Chapter 12 - 9: Should I Avoid Its Edge?

Chapter 12: Chapter 9: Should I Avoid Its Edge?

Shi An’s gaze followed the Witch-dressed Dream Descender, tracking her flowing, silvery-white hair until she dashed into the stairwell and vanished from his sight. Consequently, his eyes shifted downward, catching up to the figure with fluttering hair on the floor below.

Shi An was currently studying the functions of the Safe Zone. He discovered that after sending out an "Invitation," the connection between the Safe Zone shop and the Nightmare World deepened, allowing him to gain a much broader field of vision. Before the "Invitation," his sight was just an Ordinary field of vision; he could only see as much as the window allowed. But after the "Invitation," Shi An found he had gained an extra "Wide-Area Vision." He could use the front door of the Safe Zone as an origin point to look down on the surroundings from a high vantage point.

He thought, "Perhaps I can use this as Celestial Eye Support in the future? It’s just that the range of this Celestial Eye isn’t far enough, and it can’t see through walls."

But even so, the figures of the two Senior Dream Descenders remained within Shi An’s field of vision most of the time. He observed them carefully. This was a rare opportunity. The details of the Nightmare World, the survival methods, and investigation techniques of Dream Descenders... In the past, he could only fill in the blanks with his imagination, but now he could finally witness them with his own eyes.

Thus, Shi An’s eyes closely followed Xi Xue. This definitely wasn’t because he was a pervert, nor was it because Xi Xue’s cosplay outfit made people want to steal a few extra glances. It was purely because he was a power gamer. And obviously, although both were Fusion Stage Dream Descenders, this Xi Xue was much stronger than Old Yao.

He thought, "Old Yao comes from the official Dream Descender organization, the Countermeasures Bureau. Logically speaking, the official faction is indeed the biggest, but Xi Xue seems to be a core member of the civilian organization, the Wizard’s House."

The word "core" was quite significant. In truth, Shi An didn’t understand the intricacies either, but Old Yao had clearly admitted his inferiority.

He continued his train of thought, "Furthermore, K is just an Ordinary person, and Old Yao hasn’t shown any special Ability manifestations. But Xi Xue..."

He had seen it with his own eyes—this girl conjured fireballs barehanded and claimed to have the Ability to control her hair. Having read thousands of web novels, he could certainly imagine all sorts of bizarre and wondrous Abilities, but imagination was ultimately just imagination. Only by seeing them in person could one truly understand how shocking they were.

Suddenly, a loud "CLUNK!" rang out. Shi An noticed that the lightbulbs at the bottom entrance of the dormitory building were going out one after another—first one, then two, then three. If all the lights in this already dilapidated and desolate dormitory building were extinguished, the last trace of civilization would completely disappear.

"It’s lights-out time," Shi An reminded him.

The newbie, K, froze for a moment before snapping back to reality. He hurriedly pushed the door open, stood in the hallway, and shouted downwards, "The Manager says lights-out has started!"

This was his task. If Xi Xue and Old Yao were currently searching inside a dorm room, they might not notice that lights-out had begun. But this simple task was also built on the foundation of having the Safe Zone as a backup.

After shouting, K didn’t hesitate for even a second. He turned around, rushed back into the small shop, and slammed the door shut. He panted heavily, feeling both nervous and excited. Even though he hadn’t encountered any danger just now, if he had been two or three seconds slower, some peril would have likely emerged and locked tightly onto him.

At this moment, realizing that lights-out had begun, Old Yao quickly hurried toward the sixth floor of the dormitory building. He needed to deal with the strange entities in the dark near the Safe Zone. Meanwhile, Xi Xue hid herself somewhere, waiting to take action once the Blood Hand Seal was distracted.

"It’s here!" When the lights completely went out, the tough battle truly began. Shi An’s expression turned solemn.

Acting as bait, Old Yao continuously made a commotion. Xi Xue had stayed in the darkness longer; if both of them were in similar situations, she would have generated a higher aggro level. But at this moment, not only was Old Yao standing in the hallway, he was also acting extremely arrogant.

In just over ten seconds, a chill shot up from his heels straight to the top of his skull.

"It’s here!"

Old Yao held the Ghost Candle he had borrowed from K and gently blew on the wick. Instantly, the Ghost Candle spontaneously ignited without any external flame. The small fire swayed gently, scattering bits of orange-yellow light that tried their hardest to dispel the thick surrounding darkness. In the light, one Blood Hand Seal after another kept Spreading along the walls and floor.

