Ice

As artistic director, Sophia Kaman had an office of her own at the theater. She partitioned off a section and gave it some simple furnishings to use as a bedroom.

The bedroom was small, but it served plenty of purposes.

First, it saved her a hefty sum in rent. In Manhattan, that meant spending fifty thousand dollars less each year, no small amount.

Second, living at the theater spared her the trouble of traffic jams, giving her at least two extra hours a day to spend as she pleased. Even a little more sleep was welcome.

As for keeping up appearances, Sophia did not care.

The art world had no shortage of eccentric oddballs. Some were orgy fiends who would die without socializing. Others preferred peace and quiet and refused to be disturbed.

With that little partitioned room in her office, Sophia could keep a more regular schedule and preserve her inner peace amid the murky affairs of the world.

After all... the gloomy backstage area was nowhere near as glamorous as the stage.

At midnight, while others were still partying the night away, Sophia had already drifted off in her small but comfortable bedroom.

In her dream...

The theater's narrow corridors were piled with battered prop trunks. Their labels had long since faded, and they were stuffed with masks, ruffled skirts, and useless swords and sabers.

Half-empty powder compacts, wig stands, and scripts covered in graffiti-like scrawls lay scattered throughout the dressing room. Costumes, pieces of scenery, and overturned coffee cups littered the floor, squeaking in complaint when stepped on.

The actors hurried back and forth every day, trampling cigarette butts and candy wrappers into the carpet, cursing missing shoes or broken zippers.

Sophia was dissatisfied with all of it, so everything began to change within a white mist.

A shaft of moonlight seeped through the damaged skylight. The air began to warp, and dust motes spun into a vortex.

The scattered prop trunks stacked themselves up, rising tier upon tier to become a spiral staircase. Wire and strips of cloth sprouted from the steps like vines, twisting into strange handrails.

The dressing-table mirrors swelled and warped into towering arched windows. Flickering runes surfaced on the glass, reflecting the starry sky outside.

A magic tower replaced the theater in her dream, and she was the lonely witch within it, guarding her tiny domain against the encroaching darkness outside.

Lin Rui, in the guise of a demon hunter, forced his way into Sophia's dream. He watched the backstage walls stretch, bricks growing out of the cement, their surfaces covered in moss and ancient carvings.

The lighting equipment melted into chandeliers, and the bulbs became floating blue fireballs.

Ropes on the floor writhed into vines like living snakes and climbed the walls, forming natural bookshelves piled with ancient scrolls transformed from scripts.

Sophia Kaman descended a spiral staircase, her face frosty and her gaze icy. "Demon hunter, you've barged into my magic tower without permission again. What is it this time?"

Lin Rui immediately breathed a sigh of relief and was about to step forward to explain.

But the witch pointed her wand, and an invisible wall of air rose between them. "Say what you have to say. There's no need to come so close."

"All right, all right, I won't come closer." Lin Rui took two steps back. "First, I've done what you asked and contacted the old priest, Essen Borg."

"Very good." Sophia nodded, her expression still cold. "But that isn't a reason to barge in again."

Lin Rui continued, "A fellow named Doyle has colluded with people under you to sell contraband in the magic tower. I tracked them here to punish them."

"Doyle?" As Sophia spoke the name, a layer of frost condensed around her. "I know him. He's a servant of an evil spirit.

"I've wanted to get rid of him for a long time. But he's very careful, always lurking around the outskirts of the magic tower, and he's recruited quite a few fallen ones as accomplices.

"If you want to kill him, I certainly won't interfere. I'll only reward you."

As soon as she said that, a notification chimed in Lin Rui's mind.

Quest issued: Punish the lackey.

A servant of an evil spirit is committing evil around the witch's magic tower. Eliminate him to increase your affinity with the witch.

Quest reward: You may learn one skill from the witch.

A skill? Excellent.

But Lin Rui was not satisfied. He continued, "I'd be happy to kill the evil spirit's servant, but I need your help. How about enchanting my equipment?"

The longsword and leather armor were Lin Rui's white-grade gear, which he carried with him upon entering Nightmare Space. But they really were ordinary, without any additional effects.

"Your equipment really is terrible." Sophia frowned, but still waved her wand. A snowflake-shaped speck of cold light flew out and landed on Lin Rui.

