Chapter 26 - 23: Prey

Chapter 26: Chapter 23: Prey

Shi An returned to his loyal Safe Zone once again. Here, the lights were bright, and melodious music played in the background. However, he had no intention of relying on the Safe Zone to hide from the Nightmare until he could break free.

Doing so would certainly be easy. Bizarre entities like the Shadow insect swarm and the Blood Hand Seal couldn’t breach a single inch of the Safe Zone’s defenses, let alone a mere anomaly from an initial Nightmare.

But...

"If this Fallen Dream happened a couple of days ago, I definitely would have chosen to hide from the danger," he thought. "But yesterday, I learned from the documents that the initial Nightmare is not only the beginning of misfortune, but also an opportunity worth grasping."

What else was there to say? Just get it done!

However, even getting it done required a proper plan. Shi An first rummaged through the tool room, pulling out a sturdy iron rod, and pocketed a lighter. The Safe Zone didn’t naturally spawn iron rods, but during his last visit to the Nightmare Dormitory, Shi An had asked Old Yao to bring him some "local specialties." Ordinary Dream Descenders couldn’t bring ordinary items in or out of a Nightmare. Neither could he, but leaving them in the Safe Zone was perfectly fine; there was no such thing as items despawning here.

Shi An suddenly had an idea.

"Wait, does this mean I can open a storage service in the Safe Zone later? It feels like a profitable venture, but I’ll wait until the Safe Zone expands and I have more customers."

Gripping the iron rod, Shi An seemed to invigorate himself. His heart was steady and his courage held firm. Without hesitation, he stepped into the Nightmare Corridor once again.

The door of the Safe Zone’s small shop vanished as it closed, leaving behind Room 444’s door, which looked like a flat texture applied to the wall. This was how the Safe Zone differed from before—the door was no longer fixed in one place. Wherever Shi An went, the Safe Zone followed. However, just as the shop door closed and faded away, a faint, almost imperceptible trace of blood-red color flickered at the entrance before vanishing in a flash.

Shi An continued walking through the apartment hallway, passing corner after corner, fork after fork, yet he could never reach the end. There were no windows or stairs on either side, only endless doors bearing the number 444. It was desolate, deathly silent, and utterly bizarre. Even the temperature seemed to drop bit by bit, enough to give anyone goosebumps.

To be honest, Shi An felt that the Nightmare’s atmosphere was incredibly realistic and terrifying. Though it seemed like nothing was there, the sense of immersion and dread was far stronger than any haunted escape room. After all, the Nightmare was actually real.

"Taking Old He’s Nightmare as a reference..." he thought.

Actually, he didn’t necessarily need to reference Old He. The documents provided by the Countermeasures Bureau contained several examples of common initial Nightmares. Breaking free from a Nightmare usually took five to seven nights. In other words, as long as one could survive for seven days without dying, the Nightmare would naturally recede on its own.

However, that took too long. Time waited for no Shi An. Setting aside the fact that he had no intention of playing hide-and-seek with bizarre entities in this Nightmare Corridor, even if he had the patience, he still had to consider one thing.

"Will experiencing a Nightmare prevent the Safe Zone from connecting to other Nightmares?"

Shi An wasn’t sure. Therefore, he couldn’t waste his limited time on the initial Nightmare. It was time to clear the game.

Shi An recalled the limited information he had on initial Nightmares. He actually didn’t know much, having only just begun his training. But that didn’t matter; knowing a few key pieces of information was enough. Clutching the iron rod, Shi An continued his advance through the Nightmare Corridor, his strides growing longer and his pace faster.

About half an hour later.

STEP, STEP, STEP!

Shi An suddenly realized there was an echo to his footsteps. No, it wasn’t an echo. Rather, the exact moment his foot struck the ground, a distinct tapping footstep sounded from right behind him. It was as if a figure was closely tailing his every move.

Shi An whipped around. The corridor was empty—sure enough, there was nothing there.

Late at night, in a deathly silent, deserted hallway that never ended, a set of unhuman footsteps had appeared! It was definitely terrifying. If he didn’t have the Safe Zone as his backup, and if the Blood Hand Seal wasn’t secretly following right beside him... If he were just an ordinary person...

