87 - Break Through an Empty Door

Translated by rabbitrisu

Lin Xiao learned about the nightmare world from Wu Qing.

She was surprised, and had some thoughts like ‘it really is like that,’ ‘the netizens guessed it,’ and ‘is this world really worse than the real world?’

“So, as long as I stay here, I would be missing in the real world until I complete the mission and pass the level?” Lin Xiao opened her phone calendar and glanced at her appointments. Her expression suddenly became slightly anxious. “Is there any way to leave as soon as possible? Two days from now… No, tomorrow I need to go back to the real world.”

“We don’t want to stay in such a place for a long time.” Among the four remaining people of the hiking club, only Wu Qing spoke. “But before we leave, we have to complete the mission in the nightmare world, and the missions aren’t quick fights.”

Lin Xiao looked at the inner side of her left arm according to Wu Qing’s instructions, then saw that a line of bloody characters had been engraved on her arm where there used to be nothing. When the characters first appeared, there was a pain similar to being pierced by a thorn, but it was fleeting.

[After finding the locations of the seven supernatural events of Nightmare University and experiencing them one by one, you can clear the task and leave the nightmare world.]

[0/1]

Lin Xiao originally thought that was the entire task, but she didn’t expect another tingling sensation from her arm, and then a few more lines of smaller words appeared underneath that line.

[Dear trainer. This is a top secret message that only you can see.]

[The duration of this mission will be over 48 hours. You can sacrifice the soul of a fellow traveler to replace a supernatural event, and you can leave the nightmare world in advance according to your personal task clearance.]

Sacrifice a soul?

Lin Xiao didn’t know anything about that. The huge amount of books and movies and TV experience during college quickly allowed her to reflect on the meaning of the top-secret information. This was the nightmare world telling her that if she completed the task step by step, it was impossible for her to return to the real world before that important day.

The only way to speed up her return to the real world was to kill those fellows!

The soul of a fellow traveler could replace a supernatural event. There were now five trainers besides Lin Xiao. If she could really kill all five people, she could go back as long as she found two supernatural events!

But… is it possible?

Although Lin Xiao was grateful that only she could see the lettering on her arm, she had already learned about ‘props’ and ‘enhancement’ from Wu Qing. She knew that veterans could get useful props from the nightmare world, and that they could strengthen their bodies with the nightmare points granted after task clearance.

Those props could make a veteran’s already enhanced power even stronger. Some could deal not only with ghosts, but also humans!

Wu Qing explained the possible uses for props in detail, and told her and the middle-aged man that as long as they agreed to join his team, he would give them two props to use.

Such an agreement was very exciting, but Lin Xiao, who had received the ‘special task,’ didn’t think it was a good idea to join his team under such circumstances. But if she only relied on her own power…

Lin Xiao raised her fragile right arm. Most normal university girls weren’t too strong, and the bloody number of nightmare points on her right arm was a bright ‘0.’ Under such circumstances, how could she deal with those veterans?

She could only hope that those veterans were particularly powerful. They could lead her through the level quickly, right?

“I won’t join.”

“We don’t have to team up.”

After thinking about it for a long time, Lin Xiao and the uncle next to her both spoke their rejections. Lin Xiao didn’t know what was going on with that uncle, but as soon as she heard about teaming up, she remembered the games she had played before. She worried that she wouldn’t be able to harm her teammates after teaming up…

In the end, Lin Xiao still carefully hid her thoughts.

It was a mysterious opportunity… Lin Xiao often saw them in novels.

“It’s a pity, but we still need to work together for a while. The two of you can join our team at any time. Not just me, but the ones behind me are also very friendly people.” Lin Xiao looked at Wu Qing, who smiled. He turned around and patted the girl who was carrying two bags. She felt that such a scene was indescribably strange.

“Then what should we do next?” Lin Xiao acted upon her own little idea, secretly hoping that Wu Qing would be strong enough for them to clear the task today.

The sky in the nightmare world had darkened, seeming to indicate the passage of time.

The time on the trainers’ cell phones didn’t pause like before, but flowed normally as if they were in the real world. It let Lin Xiao tell that it was still past three o’clock in the afternoon, still too late for her.

“I heard that nightmare worlds where newcomers participate tend to be less difficult. There may even be refuges where we can avoid danger. We’ll keep an eye out for them at all times.”

As he spoke, Wu Qing frowned again. “Unfortunately, the mysterious merchants don’t usually appear in dungeons with newcomers. Maybe they think there won’t be any profit.”

“Mysterious merchant? Is it the same as mysterious merchants that sell mysterious props in games?” Lin Xiao couldn’t help but associate the situation she was in with things like games.

“Yes. If you see a ‘person’ wearing a white mas and guarding a huge coffin, then that ‘person’ is a mysterious merchant.” In Lin Xiao’s eyes, Wu Qing taught her about those things patiently and easily. “It’s just that those masked people who only stay in one place and don’t move are just copies of the real mysterious merchant, and won’t say anything except for to sell things. The business will either be successful or not successful. Even I’ve never seen a real mysterious merchant.”

