Free Web NovelChapter 39: A Fake
It felt like he’d suddenly fallen asleep.
When Ji Jue opened his eyes, he was on the floor. Every part of his body was aching as if he’d gotten beaten, and he felt like he was about to fall apart.
He struggled to roll over and looked up at the familiar ceiling, trying to clear his dizzy head and figure out what had happened, but his skull throbbed, the room spun, and he couldn’t remember a thing.
Could it be from overworking? Did he push himself so hard that he collapsed?
No, that wasn’t right. Before the Level 3 Engineer exam, he had survived a week of intense library study and still managed to squeeze in two sets of emergency responder practice tests!
Am I... getting old? But I’m not even twenty yet!
Ji Jue pressed on his throbbing head and slowly pushed himself off the floor before taking deep breaths, but the air reeked of mildew. The window was somehow open, letting in a downpour that dripped steadily onto the floor.
Outside, thick clouds smothered the sky, hiding both the stars and the moon. Only in the distance, from alleyways too dark for the streetlights to reach, came a piercing, mournful wail that sounded like a dying stray dog.
Ji Jue shivered, instinctively closing the window. Then he noticed the walls were covered in sprawling patches of mold and peeling plaster.
He froze on the spot. How long had he been asleep?
A wave of inexplicable fear and unease rose in his chest, making his breathing quicken, and cold sweat soaked his skin. When he lifted his hand to check his wrist, it was empty. The watch was gone.
Even his abilities had vanished without a trace, as if overloaded and collapsed. His soul felt hollow. All that remained was the skin-crawling sound of friction, slowly coming from downstairs.
Ji Jue held his breath. Carefully, he pushed the door open and looked into the swaying darkness. There was nothing there, just an iron gate wobbling and swinging in the wind and rain.
His heart seized, as if an invisible fear had gripped him, completely knocking his pulse off course. Something that sounded like soft laughter echoed in the darkness, but he couldn’t really make out what it was. All he felt was a shiver crawling down his spine.
Beyond the veil of dreams, the invisible tapirus grinned, sucking in the fear that flowed like a geyser before letting out a contented moan. Ever since acquiring the tapirus’ matrix, he simply couldn't get enough of such pleasures.
The Chosen One known as Nightmare never appeared before humans and never met his employers or enemies in person. His favorite pastime was becoming a nightmare and slipping into his target’s dreams to toy with them and torment them until fear gradually broke them, and until they became mere puppets and playthings.
Now, with just a flick of his finger, he could pull Ji Jue’s darkest, most terrifying memories straight into his dreams and drag Ji Jue down into hell.
Through the wide-open gate, a cold wind carrying rain blew in. In front of him, muddy footprints, which appeared out of the blue, stretched into his home, as if invisible monsters were lurking in the unseeable darkness.
A strange chewing sound rang out from the far end of the living room. Ji Jue staggered back a step, barely able to stand on his feet. The invisible fear surged wildly and hit its peak, almost turning tangible.
This is too easy. Way too easy.
A smile slowly curled around Nightmare’s lips as he merged into the form shaped by that fear, manifesting as a shadow and stepping onto the stage. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
The hunt and the torment had begun.
He sneered and opened his eyes, but then, he froze. He blinked in confusion, staring at what was in front of him, unable to process why he was sprawled over a refrigerator. And why... was there half a chicken drumstick hanging out of his mouth?
He didn’t have any blades or claws. A shriveled, hunched, emaciated figure was clinging to the fridge, staring back at its own reflection in the glass. Only then did he hear the terrified scream behind him, followed by a roar of pure fury.
“My drumstick! My fridge!!! AAAAAAAH!!!”
Ji Jue was on the verge of tears, completely shattered by what he saw. All reason and thought went out the window as he lunged forward without hesitation.
“I’m gonna fucking kill you!!”
Bang!
Nightmare didn’t even have time to turn around before a heavy blow smashed into his forehead. He heard the crisp crack of his own skull fracturing as the world spun.
“Wait—”
Instinctively, he tried to turn and raise a hand, wanting to tear Ji Jue apart, but his shriveled arm was instantly snapped in half by another swing, as if it were a dry stalk.
“No, this isn’t right!” His eyes went wide with disbelief. “I—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Ji Jue screamed, slamming the broken table leg straight into that grotesque face. “Pay for my damn fridge!!”
Seeing the refrigerator door he had just fixed fall off again, something in Ji Jue finally snapped. His eyes turned bloodshot as he went at the stranger with punches and kicks.
“That’s for breaking in! That’s for eating my drumstick!! And that’s for wrecking my fucking FRIDGE!!!”
Bang!
In his fury, Ji Jue actually smashed the table leg apart, but he didn’t stop. Still stomping on the intruder, he grabbed a plate from nearby and brought it crashing down on his head.
Smack!
Shards flew everywhere; a cheap plate that had cost two and a half Fedra and lasted him seven or eight years was completely shattered. Ji Jue felt his own heart break into pieces.
Then he spotted the rolling pin on the cabinet. In his left hand, he grabbed the rolling pin, and in his right, the unwashed frying pan from the sink, before he started swinging left and right.
“So everyone’s just gonna pick on me, huh?! Why the hell are you all bullying a broke guy like me?!” Ji Jue shouted, furious. “I haven’t even paid off my student loans yet! Where the hell is my scooter?! Damn it... where the hell did Horsey go?!”
