After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle

“Oh, if he didn’t come out…” Halfway through Hei Cha’s words, the action of pouring beer suddenly stopped. “Eh, no… Wait, what do you mean that he didn’t come out?”

Chi Nan lowered his eyes, his tone not changing much. It just became a bit lighter. “Ye Chang died in the instance.”

Hei Cha’s hand shook and the beer can fell directly to the ground. Yellow foam bubbled onto the ground and also splashed on Chi Nan’s body.

“H-How can this be…” Hei Cha was stunned. He didn’t plan to pick up the overturned beer can and allowed the foam to overflow and burst out. “How can Student Ye…”

Chi Nan silently pulled out a large stack of paper towels and threw them on the ground. The paper towels sucked up the beer and quickly turned yellow and wrinkled.

He said in an unusually calm manner, “I shot him.”

As he spoke, he threw the beer-stained paper towels into the trash, but the smell of alcohol in the room became stronger.

Hei Cha froze.

“I hit the location of his heart.” Chi Nan wiped his alcohol-stained fingers with a tissue and pointed to his heart. “He died on the spot. There should’ve been no pain.”

A long time passed before Hei Cha managed to move his throat through the extreme shock. “Chi Nan, can you tell me about it carefully?”

He saw that Chi Nan didn’t answer immediately and lowered his voice. “It might be better to say it. Really.”

Chi Nan took a new can of beer from the refrigerator and handed it to Hei Cha. He poured himself a cup of hot milk and held it in his hand. “It isn’t what you think.”

Once Hei Cha understood what the two of them had experienced in the Candleman Festival instance and Ye Chang’s true identity, he couldn’t say anything other than ‘f*k.’

It wasn’t until he drank his fourth can of beer that Hei Cha scratched his head in a bewildered manner. “Forget it. Since Student Ye…is a dream maker…you don’t have to be sad…”

“Ah no…not sad… Don’t be mad…”

“Oh, not angry either… In any case, you don’t…don’t be sad… I’m stupid and can’t comfort people.”

Chi Nan looked at the other person strangely. He didn’t know why Hei Cha was saying this, but he could tell that the other person was trying his best to comfort him. He nodded obediently. “I know. Don’t worry.”

Hei Cha saw his calm appearance that didn’t seem to be a pretense and was relieved for the time being.

However, he just couldn’t say whether Chi Nan being so calm was a good or bad thing.

“What are you going to do next?” Hei Cha opened the fifth can of beer and gulped it down.

Chi Nan took a sip of hot milk. “Go and find him.”

Hei Cha’s movements stopped, and the beer that had just been poured into his mouth was almost spat out. “W-What? Why are you looking for this guy who teased you?”

Chi Nan blinked like it was natural. “Like him, I am curious.”

“Huh? Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Hei Cha couldn’t understand the brain circuits of a bigshot.

“How are you going to find him? In the Nightmare World, sleepwalkers are so passive and we have no choice.” Now, in Hei Cha’s subconscious, the image of ‘Ye Chang’ had become a negative-like existence.

Chi Nan looked at the system interface and determined that the three digit favorability could do many things. “I asked the system. I just have to consume the 100 favorability I just earned and I can enter the nightmare instance of a designated dream maker.”

Using 100 favorability and a souvenir made by the dream maker as a contract object, the sleepwalker could enter a nightmare constructed by the dream maker.

Of course, each dream maker had dozens or hundreds of nightmare instances in their hands. The nightmare instance would be randomly selected.

The system told him so.

Hei Cha heard this and scratched his head again. He spoke cautiously, like he was persuading a friend who had lost his love. “Chi Nan, you actually don’t need to waste this 100 favorability. Is there any difference between the instances? Wouldn’t it be nice to keep the favorability to realize your wish early?”

Chi Nan licked his lips that were stained with milk and shook his head. “Don’t worry, I want to stay in the Nightmare World for a longer time.”

Hei Cha choked up. He really didn’t understand the world of a bigshot. In his cognition, everyone wanted to break the dream as soon as possible to realize their wish and leave. It was the first time he had heard of a plan like Chi Nan’s.

He knew what type of person Chi Nan was, so he guessed that Chi Nan might really be curious, not angry. He nodded. “Then be careful. Nothing is more important than staying alive.”

Chi Nan nodded solemnly. “I know.”

That night, Chi Nan made a deal with the system using the 100 points of favorability and the small candle person. He bound himself to the dream of ‘Dream Maker 229’ for his next contract.

It was only then that he found out that Ye Chang’s number was 229.

Chi Nan opened his mouth. “I want to ask the system, how is the number of the dream maker determined?”

He instinctively felt that the system would most likely keep it a secret for 229, but this didn’t prevent him from testing the system’s loyalty to the dream maker.

System: [I’m sorry, your question is beyond your authorization. The system has no comment.]

As he expected, the system was tight-lipped for the dream maker. It wasn’t willing to say a word.

Then, less than 10 minutes later, the silent and taciturn system that was almost non-existent suddenly made a sound.

[Can I ask the sleepwalker Chi Nan why you are interested in Dream Maker 229?]

