Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The hustle and bustle of the streets had faded away at some point, those sounds of sorrow, despair, resentment, and regret gradually receded in the long wail of the ambulance.

The whole world had returned to a state of murmuring whispers, all illusions had dissipated.

Yet, the distorted text floating before his eyes had not disappeared. This surreal, fantastical scene existed incredibly real.

[If this is your wish.]

[What you think will inevitably become reality.]

Bai Yi was lazily sprawled on the bed, looking up at these two lines of text on the ceiling.

...It wasn’t an illusion? He had really been chosen by a baffling nightmare game.

“...You really dare to say it.”

He started laughing, sitting upright.

“Your system is really messed up. You falsely accused me before, and in the end, the pyramid scheme leader turned out to be you?”

...Who knew if the so-called nightmare game was real or fake, what the existence that claimed to be the game system was in essence, perhaps everything was just a scam.

...If one were to go by conspiracy theories, the monster in the depths of the nightmare wearing the skin of the game system, choosing someone in reality, and gradually invading this world through this... this seemed like a reasonable setting too.

But, who cares?

Bai Yi only knew that his interest had been successfully piqued.

“Three paths, huh? Only children make choices, mature adults naturally want it all.”

Summoning the familiar basic panel, Bai Yi’s gaze swept over it, directly aiming at the bottom.

This was a function he hadn’t had the chance to understand before, perhaps he could use it soon, so naturally, he had to figure it out first.

Points: 10

Card Slot: [Ghost in the Rainy Night★]

[Trait to be confirmed]

[Can be equipped / Consumes Nightmare Crystal (White) ×1 every 24 hours]

[Click to no longer display]

Backpack: Nightmare Crystal (White) ×3, Principle of All Things ×1

**

Points were easy to understand, they were the currency of the Nightmare Game, and Nightmare Crystals seemed to be some kind of special consumable. As for that character card...could it be what he had guessed?

With a thought, Bai Yi conjured a phantom card in his palm. Under the black umbrella, the man’s smile was inscrutable.

Following that, rows of text prompts appeared.

[Card: Ghost in the Rainy Night★]

[Origin: Bloody Inn★☆]

[Prototype: Serial Killer K who appears on rainy nights]

[Description: A special reward obtained by the player for defeating an enemy that they should not have been able to defeat, crossing their own character limitations. Possesses all of K’s killing techniques and other skills. Apart from this, it’s blank. The player can add their own background, experience, personality, and other trait settings to this card. Limited to three. And cannot exceed the limit of a one-star card.]

[Note: Traits that are severely incompatible with the character prototype cannot take effect. The higher the compatibility of the trait, the more likely it is to take effect. When equipping this card, the player will directly master all the skills of the card character and transform into the character itself. The closer the player’s portrayal is to the trait setting, the faster the card’s growth and upgrade experience will be gained.]

This explanation was indeed full of information.

“So, the name is K? That’s too casual.”

Recalling the NPC whose surname was still unknown, Bai Yi made a comment, then ignored it and focused on the key point.

“So, this is like giving me a blank assassin NPC card that I can mold as I wish, with skills already maxed out, and the character setting is all up to me?”

As for not being able to be severely incompatible with the prototype character, that was also easy to understand...

Following the system’s prompts, Bai Yi’s fingers danced, and he casually wrote in mid-air: [Inherently kind, unable to bear to kill, a good old man who loves cats and dogs]——

Hiss!

Just as he expected, as soon as this line of text fell, it turned into a puff of blue smoke and disappeared cleanly.

[This trait is severely incompatible with the character prototype.]

“Then let’s try this.” Bai Yi persevered.

[Unmatched skills, able to fight a hundred alone, the king of assassins who can catch bullets barehanded]

After this line of text appeared, it flashed in mid-air, although it did not turn into blue smoke and disappear, it obviously dimmed bit by bit, and a suddenly appearing long line directly crossed out the entire sentence.

[Exceeds the card limit, currently cannot take effect.]

“So that’s how it is...”

Bai Yi was not disappointed, his eyes lit up instead.

