Reading is amazing. Writing must be even crazier, to think all of what Murakami wrote came from inside his skull, that he has not only created those characters, but they live inside his simulation and create him as well.
Dreams can be wild, but the writer manufactures their characters from their mind while conscious. The intention and the agency over the creation sets them apart.
I have had only a 1 or 2 lucid dreams, but I couldn't hold the dream state for any appreciable amount of time that I achieved consciousness in the dream world.
I wonder how many writers employ dreams in the creation of characters, if they dream about the stories they write?