Chi Nan honestly answered the system, “It is because my birthday happens to be 29th of February. I think it is a bit coincidental.”

The system was silent for a few seconds.

[Happy birthday in advance.]

“Thank you.”

After being sealed in the forbidden painting for a long time, Chi Nan couldn’t remember when his birthday actually was. 2/29 was actually the birthday of this body, in other words, You Yu’s birthday.

February 29th occurred once every four years. It was quite convenient apart from losing a big cake every year.

After being bound to the next nightmare instance by the system, Chi Nan fell into a deep sleep. He woke up and found an extra courier box and an envelope outside the door.

He didn’t need to open it to know that the envelope was an instance invitation similar to the Dusk Cruise ferry ticket and the Candleman Festival volunteer application form. Then, what was this courier box…?

“F*k, how come your instance this time has such a big courier box?” Hei Cha saw the courier box in the corridor and had a bad premonition in his heart. He pouted. “Does that guy want to play something special?”

Chi Nan opened the envelope first and saw a pamphlet folded in half inside with the words ‘Admission Letter: Dawn City (Mosaic) Boarding School.’

Hei Cha heard this and came over to take a look. The admission notice included Chi Nan’s name, registration number, and registration date of the new student, which was February 22nd.

His eyes stopped on the name of the school that was covered with a mosaic and sighed. “It is really interesting. The school name is deliberately covered. Is this a key clue?”

Chi Nan didn’t speak and just moved the admission letter a bit further away. He couldn’t see the specific text of the school name that had been covered up, but he vaguely guessed it was three characters.

What exactly was it? What information was hidden in the school’s covered name? Chi Nan currently had no clue.

He folded the acceptance letter and placed it into the backpack he carried with him before starting to open the box.

On the side, Hei Cha watched his slow and methodical movements and was more nervous than the person concerned. His eyes looked at the torn cardboard box.

Chi Nan took out the contents of the box and Hei Cha was shocked. “F*k, this school is so formal and it even has a uniform…bah, a school uniform.”

The courier box contained a well-tailored boy’s school uniform. It had a shirt, vest, tie, coat, scarf, and leather shoes. Chi Nan touched them. The material was warm and soft. They should be very comfortable to wear.

Almost every instance had role playing scenes, but this was the first time there was a special outfit for the sleepwalker.

Hei Cha sighed. “This dream maker really has a sense of ceremony. It is worthy of Student Ye who wasted time with us by creating another identity…”

“I’ll try it.”

Chi Nan didn’t hesitate. He seemed to like this school uniform and directly picked it up and returned to his room to change. The moment he walked out, Hei Cha’s eyes lit up and he couldn’t help exclaiming, “I have to say that this bast*rd’s aesthetics are still online. This school uniform would be popular in reality.”

The well-cut school uniform was attached to Chi Nan’s body. The fine fabric outlined his slender and straight body but the button at the top of his shirt wasn’t fastened, revealing a bit of his porcelain white neck.

Chi Nan raised his chin slightly and looked at himself in the mirror.

“By the way, Chi Nan, have you registered your body size information in the system before?” Hei Cha suddenly thought of something.

Chi Nan looked into the mirror and shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

Hei Cha scratched his neck and smiled. “Nothing. It feels like it is tailor-made. It is too appropriate.”

“…Yes.”

“Last time in You Yu’s Dream, the clothes that Aunt Mei casually found for you were also very suitable. What a coincidence,” Hei Cha said after thinking about it.

Chi Nan paused. “The dream maker probably knows the information of all of us.”

Height, weight, taste preferences, and the trigger for his…tears that he never told anyone about.

This 229 seemed to have known them from the beginning. The other person made him cry several times during the Dusk Cruise. Now, in retrospect, it must’ve been intentional.

Chi Nan looked at himself in the mirror and was stunned for a few seconds. Then he returned to his room to take off the school uniform. He hung it neatly in the closet and waited for the arrival of February 22nd.

Waiting slowed the flow of time. Chi Nan spent what felt like the longest winter in Zi City before he finally got on the bus to go to the Mosaic School instance as spring was about to blossom.

It might’ve reached the end of February, but the temperature was still below zero. There was no snow, and the north wind was blowing dry and cold air.

The road to the boarding school was a wasteland full of dead branches. The scenery was monotonous and gloomy.

Fortunately, this custom school uniform wasn’t only well-tailored and exquisite. The heat insulation was also very good. Chi Nan hid his face in a scarf and sat in the last row of the school bus to sleep.

The heating of the bus was turned on sufficiently. Chi Nan slept in the darkness all the way until a white light shone brightly through the window and Chi Nan woke up in a hazy manner.

The window close to his face was covered with a thin layer of water vapor. Chi Nan grabbed his sleeve and wiped it on the glass. He found that outside the window was a snowy fairy tale world.

He didn’t know when it started snowing, but the snow had drawn the curtains on the boundless wasteland.

The school bus drove through the endless snow. It traveled alone on the white road that stretched out until it finally saw the end point on the horizon. It was the boarding school of Dawn City.

By this time, night had fallen and the academy was brightly lit.

Proofreader: Kat