“What does the real mysterious merchant look like?” Lin Xiao asked immediately.

“I heard that he would walk around and give some trainers discounts or free props, etcetera. Anyway, he’s impossible to find. In nightmare worlds with newcomers, it’s even more impossible.” Wu Qing explained. He took Lin Xiao toward the playground’s exit.

Along the way, the unnamed and unfamiliar uncle hardly said anything. He didn’t even tell them his name.

But that also reminded Lin Xiao that this place was somewhat suspicious.

Wu Qing was really nice and enthusiastic. He was like a dedicated novice instructor in a game. He taught her almost everything about the nightmare world, including things that sounded like secrets that newcomers like Lin Xiao couldn’t easily learn in such a short time. The more she listened to him, the more trustworthy he sounded.

But after calmly setting aside that knowledge, Wu Qing had only introduced himself up until then.

He didn’t introduce his companions behind him, nor had he asked Lin Xiao or the uncle’s names. Coupled with the fact that Wu Qing’s teammates all remained silent, Lin Xiao felt strange even after a long time passed.

“We’ll continue moving forward. There shouldn’t be any supernatural events on the playground.” Wu Qing spoke, then gave a dry smile. “Unless there are some resentful athletes.”

“Most of them are in libraries, dorms, or teaching buildings.” Lin Xiao followed behind Wu Qing. She knew too little about the world to act independently.

“What’s over there?” At that moment, the uncle who was beside Lin Xiao pointed to a building in front of them. Under the dark sky, the bright light inside surprised everyone.

“It may be a refuge. I heard that refuges are places with bright lights. No matter what the setting of the nightmare world is, it’s a place where a ghost can’t invade for a half hour.” Lin Xiao frowned when she looked at Wu Qing. “We didn’t encounter a refuge when we were newbies, and we never encountered one after.”

“We?”

“Yes, we.” Wu Qing turned around and stood in front of his teammates, then stretched out his hands and said with a smile, “These three are from the same university hiking club as me, and we’re good friends who support each other.”

The three standing behind him also turned their heads. They showed some weird smiles, and Lin Xiao didn’t know how to feel.

“In short, let’s go on and have a look.”

Lin Xiao muttered internally for a while, then followed behind Wu Qing.

None of them noticed that a piece of smoke followed far behind them, indistinguishable from the night.

“It’s a shop.” Human instinct to find a light source led Lin Xiao to rush to the door of the ‘An Yu Yi Yu’ shop, but Wu Qing and the others had been vigilant the entire time, unlike Lin Xiao who acted carelessly and without thought.

“Could it be a mysterious shop!” Lin Xiao could see the counter and two shelves in the store through the glass windows, and she felt a little excited. “It seems that it’s a bit different than what you said, Wu Qing. Is it a special mysterious shop?”

“I’ve never seen this before… But there are a lot of things I don’t know about in the nightmare world. There may be gains to be found here, but everyone should be careful. It may be one of the seven supernatural events that this nightmare world told us to look for.” Although Wu Qing said that, he already pushed open the glass door in front of Lin Xiao!

After all the trainers walked into An Yu Yi Yu, Su Zimo approached the shop from a place where the light didn’t reach. He hid to the side and looked at the shop, wanting to see how An Yu Yi Yu worked when he was away.

“There are so few things in the store.” Lin Xiao looked at the six-piece toiletry sets and the bright dolls on the first shelf, then saw Shelf No. 2 hidden behind it.

If the first shelf held groceries, then the things on the second shelf were even more incomprehensible.

Three phones that looked to be second hand?

A round mirror?

A bottle of medicine?

A set square?

And… three… daggers?

“We’re lucky.” Lin Xiao heard Wu Qing speak from next to her. “Those three daggers are props in the nightmare world. This store may really be some kind of mysterious shop. Moreover…”

“Moreover?” Lin Xiao looked at Wu Qing.

“There seems to be no one guarding this store.”

No guards?

Lin Xiao, who had already walked in front of the round mirror, turned to look at the counter. But at that moment, Lin Xiao seemed to see herself smiling in the round mirror out of the corner of her eyes… Feeling panicked, Lin Xiao quickly turned around to look in the mirror, only to find that although she looked scared in the mirror, there seemed to be nothing strange about the mirror itself.

“On the contrary.” Wu Qing had successfully picked up a dagger from the third level of the shelf, and through the whole process wasn’t hindered in any way.

“It seems that there really isn’t anyone guarding it. We should take advantage of their absence to bring stuff with us. Maybe we can protect ourselves!” Wu Qing spoke, glanced at the items on the top of the shelf, and then reached out.

[Ding–]

But at that time, the piano in the shop suddenly played a note. The upright piano, which obviously had no one playing, suddenly began to play quickly. The notes were like stormy rain falling from the sky, warning Wu Qing and the others who were about to do something bad.

[Ding ling ling– Ding ling ling]

As soon as the piano started playing, a white cell phone on the counter began to ring deafeningly.