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Bonus chapter! Thank you to --- for the donation! ^^
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After becoming Nightmare Emissaries, many people choose to experiment on those around them. Because of this, these individuals either have no roommates, or their roommates share the same identity.
Ling Qishuo was no exception.
He was a Nightmare Emissary, and so were his three other roommates.
If Ruan Qing had been awake, he would have recognized two of them—the same two he had encountered in the study room and the dorm supervisor’s office.
The moment the three stepped into the dorm, they sensed an additional presence. Normally, they wouldn’t bother with whoever their roommates brought back, but this time, two of them froze.
Because lingering in the air was a faint, sweet scent—one that closely resembled the delicate orchid fragrance of a certain little liar.
Their sharp gazes instantly locked onto the extra presence coming from one of the beds.
Since they disliked being watched, all the beds in the dorm had curtains. The male student from the study room yanked the curtain open, revealing two figures lying on the bed.
A university dorm bed was less than a meter wide, making it extremely cramped for two men. The two on the bed were pressed entirely against each other, and the man’s hand—the one tied with a red string—was even gripping the slender wrist of the young man with unmistakable possessiveness.
And that young man, the one whose hand was being held, was the very person Ji Nanyu had longed to see day and night.
Now he had finally found him—only to see him seeking help from another man, lying so intimately with someone else.
Ji Nanyu let out a cold laugh. He leaned down, grabbed the red string tied around the boy’s wrist, and yanked it without mercy.
The knot wasn’t fixed tightly, and since Ji Nanyu pulled from the loose end, the string quickly slipped free from Ruan Qing’s wrist.
But he showed no such gentleness toward the other man. He seized Ling Qishuo by the collar and violently dragged him off the bed, fully intending to kill him on the spot.
Han Feng, standing nearby, also wished nothing more than for Ling Qishuo to die. Yet he stopped Ji Nanyu. "He won’t survive alone in the Nightmare World."
When entering a nightmare through shared dreaming, it’s nearly impossible to wake someone up. Without protection, the person could truly die there.
Ji Nanyu paused. He shot Ling Qishuo a mocking glare, his eyes brimming with palpable danger and murderous intent.
Trying to play the hero in the Nightmare World to win affection? That would depend on whether he’d allow him the chance.
Without hesitation, Ji Nanyu chose to enter the dream. Han Feng did the same.
Both were so focused on the two on the bed that they failed to notice their other roommate—the one who had always kept a low profile—staring intently at the figure on the bed before silently following them into the dream.
***
Countless endless corridors intertwined with each other, lined with innumerable doors on both sides, like a vast maze with no way out.
Under the dim glow of incandescent lights, the shadowy passageways felt inexplicably oppressive and eerie.
Ruan Qing frowned subconsciously at the scene before him, unable to understand why it was different from last time.
He hadn’t hypnotized himself, nor had he tampered with his subconscious.
His agreement with Ling Qishuo to "kill the thing he feared" had been nothing but a lie—his real goal was to enter the nightmare world to recover his memories.
He trusted neither Ling Qishuo nor the System.
Ever since the last instance, the system’s attitude had been off.
Ruan Qing had always known the System was hiding something from him, likely related to his identity, and it had become especially obvious in the previous instance.
It seemed… the System no longer cared whether he cleared the instance or not.
Had he grown strong enough to break the restrictions, or had something even worse happened?
Ling Qishuo frowned at the oppressive scene before him and took Ruan Qing’s hand. "Stay close."
Ruan Qing didn’t resist. Lowering his gaze to conceal the emotions in his eyes, he remained obediently led by Ling Qishuo.
Neither could guess the other’s thoughts.
The moment Ling Qishuo grasped Ruan Qing’s hand, his entire body stiffened, veins bulging uncontrollably in his other hand.
Pursing his lips unnaturally, he slowly led the way forward.
The corridors twisted and turned without any distinguishing features, offering no exit in sight.
Even after walking straight down one path for a long time, there was no sign of an end—as if it were a road that stretched on forever.
Continuing like this was futile. Moreover, physical stamina in dreams mirrored reality. Ling Qishuo stopped and looked at Ruan Qing.
"Are you sure it’s ghosts you’re afraid of?"
Ruan Qing bit his lip and shook his head uneasily. "I’m… not entirely sure."
Ling Qishuo’s frown deepened, a sense of foreboding settling over him.
If the thing feared was alive, it could be killed—even a ghost wouldn’t deter him.
But if what they feared was this kind of maze with no exit at all, then there wasn’t the slightest chance of a counterattack—only the certainty of being worn down to death in this endless labyrinth.
Just as Ling Qishuo was about to speak, a black figure flashed past the corner of the passage not far away. Both of them instinctively turned to look.
Yet the shadow vanished too quickly. By the time their eyes followed, the corridor was already empty.
Surprisingly, Ling Qishuo let out a quiet breath of relief. Anything that moved was better than nothing. He grabbed Ruan Qing’s hand and pulled him toward the direction where the shadow had disappeared.
