Safe... For Now

Lightning tore through the darkness outside.

BOOM!

Taking advantage of the thunder, Zhou Kai pushed open the cabinet door, moving with extreme caution to ensure the rotted wood did not creak.

He stepped out.

This medieval-style wooden cabin was completely dilapidated.

The roof had collapsed, leaving a massive gaping hole.

Cold rain, mixed with a foul stench and carried by the gale, slammed relentlessly against Zhou Kai's pale face.

He did not wipe it away.

The rain would not stop.

Wiping it off was useless anyway.

His peripheral vision swept across the wall clock that was still ticking.

...I've entered again, he thought.

BOOM!

A continuous roll of thunder exploded once more. Outside the filthy glass window, a twisted black shadow flashed past.

Under the cover of the roar, Zhou Kai took a deep breath and lunged toward the inner room.

He ducked.

He rolled.

The sequence of movements was fluid and practiced. He lay flat on his back, staring intently at the rotting underside of the bed above him.

"Four, three, two, one..."

The moment the countdown in his mind ended, a deafening crash erupted from the outer room.

The door panel had been smashed to pieces by something.

The wind grew louder.

The rain grew louder.

But what truly made his heart stop was the heavy, damp, and cold sound of footsteps mixed into the wind and rain.

Something had come inside!

Thud... thud...

Thud... thud...

The unknown entity paced slowly through the living room.

Suddenly.

BOOM!!!

The wardrobe where Zhou Kai had been hiding moments ago was pulverized by a flail dragged in from the storm.

Wood splinters exploded outward.

Countless bits of debris scattered everywhere.

Zhou Kai's pupils contracted, and he dared not even draw a full breath.

If he were still in that cabinet...

He would be dead!

Dead, reduced to a blurred mass of flesh and blood.

This was no mere guess.

It was a Memory Fragment of something that had already happened several times!

Zhou Kai remained motionless, forcibly suppressing his breathing and heartbeat.

He was waiting.

Outside, the figure dragging the flail continued to pace, as if searching for something.

A few breaths later, it squeezed through the bedroom door frame and stepped inside.

Icy wind instantly flooded the entire room.

A pair of massive feet stopped beside the bed.

They were unshod, exposed, and a bruised purple, like those of a bloated corpse.

When the lightning flashed again, Zhou Kai's peripheral vision could even make out the congealed, dark red bloodstains on the toes.

Stay calm...

Wait...

Amidst the stench, Zhou Kai held his breath. Under the shroud of death, he forcibly steadied his frantically pounding heart.

Not a single sound could be made.

Once discovered... it would mean death.

A minute passed.

Zhou Kai felt his limbs stiffen, the stones and iron nails on the floor digging painfully into his back.

Has it left... this time...

Last time, it was right here that he had made a faint noise while trying to shrink further back and adjust his posture.

And then.

A hammer fell.

He was reduced to a pulp of flesh.

This time, he had learned his lesson. After hiding under the bed, he hadn't made a single unnecessary movement.

But whether he could survive remained unknown.

Every time I die in the Nightmare, my body in reality grows weaker... I cannot die again!

Zhou Kai's peripheral vision remained locked onto the shadow cast by those massive feet, waiting for a turning point.

Two more minutes passed.

A dull thud of a tree trunk snapping echoed from outside, and the Chain-Hammer Armored Soldier seemed to be drawn away... the footsteps gradually faded.

Until they could no longer be heard.

Yet, Zhou Kai still dared not move.

He had to consider the possibility of that thing returning.

Wait for a clap of thunder.

BOOM!

The thunder roared the exact moment the thought crossed his mind.

Now!

Enduring the sharp pain, he rolled out from under the bed and rose quickly.

Blood seeped from his punctured back, blooming into dark red plum blossoms across his worn white shirt.

There was no time to worry about that.

Zhou Kai pressed against the window, listening intently.

Wind and rain lashed out, thunder hummed.

Good.

That monster had likely truly left.

He was finally safe...

For now.

Zhou Kai, a native of Xishan City, had just graduated from university. His major was the obscure field of Classical Studies, and he had hit wall after wall in his job search.

For the past three months, he had relied entirely on the support of his sister, Zhou Qing, who worked at a well-known pharmaceutical company. Following her advice, he had signed up for a martial arts gym, hoping to learn some combat skills and shake off his decadence.

He had only gone for one day.

The Nightmare had found him.

Starting this Monday, he had entered this Nightmare for four consecutive days.

Today was the first time he had survived for more than five minutes.

Every time he died, his body in reality grew a fraction weaker.

Judging by his current state, he could die at most five more times before he would die in reality as well.

He had to figure out his situation!

He had to survive!

He had to find a way to escape the Nightmare!

As long as the monster was gone, the wind and rain were the best cover.

Zhou Kai could finally begin to explore.

The bedroom remained in that same decaying European style.

On the heavy bed lay a strange stain, as if something had melted and left its residue behind, soaking through the quilt.

Zhou Kai reached out and flipped it over.

Rip.

The quilt disintegrated instantly.

The fibers had completely rotted away.

After a thorough search, the bedroom yielded nothing but decaying furniture and a few photographs where the faces were no longer discernible.

"With photographs, I can at least confirm that the timeline here is after the nineteenth century."

Zhou Kai returned to the living room.

Nearly half of the living room had collapsed, all a "masterpiece" of that Chain-Hammer Armored Soldier.

He decided to search the intact half first.

There was one place he had been curious about from the start, but had never had the chance to examine.

A corpse in the living room.

Watching from a distance, he saw a pair of long boots protruding from the short corridor connecting the kitchen to the living room.

Zhou Kai reached up and took a decorative axe from the wall... the wooden handle was so rotten he couldn't even get a grip on it.

But that didn't stump him.

He took off his shirt, twisted it into a cloth strip, and bound it tightly to the axe head.

A makeshift chain-axe was formed.

He gave it a swing, and the wind whistled.

The heavy metallic feel gave him a sense of security.

Assuming a stance ready to strike at any moment, Zhou Kai cautiously stepped into the corridor.

A moment later, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"This guy... is dead as a doornail."

The so-called "corpse" was actually just a pile of bleached bones encased in heavy clothing.

But this was a Nightmare.

Zhou Kai still used the axe blade to crush the skull of the skeleton.

Just to be safe.

He glanced into the kitchen; there was no danger, and it was unusually well-preserved.

Zhou Kai dragged the remains inside and began to search them.

The heavy clothing, which looked like a mix of a hunting jacket and a padded cotton coat, was too rotted to wear and emitted a sticky, foul stench.

The person must have been a hunter while alive.

In a small pocket inside the clothing, there was a leather pouch.

Inside were a group photo and a badge.

The photo showed one man and two women, with letters written on the back: "Family, dear Louis, Meimei, and me."

"My nightmare... why is it in the West?"

Zhou Kai suppressed the sense of strangeness in his heart and examined the other item.

The badge.

It was made of brass, covered in green rust, and engraved with a deity spreading its arms as if protecting its people.

"What is this thing for?"

Zhou Kai frowned.

The next moment, his expression suddenly froze.

[Item Obtained: Residence Permit (Helen-Backerberg Parish)]

[Can currently be set as "Home"; once set, you may return to the main world.]