《Trapped Dream》


 Chapter 001

    Robin opened his eyes and found the room dark and silent.


    A headache spread from his temple like a ghost.


    Robin exhaled heavily, turned over and fumbled, and found the recording pen under the pillow.


    "I still didn''t dream." He murmured to himself, his heart full of pain.


    He tried exercise, taking a hot bath, listening to music, and even took two sleeping pills, but they were all ineffective and he still couldn''t fall asleep.


    The symptoms of severe insomnia troubled him for three whole months.


    He went to many hospitals and tried medication and psychotherapy, but there was almost no effect.


    Robin has always maintained the habit of recording his sleep status with a recording pen.


    He relaxed his body again and tried to keep deep and slow breathing.


    "Today is the ninety-seventh day." He said softly.


    Robin opened his eyes and silently counted sheep in the empty darkness until he counted nine hundred and sixty-seven, and finally couldn''t help getting up and getting out of bed.


    "I''m safe. I''m in my bedroom, wearing my most ordinary pajamas... Nine hundred and seventy-two sheep." He said to himself.


    "The temperature is suitable and the environment is quiet. This is an environment I''m familiar with." While recording, Robin walked to the window and opened the curtains.


    "Nine hundred and eighty sheep, it''s not dawn yet, outside the window..." He was suddenly stunned, "Wait, the window... the window is gone!"


    Robin stared at the blank wall for a few seconds, then turned back to the bed and covered his head with the quilt.


    After a few seconds, Robin lifted the quilt, jumped up, and turned on the light on the recording pen.


    The dazzling light illuminated the clumsy graffiti on the wall.


    Robin was surprised to find that he was standing in a completely unfamiliar room.


    The blue striped quilt cover on the bed was twisted casually on the quilt core, and the edge of the white sheets was a little damaged.


    The cat-head wall clock swayed mechanically, and sharp teeth were neatly arranged in the grinning mouth.


    The alarm clock rang on time, the bright red mouth opened wider, and the cat''s eyes, which had been regularly flashing fluorescent green light, suddenly emitted a dazzling red light.


    A rusty mechanical bird flapped its wings and flew out with a "coo". After a few seconds, the head of the mechanical bird suddenly fell off and rolled to Robin''s feet.


    Robin quickly counted the last three sheep, grabbed the recording pen, and rushed out the door.


    This was not the world he was familiar with.


    After coming out of the room, he found that the stairs in this apartment were too complicated, as if he could never finish walking them in his lifetime.


    Moreover, looking out from the empty and narrow corridor, there were two blood-red moons hanging in the sky at the same time.


    Robin gradually slowed down his pace, carefully controlling the amplitude of his movements, making sure that the sound was light enough, and then put his body close to the wall.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He was surprised to find that his appearance had changed a little, as if... much better looking than before.


    Robin retreated to the door of the public toilet. Although he was very scared, he still caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror when he ran over.


    He put away the recording pen and quietly walked into the public toilet.


    The light tube illuminated the entire public toilet brightly enough. A whole mirror was embedded in the wall. The aluminum alloy frame was a little damaged and rusty.


    There were several puddles of water scattered irregularly on the ground. The faucet was dripping, and the sound echoed in the empty corridor.


    Robin stood in front of the sink, looked at himself in the mirror carefully, raised one hand, pressed his hair that was curled because of sleeping, and adjusted his collar.


    Although the atmosphere was as weird as a horror movie, at least no more outrageous changes had occurred for the time being. In line with Robin''s movements, the shadow in the mirror was also adjusting his collar, and then put his hand down at the same time as Robin.


    Under the pale light, Robin admired it carefully for a few seconds and then retracted his gaze.


    Compared with reality, his facial features have not changed much, but his current state is good enough, without wounds and scars, and without fatigue and dark circles caused by long-term insomnia.


    Robin refocused his attention on the environment in front of him. He first ruled out the possibility of being kidnapped to a strange building after falling asleep.


    This is clearly not an apartment that conforms to the objective laws of reality - the distribution of stairs and rooms is completely random, which would not have passed the architectural project review process and violates the laws of physics.


    Moreover, the windows of the public toilet and the windows of the corridor are in opposite directions, but both can see two moons.


    "This is an unreal space." Robin opened the recording pen again and whispered: "Here, there are usually two possibilities: I am still alive, or I have died suddenly due to insomnia."


    "If I die, this may be my transit station to the traditional religious scene, or it may be an illusion caused by the residual electrical signal activity of the cerebral cortex in the near-death state."


    He continued: "Assuming that I am still alive, what I have to do now is to judge the nature of this space and find a way out..."


    "Something''s wrong." Robin groaned, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the recording pen, "Maybe there''s something wrong with my brain. Let me check my mental state and cognitive function first."


    He began to ask himself and answer: "What day is today?"


    "..."


    "What day is my birthday?"


    "..."


    "What did I eat yesterday?"


    "..."


    Robin rubbed his eyebrows, knowing that the answers to these questions were too simple, but he discovered a strange phenomenon.


    -If he was clear-headed at this time, he would definitely not want to answer these questions.


    However, before he could think deeply, suddenly, a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps became clear, interrupting his thoughts.


    There are other people here!


    He easily distinguished the footsteps of humans, but there were also strange sounds mixed in, like something crawling, sharp objects scratching on the tiles, accompanied by panic coughs and heavy breathing, which sounded creepy.


    "It seems that this is not the feeling of death." Robin regretfully put away the recording pen that was about to record the last sentence, held his breath, and leaned against the wall.


    No matter what he thought, the current situation was completely different from what he imagined.


    He used the dim light of the public toilet and observed the situation in the corridor through the mirror.


    The corridor had become extremely strange. A dark red unidentified object crawled on the wall, and stretched out tentacles along the wall, completely blocking one end of the corridor.


    The room covered by the object was no longer visible. The furniture was entangled by the dark red object, the iron table legs were dragged on the ground, and green liquid flowed out from the gaps in the tiles.


    These liquids seemed to be extremely corrosive. As long as they were slightly touched, they would make a "sizzling" sound and emit white foam.


    The man running behind suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.


    His right leg accidentally touched the green liquid, and his pants were instantly burned through. His skin and muscles were corroded, leaving a series of horrible black scars.


    The dark red monster seemed very excited. While chasing closely against the wall, it let out a terrified roar.


    The man running in front suddenly turned around and fired. The bullet hit the corner of the wall, sparks flew, and the monster''s tentacles were temporarily forced back.


    The bald young man following behind threw the bottle over, and the wine spilled all over the floor. Sparks flew, and it immediately burned violently.


    The man who fell was quickly helped up by everyone. He found a crutch from somewhere and limped across the line of fire.


    That monster must be very afraid of fire and dare not move in front of it.


    Everyone finally took a breath and ran to the end of the corridor, supporting each other to stand firm, panting awkwardly.


    "Damn it! Didn''t you say to watch more healing movies before going to bed?! Who has such a terrible dream!"


    "No one wants to have a nightmare!"


    "How many times have I had REM? I have to go to work tomorrow, I will definitely be late..."


    "Stop talking! What should I do? This road is blocked!"

 Chapter 002

    In the public toilet, Robin put away the recording pen.


    At present, he still didn''t fully understand what happened.


    But from the current situation, he had to change his conservative ideas.


    The fire in the corridor gradually weakened because the flammable materials were almost burned out.


    The monster began to wriggle again, trying to continue to spread.


    A bald young man quickly took out a few bottles of liquor like magic and threw them over. He wiped his sweat and said, "It''s not okay to burn like this!"


    In contrast, another middle-aged man seemed calmer.


    He put away the gun and asked everyone: "We must find a way to break through the wall or ceiling. Has anyone done this kind of work or has the relevant tools?" This question is quite professional. Everyone looked at each other and was speechless because of worry.


    The monster''s tentacles have begun to crawl along the ceiling, dripping green liquid, corroding black holes with white smoke.


    Behind them is a solid wall, and there is no way to retreat.


    Some people were so frightened that they were paralyzed on the ground.


    Sweat beads also oozed from the forehead of the middle-aged man. He was about to get up, but Robin, who came out of the public toilet, pulled his sleeve.


    Robin stared at the gun in the middle-aged man''s hand.


    He didn''t intend to come out of the public toilet, but the monster seemed to devour the room it passed through.