Ruan Qing’s stamina was pitifully weak. Even with Ling Qishuo dragging him along, he was gasping for breath after just a few steps.
His usually cool voice, now ragged with panting, sounded almost like that kind of moaning—sinfully enticing.
Ling Qishuo’s ears had long been burning red, impossible to hide, and his heartbeat raced abnormally fast. His focus had shattered entirely, his mind swarming with dark, uncontrollable thoughts.
This was a dream. Nothing that happened here was illegal. None of it would spill into reality.
He’d helped him with such a huge favor—wasn’t it only fair that he pay some kind of price?
Once dark thoughts took root, they were nearly impossible to suppress. Especially when it was a desire he’d never felt before—the urge to claim someone as his own.
He even wanted to trap him in this nightmare, to keep him for eternity, where only he could see him.
Ling Qishuo clenched his free hand until veins bulged. Reason screamed at him that this was wrong.
He didn’t need to resort to something so extreme. He could just save him in the dream, become the unwavering pillar he’d rely on, make it so he’d never leave him—maybe even love him.
But a voice in his heart whispered: He won’t depend on you. He’ll only lie, use you. He’ll never love you.
Never… love you…
The last thread of Ling Qishuo’s sanity snapped. His eyes burned crimson, his entire presence turning terrifying.
Ruan Qing had sensed something was off with the man beside him—and with the corridor itself.
There was something wrong with the passage’s structure. Staring at it too long induced a subconscious hypnosis, amplifying the darkness in one’s heart… and their desires, pushing them toward madness.
And the person next to him had clearly fallen under its spell.
Every cell in Ruan Qing’s body screamed at him to run as the aura around him grew lethally dangerous. But he forced himself to stay still, suppressing the instinct to flee.
He couldn’t outrun Ling Qishuo. Running away would only plunge him deeper into madness.
Ruan Qing tried to ignore the changes in Ling Qishuo, stiffly continuing to follow him. But the increasingly tight grip on his wrist made him instinctively shrink back.
Yet this small movement seemed to enrage Ling Qishuo.
Ling Qishuo stopped in his tracks. He yanked Ruan Qing’s hand and pinned him directly against the wall, his voice trembling with barely restrained frenzy. “You want to leave me, don’t you?”
Ruan Qing’s eyes widened, as if startled by Ling Qishuo’s intensity. His face paled as he shook his head. “...I don’t.”
“You want to leave me. You want to leave me.” Ling Qishuo seemed beyond reason now, his eyes bloodshot, his entire being consumed by obsession and terror.
“I won’t allow it!”
Lost in his madness, Ling Qishuo’s grip tightened unconsciously, squeezing Ruan Qing’s wrist painfully.
It wasn’t unbearable, but if this continued, they might both end up dead in this nightmare world.
No one understood the system’s power better than Ruan Qing. Once it went berserk, no one could stop it.
Tears welled up in Ruan Qing’s beautiful eyes as he looked pitifully at Ling Qishuo. “You’re hurting me.”
There was no clarity in Ling Qishuo’s gaze, yet his grip loosened slightly, as if some part of him still registered Ruan Qing’s words.
Even in this state, he would never truly harm him. Ruan Qing had known this for a long time.
But when Ling Qishuo’s hold slackened, Ruan Qing still froze for a moment. His long lashes trembled faintly, and he bit his lip, uneasy.
For Ruan Qing, the word “love” had always been cheap. Countless people had claimed to love him, had pursued him with reckless obsession, yet none of it ever meant as much as a single “You can go.”
He had never been the type to use himself as a bargaining chip, no matter the cost. Perhaps he had already been moved back in the <Apocalypse Survival> dungeon, the moment he proposed cooperation to the system.
Admitting he cared wasn’t shameful. Staring blankly at the man lost to madness before him, Ruan Qing slowly reached out his hand.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch Ling Qishuo’s face—
Ling Qishuo was sent flying by a sudden kick, so fast Ruan Qing barely processed it.
And then he was pulled into a warm embrace.
A strikingly handsome man looked down at him with concern. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
Ruan Qing stared wide-eyed at the person shielding him in their embrace. He looked at the man before him in shock, then glanced at Ling Qishuo, who had been flung against the wall not far away. He opened his mouth slightly but ultimately spoke in a quiet voice.
"...I'm fine."
Does this dungeon have two System avatars?
Ling Qishuo was already on the verge of madness, and seeing Ruan Qing being held protectively in someone else’s arms pushed him completely over the edge. A terrifying, dark aura radiated from his entire being.
Noticing Ling Qishuo charging forward, the man’s eyes flashed with a trace of killing intent. He gently pushed Ruan Qing aside. "Stand back."
The two immediately clashed, each fighting as if it were a battle to the death.
Watching this, Ruan Qing fell silent, then quietly took a few steps back to a safer position.
There was nothing he could do to help in their fight—nor did he even know which side he should help. Aside from standing aside and watching, he had no other choice.
Yet, in the next moment, something unexpected happened. The passageway abruptly began to shift, the entire space seemingly rearranging itself. A wall suddenly rose, cutting Ruan Qing off from the two men.
