I tried the new version that you posted with the forest and I think that the journal is a step in the right direction for a guide of how are you supposed to do the things in that dream/area. But still, I'm unable to do that potion in the cauldron that requires (from what I understood) 3 mushrooms, one being the death candle (the ones that emit light during the night), the mindsap and the echo fungus.
I can see that the journal gives us lore and hints that tell us how to advance, but I reached a point that I can't go forward. I discovered that void-forest with the shadows, how to go from the hut to the orange tree then to the slime next to the white tree so you can recover the other key to open the chest inside the hut or the other one that's buried. I obtained the green book to identify the mushroom, I got them, and when I tried to make the recipe nothing happened. After that, I don't know what else I need to do.
And I have to admit, I was reading the last note from the corpse of scientist in the grey area and I got scared when the four-legged beast attacked the MC while I was reading, I didn't expect it. I think that this new area is heading to the right direction ,is spookier compared to the other ones even if this one only has slimes and trees (for the most part atleast). But it migh be the hardest one to decipher compared to the other ones.