Nightmare Despair

Chapter 80 Beacon
Downstairs at Chu Siwen's house, in the dim glow of the streetlights, Wumeng and her three friends met and exchanged information.

Ye Zi casually sat cross-legged on a roadside bench, her fingers dancing wildly across the keyboard.

"I'm going all out this time. I want to see if that sixth brother can still sneak in and steal chickens when I'm not looking."

She snorted coldly, then began taking notes at this impromptu meeting.

Huang Zhang said wearily, "Last night was the fifth time that child had a nightmare... Zhang Xiaodong has been staying up late to study for a long time, and his body has long been exhausted. He has been in a sub-healthy state."

"After failing to survive five times in a row, his life force was exhausted... By the time we found him, it was too late, everything was too late!"

Ding San spoke calmly, as if stating a fact:
"If we don't make the nightmare syndrome public, the efficiency of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs and our search for people will remain at this level."

"We can only wait for them to search online and expose themselves..."

"Cheer up. A nightmare set in an ancient imperial palace is rated at least C or higher. An ordinary student like me has no chance of survival anyway."

Huang Zhang was silent for a moment, then said, "I know... but is it really right to think like this every time?"

Ding San shook his head.

"There's no right or wrong, this is the reality you have to get used to."

"Moreover, this is already the best ending for him. To die before becoming a Nightmare Walker... he won't have to endure the suffering that follows, nor will he risk turning into a mirage."

"From a certain perspective, he is lucky."

Park Hyo-yoon looked up at the window of Chu Si-wen's house, then lowered her head and said, "Third sister, you really never have a nice word to say."

Huang Zhang shook his head, putting aside this heavy topic; he had other questions.

"Third sister, I'm thinking about something."

"If a patient with a history of nightmares experiences a high-risk nightmare during their first nightmare, can we find a way to switch them to a low-risk nightmare to extend their life?"

Ding San's expression instantly turned cold, and he solemnly rejected the idea: "No."

"First, the distribution of nightmares is completely unpredictable. How can you guarantee that the next one will be low-risk? This is gambling with your life, and with other people's lives at that."

"A few years ago, the Bureau of Extraordinary Events in Dachang City conducted an experiment. They found five Nightmare Walkers and ten Nightmare Patients, and in the same location, on the same bed, they asked them to abandon the anchor point traction... Guess what the result was?"

“Everyone’s nightmare is completely different. The only exception is the nightmare walkers who served as a control group later on.”

A glint flashed in Huang Zhang's eyes: "How did they do that?"

Ding San raised his left hand, which was covered by a black leather glove, and slowly rubbed it in the dim light.

"A unique ability of the Nightmare Walker."

She showed the gloves to everyone; the leather gleamed unnaturally under the light.

“Items from nightmares are called ‘beacons.’ If a nightmare walker possesses one, he can use it to travel to a new nightmare.”

"The longest-lived Nightmare Walker in the records survived for four years. He extended his life by constantly traversing low-risk nightmares... but it was useless, just a temporary fix."

"The first nightmare that a Nightmare Walker anchors to is like a destiny etched into their soul. The more you run away, the more fiercely it chases you, until one day, you collide head-on with it."

"Then, their heads were smashed, their bodies were shattered."

Ding San's expression was serious, as if he were stating a physical law.

She knew little about the specific limitations and greater dangers of this method of prolonging life, so she said no more.

Huang Zhang and Park Hyo-yoon listened with exceptional focus. Compared to Ding San and Ye Zi, they were complete newcomers.

Park Hyo-yoon kept this information in mind, and the more she thought about it, the more suffocating Chu Si-wen's situation seemed.

Her only lifeline turned out to be completely unrelated to her.

She was anchored in a high-risk, real-life nightmare; dying peacefully might be the best relief for everyone.

Just then, as if remembering something, Park Hyo-yoon suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.

"By the way, Third Sister."

"You said before that in the past, Nightmare would only target one infected person at a time. Only after that infected person died would it look for the next target... So, what about the Nightmare in reality?"

"Is the nightmare also one-on-one? Or... is it possible for it to infect several people at the same time, causing them to enter the same nightmare?"

Ding San glanced at the gloves subconsciously, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

Her voice and Ye Zi's voice rang out almost simultaneously.

"There have been precedents for collective dreams."

“It has happened before, but you better pray that this doesn’t happen in Xishan…”

"No one can afford the consequences."

