I created a safe zone in the nightmare world.

Shi An has once again returned to the safe zone of loyalty.

Here, the lights are bright and the music is melodious.

but,

He didn't intend to use the safe zone to escape his nightmares until he could break free.

It is indeed very simple to do this.

The Shadow Insect Swarm and the Blood Handprint, these bizarre phenomena, couldn't even breach the safe zone's defenses, let alone the mere bizarre phenomenon from the initial nightmare.

but……

"If I had fallen into a dream a couple of days ago, I would definitely have chosen to avoid danger."

"But yesterday, I learned from the information that the initial nightmare was both the beginning of misfortune and an opportunity worth seizing."

What else is there to say? Let's just do it!

However, there are methods to doing it.

Shi An first rummaged through the tool shed and found a still sturdy iron rod, then put the lighter in his pocket.

Iron rods don't exist in the safe zone itself, but during the last nightmare dormitory incident, Shi An asked Lao Yao to bring him some "local specialties".

The Dreamer cannot bring ordinary items into or out of the Nightmare, nor can he, but he can leave them in the safe zone; there is no such thing as them being refreshed.

Shi An suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, does that mean I can open a storage service in my safe zone later? It seems like a good idea, but let's wait until the safe zone expands and we have more customers before making any moves."

Holding an iron rod, Shi An seemed to perk up.

With a calm heart and unwavering resolve, I stepped into the Nightmare Corridor once again.

The door to the shop in the safe zone disappeared after it closed, leaving behind the door of room number 444, which looked like a sticker.

This is a different area from the previous ones; the doors are not fixed.

Wherever Shi An is, that's where the safe zone is.

but,

Just as the shop door closed and faded away, a faint, almost imperceptible tinge of blood appeared at the shop entrance, vanishing in an instant.

……

Shi An continued walking through the apartment building corridors, passing one corner and fork in the road after another, but never reaching the end.

On both sides, there were no windows or stairs, only doors with the number 444.

It was desolate, deathly quiet, and eerie.

Even the temperature seems to be dropping little by little, which makes people involuntarily get goosebumps.

To be fair, Shi An felt that the portrayal of nightmares was quite realistic and terrifying.

It may seem like there's nothing there, but the sense of immersion and terror is far stronger than those in escape rooms.

After all, the nightmare was real.

"Referring to Lao He's nightmare..."

There's no need to refer to Lao He; the information provided by the Countermeasures Bureau includes several common examples of initial nightmares.

It often takes 5-7 nights to break free from nightmares.

In other words, as long as you persist for seven days without it stopping, the nightmare will inevitably fade away on its own.

But that went on for too long.

Time waits for no one.

Putting aside the fact that he wasn't prepared to play hide-and-seek with the eerie creatures 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 is unaware.

Therefore, we cannot waste our limited time on the initial nightmare.

It's time to clear the level.

Shi An recalled limited information about her initial nightmare.

He doesn't actually know much; he's only just started his training.

But that's alright, knowing just a few key pieces of information is enough.

Holding the iron rod, Shi An continued to advance through the Nightmare Corridor, striding forward at an increasingly faster pace.

About half an hour later.

"Thump, thump, thump~!"

Shi An suddenly noticed that his footsteps were punctuated with an accent.

No, it's not an accent.

Instead, just as his foot landed, a soft pattering sound came from behind him.

It was as if a figure was following closely behind you.

Shi An suddenly turned around.

The corridor was empty; indeed, there was nothing there.

In the dead of night, the corridor was deathly silent, empty and seemingly endless, when footsteps that didn't sound like a human's could be heard!

That's really scary.

If it weren't for the safe zone I had as a backup, and if it weren't for the bloody handprint, I would quietly follow you around.

If I were just an ordinary, unremarkable person...

Shi An imagined it, his face turning deathly pale.

He went from walking briskly to running.

But footsteps followed closely behind.

The faster he ran, the closer his footsteps became;

He fled, his footsteps chasing after him, but Shi An was already trapped with no way to escape.

After running for only a few dozen seconds, the fragile office worker couldn't help but pant heavily under the dual pressure of physical and mental strain, and his steps became increasingly disordered.

"Huff~! Huff!"

With disordered breathing and extreme fear, Shi An lost her balance and stumbled and fell.

The iron rod fell to the ground with a thud, accidentally leaving a bloody scratch on my arm.

It was as if he was being chased by nightmares to the point of despair, and had lost his mind due to fear and hopelessness.

At this time,

The footsteps that had been relentlessly pressing forward, like footsteps pressed against one's back, finally took a step forward, breaking through the boundary and truly appearing in the nightmare world, facing the prey that was already terrified to the extreme.

It's out!

It's about to begin its hunt!

Shi An's terrified expression suddenly changed, and he instantly reached out and grabbed the iron rod that had fallen to the side, swinging it backhand.

"puff--"

It was like hitting a viscous liquid; there wasn't a strong sense of impact, but the entire iron rod was stuck on it.

The target... was completely unharmed.

This is a monster made entirely of pitch-black liquid. It is humanoid in shape, with four limbs but no face, and follows the survivors in the Nightmare Corridor like a shadow.

It bared its fangs!

Humans are prey to it, and it doesn't even have the right to struggle.

but,

The fear in Shi An's eyes had vanished; he simply stared intently at the dark, eerie figure.

Like...

Look at the prey!

"boom!"

A crimson light appeared from behind the shadowy figure.

Taking advantage of Shi An using himself as bait to attract the strange figure's attention, Xiao Xue directly unleashed his ultimate move at close range, fiercely imprinting a blood-red palm print onto the dark figure.

In an instant!

Like oil being poured on a raging fire, hissing sounds rang out continuously as the black liquid was constantly evaporated.

The eerie creature, entirely black, emitted an extremely piercing howl.

An invisible shockwave seemed to ripple outwards, and an extreme chill spread like a tide. Shi An felt as if he were being choked, his breathing became difficult, and his face turned deathly pale.

This is eerie terror!

The burst of energy was enough to make ordinary people, even ordinary dreamers, feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

but,

Little Blood is not a person.

It was completely unaffected, and while it was howling eerily in the darkness, it slapped several more bloody handprints onto the surface.

On the dark shadows, a series of scarlet handprints were shocking.

The dark, eerie creature, wounded by the bloody handprint, had long since locked its hatred onto Little Blood.

Black and blood were intertwined and locked in a fierce battle.

But the dark and eerie creature had already lost the initiative. When it erupted, a portion of the liquid on its body had evaporated, and the blood-red palm prints firmly imprinted on it were constantly devouring the shadow.

The pitch-black eerie creature is still alive, relying solely on its terrifying vitality!

but,

That's all.

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

The eerie, dark howling gradually subsided.

Just as the pitch-black eeriness weakened to its extreme, and its body faded and shrank by more than ten times, the blood handprint transformed its entire body into blood mist.

A blood mist descended.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

The little blood enveloped the pitch-black, eerie creature and refined it in one fell swoop.

Subsequently,

Little Blood reappeared and let out a soft burp; the blood-red aura around him seemed to have intensified.

At this moment, the great war that threatened to destroy the world has finally come to an end.

Shi An let out a long breath, and his tense heart finally relaxed.

At this time,

The entire nightmare corridor world began to crack and fissure.

The initial nightmare that had haunted him for a full hour finally shattered and vanished completely at this moment.

He cleared the level.