Chapter 133 Successfully Devoured: Dream Dungeon Mechanics, New Skills Unlocked...
The question is whether to become a vengeful spirit and sacrifice one's own kind in exchange for a little longer survival, or to die on the spot rather than submit.
Wu Yong was just a low-level employee at a company, earning only four thousand a month. Although he would imagine a hundred ways his boss would die every morning when he woke up, and pray for his boss to die suddenly every day at work, and his daily mantra was wanting to detonate the earth and destroy the world—he also had principles!
Thinking back on the years since the paranormal events began, the ever-increasing rents in the city, being chased by ghosts everywhere, trembling with fear as soon as it got dark, and even needing to submit a report in advance to leave Linjiang City to visit relatives, Wu Yong's anger flared up instantly.
He stiffened his neck and, in a fit of desperation, said:
"Just kill me! I won't submit! I hate those guys who betray their teammates the most when I play games! I won't do such a stupid thing that harms others and doesn't benefit myself!"
To collude with demons and slaughter one's own kind? What a joke! Those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts. Even if he sacrifices everyone else, the faceless demon will definitely not let him go. At most, he will just be the last one to die.
Ghosts are incredibly cruel creatures, as Wu Yong knew all too well from the news reports of paranormal events broadcast by the supervisory bureau. Since dying sooner or later was the same, it didn't matter.
Seeing Wu Yong's heroic sacrifice, Zhou Fangdong felt somewhat helpless.
...It must be because my appearance as a human skin mask was too bad, causing this person to have a preconceived notion that I had him gather the players in the instance to do something bad.
Since that's the case, let's try a different approach.
After saying those words, Wu Yong thought he would soon face death.
But to his surprise, the faceless ghost put him down and then disappeared from his sight.
Wu Yong, still shaken, looked around and, after confirming that the ghost had truly disappeared, breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Although the ghost was no longer in sight, Wu Yong was still very scared and desperately wanted to leave the dilapidated school building that was constantly shrouded in rain.
He spent the happiest years of his childhood in this school, and Wu Yong subconsciously believed that it was the safest place. Therefore, in this instance, his surroundings resemble an elementary school.
But after encountering that terrifying ghost here, this place he once considered the safest has begun to feel unsafe.
He wanted to find another safe place.
...Since this is a dream related to his memories, shouldn't his thoughts be able to change the dream scene?
As Wu Yong's thoughts changed, the school building scene began to collapse and reassemble rapidly, transforming into a completely new scene—the reporting hall on the first floor of the Supervision Bureau.
The common understanding among residents of Linjiang City is that if there are any paranormal events, they should contact the supervisory bureau.
Moreover, Wu Yong wasn't the only one here; there were over fifty other players.
In the dream instance, when players think of the same scene, their scenes will merge, and the players in the scene will be gathered together.
Upon seeing Wu Yong appear, a middle-aged woman sighed, "Another one has arrived. Sigh... Just how many of us have been dragged into this nightmare?"
“There are 119 people in total,” Zhang Dapeng replied casually, standing to the side. This was what the investigator beside his bed told him during the short time he had been awake in the hospital.
Zhang Dapeng was filled with regret. Why was he so impulsive? He had already escaped the instance and returned to reality, but he still had to look at that lottery page, and as a result, he was pulled back into this strange instance.
In reality, he couldn't remember what happened in the instance, but after being pulled back, he remembered everything.
The mechanism of this dream instance is related to the player. When a player is pulled into the instance, the instance will generate a scene based on the place that the player feels is the safest.
There are no real ghosts or monsters in the dungeon; it just gets more and more eerie as players stay longer.
In the end, this eerie scene will create all sorts of strange phenomena to guide the player, making them feel afraid and think that ghosts might appear in some dark corner... and thus, ghosts are truly born.
—All the monsters in this instance are based on the player's imagination.
The more chaotic your thoughts, the more ghosts and monsters you will encounter, and the more terrifying they will be.
