Chapter 5

Zheng felt a layer of ice froze over his heart. He charged out the next instant without another thought. Yet, the human figure had already been dragged to the window. The girl cried miserably as she fell off the window. Zheng wasn’t able to grab her despite his speed. He did not stop right here. Zheng charged to the window and leaped off.
But there was nothing outside. The girl that was dragged away was no where to be seen. Everything that happened seemed as though it was his illusion. Zheng landed on the ground. There was not a single drop of blood. He stood on the street alone.

(How could that have been possible? I saw he fell off the window. It was less than a second between that and me reaching the window. How could she disappear in such a short amount of time? Impossible!)

A frightened expression overtook his face. He quickly turned his head around to look at the window. A shiver ran down his spine as he saw a man stood on where he was. The man had a burned face, wore a black hat, black and white striped clothes, and a pair of scissor like gloves, with five blades extended out from between th fingers. The man was holding a girl. Those blades were slicing away her skin and flesh. In his creepy laughter, the girl slowly thinned into a skeleton.

“Ah!” Zheng felt a wave of shock and anger. He did not fear the demon in reality. He could smash him into paste with Destruction if he had to. However, the moment he activated Explosion, bang!

He looked to the side and saw the people he was familiar with. He was lying on shattered pieces of a bed. The bed collapsed from the force exerted by Explosion. Zheng jumped up at once without exiting Explosion. Barely anyone there saw how he came near them.

“Where is this place? What time is it?” Zheng asked in a rush. His body was still tensed and in alert in case these people were disguised by Freddy.

The others looked to each other before Kampa said, “It’s eight in the morning already, in the hotel we stayed in.”

Zheng held his hand over his forehead and looked around. The environment superimposed with the memory of his room. It took several seconds for his mind to register. He was sweating by this time. “That was hard to imagine. I actually fell asleep last night. I couldn’t even know what time I fell asleep. Oh, the five of you…”

Zheng turned to the girls. Yet, he only saw four girls standing there. The one named MoLi was gone. He immediately realized what he experienced wasn’t a mere illusion. He witnessed a girl died after he fell asleep. That girl was MoLi.

“She died?”

The response from the rest of the team was out of his expectation. They looked at him weird. Xuan said after a while of silence. “We don’t have a person named MoLi. We have three newbies in this movie, ShuLan, Ouyan Wei, and LiuYu. Then there’s the eleven veterans.”

“Impossible!” Zheng stared at his team with his eyes wide open. His Qi and Blood Energy were ready to be activated the second anyone here reacted incorrectly. This must still be in the dream. How could the team forget the newbie? Or was it his memory that was altered?

Yet, no one did anything strange. Heng and YinKong looked at him weird as they sensed the movement of Qi and Blood Energy from him. YinKong entered a defensive stance. Zheng appeared the most suspicious among the team.

(No. If this is a dream, I wouldn’t be able to use Qi and Blood Energy. The energies prove this isn’t a dream. Then why did they say there’s no one named MoLi? Is my memories wrong? Was I in a dream the whole time before?)

Panic struck Zheng the more he pondered. Things that were unknown and mythical were the most terrifying. You wouldn’t be scared when you have a clear view of them.

The rest of the team recognized something wasn’t right with Zheng. HongLu walked over to him and asked, “What happened? You don’t seem right.”

Zheng returned with a bitter smile. He didn’t know how to reply. The light shining through the windows grew brighter. He said, “Let’s go have breakfast. I will tell you what happened last night.”

The team looked to each other again then followed Zheng to the dining hall. Once everyone sat down by the table, Zheng slowly narrated. He then compared the experience of the team and found out they remembered everything else that had happened, such as when they discussed their plans, went looking for the city, and returned to this town. The only memory that was lost was MoLi.

“Zheng.” LiuYu carefully said. “There really isn’t a person named MoLi. I get along well with the other two girls. No one knows this newcomer. Did Freddy deceived you in your dream?”

