"The brain wave pulse has taken effect. All subjects have awakened and all physical indicators are normal."
Even though Yi Chen was hanging in the air by the fishing line, he immediately felt the sensation of a foreign object in his palm. The card obtained from the nightmare gift box actually returned to reality.
Although it looked like he had been awakened, with King and Reagan by his side, he could not be completely sure that this was reality.
Verification is required.
Without even having time to say hello to his companions, Yi Chen rushed into the locker room and changed into his gentleman's attire, sensing the presence of Huang Pi and the ancient soul contract signed between them.
Compared to the ungentlemanly behavior of pricking the body with needles, whipping the body with chains, and hanging oneself in public,
It would be better to wear the clothes directly. This mysterious leather that can disrupt the source epidemic area of the Old World and the ancient connection established between the two cannot be faked no matter how powerful the nightmare is.
§You seem to have acquired some strange nightmare substance, which does not dissipate but maintains a fixed form§
Huangpi transmitted the message the moment he put the card on his body, obviously sensing the existence of the card.
"That's right. Because I took the initiative to go deep into the nightmare and connected with the nightmare factor suspected to be a pathogen, the other party gave me this card. I didn't expect that it could be brought into reality."
After Yi Chen gave his answer, Huangpi stopped talking.
“It’s so hot~”
The sleeping clothes developed by the power station are not breathable at all. Due to the rapid metabolism caused by the high tension during dreams, the whole body is slippery and covered with sweat when taking off the clothes.
Considering the possible threat posed by the card, Yi Chen dressed in gentleman's attire and took a full shower in the bathroom.
By the way, I took out the card in my pocket to see what it was.
It is like a living card, with the surface covered with rolling ink-colored substances, moving without taking shape.
As Yi Chen stared at it for a long time, the ink on it began to turn into ancient characters.
≮Nightmare Ticket≯
-
(Note) There is more on the back.
As Yi Chen turned to the back of the card, the ink quickly condensed into rows of smaller fonts.
≮If you want to really understand me, go to 83 Rotka Street and show your card to the gentleman who lives there. He will show you something more interesting.
Remember to come here alone. If there are any followers or if they find that you are being monitored, the event will not be triggered.
This card is for your use only. If it is seen by others, it will quickly disintegrate and become ineffective. ≯
Looking at the information on the back of the card, Yi Chen frowned.
The information above shows that the nightmare has penetrated into Zion. The gentleman living at 83 Rotka Street is likely to have been controlled by the nightmare, or even completely parasitized.
At this moment, Yi Chen's brain was thinking at high speed:
"Once discovered, the card will become ineffective, severing my connection with the nightmare.
Let's hide it for the time being. We can't give up this clue. Our current understanding of nightmares is basically zero, and we must use any means to explore the root of nightmares.
As for the address and the corresponding person given on the card, even if I inform the organization of the assassination attempt on him, it will not have much impact on the nightmare.
Since there is a gentleman affected by the nightmare in Zion, there must be more gentlemen affected.
Phew~ That’s it for now. I’ll summarize the useful information I got from my first nightmare experience. 』
Yi Chen put the nightmare card into the clothing interlayer created by Huang Pi, with multiple isolations. It would be impossible to be discovered unless the tailor disassembled the clothing.
…
Power Station-Comprehensive Conference Room
The three testers and the personnel related to the power station are sitting here.
Everyone started by telling about their experiences, and the methods of exploration and the information obtained were all different.
Gold's method is the simplest and most effective.
“After I killed the nightmare substance that pretended to be William, I was trapped in a square-shaped loop of passages. Since I couldn’t find the exit, I could only start destroying it.
Because the space was so small, the red cancer in my body quickly completed the environmental infection and the entire channel was invaded by cancer cells.
Then I randomly picked a wall to blast, and when the blasting thickness reached about 30 meters, I finally touched the boundary of the dream. I could clearly feel that as long as I crossed the boundary, I would wake up directly.
It's so boring. I thought there would be strong enemies, but in the end there are only poor imitators and simple looping mazes."
Jin casually rolled out a piece of bubble gum, and his slender tongue stretched out from the bottom of the mask and rolled up the bubble gum. He supported his face with one hand, and looked listless.
Next is Reagan's statement.
