When they saw Han Fei stabbing directly into the chest of the red-clothed boy without any hesitation, the three Inevitable Truth players were stunned. They had never seen such brutality, but the next moment, they immediately changed their minds because they also saw the body inside the boy’s chest.
"The malice in your hearts has been fermenting, forcing that child into a desperate situation." Han Fei’s hand reached directly into the red-clothed boy’s chest, and amidst his screams, he pulled out the head of an unfamiliar child.
"You gave him the nickname ’Alien’ and used him to stave off your boredom. Compared to him, you are more like monsters."
The remaining children were terrified and fled wildly, but how could they possibly outrun Han Fei, who excelled in physical strength?
Holding a sharp knife and possessing the Hide-and-Seek talent, Han Fei wore a cruel smile, resembling the final villain in a horror film, as he chased those children across the abandoned construction site. Chapters first released on novel·fire·net
This scene left a deep psychological scar on the players present; the internet addict even somewhat regretted ever speaking loudly to Han Fei at the start.
In just five minutes, the chests of all the children were sliced open, and the malevolent, torn limbs were reassembled into a deformed, scrawny boy.
Sitting dazed in the dark and within the nightmare, the boy always wore a silly smile because he loved watching the stars from a young age, babbling to the starry sky, so his parents named him Li Xing, hoping he would shine like the stars he loved.
After the boy appeared, the two unfinished buildings ceased their trembling, as if that child was the core of this nightmare.
Throwing away the knife, Han Fei took off his coat and draped it over the boy, then sat beside him: "What are you looking at?"
The children who bullied Li Xing collapsed on the ground, yet Li Xing did not pay them any attention. He kept looking up.
"I... I’m looking for stars. Why are there no stars in this night sky?"
This boy, wrapped in the malice of others, seemed never to consider revenge and harbored no resentment. He did not spare a glance at his abusers; even sitting by the muddy pit, he still gazed at the night sky, expecting the stars to appear.
"In this nightmare, every person like you is a star. You illuminate this dark night, guiding night travelers on their way." Han Fei gently touched Li Xing’s head; he intended to use the Healing Personality on Li Xing but found it unnecessary.
"I, I don’t understand." Li Xing clutched the coat Han Fei draped over him, looking at Han Fei with curiosity: "Can I be your friend? I know a lot about stars, and my parents promised to get me a real astronomical telescope when I grow up. Then I can invite you to watch the stars together."
"Then we’re friends!"
Sitting beside a muddy pit in the abandoned construction site, Li Xing made his first friend in life, perhaps also his last.
The nightmare’s edges began to dissipate, and Li Xing’s aberrant body became blurry. He never harmed anyone throughout: "It’s getting late; it seems I should be leaving."
"Goodbye, my friend."
"Goodbye... Oh, wait! I still don’t know your name!"
The last sentence seemed incomplete, as the dream surged into Han Fei’s body. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the Main City District Hospital, where Bai Xian and the three Inevitable Truth players stood nearby.
"Did we clear it? Did we clear the fourth-level nightmare?!" The three Inevitable Truth players were extremely excited. Previously, their guild teams had over a fifty percent death rate clearing four-level nightmares, but this time they made it out unscathed!
"Clearing it was so easy, all thanks to that special player." The three Inevitable Truth players’ attitudes toward Han Fei made a complete 180-degree turn. They all formally thanked him together: "We were fools not to recognize a great talent; thank you both for leading us through! Could we ask... do you both belong to a guild?"
Han Fei nodded and casually said, "Happiness Community, Han Fei."
"Happiness Community, Bai Xian." Although Brother Bai didn’t help much, it didn’t stop him from puffing out his chest, enjoying the envious looks, his proud expression seemingly saying — How about that? We’re strong, right?
"Happiness Community? The first guild Huang Ying established?!" The internet addict’s eyes widened, now wishing he could slap himself for worrying that someone from such a guild might drag him down in the nightmare.
"Anything else? We’re moving on to the next level." After Han Fei said this, the Inevitable Truth players and Bai Xian twitched at the corners of their eyes.
"Not taking a break?" The internet addict now realized the gap between himself and players from the first guild. He was afraid Han Fei would leave, so he hurriedly asked: "Brother, I actually feel your strategy was different from ours. Could you hint at how you make such judgments? For instance, how did you guess Li Xing was hidden in the bodies of six children? I think normal people wouldn’t think in that direction."
After saying this, the internet addict felt shameless; how could anyone casually share such life-learned secrets with other guild players?
