The inhabitants of the Shard are endless, but due to Beads set up, a number have not only been documented but have become fairly common in the rest of the Network, such as the Ooburi, a race of floating orbs covered in colorful patterns with random facial features on their form - ranging from a single large eye to being covered in several noses, and the Chatterbirds, a race of humanoid women with flesh-colored skin, but a face reminiscent of a sort of fleshy beak (think Momo) and creepy wild eyes, who, despite dressing in human clothes and seeming to live in human environments, do little more than wander and occasionally go berserk and attack people, teleporting them to a fleshy maze somewhere else in the Shard - though if they are outside of the Shard, it will instead teleport the victim to the most unpleasant, yet survivable, area in the Shard they're in. In particular, there is a culture in the oldest Bead in the Shard called Yume-ho, which is a society of many beings, both from inside and outside the Shard, who have formed a culture or nation so to speak, albeit quite the weird one, that is considered the ideal starting point for a person who wants to start exploring Yume, as there is more internal logic and you are less likely to lose yourself. For indeed, if a person succumbs to the feeling of unreality the Shard can produce in the minds of those within it, and give up, they will dissolve and become part of the Shard, being reborn as one of its inhabitants in a random area of the Shard. The Shard is not advised for novice explorers even in Yume-ho and surrounding regions however, both due to the threat of dissociation and because it is overall dangerous, unpredictable, and does not follow the laws of physics to any major degree at all, instead the laws of science are decided on an area-by-area basis inside the Shard. There is a particular activity in the Shard that is considered the ultimate test for Meta Manipulators, known as the Path of Isolation. It requires transposing to the Shard while by yourself, meaning you will be sent to a random part of the Shard without any company and effectively zero chance anyone will find you, leaving you by yourself in a chaotic environment full of beings that are not even aware of the 108 Shards. It is a test of willpower and a person's ability to accept the truth of the network and Meta in general, as the isolation combined with the chaotic nature of the shard and the fact it's likely nobody else will ever see what you're seeing will produce a level of dissociation unlike anything else in the 108 Shards, making it much easier to fall into the trap of unreality and fade away into the Shard forevermore. It is a test of endurance, as you are supposed to explore the Shard as long as possible without fading away, until eventually, one of the doors you end up opening will lead you to a white field where, at the end, there is a black, small tower with a white door. Opening the door will return you to the place you consider home, and you will have opened your mind and heart, making it not only easier to learn how to use Meta Manipulation, you will also gain the ability to start performing Lucid Dreaming, a form of Meta Manipulation that allows to to outright manipulate and influence weak reality in various ways, though, like all form of Meta Manipulation, individual techniques need to be honed and mastered rather than being given access immediately. There is a rumor of a mysterious girl who has appeared in many places within Yume, even during Paths of Isolation, who seems to have Lucid Dreaming abilities that can influence not only vast amounts of space and time, but also do so in stable Shards like Yume itself. It is not known if there's any truth to these rumors.