Nightmare Assault

Jiang Cheng turned to meet the old man’s eyes and then turned back away. “Get the camera.” He told the other man, “Let’s leave.” Just as they were about to leave…

“Wait.”

Hearing that, everyone paused and turned back. The elder shuffled over with difficulty. He held a black bag in his hand.

“Since your camera is broken, you can use this for now.” Before the man from Room 406 could react, the elder shoved the black bag into his hands. The man had no idea what the elder meant, and he subconsciously wanted to push the bag back. However, the elder didn’t give him the choice. He turned and returned back to the yard. Then, the gate closed with a creak.

Inside the bag was a black camera. The model was old, and some of the corners had been ground off to reveal the metal underneath. However, it was still usable.

Fatty looked at the camera and grumbled worriedly, “What is this? A reward we got for triggering some side quest?”

“No.” Jiang Cheng stared at the closed gate and shook his head. “This is not a side quest.” After all, the mission had explained at the start that the stuff they needed had been sent to the Prop Room. Therefore, they had to come here eventually. Perhaps the cameras were meant to be broken. In other words, everything that happened since they arrived at the building had been preordained. Like the woman at the start, the elder was also an NPC. His purpose was to deliver this camera to the players.

Hearing Jiang Cheng’s analysis, the man who held the camera was very scared. His body trembled, and he looked like he was about to drop the camera, like there was a ghost hiding inside it. No one came to console him. Consolation was the cheapest thing, besides kindness, in the nightmare realm. It did nothing but to expose your stupidity. At this place, stupidity was the original sin.

Jiang Cheng walked over and took the camera. He examined it and placed it in the black bag. Then, he slung the bag around the man’s neck. He patted his shoulder. “Don’t be scared. Focus on the positive. I think you’ll be fine.”

The man remained startled for a full second. This was the first time he had felt warmth from another human since he had arrived in this strange dream world. And… he saw sincerity in the eyes of this man.

“Thank you…” The man said with shaking lips.

Just as the man was about to say something else, Jiang Cheng shrugged, “No need to thank me. I just think you can survive. Whether you will or not in the end is up to you. After all, I thought two people could survive in my last mission, but one of them had their head pried off, and the other didn’t even have their head left.”

Everyone, “???”

“Alright.” Fatty was worried that Jiang Cheng might be antagonised, so he quickly changed the subject, “Now that we have the camera, what should we do next?”

The woman with the ponytail thought about it and said, “We should take a few pictures of random people in the school and see if there’s any problem with this camera.” This was undeniably a clever move. After all, no one knew if using the camera would trigger the ghost. It was best to test it on the students.

Coincidentally, a few female students walked out of the prop building. They were dressed quite fashionably. The man took out the camera, knelt on the ground and wanted to take their picture.

“Is this really a good idea…” A voice came from behind them. It was weak and gentle. Everyone turned. It was the girl in the pyjamas.

She lowered her chin like she knew her suggestion wouldn’t be accepted. However, she gathered her courage and continued, “After all, they are innocent. We are the outsiders.” Her voice dwindled.

Just as Fatty was about to praise this girl for her good acting, the man in the tank top jumped out. Fatty believed his name was Zhou Dafu. He started to scold the girl greatly. He kept repeating things like if she wanted to die, she didn’t have to drag everyone down with her.

It was clear that the man with the camera was annoyed as well. However, his attention was more on the woman with the ponytail. Clearly, she was the one who gave the final say. However, the woman was not in a hurry to speak. Her eyes scanned the girl in the pyjamas. The judgement in her eyes flashed, but Jiang Cheng captured everything. The confusion in his heart also lessened.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” The voice of the suited man came. He was as suave as ever. “Now is not the time for argument.”

He walked out of a small path in the forest. The man with the cap followed him with a dark face. Jiang Cheng saw where the man came from. The forest was rather robust. The path was hidden in the forest.

“We said we’d gather at noon.” Fatty was the first to say, “Where have you been?”

The man with the cap scoffed and was about to retort when he was interrupted by the suited man, “Thank you for the concern. We encountered some things. We rushed over once we solved those. I hope the original plan hasn’t been interrupted.”

“Thankfully, no.” Jiang Cheng replied, “Since you weren’t here on time, we thought…” He paused before adding shyly, “You have to understand that this is the dream realm, Mr. Guardian Angel. Anything can happen. Once you were late, we assumed you were dead.”

The smile on the man’s face froze.

“What do you mean by that?” It was unclear what the man with the cap had gone through. His expression was ugly when he arrived. Once he heard Jiang Cheng, he rolled up his sleeves.

“Don’t misunderstand.” Jiang Cheng waved his hands and hid behind the woman with the ponytail. He looked scared. “I do not mean to insult you. I merely suspect you are not humans!”

“The fuck…” Since the situation was spiralling, the woman with the ponytail had to step forward. Out of everyone’s expectations, she chose to side with Jiang Cheng.

She told the suited man and the man with the cap. “I believe his suspicion is not unfounded. You need to prove to us you are not ghosts.”