Jia Xiu Makes a "Gift" for Hannas

"Constructing a dream..."

In the laboratory, Jia Xiu studied the amulet he had just swindled from Cleric Karl.

That cleric had been far too honest. If there was business in the future, he should look to people from the Church.

Just the +1 Perception attribute on this amulet already made it worthwhile.

And it even had an enchantment. He had struck gold.

"Only effective on targets who voluntarily accept being drawn into a dream."

That made it rather useless.

Jia Xiu roughly figured out what the amulet was for. It was standard equipment for missionaries of the Church of Light. Its form might vary—it could be an amulet, a circlet, a staff, or something else—but the effect was always the same: drawing people into dreams.

It was part of the Church of Light's fixed proselytizing process.

Believers had to confess their sins, and dreams were an environment better suited for letting down one's mental defenses.

And believers entered dreams voluntarily.

Jia Xiu had no intention of becoming a cleric, nor did he intend to become some understanding big brother as a judge. Where was he supposed to find people willing to enter dreams?

Wait, no.

He suddenly remembered that Margaret's rare ring was still here. That ring had a Dominate Humans enchantment.

Dominate them first, then pull them into a dream. A combo.

It would be a waste not to try that on Hannas.

So what kind of dream should he customize for that young nobleman?

Jia Xiu began trying to create one.

Constructing dreams was simpler than he had imagined. As the caster, he first brought himself into a dream, then entered a space he could arrange as he pleased.

He did not even need to "write code." It was somewhat like terrain editing and blueprint functions in an engine. There were fixed logic runes, and he could piece together the needed scripts through them.

As long as he could imagine an appearance in his mind, it would immediately appear within this space.

It felt like returning to his old profession, except this was an ultra-convenient version.

Back when he had worked at a game studio, although his position had been lead programmer, it had been a small studio, so everyone needed to possess a variety of skills.

Programmers not only had to write code, but also fill in as planners to design systems, make levels, even write some plot, adjust the UI, and so on.

A true full-stack developer.

Jia Xiu quickly put together a scene within the dream space.

If a cleric from the Church of Light saw what he was doing, they would surely cry out that he possessed the sacred body of a missionary.

The scene Jia Xiu created was a vision of Hell that perfectly suited this world's setting.

The wind was mixed with sulfur. Lost souls and Demons covered the ground. Purple-red storm clouds filled the sky, while rolling lava, bottomless ravines, grotesque spires, and anguished wails were everywhere below.

It was practically a mishmash of every Hell cliché from adventure stories.

The script Jia Xiu prepared for Hannas was a complete experience of every cruel punishment in Hell.

After roughly running through the script once, Jia Xiu shook his head.

"Tsk—"

He was not very satisfied. It was already terrifying, but it still lacked something.

It should frighten Hannas badly, but his goal was not merely to frighten Hannas. Ideally, he wanted to scare him insane—drive him into a mental breakdown.

Jia Xiu wiped away the Hell scene he had built. It had not taken much effort to create anyway.

For the new scene, he changed his approach and built an enormous asylum. The lights flickered between bright and dim, the paths were twisting and narrow, and it was filled with mentally unstable patients—deranged, bloodthirsty, and brutal.

And Hannas would have no means of fighting back in this setting. He could only run helplessly.

Jia Xiu looked it over several times.

"Not bad. It has the feel of Outlast."

After finishing that scene, Jia Xiu felt his creative momentum rising and his urge to create overflowing.

The horror produced by jump scares and gloomy settings did not feel like the highest form of horror.

What Jia Xiu wanted most was the kind of effect where, in broad daylight and without anything suddenly lunging at you, the straightforward progression of events alone made you feel an icy, despairing chill.

How could he achieve that effect?

Jia Xiu thought it over and over.

Like the horror stories that might appear in everyday life...

Got it!

Inspiration exploded in Jia Xiu's mind.

Very soon, he successfully created a dream involving "family," "loved ones," "irresistibility," "ethics," "torment," and "utter despair."

Jia Xiu experienced it himself once.

