Soen na Osananajimi to Isekai de wa Kekkon Shite Iru Yumewomita ga, Sorekara Osananajimi no Yousu ga Okashii ndaga?

Author: Kataribe Masayuki

Translated by MTL and dobelyuwai
Source: Syosetu
 
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The True Identity of The Nightmare



　After a while of half-crying Amane and pest extermination, when I thought that the unpleasantly rustling and wriggling insects were no longer in my sight, the large number of insects that had flooded the platform... had already disappeared without a trace.
　There's no trace of them, including the corpses that were supposedly burned to death... And there's not even a trace of the train that brought us so many bugs.
　Just like on the train... There was nothing going on and we were just 'back' on the deserted platform.
　It's just……

"Vermin should be disinfecteeed!"

　Amane was still in a frenzy.
　It's an empty station platform, but she still hasn't stopped throwing flames... I guess she must have really hated it...

"Amane! Oi, we're safe now, Amane! There's no trace of the swarm of bugs anymore!!"

　I shake her as hard as I can and tell her but Amane still won't stop the flame throwing.

"Uuu ~~~ really?"
"Really true !!"

　Amane who freaked out, stared at me with tears in her eyes, and she finally stopped her flame-throwing when she confirmed that the situation was already back to just an empty platform.

"Uuuuuuu... I hate insects..."
"I agree with you..."

　Or rather, if they saw such a scene, even elementary school students who claim to love insects could become insect haters...
　Uu... I get goosebumps just remembering it...

[The train will be arriving from track 3 shortly. Please wait behind the white line. The interior of the train is currently very crowded. Please be careful of faceless people...]

　But before we could rest, voices began to flow from the announcement.
　Moreover, it was again accompanied by suspicious and ominous words.

"What do they mean, "faceless people? Another strangely ominous notice..."
"Gusu... Fuhn! Whatever's coming is better than what just came!"

　And then, with a "jakon" sound and a grenade launcher in her hand, she loaded the bullets with a familiar look, her eyes half-crying... she was sitting.

KIKIKIKIKIKI----- …………

　The train suddenly ran into the platform again and stopped on the opposite side of the platform from before.
　And while we were all pointing our guns at it, the door slowly opened and... out came the so-called commuter rush.

DODO DODO DODO DODO …………………

"Ueh!?"
"Hiih!?"

　Waves of people dressed in business suits flowing in a certain direction.
　It's not uncommon in urban mornings, but it's a hellish scene for working people who don't really want to participate.
　The appearance of the group could be described as eerie, but the group was all... mannequins.

　A group of dolls with no expression, not just expressionlessness ...... The waves of people flowing together like an army with a sense of unity is eerie itself.
　Even though the waves of mannequins didn't seem to have any intention of attacking ...... and we were in attack position, we were so taken aback by the strangeness of the situation that our reaction was delayed for a moment.

"Ah !? Yu, Yumeji-kun !?"
"Kuh... This is bad!!"

　In that instant, Amane and I were bounced around and separated.
　And the rush current instantly stood between me and Amane, and even though we were supposed to be on the same platform, we quickly disappeared from sight.

"Amane !! Sh*t, get out of the way, dolls !!"

　I quickly swung the "mallet" in my hand and forcibly blew away the stream of mannequins that were in my way.
　But when I thought it was open for a moment, Amane was already gone.

"Kuh... She has been swept away!?"

　As soon as I said that in frustration, the movement of the mannequins, which had been drifting in a certain direction until a moment ago, stopped immediately.
　They were moving in an uncanny constant motion, in step with each other like an army, and then they all stopped at the same time ...... In an instant, the platform was enveloped in silence.

"What... is this..."

　I don't like the noise, but I also don't like the sudden silence.
　In addition, the thing that had created a bustle just a moment ago was now an instant...
　As I was breaking into a cold sweat at the sudden silence... all the mannequins' heads turned around to look at me.
　It's a mannequin, of course it doesn't have an expression, but ...... all of these seemingly countless mannequins looked at me.

"This is... even if it's not Amane... will scared..."

　Hmm? Even if it's not Amane??
　I mumbled to myself, caught in my own words.
　…… Speaking of which, Amane has always been uncomfortable with things like mannequins.
　She just looked at the ones on display in the department store clothing section and hid behind the old lady.
　It seems that the reason for this was because of a movie she saw when she was little, in which "a lot of mannequin-like people attacked", and she was traumatized by it.

　...... What is it? Something's bugging me... I feel like I'm overlooking something important...
　But they don't seem to be willing to give me time to think.
　Even though they were faceless, even though they were mannequins, they attacked me with a clear intent to kill me.
　A large number of mannequins in business suits attacked me with bizarre movements, full of dynamism and human shapes but not human-like.
　Insects are bad enough, but these guys are second to none in terms of unpleasantness!

"Da*n!! You're going to be late, go to work, salaryman!!"

GAGA GAGA GAGA GAGA GAGA GAGA ............

