Interstellar Dream Maker

In the interstellar era, all kinds of information spread even more rapidly.

The Starsea Network spans the entire universe, achieving complete real-time synchronization. Messages reach countless star regions in the blink of an eye.

In an era of highly advanced technology, apart from essential physical industries, a vast number of sectors rely on the Starsea Network for support. Not to mention, many people are fully immersed in virtual worlds. Their home consciousness pods are automatically filled with months' worth of nutrient fluids, while various expenses are deducted from their accounts automatically. As a result, they can stay indoors for months or even years without stepping outside.

Compared to the exorbitant costs of traveling across star zones and regions in reality, the virtual Starsea Network is far more affordable. Moreover, the Starsea Network perfectly simulates reality, offering experiences unattainable in the physical world: breathtaking landscapes, distant destinations, gourmet cuisine, holographic games, and simulated lives. It even enables people to meet friends and family from other star regions. All these pleasures, impossible or impractical in reality, become achievable within the Starsea Network.

During the time Lily logged off from the Starsea Network, news of an S-grade Dream Forging achieved in just three minutes by a Dream Forger on Avian Star in the Heek Star Zone had already spread rapidly, reaching an ever-widening audience.

The story begins right after Lily's Dream Forging assessment concluded.

After the Dream Forging showcase ended and Lily logged off, the viewers in the live stream could hardly contain their excitement. They eagerly spread the news, calling friends and rallying companions from all corners.

Especially in Lily's live stream, many viewers were locals from Avian Star. Their initial purpose for joining the stream was to support their hometown Dream Forger.

Although there was some disappointment at first, Lily delivered an incredible comeback with a stunning finale: an S-grade dynamic simulation with built-in dreamscapes completed in just three minutes. The audience was utterly mesmerized.

Such a powerful Dream Forger is from our Avian Star! A sense of planetary pride surged within them. How could they not rush to spread the word?

Especially within the Heek Star Zone, Avian Star had earned a notorious reputation as the "garbage star." Residents from the star often faced discrimination when mingling in the local star zones of the Starsea Network. "Oh, look, someone from the garbage star has arrived," they would sometimes hear.

Of course, sometimes these comments were just thoughtless words from others. "Oh, Avian Star, I know it—it's famous for being the garbage star." The person saying it might not have meant any harm, but for some sensitive residents of Avian Star, those words struck deep, causing a great deal of emotional pain.

Now that Avian Star had produced such a remarkable talent, someone who achieved an S-grade in the Dream Forging live assessment, they had to hype it up! It was time to celebrate and spread the word far and wide!

Aren't we always called the "garbage star"?

Well, take a look at our Avian Star's "garbage Dream Forger." Tsk, tsk, what a shame... you can't even compare to our garbage.

Initially, some viewers were only promoting within the internal channels of Avian Star. But soon, the news spread to the Heek Star Zone, and some even went as far as paying to travel to the Tana Star Region just to boast about it.

Now, things were heating up. The Starsea Network was suddenly buzzing with activity.

S grade psychic power? While impressive, it's not unheard of—every star region and zone tends to have a few such talents.

S grade Dream Forging rating? The recent assessment was just for basic simulation Dream Forging, and it wasn't the case that no other participants had achieved it.

However, when you add the fact that Lily completed the Dream Forging in just the last three minutes, it became something entirely different.

Who doesn't know that every Dream Forger is fully focused and dedicated during the forging process, working meticulously, bit by bit? Especially for those rated S grade, the amount of mental effort required is immense. For someone to complete it within an hour now that's true genius.

Three minutes? Are you kidding? This must be a joke!

It's just a gimmick, definitely a gimmick!

It's all hype, it's definitely just hype!

Though many claimed they didn't believe it, numerous netizens personally visited Avian Star's channel. Some even entered the Starsea Dream Forging live competition and found Lily's personal channel, ready to vent their anger directly.

However, Lily's personal channel was set to private and not publicly accessible, which immediately frustrated the angry netizens who were eager to vent their rage.

For every participant in the Dream Forging live competition, the Starsea Network automatically generates a personal channel. Viewers can follow, subscribe with a single click, send flowers, leave comments, and even create sub-channels, essentially forming a fan group for the player.

Usually, participants in the competition start their channels as soon as they sign up, aiming to boost their popularity and earn income. But this player, Lily, still has her channel set to private? Doesn't this clearly indicate something's off?

Ha! There's definitely something fishy going on!

Lily was unaware of the many speculations about her on the Starsea Network. In reality, it was her second-hand smart brain that set the channel to private. The reason was simple: she was worried that receiving too many spam messages would cause her system to crash.

At this moment, the Avian Star channel on the Starsea Network was packed with people some there to watch, some just to gossip, and others who were called online by their friends. The chat was overflowing with messages, insults flying everywhere, and some were even starting to challenge each other to duels.

"Your so called genius Dream Forger used auxiliary materials in the process? What a joke! Just look at the renowned Dream Forgers across the Starsea Network who needs to take any shortcuts? Tsk tsk, she doesn't even dare to directly channel psychic power to forge dreams, and still calls herself a Dream Forger?"

"Our player Lily just turned eighteen this year, haha, twenty-five years old. You're comparing her to those seasoned Dream Forgers who've been practicing for decades?"

"Oh, getting anxious, are we? Why are you even insulting our mother queen? The insult doesn't even touch our race. Poor carbon-based humans, too afraid to directly project psychic power, relying on auxiliary materials in the competition. You must really cherish your short lives."