Old Yao took a deep breath. Gripping a rusted steel rebar dismantled from a bunk bed in the dorm, he threw it fiercely.

"CLANG!"

The entire rusted steel rebar snapped on the spot, gouging a scratch into the floorboards. However, the Blood Hand Seal didn’t stall in the slightest, still rapidly Spreading toward him.

He thought, "There’s really no other way, huh." After all, even a Dream Curse Object rarely managed to harm strange entities most of the time, let alone a mere piece of scrap iron. Only a Dream Descender who had developed a Dream Curse Object to its absolute limits had the possibility of fighting head-on against these anomalies.

So, with a rapid "SWISH!", Old Yao retreated directly into the shop.

But the speed of the Blood Hand Seal’s Spreading was still too fast. The Ghost Candle illuminated the handprints but couldn’t drive them away even a bit, and Old Yao throwing the rusted rebar had delayed him for a split second. Before he even had time to close the shop door, the Blood Hand Seal came Spreading up to the entrance with a series of "SLAP, SLAP, SLAP" sounds. Then, with a wet "SPLAT," it crashed into the entrance. Even though the front door wasn’t closed, an invisible barrier stood in the way, blocking it.

The Blood Hand Seal kept slapping against it.

The Blood Hand Seal was incredibly irritable.

The Blood Hand Seal fell into an impotent fury.

The Blood Hand Seal was forced to give up.

Old Yao, who had originally been scared half to death, instantly felt emboldened. When the Blood Hand Seal retreated, he pressed forward. When the Blood Hand Seal advanced, he smoothly retreated. Advance, advance, retreat, retreat. In just a few short minutes, Old Yao’s footwork became increasingly skilled. Like dancing a tango, he played this formidable anomaly right in the palm of his hand.

He thought, "I didn’t know I could be this amazing?"

Of course, Old Yao knew this was all thanks to the Manager. If he were relying solely on himself, he probably wouldn’t have lasted a few seconds before dying at the hands of the Blood Hand Seal. But now, he had held out for several minutes. This long period of darkness was almost over, right? His Spirit was completely tense, causing a massive drain on his energy.

Suddenly, as if his heart had been violently yanked, Old Yao stumbled hard. He looked down to see a faint Blood Hand Seal manifesting on the chest of his trench coat, the mark growing deeper and deeper. His heart rate was accelerating rapidly. Old Yao had a premonition that his heart was about to be crushed alive.

The shadow of death loomed over him. At this moment, his heart felt as though it were being squeezed tight; his whole body trembled, unable to move a single muscle. In his mind, scenes flashed by like a movie. His months-old daughter, babbling softly. His wife leaning against his shoulder, her smile sweet. The Countermeasures Bureau, his teammates, the Nightmare, the anomalies... Numerous images flickered past, finally stopping at the time when he had first descended into the Nightmare.

Actually, ever since then, he knew a day like this would come. The ending for a Dream Descender was always a tragedy. It was just that, if possible, he had hoped the end would come a little slower. He had hoped to see his daughter grow up. But there were no "ifs." Accidents always arrived before tomorrow.

Old Yao closed his eyes.

"THUD!"

He was violently yanked into the shop, slamming to the ground so hard he saw stars. A rope, slipped onto him at some unknown point, was tied securely around his body. The Blood Hand Seal on his chest vanished, and that suffocating feeling of his heart being gripped and crushed receded like the tide.

Old Yao saw that at the other end of the rope was the Manager. The Manager had intervened at the critical moment. He had survived. Like a drowning man pulled from the water, Old Yao was completely drenched in sweat. He pressed tightly against his chest, panting heavily.

It took a long while before Old Yao gradually recovered. With no time to thank the Manager for saving his life, and ignoring the anxious newbie beside him, he realized something incredibly important.

"The anomaly! The anomaly went toward your side!" he shouted.

During the moment he almost died, the anomalous Blood Hand Seal had long since broken away from his aggro. Right now, there was one, and only one, person in the dormitory building during lights-out. And that person was still located very far from the Safe Zone.

"Run! Run away quickly!" Old Yao screamed in a panic.

On the third floor of the dilapidated dormitory building, Xi Xue tossed her silvery-white hair, letting the strands flutter in the air. She stared in the direction of the stairs. She could feel herself being locked onto by some terrifying existence.

The danger in the darkness was rapidly approaching! But she didn’t take a single step back.

"Me, back down from it?!" Xi Xue sneered.