　I grabbed the "machine gun" I'd thought of and pulled the trigger on the incoming crowd of mannequins.
　However, the mannequins that were hit did not stop moving, even though they knocked back, they still came at me in a cracked state.

"If so, how about this one !!"

　I quickly stopped the machine gun and imagined a Gatling gun for power, and held it up with both hands.

BARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA…………………

　Heavy weapons with hundreds of rounds per second shattered the mannequin dolls that came into pieces.
　And since this is a dream, I don't have to worry about running out of bullets.

"ORA ORA dolls! Unless you want to be shattered..."

　However, at this time, I seemed to have been caught off guard by the shattered mannequins ahead of me.
　I'm currently on the platform at the station.
　Even though I was wielding a heavy weapon, I thought I was paying attention to all sides.
　But... I didn't see that there was a "bottom" in the platform.
　When I came to my senses, I was already being held by the hand of a mannequin reaching out from underneath the platform, grabbing my leg.

"Guge!?"

　The next thing I know, I'm being dragged down to the tracks by my body and slammed down on my back so hard.
　It was supposed to be a dream, but it hurt so badly that my lungs were forced to expel oxygen.
　…… But it looks like I don't have time to be in pain.
　A lot of mannequins come down from the platform one after the other, clattering around with no expression, but with a clear intent to kill!

"Uguh......... Damn..."

　Ignoring my aching back and rising breath, I raise the Gatling gun again and fire wildly.
　But just like before, the mannequins in front of me were instantly shattered, but the mannequins coming down the track were never ending.

　In addition...... unlike zombie movies and games, destroying the head doesn't stop the attack, and if I blow up the lower half of the body, it will combine with the next one that blew up the upper half of the body and come back to life... What a tricky thing to do...….

"There's no end......... Guga !?"

　Finally, the mannequin's fist, which had passed over the barrage of bullets in a battle of mass, pierced my face.
　With just one blow, I'm sent flying backwards.
　Being hit by a wooden mannequin is ...... maybe not much different than being hit with a baseball bat!?
　If this weren't a dream, I would be dead...

"Kuh... Right... For the type of person who uses dreams as a trick... Isn't this a bit rough?"

　I muttered hatefully as I was punched in the face, and then I heard his voice over the speakers, as if he had been watching me get hit.

"Ga... Zaza... I'm very sorry. Please note that you are an unexpected guest and we will be dealing with you differently than usual... Please understand... "

　He's grinning... He's continuing his business tone, but he's holding back his laughter...
　If the unexpected guest treatment was a mass lynching by these mannequins, then there was a hell of a lot of guest handling.
　………… But guest handling? I'm pretty sure that's what "that guy" just said.
　Guest ...... It's odd to think of it that way.
　Ever since the mannequin split me up from Amane, I feel like their attack has become rougher...... as if they want to get rid of me...... as soon as possible...

　I've only had a few conversations with them, but I'm sure "this guy" is a complete outsider... They are the kind of prick who's been terrorizing people with their "Monkey Dream" for weeks now, so of course they're going to do the same to me, their fallen prey.
　Nevertheless………….

"......... If I'm a guest, it means that Amane is the main one, right?"
[Of course. Our original guest was Amane-sama alone. She is the only VIP who deserves to experience the greatest horror of this dream...]
".........So you're saying that Amane is the only person who can be given the greatest fear and despair in this dream?"
[……………………]

　At my question, the talkative announcer suddenly fell silent.
　...... Looks like I guessed right.
　It was clear to me that the "something" behind the speaker was a more vicious and cowardly psycho than I had imagined.

"I've always thought it was strange. At first I thought it was some kind of famous urban legend called "Monkey Dream", but for some reason the next thing that came up was another urban legend that I didn't know about, "Kisaragi Station". If you go into the station, you'll find "swarms of insects" and "faceless mannequins". ...... What's next? Were you planning to bring out a giant slug"
[……………………]

　My words silenced the announcer... Maybe I hit the bull's-eye.

"All of them are things that Amane finds scary... So that means... This is not your nightmare, it's just "in Amane's dream", isn't it!?"

　I'm sure Suzu-nee instructed me to sneak into "Amane's dream" in the first place.
　In addition, if I were to think of it as an urban legend in the category of a "monkey dream", they should have to drive us into a "monkey dream" without removing the part about a running train as the stage, but this guy flatly threw away the initial setting for the purpose of inciting "Amane's fear".
　In other words, even if it's a nightmare, this is "Amane's dream", and the possessed prick is doing whatever he wants, laughing at Amane who doesn't realize it's a dream.

　It's as if they're on the other side of the Internet, slandering and giggling without even showing up...

[Ku... Kukuku... Kuhyahyahyahya! You~ understand it well~, Yumeji-kun? The mannequin you've been trying to kill since a while ago is~ a nightmare created by your beloved childhood friend herself~. I'm just moving them around a little bit~, like a game~.]

　As soon as I said that, an unpleasant voice came over the speakers, not in a serious business tone, but with a grin that you can imagine was sincerely amused by the other person's misfortune.
　Anyway, I made up my mind that I would definitely punch this guy when they were in front of me.