Shi An pictured the scenario and forced his face to turn a pale, terrified white. He broke from a brisk walk into a full sprint. Yet, the footsteps behind him kept perfect pace. The faster he ran, the closer the footsteps followed. As he fled and the footsteps pursued, it felt like he was trapped with no way out.

After only sprinting for a few dozen seconds, the frail corporate drone couldn’t help but gasp for air under the dual pressure on his body and Spirit, his steps growing increasingly erratic.

PANT! PANT!

His breathing completely disorganized and consumed by extreme terror, Shi An stumbled and fell hard to the ground. CLANG! The iron rod tumbled from his grip, accidentally slicing a bloody gash across his arm. He perfectly mirrored a victim chased to a dead end by a Nightmare, losing his mind to fear and despair.

At this moment, the footsteps that had been biting tightly at his heels—the footsteps that seemed glued to his back—finally took a step forward toward the utterly terrified prey. It broke through the boundary, truly manifesting within the Nightmare World.

It was out! It was ready to begin its hunt!

Shi An’s frightened gaze abruptly sharpened. In a flash, he reached out, grabbed the fallen iron rod, and swung it in a fierce backhand.

SQUELCH!

It felt like striking viscous fluid. There wasn’t much recoil, yet the entire iron rod was now stuck fast inside it. And the target... was completely unscathed.

This was a monster entirely composed of pitch-black liquid. It was vaguely humanoid, possessing four limbs but lacking a face, like a shadow that perpetually stalked survivors in the Nightmare Corridor. It bared its fangs! In its eyes, prey like a human didn’t even have the right to struggle.

However, all fear had vanished from Shi An’s eyes. He simply stared unblinking at the pitch-black bizarre entity. He was looking at it... as if it were prey!

BOOM!

A blood-red light manifested from behind the dark shadow. Capitalizing on Shi An using himself as bait to draw the entity’s attention, Little Blood slipped in close and unleashed its ultimate move, ruthlessly stamping a Blood Hand Brand onto the pitch-black humanoid figure.

Instantly, it was like pouring oil on a roaring fire. SIZZLE! SIZZLE! The pitch-black liquid began to evaporate continuously. The entirely black bizarre entity let out an ear-piercing shriek.

An invisible shockwave seemed to ripple outward as absolute, bone-chilling cold began spreading like a tidal wave. It felt as though Shi An’s throat was being gripped tightly. His breathing grew labored, and this time, his face genuinely turned pale.

This was the terror of a bizarre entity! Its mere aura erupting was enough to make ordinary people, and even ordinary Dream Descenders, feel as though they had plunged into a freezer.

But Little Blood wasn’t human. Completely unaffected, it seized the moment while the pitch-black entity was howling and slapped several more Blood Hand Brands onto it in quick succession.

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Shocking, crimson handprints now covered the dark shadow. Wounded by the Blood Hand Seal, the pitch-black bizarre entity’s hatred instantly locked onto Little Blood. Black and blood-red entangled and slaughtered each other.

However, the pitch-black entity had already lost the upper hand. During its initial outburst, a significant portion of its liquid body had evaporated, and the blood-red handprints firmly branded onto its form continuously gnawed at the dark shadow. The pitch-black bizarre entity was still alive, but it was surviving solely on the terrifying Life Force inherent to bizarre entities!

But that was all it could manage.

A few seconds, a dozen seconds, dozens of seconds later...

The pitch-black entity’s howls gradually weakened. Just as it was weakened to its absolute limit—its body fading and shrinking to less than a tenth of its original size—the Blood Hand Seal transformed its entire being into a Blood Mist.

The Blood Mist descended, enveloping its target.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Little Blood shrouded the pitch-black bizarre entity and completely refined it in one go. Afterward, Little Blood manifested its form once again, letting out a faint burp. The blood-red glow on its body seemed to have grown even denser.

Only now did this world-shattering battle finally come to an end.

Shi An let out a long exhale, his tense heart finally relaxing. At that moment, the entire Nightmare Corridor world began to fracture, spiderwebs of cracks blossoming with loud CRACKING sounds.

This initial Nightmare, which had trapped him for a full hour, finally shattered and completely dissipated.

He had cleared the game.