliph's men find this place in the future and get in the house somehow, you can just pick some large roomworld like Shallow Sea and disappear in the archipelago with Sorry Man. You don't need to struggle to find a home anymore, I have made it fast and easy for you. That's my modus operandi. Don't throw away gold split simply because it was easy to get. Accept my feelings and take my energy!”

“...Why do you always...” (Rain)

Rain didn't complete her sentence.

Yeah, sorry for airing this irritating stuff in front of everyone, but I know exactly what kind of character and what kind of troubled teen you are. You claim that all you want is a peaceful place to live after Caliph is dead, but you keep looking for battles. You're the soldier who comes back from war and turns into a raging alcoholic because nothing in civilian life gives you the same raw feeling of purpose. You're a battle junkie and always addicted to something.

And if we can't cure your addiction, we can at least use it for good; better to be a battle addict that kills enemies than a drug addict that kills friendlies.

Winter Forest works as a secondary backup plan, but if Rain goes there, there's still a small possibility that she triggers her time travel subplot. Shallow Sea should be the first evacuation plan.

“Anyway, we are all getting tired and hungry again. I suggest we return to Kitchen Room to cook some food and then have a full rest. Tomorrow we can start clearing rooms and so on. Mirim, you'll be staying here with Rain, right?”

“Yes, big brother, I will stay with sister Rain.” (Mirim)

“Dancer, can you bring food and drinks here for Rain and Mirim later?”

“Yes sir, Speedy-sensei.” (Dancer)

Oh, Dancer has assimilated new words. Keep it up, soldier.

Hopefully they really take a full rest, especially Crys and Kimono. I don't want them to start seeing the nightmares they kept seeing here in the anime. I'm still afraid that they've been taking small doses of battle drugs secretly to stay awake on our journey even after my warnings to throw them away. I hope I'm just being paranoid and everyone is a good boy or girl.

I haven't personally felt any withdrawal effects, so whatever Crys gave me wasn't a battle drug, or the dose was really small, or my non-MC body reacts to drugs differently.

Nope, I'm not going start experimenting on myself further. Case closed.

Walking back to entrance with Crys, Kimono and Dancer, I pointed out more rooms they would find interesting: a room with grass as a carpet and a room full of crushed stones; a room that was a torture chamber and a room that was a pleasure chamber; a room with hot water fountain and a room that was like a cathedral full of lianas.

“Whoever built this place liked to collect things.” (Crys)

“Yeah, to collect rooms.”

Damn, that was an actual dialogue from the anime. Sometimes Crys hit the exact words and I could instantly hit right back. That quip to Crys was originally Rain's, though.

“I'll make a list of all the rooms when we have more time... By the way, Kimono, there's no need to break the vases in your bedroom, they're just empty decorations. Nothing inside, no jewels or money.”

“I'm not interested in vases.” (Kimono)

“You say that now, but... Oh, that door there leads to Pillar Tribe Room, that's a place to visit later.”

Pillar Tribe Room aka Achlop Room aka the homeworld of the Pikatrate.

Actually, I need to think how to avoid fighting the Pikatrate before we open this door. Their warriors are always waiting on the other side with spears and bows, guarding the strange door that stands in the middle of a rocky hill. They expect enemies because their ancestral legends tell stories about Outsiders who came to kill and steal through the door.

Their tribal princess Achlop is still quite young at this point in timeline, but if we handle the first contact peacefully, they might become allies of the Revolution Movement from the start. They don't have tech, but they can provide manpower.

And one of the rooms we passed by again was Alphons Room. I didn't draw any special attention to it, I just said it was dangerous without going into details.

Alphons Room was the reason Kimono ran away and died; the reason Crys lost his edge; the disaster trigger.

Wooden planks are not enough. I need to seal the Alphons Room with metal bars and cement.

When I was younger, I played an adventure game where one of the main party members died at one point and you couldn't prevent it. A mandatory sadness event – let her die or you can't advance the main story.

But some players liked the character so much that they just kept playing random encounters and side missions; they never visited that cursed event location, and thus never finished the game.

If they knew about the event in advance, that is.

New players who went in blindly and without spoilers experienced the traumatizing plot twist first hand. They had to either load a save file and try to desperately save her (which was impossible) or try to find an alternate route to the end (which did not exist). Some players went so far that they wrote to the game company and demanded a patch that would allow them to finish the game with her character in the party, but their demands were ignored.

I was one of those who experienced the character death first hand, but it was different for me because I was already a speedrunner at that point. I skipped the cutscenes and dialogues, and then wondered why one character suddenly disappeared from the party.

I became emotionally attached to the disappearance rather the death until I learned how the actual story went.

After that, I always made sure I experienced the whole story as is before I started speedrunning the game.

In Mu-Ur Quincunx, Kimono's death after Alphons Room was a mandatory event, losing your gear in the Frozen Pyramid was a mandatory event, and Caliph Tze surviving the final boss fight was a mandatory ending.

But not in this world. No more mandatory sadness for me, thank you.

It's unfortunate that the naïve boy named Alphons has to live alone in his room forever, but sacrifices are necessary.

When I sprung the murder mystery cabinet trap – also known as Dead Man von Druff trap – in the Parlor Room and changed my head bandage, I settled down to sleep on the comfy couch under a warm blanket.

Yeah, I decided to sleep on the couch myself.

Every room had its own features and I liked the features of this one: chic floral wallpaper, neo-classical fireplace, warm blankets, big couch, three armchairs and a large bay window with a wide view over the moorland.

If someone moves on the moors, on the road, at the lake or at the edge of the forest, I can see them and they can't see me. I'll start barking and wake up the family.

Well, they wouldn't hear me in the other rooms even if I screamed. Starfish Mansion had 100% soundproofing on every indestructible wall, door and window.

I saw the rain and wind outside the window, but I couldn't hear anything even if I pressed my ear against the glass. The raindrops didn't touch the window either, so it was like watching a mute livestream from a multi-panel display.

“What's up guys, welcome to this relaxing ASMR multicam livestream from the rainy moors of Loönois. Qwerty Uozewe bringing you the authentic experience as always... we're going to stream all night long, so... let's take some questions from the chat... looks like there are no questions... so let's enjoy this nice exotic view in silence for a while...”

My tired mind wandered to all the things I would have to do in the coming days – hide the car outside the ROI, visit the south edge of Winter Forest to tag some trees, open some doors, nail some doors shut, clear some rooms with my SWAT team, obtain the necessary gear, and try not to get killed by random deviations.

We were on a home stretch. The last stage before final boss.

Keep pace and game on.