Ob, who was passionately arguing, saw this comment and was immediately furious. It made his blood boil damn those insectoid creatures, always resorting to slander, just pointing fingers at the auxiliary materials!

The circumstances of each race are different how can they be compared?!

So many Dream Forgers use auxiliary materials, yet why are they specifically targeting Lily?

The so called auxiliary materials are common items carried by Dream Forgers. They come in various forms, are mostly portable, and their main function is to assist Dream Forgers in channeling and projecting their psychic power, helping to prevent mental strain or damage.

During their early stages, Dream Forgers are prone to errors when projecting psychic power. Since psychic energy is closely tied to the brain, a single mistake can result in brain damage, leading to the loss of consciousness.

Especially since the human body is more fragile compared to other races, Dream Forging auxiliary materials were later developed. Nearly every human Dream Forger uses one, as it helps stabilize their psychic power and prevents mental instability during the forging process.

However, since the Dream Forging live competition takes place in a virtual dreamscape within the Starsea Network, rather than in reality, directly projecting psychic power during the forging process doesn't pose the risk of mental damage. Some Dream Forgers, not wanting to develop a dependency, choose not to carry auxiliary materials.

So, when a calligraphy brush appeared during Lily's assessment, many viewers immediately assumed it was her auxiliary material. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but with the current heated situation, even the smallest mistake was seen as a crime.

And don't accuse me of race bashing there are so many possible bird themed designs, yet you guys from the garbage star chose one no one even recognizes, and then finished it in the last three minutes. If this isn't some kind of conspiracy by your Avian Star company, I wouldn't believe it!

Exactly! I'm sure this is some scheme by one of Avian Star's bird breeding companies. They've secretly cultivated a new species of bird, quietly added it to the Starsea Network's species database without making it public, then hired a Dream Forger to create a buzz in the competition, waiting for it to take off as an advertisement. Haha, what genius Dream Forger? Who knows how many star coins they've received? With this level of skill, if they even make it into the official competition, they're just asking to be humiliated!

Tsk tsk, a garbage star is still a garbage star. You really think other star regions can't see through your little schemes? You have the nerve to spread the word everywhere when the time comes, you won't even know how you fall!

More and more netizens flooded into the public channel of Avian Star. Ob, feeling overwhelmed, clenched his fists in anger as he read through the malicious speculations. His temper flared, but then he recalled his personal experience of Lily's immersive sensation during the assessment, which helped him calm down.

As a fellow participant in the Dream Forging live competition, Ob entered Lily's live stream after finishing his assessment early. Initially, he intended to observe other contestants from Avian Star, but after entering Lily's channel, all he wanted to do was shout "Big shot!" and ask to team up.

As a Dream Forger who had personally experienced the terrifying immersive sensation of Lily's Dream Forging, Ob wore a mysterious smile on his face as he passionately typed his thoughts

"Heh, you guys don't know anything. A bunch of people who didn't even attend the assessment. If you had experienced Lily's immersive sensation, you wouldn't be saying this. I've saved your Starsea Network IDs. If you have the guts, never buy Lily's Dream Forging experience again!"

"What a bunch of ignorant fools. Heh, I won't waste my time arguing with you. Just wait and see!"

The other side shot back just as ruthlessly.

"Talking big, huh? So you're the one who bought that rookie Dream Forger's immersive experience, you big fool. Hilarious! No wonder you've been talking non stop here losing money and still pretending! If you're so knowledgeable, why don't you tell us what that nameless bird really is?"

As Lily entered the heart of the Starsea Network debate, she saw Ob's comment. She paused for a moment, realizing she had just run into someone who had been generously supporting her. She made a note of the ID name "Ob," then clicked on his profile. To her surprise, she discovered that he was also a Dream Forger. With a small smile, she casually clicked the follow button.

Lily didn't feel much about the attacks or the offensive comments directed at her.

After all, she was still new to this world and hadn't yet developed any strong sense of belonging.

Moreover, even in her past life, in the modern era, she had seen the turbulence of the internet many times. Indeed, history was just a small cycle now, even in the age of space travel, things were still the same.

Logically speaking, by now, someone should have already searched the Starsea Network, using species databases and similar resources, to find information about the Vemai bird.

But up until now, they were still calling it the "nameless bird," even speculating that Lily had been bought by an Avian breeding company to hype up this new species of bird.

Lily watched as Ob quickly fired off reply after reply to others:

"Isn't it obvious? Clearly, Lily is a descendant of some lost ancient civilization. With the Dream Clan's invasion these days and so many ancient civilizations lost, do you think knowledge is just like cabbage, freely available on the Starsea Network? That nameless bird may not be in the encyclopedia, but since the assessment passed, it definitely exists in the more advanced ancient civilization databases. You don't have the clearance to access it, so why even ask? Which year's Dream Forging live competition didn't have a few survivors from obscure civilizations or extinct ones?"

Lost ancient civilizations... obscure civilizations... extinct civilizations. Seeing these words, Lily's fingers froze as she swiped her smart brain. Her mind briefly stalled, overwhelmed by the implications.

She had no desire to continue watching the argument about her, so she switched to the public search interface and began searching frantically.

She searched for "Earth", but found no relevant results.

She searched for "Milky Way", but found no relevant results.

She searched for "Blue Planet", but found no relevant results.

...

She switched search terms countless times, but "No relevant results" kept appearing in front of Lily over and over again.

Sitting on the bird-shaped seat in Avian Square, her eyelids fluttered, and her fingertips trembled slightly.

Her homeland... where is it now?