Chapter 24 - 21: Nightmare’s Invasion Level

Chapter 24: Chapter 21: Nightmare’s Invasion Level

As the gray mist of the Nightmare dissipated, the excess trees that had sprouted in the area, the spiderwebs woven between the bushes, the felled trunks, and even the crushed spider carcasses oozing with juices... all gradually faded away and vanished.

The campus returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Shi An had long since retracted the Blood Hand Seal and could no longer see the center of the Nightmare Area. However, he strongly suspected that the scorch marks left by the flames would vanish along with the Nightmare itself.

The descent of a Nightmare was like laying a new layer over the original world. All the fighting, destruction, and changes occurred within that layer. When the Nightmare receded, the real world remained unscathed, no matter how much chaos had unfolded inside.

"This is probably part of the reason why the Countermeasures Bureau is able to keep news of Nightmares so tightly under wraps," he thought.

By this point, there was absolutely nothing left for Shi An to do. He simply watched as teams of Dream Descenders continued to sweep and inspect the surroundings. He even spotted Old Yao among them. He noticed that after the Nightmare receded, the flamboyant outfits of the Dream Descenders didn’t immediately revert to normal. However, there was a faint sense that their exterior disguises were slowly fading away.

"Come to think of it, when I was enveloped by the Nightmare Area, my clothes didn’t change at all. The same goes for Huangzhou and the university students," he pondered. "Is it because we were directly engulfed by the Nightmare, or is it because we aren’t Dream Descenders?"

Shi An believed it was the latter. After all, ordinary people didn’t experience any wardrobe changes when they went through their first Nightmare.

At this moment, the area around Baijiang University had been cordoned off. Now that the Nightmare had completely dissipated without a trace, the cleanup and control teams from the Countermeasures Bureau entered the scene one after another. The former was responsible for clearing out any lingering traces of the Nightmare in hidden corners, while the latter naturally ensured that no information leaked out. Sure enough, Shi An spotted a familiar face.

"Group Leader Song."

Old Song was a veteran group leader. At the moment, he was leading a few team members to comfort the frightened survivors and prepare for the upcoming memory clearance. He was somewhat surprised to see Shi An, but then a realization hit him. "The person who ventured deep into the Nightmare Area to rescue and organize the survivors was actually you!"

He had, of course, gathered a general account from the survivors and assumed this heroic rescuer was some seasoned veteran from the Bureau. If it were someone with a military background who had survived multiple Nightmare incidents, pulling off such a feat would make perfect sense.

However, this hero turned out to be Shi An. Who was Shi An? Just an ordinary office worker who had graduated half a year ago. He had only just begun to learn about Nightmares and wasn’t much stronger than an ordinary person. Yet, he had managed to be calm, rational, and brave!

"Bro, aren’t you afraid of running into anomalies?" Old Song thought. "Even Dream Descenders are utterly terrified of them, and you’re just an ordinary guy. If you ran into one, you wouldn’t even be enough to give it a full meal."

"Badass! If I were in the same situation, I couldn’t have been as heroic as you," Old Song praised out loud.

"It’s nothing, really," Shi An replied humbly.

However, in Shi An’s eyes, the truly brave ones were people like Huangzhou—those who were clearly terrified and anxious but still pushed forward to protect the survivors one by one. As for himself, he felt he had merely done something insignificant.

Song Qiming said, "The Bureau doesn’t require us fringe clerks to take risks. However, Brother An, you rescued a total of twenty-two survivors this time, preventing many tragedies. This is definitely a great merit, and the Bureau will reward you..."

Shi An waved his hand. "I was just doing what I had to do..."

Song Qiming continued, "There’s a hefty bonus. I think it starts at a hundred thousand, right? There will also be special material rewards."

"Please make sure to report this for me," Shi An replied. "When the time comes, I’ll treat you and the brothers to a big feast, Brother Song."

