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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Somebody for the donation! ^^
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It was true—he had tried to run. There was no denying that.
Ruan Qing’s lashes trembled slightly as he pressed his slender, pale fingers to his reddened forehead. His eyes, fixed on ‘Su Zhen,’ brimmed with pitiful grievance.
“Brother, it hurts…”
‘Su Zhen’ stiffened almost imperceptibly, his gaze lowering to the young man before him. For a long moment, he didn’t move.
As if puzzled by something.
The weight of that stare made Ruan Qing’s skin prickle, every instinct screaming at him to flee. Yet he could only stand there, frozen, letting ‘Su Zhen’ study him.
Hesitantly, he even reached out, fingers curling lightly into the hem of ‘Su Zhen’s sleeve.
A gesture of dependence, of submission—an attempt to placate him.
Ling Qishuo and the others stood not far away, their auras darkening to a terrifying degree when they saw Ruan Qing tug at ‘Su Zhen’s clothes.
Yet none of them dared intervene.
The man was simply too close to He Qing. If he decided to strike, they’d have no chance of saving him.
Fortunately, this man seemed… aware.
Ling Qishuo frowned. This was the first time they’d encountered a manifested entity with consciousness.
Something about it felt off.
His chest tightened as he watched the man reach for He Qing. He strode forward, voice deliberately casual as he tested, “Hello, Brother. I’m He Qing’s boyfrie—”
Before he could finish, a blade of wind—devastating enough to level mountains—sliced toward him. Had he dodged even a fraction slower, it would have cut him in half.
*BOOM!
The attack struck the wall instead, reducing it to rubble in an instant.
Ling Qishuo glanced at the destruction behind him before turning an icy stare toward the pair.
This man’s gentleness, his awareness—it was reserved solely for his “little brother.” Only he was allowed to call him ‘Brother.’
Hell, the man hadn’t even looked at Ling Qishuo when he attacked. His eyes had remained locked on the figure in front of him.
This wasn’t how an older brother should act. This wasn’t the kind of obsession a brother should have.
Ling Qishuo’s gaze darkened, murderous intent bleeding through. Ji Nanyu and the others were no different.
This man was too strong. As long as he stood in their way, taking Ruan Qing back would be impossible.
It was practically a hopeless situation.
The group shot a deep glance at the person beside the man, then took a step back before he could attack them, slipping into another dimension through the spatial rift.
The man wouldn’t kill He Qing—but he would kill them.
And only by staying alive would they have a chance to kill him.
Once their figures vanished, the spatial rift closed, leaving only Ruan Qing and ‘Su Zhen’ behind in the empty space.
Ruan Qing felt that gaze land on him again, and his slender frame trembled slightly. He stood there stiffly, biting his lower lip.
“You tried to run.” 'Su Zhen’s' voice was flat, as if merely stating a fact.
Ruan Qing’s grip on 'Su Zhen’s' sleeve stiffened. His lips parted hesitantly. “I didn’t…”
“The space was collapsing. I just wanted to avoid it.”
'Su Zhen' looked down at him and repeated, slow and deliberate.
“You tried to run.”
A man devoid of reason was stubborn—no amount of deflection could shake that stubbornness.
Denying it further was pointless.
Ruan Qing was utterly unsettled, his voice trembling with a hint of tears. “I—I’m sorry.”
“I was just… too scared.”
'Su Zhen' didn’t seem to be listening. His gaze was fixed on those slightly parted lips.
“Call me ‘brother.’”
Ruan Qing hesitated for a second before obediently whispering, “…Brother.”
His voice, cool and pleasant, carried a note of dependence and intimacy—soft as a feather brushing against the heart, enough to make one’s pulse stutter.
'Su Zhen’s' eyes darkened like a monster’s, dangerous and eerie.
He was certain he didn’t have a younger brother. Yet when this person called him ‘brother,’ his heartbeat inexplicably quickened, so much that he could barely control himself.
He hated this loss of control. He should kill him.
A voice in 'Su Zhen’s' mind urged him to do just that—as if he had been born for no other purpose.
