Nightmare Onslaught - Chapter 18 - The Newspaper

Nightmares are divided into the first time and countless times. Fatty probably understood that he was lucky to have Jiang Cheng guide him this time, allowing him to survive the mission. Next time, he might not be so fortunate.

Caught off guard, Fatty looked embarrassed. Jiang Cheng quickly searched him but found nothing unusual, so he let him go and turned on the overhead light.

Leaning against the wall, Fatty rubbed his arm while glancing around Jiang Cheng’s studio.

“Bro,” Fatty craned his neck and noticed a few medical case files on the desk. He looked up at Jiang Cheng and asked, “Are you a doctor?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your specialty?”

Jiang Cheng walked over to the desk, sat down, and looked up. “Specializing in all kinds of defiance.”

Fatty swallowed, as if he wanted to say more, but he obediently kept his mouth shut and sat on the couch across from Jiang Cheng as instructed.

The couch looked rather old, with the armrests cracked and peeling. One side seemed to be able to fold down, turning it into a bed.

Sometimes, Jiang Cheng would have patients lie there to help them relax.

Through their conversation, Jiang Cheng learned that Fatty’s name was Wang Fugui. He had done all sorts of jobs over the years, with his most recent being a long-haul truck driver.

However, he had quit for some reason and lived in Goose City, quite far from Rong City.

Fatty said it was his first time entering the Nightmare World.

Jiang Cheng asked how he could be so neatly dressed and even carry an umbrella, which wasn’t typical attire for someone sleeping.

Fatty scratched his head, awkwardly explaining that he had a big fight with his boss over unpaid wages and was kicked out of the employee dormitory. With no money for a hotel, he had to make do in a small park until dawn, but then…

Jiang Cheng understood what he meant-he had fallen asleep and ended up in that eerie place.

“Did you also go through a door?”

“Exactly,” Fatty nodded, his expression growing grim. “The door appeared on a wall in the park, but I’m sure there wasn’t a door there before.”

Similar to Jiang Cheng’s experience, it seemed everyone who entered the Dream Realm did so through a door that shouldn’t exist, with the only difference being the door’s location.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the time-it was early morning.

He turned to Fatty and said formally, “You can stay until dawn, but you must leave after that.”

Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng with pleading eyes.

But Jiang Cheng showed no sign of changing his mind. After speaking, he ignored Fatty and sat back in his seat, pulling out a piece of paper that had been folded multiple times from his pocket.

He unfolded it and smoothed it out on the desk.

Fatty initially craned his neck to see, but eventually couldn’t resist and crept over for a closer look.

It was a newspaper, its pages slightly yellowed, with most of the text faded. Jiang Cheng flipped it over, and on the back, in a prominent spot, was a bold headline: “Villa Murder Case Solved: Perpetrators’ Family Dies in River Crash.”

The article went on to detail the case.

The male and female owners of the villa, along with their two daughters, were heretical cultists. The man drove a coach disguised as a tourist bus, luring unsuspecting victims to their secluded villa. One daughter posed as a tour guide, while the other posted bait online. The woman oversaw the entire operation.

They imprisoned the victims they deceived and subjected them to brutal torture. In just one month, local police had received multiple missing persons reports.

Among the victims were a pair of twin brothers.

Finally, by piecing together the victims’ movements, the police traced the operation to the villa hidden deep in the woods. However, the sharp-nosed criminals fled before the police arrived, taking three victims with them.

Late at night, they sped along a remote road in the bus, but due to heavy rain, part of the road collapsed. The bus, moving too fast to avoid the hazard, plunged into a nearby river.

When found, all four members of the criminal family and the three victims had drowned.

It seemed this was the background-or the truth-of the previous mission.

But what truly caught Jiang Cheng’s attention wasn’t just this. It was the photos below. One showed the body of a drowning victim, likely published at the request of the police.

The accompanying text roughly stated that the identity of the deceased could not yet be determined and urged anyone with information to contact the authorities.

From the photo, the victim appeared tall and robust, though the face was blurred, likely edited for privacy. The black leather jacket with a collar was particularly striking. There were also photos of items found on the body.

Fatty’s gaze moved downward until he spotted a pocket watch. He paused, then suddenly became agitated. “Doctor, this is…”

Jiang Cheng didn’t let him finish. “It looks like Fan Li,” he interrupted.

The newspaper was dated June 1, 2006, meaning the case had happened 14 years ago. Fan Li had died in a past timeline.

No wonder the police at the time couldn’t find any records of him.

“So, every Dream Realm is something that actually happened in the past? And that door is meant to send us back to relive what those people experienced?” Fatty asked, astonished.

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment before replying, “It’s possible, but we can’t draw conclusions based on a single instance. We’ve only experienced one Nightmare so far, so it’s too early to say for sure.”

“Also, there’s one thing you’re not quite accurate about,” Jiang Cheng said as he folded the newspaper and looked at Fatty. “Even if that door really does send us back to the past, what we’re reliving is only the tragedies experienced by the victims-or rather, another Nightmare.”

After pondering for a moment, Fatty realized Jiang Cheng was right. Since the people in the previous mission referred to it as a Nightmare Barrier, it was clear how terrifying that world was. Every time, they would face life-and-death crises.

Both Nuan-Jie and Fan Li had clearly gone through several missions, yet they still met gruesome deaths at the hands of the vengeful spirits.

“Doctor,” Fatty said, his lips trembling, “do you remember how the spots where the ghost appeared in the villa were always wet?”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “Because the family that committed those crimes drowned. Even as ghosts, they retain that characteristic.”

Fatty nodded, his face pale, then suddenly seemed to remember something. His round eyes fixed on the newspaper in Jiang Cheng’s hands.

Noticing Jiang Cheng’s wary expression, Fatty quickly explained, “Doctor, don’t misunderstand. I just want to know where you got this newspaper.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes shifted, and he casually replied, “Chen Xiaomeng gave it to me.”

“Her?” Fatty looked skeptical. “I may not be as smart as you, but I’m not stupid. If she really had this, she’d burn it before giving it to you.”