***

As both a ’victim’ and a ’man of merit,’ Shi An could have gone home to rest right then. However, he chose to stay and help out at the scene. His main goal was to take this opportunity to observe the Countermeasures Bureau’s operational procedures. He couldn’t see how the action and cleanup teams worked, but as for the control team...

"The statistics are out. There is a total of sixty-three survivors. Three are injured, and unfortunately, two people perished in this disaster," a staff member reported.

This outcome was somewhat hard to swallow for the newly hired clerks, but veterans like Old Song were already accustomed to it.

"Among all the Nightmare invasion incidents," Old Song said, "today’s case is actually one with a small scope and very few casualties."

"Does that mean there are even higher-level Nightmare invasion incidents?" Shi An asked.

"Indeed." Old Song paused for a moment. "Most clerks aren’t aware of this kind of thing, but since you experienced all this today, Younger Brother An, and it isn’t explicitly classified, I’ll fill you in.

"Nightmare invasions definitely vary in strength!

"Take today’s disaster, for example. You might not know this, but the Nightmare didn’t recede because it was conquered; it simply dissipated and vanished because it was unstable.

"This type is known as an ’Unstable Nightmare’ or a ’Temporary Nightmare.’ They usually aren’t too powerful, and even if left alone, they will naturally dissipate after a while. Of course, if left untreated for that long, it’s hard to say whether there would be any survivors left inside the Nightmare Area.

"Above that, there are also ’Permanent Nightmares’ and ’Expansive Nightmares’."

Old Song didn’t know much about these Nightmares either; he had only heard about them from other Dream Descenders. But just by looking at the names, Shi An could guess a thing or two.

"An Expansive Nightmare... If not dealt with promptly, would the entire Nightmare continuously expand, swallowing up territory piece by piece?" Shi An gasped.

Did this expansion have a limit? Would it devour an entire city? Shi An didn’t know. But since Old Song could name the term ’Expansive Nightmare,’ it meant such Nightmares had occurred before, and probably more than once or twice. An ’Unstable Nightmare’ like today’s was already incredibly dangerous; if it hadn’t been handled immediately, the casualties could have multiplied tenfold.

So what about an Expansive Nightmare? A Nightmare capable of expanding was bound to be incomparably perilous, fraught with murderous intent at every turn.

"Moreover, are there Nightmare invasion incidents even more severe than Expansive Nightmares?" Shi An frowned.

He had the Blood Hand Seal for protection, but if a Nightmare were to continuously expand and devour regions one by one, wouldn’t all of reality eventually sink into an apocalypse?

"No, the Countermeasures Bureau is still keeping things under control," he reasoned with himself. "Nightmare invasion incidents clearly aren’t that common. It wouldn’t go that far."

Although he comforted himself with these thoughts, a sense of urgency still welled up in his heart. His strength was not enough. Far from enough.

"Dream Descenders’ lives have fallen into a countdown, but ordinary people are also at risk of dying an inexplicable death at any moment," he reflected.

Later on, Shi An witnessed the control team’s Great Amnesia Technique. It was practically the same as the situation he had faced yesterday. After the circumstances were explained, most survivors were forced to accept reality. With a BEEP from a mysterious device, they fell into a deep sleep. Afterward, their memories of the Nightmare would fade like a dream until they completely disappeared.

A small number of people made a choice similar to Shi An’s—to face the darkness head-on. However, more than half of them were weeded out. Only two university students barely passed the test, and Shi An, acting as a senior employee, witnessed their induction.

***

"Nightmare invasions? There’s no point in me worrying about them," he thought. "I just hope the Safe Zone can welcome more guests tonight."

Shi An returned home, washed up, and lay down on his bed. He closed his eyes and sank into the deep sea of dreams.

But this time...

THUD.

When Shi An’s feet touched the ground, the familiar Safe Zone was nowhere to be seen in front of him.

***

*PS: I’m tweaking the update schedule. Today is the first of the month, but I won’t ask for monthly tickets just yet. It would be best if those with tickets could vote tomorrow (Monday the 2nd). Jian thanks you all (〃’▽’〃)... (I will update more tomorrow.)*