The way to keep yourself safe is to firmly believe that you are dreaming and not to think that ghosts or monsters will appear in the scene.
Or, if ghosts or monsters appear in the surroundings, the brain may reject the scene and recreate another safe place.
The main god's points system has given a very clear hint: find a safe area and regroup with other players.
In this instance, the area with the most players will be designated as the safe zone.
If you think carefully about what constitutes a safe zone, you'll discover that the dungeon scene changes according to your thoughts. Eventually, you'll find a place in your mind that everyone considers safe, and you'll successfully pass the first level of this dream dungeon.
However, few people realize that they are in a dream, and that this dream can be changed according to their thoughts. As a result, most players die because of their own wild thoughts.
Because everyone subconsciously considers their safest place to be different; some people believe that the safest place is their home.
They were at home before entering the instance, and the scene after entering the instance was also at home. Therefore, those players did not even realize that they had been dragged into the instance. In the gradually gloomy environment, they had the idea that 'their home was invaded by ghosts' and were eventually killed by the ghosts they imagined.
"What? 119 people?" Wu Yong looked completely bewildered. "What's going on? How come you're all in my dream?"
“Didn’t you check your points system? We’re currently clearing a dungeon, and there are 119 players in total,” Zhang Dapeng explained. “I was just briefly rescued from the dungeon. I learned from the investigator in my hospital room that a total of 119 players were sent to the hospital. Our bodies are all asleep, but our souls have been pulled into this dreamlike dungeon.”
At this point, Zhang Dapeng explained the mechanics of the dream instance to Wu Yong again, which made Wu Yong feel a chill of fear.
Wu Yong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "I thought this points system was a scam... The points system shows that there are only five minutes left in the countdown for the first level. I should be the last player to get here."
"I almost died at the hands of that faceless ghost just now. Luckily, I knew I was dreaming..." Wu Yong suddenly noticed that all the players who were originally next to him had taken several steps back and moved away from him.
Wu Yong scratched his head in confusion: "Uh, what's wrong with you guys? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Finally, Zhang Dapeng raised his hand, trembling, and asked, "You...you're talking about that faceless ghost...is it the one following behind you?"
Wu Yong froze, the color draining from his face instantly, his body trembling like a leaf.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and finally he mustered the courage to stiffly twist his neck backward, like a malfunctioning machine.
Upon seeing the familiar faceless ghostly figure dressed in black, Wu Yong let out a desperate scream.
—The faceless monster he thought he had shaken off was actually following him silently, just like his shadow.
Wu Yong was so frightened that his legs went weak and he fell to the ground, stammering, "N-wasn't this...this was supposed to be a safe zone? How could this be..."
He had the courage to confront the ghost head-on just now because of the adrenaline and his rush of adrenaline. However, now that he had just realized he was safe and breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly discovered that the ghost hadn't let him go and was still following him... His emotions were like a rollercoaster ride, and he no longer had the courage to even raise his voice in confrontation.
Zhou Fangdong had no intention of scaring the players; he just wanted to finish the dungeon as soon as possible. So he explained directly, "I'm not a ghost; I'm the one who entered the dungeon to save you."
As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Dapeng and said, "Zhang Dapeng, you have memories of returning to reality, right? I am the one who asked the Taoist priest to help you summon your soul."
The fear vanished instantly, and Zhang Dapeng stared wide-eyed as he carefully examined the faceless ghost's clothing.
Aside from the terrifying face, the clothes the man was wearing were familiar—he recognized him! This 'faceless ghost' was the young man who had stood by his hospital bedside in the real world, listening to the investigator's report!
"Ah! You're from the Inspection Bureau—"
Zhou Fangdong interrupted him: "I don't work for the Supervision Bureau. I'm just an ordinary landlord with a cooperative relationship with the Supervision Bureau. Liwan Hospital is my property. There's no need for words of thanks. Just help promote our hospital when you wake up."
"Now, tell me all the information you got from the points system. It's about whether I can take you out."