The leather armor was instantly encased in ice, a hard shell condensing over its surface and greatly increasing its defense; the longsword turned gleaming white, radiating a biting chill.

Even Lin Rui's breath came out in white clouds, as though he were standing in bitter cold. Yet he felt no chill himself. Instead, his mind felt exceptionally clear.

He brought up his attribute sheet. Strength and Constitution had increased by one, less than the plus two from the Flame Sword, but Spirit and Agility had increased by two, greatly improving his hand-eye coordination.

"By the way, madam, there are traitors in your magic tower. Surely you're not going to ignore them," Lin Rui said. "A security guard at the door and an assistant who handles the money."

Sophia snapped coldly, "I am the only person in this magic tower, and I cannot leave this place. Those people you mentioned are all peripheral personnel.

"If they've done wrong, go ahead and punish them. Whether you kill them is up to you as well. My only requirement is that you don't let their filthy blood stain my domain."

"Then I won't kill them. I'll teach them a lesson." Lin Rui raised his sword. "How about erasing their memories?"

At the old priest's church, Lin Rui had "delivered" seven hopeless vagrants in one go within the nightmare. The results had been obvious: public safety in the block had improved dramatically that very day.

Rumor had it that a nighttime killer had appeared in the Fortieth Block, specifically targeting vagrants.

The rumor forced many surviving vagrants to seek refuge in shelters. Even the drug-dealing thugs felt the place was too dangerous and moved elsewhere.

But too many deaths had negative consequences. Lin Rui did not want to attract police attention, even if the police might not actually investigate and had no leads whatsoever.

So he felt that killing the primary target in each operation was enough. Secondary targets could be spared for now.

"As you wish." As Sophia spoke, she made to give a casual push and send Lin Rui straight out of the magic tower.

"Wait, give me a Suggestion Technique too!" Lin Rui shouted. "I won't kill that traitor, but I need to erase his memories."

"There's no need for all that trouble. Beat him a few more times, and he'll naturally lose his memory," Sophia shouted back. "One more warning: you cannot barge into my magic tower whenever you please."

After Lin Rui was pushed out, his surroundings changed abruptly, and he returned to the cluttered backstage area.

Only the lighting backstage was dim, and everything was shrouded in blurred double images, indicating that he was still in Nightmare Space.

He took a few steps with the ice longsword in hand and saw a cold light come on ahead.

A figure staggered toward him, pointing at him and swearing. "Bastard! You yellow monkey, how dare you hit me? I'll call the cops and have you thrown in prison to sell your ass!"

It was the manager's assistant who had demanded a kickback. His collar hung loose, blood covered his mouth and face, and even his nose was crooked.

Completely unafraid, Lin Rui stepped forward and kicked him hard in the crotch. Once the man fell, he stomped viciously on his head.

With every stomp, the manager's assistant on the ground let out a scream, his body twitching uncontrollably. After several more, he gradually fell silent and still.

A few minutes later, Lin Rui left the manager's assistant, who had repeatedly lost consciousness, and continued searching backstage.

In the dark, illusory light, one figure after another moved before his eyes.

These were theater cast and crew who had not yet left. Each had their own business to attend to and paid no attention to Lin Rui as he passed. The two sides existed in unrelated parallel worlds.

Andrea had not gone far after leaving. She had merely put some distance between herself and the scene and still glanced from time to time toward where the manager's assistant had been beaten. Even when Lin Rui passed right in front of her, she showed no reaction.

Because none of these people were Lin Rui's targets.

Not until Lin Rui reached the doorway on the theater's second floor did he find the security guard stationed there dozing off. In his sleep, the guard looked as though he had seen a ghost when he caught sight of the demon hunter, who seemed to have walked straight out of a nightmare.

Clad in ice armor, a sharp blade in hand, cold spilling out around him... and a pair of icy eyes that pierced straight into the heart.

The theater lights flickered wildly. Bone-piercing, freezing currents of air gushed from the walls, and an atmosphere of unease grew like spreading vines.

The demon hunter had forcibly dragged this fellow into Nightmare Space.

"Fuck, what the hell is this?" The theater security guard drew his gun without hesitation, aimed at Lin Rui, and shouted, "Stop, or I'll shoot!"

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, Lin Rui abruptly accelerated and swung his ice longsword. An icy edge as thin as a cicada's wing materialized out of nowhere and shot forward...