Chapter 409

What do I fear the most? After hearing the words of the Nightmare King, Leon’s pupils couldn’t help but slightly dilate as he looked at his own face reflected in the Mirror Diadem atop its head.

My memories must never be seen by others under any circumstances! The existence of the Badge System and the fact that I’m a穿越者(traveler) are secrets that absolutely cannot be divulged! Especially the latter! If this secret leaks out, and the people from the General Bureau connect the dots, thinking about the warning given by the Watchtower Palace regarding the “soul from an unknown world,” even if Director Scorpion can arrive within five minutes, my career as a Cleaner will likely be over! Faced with the sudden emergency, Leon, who originally planned to wait for the effects of “Wine Immortal” to wear off before struggling with the Archer Mark and “Desire Dream Infiltrator,” immediately discarded any thoughts of holding back and directly activated the “Desire Dream Infiltrator” to prepare for a desperate fight.

Alas, though the “Desire Dream Infiltrator” is an anomalous item made from the weapon of the Lord of Desire Dreams and isn’t exactly low in rank, it still falls short when faced with the personally descended Nightmare King.

Even though Leon managed to lock onto the Nightmare King’s consciousness thanks to the reinforcement of the Archer Mark, before he could drag the Nightmare King into the dreamland, its emaciated skull split open horizontally in a bizarre manner, cleanly splitting into two parts.

“Ho ho.”

Accompanied by a mocking sneer filled with disdain, the countless nightmares that composed the Nightmare King rapidly flowed, shedding its old body like a crab molting its shell, revealing a new self through the cracked portion.

“You don’t actually think the same trick would work on me twice, do you?”

After toying with the old body captured by the “Desire Dream Infiltrator,” whose eyes gradually became hazy, the Nightmare King looked at the somewhat frustrated Leon with a hint of pleasure in its expression, mockingly saying, “The secret arts of the Archer Bureau are indeed remarkable, allowing even a Level 3 Cleaner like you to briefly display capabilities comparable to a Director. Caught off guard, I almost let you slip away from my grasp.

But no matter how good something is, it ultimately depends on who uses it. If the Archer Director herself were using this, there’d be nothing I could do and I’d end up being dragged into the dream instead.

But with your soul strength, you can barely lock onto my main consciousness. At best, you can only capture hundreds of inconsequential nightmares. There are countless such fragmented nightmares in the nightmare river; what does giving them to you even accomplish?”

“…”

…

“Alright, after putting up such a struggle, it’s time for you to give up.”

Taking off the Mirror Diadem from the empty shell of the old body and placing it back on its own head, the Entity extended its ashen gray fingers, wiping the mirror surface with its fingertips. A raspy voice filled with malice rudely intruded into Leon’s ears.

“Come on! In the name of the Lord of Nightmares, I command you to open your heart and reveal your deepest fears to me!”

As the Nightmare King bellowed, the blazing sun high above flickered several times, then transformed from the scorching white of midsummer to the orange-yellow of late autumn, weakly scattering faint warmth.

Next, the endless sands around faded away. Centered on Leon standing motionless, the boundless sea of sand quickly disappeared, turning into a shabby hospital room filled with coughing sounds and the pungent smell of medicine.

On the dirty bed at the edge of the room, a frail girl with a pale face devoid of blood color gently turned her head, softly yet stubbornly saying, “Brother, maybe… you should just leave me behind?”

“…”

So the thing he feared the most was merely the death of his family?

Looking at the thin girl on the bed and then at Leon’s distorted face in front of the bed, the Nightmare King, who had been so interested earlier, instantly showed a deep look of disappointment in his eyes.

Though the sense of fear was intense, the heavy sense of regret and resentment was quite interesting, but this level of fear and nightmare was something he saw far too often, completely failing to spark any interest.

Boring.

Watching the utterly unoriginal nightmare formed by replacing part of the endless desert with Leon’s deepest fear, the Nightmare King involuntarily sighed with waning enthusiasm.

It seems he could calmly face eternal torment not because he truly fears nothing, but rather due to some effect of an anomalous item.

For this guy who nearly caused me to stumble, I thought his deepest fear would be something interesting, but it turns out to be just this? This is really…

Hmm? What is he going to do?