"Actually, it’s quite simple." Han Fei did not hide the truth; the more people who could clear the nightmare, the more the overall difficulty would decrease: "Everything in the nightmare gradually aberrates. But since everything in this nightmare seemed normal, aberration likely occurred where it was hard for us to see directly, like within the hearts of those children."
The internet addict, having completed the first three nightmare levels, understood immediately: "Makes sense."
"You must understand one thing: No matter how absurd and strange these nightmares are, they are twisted from some kind of obsession, and everything terrifying in the nightmare exists for a reason." Han Fei said earnestly: "The more afraid you are, the closer you are to the truth. I hope you remember this and that you can go further in the nightmares."
Receiving Han Fei’s heartfelt blessing, the internet addict felt like a lesser person for treating someone so generously who had helped them through the nightmare with such an attitude initially; he felt uneasy inside.
"If there’s nothing else, we’ll head to the next level. See you if there’s a chance." Han Fei grabbed Bai Xian’s arm; Bai Xian felt embarrassed to run away directly with the three Inevitable Truth players watching and reluctantly went forward with Han Fei.
Seeing Han Fei and Bai Xian’s fearless demeanor, the three players couldn’t help but marvel: "Even any two players from Happiness Community are this strong, so how terrifying is Chairman Huang Ying? Can’t imagine!"
"Why aren’t they leaving?" Bai Xian was ready to run once those players left but found them staring instead: "Are they sick? Do they have a problem?"
"Han Fei, can’t you slow down? We don’t need to rush."
"Damn! I just remembered I left the guild warehouse door unlocked!"
"How much physical strength do you have? How can you drag me along with just one hand?"
"I am, after all, your senior in the entertainment industry. Isn’t it a bit rude for you to drag me ? If you have the ability, let go, and let’s have a speed contest."
The sense of weightlessness suddenly hit, and after the gray fog dispersed, Han Fei and Bai Xian appeared in the fifth nightmare.
This is a pitch-black room, without windows and doors, with two beds placed in the center of the room.
One is ordinary, the other is eerie.
"Aren’t nightmares supposed to get bigger? Why has this nightmare become smaller?" Bai Xian walked towards the bed, discovering something strange on the bed sheets: "Han Fei, come and look at this!"
Just entering the fifth nightmare, Han Fei noticed a change in his body. The ghost pattern granted by Kuangxiao had become increasingly clear after devouring two nightmares in succession, and the nightmare’s restraints on Han Fei were gradually weakening.
"Nightmares become more terrifying as they progress, but I will also become more terrifying as I go further..." Upon hearing Bai Xian’s call, Han Fei came to the bedside.
The bed on the left was very ordinary, just a single bed commonly seen in real life, with a bouquet of red spider lilies and a handwritten invitation placed on it.
Opening the invitation, the contents made Han Fei frown deeply.
"To all those struggling in despair, congratulations on making it through the initial dream. Now I am giving you a chance to choose."
"In front of you are two beds. If you lie on the ordinary bed on the left and fall asleep, you will reconcile with the dream. Once the dream envelops the entire city, you can safely return to reality. You don’t need to do anything, just sleep peacefully here."
"If you choose the ghost bed on the right, you will continue to sink into a deeper, more horrifying nightmare, encountering more ghosts and monsters, enduring more insane mental torment."
"Alright, now you can make your choice. Don’t feel burdened; every five levels, you will have a chance to start over."
The ordinary bed on the left represents a sweet dream, while the ghost bed on the right represents a nightmare. Choosing the sweet dream is equivalent to siding with the dream. Only when the dream achieves ultimate victory can these players wake up; choosing the nightmare continues their despair until they eventually destroy the shrine, allowing them to break free.
The fifth dream seems simple yet very malicious. The invitation from the dream appears straightforward but is filled with verbal traps.
Firstly, the invitation only mentioned that after reconciling with the dream, you don’t need to do anything to pass, but it doesn’t specifically tell players what changes will occur after choosing reconciliation. Is there a possibility of losing consciousness, with one’s awareness falling asleep and the body being controlled by a puppet of the dream?
Every time you pass five nightmares, there is a chance to choose again. Still, if players choose the ordinary bed, they may never wake up again. So this opportunity to choose is actually one-sided, just to tempt those persistent in passing the levels.
Nightmares will become increasingly cruel later on. If they cannot be passed for a long time, players in the Main City District would also become desperate. Once negative emotions start spreading, those who lose hope might make irrational attempts, and such attempts are irreversible. Choosing to reconcile with the dream means becoming the player’s enemy, and the victory conditions will then differ.
The fifth dream appears to give players a choice, but is actually intended to divide them and stir internal conflict.