    If he continued to stay in the public toilet, the risk of being swallowed by the monster and the room might be greater.


    Robin thought for a moment, and from the conversation just now, he could roughly analyze that he was now like everyone else, and was probably trapped in a strange dream.


    Only by escaping this nightmare can he return to the real world.


    Robin temporarily put away his thoughts, looked at the gun in the middle-aged man''s hand and asked: "How did these things appear?"


    The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, looked at the gun in his hand: "You mean this? This is what we conceived. We are now in the subconscious world, we can use memory and imagination to create things, but it must be reasonable."


    He continued: "You have to concentrate on thinking about something you are most familiar with, preferably the first thing that comes to mind, and you must know all its details very well-"


    He suddenly stopped talking.


    The others were still arguing, and now they all quieted down.


    Everyone looked at Robin, the thin young man in pajamas who suddenly appeared from the public toilet.


    Because at this moment, Robin had a buzzing portable electric saw in his hand.


    The middle-aged man looked at the electric saw in Robin''s hand and asked curiously: "You are..."


    "I am a person who likes to do handicrafts." Robin coughed.


    He just tried it according to the middle-aged man''s method, because it was the first time, and he didn''t expect it to be like this.


    Robin held the buzzing chainsaw and hid the sharp saw blade behind him: "I am more familiar with some common tools... This should be reasonable, right?"


    However, everyone seemed to find this explanation difficult to accept.


    Robin held the chainsaw, and some people were scared and dodged, which made him a little embarrassed, so he had to turn off the chainsaw.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    This world is very strange, but there are also some puzzling and rigorous settings.


    For example, the chainsaw in Robin''s hand.


    Although they were trapped in a dream and thrown into a weird apartment, the corridor was full of dark red monsters, and there was green water with white smoke everywhere.


    But this chainsaw was still stubbornly plugged into the socket of the public toilet through a power cord at least five meters long.


    "The floors below are occupied by monsters. If the ground is broken, the corrosive liquid will flow out. We have to find another way." The middle-aged man nodded to Robin, as a greeting.


    Watching the monsters getting closer and closer, Robin turned on the chainsaw and tried it on the wall first.


    He was ready to stop immediately if green water came out or the monsters were angry.


    But the feeling of the saw blade touching the wall was a bit strange.


    Those originally cold and hard walls suddenly became as sticky as mud.


    No matter how the saw teeth rotated, as long as they left the wall, the wall would return to its original state.


    Touched it with the hand again, the wall turned into hard bricks and lime again.


    Everyone crowded in the corner, watching Robin''s movements intently, and seeing the situation in front of them, their faces showed fatigue and frustration again.


    "We have tried other things, walls and windows are like this." The middle-aged man explained in a low voice, "This dream may have only one scene, and this is the boundary of the dream."


    The rules of dreams cannot be simply explained by real logic, and their specific manifestations also show strong individual differences.


    However, some common laws can still be summarized, such as the concept of "dream domain".


    Individual, independent and complete dreams are called "dream domains".


    The earliest recorded dream domain connection event occurred ninety-seven days ago.


    Someone posted on the Internet, claiming that he accidentally broke into someone else''s dream during sleep, and even several strangers claimed to have had the same dream, and the memory after waking up was also surprisingly similar.


    At first, people thought it was just nonsense, but as more and more people mistakenly entered other people''s dreams, after a lot of secret investigations, this phenomenon was finally officially confirmed.


    The initial investigation focus of the relevant departments was mainly on the theft of important information and privacy leakage that may be caused by dream connection.


    However, as the number of cases of unexplained coma in various places continues to increase, people gradually realize that there is a more dangerous possibility of the consequences of mistakenly entering other people''s dreams.


    Those who cannot escape will be trapped in this dream forever and cannot wake up.


    Dreams originate from the subconscious world, and the boundaries of the dream domain are vague and subtle.


    If you can''t find the exit hidden in the dream domain, you will never be able to escape from this dream.


    After understanding the general situation, Robin thanked the middle-aged man, hesitated for a few seconds, and walked to another window.


    He observed carefully and found that the darkness outside the window was not because of the night. These windows could not see the outside scene at all, nor could they reflect the human figure at any angle.


    Robin turned on the light on the recording pen and changed the direction to shine everywhere.


    Although it felt like glass, the light could not penetrate.


    The only thing that could be seen through the "window" was the two blood-red full moons that were always the same.


    "Why are you shining it? We are standing together. Everyone wants to go out. I won''t lie to you!" The bald young man didn''t understand what Robin was doing. Seeing him dawdling against the window, he finally couldn''t help but roared in a low voice: "The monster is coming!"


    The others were originally attracted by Robin''s actions. Only then did they realize that the situation was not good. They came back to their senses and their faces turned pale in an instant.


    The monster obviously had a certain intelligence. While everyone was not prepared, it had quietly extended its tentacles into the public toilet.


    Although the monster was afraid of fire and did not dare to cross rashly, it had a way to devour the water pipes in the public toilet.


    The uncontrolled water flow overflowed from the public toilet, easily extinguishing the only remaining safety barrier.


    Not only that, Robin''s provocation seemed to have completely angered it.


    The monster squeezed the wall harder and moved faster.


    The water mixed with green liquid flowed along the ground, twisting and deforming the furniture under some powerful force, making a creepy friction and collision sound.


    As the monster continued to approach, everyone finally had a chance to see what was chasing them.


    The dark red, constantly squirming ugly monster turned out to be a mass of meat that continued to grow and stack irregularly!


    Finally, someone couldn''t stand it anymore and screamed out of control.


    "It''s too late, please believe us!" The middle-aged man couldn''t wait any longer, so he stepped forward and said, "You have that chainsaw, it can be used. This is just a dream, we are all trapped inside, helping us is helping yourself!"


    Going down will be corroded by the green liquid, and most of the corridor has been blocked by monsters. Breaking the ceiling upwards to escape has obviously become the only way out, and now only Robin has the tools that can be used.


    If it is a normal floor height, it will be difficult to cut the ceiling with a chainsaw.


    But this apartment is relatively low, and an adult can easily cut the ceiling with the sharp teeth by just stretching his arms and the length of the chainsaw.


    The monster is already in front of them, but people look at the young man holding the chainsaw and don''t care, still knocking on a broken window there.


    The man who was injured in the leg before was the first to be unable to endure this mental torture, because the corrosive effect of the green liquid will continue to spread, and his entire calf has begun to turn black.

 Chapter 003

    Although the pain in the dream is not real and will not really endanger life, its degree of simulation cannot be ignored.


    The man was almost collapsed by the increasing pain and fear. He had no time to care about anything else and rushed towards the chainsaw in Robin''s hand like crazy.


    However, the terrifying picture of the gentleman, beast in human form, and elusive chainsaw killer that everyone was always worried about did not appear.


    The chainsaw in Robin''s hand was easily taken away. He did not pay attention to the movement behind him and was pushed to stagger two steps before he stood firm against the wall.


    The man with a leg injury also looked stunned. He held the chainsaw and stared at him blankly.


    "Do you want to use it?" Robin looked at the other''s dry and charred right leg, handed over the power cord, and reminded, "You can saw the leg, but don''t saw the roof."


    "... Thank you, thank you." The injured man thanked subconsciously.


    Robin nodded and went back to concentrate on studying the window with a flashlight.


    The man made up his mind, thinking that there would be a fierce battle, but he was still in shock.


    Seeing that Robin really had no intention of pursuing the matter further, he finally felt a little relieved.


    This apartment was extremely strange. They were dragged into this dream and fled all night. They no longer expected to escape successfully tonight, but they always needed a place to take a breath.


    If they could escape to the upper floor, they would have a chance to rest for a while.


    The bald young man also climbed up to help. The two of them worked together to lift the high-speed electric saw and tried to raise it higher under the expectant gaze of everyone.


    The material of the ceiling did not look hard, and the saw blade encountered almost no resistance, just like cutting tofu.


    The bald young man showed an irrepressible joy on his face. He couldn''t help but increase his strength and sent the electric saw deeper: "Come and help, let''s go together--" His words were interrupted by the screams from beside him.


    The bald young man was stunned and instinctively looked down.


    The chainsaw did successfully sink into the ceiling above their heads - but the wildly rotating sharp blades, like a mirror image, quietly drilled out from the ground under their feet, bursting green juice and cutting the man''s leg bones that were corroded and charred.


