Chapter 1 What Exactly Are Your Nightmares?

"What do you think… what exactly are your nightmares?" Instead of directly answering Jiang Cheng's question, the middle-aged man looked at him and asked.

"The past," Jiang Cheng replied. "A history that really existed."

"The door that appears at night should have the ability to distort time and space, randomly projecting us into another period of history in a completely incomprehensible way and giving us new identities."

"But history is destined to be unchangeable, so no matter what we do in the nightmare, whether we live or die, whether the mission is completed or not, it will not affect this history."

"After the mission is over, all traces of our existence will be erased, even those of us who didn't make it through the door and leave."

"Of course, all of this is done in a dream." He paused. "In a dream as we understand it."

"Clap, clap, clap!"

The middle-aged man applauded and said with a smile, "An amazing guess!"

Jiang Cheng didn't seem excited, just stared calmly into the man's eyes. "But I'm still wrong, aren't I?"

He accurately caught the middle-aged man's wording.

An amazing... guess.

"If that girl didn't really hate you, I would have invited you back for a chat." The middle-aged man said with a sigh, a hint of regret in his words.

"You just mentioned random." He continued, "But according to you, if it's really just randomly projecting people into a period of history, why is every nightmare... so dangerous?"

"For example, I'm driving along the river and occasionally throwing a pebble into the river. Is it possible that every time I will accurately throw it into the whirlpool under the water?"

"Isn't that too coincidental?" The middle-aged man picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.

A light flashed in Jiang Cheng's eyes. "Go on."

"If my guess is correct, a nightmare is just a nightmare," the middle-aged man said. "It may have been history once, but now it is just a projection of real history in the shadows."

"This history has been deprived of light and beauty, leaving only regret, blood, and brutality… And those ghosts are the products of this nightmare."

"They do not exist in real history, otherwise it would be impossible not to find any clues in the literature. They only exist in this corresponding, distorted history."

"Every distorted history is an independent nightmare, and every nightmare will give birth to a corresponding… ghost."

Jiang Cheng seemed to realize something. His pupils began to change, and the look in his eyes towards the middle-aged man was different. Just before he opened his mouth…

The middle-aged man straightened up, stared into Jiang Cheng's eyes, and slowly said, "So they… are the biggest benefit."

…

"Oh dear, oh dear, I'm late again!"

A wooden door was pushed open, and a figure jogged in, immediately rushing to his chair and sitting down.

This was a rather old conference room, with a long, jet-black table and two rows of high-backed chairs on either side. The armrests of the chairs were engraved with strange patterns that seemed to suck the eyes in after a long look.

Candlesticks were placed on the table, with pale white candles burning dimly, emitting a lifeless light.

"Oh dear, I didn't delay the meeting, did I?" The last person to arrive said, shivering. He sounded like a young man, but his face could not be seen clearly.

Not because of the light, but because he was wearing a stocking over his head, with only a few holes torn for his mouth, nose, and eyes.

His voice was also delicate.

"You know you're late?" said the person sitting to his side.

She was a plain-looking woman, with even more ordinary clothes. She was the type of person who would disappear into the crowd in a second.

"Lu Meizi, don't be so fierce!" the stocking-clad man said with a cheeky smile. "Be careful you won't be able to marry."

After sensing the murderous look in her eyes, the stocking-clad man raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I got it. I'll call you Number 7 from now on. Why are you being so serious? You're scaring my little darling."

After saying that, he turned his head to look in another direction, where another person was sitting. "Our Little Ranran is so much better." He squinted and said, "Especially cute."

In the dimly lit conference room, a cold light suddenly flashed. A finely crafted dagger was drawn, and the candle in front of the stocking-clad man was cut in half.

The stocking-clad man pursed his lips, and his lewd voice came to an abrupt halt.

"Chen Ran, you're not cute anymore either. I used to like looking at your face, but now I think it's just so-so." The stocking-clad man said, putting his hands on his hips.

"No wonder Lu Meizi doesn't like you," the stocking-clad man continued to nag. "Your Number 6 title is pretty inflated. I'm going to report you to Sir after the meeting."

"Stop talking nonsense." Li Lu took a deep breath. "Everything about this matter is clear. Number 10 has already started preparing."

"Why is he late too?" Chen Ran glanced at the door and asked with a frown.

"Can you guys stop pretending I don't exist?" the stocking-clad man said in a dissatisfied tone. "Look at me, look at me. By the way, can you let me go this time? I'm so bored at home. Taking care of the kids while wearing a mask, do you think it's easy for me?"

"Those kids are so smart, if they accidentally recognize me…" the stocking-clad man clutched his chest. "That would be terrifying."

Li Lu and Chen Ran ignored him, letting him chatter on. They were waiting for Number 10. This mission…

Almost at the same time, Li Lu and Chen Ran turned their heads to look at the stocking-clad man, as if they had realized something. The former even questioned him sternly, "Where is Number 10?"