The vast majority of people in this world only possess basic kindness. In matters of life and death, their common choice is to help whoever wins.
If even top players like Han Fei cannot bring hope to everyone, then some people might embrace the "hope" given by the dream.
The previous nightmares didn’t instill fear in Han Fei, but this nightmare sent a chill down his spine.
Setting down the invitation, Han Fei and Bai Xian went to the ghost bed. There was a faint sound of crying and shadows crawling beneath the bed, with bloodstains all over the sheets, as if it had just been dragged from a murder scene.
"Sleeping on this bed will definitely cause nightmares." Despite saying this, Bai Xian still chose the ghost bed.
"Different choices represent completely opposite fates. After clearing the fifth level, we need to make this information public, inform all players of the seriousness of the matter, and tell them about the dream’s conspiracy to firmly grasp the torch of hope in their own hands." Han Fei had no intention of hiding any secrets in the nightmares, and he and Bai Xian laid down on the ghost bed together.
The two made their choice, and various ghostly shadows and terrifying illusions began to appear in the pitch-black room, as the bed morphed into the mouth of some unknown gigantic beast, swallowing them both.
Spirit and will began to dive deeper, entering an even more desperate area.
Upon opening his eyes, he returned to the Main City District Hospital. This time, Han Fei did not continue forward, reflecting on everything he saw in the fifth nightmare: "All players should choose the ghost bed, but surely someone will be curious about what happens if you choose the ordinary bed."
"I feel the dream can’t possibly keep its promises; anyone capable of creating so many nightmares is definitely a depraved psychopath, so it’s better not to try anything rash." Bai Xian breathed a sigh of relief; the fifth nightmare was just a choice, not difficult for someone with firm will like him.
"I do want to let a certain player try the ordinary bed, let him embrace the dream." Han Fei thought it was time to contact Shen Luo: "A knife to the back of the head shouldn’t affect playing the game, right? Besides, Shen Luo narrowly escaped being killed by the dream’s minions, so he probably wants revenge too."
"Wouldn’t that be too dangerous for the player?" Bai Xian was a good person, inherently kind.
"No worries, that guy always manages a desperate escape." Han Fei and Bai Xian started to withdraw, both leaving the Main City District Hospital together.
They opened the player’s chat hall and glanced at the data statistics. Now, four top guilds have cleared the fifth level, but everyone tacitly didn’t continue downward, seemingly contemplating the choice presented in the fifth nightmare.
"Inevitable Truth, Happiness Community, Commerce Alliance, Deep Space Technology, all top ten guilds have cleared the fifth nightmare!" Bai Xian clicked into the chat hall: "Should we contact them to see what they plan to do next?"
"Yes." After stepping out of the fog-covered hospital, Han Fei received a message personally sent by the Chairman of Commerce Alliance, probably informed by Aqi about everything: "Merchants do have a keen sense of things."
Commerce Alliance is well-funded with various connections and channels; Inevitable Truth has many top players who have a deep understanding of the game; as for Deep Space Technology Guild, it previously had another name, but after the city fell and players were trapped, several unknown guilds immediately united and high-profile announced they were Deep Space Technology staff stationed in the game to maintain stability, assuring that Deep Space Technology would not abandon them and would indeed lead everyone out. These guilds usually keep a low profile, but after joining forces, they exhibited extraordinary strength, steadily remaining in the top ten of the server.
"Since Huang Ying can’t come in for now, I’ll represent him and communicate with other guilds." As the deputy president of the leading guild, Han Fei sent invitation emails to guilds ranked in the top hundred, sharing his views on the nightmare and some clearing experiences for free, and agreed with all guild leaders to meet at noon in the Central Square in the Main City District to explain the current situation to all trapped players.
After receiving the email, Deep Space Technology Guild immediately agreed, being akin to official support, as they would do anything conducive to stabilizing the situation, fully supporting Han Fei.
Items, information, and currency must circulate with each other to create value, and Commerce Alliance understands the importance of cooperation better than anyone else, so they agreed very decisively as well.
Leaders of the top hundred guilds trapped in the game responded to Han Fei one after another, setting the stage for an emergency meeting on countering the nightmares in "Perfect Life," marking Han Fei’s first transition from behind the scenes to the front.
"Han Fei, should I call other friends to bolster the scene?" Bai Xian knew well that there were more ghosts than people in Happiness Community, with only a few players actually present.
"Just us will be enough." Han Fei closed the chat hall and looked back at the fog-shrouded hospital: "Why hasn’t Impermanence come out yet?"