    At the same time, the monster seemed to be stimulated violently, and let out a sharp roar that was enough to pierce the eardrums.


    The dark red body that grew by devouring twisted and expanded violently, and suddenly rushed towards Robin who was closest.


    The next second, the recording pen in Robin''s hand also stabbed heavily on the wall between the two windows.


    Unlike the many failed attempts before, this time the impact actually made a crisp sound like knocking on glass, and the whole space trembled without warning.


    Fine spider web-like patterns spread along the point where the recording pen hit, and everyone''s ears crawled over the faint but clear sound of shattering.


    The monster''s fierce attack slowed down instantly. It also noticed the sudden strange vibration in the apartment and stopped vigilantly.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The light tubes went out one by one, and the corridor suddenly fell into darkness.


    The space of the entire corridor was twisted into a spiral, the wooden staircase collapsed into pieces, the walls kept getting closer and then quickly pulled apart, and the compact space suddenly became spacious the next moment.


    The ceiling flipped upside down and folded down, sticking to the cold tiles.


    The monster seemed to be completely enraged, bursting out a fierce roar, but the tentacles stretched out farther and farther, forced to slide to the end of the space.


    ¡­


    Robin opened his eyes.


    Everything before was just a dream. He was not in his bedroom, but in a strange room.


    The room was shrouded in darkness, the environment was warm and quiet, and the light strip in the corner emitted dim and soft natural light.


    Robin sat up, reached out and touched, and found his recording pen in his pocket.


    He was not the only one in the room, and soon people sat up one after another.


    Some people had not figured out what happened yet, and looked around with sleepy eyes.


    Some people were breathing rapidly and looked ugly, as if they had just experienced a very terrifying nightmare.


    "What''s going on?!" The bald young man in the corner reacted most violently, "Didn''t they say it was just an assessment, and there wouldn''t be any taboo-level dreams?!"


    He had just sawed off someone''s leg in his dream. Even though the specific memory of the dream had gradually faded as he woke up, the weird and nauseating feeling still vaguely stimulated his nerves.


    The bald young man pushed away the staff who wanted to check his body, walked out angrily, and reached out to push the person who was still dawdling in front of him: "Hurry up! Don''t block the way..."


    The bald young man''s eyes fell on the other person''s pants, and his movements suddenly stopped, and he raised his head stiffly.


    Robin apologized in a good-tempered manner: "Sorry."


    The bald young man opened his mouth, but couldn''t make a sound.


    Strangely enough, although the other party was very kind and friendly, and didn''t look like a threat, as soon as the bald young man saw Robin''s face, an unexplained fear immediately emerged uncontrollably.


    The memory of the dream disappeared quickly. The bald young man could no longer remember what he had dreamed about, but the fear from the bottom of his heart was still very clear: "No, it''s okay..."


    Robin turned sideways and made way for him.


    The bald young man closed his mouth, crumpled the application form in his hand and threw it into the trash can, and left the room quickly without saying a word.


    Robin picked up the application form, flattened it, turned to the relevant instructions on the back, and read it from beginning to end. This is a recruitment assessment of a somewhat special nature.


    Due to the increasing frequency of channels between dreams, anyone may mistakenly enter the dreams of others in the sleeping state, and the impact has begun to seriously spread to real life.


    Although people cannot prevent the emergence of dream channels, scientists have explored some methods to establish dream channels.


    With the help of professional equipment, they can send people into designated dreams.


    Today, a new job has emerged, which is to provide help to the families of those trapped in dreams, allowing them to enter the dreams and rescue their loved ones.


    ¡­


    Robin took out a registration form from his pocket.


    This form was a small advertisement he tore off from the roadside. The printing quality was very poor and the handwriting was blurred.


    Although the form looked like it was copied from somewhere else, the content written on the back was very attractive: "Make money while sleeping and enjoy a good life."


    Robin even brought pajamas with him, but he lost his way on the road to finding a "good life."


    Fortunately, he met a kind person who brought him here.


    After searching the Internet on his mobile phone, Robin learned that since the current holographic games have invested a lot of money in sleeping cabins, the relevant technology is very mature and can ensure the quality of sleep while dreaming.


    Therefore, many office workers hope to try this job of making money while sleeping.


    The registration site was crowded with people, and some of them could even clearly recall the scenes in their dreams.


    There are also many comments online saying: "I tell you! This test is too difficult, ordinary people can''t pass it at all!"


    "In that round, we were chased by a group of faceless people, and none of us passed. In the end, I was the only one sitting on the ground crying, and it was the staff who saved me."


    "We played rock-paper-scissors with the mirror, which was quite interesting, but now I have smashed all the mirrors at home."


    "You are still lucky, at least you are indoors, but we are drifting on the sea and surviving on a deserted island..."


    "Think about it, just think of it as a free experience in a haunted house."


    "I heard that the person in charge of handling dream events used to be a haunted house designer and also told midnight ghost stories part-time..."

 Chapter 004

    Robin was looking at his phone when he suddenly felt someone approaching.


    He looked up and saw that it was the middle-aged man holding a gun that he had seen in his dream.


    "My name is Song Huaimin, and I am the deputy captain who handles special events. I would like to ask you to come with me. I have some questions to ask you." Song Huaimin said with a serious face.


    Robin nodded and stood up.


    Song Huaimin led Robin into the meeting room, motioned him to find a seat, and then turned to pour water.


    While pouring water, Song Huaimin secretly observed Robin''s back as he obediently moved the small stool, and his heart was mixed with mixed feelings.


    Although most people don''t remember what happened specifically in their dreams, they have received professional training and can still recall many things in their dreams.


    Song Huaimin still remembers the dream just now.


    Psychologists believe that dreams may show a person''s true self, or they may expose the truest desires in a person''s heart. For some people, dreams and reality may be completely opposite.


    Dreams cannot be taken as reality, and you cannot investigate others just because the things you do in dreams are unreasonable.


    But Robin said that he was just an ordinary handicraft enthusiast and his life was dull.


    Song Huaimin touched the gun on his waist and looked at the young man who made a chainsaw with his bare hands in his dream and calmly smashed the wall with a recording pen.


    Song Huaimin calmed down and put a cup of warm water in front of Robin: "How did you find the key point in the dream?"


    Robin: "The key point of the dream?"


    "It''s the place where dreams and reality connect... Do you really know nothing?" Song Huaimin frowned, "The news has been reported many times."


    Robin thought about it, nodded and said: "Now I know."


    Song Huaimin rubbed his temple helplessly.


    Although Robin said that this was his first time entering a dream, Song Huaimin always felt that Robin was deliberately concealing and pretending to know nothing.


    After all, this strange thing has lasted for three whole months, and there are related news, announcements, and even various conspiracy theories everywhere.


    Unless a person has extremely poor sleep quality, does not dream every day, does not care about the news, does not watch TV, does not play with mobile phones, stays at home all day without communicating with others, it is possible that he does not know about this matter.


    Song Huaimin didn''t really trust Robin, but he didn''t want to dwell on it for too long, so he asked another question: "How did you think of smashing that wall? Do you remember?"


    Robin shook his head: "That''s a window."


    Song Huaimin was stunned for a moment: "What?"


    "There is a circle of re-paving marks on that wall, which means that there should have been a window there, but it was later sealed."


    "I listened to your conversation. Since we were in a dream at the time, it means that the place we are in is not reality, but a collection of a person''s memory and subconscious."


    "In other words, if the owner of the subconscious has completely believed that it is a complete wall, the marks of the masonry will not appear in the dream."


    Seeing that Song Huaimin was a little confused, Robin simply said: "But for some reason, the dreamer is unwilling to accept this fact, so the marks will appear."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Robin thought of the mirror in the public toilet in the dream, and said regretfully: "That was not a complete dream, it should be just a part that was extracted separately, so it is not very stable..."


    At this time, someone suddenly smiled and said: "Do you want to see the rest?"


    The voice was low and soft, pleasant to hear, but also a little weird.


    Song Huaimin was startled: "Ling Su! You are pretending to be dead on the sofa again!"


    "I''m studying a case. A girl''s parents reported that her child had been comatose for two days and just sent me the dream record."


    The pillow in the sofa was pulled open by a hand: "The first paragraph is what you just discussed."


    Song Huaimin coughed and introduced to Robin: "This is our captain, the person in charge of handling special events, Ling Su."