Realizing even his crappy little scooter had been stolen, Ji Jue felt like his entire life was over. His eyes were so red they looked like they were about to bleed. He swung the frying pan wildly at the guy’s face, having completely lost his sense of reason.
“Wait, hold on, I... No, stop, I—”
Caught in the storm of punches and kicks, Nightmare instinctively covered his head. His vision kept going black as he tried to process what the hell was happening.
How was it possible that someone’s worst nightmare was their fridge getting wrecked? How could anyone’s deepest fear be someone eating their chicken drumstick?
What the hell is wrong with you?!
He wanted to shout, to accuse, to question, but it was already too late. As the bloodstained rolling pin came crashing down again, the blooming pain caused the dream to collapse.
***
In the airport lounge, Nightmare jolted awake on the sofa with a scream. His eyes flew open as he felt blood slowly seeping out from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He couldn’t believe it.
He... had actually been killed in a dream?
The attendant knocked on his door. “Sir? Sir! Do you need assistance? What happened?”
“I’m fine! Leave me alone!” Nightmare screamed, completely losing his cool. Forgetting manners or decorum, he bellowed through the door, signaling the attendant to back off and not come near again.
Silence returned, broken only by his heavy breathing. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was twisted and vicious.
“Ji Jue...” he muttered through clenched teeth. His voice was hoarse, and he was unable to swallow this unprecedented humiliation. “This isn’t over.”
Before his surging spirit power had even stabilized, Nightmare closed his eyes once more.
From afar, the bad dream returned with a bang.
***
In the room, Ji Jue had just opened his eyes. He still did not understand what was going on, and he immediately slumped back down and started snoring again.
After a long stretch of grogginess and haze, he slowly opened his eyes once more, this time to afternoon sunlight.
Someone was gently nudging his shoulder carefully. Sitting beside him, Wen Wen looked down at him.
“Wake up, Ji Jue. Fell asleep again?”
“Ah, sorry.” Ji Jue apologized instinctively, rubbing his face. “I’ve been working pretty hard lately, I—”
He looked up at her, and his words abruptly cut off, as if he was confused. Wen Wen smiled, resting her chin on her hand as she watched him.
“What’s wrong?” She picked up the ice cream beside her and grabbed a spoon. “Want a taste? This place makes pretty good ice cream.”
Ji Jue blinked, confused. “Huh?”
“Here, open up.” Wen Wen scooped up some ice cream and whipped cream, bringing the spoon to his lips. “Give it a taste?”
“Uh... um... better not.” Ji Jue leaned back a little with an awkward smile. “I’ve got high blood sugar. Can’t really eat this stuff. Besides, you being this nice to me is kinda making me nervous, Ms. Wen.”
“Tch, who knows what goes on in that head of yours all day.”
Wen Wen clicked her tongue, pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, and slipped one between her lips with practiced ease. Just as she was about to light it, she saw Ji Jue obediently hand her the ashtray from the side.
“You brat, at least you’re a Chosen One—”
She shook her head and was about to say something more when she suddenly saw Ji Jue lift the ashtray and aim it straight at her forehead.
Bang!!!
With a deafening crash, Wen Wen’s head split open, and blood poured down her face. The ashtray shattered into pieces.
“Ji Jue, have you lost your mind?!” she screamed.
“Who are you?” Ji Jue stood up while gripping the broken ashtray, staring at her furious face without a hint of emotion. “Who... are you?” ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
“Have you lost your mind in your sleep? I’m Wen Wen, I—”
“Ms. Wen only smokes White Star,” Ji Jue cut her off flatly, shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter how good other brands are, she won’t touch them.”
“I just felt like switching it up!”
“Yeah, maybe. Could be.” Ji Jue nodded casually, like he didn’t care. But when he looked down at her, there was unmistakable disdain in his eyes. “But Ms. Wen would never smile like that. That disgusting, bootlicking grin... Disgusting as hell.”
Ever since he was a kid, Ji Jue had seen that kind of smile countless times. Every time someone smiled at him like that, it meant they were after something of his.
But Wen Wen had never done that, not even once.
Ji Jue let out a small sigh, addressing the impostor in front of him, “The perfume, the smell, the way you talk... the more I think about it, the more flaws there are. Even this face of yours feels off. I’m guessing that either you don’t really know her... or you know her too well. So well that you don’t even dare show your face in front of her.”
He watched as her expression twisted further, and suddenly it clicked. “I see... you don’t even dare look at her face, do you?”
The blood-soaked, broken face shifted, morphing into a dark, unfamiliar visage. It was malformed and savage, carrying the outline of something beast-like.
Nightmare, who was hiding behind the scenes, had been cornered. The Dream-Eating Tapirus revealed itself with fury.
“I was going to let you drown in a pleasant dream,” Nightmare’s voice echoed from all directions. “But it looks like that won’t be necessary anymore. You deserve it, Ji Jue.”
Boom!
The ground trembled violently, and the sky shattered. As a searing pain exploded in Ji Jue’s mind, everything went black. It was as if an invisible hand had plunged into his brain to dig through his past as well as rip out fragments of pain and despair, gathering them into a vast ocean before drowning him in it completely.