The corners of his mouth curled up high, like a child who had suddenly found a new toy, his face was full of anticipation:

“Let’s try this again...”

.....

After more than ten attempts, Bai Yi had roughly figured out what kind of trait settings were within the acceptable range of this card.

And as long as the trait was judged to pass, it would automatically glow and turn into golden text, floating above.

“It’s so real, too real. Is this really an illusion?”

Bai Yi pinched his arm with a face full of novelty, then lifted a strand of light golden hair from his ear and took a light sniff.

“Is this what it feels like to equip a character card?”

At this moment, he felt as if he had been split into two halves, possessing two different perspectives.

One was his original self still in the apartment, and the other was this guise of the assassin [K].

He could effortlessly control both sides with one mind, not knowing whether it was the effect of the character card itself, or his own [Persona Mask] ability.

The Bai Yi lying in the apartment had already taken out a bag of sunflower seeds and started cracking them, while inside the inn, [K] began his action.

While touching here and looking there, he made his way to the front desk on the first floor, even finding a bottle of very familiar strong sleeping pills in the front desk...

Then there was the blood-stained hall, and those two bodies lying in the pool of blood...

Finally, there was the TV on the wall.

...If turned on, could this TV receive external signals? Would it be the news channel in the dream, or could it connect to the real TV station?

Bai Yi decisively made an attempt.

The TV did not turn on, but a line of text jumped out instead, flaunting its presence on the screen.

[The degree of illusion in this scene is too high, some functions are missing. It is recommended to increase the Legend Degree, or use the Fragment of the Principle of All Things, which can make the scene fragment continuously shift from illusion to reality.]

Another prompt with a wealth of information.

“So, in the end, you just want the Legend Degree, right?”

Bai Yi disappointedly put down the remote control, and shifted his attention to other places.

He was just like a child who had discovered a secret base, completely engrossed in the novelty of exploration.

Until the time that was constantly passing in the upper right corner of his vision reminded him. “...I almost forgot about the main business.”

He, who had received too much foul “garbage” pollution from this area, couldn’t know more about it.

Every day, who knows how many drunkards would pass through this alley...

The location was secluded, the experimental subject was special, and it wouldn’t cause too much commotion. It was perfect for a first attempt.

Then, let’s see who would be the lucky customer who would automatically show up~

As for now, he was more interested in the two incredibly realistic bodies...

While waiting for the lucky customer, Bai Yi couldn’t help but cast his curious gaze at the two bodies on the ground.

He couldn’t help but reach out his hand.

Just then—

Accompanied by the increasingly loud rain outside, an incredibly strong mental fluctuation was rapidly approaching.

All kinds of chaotic information dispersed at the same time.

Complaints, regrets, resentment, anxiety...

In the sound of the wind and rain, someone pushed open the door of the inn.

Bai Yi, who was lying on the apartment sofa eating sunflower seeds, suddenly opened his half-closed eyes. “Oh, the protagonist finally makes an appearance?”

And in the inn, a man in a black trench coat smiled and turned around, his light golden half-length hair brushing past his face.

“Coming uninvited in the middle of the night, what a rude guest.”

****

“Coming uninvited in the middle of the night, what a rude guest.”

The man smiled and raised the tip of his umbrella.

“Bang—”

“Ah!!!”

A scream echoed, startling the entire hospital ward.

Han Shan, lying on the hospital bed, opened his eyes, still immersed in the nightmare and unable to recover, as if he had returned to that terrifying night, his whole body trembling.

“Sir, are you okay? An hour ago, someone found you passed out on the side of the road and brought you to our hospital...”

“This is a hospital?!”

In the nurse’s concerned voice, Han Shan finally realized his surroundings. He looked around the ward and finally breathed a sigh of relief as if he had been pardoned.

Coming back to his senses and thinking back to his previous embarrassment and fear, he suddenly felt a belated sense of embarrassment and annoyance.

Damn it! Isn’t it just a murderer...

“Wait!”

Han Shan immediately grabbed the nurse who was about to get up.

“—I, I want to call the police!”

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