I’m Doomed! I Got Trapped in a Dream! [20]

“Oh~ I see now. So the reason you told us to spend all the Mora on recipes was to throw a banquet, right?” Keqing asked seriously after hearing Chen Mo’s explanation. “Then, where are you planning to hold this banquet? How many dishes are we preparing? Are you going to cook everything yourself, or will it be a group effort?”

“Uh… leave it to the Yuheng to turn this into a full-blown logistics plan. Lemme think.”

Chen Mo was left speechless. She had just figured out the reasoning behind buying all those recipes, and now she was already planning out the banquet layout. That workaholic energy of hers really did shine everywhere, in everything.

But thanks to Keqing’s unexpected prompt, he actually started giving the “where to eat” issue some serious thought. He opened his inventory, used all the recipes they had just bought, and then started sorting through ingredients.

Early-game quest rewards weren’t that generous. Even after clearing the Four Winds Temples, Keqing’s spoils were fairly limited. After digging through the entire backpack, they had only 3 carrots, 3 cabbages, 2 radishes, and 4 wheat.

Clearly not enough for a feast. So the group decided to leave the city and hunt pigeons, boars, and whatever else they could find to scrounge up ingredients.

After teleporting to the waypoint outside Mondstadt’s main gate, Chen Mo noticed a small ball on the ground a short distance away—yellow, tinged with pink.

At first, he thought it might be a dirty Intertwined Fate. But when he got closer, he realized—it was a Golden Shrimp Ball. Most likely the one Keqing had been holding in her left hand when she was summoned into the dream world.

Back when he was testing whether PvP damage was enabled, he and Keqing had tussled a bit. This shrimp ball must have fallen to the ground during that scuffle.

“Hey, Master Keqing—your shrimp ball.”
Chen Mo bent down and picked it up, extending it toward her.

“I don’t want it! It’s already been on the ground.”

“Really? You sure, Master Keqing? Food shouldn’t go to waste, y’know.” Chen Mo held it out again.

“No, no, seriously…” Keqing stepped back and raised both hands in a firm rejection. “If you really don’t want to waste it, then… just eat it yourself.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Wait, you’re not seriously gonna—Hey! You actually ate it?!”

Before she could react, Chen Mo had already popped the shrimp ball into his mouth. Keqing was left dumbfounded.

With one loud gulp, the shrimp ball was gone. Chen Mo let out a satisfied sigh.

“Ah~ That’s the good stuff. Real-world food just hits different. Master Keqing, if you come back to this dream world again, could you bring me a whole plate of these Golden Shrimp Balls?”

“Uhh… I don’t know what country you grew up in,” Keqing said awkwardly, “but didn’t your parents ever teach you not to eat food that’s been on the ground?”

“Miss Keqing, you can’t apply real-world logic to things that happen in dreams,” Nahida chimed in gently, having overheard. “Here, even if food falls to the ground, it won’t get dirty. Eating it is just a simulation the dream fabricates.”

“Eyyy~ That’s the spirit, Nahida!” Chen Mo gave her a thumbs-up. Then he pointed at the ground and said to Keqing, “Look, this ground—it’s literally just a texture. A fake, you know? Just an image pasted on.”

Keqing, now genuinely curious, crouched down and rubbed her palm over the grass. Then she lifted her hand and studied her glove—front and back, over and over again.

Nothing. Not a speck of dirt.

Her eyes widened in surprise. Then she brought her hand up to her nose and sniffed carefully.

“No dirt smell at all! Even though the air here feels fresh, the soil…”

“Exactly, Miss Keqing. That’s the power of the dream world,” Nahida nodded in satisfaction.

“Hehe, that’s right,” Chen Mo added with a grin. “So Master Keqing, next time you visit, can you bring me more Golden Shrimp Balls?”

“Uh… all right. But how would I even bring them?”

“Same way as this time. Just hold them in your hand—or mouth, I guess. As long as they’re on your person, they’ll come with you when you enter the dream. Like your clothes.”

Keqing thought about it for a moment, then gave a serious nod, as if sealing a formal contract: “Mm… okay, I’ll remember that.”

“Okay, team! Time to prep for our first-ever dreamworld banquet—let’s gooo!”

After making his grand announcement, Chen Mo didn’t bother assigning anyone tasks. He simply sprinted off toward the bridge outside Mondstadt’s gate and dove headfirst into the water to start catching fish.

Timmy’s pigeons had already been scared off by Nahida’s elemental skill earlier. None had died, and there was no telling when they’d respawn. Fishing was the next best option.

Nahida and Furina exchanged a glance. Then Nahida smiled and said, “Since he’s fishing, why don’t we go gather fruits and vegetables? I’d like to observe the flora of other nations while we’re here.”

Though this world wasn’t real, the level of environmental accuracy was high. From what she had seen of Sumeru City when she first arrived, it was smaller, but very detailed. This dream could be a valuable chance to learn more about other countries.

...

However, they had barely begun foraging when they heard Chen Mo yelling:

“HEY! SOMEBODY—ANYONE—no wait, it has to be Furina! Furina, great and glorious Lady Furina, save me! I’m drowning!”

“Huh? Me?” Furina blinked and pointed at herself, then looked in Chen Mo’s direction.

“…That doesn’t look like drowning,” she said doubtfully. Chen Mo was bobbing in the water, splashing a bit to stay afloat—honestly, he looked pretty relaxed.

“Look at him.” She gestured toward him. “He’s literally one meter from the bridge pillar. Why would he need saving?”

“You should go anyway, Miss Furina,” Nahida said with a soft smile, amusement in her voice. “He does seem to know this dream world quite well. If he says he’s in danger, he probably really is.”

“Huh?” Furina turned to Nahida, stunned.

This unreliable guy, fine—but why is the Dendro Archon of Sumeru siding with him too?!

Seeing her confusion, Nahida patiently began explaining: “This world doesn’t follow normal logic. For example—”

Just as she had with Keqing earlier, Nahida gave Furina a full rundown on the dream’s mechanics: NPCs, HP bars, wild mobs, stamina systems, and so on.

As she listened, Furina’s expression gradually changed from puzzled to thoughtful. By the end, she was nodding repeatedly. She finally understood—Chen Mo was indeed in danger of drowning, and he did need rescuing.

“Well then…” she spread her hands slightly and sighed.

“Guess I’ll humble myself and rescue him personally, as a benevolent Hydro Archon should.”

---

T/N: smh ran out of stamina LMAOOO

This is a fan translation of 完蛋！我被锁在梦里了 by 六轩岛润人芙宁娜. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!