Zheng thought for a moment then shook his head. “I originally thought you were the ones that are deceived by Freddy and I am the only one with intact memory. However, since none of you remember her, it could be that I am deceived. We don’t have…”

“There’s a person named MoLi!” HongLu suddenly cried. His reaction shocked the rest of the team. They all turned to look at him.

HongLu twirled his hair. His glance moved through the team then stopped at Xuan and Zheng. He pulled off a string of hair and said, “Zheng, you still remember this girl right?”

Zheng nodded. Despite everyone denying MoLi’s existence, she did exist in his memory. His increased stats further allowed him to vividly remember her face and voice. He was more certain of it as he nodded.

HongLu said, “Then don’t forget her… I suspect we are currently in a dream.”Everyone except Xuan was shocked as they turned to look at him. YinKong pricked her finger with the dining knife. A drop of blood came out. She licked the blood and said, “I can feel pain.”

HongLu nodded, “I know we can feel pain… My question is, what is reality?”

The team looked confused. HongLu continued, “Reality is what our brain sees. If our brain doesn’t detect something, and if we couldn’t calculate its existence or detect it with instruments, we will not be able to determine whether it exists or not. Similarly, as long as our brain sends the pain signal, we will feel the pain even without any injury. Why can’t this be a dream?

“When God puts us into a movie world, does God pick a random location that’s related to the plot in some way? Why couldn’t God have directly put us into a dream? Perhaps we are in this dream the moment we left the barrier. If that’s the case, a lot of questions can be explained, such as why we returned to the town in a inconceivable way.”

Zheng quickly asked, “Then why do I have the memory of the newbie and you don’t?”

“Maybe because your mental state is special, maybe because you are strong, or maybe because you witnessed her death… There’ are too many possibilities. We forgot about her and you didn’t… I have one important thing I need to let you know. Don’t forget anyone here, no matter who that person is. If we are in a dream, how does this world exist? It exists upon our memories and our memories of each other. MoLi hasn’t been killed, only forgotten. When we all forget her, she would cease to exist. I think this is Freddy’s intention. Killed, forgotten, terror. Until we break apart mentally and no one remembers no one. Team China will be done!” HongLu said.

(Are we in a dream… or is this reality?)
Zheng asked himself in a murmur. He was lost, not knowing if this was a dream or reality. If this was reality, why did he fall asleep? Why did his team forget MoLi? If this was a dream, why could he use his Qi and Blood Energy? He didn’t even have trouble refining his Qi.

HongLu said, “I watched through A Nightmare in Elm Street multiple times. I noticed a phenomenon, which I call the three worlds. Which three worlds? First, the reality we are in. This world is lighted by sunlight. Nothing will happen. A world with only humans. This world is safe. You can have fun and laugh. The second world is the safe dreams. Freddy will enter the dream of his target. He plans events and people who the target had experienced and encountered. In the third movie, the protagonist is locked in a sanatorium. However, when she falls asleep, she suddenly finds herself back in her home at a time in the past. She is waiting for her mother to come home. The rock music from the radio is loud enough to disrupt the neighbors. In her past, the first thing her mother did after she returned was to turn off the radio. The same events occur in the dream. The protagonist thinks Freddy is the dream.”

HongLu paused. The team was drawn by his explanation. LiuYu quickly said, “I also saw this scene though I don’t remember the details.”

“The events that follows…” HongLu twirled his hair. “Her mother repeats her words but Freddy suddenly appears as her mother’s guest. He slices off the mother’s head. Yet, it is still talking. The protagonist screams at the horrifying scene.”

HongLu held out two fingers. “This is the second world, the safe dreams. Freddy enters your dream, manipulates your dream, up until he attacks you. From that point on, he becomes omnipotent in your dream; he can’t be killed. That’s the third world, the despair dreams.”

Silence fell upon the team as they pondered.

Some time passed before Zheng spoke, “What is the difference of the second and third world? Aren’t they both dreams manipulated by Freddy?”

