Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Dreaming of a Subway (6)
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Dreaming of a Subway (6)
“Is that really true?”
I asked, my voice a little dazed. Nabi shrieked, as if wronged.
[Why would I lie, nya! It's the truth, nya! Don't believe me if you don't want to, nya!]
It seemed she'd completely sold off her pride, tacking 'nya' onto the end of every sentence.
Anyway, seeing her plead so desperately, it seemed Nabi's words were true.
Which meant the way for us to have the same dream at the same time was...
“N-N-N-No way!! Why do I have to sleep with him!”
Just as Ju-hee said.
To sleep in the same bed.
‘This is insane...’
It was a random and absurd method. Still, since it was a supernatural phenomenon, it was somewhat understandable.
Supernatural phenomena exist based on the underlying perceptions of people.
Applying that fact to the dream explained the reason.
Dreams, by nature, are the unconscious mind surfacing when a person is deeply asleep.
I didn't know the exact principle, but I'd heard it was basically a rough patchwork of memories from the unconscious replayed in one's head.
I'd seen a video about dreams while scrolling through Shorts before bed once.
I never thought I'd put that knowledge to use here.
The first key was to approach the dream not scientifically, but as a supernatural phenomenon.
【If you sleep in the same bed, you will have the same dream at the same time.】
Having heard this from Nabi, the fact was now firmly planted in our minds, at least subconsciously.
So, what would happen if we slept in the same bed?
The fact we just heard would float up in our subconscious and soon become reality.
And this was the principle behind multiple people having the same dream simultaneously.
Moreover, the dream we were about to have was Ju-hee's dream, the setting for Chapter 2.
In short, we were using a supernatural phenomenon to enter another supernatural phenomenon.
‘This is so unreal.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Just getting into Chapter 2 was an ordeal.
Was this even designed to be cleared?
Just like at school, this 'Unreality' situation was incredibly unforgiving.
Anyway, we had to enter Ju-hee's dream to clear Chapter 2.
And to do that,
“D-Don't come any closer! I'll call the police!”
we had to sleep in the same bed with Ju-hee, who was in that state. ...I could already tell this was going to be difficult from the start.
Ju-hee pulled the blanket up, wrapping herself tightly. As a bonus, her face was beet red, looking like it might burst.
How was I supposed to handle this?
I felt like I was holding a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment. As I clutched my throbbing head,
Dayeon quietly sat up and strode over to Ju-hee.
“Kyaa!”
Ju-hee, busy being wary of me, was defenseless against any other approach.
Dayeon's unexpected intrusion broke through her flimsy defenses.
“D-Dayeon?!”
While Ju-hee was flustered and unsure what to do, Dayeon steadfastly approached.
Her expression showed she didn't care at all. She soon reached the bed where Ju-hee was sitting and hopped onto it.
Out of nowhere, she lay down on the bed.
Dayeon stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before casually shifting her gaze toward me.
Then, with a meaningful smile, she murmured a single phrase.
“I'm ready.”
...What did that mean? Surely, it meant she was ready to enter the dream.
That had to be it.
No, it had to be.
As Dayeon lay down on the bed, Ju-hee's flustered voice could be heard.
“What do you mean by that...!”
“Hm?”
Dayeon tilted her head. After a moment of thought, she let out an 'Aha!'
“I can't do it alone.”
Then, she muttered another incomprehensible phrase and yanked Ju-hee's hand.
“Kyaa!”
Unable to resist the sudden force, Ju-hee tumbled forward onto Dayeon. She wasn't hurt, thanks to the soft hospital bed.
“D-Dayeon? You were tired and wanted to lie down, right? You should have said something. I could have made room for you... Kyaa! W-Why are you suddenly grabbing my arm...!”
Ju-hee, flustered, rambled on nonsensically. Of course, she was now lying side-by-side with Dayeon on the bed.
“Got you.”
“Huh? Dayeon...?”
Dayeon wrapped her arms tightly around Ju-hee's upper body from behind, holding her so she couldn't easily escape.
Ju-hee struggled, but she couldn't break free from the embrace.
“L-Let me go! We're friends, aren't we?!”
“Right. You're a precious friend. That's why I'm going to help you.”
“Huh? Help me? What do you mean...”
Dayeon nonchalantly uttered words that would make an oblivious third party faint.
“Let's sleep together.”
For a moment, Ju-hee's face turned pale. What on earth was she thinking?
...I didn't really want to imagine. I stepped in before the misunderstanding could spiral out of control.
“For the record, we're not trying to do anything weird. We just have to sleep together.”
“T-That *is* the weird thing!!”
Ju-hee protested vehemently. It seemed she was thoroughly misunderstanding.
“No, I don't mean it metaphorically, I mean literally sleeping. Whatever it is, we're trying to help you.”
“Don't lie!”
I continued to try my best to clear up the misunderstanding, but my words had no effect on the half-panicked Ju-hee.
“How are we supposed to sleep like this? Calm down a little.”
“How can I possibly calm down!”
“This is all for your own good.”
If we did nothing and just spent the weekend peacefully, the tragedy from before would only repeat itself.
If left alone, Ju-hee would be murdered. To prevent that cruel death, we had to sleep in the same bed right now.