    It turned out that Ling Su had been hiding under the sofa pillow, and Song Huaimin didn''t notice it. He was also wondering why Robin didn''t sit on the sofa, but moved a bench to the corner instead.


    "Did you also find that the apartment is not right?" Ling Su stood up and walked to Robin: "Do you want to go and see the rest of the dream together?"


    Song Huaimin said with a headache: "We haven''t investigated the background yet, and haven''t made a personality model. This matter is a bit complicated. Wait..."


    Ling Su waved his hand and asked Robin: "How old are you?"


    Robin: "Twenty-three years old."


    "Two years younger than me." Ling Su took out a file and grabbed a pen to fill it out for him, "What''s your occupation, what''s your personality like, and what are your hobbies?"


    Robin replied: "Kindergarten teacher assistant, friendly and introverted, likes to do handicrafts."


    Ling Su wrote very quickly.


    He was a little taller than Robin. After writing the last word, he threw down the pen and bent over the edge of the table: "Are you scared? The dream we are going to enter may be a little scary. If you agree, I will handle the entry procedures for you."


    Robin shook his head and nodded.


    "Wait... you just agreed?" Song Huaimin couldn''t believe it. He finally caught up with the rhythm of the topic. "What if this guy is a liar?"


    "No." Robin was very serious, "Because he brought me here."


    Song Huaimin was stunned for a moment, looking at Ling Su with an incredible face and said: "Are you the enthusiastic passerby who refused to reveal his name?"


    "I came to work and happened to meet him asking for directions, so I acted as a good person and brought him here." Ling Su said, turned to the next page, ticked two boxes, and then said to Robin: "Add mental and psychological accidental injury insurance... OK, welcome to join, I''ll treat you to a meal."


    Ling Su pulled Robin to go out.


    "Stop, stop!" Song Huaimin had a terrible headache, "It''s not even daybreak yet! The restaurants are closed, are you two going to drink the air?!"


    Ling Su sighed, he had to respect the deputy captain, so he compromised: "Okay."


    Ling Su took a step back and held out his hand to Robin: "Come with me, I''ll ask you to go to bed."


    Under the guidance of the enthusiastic person in charge, Robin, a new employee who had just joined the company, left the meeting room.


    Tonight is not over yet, it''s dark outside the window, the corridor is quiet, and the doors of the rooms on both sides are closed.


    "Others haven''t finished the test yet." Song Huaimin chased up with a pile of information, and explained to Robin in a low voice, "That''s a simulated dream used to train and assess novices. Because you discovered and destroyed the key points in advance, the dream domain collapsed in advance, and the whole group was forced to eject..."


    His description was mixed with a lot of professional vocabulary, which sounded quite obscure.


    Ling Su pulled Robin closer and whispered a brief translation for him: "He said you are the smartest."


    Robin nodded modestly.


    Song Huaimin was speechless.


    Ling Su''s eyes were full of smiles again. He led Robin to the room at the end of the corridor, entered his fingerprint, and opened the door.


    This is a three-story independent villa with a red brick structure, a well-kept garden and balcony, and the leaves of ivy cover the entire wall.


    The whole building is not very eye-catching from the outside. To those who don''t know, it would almost be thought that this is a private house for an ordinary retired homeowner to enjoy life.


    But as long as you enter the villa, you will be dazzled by the ubiquitous professional sound insulation materials and various instruments.


    "Normal people will gradually transition from non-rapid eye movement sleep to rapid eye movement sleep after falling asleep for 60 to 90 minutes." Ling Su gestured to Robin to press the scanning port with his thumb and enter Robin''s fingerprint into the system.


    "A REM sleep period only lasts ten to fifteen minutes, usually accounting for 20 to 25 percent of the total sleep time."


    "These two states will alternate four to five times, and a person will spend about ninety minutes dreaming at night... but these have nothing to do with our work."


    Ling Su waited for a few seconds, confirmed that the fingerprint entry was successful, and pointed to the wall: "This is what we need to remember."


    When entering the room, Robin had already seen the employee guidelines hanging on the wall.


    These guidelines are not long, but in order to make every employee have a deep impression of this code, it uses particularly eye-catching bold bold font.


    First, it is strictly forbidden to establish a channel to sneak into other people''s dreams privately.


    Second, it is strictly forbidden to enter the dream alone. In any case, one or more employees must accompany you. If there is an unexpected reduction in staff to only one person at work, you must immediately try to get out of the dream.


    Third, it is strictly forbidden to fall asleep again in a dream. When you can''t tell whether you are in reality or a dream, you must stay awake.


    Fourth, do not open your eyes until you are completely sure that you have returned to your dream.

 Chapter 005

    Ling Su had already printed out a new work permit. Seeing that Robin was still carefully reading the employee code, he smiled and explained, "Don''t worry, these regulations are mainly to prevent some extreme situations. In fact, our working environment is very safe and pleasant."


    "By the way, what color of sleeping pod do you like?" Ling Su asked with a smile.


    "Ling Su, wait a minute." Song Huaimin just finished a phone call and walked in from outside, and quickly interrupted, "There is a problem."


    Song Huaimin nodded to Robin who was choosing the color of the sleeping cabin to apologize, and then pulled Ling Su aside: "Just now when the registration office was checking the registration form, it was found that Robin did not originally plan to come to us. He went to the wrong place."


    Ling Su nodded: "Yes, I know."


    "The Human Resources Department checked his information and found that he had taken three months of sick leave, had a long history of insomnia, and had been taking sedatives. The result of the status assessment was E."


    Song Huaimin lowered his voice and continued: "E means that he has almost no ability to work. We can use this reason to let him leave... ah?" Song Huaimin reacted, "What did you say? You...you knew he was in the wrong place?!"


    Ling Su made a gesture to silence.  "What are you shouting for?! Didn''t I tell you before? I brought him here when he asked for directions."


    Song Huaimin widened his eyes, "He is in poor health and has no relevant work experience. Even if we are really short of manpower now, you can''t just "cheat" him in like this, right?!"


    Ling Su didn''t quite agree with the deputy captain''s opinion. He turned and walked to Robin and asked, "Have you ever had a dream before?"


    "Yes." Robin answered quickly this time, "And, I found the key point in the dream before."


    Ling Su nodded, "Then he has work experience."


    Song Huaimin was speechless when he heard this.


    Ling Su briefly explained a few sentences and taught Robin to lie down in the sleeping cabin: "Okay, now let''s start the on-the-job training and internship."


    "The sleeping cabin will emit a sound wave. I will enter the dream just now with you, and then I will find you."


    "Close your eyes, relax your body and consciousness, and the instrument will guide you into the dream..." Ling Su said with a smile.


    Robin lay down in the sleeping cabin.


    He had received similar treatment before, but the hospital''s sleeping pods were too expensive, and for some reason, even the sleeping pods could not make Robin sleep well.


    However, in the simulated dream assessment just now, Robin slept well.


    Robin checked the records in the recording pen before going to bed.


    This was the first time in this month that he slept for more than four hours without relying on excessive medication.


    Recalling the risk of sudden death mentioned by the doctor during the last physical examination, Robin was a little emotional and closed his eyes devoutly: "Is this another meaning of ''not working means death''..."


    Ling Su also lay in the sleeping pod next to Robin.


    The instrument started to operate, making a slight humming sound, as if the waves were gently hitting the shore, and the sounds of the outside world became distant and blurred...


    When he opened his eyes again, Robin found himself back in the apartment in the previous ''dream''.


    However, this time he woke up not in the bedroom, but in the public toilet, facing a mirror with excellent beauty effect.


    Robin resisted the urge to open the recording pen, fumbled in the pocket of his pajamas, and only walked to the mirror with confidence after touching the familiar shell of the recording pen.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He roughly understood what the bald young man meant by "forbidden level dream".


    Unlike those deleted dream fragments used for assessment, he was now using a sleeping capsule for employees, which had been sent into the real original dream by the instrument.


    There was a chill in the public toilet that could not be ignored, as if something was hiding in the dark and peeping at him.


    Robin looked at himself in the mirror.


    This time the picture was more "forbidden level".


    Robin in the mirror looked younger than him, wearing a middle school uniform, but the school badge was stained by pen ink, his half-long hair covered his eyes, and his face was extremely pale.


