The Long Night

All along, he had only been touching the tip of the iceberg that was the Nightmare.

Zhou Kai was well aware of this.

In those first few times, he hadn't even lasted more than a few minutes.

Once he activated Home and Fireplace, he had scurried about like a gopher, just trying to survive.

The longest he had ever lasted was a mere two hours in the dream.

As an unlucky soul chosen by the Nightmare, the horrors he had witnessed were still far too few.

They were nothing compared to the natives who had died here.

They burned monsters, cultivated strange plants, and exhausted every possible means to survive... they were his predecessors.

They had died, or they had turned into monsters themselves.

Could Zhou Kai survive longer than they had?

If he relied solely on his own fumbling, the answer was no.

Zhou Kai knew that he had to squeeze every bit of value out of his only two advantages if he wanted to struggle on and live.

First, all the legacies left behind by the natives.

Second, his own unique efforts and sweat...

[Fatigue has vanished]

After sitting by the Fireplace for a moment, the fatigue accumulated in reality was licked clean by the flames.

Warmth enveloped his body, and in a daze, Zhou Kai felt as if this forced conscription was no different from him entering the dream of his own volition...

But the dialogue box that lingered in his vision reminded him that tonight would be anything but easy.

[You will be unable to leave the Nightmare for twelve hours]

[The residents of Soraka Town are gradually becoming aware of your existence]

[If you stand still, the darkness will devour your shadow]

"Aware of... my existence?"

The prompt from Home made Zhou Kai gasp, and a chill that even the flames of the Fireplace could not dispel began to spread from his heart.

He chewed over the implications of these lines, knowing full well that it was time for him to get out and get to work.

He glanced down at the Fireplace; the fuel durability had thirteen minutes remaining.

He took a deep breath.

Zhou Kai retrieved the oil lamp and the Rusty Two-Handed Sword from his inventory.

Now that he had mastered the basics of Soraka Swordsmanship, the heavy axe could temporarily retire.

In terms of both attack range and destructive power, the axe was a cut below this greatsword.

He swung the hilt silently a couple of times, then crouched low, resting the less-than-sharp blade on his shoulder.

This posture made him look like a coiled viper, ready to strike with a lethal blow at any moment.

The Nursery in the basement was as usual; the Moonlight Orchid was growing well, and the fertility of the soil looked like it could last for a while longer.

Tonight, Zhou Kai's first goal was clear.

"First, thoroughly search this house."

He gripped the hilt tightly, the leather wrapped around it providing a rough, reliable friction.

It calmed his anxious heart far better than the smooth handle of the axe ever could.

He stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor.

The light from the oil lamp at his waist was dim and yellow, its fuel running low...

If necessary, he would not hesitate to feed it with his general experience points.

The weak light struggled to push back the darkness, allowing Zhou Kai to see the scene within three to five meters around him.

The wooden stairs leading upward were narrow and empty; the original carpet had long since rotted away, leaving only a thick layer of dust.

With every step he took, the rotten wood groaned, and dust scattered and flew through the beam of light.

Rounding a corner, Zhou Kai reached the second floor.

It was a landing about a third the size of a living room, surrounded by three closed doors.

A chandelier should have been hanging from the center of the ceiling, but now there was only a black hole over a meter in diameter.

Above the hole was the attic, accessible via a retractable ladder in the corner.

Everything was the same as he had last seen it; nothing had changed.

Carrying the greatsword, Zhou Kai held his breath, hunched over as he approached the door to the master bedroom, and reached out to grasp the brass doorknob.

The doorknob was covered in verdigris, looking as if it would crumble into powder at the slightest touch.

He applied pressure slowly, but the knob turned halfway and suddenly jammed.

"Locked?"

He rubbed the rust away with his thumb, revealing a blocked keyhole.

"A pity, I'm in no mood for puzzle games."

The key was likely somewhere in this house, but he hadn't found it, and he certainly didn't have the time to look for it now.

Zhou Kai braced himself against the door, ignored the resistance, and twisted with a surge of muscular force.

Click!

With a crisp snap, the doorknob and the internal lock cylinder were wrenched off, pulled clean out of the door.

The wooden door was flimsy enough that, had he not been worried about the noise, he would have simply kicked it open.

He pushed the door ajar.

Faint light crept into the room like tentacles.

Zhou Kai's gaze followed the light.

He scanned left and right.

The moment he prepared to step inside, his eyes locked onto something.

A bolt of lightning exploded outside the window, illuminating the town for an instant.

The light poured in through the bedroom window, intersecting with the glow of his oil lamp.

And there, cast upon the tall silk screen in front of the window, was the distinct shadow of a thin, elongated figure.

Zhou Kai instinctively turned sideways, using his body to shield the lamp's light, his eyes narrowing into slits as he stared fixedly at the shadow.

Soon, the lightning vanished, and the figure retreated into the darkness.

Hoo!

He held his breath, calculating just how conspicuous his dim oil lamp made him in the dead of night.

Gripping his sword with both hands, Zhou Kai stepped forward, inch by inch.

The screen's colors had faded, its patterns blurred and indistinct, yet as it loomed larger in his vision, even the grime on the wood became crystal clear.

Zhou Kai lunged forward, circling around to a position where he could see behind the screen.

However...

"Empty?"

The space behind the screen was completely vacant.

This discovery made Zhou Kai's heart tighten instantly.

Because...

If there was no one behind the screen, then whatever had cast that shadow had either moved to another corner of the room—perhaps right behind him—or it was...

Zhou Kai's gaze slowly shifted toward the pitch-black glass window, where the faint patter of raindrops could be heard.

"It's outside the window!"

He remembered that when he ran into this building, he had vaguely seen a platform outside the floor-to-ceiling window of the second-floor master bedroom.

It must be an open balcony.

So, should he approach to take a look?

Or should he continue to cower in this building, waiting for death like a coward?

The oil lamp's fuel was running low, and the Nursery needed its fertilizer replenished.

The cold and the sense of foreboding would soon render him unable to move.

The hints from Home were already clear enough.

Perhaps only when Home itself was in a state of "burning" or "growing"—a state of being "alive"—would it be valued by Territory Law and be qualified to shelter him.

It wouldn't be long before this house "died"...

By then, it would be no different from the dilapidated mansion he had encountered during his first Nightmare.

He was still far from being able to relax in this Nightmare!

Zhou Kai steeled his heart and made his decision.

He was already far stronger than he had been in the past; he had the capital to take a risk!

Step, step, step.

Zhou Kai walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window.

The light from the oil lamp fully illuminated the entire pane.

Tap. Tap.

A pair of slender, enormous hands pressed gently against the glass.

"Hee, haha."

Through a layer of greasy grime, a pair of eyes with pupils as small as wheat grains locked onto Zhou Kai's gaze.