Chapter 16 - 13: Paying a Visit

Chapter 16: Chapter 13: Paying a Visit

DING DONG!

DING DONG!

He wondered who it could be.

Shi An looked at the door. There were a few people in Baijiang who knew his address, but Hajilu was probably the only one who would show up without a message or a call. The doorbell at Shi An’s house rarely rang. Other than Hajilu, it was usually takeout, takeout, and more takeout.

But it was early in the morning. Well, not especially early—it was almost time for work—but...

"Hello, community survey."

He thought this sounded just like a classic excuse used by the cops to get the door open.

Shi An suddenly realized something. Or rather, he had been aware of this possibility ever since he learned more information from Old Yao, or perhaps even earlier when he went to investigate Old He’s residence.

The authorities. Shi An had long suspected that the authorities were blocking all information related to Nightmares. He had become even more certain of this after hearing from Old Yao and K.

"Nightmare-related information is strictly prohibited from being spread to ordinary people. The more one knows about Nightmares, the easier it is to be entangled by them and fall into the Nightmare World!"

It wasn’t just the authorities. The vast majority of Dream Descenders consciously curbed the spread of Nightmare information, restricting it to their own small circle.

Shi An ran through his thoughts, then stepped forward to the door. Keeping it closed would be useless anyway. He had already gleaned a bit of the Countermeasures Bureau’s style from Old Yao and K. Since he had anticipated this scenario, he had already devised a few countermeasures.

CLICK.

Shi An opened the door. Outside, there were no burly men in black trench coats or black suits as he had imagined. Instead, there were only two very ordinarily dressed people. The man in the lead looked to be around thirty years old, with an amicable expression. The person following him, however, had a youthful face, looking like a high schooler or possibly even a middle schooler.

If this were a community survey, this duo would be very bizarre. But if they were from the Countermeasures Bureau, it made perfect sense. Not only that, but Shi An could faintly detect a trace of ominous Qi coming from the young man.

It was the Qi of a Dream Curse Object!

Shi An invited the two inside to sit and poured them two glasses of water.

"Hello, Mr. Shi. My last name is Song. We’re here today to conduct a survey regarding..."

"Regarding Nightmares, right?"

Before Song Qiming could finish his carefully chosen words, he was interrupted.

He wondered if this was right, and if it made any sense. The normal procedure was supposed to go like this: they would point out the matter of the Nightmares, and the Dreamer would go from disbelief to unease, and finally to acceptance. After that, they would erase the Dreamer’s memories related to Nightmares, prevent the Nightmare information from spreading, and then wrap up work to head to the next house.

Song Qiming was an experienced clerk who had handled similar cases many times. He had encountered people who refused to cooperate or even resisted violently. However, this was the first time he had seen someone as calm as Shi An, who even seemed to be taking control of the conversation.

"It seems Mr. Shi knows quite a bit about Nightmares. That makes our job much easier. We’ve found out that you’ve been paying attention to Mr. He Sinan’s disappearance lately. We can indeed tell you that his disappearance is related to Nightmares. Moreover, Mr. Shi, you should be able to guess that any information related to Nightmares is strictly forbidden from leaking out."

This was exactly as Shi An had expected. From beginning to end, he was just an unremarkable, ordinary person who had never been entangled by a Nightmare. His only connection to Nightmares was Old He! He had visited Old He’s rented apartment, and both he and Hajilu were paying attention to Nightmares. It wasn’t exactly a secret if someone bothered to investigate. It wasn’t surprising that the Countermeasures Bureau’s vast network could trace things back to him.

"So, you’re here to block the Nightmare information?"

Song Qiming nodded. "The spreading of Nightmare information isn’t a good thing for the entirety of Baijiang, nor for you yourself. Mr. Shi, you probably aren’t aware yet, but the more ordinary people know about Nightmares, the easier it is for them to be entangled by one. There have been several large-scale disappearance incidents in Baijiang, all because of leaked Nightmare information.

"To exaggerate a little, Mr. He Sinan’s disappearance might also be because he heard news of Nightmares somewhere, became entangled by one, and disappeared into..."

He stopped himself there. The Nightmare World and Dream Descenders were obviously more secretive information. Though Shi An had already known this for a while.