    "His" face was covered with scars and bruises, his collar was torn crooked, and the position of his eyes in the mirror was painted with several layers of blood-red paint. Robin raised his right hand and looked at it.


    Perhaps affected by the "him" in the mirror, Robin now looked like everything was soaked in red blood.


    "Obviously, this is not my own memory." Robin did not rush to leave the public toilet. His left hand was still in his pocket, slowly turning the recording pen to organize his thoughts.


    "I didn''t have to wear school uniforms in high school and junior high school, and my classmates had a good relationship and never fought."


    "I should have entered someone else''s dream and was affected by the dreamer''s memory, so my perception of "me" is a bit distorted." Robin analyzed while looking around in the public toilet, and finally found a rag in the corner of the sink and turned on the faucet.


    He has gradually understood the true intention of the various regulations in the employee code.


    The regulations require at least two people to enter the dream together, and through mutual communication, supervision and reminders, they can minimize the impact of the dreamer''s memory and ensure that cognition is not disturbed.


    Robin soaked the rag and wiped the red paint on the mirror with all his strength. As expected, his vision gradually became clearer.


    "It is more difficult for me to fall asleep than others, so the time node of entering the dream may not be synchronized... I may be alone at this time."


    "Since the original dreamer is easily bullied, I must protect myself first." Robin sorted out the conclusions he had drawn so far.


    A similar situation occurred in the simulated dream just now. Robin had just woken up in the bedroom not long ago, but others had been screaming all night and being chased by monsters.


    Robin finally wiped the mirror twice, washed the rag and put it back in place. Just as he was about to look for Ling Su, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the depths of the public toilet.


    It seemed as if countless pairs of eyes were hidden in the shadows, and they all opened at that moment, staring at him greedily!


    The change happened in just a moment, and when he looked again, it had returned to an ordinary shadow, but that scene had been deeply imprinted in Robin''s mind.


    Whispers rustled, as if they were constantly emerging from every shadow and crack in the ground.


    Those voices were fragmented and chaotic, some were sharp and soft, and some were hoarse and gloomy, making it impossible to understand the meaning.


    Robin stopped at the door.


    The liquid dripping from the faucet turned green, the light tube flickered, and a dark shadow like a substance slowly crawled out of the public toilet inside.


    On the other side.


    In the deep and narrow corridor, Ling Su suddenly stopped.


    Song Huaimin caught a glimpse of his unusual expression and quickly tightened his gun: "What''s wrong? What happened?"


    "This round of rapid eye movement sleep is ahead of schedule, and Robin is still in the public toilet." Ling Su concentrated on identifying the direction, turned around and ran back, "Old Song, why did you follow into the dream? Aren''t you afraid?"


    Song Huaimin is an old criminal policeman who retired due to injury and was transferred to work with Ling Su.


    He is not afraid of the most rampant and vicious villains, but he is always afraid of those ghosts and spirits.


    He has always disliked some young people who go to watch ghost movies for excitement, have nightmares that cannot be dealt with, and come to ask them to deal with them.


    Song Huaimin swallowed his saliva and clenched his teeth: "I can''t let you two run around. Who knows what you can do!"


    Ling Su alone was enough of a headache for him. Although Song Huaimin had almost forgotten the last dream, he still vaguely remembered that there must be something unusual about Robin: "Listen to me! That Robin is very abnormal..." Song Huaimin didn''t have time to say anything more and quickly flashed into the nearest room.


    The cold wind blew, and the icy coldness climbed up his spine.


    The hurried footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, the fishy wind whistled, and the thick darkness rushed towards the two from one end of the corridor.


    It was the "shadow" hidden in the No. 7 cubicle of the public toilet!


    Song Huaimin''s heart almost jumped out of his throat. He would rather deal with the monster made of flesh. Cold sweat had seeped out of his palm holding the gun: "Ling Su?"


    "Strange." Ling Su was still standing in the corridor, half of his body had been swallowed by the darkness, and he was still looking deep into the corridor, "It shouldn''t run so fast now..."


    Before he finished speaking, the dark shadow had quickly swept past and disappeared at the end of the corridor.


    The footsteps became slower and slower, and gradually stopped outside the door.


    Song Huaimin''s body was a little stiff. He didn''t dare to imagine what monsters were outside. He held his gun tightly and cautiously leaned out a little.


    The corridor was very quiet and peaceful.


    There were no ghosts.


    Robin had just run half of the corridor with a chainsaw chasing the black shadow, panting, and his little curly hair was scared straight.

 Chapter 006

    It seemed that this unexpected episode had temporarily stopped the strange things in the apartment.


    The positions of the stairs and rooms were no longer changed, and the corridor became quiet, but if you listened carefully, you could still hear faint cries coming from the darkness.


    Robin felt a little relieved.


    He realized that the difference between the novice simulation and the actual operation was really big.


    Robin just took a closer look and saw a thick black fog flowing out of the darkness, and the black air like a thin thread wrapped around his feet.


    If he hadn''t been prepared, the bone-chilling breath would have almost frozen his blood.


    Fortunately, at this critical moment, his colleagues found him.


    "Did you see that thing?" Robin walked quickly to them with a chainsaw.


    He was usually very timid and never dared to watch horror movies. Now his heart was beating fast: "That thing is too scary."


    Song Huaimin didn''t say anything.


    "I saw it." Ling Su understood him very well. He held his shoulders and said seriously, "It''s normal to be afraid when you encounter this situation for the first time. You have done a good job."


    Song Huaimin had a severe headache. He pressed his temples and looked at the two black shadows left on Robin''s chainsaw. He said speechlessly: "You two..."


    "That''s the ''shadow'' in the seventh cubicle of the bathroom. It will take turns with the black monster to look for people. I was also scared before." Before Song Huaimin finished speaking, Ling Su started to explain.


    Then he led Robin into the room, turned on the light and continued: "The apartment will change every time we are in the REM sleep period. They will walk around in the corridor looking for prey... Old Song, you should come in quickly too."


    When Song Huaimin heard this, he was so scared that he immediately shut his mouth and walked into the room quickly.


    When the lights came on, the gloomy chill in the room seemed to be less.


    Robin found that the layout of this bedroom was exactly the same as what he saw when he woke up.


    The bed was an old-fashioned iron-framed single bed with white sheets and blue striped quilt covers.


    The bedding looked old, faded and yellowed after washing, and worn in some places.


    There was a cat-head wall clock on the wall, ticking, showing the time was 3:47.


    There were many graffiti on the wall, but I couldn''t tell what they meant, as if they were casually drawn by a child.


    There were several rows of award certificates on the other wall, and the words on them were blurred.


    There was a large old-fashioned jujube-red wardrobe in the corner, with the door half open, and the light shone on it, casting a shadow.


    The room looked normal, and Song Huaimin couldn''t help but breathe a sigh of relief.


    He was so scared that he sweated a lot, and his legs were still numb. He instinctively moved away from the strange cat-head alarm clock, walked to the bed and sat down and said, "Whose dream is this?"


    "I don''t know." Ling Su locked the door and continued: "In fact, no one has been found in the apartment so far."This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Song Huaimin was a little surprised: "No one?"


    Ling Su nodded. He was looking at his watch. He walked to the cat-head wall clock and compared the time.


    According to the results of instrument detection, the intensity of the brain waves trapped in this dream is at least equivalent to that of six to seven people.


    One of the lost people whose identity has been confirmed is a 16-year-old female high school student who has been in a coma for two days.


    For this kind of situation where people live with their families and have been lost in dreams for a relatively short time, it is actually optimistic.


    Although coma will have a certain impact on the body, fortunately, there are people to take care of it and medical monitoring can be carried out in time.


    As long as they are awakened from the dream by professionals as soon as possible, there will be no problem.


    The most dangerous type is actually those who live alone, have no relatives or friends with whom they have regular contact, have no job, and are not found to be abnormal in time.


    Once these people get lost in dreams, unless they can wake up on their own, they may cause extremely serious consequences in reality.


    Since the lost cannot be found, it means that a relatively simple method cannot be used to directly guide them out of dreams and back to reality.


    "The only way is to thoroughly investigate this apartment and break this nightmare." Ling Su waved his hand, "Robin, come and see this."


    As the deputy captain, Song Huaimin is used to assisting and cooperating with Ling Su. He was just halfway up by the edge of the bed when he suddenly froze: "...Are you changing your partner now?!"