“You just heard Nabi. We have to sleep in the same bed to have the same dream.”
“You can't possibly believe that?! There's no way what a doll says is true!”
It's not a doll, it's a devil.
Anyway, at this point, I had no choice but to force the issue.
Once she was in the dream, she'd figure things out on her own.
First, to actually fall asleep, we needed a comfortable environment.
And one way to sleep comfortably is to make the place dark.
*Click.*
I flicked the switch on the wall, turning off the lights. The hospital room went black, shrouded in deep darkness.
I also drew the curtains tightly to block the sunlight filtering through the window.
The room became distinctly dark.
However, Ju-hee's mouth was still running.
“W-Why did you suddenly turn off the lights! Don't you dare lay a single finger on me!”
My reason for entering the dream was to clear Chapter 2, but the bigger reason was to save Ju-hee.
She had not only been caught up in a supernatural phenomenon due to my mistake, but she had also died a gruesome death.
In fact, even now, guilt stabbed me in the chest every time I faced her.
That's why I wanted to save her even more.
By any means necessary.
A person's life was at stake, after all.
Before entering Chapter 2, I steeled myself. I couldn't afford to be complacent.
So, I spoke in a forceful tone.
“Han Ju-hee, stay still.”
“H-Huh...?”
Ju-hee was momentarily taken aback, due to my sudden change in attitude.
If only I'd been like this earlier.
I continued speaking firmly.
“I'm being pretty serious right now, so just stay still. Please.”
Ju-hee's reply didn't come right away. I don't know how much time passed.
Only after a long silence had settled in the room did a belated answer return.
“Okay...”
It was a voice as quiet as a crawling ant, but it was an undeniable affirmation.
With that, all preparations were complete. There were practically no obstacles left to stop us.
All that was left was to enter Chapter 2.
I climbed onto the bed where Dayeon and Ju-hee were lying and carefully squeezed in.
“It's cramped.”
“Just bear with it for a bit.”
Dayeon was right. It was quite a squeeze for three people in a hospital bed.
Still, it couldn't be helped.
If there was a better way, I didn't know it. This was the best we could do under the circumstances.
So, we lay huddled together in one bed, pressed close against each other.
Would we be sucked into the dream if we fell asleep like this?
Just as I finished mentally preparing myself and looked up at the ceiling,
Ju-hee, who also seemed to have prepared herself, whispered in a tense voice.
“P-Please be gentle...”
...As expected, she was still misunderstanding the situation. It was so absurd I didn't know how to react.
“Just go to sleep.”
I forced myself to ignore it and closed my eyes.
Was it because of the supernatural phenomenon? I had only closed my eyes for a moment, but a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over me.
My mind grew hazy, as if I'd inhaled sleeping gas.
‘So this really was a supernatural phenomenon...’
As my consciousness faded, I felt a sense of relief. This method was the right one after all.
But there was no time to rejoice. My consciousness dimmed amidst the overwhelming sleepiness.
Were Ju-hee and Dayeon in a similar state?
I wanted to turn my head and check on them, but I couldn't.
My body was too lethargic and tired to obey. And so, I...
【Status: Asleep】
fell into a deep sleep, one I likely wouldn't wake from without a significant shock.
***
Drowsiness washes over me.
I'm tired.
I want to flop onto a bed and sleep soundly, snoring away.
Just as all sorts of such thoughts filled my head, my consciousness slowly returned.
“Ugh...”
And so I woke up. I blinked blankly for a moment before my mind snapped into focus.
“Did it work?”
I rubbed my groggy eyes and looked around.
An unfamiliar scene unfolded before me.
The place where I'd woken up was rumbling and clattering nonstop.
I observed the scene carefully. I realized where I was in an instant.
“This is a subway.”
Soon, I recalled the dream scene Ju-hee had described.
If my memory served me right, the setting of Ju-hee's dream was definitely a subway. Which meant,
“...I'm in.”
Inside Ju-hee's dream.
As soon as I registered that fact, I looked around.
If I was in Ju-hee's dream, it meant the others were here too.
“Jin Dayeon! Han Ju-hee! Answer if you can hear me!”
I searched everywhere for Ju-hee and Dayeon. But for some reason, there was no sign of them.
There were only people with vacant, corpse-like eyes sitting around like background props.
“That's strange...”
Could we have been separated?
We were definitely in the same dream.
But it seemed we couldn't sync our locations, so we were scattered in different places.
“Damn it.”
This just got a lot more complicated. On top of that, I'd forgotten to save with Dayeon before coming in.
...I just hope I don't die.
Still, it couldn't be helped.
There wasn't any other way, so I started searching on my own for now.
I figured something would turn up if I investigated.
Just as I was about to search the entire car, a heavily static-filled voice rang out.
*Ksshk—. Ksshhhhhhhhhk—.*
I wondered where the sound was coming from and realized it was from the speaker on the ceiling.
“What's this?”
I tilted my head in confusion. Soon, a subway announcement echoed through the car.
[Ahem, attention passengers. Our train will soon be arriving at the next destination. There are no doors to exit from.]
How should I put it? The voice making the announcement was incredibly unpleasant.