Infinite Nightmares

On the pink island, Zhang Wenda knelt on one knee, reached out, and gently plucked a square leaf of Serotonin. He popped it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, then spat it out.

He stood up and continued deeper into the forest. It was clear this island was healthy; there wasn’t even a hint of a black dog.

But then he remembered this was Song Jianguo’s Inner World, and it all made sense. With her carefree personality, it was impossible for her to have any psychological problems.

Zhang Wenda had come into Song Jianguo’s Inner World to experiment with his new ability. He had bought her a meal in exchange for her willing cooperation.

Before he had walked for long, Zhang Wenda heard a rustling sound coming from the forest’s undergrowth. ’The natives? The Little Black Cat?’

However, when he hurried over to the source of the sound, he was met with an unexpected sight. In the bushes, a group of small, clothed mice were raising their spears and pointing them at him.

It wasn’t just mice. Zhang Wenda also discovered all sorts of miniature buildings underneath the bushes.

"W-who are you!" A white mouse from the group popped its head out to say this, then instantly ducked back in.

’Why are Song Jianguo’s emotional regulators a bunch of mice? So it’s different for everyone?’ Zhang Wenda mused, picking up a mouse by its tail and holding it up to examine it curiously.

The little mouse was small and soft; it seemed easy to deal with. ’If I killed all the mice here, Song Jianguo probably wouldn’t be able to laugh at all anymore.’

After watching for a moment and seeing the mice were about to have a meltdown, Zhang Wenda stopped provoking them. He set down the mouse in his hand and moved away from their settlement.

After a final glance at the distant bushes, Zhang Wenda raised one hand. A ball of red split off from his core, gradually ascending into the sky and becoming a red sun. A second one followed.

With two suns hanging in the sky, the island’s temperature began to rise steadily. The bushes shook, and mice, tongues lolling from the heat, scurried about in a panic.

Seeing the flora and fauna of the entire forest begin to wilt under the red light, he reached out and took the red suns back into himself.

He was very satisfied with the results of his experiment. What he had once experienced, he could now make others feel through this method. ’Mm, not bad. How can I be the only one to enjoy something so painful? I must find a way to share this suffering with others.’

After finishing his experiment, Zhang Wenda looked toward the other half of the island, where the Hippocampus lived alone.

At this thought, Zhang Wenda’s expression turned serious. He hadn’t come into Song Jianguo’s body today just to test his new ability’s destructive power. This ability definitely wasn’t as simple as just killing enemies.

If there was anyone whose Inner World had red scars as deep as his, he was confident he could lead them out of it.

’Besides, if it can be used to kill enemies, can it also be used to heal? Amnesia, for example?’

Zhang Wenda walked across the large bridge to the other half of the island. After carefully probing and finding no consciousness maze, he finally relaxed and headed for the maze of the Hippocampus.

Song Jianguo’s Hippocampus was clearly different from his own. It was a semi-humanoid creature with the body of a deer, a human face, and transparent, feathered wings. A faint fluorescent glow surrounded its body. Compared to his own grotesque one, it was far more beautiful.

Beneath the faint fluorescent light, its delicate face looked ethereal.

"Give me a ticket. I want to go to the Prefrontal Strait," Zhang Wenda said.

Just as Zhang Wenda was preparing to argue his case, the creature actually used two slender little hands on its chest to quickly draw a translucent ticket and hand it to him.

"Uh... thanks?" Zhang Wenda said hesitantly, sizing up the creature as he reached for the ticket.

But just as Zhang Wenda’s hand closed around the ticket, the creature lunged at him. Before the scythes that grew from his hands could react, something soft pressed against his lips.

’She’s kissing me?’ Zhang Wenda’s mind went blank for a second.

Then Zhang Wenda realized he had gotten it wrong. She didn’t just want to kiss him; she wanted to French-kiss him. She was pecking at him, the force of her three tongues so great it seemed she was trying to suck his brains out through his mouth.

After a fierce struggle, Zhang Wenda finally transformed his entire body into a scythe monster and managed to push her away with his immense strength.

He touched his own lips, which were numb from the suction, and stared at her in shock. "What the hell are you doing!"

The creature, however, was not the least bit flustered. Instead, she took two more steps toward him. "Zhang Wenda, I know you. I have seen everything about you. I like you."

After so many battles with others, this was the first time Zhang Wenda had ever fled in disarray.

After escaping, a still-shaken Zhang Wenda glanced back and saw that she hadn’t followed. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He really hadn’t expected Song Jianguo’s Hippocampus to be so bizarre.

’You really do see everything if you live long enough. Looks like I’ll need to be more on guard when I enter other people’s Inner Worlds from now on.’ Licking his lips, Zhang Wenda shook his head and walked toward the station.

Song Jianguo’s station had a wooden structure, covered in lush green ivy. After waiting there for a short while, an old but very well-maintained steam locomotive came chugging up, billowing thick smoke.

The carriage door opened, but no one came out to check tickets. However, as soon as Zhang Wenda stepped inside, the ticket in his hand turned to black ash.

The rest of the journey was unremarkable, but when he arrived at the narrow Prefrontal Strait, he began to notice a clear difference.

The books on the tall, slender shelves were clearly far fewer than in his own—less than half the amount, at least.

Zhang Wenda leaped directly onto a bookshelf, using his scythes to hook his way up quickly. After a quick survey, he found that most of the memories here were recent ones involving him, or they were memories of the Black Cat or her aunt.

Beyond that, there were no other memories at all.

It seemed that for some unknown reason, the books in Song Jianguo’s Prefrontal Strait had disappeared, and this was precisely why she had amnesia.

’Looks like if I want her to recover her memories, I just have to find the lost books and put them back.’

Just as Zhang Wenda was about to go back and ask the local natives—the mice—where the books had gone, he suddenly froze.

The tragic state of Tang Xingxiong and his dying words replayed in his mind. ’No, I can’t help her find her memories right now.’

’Even though I don’t know what happened to Song Jianguo before, I’m certain that the computer virus in her system was left by Qianxi.’

’And this virus is trigger-based. As long as her memories aren’t restored, Song Jianguo won’t suffer the same fate as Tang Xingxiong.’

A few minutes later, Zhang Wenda walked out, his brow slightly furrowed. ’As I thought. Until Qianxi is dead, I can’t risk letting Song Jianguo get her memories back.’

Just as Zhang Wenda was pondering this matter, his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw it was Ouyang Shuangdian. ’Got a job.’