    "I don''t want to either." Ling Su looked at his former partner with a little guilt, "But he looks better than you..."


    Song Huaimin was speechless.


    Robin scratched his curly hair, adjusted his collar, and walked to the cat head wall clock that Ling Su was studying.


    Ling Su raised his hand wearing a watch and compared it with the wall clock.


    The scene before Robin was quite strange. The two watches were running at different times, and even the speed of the second hand was not completely consistent.


    "The speed of time in dreams is often different from that in reality." Ling Su explained, "Many times, we think it was a long dream, but when we wake up, we find that it was only a few dozen minutes. Sometimes it feels like only a short moment in a dream, but in reality it has been a long time."


    The most common example is that we tell ourselves to sleep for ten more minutes every morning, but an hour passes by as soon as we close our eyes and open them again.


    "The time flow rate ratio between this dream and reality is about 1.5:1, which is not a big difference, so there is no big problem." Ling Su reminded him, "Be especially vigilant against dreams that have a huge difference in time flow rate from reality, because it is easiest to get lost in them."


    Robin nodded, and he was a little envious of Ling Su''s cool steampunk-style mechanical watch: "Is this the equipment for formal employees?"


    Ling Su answered readily: "Yes, the employee benefits are very generous. A full set of equipment gift packages are given upon joining the company, including meals and accommodation, regular physical examinations, welfare insurance..."


    "Okay, don''t listen to his nonsense." Song Huaimin couldn''t listen any more and interrupted him forcibly, "The sleeping cabin will continue to remind us of real time. If we want something, we can make it manifest by concentrating our minds."


    Creating things in dreams is not a difficult task. In fact, it is just collecting all the details of an item from memory.


    The more familiar you are with something and the clearer your impression of it, the more real it will be.


    Song Huaimin, as a veteran criminal policeman, asked out of professional instinct: "What did you two find in this bedroom?"


    Although the identity of the owner of the dream has not yet been determined, this bedroom is not without traces.


    Since dreams are generated by memory and subconsciousness, there should be some clues.


    Ling Su sighed with some regret, and put the watch he had been showing into his sleeve: "The dreamer''s mental state is very unstable, and he has been in severe depression and anxiety for a long time, which can be seen from the monster in the dream and the frequent changes in the layout of the stairs and rooms in this apartment."


    "But in contrast, the bedroom shows contradictory order and organization, and even a kind of forced neatness."


    "This strong opposition and even tearing feeling is also reflected in many details, such as neat awards and messy graffiti, neat beds and casually closed wardrobes"


    "And the pile of scattered clothes inside." Ling Su said as he walked to the wardrobe and opened the wardrobe door: "Old Song, what exactly did the ''meat monster'' you saw before look like?"


    When Song Huaimin saw that he actually opened the wardrobe like this, his back instantly felt cold again: "Robin also saw it, why are you asking me?"


    "Because I think Robin is scared." Ling Su looked inside, closed the wardrobe door, turned around, "You have been chased for a longer time, you should see it more clearly, and..."


    Ling Su suddenly changed the subject: "Where''s Robin?"


    Song Huaimin came back to his senses, looked around the room, and widened his eyes in shock.


    The door was locked. Song Huaimin had just searched a place not far from the door and was sure that no one had left.


    Robin had been squatting in the corner, studying the children''s smart watch he had just manifested, and disappeared into the bedroom in the next second.

 Chapter 007

    The faint crying sound suddenly became hysterical, and then gradually evolved into a broken roar with no content to be heard, accompanied by the cold wind of resentment that seeped into the house from the crack of the door.


    It was as if someone was scribbling on the wall with a crayon. The already distorted graffiti became even more difficult to recognize. The chaotic colors quickly covered the entire wall, covering the neat and unclear award certificates.


    "Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo."


    The time signal at four o''clock ended, the cat head opened its blood-red mouth, and the rusty mechanical cuckoo bird rolled to the ground and broke into pieces.


    A ball of flesh and blood grew from the broken abdomen of the mechanical bird, quickly wrapping up the mostly rusted cold iron sheet.


    In the public toilet, a black shadow quickly escaped into the depths of the shadows.


    Robin stood in front of the sink, wiped the red paint off the mirror for the second time, and lowered his head to confirm the time: "Considering the conversion with the real time, this should be four o''clock... a special time point."


    He subconsciously wanted to record all this with the recording pen, but thinking that this was in a dream, he opened the cap of another pen and hurriedly wrote a line of words on his cuff.


    When the cat-head wall clock sounded again, Robin was trying to change the style of his new watch. When he looked up, he found that he was back in the public toilet.


    "I didn''t move, nor did I pick up food randomly. It shouldn''t be a teleportation triggered by some of my actions."


    Robin put away the recording pen, returned to the mirror, and carefully observed the young version of himself in the mirror wearing a dirty school uniform and bruised face: "This injury is different from the previous one. Is there any special meaning?"


    Robin pondered and reached out to touch the mirror.


    The touch from the fingertips was hard and slightly cool. There was no special chill, and there was no situation where the "him" in the mirror was suddenly pulled in.


    Compared with ordinary mirrors, there is actually no obvious difference.


    The only special thing is that the wounds and bruises in the mirror can also feel obvious pain, as if they are real.


    "Is there a possibility that this mirror can actually awaken people''s dormant memories? I was often bullied when I was a child and was locked in a toilet cubicle, but my inner self-protection mechanism made me forget these painful experiences and mistakenly thought that my student days were very happy..."


    Robin took the electric saw and carefully checked his memory, ruling out this possibility: "It shouldn''t be. I have always been an ordinary student who is very inconspicuous. I don''t have similar psychological shadows. After graduation, I was assigned to be a kindergarten assistant."


    According to Robin''s understanding of social news, with the continuous development of the field of psychology, by 2052, many professions have introduced complex personality model measurement mechanisms.


    For far-reaching professions such as teachers and doctors, only when the psychological measurement results meet the standards can they be successfully employed.


    Robin washed the rag and hung it back, turned off the faucet, walked to the door of the public toilet, and looked into the corridor.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    After ruling out this possibility, the possibility that this memory belongs to the dream itself has greatly increased.


    Combined with Ling Su''s analysis, the strong depression and anxiety reflected in the dream have also found part of the source.


    But the information currently known is still extremely limited, not enough for Robin to figure out why he returned to the public toilet, nor can it explain the cause of these terrifying monsters.


    "I am a middle school student who is often bullied. I have different injuries on my face every day, and my school uniform is often deliberately dirty... At this time, I will urgently need to find a relatively safe place."


    Robin looked at the mirror, and the boy in it hid behind his face, his thin body huddled in the dirty school uniform.


    Robin tried to put himself in the dream''s shoes: "Four o''clock is a special node, why?"


    "The wall clock cannot distinguish between morning and afternoon, but if it is four o''clock in the morning, only boarding students will be in school, and the layout of that bedroom does not look like a student dormitory."


    "If it is four o''clock in the afternoon... middle school students should not eat dinner so early, it may be the afternoon break, or free time."


    "For the owner of the dream, this is the time when a nightmare begins."


    "At this time, something terrible will happen. I have to find a place to hide, a place where no one else can find me."


    "I am very scared. There are shadows of those people everywhere. I can''t be caught. If I am caught, I will be beaten. I can only run as fast as I can and find a way to hide so that they can''t find me..."


    Robin turned around and looked at the toilet cubicle deep in the public toilet: "...I know."


    He probably guessed why he suddenly came back here.


    On the other side, Ling Su grabbed Song Huaimin, dragged him back to the corridor, and then slammed the bedroom door.


    In just a dozen seconds, the monster made of flesh and blood grew wildly, occupying most of the bedroom, and even swallowed up the cat-head wall clock and the iron bed.


    Song Huaimin was almost slapped in the face by the door that was slammed shut: "Why not just lock it? There''s no need to use so much force!?"


    Ling Su let go of his hand and ran to the other end of the corridor first: "This monster is too scary, I''m a little scared."


    Song Huaimin looked at his expressionless face, which showed no fear at all. He swallowed his words and followed him with big strides: "Why are you still lingering in there? What are you looking for under the bed?"


    "Nothing." Ling Su shook his head, "I''m just in case, I''m afraid Robin is hiding under the bed."


    Song Huaimin was speechless again: "..."