As a veteran horror connoisseur who had played countless horror games and watched all kinds of horror movies, he could not endure it after experiencing it for only a few minutes.

His spine turned cold and his entire body trembled, forcing him to withdraw.

It was too terrifying.

Anyone who went through that would go insane.

Jia Xiu put away the amulet containing the new dream, ready to let Hannas experience it properly when the right opportunity arose.

After finishing all that, Jia Xiu felt a little tired.

"Ah, I'll relax by doing two sets of past exam papers..."

A few days later.

Cult of the God of Deceit and Curses hideout.

Jia Xiu spent the enormous sum of 50 Kroner to decorate the cave.

He had basically bought some counterfeit goods from street stalls that pretended to be magical items, using them as props for the escape-room puzzles.

There were also several rune stones, used to spray smoke, flash lights, and produce eerie sound effects.

The "ritual implements" Billy had messed up while experimenting with rituals—dried hearts, corrupted crystals, face-shaped vines, and all sorts of other junk—each looked thoroughly sinister. They were now put to use as well, arranged around the cave to create an atmosphere.

Once everything was set up, the formerly shabby cave finally had quite a bit of cultish flavor.

But in Jia Xiu's view, it was far inferior to the dream he had prepared for Hannas.

This was a tourist attraction, after all, not something meant to scare visitors to death.

Besides the setting and atmosphere, every cultist in the cult had also been mobilized. They put on cult robes and pointed hats sewn by Aunt Susan from leftover scraps, acting as NPCs in the cave. They were responsible for interacting with tourists to advance the plot, or simply scaring people and chasing tourists all over the place.

Once all the cultists were dressed, Jia Xiu inspected them.

"Hmm... not good enough. It feels like we're missing someone. Someone especially iconic, someone with a real presence—someone who, at a single glance, radiates the aura of an evil organization."

Jia Xiu carefully looked over every cultist. They were too ordinary.

Their bearing made them seem like roadside background characters.

There was nothing to be done about that. They were roadside cultists to begin with, not even particularly evil among cultists.

Where could he find a suitable central figure for the cult?

Ideally, they needed to have an innately sleazy, sinister aura. With just a little dressing up, merely standing there would make people feel uncomfortable all over.

Based on those requirements, a figure gradually emerged in Jia Xiu's mind.

A few minutes later, inside a laboratory meant for a single user at the Caster Association.

This laboratory was only used by one person, not because he had, like Jia Xiu, received funding from a mentor to reserve an entire room, but because no one wanted to stay in a laboratory with him.

"Jack, I have a very good job to recommend to you."

"Oh, Jia Xiu, you're such a good person. None of them are willing to talk to me."

Jack spoke in a pitiful tone.

Of course they were not willing to talk to you.

Jia Xiu did not have the heart to say it aloud.

Jack's eyes always seemed to be sneaking glances at something. His eyeballs darted around, never meeting anyone's gaze directly. His eyes always slid toward places they should not look, and his gaze practically seemed tactile—as though being looked at by him was the same as being groped.

A half-smile also hung constantly on his lips. No one knew what exactly he was laughing at. His hair was greasy and hung limply against his scalp, while his mage robe was filthy and stained with suspicious marks.

Combined with behavior that perfectly matched his appearance, it could be said that his reputation had spread far and wide.

"This job is to play the cult leader in a new tourist attraction. I can offer you a daily wage of 10 Hel."

That daily wage counted as high income in Creekwood Town.

"Wonderful, I'm willing to take this job. Actually," Jack said, licking his lips, "I accept other forms of payment too."

"No need. Money will do."

Jia Xiu immediately cut off Jack's troubling train of thought.

He only wanted to finish the discussion and leave as quickly as possible. There was clearly no strange odor in this laboratory, yet he constantly felt as though he could smell one.

It could only be attributed to Jack's powerful aura.

"All right." Jack sounded slightly disappointed as he agreed. "But there's one more thing. I'm just an ordinary, law-abiding mage. How am I supposed to play a cult leader?"

"Uh... tone it down a little. Just tone it down a little, and you'll look exactly like one."