Seeing Leon, with a distorted face, burst out of the hospital holding a picked-up knife, seemingly wanting to do something, the Nightmare King finally managed to muster a little interest, transforming its form to match the height of an ordinary person and following closely behind.

Then everything from two months ago replayed without much change.

“Is anyone here? I’ve come for the job application!”

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen a demon before?”

“I’ve already explained clearly, haven’t I? Normal people like you aren’t suited to join the Clearing Bureau.”

“My observation skills are very special! I can discern certain peculiar things, and if I have direct contact, I can instantly obtain some related intelligence!”

“Look, that goat is one of those ‘peculiar things.’ So go ahead and start explaining.”

After the Woman with Red Hair proposed the “test,” Leon, now throwing everything into this last lifeline, took a deep breath, trembling arms reaching out to touch the Black Goat, but…

“?!!!”

Nothing? Why? Discovering the situation wasn’t as expected, Leon’s face suddenly showed deep terror, an incomparable panic spreading upward, as if an icy hand had tightly gripped his heart.

It should have worked! It should have! Just touching it should make information pop up, telling me about the related anomalous items. Why isn’t anything happening now?! “Ho, looks like a madman.”

Shaking her head somewhat disappointedly, the blurry-faced woman with red hair coldly dismissed him: “Go away! This isn’t where you belong!”

“But… but I clearly…”

“Get out! I’ll say it once! Hmph! What a waste of time!”

“…”

All content inside 69 Book Bar!

Under the interested gaze of the Nightmare King, Leon was dejectedly driven out of the Clearing Bureau, blankly lowering his head, moving like a walking corpse step by step back to the hospital.

After exhausting all his money and struggling for more than a week, still unable to raise enough medical fees, under the insistence of the frail girl, Leon had no choice but to carry her home, who coughed all night and couldn’t sleep.

Then, as the frail girl initially suggested, when the incessant nighttime coughing finally ceased, to continue receiving her compensation, Leon had no choice but to secretly throw her corpse into the sewage river at night, pretending she was still alive to defraud the allowance.

But less than a month later, this small deception was uncovered by the military department officials conducting checks, resulting in even more fines being imposed, making life even harder for the entire family, their faces becoming increasingly yellow and gaunt.

The following year, a fever epidemic broke out in the Capital City. Due to long-term malnutrition and physical weakness, the two children, lacking medical care, ultimately couldn’t survive, leaving the once crowded small home completely empty…

…

I see.

Looking at Leon, hunched over sitting on the edge of a small bed, stroking an old photo album with a numb expression in his eyes, the Nightmare King’s eyebrows slightly raised, finally understanding what he feared the most.

If he didn’t have the qualifications to become a Cleaner and join the Clearing Bureau, he would inevitably lose everything bit by bit, just like in this nightmare.

Therefore, if I want to torment him, I don’t need to physically torture him. All I need to do is seal his original memories and make him relive all this infinitely, which would be sufficient.

Ho, didn’t expect it to be so simple.

Waving his hand to dispel the dream reflected from the depths of Leon’s heart using the [Anxiety Mirror Crown], restoring everything around him to the boundless desert.

Looking at the real Leon, who remained silent since the dream version of Leon rushed out of the hospital, seemingly struck by some great blow, the Nightmare King couldn’t help but curl his lips, pleasantly evaluating: “Your fear may be a bit ordinary, but overall it’s still somewhat interesting… Ho ho, I’ve already figured out how to punish your insolence against me.

Listen carefully, I declare that next you will be… What are you doing?”

“I’m going to give you a grand gift.”

Crushing the bottle containing the [Dream-Eating Abnormal Carapace], stuffing all the remaining beetles into the hollow shell body the Nightmare King previously shed.

With a puzzled expression from the Nightmare King, Leon emotionlessly took out the [Unfair Snake Contract] and exchanged it for a strand of bright red hair from the Red-haired Bureau Director outside.

Following that, the hollow shell body filled with feeding [Dream-Eating Abnormal Carapaces] naturally disappeared from his hands, appearing in the night sky of the Capital City filled with countless nightmares.

“From now on, no one will ever be able to dream again!!!”

(End of Chapter)