“Yes and no.” HongLu glanced over the team, pausing for a moment on someone specific. “Why will there be a safe dream? If Freddy can manipulate a person’s dream at will, he can easily kill that person. Why didn’t he? Because of entertainment and madness? Because of the desire to torture? Or is it something bigger? I think he has no other choice.

“If we view a dream as an intact egg, the first thing you need to kill the person inside is to break through its shell. I think Freddy doesn’t have the ability to kill a person in his own dream. A dream is the domain of that person, where he is invincible. Much like how you are the god of your daydreams. This explains the origin of the safe world.

“Freddy uses various ways to break through this shell. Terror is his most used tool. There’s also sexual temptation which he used in the third movie. He will also lower your guard with pieces of your memory and then shatter this memory. He will kill the one most beloved to you. He will do everything to break open your heart. The moment he achieves it is the moment you enter the despair dream. In there, he manipulates the world, and you!”

Shivers ran down their spines from hearing HongLu’s analogy. Sleep wasn’t the issue anymore as long as they were in this world. Freddy might grasp the weaknesses within them at any moment then drag them into the despair dream. There was no use knowing his attacks. Everyone had their own weaknesses and their defense must be weak in this respect. An attack might meant death.

Zheng frowned then turned to Xuan. “What do you think? Just speak what’s in your mind. I hate it when you are silent. At least let us know if you have a plan.”

Xuan calmly shook his head. He continued eating spaghetti without a word. HongLu explained for him, “This is just a speculation. If we are all dreaming the same dream, this is the safe dream. Freddy can’t attack us. However, he can listen to what we are talking, see what we are doing. I suspect he can even reach into our heart to seek our weaknesses. That’s why Xuan can’t speak even if he has a plan. The reason I spoke is because I am taking a risk. I am betting Freddy can’t attack us in the current dream. He would have killed me for saying so much, so I won. Either we are currently not in a dream, or he can’t kill us in the safe dream. But he’s listening.”

(Xuan is staying silent to prevent Freddy from knowing his plan… but there’s another possibility. If it turns out that way, I can only…)

HongLu looked over the group again. He pulled off two strings of hair, pointed one at Zheng and the other at Xuan. “Then I will make a conclusion.”

The team finished their breakfast. Everyone was feeling a weight oppressing their hearts. They did not have the mood to think much knowing that they were in a dream and Freddy didn’t have to wait for them to fall asleep. Kampa, Zero, and WangXia inspected their weapons right after eating. Given that they brought the weapons into the dream, they might be able to damage Freddy here.

HongLu said as he saw people began to leave, “We don’t know why we would forget the people near us. We don’t know why Zheng can remember MoLi. It might be because he witnessed her in the despair dream. From now on, carve the people around you into your heart. Don’t lose your memory of them. Secondly, don’t think of the things you desire, the things you fear, the things you worry, or even Freddy himself. They are the crevices of your soul… I have said everything that needed to be said. My responsibility is completed. What’s left falls on you, Zheng. How would you as the leader lead us through the thirty days in this dream?”

Zheng looked at Xuan then at HongLu. He gritted his teeth then said, “We can’t split up since we are going to get attacked at any time. The night watch tactic is useless. It’s ridiculous that you wake up at the next day after chasing Freddy. I think we should all stay in the same room. We can sleep but four people need to stay awake at a time. And Soul Link.”

Lan asked, “There’s a use to Soul Link?”

Zheng shook his head. “I don’t know yet. However, Soul Link allows you to sense unrest happening in someone’s mind. Alert everyone who’s awake as soon as you sense it. That person might be under attack. That’s it then. We don’t know if our weapons are effective against Freddy in the dream. The only thing we can do is stay alert. Xuan, Heng, and YinKong, go buy a house while it’s noon. It’s best if we can move in tonight. Rent one if you can’t buy one in such a short amount of time. We can’t afford to split up again. Freddy will take us out one by one. And lastly, live on!”