Chapter 18 - 15: Mentor, Junior Sister

Chapter 18: Chapter 15: Mentor, Junior Sister

"What a pity. Not a single invitation event was triggered all day," Shi An muttered.

Shi An still wasn’t sure exactly how much the probability of soliciting customers had increased after the Safe Zone was upgraded to Level 1. After all, less than a day had passed.

He reasoned, "Although Dream Descenders can be dragged into the Nightmare World at any time of day, the probability of experiencing a Fallen Dream at night is far greater."

In the future, he could slack off at the Countermeasures Bureau during the day and return to the Safe Zone to work earnestly at night.

"I really am working myself too hard," he mused.

Shi An checked the relevant information regarding the Safe Zone.

[Safe Zone]

[Tier: Level 1]

[Contracted Employee: Blood Hand Seal (Little Blood)]

[Expansion Buildings: None]

[Building Blueprints: None]

[Dream Curse Object Template: Shadow Giant Scissors]

[Upgrade Condition: 35/100 Belief Value]

Upgrading the Safe Zone to Level 2 wouldn’t be difficult. Even without low-probability events like conquering a Nightmare, as long as he solicited customers normally—averaging a batch a day—it would only take about half a month. If he managed to trigger a few random events in between, the required time could be significantly shortened.

It was a sure thing.

With Little Blood acting as his muscle, and detailed information regarding the Nightmare World and the Dream Descenders’ cultivation system soon to be in his hands, Shi An was no longer in such a hurry.

Of course, summoning the Blood Hand Seal into the Present Realm meant he also had to consider whether it would trigger any unpredictable chain reactions. Unless absolutely necessary, Shi An would never allow the Blood Hand Seal to appear in the Present Realm. He also had to do his best to keep his identity as the "Manager" in the Nightmare World strictly separate from his real-life identity.

In the real world, he was just an ordinary, unremarkable low-level employee. He wasn’t worth anyone’s attention.

"Once I find a safe... or rather, a low-side-effect method to use Dream Curse Objects, I should become a Dream Descender as soon as possible," he decided. "As for now..."

SPLASH!

Lying on his bed, Shi An descended into the sea of dreams. Then, he spent a peaceful and quiet night.

It wasn’t that the Safe Zone hadn’t captured the traces of any Dream Descenders that night, nor did Shi An fail to send out invitations, but alas...

"This Dream Descender is obviously not weak, yet they’re overly cautious!" he complained.

When facing the insect swarm, the man in the black suit had run into the Safe Zone without any hesitation. The Witch girl had courage and guts; upon seeing the small shop’s door, she twisted it open with a CLICK. Old Yao and K were also qualified customers.

But what about this guy?

He had clearly encountered danger multiple times, yet he refused to take a single step into the Safe Zone. No, this guy hadn’t even approached within fifty meters of it, as if the shop were some terrifying monster.

Was that really necessary?

Although Shi An knew that for a Dream Descender who was already as easily startled as a frightened bird, the abrupt appearance of a Safe Zone shop with such a drastically different atmosphere was indeed too bizarre and terrifying.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Wouldn’t sending Little Blood out to solicit customers be even more horrifying?

He thought, "I still have to rely on word of mouth from my old customers. A small shop like mine is bound to have a 100% customer satisfaction rate, making it perfect for repeat business. Witch Xi Xue showed a strong desire to visit again."

However, as to whether he could randomly encounter Xi Xue again, Shi An wasn’t sure. He had no idea how many Dream Descenders there were currently in Baijiang, or rather, the entire Anping District. The number was probably quite large.

Statistically speaking, the probability of randomly encountering the same Dream Descender again was extremely low. Yet, his intuition told him that the chances might not be that low after all.

He theorized, "There’s actually an invisible connection between me and the Dream Descenders who have already entered the Safe Zone. With this connection, the probability of old customers encountering the Safe Zone might actually be quite high."

But this was merely his speculation; he still needed more data to verify it.

The night passed without further incident.

The following day, Shi An woke up early. He habitually unlocked his phone to check for messages from his inhumane supervisor before suddenly realizing something.

"Oh right, I already fired my supervisor," he muttered with amusement.

Normally, resigning wouldn’t be this simple. It would inevitably involve being deliberately made things difficult by the supervisor and losing out on his salary, but...

He was now a man backed by the Countermeasures Bureau.

In this world plagued by Nightmares and countless crises, the Countermeasures Bureau shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending humanity’s homeland, naturally granting them corresponding authority.