Hwang Jang and Park Hyo-yoon tensed up involuntarily. They looked at each other and saw fear in each other's eyes. Then, without saying a word, they stopped talking.

Some things are more likely to happen the more you fear them.

It's better to just forget about it; at least it will make you feel more at ease.

The sound of leaves broke the suffocating silence.

"I just received news that Metro Line 1 will be completely shut down for the next three days under the pretext of maintenance."

"We will reopen two days after Chu Siwen's death is confirmed."

"Guys, we need to figure out how to get that girl off the hook." "Although we've been trying to help infected people become Nightmare Walkers lately, real-world Nightmares are off-limits... It's time to change our approach and get back to our core business."

Ye Zi finished speaking.

Everyone knows what she means.

"Find, Help, Control, Eliminate"—these four fundamental principles, memorized by heart, are the first fill-in-the-blank question on the annual safety exam.

Now it's time for the last step—pruning.

Ding San reached out and gently touched Ye Zi's head.

"She's right."

She looked up and calmly gazed at the blurry figure secretly watching them from the window upstairs.

The lips opened and closed silently.

This is the best ending for you.

From the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs' perspective, in order to minimize the losses, Chu Siwen should have been secretly executed the moment she was discovered.

However, the implementation of regulations is always carried out by individuals who actually carry them out in practice.

It is impossible for a person to be unaffected by human nature.

Violence, hatred, arrogance, and selfishness are human nature.

Kindness, compassion, fearlessness, and altruism are also human qualities.

Today, this kind of humanity has come to an end.

July 16th, the eighth day since Chu Siwen was infected with nightmares.

More than ten hours later, in the early hours of the morning, came her last nightmare.

This time, Wumeng's mission is to ensure that she fails to survive.

……

In the afternoon, at the Falcon Wing Boxing Gym.

The moment Yang Jing's gaze met Zhou Kai's, he recoiled as if electrocuted, his face turning deathly pale as he buried his head in his fist, furiously striking the sandbag, never daring to look up again.

Many of the students at the boxing gym are just like him.

Zhou Kai was somewhat puzzled.

But it doesn't matter; other people's opinions are irrelevant to him.

He stopped a figure hurrying by and asked in a refined and approachable manner, "Senior Brother Du, you look great after a few days!"

Du Feng's eye twitched violently, and he simply pulled Zhou Kai into a corner.

He lowered his voice and asked incredulously, "Zhou Kai...did you...give Wang Jinquan...?"

At this point, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

"That's not the case..."

Zhou Kai's smile remained unchanged, but the warmth in his eyes cooled down.

However, he cherishes old friendships and knows his limits.

Du Feng's behavior at this moment is annoying, but still within the realm of understanding.

After all, he didn't realize that if he didn't take action, he and his family would be the ones to suffer.

It's a matter of life and death, it's that simple.

Whoever backs down first will die.

Faced with Du Feng's anxiety and doubt, Zhou Kai frowned, then feigned surprise and astonishment, as if he knew nothing about it.

"What? Wang Jinquan is dead? When did this happen?"

"Senior Brother Du, why didn't you tell me about such a good thing sooner?"

Zhou Kai's expression, a mixture of surprise and schadenfreude, seemed genuine, and Du Feng gradually calmed down as well...

Come to think of it, Zhou Kai doesn't seem like the kind of ruthless character who would kill.

Maybe I was overthinking it.

"Sorry... I got a little too excited. This afternoon, news came from the boxing gym that one of the Wang family's venues was massacred. Because you have a grudge against him, I just instinctively..."

Zhou Kai raised an eyebrow, his smile deepening, and said in a deliberately joking and blunt tone, "So, Senior Brother Du, you and Wang Jinquan have quite a conflict, right? And like you said, it was just a fight of pride between us. He didn't get the better of me, so it didn't escalate to that point. You're different. That guy has taken advantage of you quite a bit. If I were you, he really deserves to die."

Du Feng was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Indeed, according to this logic, his motive was greater, so he could only nod repeatedly and say, "Yes, yes... that makes sense."

As Zhou Kai turned to leave, Du Feng stopped him again, saying with a somewhat awkward expression, "Senior Brother Chen Ping told me he saw your message and wants you to go upstairs."

"Okay, thanks." Zhou Kai nodded and walked towards the stairwell.

Du Feng stood there, and as he came to his senses, he was both surprised and frightened, his expression constantly shifting.

Damn, will the police suspect me?

(End of this chapter)