Nightmare Despair

Chapter 25 The Call of the Nightmare

An idea began to sprout in Zhou Kai's mind.

Go back and cut out the surveillance footage.

But Zhou Kai immediately dismissed the foolish idea and disappeared into the shadows of the street corner without looking back.

I hailed a taxi, gave them my address, and got into the back seat.

“That piece of cloth…” Zhou Kai leaned back, propping his head up with his hand, his brows furrowed.

The scene of the car accident kept replaying in my mind.

A small piece of tattered cloth was hanging from the edge of the dented bumper.

The moment his gaze focused, white steam rose from the edge of the cloth and melted away like dry ice.

A chill crept up the back of my neck from my tailbone.

Intuition reminded him that he had once again stepped into some indescribable quagmire.

Those who stayed at the scene ended up spending a day at the police station, and if they were unlucky, they might have to stay overnight.

He can't afford to waste time tonight.

"I was just a passerby, and I didn't leave any clues."

Bus surveillance cameras are not connected to the internet; destroying the hard drive could theoretically erase oneself.

But it's just theory.

Under the celestial net of the Red Star, do you want to vanish from the face of the earth?

dream.

I left behind surveillance footage; I was just an unfortunate witness to the incident.

Destroy it, and I'll be the prime suspect.

Zhou Kai exhaled a breath of stale air, and a layer of white fog instantly covered the car window.

Hopefully, this mess won't come knocking on our door anytime soon.

After returning home, Zhou Kai locked the door from the inside.

As usual, the broom and mop handles are twisted together to simulate the weight of a two-handed sword.

The starting stance of Soraka swordsmanship.

As I continued to practice, the fatigue in my body surged like waves, impacting my willpower in successive waves.

The stick rubbed against his palms until they were burning hot, and sweat dripped down his brow.

With each thrust, the deltoid, triceps, and arm flexors all protested, overwhelmed by the strain.

It wasn't until 9:30 p.m. that the cold, impersonal subtitles finally appeared at the edge of my vision.

Soraka's swordsmanship experience +1

"Senior Brother Chen is right, this thing really requires a lot of hard training."

Zhou Kai dismantled his prized broom sword and cautiously surveyed his home.

He checked the window cracks, the door lock, the dust on the floor, and then lay down on the bed to meditate.

The buffs are waning, fatigue has brought my physical condition to its lowest point, and my spirit is finally giving in to my body.

Zhou Kai set his alarm and drifted off to sleep in meditation.

Six general experience points are placed in the panel.

After careful consideration, Zhou Kai decided to leave it at that time.

In crucial moments, upgrading items is more likely to turn the tide than upgrading skills.

……

"Xiao Chu, don't be afraid."

“This is my identification… You can think of us as… special hat uncles.”

Huang Zhang waved a black leather wallet in front of Chu Siwen.

The girl's eyes were full of wariness and disbelief.

"The Bureau of Extraordinary Events? Do you think I've never read web novels?"

"Let me go! You kidnappers!"

"I need to go to work! I'll get docked pay if I'm late!"

Chu Siwen shouted until she was hoarse.

If she misses a day, she'll lose two days' pay. How will she afford food this month?
She's only been working there for a few days?

In Chu Siwen's bedroom, Ding San, Huang Zhang, and several other people were surrounding a girl who was tied to a chair.

A girl named Ye Zi sat in the living room, her fingers flying across the keyboard of her laptop, a document displayed on the screen.

[Record of Nightmare Disorder Patient in Xishan City on July 11th:]

Scrolling up, the table of contents is densely packed.

There are anywhere from two to dozens of such incidents each month.

Ding San scoffed and crossed his arms: "Alright, Lao Huang, save your breath."

"If she won't sleep, just give her sleeping pills; she won't die."

"Come out, I have something to say." Ding Sanchao gave Park Hyo-yoon a wink.

The young man, with his sharp eyes, immediately understood: "Don't worry, Third Sister, I know when she blinks."

Ding San pulled Huang Zhang, who was still hesitating, out of the bedroom and said coldly, "It's normal not to believe the first time. If you die a few times in your dreams, even Jesus would believe."

“We’ve done everything we can, and we’ve taught her the rules for survival… She’s courting death, and no one can stop her.”

"Life and death matter."

Huang Zhang's voice was muffled, as if there was a lump of grease stuck in his throat: "I understand."

Ding San looked out the window, his gaze lingering for half a second on the fleeting dark shadows on the rooftops of distant residential buildings, before abruptly pulling the curtains shut.

She turned around, her voice even colder: "To be honest, I wish all nightmare sufferers would die before becoming travelers."

Huang Zhang, Ye Zi, and Park Hyo-yoon all turned their gazes toward them at the same time.

If the bureau hears this, Third Sister's position will be over.

Ding San explained, "The patient died in his dream, and his body remained intact, so there were no future problems."

"But once they become wanderers... and then die, who knows what they might bring with them?"

Huang Zhang knew that Ding San was bringing up that internal paper again—[The Truth About Nightmare Walkers: The Hypothesis of the Infection Source of Anomalous Invasion].

"That's just a guess after all."

"guess?"

Ding San's alluring red lips gleamed with a cold purple hue under the warm light.

"Then guess why we are 'assisting' when we find patients, but when we find wild travelers, we are required to 'control' them in coordination with the police?"

"Those things are more dangerous than you think!"

"How can you be sure that the way they became practitioners was clean? How can you be sure... that the one who returned from the dream is still the same person he was before?"

Ding San flicked his finger and tore off the unsightly cartoon sticker from Huang Zhang's clothes.

With a "rip," it was as if his last bit of tenderness had been torn away.

"Do I really need to remind you every day?"

"Think of your daughter... You joined Dreamless so that there would be no more victims of this plague."

"If I were you, that ridiculous bottom line would have been buried along with Wenwen the day she died!"

"Stop playing house with little girls, get back to work, understand?"

Ding San grabbed Huang Zhang by the collar and pushed him back into the bedroom.

Huang Zhang stumbled and almost fell in front of Chu Siwen.

Chu Siwen shrank back in fright: "Uncle, you, you don't come any closer."

Huang Zhang shook his head, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes vanishing.

He pulled a deck of cards and an old-fashioned pocket watch from his pocket.

None of the core members of the Dreamless Organization are ordinary people.

Ye Zi is a top hacker, and Ding San is a madman who emerged from the underground boxing world in Southeast Asia.

And he?

"I am a detective and a hypnotist."

Huang Zhang drew an Ace of Diamonds.

He gently placed the playing cards on Chu Siwen's forehead, his voice becoming deep and magnetic.

"Nightmare Survival Rules... Now, write down every word I say."

"First, stay away from light sources. You can see light, and so can monsters."

"Second, do not peruse books. Knowledge is a cursed eye."

"..."

"Find your identity document...activate a node...only by finding the anchor point can you become a traveler, can you live!"

"Chu Siwen, go to sleep."

"To the sleepless dream that will eventually end."

……

Buzz!
At exactly twelve o'clock, Zhou Kai's phone emitted a faint electric shock.

But Zhou Kai didn't react at all. He lay on his back, sleeping like a corpse, but with incredibly regular and steady breathing.

A chill seeped from under the mattress, creeping through the entire room like vines.

His consciousness was no longer here.

The long night... has begun.

[Welcome back, those who answered the call...]

Number 777, Soraka Town, fireplace, nursery, and a dialog box popped up.

His frail figure heralded the beginning of a sleepless night.

(End of this chapter)