Answering the Nightmare's Call

A thought sprouted in the depths of Zhou Kai's heart.

Go back and rip the surveillance camera down.

But Zhou Kai immediately strangled this foolish idea, diving into the shadows at the street corner without looking back.

He hailed a taxi, gave the address, and sat in the backseat.

"That piece of cloth..." Zhou Kai leaned back, propping his head up with his hand, his brows tightly furrowed.

The scene at the car accident played back in his mind repeatedly.

Hanging from the edge of the dented bumper was a small, tattered piece of fabric.

The moment his gaze focused on it, white vapor rose from the edges of the cloth, dissolving like dry ice.

A chill crawled up his spine to the back of his neck.

His intuition warned him that he had once again stepped into some indescribable quagmire.

The consequence of remaining at the scene would be a day trip to the police station, or worse, having to spend the night.

Tonight, he could not afford that.

"I am just a passerby; I didn't leave any flaws behind."

The bus surveillance wasn't connected to the network; destroying the hard drive could, in theory, erase his presence.

But that was only in theory.

Under the Red Star Sky Net, wanting to vanish into thin air?

Dream on.

If he left the surveillance, he was merely an unlucky witness to an incident.

If he destroyed it, he would be the prime suspect.

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

He hoped this mess wouldn't come knocking on his door too soon.

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

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

The opening stance of Soraka Swordsmanship.

As he practiced continuously, the fatigue in his body surged like a tide, crashing against his willpower wave after wave.

The handle chafed his palms until they burned, and sweat trickled down from his brow.

With every thrust, his deltoids, triceps, and forearm flexors were all issuing protests of being overwhelmed.

It wasn't until 9:30 PM that the cold text finally popped up at the edge of his vision.

[Soraka Swordsmanship EXP +1]

"Senior Brother Chen was right; you really have to risk your life to train this thing."

Zhou Kai dismantled his precious broom-sword and vigilantly scanned his home.

Window gaps, door locks, dust on the floor—after checking everything, he lay on the bed and began to meditate.

The buff effect was receding; exhaustion dragged his physical condition to rock bottom, and his mind finally bowed to his body.

Zhou Kai set his alarm and sank into sleep amidst his meditation.

6 points of general EXP remained shelved in his panel.

After weighing his options repeatedly, Zhou Kai decided not to touch them for now.

At critical moments, upgrading items could turn the tide better than upgrading skills.

"Little Chu, don't be afraid."

"This is my identification... you can think of us as... special police officers."

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

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

"Bureau of Anomalies? Do you think I haven't read web novels?"

"Let me go! You bunch of kidnappers!"

"I have to go to work! I get docked pay if I'm late, ahhhhh!"

Chu Siwen screamed at the top of her lungs.

Missing one day of work meant losing two days' wages; what was she supposed to do about her food money for the month?

How many days had she even been working?

In the bedroom of Chu Siwen's home, Ding San, Huang Zhang, and several others surrounded the girl who was tied to a chair.

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

[Record of Nightmare Syndrome patients in Xishan City, July, No. 11:]

Flipping upward, the directory was densely packed.

There were at least two cases a month, sometimes dozens.

Ding San let out a scoff and crossed her arms: "That's enough, Old Huang, save your breath."

"If she won't sleep, just force-feed her sleeping pills; she won't die."

"Come out, we need to talk."

Ding San shot a glance at Park Hyo-yoon nearby.

The young man's eyes were sharp, and he understood immediately: "Don't worry, Sister San, I'll know if she even blinks."

Ding San dragged the hesitant Huang Zhang out of the bedroom and said coldly: "It's normal not to believe it the first time. Die in a dream a few times, and even Jesus would become a believer."

"We've done everything we could, and we've taught her the rules for survival... If she insists on seeking death, no one can stop her."

"Life and death are fated."

Huang Zhang's voice was muffled, as if his throat were clogged with grease: "I understand."

Ding San looked out the window, her gaze lingering for half a second on a black shadow that flashed across the roof of a distant residential building, before she abruptly pulled the curtains shut.

She turned around, her voice even colder: "To be honest, I wish all Nightmare Syndrome patients would just die off completely before they become Walkers."

The gazes of Huang Zhang, Ye Zi, and Park Hyo-yoon shot toward her simultaneously.

If the Bureau heard that, Sister San's position would be at an end.

Ding San explained: "When patients die in their dreams, their bodies remain intact, leaving no aftermath."

"But once they become Walkers... if they die again, no one can say for sure what kind of things they might drag out with them."

Huang Zhang knew she was bringing up that internal paper again—[The Truth of Nightmare Walkers: The Infection Source Hypothesis of Anomalous Incursions].

"That is, after all, just a hypothesis."

"A hypothesis?"

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

"Then guess why we 'assist' when we find patients, but have to coordinate with the violent suppression departments to 'contain' wild Walkers?"

"Those things are more dangerous than you can imagine!"

"How can you be sure their method of becoming Walkers is clean? How can you be sure... that the one who returns from the dream is still the original person?"

Ding San flicked her fingertip, tearing the unsightly cartoon sticker off the corner of Huang Zhang's jacket.

With a rip, it was as if she had torn away his last shred of tenderness.

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

"Think about your daughter... you joined Dreamless so that this plague wouldn't have any more victims."

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

"Stop playing house with the little girl, get to work, understand?"

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

Huang Zhang stumbled, nearly falling in front of Chu Siwen.

Chu Siwen shrank back in fear: "Mister, p-please, don't come over here."

Huang Zhang shook his head, the last flicker of hesitation in his eyes extinguishing.

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

Not a single core member of the Dreamless organization was an ordinary person.

Ye Zi was a top-tier hacker, and Ding San was a lunatic who had fought her way out of underground boxing matches in Southeast Asia.

And him?

"I am a detective, and also a hypnotist."

Huang Zhang drew a Diamond Ace.

He pressed the card gently against Chu Siwen's forehead, his voice becoming low and magnetic.

"Nightmare survival rules... now, memorize every word I say."

"First, stay away from light sources. If you can see the light, the monsters can too."

"Second, do not open books. Knowledge is an eye that curses."

"..."

"Find your proof of identity... activate a node... only by finding an anchor can you become a Walker, and only then can you live!"

"Chu Siwen, sleep."

"To the sleepless dream that will eventually end."

Bzzzt!

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

Yet Zhou Kai showed no reaction; he lay flat on his back, sleeping like a corpse, though his breathing remained incredibly steady and rhythmic.

A chill seeped out from beneath the mattress, crawling across the entire room like vines.

His consciousness was long gone from this place.

[The long night... has begun]

[Summoned, welcome... back]

No. 777, the Fireplace, and the Nursery in Soraka Town all popped up dialogue boxes simultaneously.

To his frail figure, they announced the prologue of a sleepless night.