However, even though his mind was thinking this way and his reason told him he should do so, the hand holding the knife didn’t move at all.
‘Su Zhen’ felt somewhat irritable, even thinking that the voice urging him in his head was unbearably noisy, and the heart that kept pounding incessantly was just as annoying.
The noise made him feel worse and worse, as if countless bugs were crawling inside his bones.
He couldn’t get rid of it, nor could he vent it out.
In the end, he reached toward his own heart and applied a bit of pressure.
When Ruan Qing saw this, his eyes widened. The moment he realized what ‘Su Zhen’ was trying to do, he immediately grabbed 'Su Zhen’s' hand.
Ruan Qing was very weak—his attempt to stop him had no real effect—but ‘Su Zhen’s’ action halted nonetheless. He just looked at him blankly, expressionless.
‘Su Zhen’s’ fingertips had already pierced slightly into his chest. Blood stained his clothes, and Ruan Qing’s fingertips too.
If Ruan Qing had been a second later, ‘Su Zhen’ would have crushed his own heart.
This time, Ruan Qing’s voice truly trembled. “What are you doing?”
‘Su Zhen’ answered honestly, “I want to kill you.”
Ruan Qing looked up in shock, his delicate face full of confusion and bewilderment.
If he wanted to kill him, shouldn’t he be attacking him instead?
‘Su Zhen’ spoke his second sentence flatly, “I also want to f*ck you.”
Ruan Qing completely ignored ‘Su Zhen’s’ second sentence. His face turned pale, and he asked in a trembling voice,
“Why do you want to kill me?”
‘Su Zhen’ grasped Ruan Qing’s hand and brought it to his own forehead. “There’s a voice here.”
“It keeps telling me to kill you.”
Ruan Qing froze at those words. Was it the power of the nightmare world? The embodied entities in it were always urged to kill the dreamer?
This was probably one of the rules of the instance. It was just that Su Zhen, being the original boss of this instance, had broken that rule.
Ruan Qing couldn’t hear the voice in ‘Su Zhen’s’ head, and didn’t know that the voice... seemingly wasn’t from the instance at all.
As the warmth of Ruan Qing’s hand touched his forehead, Su Zhen’s heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat. He suddenly felt much less uncomfortable, and the voice in his head became less irritating.
However, his heart still continued to pound wildly—faster and faster.
'Su Zhen' tightened his grip on Ruan Qing's hand, pressing it firmly against his forehead. After a few seconds, he tentatively guided Ruan Qing's hand downward—resting it over the aching spot on his chest.
The discomfort lessened somewhat, though not entirely. It simply shifted elsewhere.
Without hesitation, 'Su Zhen' pulled Ruan Qing's hand even lower.
At first, Ruan Qing didn’t understand his actions. But the moment an unfamiliar sensation met his palm, his eyes widened in shock. He yanked his hand back without thinking.
'Su Zhen' hadn’t been holding on tightly, nor had he expected resistance—so his grasp slipped away effortlessly.
His pupils flickered unnaturally as his gaze locked onto Ruan Qing. His voice was icy, devoid of inflection, yet laced with an undercurrent of danger.
"Give me your hand."
The command was flat, emotionless, but carried an unspoken threat—as though defiance would invite something terrible.
Ruan Qing’s slender frame trembled. His damp eyes brimmed with fear and helplessness. Finally, he lowered his lashes and shakily extended his hand.
But 'Su Zhen' never got what he wanted. Once again, he was interrupted.
The instant Ruan Qing’s hand touched his, another figure materialized in the distance—appearing without warning. The man approached them with eerie composure.
It was the "freshman representative"—the one who had died during the opening ceremony.
His gaze lingered on their joined hands before settling on Ruan Qing. A faint smile curled his lips, not reaching his eyes.
"Good evening."
Ruan Qing had only meant to manifest a boss experimentally. But the man’s smile sent a jolt of dread through him, freezing him in place.
This wasn’t a manifestation.
This was the real "freshman representative."
Clearly, in the Nightmare World, attempting to manifest a dungeon boss didn’t create a copy—it summoned the real one.
