Chapter 280:

Words : 1558 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

“Researcher – Elvan Pound” He was the employee who had smashed his entire face into the recognition device, Yi Chen’s pocket now contained exactly 26 identical identity cards, “Cycle” As soon as he walked through the safety door opened by this researcher, he could return to the starting point and witness the employee’s ‘spectacular performance’ of face-smashing again, all performed by the same person, dropping the same cards. Of course, aside from the safety door, there were no other passages to choose from. The corridor cycled in an ‘L’ shape—just pass through the safety door and take a turn to find himself back at the original hall. This was completely different from Yi Chen’s anticipated exploration plan; he couldn’t even step out of the laboratory, much less this L-shaped corridor. With Yi Chen’s current methods, no matter if it was the invasion of death or iron chains pulling from the walls, the damaged walls would not only repair rapidly but their thickness was immeasurable. The deepest attempt was when Yi Chen turned the black liquid into a drill and drilled for ten meters, yet it was still wall structure. If he chose to go back, the sealed safety door would block him, also indestructible. One cycle after another, there was neither a threat from the nightmare nor any superfluous changes;Vision even came out to breathe, and visually, he detected nothing. Yi Chen had no choice but to sit down next to the researcher with a shattered face and calmly think of a breakthrough method. “The nightmare material, once extinguished, no longer appears;only an endless cycle remains here. Vision combined with my perception detects nothing. Is there a possibility that there was never a so-called ‘exit’ here from the beginning? Or, perhaps the dream area I am currently in corresponds to a nightmare effect that I have already ended? Should I just wait for the three hours outside to finish, and I will be awakened?” Yi Chen began to dig through his previous memories, recalling his nightmare experiences while making costumes, and suddenly realized a critical problem. “Yes! At that time, while waiting on the lower level for the costume to be made, I entered the nightmare unwittingly, failing to recognize myself immediately. Following the guidance of the dream, as soon as I put on the costume disguised by nightmare material, I was attacked and promptly awakened in a deeper layer of the dream. Still unaware of the nightmare issue, I continued to be led by the nose, subjected again to the nightmare tentacles’ facial assault, moving to deeper nightmare levels and awakening again. This time I finally realized the problem and used various means to detach myself from the dream. If every ‘awakening’ is considered as ‘descending one layer on the dream staircase’. I was on the ‘Third Layer’ back then. Now it’s different, because I was prepared and broke through my rank, I detected abnormalities from Jin right at the beginning and recognized myself, I am currently just staying on the ‘First Layer’. To explore the root of the nightmare, I must head to the deeper layers. The way to step onto the dream staircase and head deeper is to … willingly accept the attack of the nightmare material.” When Vision heard the conclusion Yi Chen arrived at, it got so scared that its fur exploded, “Hey! Don’t mess around, this is just our first exploration;it’s enough to get this far, don’t engage in such unknown risky actions.” Yi Chen’s expression, however, was extra serious, really quite excited. “We can’t just go back empty-handed, can we? The research institute has spent a lot of resources on us. At the very least, I need to verify the conclusion I’ve drawn. Since I escaped from the Third Layer last time, it should be okay to delve into the Second Layer and leave this time, right? And how could we think about understanding and dispelling this mysterious pathogen threatening the organization without taking any risk?” “Fine~ I’ll just provide visual assistance anyway.” Once his mind was made up, Clang clang~ an iron chain, imbued with plant traits, sprouted from his palm, drilling into the brain of the employee next to him with the smashed face, extracting brain matter. However, as Vision had observed, this employee had very little nightmare content, and even active extraction yielded little reaction. Yi Chen stood up and made his way back to the original changing room, looking at those dry, shattered tentacle fragments scattered on the ground, without hesitation, he picked one up and chewed it in his mouth. “Hmm? Surprisingly tasty.” The tentacle fragments tasted a bit like charred squid tentacles, but without the burnt flavor, instead carrying a hint of mild pepper and a oceanic scent, perfectly crisp. The tentacle swallowed by Yi Chen transformed into a rich black vapor in his stomach. With the swallowing of all the tentacles… Buzz! Consciousness briefly stalled and darkened, and by the time his vision cleared, Yi Chen found himself suspended by fishing lines in the isolation room, as if he had just awakened from a dream. Except there were neither Jin nor Reagan by his side, and the surrounding environment was quite dark, an indication he was still in a dream. A broadcast sounded at this moment, emitting intermittent, electronically noisy sounds, which, when listened to closely, seemed to blend the voices of several women: “You… you are the first ‘Dreamer’ willing to delve deep voluntarily, I have prepared a gift for you, go and get it.” After the broadcast ended, the fishing lines were lowered. Yi Chen moved his body, unable to suppress a smile. “Indeed, to go to the deeper layer of nightmares, one needs to absorb nightmare materials, whether passive or active.” What was unexpected was that the entity behind the nightmare was no longer pretending. However, it’s still better to be careful…” As soon as Yi Chen walked into his own private changing room, a neatly wrapped black and white gift box was conspicuously placed on the center chair, with a small white card attached to it. Sёarᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ≮To William, please be sure to open it[personally]≯ The word “personally” was emphasized, The smiley face at the end of the card was ordinary but appeared very out of place here, even reminding Yi Chen of the barely retained smile on the face of the employee who had his face shattered. Just as Yi Chen reached out to unpack the wrapping, Xiao Grape’s voice immediately came through: “Hey! You’re not really going to open it personally, are you? What if it’s a trap… It might just drag you into a deeper layer of nightmares, or even take the opportunity to invade your thoughts.” “My intuition tells me that since we are here to explore, it might be better to follow the instructions on the card.” “Suit yourself!” Of course, Yi Chen was not without his guards. As he reached out to touch the gift box, his arm muscles tensed completely, with the brain cells hidden among the muscles fully activated, and even the tensed muscle surfaces showed slowly moving brain folds. His reaction speed had increased several times. If he detected anything abnormal in the process of opening the gift box, Yi Chen would instantly switch to Dead Man Makeup while letting his brain be covered with needles, to prevent a sudden attack from nightmare material. He untied the bow tie and the black and white paper wrapping on the surface of the gift box, and just as his fingers touched the body of the gift box inside, some hidden, touch-activated switch within the gift box was triggered. Snap! A shadow burst violently out of the gift box. Ha ha ha ha! Sinister laughter echoed in the changing room. But it posed no threat, In front of Yi Chen shaking was only a realistic doll’s head, the lower end attached to a very rigid spring, the doll’s head even intentionally made to look like Jin’s. The colorful mask was slightly raised, just enough to reveal the mouth. However, unlike Jin’s mouth, the doll’s lips were painted black and maintained an exaggerated smile, with some kind of sound device installed inside that kept emitting bizarre laughter. The doll’s head was connected to a spring at the neck, made very realistically, and was even continuously bleeding. Yi Chen was not frightened, and the Dead Man Makeup did not switch. He picked up the gift box and scrutinized it for a while, eventually finding a special black card, the gift mentioned in the broadcast. As Yi Chen took out the strange textured card, the laughter from the gift box stopped. Just then. Sizzle~ Surges of electricity traveled along the edges of the changing room, quickly gathering and striking through Yi Chen’s brain. Buzz! The entire person abruptly came to, suspended by the fishing lines in the brightly lit isolation room, with both Jin and Reagan awakening beside him. What was different, was that Yi Chen’s tightly clenched right hand was continuously emitting black smoke, and upon opening his palm, there was the card with the aura of nightmares, pinched within.

Chapter 280:

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