"Okay, okay." Zhang Dapeng nodded repeatedly.
With someone who had previously escaped the instance vouching for him, the other players present were no longer so resistant to Zhou Fangdong.
Through Zhang Dapeng's narration and occasional additions from other players, Zhou Fangdong learned all the mechanics of this dungeon.
This dreamlike dungeon has three levels. The first level is mainly for filtering, so the mechanism is very simple. Players only need to realize that this dungeon is a dream.
"Tell me when there are forty seconds left before the first countdown ends," Zhou Fangdong instructed. "When I say something, just recall the scene in your mind. This is related to whether you can return to reality alive, so you must follow my instructions."
Since players' thoughts and ideas will generate new scenes in the first level of the dungeon, why not take advantage of this dungeon mechanism to find the nightmare hidden in the dungeon?
The reason for waiting until the very last moment of the countdown was that Zhou Fangdong was worried that some players might not have arrived yet.
The scope of the instance is determined by the players' activity range. When all players gather here, the entire scope of the instance is the reporting hall of the Supervision Bureau.
Zhou Fangdong originally wanted these players to clear their minds and block out distractions in order to change the surrounding scenery.
However, not everyone can clear their mind and eliminate all distractions. If other scenarios come to mind, causing the player to become distracted again, that would be terrible.
Since this method is very risky, it's better to get them to think in the same direction.
At the moment the dream changes, the only thing that doesn't change or changes a beat later is the ghost in the instance.
Even if this slowdown only lasts for half a second or less, Zhou Fangdong, who has been using the [Heavenly Eye] skill, can still detect it immediately.
Time was up, and no more players appeared.
"The tallest building in Linjiang City".
As soon as Zhou Fangdong finished speaking, the scene in the reporting hall of the Supervision Bureau instantly split into more than fifty double images. These scenes quickly changed and recombine, eventually merging into one. Then all the players appeared below a curved, 600-meter-high tower.
As the scene changed, Zhou Fangdong also spotted the ghost mixed in with the scene and captured it using [Shadow Soul Contract].
Nightmare wanders through various dreams and is a ghost composed entirely of fragments of memories.
The moment Zhou Fangdong devoured it with [Shadow Soul Contract], more than half of his spirit bar disappeared.
He replenished his spirit bar with ghost coins while digesting the nightmare. After repeatedly emptying and replenishing his spirit bar, and consuming six thousand ghost coins, he finally finished devouring it completely.
Zhou Fangdong pressed his temples, which were throbbing with pain.
Although his mental state was full, his mind was still somewhat confused, and for a moment he forgot where he was and what he should do next.
The excruciating, almost tearing pain in his brain felt strangely familiar, as if he had experienced it before, but he couldn't quite recall when it had happened...
Under the influence of this constant pain, an incredibly irritating urge to destroy welled up within me.
...He wanted to destroy something, to stick his hand into his temple, to throw his brain out, to destroy his own body, to destroy everything around him that annoyed him.
[Host, please authorize the system to help suppress the memory fragments of the nightmare.]
The system's electronic voice suddenly sounded, like an ice cube suddenly placed on a burning forehead, instantly waking Zhou Fangdong up.
"Authorize, system. Also, open the system shop for me and buy two bottles of psychic potions."
Because the system exists in Zhou Fangdong's mind, his brain is currently in a state of chaos, and he is so uncomfortable that he finds it difficult to even operate the system panel.
[Okay, the Nightmare memory fragments have been sealed; only those related to Nightmare skill control remain.]
[Psychotropic Potion] Purchase successful, automatically applied to host.
[Congratulations, host, on successfully devouring the nightmare, gaining ownership of the entire dream and control of the instance.]
[The system has begun extracting points from the player...]
[Digesting the power of the main god's instance...]
The pain in his brain vanished instantly, and Zhou Fangdong breathed a sigh of relief.
[Shadow Soul Pact] is a very useful skill, capable of controlling ghosts and even devouring them. However, when encountering ghosts like Nightmare, the cost of using the skill becomes quite high.
