Japanese Terrorist: What? I'll fight Hellstar!

Amamiya Rin suddenly opened her eyes.

The unfamiliar white ceiling was in sight, and sunlight leaked in through the gaps in the curtains, cutting a thin strip of light on the wall.

"Is this... a hospital?"

Amamiya Rin instinctively tried to get up, but found that her whole body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead, and it took a lot of effort just to straighten up.

My head felt heavy, an indescribable feeling of exhaustion, as if I had stayed up for three days and three nights straight.

Amamiya Rin barely managed to raise her arm, supporting her head as she looked around, filled with surprise and uncertainty.

He remembered that he had just been in a university classroom, where Professor Matsuura was explaining hypnotic induction techniques with a pocket watch in hand, and the sunlight outside the window was lovely... How did he end up in the hospital in such a daze?

"Am I working too hard?"

Amamiya Rin muttered to herself.

If staying up all night in internet cafes can lead to sudden death, then it seems quite normal that staying up all night studying can cause dizziness and require hospitalization.

However, Amamiya Rin felt that something was not right.

He frowned, deep in thought, and gradually, memories from long ago slowly surfaced from the depths of his mind.

"Oh, right! I had a long dream!"

Amamiya Rin finally remembered.

A year ago, he was transported to the body of a person in a vegetative state in an island nation and discovered that he was under the curse of "Long Dream". In order to overcome this curse, he consulted Professor Matsuura about hypnosis.

The following year was entirely a dream experience. Because the time spent in the dream was so long, he even forgot for a moment that he was dreaming.

"This is getting more and more dangerous. This is only the fourth time I've had this dream, and the timeframe has already stretched to a year?"

Amamiya Rin rubbed his forehead, feeling that he might have been cursed and tricked. Although he had long forgotten the contents of the comic, the protagonist of "Long Dream" did not seem to have such a long dream span.

"Is it because of them?"

Amamiya Rin couldn't help but speculate.

Through the connection with [Kara], he could also sense that there were four people, no, five people, including Hashimoto Ayaka!

In Amamiya Rin's perception, the fifth person's will was not much different from the first four, and they had probably already assimilated into one mind.

Moreover, as time went by, he felt his connection with those five people growing stronger.

Their thoughts were constantly influencing him, and he was only able to temporarily escape their thoughts by strengthening his willpower through swordsmanship training and hypnosis.

(We still need to find a way to get rid of them as soon as possible!)

A cold, murderous intent flashed in Amamiya Rin's eyes.

In the afternoon, Amamiya Rin met with Professor Matsuura again.

Professor Matsuura frowned, seemingly troubled by something, and even looked somewhat irritated.

Professor Matsuura sat down on the edge of the bed and asked bluntly, "How are you feeling? How long did this dream last?"

Amamiya Rin said with a wry smile, "A year. In reality, I only slept for a while, but in my dream, a whole year has passed. And the longer the time goes by, the more sluggish my brain becomes... It's not the kind of sluggishness where thinking is slow, but rather a lack of clarity. My memories are assimilated by the dream, I focus on my current identity, forget that I'm dreaming, and it's hard to be distracted. My memories are so confused that when I woke up, I didn't even realize what had happened."

Professor Matsuura adjusted his glasses and said thoughtfully, "The time span has increased significantly again. As for the sluggishness you mentioned, that's a very common phenomenon. Ordinary people can occasionally realize they're dreaming, but if they don't wake up, they quickly fall back into an unconscious dream state. This is a case of mental overload. You've studied that book, 'The Guide to Lucid Dreaming,' right? Using the techniques in 'The Guide to Lucid Dreaming,' you can prolong the lucidity during dreams."

"Yesterday I read through all three books: Hypnosis, Lucid Dreaming, and Hypnosis Theory and Practice. I dreamt that I was in a classroom and you were lecturing. Now that I think about it, I attended that class for a year. But thanks to that, I've gained some knowledge about hypnosis."

Although she spoke modestly, Amamiya Rin's tone was very confident.

Even though he only read it once, his subconscious mind would manifest what he saw in his dreams. The three textbooks were not very difficult, and they also had Professor Matsuura's annotations. After a year of study, he had thoroughly mastered all three textbooks.

"Then try it on me, let me see how much you've got."

Professor Matsuura became interested and took out his pocket watch, handing it to Amamiya Rin.

Amamiya Rin did not refuse the request, after all, hypnosis is not some kind of sorcery or magic... at least the hypnosis he learned was not, and it would not cause any harm to others.

Taking the pocket watch, Amamiya Rin took a deep breath to calm herself. Recalling the steps in the book, she began by adjusting her breathing, gradually helping the professor relax her body, and then slowly guiding her consciousness into a more open state.

The process went more smoothly than I had imagined.

Professor Matsuura did not resist deliberately; in fact, one could say he actively cooperated with Amamiya Rin's guidance.

About ten minutes later, Professor Matsuura's breathing became long and deep, and his facial muscles completely relaxed.

Amamiya Rin asked in a gentle voice, "Professor, have you been having any troubles lately?"

"...It's a case."

Professor Matsuura frowned unconsciously and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"case?"

"A serial murder case, specifically targeting young women. This is the fourth one. The crime scenes are very clean, and no clues can be found. The First Investigation Division is completely stumped."

"Aren't there any clues?"

Amamiya Rin also frowned.

In the real world, he would think that the police in the island nation are all useless and that such a situation is normal. But this is a world with strange tales and legends, and there may be some supernatural phenomena.

"No, there were no traces at the scene. The victim was a young woman and had no connection to anything else. The media kept asking questions, and there was pressure from above... but the autopsy report could provide almost no further help except that the cause of death was excessive blood loss."

Professor Matsuura murmured.

These were things that shouldn't have been told to ordinary citizens, but Amamiya Rin's hypnotic techniques enhanced Professor Matsuura's desire to confide and his trust, causing him to complain.

At this point, Professor Matsuura paused for a moment.

"Very good, Amamiya-kun."

He rubbed his face, his tone returning to normal.

"The guidance was very smooth, and the hints were just right. It seems that the year I spent studying in my dream wasn't wasted."

"It's because you taught me well."

Amamiya Rin breathed a slight sigh of relief and spoke in a respectful tone.

Although it wasn't in the real world, he did study under Professor Matsuura for a year.

"But it seems I'm really tired. I've been rambling on and on about work. I shouldn't have told you these troublesome things."

Professor Matsuura smiled, but his face was bitter.

"It's alright," Amamiya Rin shook her head, "If there's anything else I can help with..."

"You should learn hypnosis first," Professor Matsuura stood up, patted Amamiya Rin on the shoulder, and said in a somewhat heavy tone, "Master self-hypnosis as soon as possible. The [Long Dream] is not as simple as you and I think. It has already stretched to a year. Hypnosis before going to sleep has limited effectiveness for long dreams... Amamiya, the human brain has its limits."