    He still didn''t understand why Ling Su wanted to keep Robin, so he could only try his best to keep up with Ling Su''s pace, took out his gun and held it in his hand: "It was the same when our group simulated it. A bedroom was suddenly swallowed by a monster, and then the monster started chasing us..."


    "This is a cyclic dream, connected from beginning to end, and it will keep repeating if it is not completely resolved." Ling Su nodded, "The people in the dream are trapped, maybe because of this reason."


    Ling Su rushed into the nearest public toilet, searched it quickly, and then ran towards the stairs again: "Four o''clock in the afternoon is a critical time node."


    Song Huaimin quickly followed and couldn''t help asking: "How do you know it''s afternoon, what if it''s early morning?"


    "In most cases, the bedroom appears clearly in the dream instead of other rooms, indicating that the subconscious need for rest and safety is not met."


    Ling Su ran to the end of the stairs and turned to the bathroom on this floor: "And we are in that bedroom, the bed is neatly made, which means that even in the dream, this is not a normal rest time."


    Ling Su checked the toilet cubicles one by one: "This time node is very clear, not affected by apartment mutations and rapid eye movement sleep period. At four o''clock in the afternoon, the average adult''s get off work time is not so fixed. Is it working night shift? Or a student..."


    He was still muttering, Song Huaimin suddenly saw outside, his face changed drastically: "Ling Su!"


    The speed of the monster was faster than the previous simulation, and it had arrived on this floor at some point.


    Several water pipes in the public toilet were wrapped by tentacles and torn off, and the light tubes began to flash non-stop.


    It seemed to have swallowed up a lot of rooms, and its huge and bloated body squeezed the tiles on the wall hard, and green juice kept flowing out of the cracks in the wall and the ground.


    They were trapped!


    Song Huaimin clenched the gun in his hand: "What should we do now?!"


    "Calm down." Ling Su avoided the green liquid that was flowing in, "Why don''t we... take a shit first!"


    Song Huaimin: "Ah? Wait...?"


    "Remember to lock it." Ling Su opened the door of a toilet cubicle, pushed Song Huaimin in, and slipped into another one.

 Chapter 008

    The monster seemed to be looking for something. It swallowed up the entire public toilet. All the lights outside went out, leaving only a few flickering dim lights on the top of the public toilet.


    From the crack in the door of the cubicle, Song Huaimin saw the monster''s wriggling tentacles, and his heart was about to jump out of his chest. He held his breath and inserted the valve in little by little.


    On the other side, Ling Su was concentrating on pooping, and the sound of flushing kept coming from the cubicle next to him.


    What surprised Song Huaimin was that although the monster was just outside the door, it did not move immediately, but stopped instead.


    After an unknown amount of time, someone gently knocked on the partition on the other side: "Old Song, do you have a cigarette?"


    Song Huaimin was startled and quickly lowered his voice and said, "Robin! Why are you here too... and you''re still yelling with Ling Su?!"


    Robin squatted on the other side and honestly changed his words: "Deputy Captain."


    Song Huaimin sighed and suppressed all the questions in his stomach.


    He was sent to cooperate with the mission after retirement. He is good at catching criminals, but he doesn''t know what to do in this situation.


    Ling Su studied psychology and knows all kinds of supernatural horror stories.


    Although Robin looks a little dangerous and his identity is unknown, now is not the time to doubt him.


    Song Huaimin is an old smoker, and it is not difficult for him to materialize cigarettes and lighters.


    He hasn''t been hiding in the toilet with others to smoke for a long time. He took out a box of cigarettes and a lighter, and handed them over from under the partition with a little unfamiliar movements: "Is it enough?"


    Robin took it with both hands: "Yes, enough."


    For some reason, the monster did not break in immediately, but did not leave either, and was still wandering outside the public toilet cubicle.


    The lighter clicked.


    After a few seconds, Robin opened the door of his cubicle.


    Song Huaimin didn''t expect him to dare to go out like this. He immediately cheered up and was ready to knock on the door and go out to save people at any time. But the scene in front of him stunned him.


    Because of the angle, Song Huaimin could only see Robin through the mirror.


    Under the dim light, Robin in the mirror looked younger than he is now. He was thin and small in school uniform, with pale skin and half-long hair covering his eyes.


    That hardly looked like Robin, but more like a student who was forced into a corner, being swallowed up by despair in a nightmare.


    In an instant, Song Huaimin remembered several cases he had handled during his appointment, which were so similar.


    Robin leaned against the door of cubicle 7.


    His posture was relaxed, even a little leisurely.


    He held a cigarette between his pale fingers, tilted his head slightly, and squinted his eyes to look at the monster that had almost occupied the entire public toilet.


    "I told you there were people in there."


    His voice slowly rose: "Can''t you hear? Are you deaf?"


    The public toilet suddenly fell silent.


    The ugly and clumsy monster also stopped moving inexplicably. Its tentacles, which were about to reach into the cubicle, were burned by the cigarette in Robin''s hand and quickly retracted.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Song Huaimin wondered if he had seen it wrong. He always felt that the monster was a little afraid of Robin, and even slowly took a few steps back.


    Robin did not give it too much time to hesitate and walked straight towards the monster.


    He lowered his head, and his hair covered his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression.


    Under the dim light, Robin seemed to be playing with a lighter, and the "click-click" sound kept ringing, and the fire flickered.


    In this remote public toilet, any tiny sound was clearly captured.


    The monster seemed to become a little stiff because of fear, but still a little unwilling.


    Its tentacles quietly bypassed Robin, trying to sneak towards the cubicle where Song Huaimin was hiding, but the sparks in Robin''s hand flashed, and the tentacles stopped in place, not daring to move again.


    Slowly, Robin had walked in front of the monster, and the cigarette butt in his hand flickered, almost touching the tentacle.


    As if he noticed the monster''s gaze, Robin raised his head and gave it a friendly smile.


    The monster twisted instantly.


    It seemed to be overwhelmed by deep fear, and shook off the tentacle. Its huge body desperately squeezed the wall of the public toilet, and the meat kept squirming, and finally it actually ran away directly.


    Robin breathed a sigh of relief, extinguished the remaining half of the cigarette in the puddle, threw it into the trash can, and then suddenly opened the doors of the two cubicles: "Did you see it?"


    Ling Su nodded vigorously: "I saw it, it''s terrible."


    Song Huaimin didn''t say anything, he was also scared.


    "We were chased all the way." Ling Su raised his hand and grabbed Robin''s hair, and continued: "If it weren''t for you, we would have been swallowed by it and the toilet."


    Ling Su took out a dagger and squatted to check the minced meat left by the monster: "The appearance of such a monster in the dream shows that the person''s mental state is very bad..."


    "What''s going on? Why did the monster run away?" Song Huaimin felt that the mental state of these two people was also problematic, "Robin, where did you go just now? Why did you change clothes?"


    He looked at Robin and the mirror carefully and found that Robin standing in front of them was normal, but the shadow reflected in the mirror was still the thin student in school uniform.


    "You can see it too?" Robin pointed to the mirror, "He should be the owner of the dream."


    "Four o''clock in the afternoon" is a key time point, like a curse deeply engraved in the heart of the person.


    Every time at this time, he will be pulled into an endless nightmare.


    Therefore, he must escape to the safest public toilet before anything happens.


    Someone was looking for him everywhere, and he didn''t dare to resist, so he could only hide in the seventh cubicle deep in the public toilet.


    Robin thought of this, so he went to check the cubicle. Not long after he entered, he met Ling Su and Song Huaimin who were chased by the monster.


    All three of them knew what happened next.


    Ling Su didn''t find any clues, so he put away the dagger and stood up, and walked to the outside of the seventh cubicle with Robin: "It seems that this place can''t protect the dream master we are looking for."


    The seventh cubicle looked like a cleaning tool room, with a broken lock hanging on the door and dirty walls.


    The cubicle was filled with old brooms and mops, as well as some garbage. There was nothing special about it.


    The public toilet was not big to begin with, and the seventh cubicle was half the size of the other cubicles. Coupled with the accumulation of debris, it made people feel particularly depressed.


    "By the way, that ''shadow'' ran out of the seventh cubicle." Song Huaimin suddenly remembered, "Could the black shadow be the owner of this dream?"


    Song Huaimin followed the two people''s thoughts: "The monster that just escaped is the bad guy who bullied the owner of the dream, and chased him even in the dream..."


