Chapter 20: The Great Beyond
Half-awake, Li Nanke was jolted into sudden consciousness.
He saw the all-too-familiar mottled ceiling above him, marked by blurred, dried water stains. On the yellowed walls of his bedroom hung a few posters of beautiful women, while a shelf by the bed was piled high with dust-covered data storage disks.
As he took in the old room, memories from his dream—intense fights and the thrill of life and death—flashed through his mind, making reality seem distant and unreal.
The black nightmare he’d just experienced felt far more real than any artificial dream he’d known before, so real that he doubted whether it was a dream at all, or instead some otherworldly reality.
The repeated brushes with death in that dream had pushed his synchronization rate to new, unprecedented heights, shattering his previous limits.
The effect of the Lake’s Breath had finally allowed him to feel the almost-forgotten freedom of breathing easily.
But now, cold reality snapped him back to himself, forcing him to accept this numb, blurred world and his own frail, ailing body.
Disoriented, Li Nanke shook his head and sighed. “So it really was just a dream…”
Falling from such a high synchronization rate required a brief adjustment period, as if his mind had to refocus from ultra-high-definition clarity back to a pixelated blur.
Suddenly, he froze and focused inward, testing his body.
The persistent, suffocating pressure in his lungs had vanished without a trace. In its place was a cool, comforting sensation he remembered well, and beneath his skin, he could still feel the tough, phantom protection of scales.
He turned his attention to his mental world: Lake’s Breath, Scales of the Sea, Armament—all the extraordinary traits were still there.
He refused to believe it. He filled a basin with water and plunged his face in.
Instantly, the Lake’s Breath trait shimmered, and tiny, dense gill filaments sprouted at the ends of his bronchial tree. The basin’s water had little oxygen and was quickly depleted, making it hard to breathe after a few tries, but the ability to respire underwater remained.
He had actually brought supernatural powers from his dream into reality!
His immediate reaction was not elation but a chilling sense of horror. He yanked open his curtains and the window.
The drizzle had ended, and dawn cast a pale light on the horizon. The cool morning air drifted in through the open window.
He gazed out over the steel-and-concrete city, where the slums teemed with ramshackle buildings, and only the 3D holographic ads shone bright and new.
In the distance, skyscrapers rose in dense clusters, floating cars and trackless trains weaving through the air, announcing the start of another rush hour.
Li Nanke held his breath and tried to raise his synchronization rate, but he remained trapped in this dull, weakened body.
“If only this damned reality were a dream too…”
His eyes swept the room and landed on the dream synchronizer at his bedside, next to a scorched, ruined black dream data disk—“Sea of Abes.”
Li Nanke carefully inspected the disk, only to confirm it was completely destroyed.
He hadn’t worn the dream synchronizer before sleeping, nor had he inserted the black dream disk, so there was no way to have loaded the nightmare. Yet the disk was inexplicably ruined, defying logic.
He checked the time—barely a moment had passed between falling asleep and waking, while he’d spent at least a full day in the nightmare. No synchronizer on the market could create such a drastic time difference.
To bring traits from a dream into reality could only be the work of some supernatural force, something science could not explain—something that existed in the real world…
Li Nanke closed his eyes and slowly exhaled three words: “Taboo Object.”
The very origin of catastrophic forbidden disasters, Taboo Objects were the most terrifying supernatural forces known.
He had once survived a catastrophic forbidden disaster and, ever since, bore a lifelong psychological shadow cast by the wilderness and the so-called safe zones.
Gaining supernatural power in reality might be every child’s hidden fantasy, but if that power was tied to Taboo Objects and forbidden disasters, it brought not joy, but terror.
Li Nanke stood still, recalling the synchronization prompts at the end of the black dream.
[Hidden Node Reward: Primary Trait “Abyssal Sea,” partial access to special exchange privileges, dream settlement rating increased!]
He understood that, though the black dream disk was destroyed, the bizarre nightmare was likely far from over.
A normal person, faced with the supernatural powers of a Taboo Object, would probably seek help from the Crisis Control Bureau immediately, since the price for such forbidden gifts was more than anyone could bear.
