Who Is Peeping

"Soraka Town."

Zhou Kai noted down the name, intending to look it up online after escaping the Nightmare.

The recognizable architectural style and the writing that existed in reality confirmed that this damned place was connected to the real world.

He picked up the Oil Lamp from the ground and held it in his hand. The light source immediately stabilized.

Zhou Kai carefully surveyed his surroundings and discovered that beneath the monster he had dismembered nearby, the pool of filthy blood was still slowly spreading, its edges even retaining an abnormal trace of warmth.

This meant that when he returned to reality, time here came to a standstill.

"It's both good and bad."

Time standing still meant that no unforeseen changes would occur within the area he could observe.

But likewise, if danger approached, he would have nowhere to run.

Huff...

He took a deep breath, and the air pouring from his nose and mouth turned into White Mist in the cold, gloomy environment.

Even his thick clothing seemed unable to block the damp chill, a coldness that felt capable of seeping into his bones.

His body had kept weakening before. Aside from the penalty of death, it was most likely also because he had been eroded by this bizarre environment.

This time, he would have to remain in the dream for longer. The cold and dampness were problems he had to solve.

"Lighting the Fireplace is imperative."

Holding the Oil Lamp, he approached the Fireplace, its glow illuminating the pitch-black firebox.

The dim yellow light outlined jagged white bones within, casting strange shadows over the soot-blackened walls.

Zhou Kai tried tearing down the tablecloth beside it, stuffing it inside, and lighting it.

Crack crack... sizzle.

The flame struggled weakly for a moment before quickly going out.

The same happened when he used dry wooden furniture.

[Not suitable. Keep looking.]

A subtitle appeared on the Fireplace.

Zhou Kai froze for a moment. Fine, then.

It seemed his next objective was clear: explore the first floor of this house, find suitable fuel, and light the Fireplace.

He felt around nearby.

Then he suddenly remembered that the Blood-Stained Axe had been automatically stored in the "Items" tab of the panel when he returned last time.

It felt like spending ten minutes looking for his phone, only to suddenly realize he had been holding it the whole time.

Zhou Kai scratched his head, took out the axe, and gripped it. It felt much more natural in his hand than before.

That was thanks to him going all-in and raising Comprehensive Combat to Level 2. Both his strength and coordination had improved significantly.

They had vaguely surpassed his physical condition before the Erosion.

But he still had to be careful.

Among the monsters here, aside from the Failed Experiment, none of them were likely weaker than him.

"I'll check the study first."

After killing that monster, Zhou Kai had yet to enter the study.

Generally speaking, places guarded by monsters ought to contain something good.

As he walked toward the study door, he had the presence of mind to observe more carefully this time.

On the wall to the right of the study, connected to the stairs leading up to the second floor, hung a Rooster-Shaped Wall Lamp. Its belly was completely empty, with no wick inside.

When he leaned closer to smell it, he caught a strange odor resembling ozone and singed hair.

Beneath the lamp hung three individual photographs framed in Violet Pattern Photo Frames—two men and one woman.

Half the glass on the woman's frame was shattered, and her face had been scratched into a mess, as if someone had frantically clawed at it with their nails in a furious rage.

Of the men's frames, one was clean, while the other was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Zhou Kai examined them closely. The dusty one might have been an older brother—bald, bearded, and huge.

"Were they the original owners of this place? Did one of them turn into a monster?"

Zhou Kai committed both faces to memory. If he could find information on them in reality, it would be an important clue.

The study was small, barely over ten square meters. A bookshelf had toppled over, making the room feel cramped.

Zhou Kai tried not to make any noise as he squeezed inside and looked around.

Most of the books had been soaked through by some kind of liquid. They either could not be opened, or their writing had blurred into an indistinguishable mess.

There were several sheets of Letter Paper on the desk. Though they were stuck to the tabletop and could not be removed, the writing remained fairly clear.

Zhou Kai stopped and read them word by word.

[The fog was too thick. I tried to follow Sir Sullivan's carriage down the mountain, but we became lost in the forest.]

[My dear (obscured by stains), I miss you so much. Are you well in ▇▇▇▇? Once I finish my work, I'll come to you as soon as possible.]

[...]

[They told me to stay at Home as much as possible and avoid going out at night... but damn it, lately every day has been night!]

[Sir Sullivan is a biologist. He gave me a microscope... Why are there so many Eggs in the rainwater?]

[▓▓▓ gave me a packet of seeds. That plant can resist ▓▓▓. If I can hold on a while longer, I'll find a way to send the seeds to you.]

Zhou Kai's gaze grew darker the more he read.

"Every day is night," "insect eggs in the rainwater," "plants that resist something"...

The information contained in these letters was immense.

Click.

Zhou Kai reached out and pulled open a drawer. Inside were several bottles of ink and a glass bottle filled with Scale-like seeds.

[Withered Seed (Upgradeable)]

The description appeared, but nothing seemed unusual.

The desk had three drawers. The other two held a stack of blank Letter Paper and a rather old-fashioned optical microscope, respectively.

Zhou Kai only took the seeds.

The items he carried could only enter the panel when he went to reality. In the dream, once taken out, they could only be carried on his person... and could not be put back.

He continued reading, hoping to find information about fuel.

[Lan Ze brought back a stranger, perhaps from the north... He died after only a few days.]

[Oh, I am repenting. We should not have done that.]

That was where the contents of the Letter Paper ended.

Zhou Kai set the Oil Lamp on the desk and continued searching the cramped study, hoping to find overlooked clues.

The Oil Lamp's flame danced merrily, burning brightly.

As he searched, an absurd thought suddenly nailed his feet in place.

The desk was too messy.

I need to tidy it up, he thought.

The thought had come from nowhere, yet his hand reached uncontrollably toward the Steel Pen.

"Something's wrong." Alarm bells blared in his mind. "I didn't come here to do cleaning!"

But his body had already sat down, his fingers twisting open the ink bottle as though pulled by invisible strings.

He watched helplessly as his hand raised the Steel Pen and aimed it at his own forearm.

His pupils abruptly constricted. He gathered every ounce of willpower to resist this inexplicable action, but his body did not move an inch, becoming a prison occupied by an external will.

"Fuck!"

At the instant the pen tip was about to pierce his skin, Zhou Kai violently broke free of the restraints.

He stiffly raised his head and looked toward the window, half-hidden behind the bookshelf.

First, he saw a small patch of White Mist formed by breathing, appearing and vanishing against the glass.

Then, a face pressed itself against the window.

It was a boneless, deathly pale face like a lump of risen dough. Its eyes were two pitch-black holes, while its mouth stretched into an impossible angle, silently smiling at him.

Huff, huff.

Zhou Kai's heart turned ice-cold. Somehow, a burst of strength erupted from within him, and he grabbed the Steel Pen, intending to smash it over there.

But just as the pen was about to leave his hand, he desperately twisted his wrist and forcibly changed its direction.

The Steel Pen, weighing over a hundred grams, ultimately struck the bookshelf with a dull thud.

He had lost control again just now...

Zhou Kai's expression turned utterly grim.

With its scheme thwarted, the ghastly pale face outside the window instantly twisted, letting out a silent scream.

Having temporarily escaped the control, Zhou Kai struggled to seize the Oil Lamp and staggered out of the study in a frantic run.

What a fucking bastard!

The guy who wrote those letters was absolutely the biggest fucking bastard imaginable!

There was a light-transmitting window in the study, and the bastard had deliberately hidden it behind the bookshelf!