    "Is it the subconscious projection of the dream owner? It''s unlikely, the dream owner''s consciousness is very vague."


    Ling Su walked into the cubicle, closed the door and felt it: "But the monster is a metaphor for the perpetrator, this possibility is very high."


    Knowing that the monster is a person, the fear is reduced a lot.


    Song Huaimin breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his palms: "Since it is a human, why does it have to become a monster? Isn''t this more terrifying?"


    "The mapping of fear in dreams is divided into several layers. The most basic fear has a clear object, specific to someone... But after the fear erodes the heart, only the invincible monster is left."


    Across the door, Ling Su''s voice was a little dull: "Old Song, we are in the subconscious of the person involved. In reality, it is a person, but as long as the fear is still there, it is a monster."


    This is a nightmare for everyone, including the dreamer of course - if the dream does not end, the person involved will live in fear forever.


    Thinking of the situation in the simulated dream, Song Huaimin also broke out in a cold sweat and nodded seriously.


    He had experienced it once in person and was deeply impressed by the destructive power of the monster.


    It was also because of this that Song Huaimin didn''t expect Robin to scare the monster away just by his aura...


    Thinking of what happened just now, Song Huaimin was a little alert and wanted to ask Robin about his situation again: "Speaking of which, you used to--"


    But as soon as he opened his mouth, Song Huaimin was stunned again.


    At this moment, Robin was standing in the corner. Captain Ling had just confiscated his lighter and cigarettes, and was turning out his pajama pockets for Ling Su to check, and he was actually rewarded with a lollipop!

 Chapter 009

    Robin was wearing a ''children''s version'' smartwatch and was concentrating on peeling candy wrappers. He looked up when he heard the sound.


    Song Huaimin was a little confused, but he couldn''t ask, so he could only rub his forehead and said, "How do you know that the monster won''t destroy the public toilet right away?"


    Robin looked at the lollipop in his hand, peeled it and put it in his mouth and said, "We saw it in our previous dreams. The monster looked like it was blocked by fire, but it wasn''t."


    "It devoured the room very quickly, but even if it wanted to put out the fire, it didn''t immediately devour the public toilet, but just broke the water pipe outside. This shows that it should be afraid of this place."


    Song Huaimin thought about it after hearing this. It was indeed the case before, and Robin was right, but they didn''t notice it at the time.


    Song Huaimin turned to Ling Su and asked, "What about you?"


    Ling Su held a large bucket of lollipops and said, "I took a gamble and won."


    Song Huaimin: "..."


    Ling Su cleared his throat and explained, "The weak will bully the ''weaker''. When they encounter troubles, people are used to pushing the problems to others so that they don''t have to face them."


    In fact, the bullies are not really strong. They just follow others to do bad things, bully the weak and fear the strong, and specifically bully the weaker people.


    "I think this is how the nightmare started." Robin said.


    Now, Robin''s thoughts have finally come together.


    "People who are pulled into the dream will be chased to the same place by the monster. When they see the mirror in the public toilet, they will be influenced by the thoughts in the dream, see themselves in school uniform, and finally think of themselves as the person in the mirror."


    "If you are influenced too much, when you see the monster again, you will see a person."


    "At this time, there are two choices - either hide in the seventh cubicle of the public toilet and don''t come out, or go out and beg for mercy and become one of them."


    "Those who hide in the cubicle of the public toilet will be eaten by monsters sooner or later, and those who go out to beg for mercy will be assimilated and become bullies, and this process will be repeated."


    Robin walked to the broken mirror and said, "So, we can''t find anyone now."


    Song Huaimin listened for a long time and finally understood, and broke out in a cold sweat.


    "You mean..." Song Huaimin asked nervously, "Those people who were pulled into the dream, we can''t find them because they either became part of the monster or became that black shadow?!"


    Robin looked at Ling Su: "If it becomes like this in the dream, what will happen in reality?"


    Ling Su thought for a while: "This is not reality. In theory, it will not affect the body except for sleeping. Being injured in a dream will make people feel tired and may forget some things, but they can all be recovered... As long as you wake up from the dream in time, there will be no big problem."


    "Then we have to hurry." Song Huaimin said as he walked out, "I remember..."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Before he finished speaking, he stopped at the door of the public toilet and his face changed.


    Because at this time, there was nothing outside the public toilet, it was empty!


    In other words, the apartment seemed to have disappeared suddenly, and everything outside the door was covered by a thick fog like blood.


    The public toilet they were in seemed to be floating alone in this bloody fog.


    The door was open, and no monsters were seen outside for the time being, and the road was still remembered.


    Should we just walk out?


    Song Huaimin held the door frame, swallowed his saliva, and looked at Ling Su who was also thinking at the door.


    Although the location of the stairs and rooms would change, the layout of the first floor was still stable.


    If they wanted to leave here, even if they couldn''t see clearly in the fog, it would not be difficult to find a room to rest by memory.


    But for some reason, there seemed to be an unspeakable fear in this fog, as if as long as they walked out, they would fall into an abyss that they could never get out of...


    Ling Su''s expression also became serious. He didn''t go out to see immediately, but threw the pack of cigarettes confiscated from Robin outside the door.


    They saw a weird scene - the pack of cigarettes was wrapped in blood mist, melting little by little, and finally became part of the blood mist.


    "See? Smoking is harmful to health!" Ling Su turned around and warned Robin behind him. Song Huaimin, who was watching from the side, was quite speechless.


    Robin nodded seriously, as if he was really remembering it carefully, and then glanced out through Ling Su''s shoulder and said, "This is probably the development of the third option."


    They neither hid in the cubicle of the public toilet all the time, nor chose to assimilate with the monster, so the original cycle of the dream was broken.


    However, the consequence of this choice was that the apartment disappeared, and they were temporarily trapped in the floating public toilet. For a while, it was impossible to judge what the ending of this new branch would lead to.


    "Indeed." Ling Su agreed, "In the subconscious of the dreamer, this choice was probably not originally included."


    "The bedroom can be interpreted as a resistance and escape from school life. The award certificate covered by random graffiti should also express this point: although he studied well and received rewards and praise, it was actually of no help in being bullied."


    Ling Su walked behind Robin and studied the image in the mirror together: "Is there a way to make him take off his school uniform?"


    Robin shook his head: "No, I tried to take off my clothes, but he didn''t react."


    Although it was nominally his shadow, the boy in the mirror could not completely synchronize his every movement. Sometimes when Robin tried to do some weird movements, the shadow in the mirror would not synchronize.


    "Is it possible that the owner of the dream is now trapped in this mirror?" Song Huaimin suddenly had a new idea.


    "Wake up, Lao Song." Ling Su patted his shoulder, "This is not a horror movie."


    Ling Su reminded him, then found a broken water pipe, picked up the monster tentacles that began to wriggle on the ground again and rushed into the toilet.


    Song Huaimin felt complicated and wanted to vomit.


    Ling Su kept pressing the flush button, his voice was drowned out by the sound of water: "Logically speaking, the bedroom is the safest place, why doesn''t the dreamer hide in the bedroom?"


    After all, school will always be over, as long as you can hold on until school is over, you can go home, which means you have survived another day.


    The cruel thing is that this escape is only temporary - as long as you return to school the next day, you will still be beaten up and your whole body will be messed up.


    And as soon as four o''clock in the afternoon comes, you will fall into a new nightmare.


    "The bedroom is so tidy. If he doesn''t have mysophobia, then he didn''t clean it himself, otherwise he wouldn''t wear a school uniform that was messed up like this..."


    Robin looked at the mirror and carefully studied the school uniform on his body, trying to see the school badge covered by the ink: "Was it his parents who cleaned it?"


    "It''s very likely." Ling Su replied, "Strict, over-interfering, and slightly mysophobic parents - he scribbled on the bedroom wall in the dream and messed up his wardrobe, which can also be understood as some kind of confrontation and emotional venting."


    Ling Su walked out of the cubicle: "The bedroom is his last refuge, so it appears frequently in this dream to fight against the depression and fear represented by the public toilet."


    These are not difficult to analyze, but there is one thing that Ling Su still can''t figure out: "The monster is scared away, and the public toilet becomes safe in theory. What is the meaning of continuing to exist here..."


    "Wait a minute." Song Huaimin couldn''t help interrupting the two of them, "Compared to this, shouldn''t we first study where the apartment disappeared? Are we going to float like this forever?"