But Li Nanke was not most people. After a long pause, he grabbed the pill bottle on his nightstand and swallowed three zopiclone tablets.
“If something can’t be avoided, better to face it head on than wait for disaster.”
“After all… I’ve fucking had enough of all this!”
He lay back, closed his eyes, and let drowsiness overtake him…
…
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange world.
The sky was a pure, endless blue, with clouds like silk ribbons. Beneath his feet, a shallow lake stretched to the distant horizon, its water barely ankle-deep yet vast beyond measure.
On this crystal-clear lake, the reflections of sky and cloud were so sharp it seemed the water was one vast, flawless mirror, erasing the boundary between heaven and earth to create a mesmerizing world.
Every sense was vivid and bright—the breeze on his face, the cool lake water around his feet, and the fresh air filling his lungs all told him this was a dream.
Sight, hearing, smell—all his senses poured information into his mind, washing away the numb falseness of reality.
If there was such a thing as true reality, this dream was it. If there was an end to all dreams, this must be the place…
He stood alone in the vast emptiness, yet felt not loneliness but a transcendent detachment from the mundane world.
A familiar, mechanical voice, neither male nor female, sounded in his mind, and text appeared in his vision, shifting from crimson to deep blue.
[Dreamer, you have completed the Guidance Dream and officially ascended as a Nightmare, earning the right to reach the Far Shore.]
[Guidance Dream settlement in progress…]
[Your rating for this dream: S (SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E)]
[You have completed the hidden node: eliminated “Stranded Wanderer—Orfanus.”]
[Your dream settlement rating has been upgraded to S+.]
But Li Nanke no longer cared about ratings. He focused on feeling the so-called Far Shore.
He had received the gift—but what would it cost him?
[Based on your rating, your current standard exchange cost is 250 points, and you may select one item from the special list.]
[Most standard exchange options for this dream have been unlocked!]
[Some special exchange options for this dream have been unlocked!]
As the synchronization prompt sounded, lists of exchangeable rewards appeared one by one.
[Standard Exchange List]
[Weapon: Roaring Chainsaw Axe, Cost: 150]
[Weapon: Slaughter Chainsaw Sword, Cost: 150 (may be exchanged unconditionally at no cost)]
[Weapon: Spiked Staff, Cost: 20]
[Weapon: Initiate’s Sawblade, Cost: 10]
[Weapon: Iron Harpoon, Cost: 1]
[…]
[Weapon: Thermite Rifle, Cost: 200]
[Weapon: Shock Rifle, Cost: 200]
[Weapon: Arc Flamethrower, Cost: 100]
[Weapon: Mauser Military Pistol, Cost: 30]
[Weapon: Martyr Fragmentation Grenade, Cost: 30]
[Ammunition: …]
[…]
[Armor: Armed Initiate’s Uniform Set, Cost: 10]
[Armor: Apprentice’s Uniform Set, Cost: 5]
[Armor: Townsfolk Undershirt, Cost: 1]
[…]
[Accessory: Gilded Pocket Watch, Cost: 5]
[…]
[Special Exchange List]
[Trait: Taint]
[Trait: Tentacles]
[Accessory: Blood Rose Emblem]
[Primary Trait: Abyssal Sea (may be exchanged unconditionally, does not use up quota)]
[Trait: Storm Surge (requirements not met, cannot be exchanged)]
[Trait: Blood Fury (requirements not met, cannot be exchanged)]
[Trait: Savage (requirements not met, cannot be exchanged)]
[Summon: Advanced Sea Acolyte (requirements not met, cannot be exchanged)]
[Vehicle: Ramming Modified Steam Carriage (requirements not met, cannot be exchanged)]
[Vehicle: War Machine Type IV Steam Cannon Airship (requirements not met, cannot be exchanged)]
[…]
[All rewards exchanged here may be brought back to the real world and into the next Forbidden Dream.]
The standard list included nearly every weapon, item, and piece of equipment seen in the dream, while the special list’s contents were even more astonishing.
“Advanced Sea Acolyte… Steam Airship… Even these can be exchanged?”