"Oh dear, oh dear, I ran into him when I came, and I didn't like the way he looked, so I took care of him." The stocking-clad man said nonchalantly, "The Number 10 in my memory isn't as stupid as he looked. I was annoyed by him."

"You…"

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving first."

The stocking-clad man jumped off the chair and skipped away.

A breeze blew, and the candlelight flickered slightly. On the chair where the stocking-clad man had just been sitting, a silver-stamped number 4 appeared on the back.

…

"I'll ask again, besides this little brother, there are no other new recruits, correct?" asked a man in a white shirt, his hair meticulously styled.

The man called himself Liu Guo, an ordinary name.

"Wuwu…" Jiang Cheng squatted on the ground. "Where is this? It's so scary. Are you… are you bad guys?"

He squatted in the corner, clearly rejecting anyone who tried to comfort him, appearing very weak.

"Get up, we're not bad guys. We've explained everything to you. We can't help it if you don't believe us." A young man in a baseball jacket, looking sunny, walked over and comforted him.

The young man had fine bangs falling over his forehead, and his side profile looked as if it had been carefully polished. He was the type of guy who would be very popular with girls in school.

"Jiao Tailang, don't touch me!" Jiang Cheng said. "I don't think you look like a good person. What kind of decent man would have a name like that?" He yelled.

"You're in cahoots with that Diao Mengmei over there, aren't you?" Jiang Cheng pointed at another person and said angrily, "Don't think I don't know what bad intentions you two have."

"How can you say that?" a tall girl said, feeling wronged.

The girl said her name was Hua Luo. She had beautiful eyes, deep brows, and looked like she was mixed-race. She was even taller than Jiang Cheng.

She was wearing a long dress, her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes were wet, as if she had suffered a great grievance.

The first person Jiang Cheng harassed when he entered the instance was this girl. He stubbornly clung to her, refusing to leave. If he hadn't been pulled away, he would have crawled into her arms. But what he didn't expect was…

A moment ago, the girl couldn't hold it in anymore, and she ran to the side, lifted her skirt, and went to the bathroom. Immediately after, Jiang Cheng saw a horrifying scene.

She was standing! Up!

Jiang Cheng felt betrayed, and his emotions collapsed.

This mission came very suddenly. Fatty entered in a daze. Fortunately, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Doctor.

There were a total of 11 people on this mission.

And there were a lot of weirdos. Besides Jiao Tailang and Hua Luo, who were the most outrageous, there was also a guy wearing a black stocking over his head.

The stocking-clad man introduced himself as Lu Huaxu, an old bit player, and said that everyone didn't need to remember his face.

Another person echoed, saying that she was also very weak. She emphasized again that although she was weak, she was not a newbie.

Her name was Yu Lan, and she was a Chinese teacher.

There was also a female student named Chu Jiu. As soon as Jiang Cheng came in, he stared straight at her, scaring Chu Jiu into immediately shrinking next to someone else.

"Don't be afraid." A woman with a neat black ponytail and glasses glanced at Jiang Cheng and comforted Chu Jiu indifferently, "It will be okay."

Chu Jiu seemed to trust her very much and nodded repeatedly.

This woman was called Chen Yi. She had a very special aura. She stood at the edge of the crowd, her cold eyes scanning everyone.

"Don't… don't you guys feel cold here?" a boy in sportswear and casual shoes said, hugging his shoulders. "I was wondering why it was so cold, I'm freezing to death. Is this a cold storage?"

His name was Wei Jinting, and he claimed to be a graduate student studying computer science. He aspired to be a code farmer who wouldn't go bald before the age of 30.

After hearing what he said, Jiang Cheng squatted there, craning his neck, and smacked his lips. "Brother, I advise you to think it through. Hair transplants aren't that expensive now."

He glanced at Hua Luo, then turned his head and continued, "Just pay attention to your orientation and don't deviate. The atmosphere is open now, and there are a lot of perverts in society."

Hua Luo: "You're talking about people again!"

"Hey." Fatty said to the figure in the darkness, "Brother, what's your name?"

The man in the darkness raised his head, revealing half of his face, which was exceptionally pale. Because he was in the dark, his eyes could not be seen.

"I don't have a name." The man's voice was clear and cold. "You… can call me Wu." (Wu means 'none' in Chinese)

"Is he a big shot?" Jiang Cheng said, blinking his eyes.

Fatty licked his lips and said after a long pause, "Brother, I'm not trying to be rude, but your name is a bit pretentious."

As if he was repulsed by such a conversation, the man looked away and looked in another direction, where several thick pillars stood, covered in mottled marks.

After a moment—

"Come out," the man said.

Everyone looked in his direction with curiosity. After a few seconds, next to the last pillar… half a body slowly appeared.