Zhou Fangdong suspected that if it weren't for the system's help, he might have killed all the players around him.
While the system was extracting the main god points system and digesting the dungeon power, Zhou Fangdong used the power of nightmares to manipulate dreams and found the player who had been devoured by the imagined monsters in the first level.
These players who failed to clear the level simply became completely integrated with the dream world and were utterly lost in the dungeon; they did not die.
But if Zhou Fangdong hadn't intervened, they would never have been able to return to their bodies, becoming wandering souls lingering in their dreams.
As Zhou Fangdong located the players, the system's voice sounded again:
[119 points successfully extracted from the system, rewarding 3,000 Ghost Coins]
[The Liwan Apartment convenience store has upgraded its product range after adopting the new God Points system]
[The power the main god cast into the dungeon has been fully absorbed; reward: 10,000 Ghost Coins]
[Congratulations, host, on successfully devouring the ghost [Nightmare] and unlocking the new skill [Nightmare Clone]!]
After quickly glancing at the pop-ups, Zhou Fangdong didn't check the skill descriptions immediately. Instead, he sent all the players out, allowing their souls to return to their bodies.
After confirming that all 119 players had left the dream, Zhou Fangdong checked the effect of [Nightmare Clone].
Nightmare Clone
Skill effect: Nightmare clones have no physical form, no limit on the number, can execute simple commands, and have one-tenth the strength of the original body.
The host can project their consciousness onto the clone at any time, and use the clone to drag ghosts or human souls into the dream they create.
If the Temple of the Realm does not have a Lord God, or the Lord God cannot be revived temporarily, a Nightmare Clone can be used to temporarily take the place of the Lord God to activate the Temple of the Realm and protect the community.
(Note: If the Nightmare clone remains in the real world for an extended period, it will continuously deplete your mental energy. If you wish for the clone to survive independently in the long term, you can have Li Ou, the tenant of Room 303, create a statue and integrate the clone into it.)
The ability to use clones as the main deity of a realm is quite good. Zhou Fangdong was initially worried that as the number of realm temples he could activate increased, the number of ghost tenants he could upgrade would not keep up.
After all, the only ghost tenant he can currently upgrade to a realm master god is a zombie Taoist priest.
If a temple in a certain community has been demolished and needs to be upgraded using the facilities around the apartment, but there are no ghost tenants available for the upgrade, that would be awkward.
However, now that he has the [Nightmare Clone] skill, there's no problem.
The more temples there are, the safer the city will be, and there will be no need to worry about hidden evil gods or other ghosts threatening the lives of ordinary citizens.
After this main god instance event ends, the awakening of the hundred-plus patients at Liwan Hospital should significantly increase his apartment reputation.
With more prestige, there might be one more spot available to activate the temple after the City God Temple of the Surveillance Bureau is successfully built tonight.
Just then, the system notification sounded again:
[A recruitment notice has been detected from the Ghost Market Auction House. Would the host like to apply for the positions of appraiser and auctioneer at the Ghost Market Auction House using their Nightmare clone?]
Are there any incentives for applying?
Appraisers earn 10,000 Ghost Coins per month, while auctioneers earn 7,000 Ghost Coins per month.
Zhou Fangdong answered decisively, "Of course I'll apply!"
An appraiser can authenticate items with a single glance using the [Heavenly Eye] skill. Similarly, an auctioneer can perfectly memorize the descriptions of all auction items using the [Heavenly Eye] skill, making the 17,000 Ghost Coins a month practically free.
[The clone does not consume mental energy to operate in the Ghost Market. After the host successfully applies for a job at the Ghost Market auction using the clone, commands can be directly issued to it.]
"Okay, I'll go take a look."
First, go to the auction to apply for a job and test your new skills, then go back to Liwan Hospital to check on the patients' conditions.
It's getting late today, and I don't know if I'll be able to tidy up another room after I get back to the apartment from the hospital.
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