The Worldbuilding Finally Unfolds
As Feng Xue flipped through the book in her hands, her expression gradually became serious. Although there was no information that could be described as hitting the nail on the head, there was still some important information.
For example, death.
The concept of death in this world is extremely distorted. If the contents of this book are true, it means that there is no such thing as a true "accident" in the Real World.
All deaths are orchestrated by some being, and unplanned deaths are not permitted.
Simply put, there is something like a Book of Life and Death that records the time and manner of everyone's death. Apart from that, even if you fall from the world's tallest building, are chased by a high-speed train, are put in a coffin and sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, or are hit by a supervolcano eruption and thrown into outer space, as long as your destined day has not come, you will never die.
It doesn't seem like a big problem. After all, as long as no one can observe fate, it's not really worth considering.
The problem is that the existence of "fate" itself seems to suppress the world's technology and progress.
Looking at the description in the book, Feng Xue nodded slightly. If judged by the standard of his original world, the dream world and reality in this world are nearly thirty years apart. However, considering that the technological progress in his world was slowed down by Material Science, a discipline in which luck plays a large part, the time it took for this world to enter this state may be even longer.
"So, this 'fate' is likely a 'Weird Tale' that has only appeared in recent decades? I don't know if it's Innate Supernatural Tale or Acquired Supernatural Tale, but if it's Acquired Supernatural Tale, then the fact that this thing can cause such a stir is truly remarkable!"
Feng Xue muttered to himself, but continued flipping through the pages. He understood that accidental death was unheard of in reality, but what about death in a dream?
And this book, * the Dreamkeeper's Rules *, did not disappoint him, providing the answer in the prologue—
Dream corruption.
In the Dream World, human development and progress are not affected by fate. In fact, since death only results in the loss of memories between two sleep cycles, the cost of trial and error is even lower.
Although everything is forgotten after waking up, one can still remember things from reality when entering a dream again. Some people even gradually regard reality as an illusion and instead regard the dream as the Real World.
It is for this reason that Dream Guardian refer to entering a dream as being awake, while waking up is described as being asleep.
If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. But the problem is that with each death in the dream, the person gradually becomes dull and numb, until one day, all sorts of alien monsters will hatch from his body and kill more people. The Dream Guardian call this corruption.
The corrupted person does not truly die, but can still be reborn in dreams. However, after being reborn, he will lose his previous numb state and revert to his original personality, as if he has been restored to factory settings. Although it may seem that there is no change, those who understand this mechanism will find it hard not to wonder whether the person in this body is still the same person.
Or perhaps it has already been taken over by something else?
"Judging from the fact that Ghost Hand tried to kill me, I'm afraid that once I'm completely corrupted, I'm truly dead. Tsk tsk, this really is a chilling world."
Feng Xue gently rubbed her head and continued turning the page, where she soon saw the establishment of the Dream Guardian organization.
Strictly speaking, the Dream Guardian are not an organization, but rather a loose alliance of people who are aware of the dangers hidden within dreams.
According to the book, about forty years ago, as people gradually realized that they could be resurrected after dying in the Dream World, many people treated this world as a game. At that time, the Dream World was in chaos, and the desires and madness that were suppressed in reality erupted in a short period of time and continued to spread.
All sorts of crimes permeate the Dream World, and every day countless people die, only to be thrown back into this endless cycle of reincarnation the following night.
This madness created a large number of Corrupted Creatures in a very short time, and those monsters joined this feast of death.
Later, the founders of the Dream Guardian organization realized the seriousness of the problem. They used the Obsession Item left behind by the Corrupted Creatures after their deaths to establish the organization, hunt monsters, and establish order. Decades later, when most of the corrupted creatures had met their Fated Death, the world was able to stabilize.
But ultimately, a dream is a dream. Even without the massive crime frenzy of the past, there will always be people doing dangerous things in their dreams. The low cost of death, coupled with the inherent unpredictability, not to mention the Corrupted Creatures hunting humans, means that the corrupted have never disappeared.
As for why these things aren't made public...
Because ordinary people cannot remember these things, they will forget all memories related to supernatural powers after falling asleep. The way to avoid this is to hunt down the hatched creatures themselves.
According to this book, killing Corrupted Creatures grants special knowledge and has a certain probability of condensing into Obsession Item. Once this special knowledge is acquired, one will not forget memories related to extraordinary powers.
It's worth mentioning that there's no shortage of villains in this world. Some people will deliberately and repeatedly kill the same person, artificially create Corrupted Creatures, and gain knowledge and Obsession Item by killing them. Half of the Dream Guardian's Code is dedicated to condemning this type of person.
At the end of this guide, there are also some mysterious pieces of knowledge, mostly the weaknesses of specific types of monsters, as well as the names of a few Great Existence. According to the book, these Great Existence seem to be the source of Corrupted Creatures, and also the source of the power of Obsession Item.
For example, Hoth of Flesh and Aberration; Ruijin of Procreation and Domination; Grauen of Intoxication and Erosion; and Weebull of Scorching Heat and Decay...
Looking at this information, and then turning to look at the [Grauen's Wine Vessel] on the table, Feng Xue's face showed a somewhat strange expression.
Instead of continuing his divergent thinking, he put down the introductory book and, based on the title, began browsing other books related to Dream Guardian and Corrupted Creatures. Finally, before Qing Jin finished writing his report, he found the root cause of the problem—to solve it before he "slept"—
Just as the physical body in reality does not disappear after a dream, the physical body in the Dream World will still exist after waking up. The Corrupted Creatures will target every Dream Guardian interacts with them and hunt them down first.
This means that if the Corrupted Creatures cannot be completely killed, it is very likely that the person in reality will be killed by the Corrupted Creatures without their knowledge, and when they enter the dream again, all memories related to the Corrupted Creatures will be lost.
"It's confirmed, this is definitely not Innate Supernatural Tale! Innate Supernatural Tale wouldn't have such tricks up their sleeves!"
My headaches are a side effect of the surgery, nothing serious, they just come occasionally, so don't worry.
P. S.: This world projects a daily life of Cthulhu... I just couldn't figure out how a daily life could be in a Cthulhu-themed world, so it ended up being a daily life in reality and a dream-like Cthulhu-themed world. Actually, if you think about it carefully, this setting is enough to develop into a novella.