"I completed 'self-recognition' the moment I entered the dream, and could clearly feel that the nightmare substances trying to invade my brain were blocked by my mental force field.
Instead of killing the nightmare-matter disguised staff, I created an interior space and imprisoned them.
During the three hours of exploration, I tried to conduct a structural analysis of nightmare substances and study the mechanism by which nightmares affect dreams.
Finally, a conclusion was drawn.
The impact of nightmares on us only stays on the surface. If we want to explore it, we must go deeper. In the layer where the concentration of nightmares is high enough, we may be able to locate the root cause of the nightmare.
I crushed the humans disguised as nightmare matter, dissociated them into the most basic liquid state, and then reshaped their structure, trying to create a "nightmare ladder" that can connect to the deeper level.
In the end, because it was not stable enough, the stairs only lasted three seconds before collapsing.
If I have another chance, I should be able to form a more stable ladder."
Reagan did not just give lip service.
He even took a pen and paper and wrote down his principles of analyzing nightmares and the way he created the 'ladder', which shocked everyone present.
Even Yi Chen was surprised. He didn't expect that Reagan could achieve this level after only three hours of initial exploration.
Next it was Yi Chen's turn to explain.
"My situation is similar to Reagan's. I am also aware of the existence of the nightmare level. However, I can't create a 'staircase' leading to the depths like Reagan did. Instead, I used a more stupid method."
This attracted Reagan's attention. He roughly guessed what the stupid solution was. "William, could you..."
"Yes, I chose to actively ingest nightmare matter, and woke up directly on the next level after eating the tentacles that attacked me. If nothing else, the tentacles tasted pretty good."
For a time,
The people present looked at Yi Chen, especially those at the power station who were engaged in scientific research, as if they were looking at a madman.
"What's the deeper situation?" Principal Daisylin asked.
"The concentration of nightmare matter is higher, but I was awakened before I could fully explore it... Since Reagan has a more stable way to go deeper, I don't recommend using this stupid method."
"Um."
The three of them got more information than expected.
Among them, the information about Reagan creating the nightmare stairs is the most important. More people will be arranged to go to the nightmare in the future to try to create the stairs based on the principles given by Reagan.
There is another very important thing - "self-awareness".
Except for special cases like Reagan, whose mental power is too abnormal and who can complete cognition the moment they fall asleep, ordinary people often need to discover the inconsistencies in nightmares before they can realize it.
The organization will subsequently strengthen the thinking of the dream test subjects based on this point.
The meeting is over.
Due to his crazy behavior in the dream, Yi Chen was forced to undergo a comprehensive test to ensure that he was not infected by the nightmare before he was allowed to leave. However, the intervention of Principal Dai Silin greatly shortened the testing time, and she was able to detect that Yi Chen was normal.
"You guys go back and rest for a while. We will definitely arrange for the three of you to enter a dream later.
The contribution made this time will be reported to the organization, and corresponding rewards will be given.”
Daisy looked at the three people in front of her with great appreciation, especially staying on Yi Chen for a few seconds longer. She even conveyed a message with her eyes, asking him to go to the principal's office to discuss star magic when he was free.
Yi Chen walked in front and waved, "Reagan, Kim, I'll treat you tonight, let's go have a good meal."
When Reagan heard the word food, he instantly perked up, the flesh on his face trembled, a large number of restaurant names emerged in his mind and he screened the dishes in advance.
As the three of them walked out of the institute,
At the end of the straight passage, a power station employee was standing in front of a column-shaped identification device with his entire face leaning forward, as if he was about to bump into it.
This scene startled Yi Chen slightly.
But there was no subsequent impact, just a device failure, and the man was trying to repair it.
When the three approached, the employee also turned around and put on a smile, "Director Reagan! Sorry, there is a problem with the identification device. It will be fixed soon."
"Erwan Pound..."
Yi Chen looked at the man's face and couldn't help but say his name.
After all, he was too familiar with her. In his dream loop, Yi Chen witnessed this person's face appearing similar to his 27 times.
"Hmm? Do we know each other?"
When this person shifted his gaze towards Yi Chen, the smile on his face did not change at all, but it felt quite similar to the eerie smile when his face was shattered in the nightmare.
At this moment, the detection device suddenly worked and the safety door opened.
Elwan Pound stood there the whole time, watching the three people leave with a smile.
(End of this chapter)