His new job had already arrived.

Shi An received a text message containing the address for today’s training: Building XX at Baijiang University. It seemed to be located in a rather remote area of the university campus.

It was still early, but Shi An set off right away. He navigated his way to the gates of Baijiang University with practiced ease and scanned his face to enter.

"BEEP! Campus card verified—"

Returning to the campus after half a year, Shi An felt as if a lifetime had passed. This wasn’t just because of his experiences with Nightmares and Dream Descenders, but also due to the awakening of his past life’s memories.

If he had awakened those past life memories a few years earlier, wouldn’t he have been able to possess both his youth and a true appreciation for it at the same time? He might have even been able to write a reincarnation web novel based on it.

Since there was still some time before the training began, Shi An strolled leisurely around the campus, reliving his past college life. It was a good way to relax.

At that moment, a somewhat familiar voice rang out from behind him.

"Senior Shi An?"

It was a neat and clean-looking girl, radiating a unique, unpolished youthfulness and vitality typical of university students. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Although her slender figure made her look delicate, a closer look at her exposed arms revealed well-defined muscle lines. Her clear, bright eyes were filled with surprise—surprised at why Shi An would be here.

"Li Xixue... Junior Sister Li?" Shi An replied, sounding slightly uncertain.

He hadn’t seen this junior sister in a long time, and running into her so suddenly meant his brain hadn’t quite processed it yet. Moreover, he and Junior Sister Li weren’t exactly close.

During his university days, Shi An had joined the Martial Arts Club. At the time, he had fantasized about learning a few moves, both to strengthen his body and to show off. Unfortunately, practicing martial arts was too grueling. He had managed to stick with it for the first semester, but when the freezing winter arrived, his visits to the Martial Arts Club gradually dwindled.

Li Xixue was someone he had met at the Martial Arts Club.

Unlike the unremarkable Shi An, Junior Sister Li was quite a celebrity in the club. The Martial Arts Club would sometimes organize sparring sessions for its members. Since Junior Sister Li was very pretty, these sparring opportunities naturally incited a howling scramble among the boys. And Junior Sister Li never refused a challenge.

However, it wasn’t long before no boy ever fought to spar with Li Xixue again. In fact, during sparring sessions, many people went out of their way to avoid this junior sister.

There was no other reason than the fact that she was simply too good at fighting.

The boys who joined the Martial Arts Club were all amateurs, of course. Although the junior sister seemed to be an amateur as well, whenever they sparred, she would floor the boys in just two or three moves. She was devastatingly fierce.

No matter how pretty Junior Sister Li was, in the eyes of many, she was a peerless, ferocious woman. She was not to be provoked under any circumstances.

"Junior Sister, you’re a junior this year, right?"

"Yep! I can start interning next year, and the year after that, I’ll officially start working. Just thinking about it makes me so excited!"

Shi An was speechless.

He thought, "Junior Sister, your thought process seems a bit off."

Having not seen each other for a long time, the two surprisingly had a lot to talk about. Shi An heard her mention that she had later become a disciple of a very formidable martial arts teacher. Shi An was genuinely curious about how far her martial arts training had progressed. He couldn’t help but wonder: if someone mastered martial arts to a profound level in this world, could they possibly rival the anomalies?

However, glancing at the time, he noticed the training was about to begin, so Shi An prepared to bid his junior sister farewell. She also had her own matters to attend to, and their paths aligned for a short distance.

So, the two walked together.

They continued walking.

And walking.

They kept going until they reached a corner of the campus, where a special access gate stood.

Shi An scanned his face and walked in. The junior sister also scanned her face and followed him in.

She smiled bashfully. "Hehe, I work part-time as a teaching assistant here. But why are you here, Senior? This place is clearly... clearly..."

"The Dream Theory Training Center?"

"Right, right!"

The training center was indeed known by this name to the public, but only insiders could pass through this access gate. They were either Dream Descenders, employees of the Countermeasures Bureau, or relevant personnel here for further studies.

Yet, this naive junior sister was actually a teaching assistant?

"Oh, the professor is here too! Look!"

A middle-aged man carrying a briefcase and wearing a gray suit, without a hint of baldness on his head, strolled leisurely toward the classroom, looking just like an ordinary university professor on his way to teach.

In fact, the man was indeed a university professor.

Professor Luo.

Shi An had even attended many of his classes in the past.

"So Baijiang University is full of hidden talents; it turns out none of them are ordinary people!" he realized.