"According to regulations, we will erase your memories related to Nightmares," Song Qiming continued. "This erasure is harmless. It will turn the memories into the form of a dream and gradually fade them from your mind. It sounds unbelievable, but it can indeed be done. We have handled hundreds, even thousands, of similar cases."

This was naturally the power of a Dream Curse Object. The Countermeasures Bureau possessed a High Level Dream Curse Object, ’Dreamless Trace,’ which had many abilities, including the traceless manipulation of memories. Of course, clerks like them only held tokens that allowed them to borrow a tiny fraction of this Curse Object’s power. But even so, erasing the memories of ordinary people was a breeze.

Shi An wasn’t at all surprised that the Countermeasures Bureau had such methods. He felt his own memories probably wouldn’t be so easily erased. Naturally, he didn’t want to risk gambling on that possibility either.

He had a few strategies. The first was to impersonate a Dream Descender. He could indeed pose as a Dream Descender, pretending he had already been entangled by a Nightmare and was resisting his initial Nightmare. Naturally, if he was already entangled, the Countermeasures Bureau wouldn’t bother erasing his memories. At most, they would have him sign a non-disclosure agreement.

However, in Shi An’s eyes, this was a poor strategy. If this had happened before he contracted his first employee, Shi An would have most likely chosen to bluff his way through, giving himself more time to stay in the dreamscape. But now...

He asked, "There should be some way to avoid having my memories erased, right? It’s impossible that absolutely all ordinary people are barred from knowing about Nightmares."

After all, the Clerk Song sitting right in front of him was a bona fide ordinary person.

Song Qiming hesitated for a moment. Naturally, there was a way.

The young man beside him nudged Song Qiming’s arm. "Brother Song, aren’t many departments in the bureau short on staff?"

They were short-staffed, not just on Dream Descenders, but also on numerous clerks. Since Nightmare information couldn’t be spread, clerks could usually only be selected from those who had already been exposed to it. Plus, it was a high-risk position.

"There are typically only two scenarios where ordinary people are allowed to know about Nightmares," Song Qiming said. "First, they are the immediate family members of a Dream Descender—meaning someone already entangled by a Nightmare. For this group, it’s mostly because it can’t be kept a secret from them.

"Second, they are ordinary staff members working within major organizations and institutions.

"Our Countermeasures Bureau is, of course, hiring employees. The compensation is quite generous—a monthly salary of over 20,000, plus full social security and housing provident fund benefits. The bureau even purchases high-premium insurance for its employees. However, our recruitment standards aren’t low, and most people can’t pass the selection process. Even if they do get hired, many end up regretting it."

Song Qiming had encountered similar situations before. People who found out about Nightmares would join the Countermeasures Bureau just to avoid having their memories erased. At first, these people would be thrilled to come into contact with mystical powers. But as they learned more about Nightmares, fear and regret would soon follow. After getting entangled by Nightmares and narrowly escaping death time and time again, they would become filled with extreme regret or even go mad.

Song Qiming didn’t really want to refer anyone to the Countermeasures Bureau anymore. He didn’t want to hear one day in the future that someone he had recommended had disappeared or died in a Nightmare.

But the young man beside him felt that people should be given a choice.

Shi An didn’t really hear much of the latter half of his speech; he only heard the part about the 20,000 monthly salary and full benefits.

That was very tempting! Of course, Manager Shi wasn’t such a superficial person. He merely wanted to contribute to world peace.

The main reason he leaned toward joining the Countermeasures Bureau as an ordinary, slacking employee was this: He had already come into contact with Nightmares, and in the future, he would interact with Nightmares, related people, and related events very frequently. Because of this, there was a high probability the Countermeasures Bureau would continue to notice him. If he kept appearing on their radar over and over again, anyone would start to suspect that something was wrong.

Besides...

He thought, "I still lack basic information on Dream Descenders and Dream Curse Objects. Since the Countermeasures Bureau is an official department, it definitely won’t be hard to find this relevant information once I’m inside. Isn’t that much easier than fumbling around for answers little by little on my own?"

Joining as an ordinary peripheral employee would also be much more low-key and inconspicuous than joining as a Dream Descender. Everything was going just as planned. He could finally fire his boss.