Death Draw System: Infinite Revives in the Horror Dungeon

Chapter 65: Yang Jin’s Nightmare

Professor Yang stepped out of the crack of light, his face cold as he brushed dried blood from his hand. His icy gaze settled on Shen Yu.

"Good. Very good."

"If you’ve managed to find this place, then it means Yang Jin truly likes you."

His voice became increasingly venomous.

"Since you’ve made her so obsessed with you... then stay here forever."

"You worthless outsider."

"Stay here... and keep Yang Jin company."

Bzzzt!

The stun baton in his hand crackled with electricity as he swung it straight at Shen Yu’s head.

Shen Yu didn’t retreat.

He didn’t even flinch.

Instead, he met Professor Yang’s eyes.

"You think Yang Jin likes me?"

"No."

"What she admires is someone who dares to resist."

"This world isn’t what you say it is."

"A life dictated by someone else... a life lived in chains... isn’t living at all."

The instant those words fell—

The Director’s Office began collapsing.

Walls shattered into drifting black dust.

At the same time, the electric baton in Professor Yang’s hand dissolved into nothingness.

Professor Yang’s expression changed drastically.

"What...?"

"What did you do?"

"What have you done?!"

The room completely disintegrated.

Darkness swallowed everything.

Then—

A faint light slowly appeared within the endless black.

Both Shen Yu and Professor Yang felt their bodies shrinking.

When the darkness faded, they found themselves standing behind a row of tiny chairs.

"Children..."

"Today we’re going to learn the Bunny Dance."

A distorted, horse-like voice echoed through the room.

Standing at the front was an enormous black figure.

It wasn’t especially tall.

Rather, Shen Yu and Professor Yang had become so small that the creature now towered above them.

Its entire body was pitch black.

Only its eyes and its unnaturally wide smile were white.

The smile alone was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

"Bunny Dance..."

"Bunny Dance..."

Around it, countless smaller black creatures laughed together.

As they slowly turned toward Shen Yu and Professor Yang, darkness began creeping upward from beneath their feet.

Wriggle... Wriggle... Wriggle...

The blackness crawled across their bodies as though trying to transform them into creatures just like the others.

A chill spread through Shen Yu’s limbs.

His body stiffened.

He tried to move his legs—

—but they no longer seemed to belong to him.

He had to lift them forward with both hands just to take a step.

"Bunny Dance..."

"Bunny Dance..."

The constant staring.

The endless laughter.

Without realizing it, the corners of Shen Yu’s mouth began to rise.

It felt as though he were being forced to smile.

Wriggle... Wriggle... Wriggle...

The more convincing his smile became, the faster the darkness spread.

It had already climbed past his waist.

"Damn it..."

"Where is this place?"

Professor Yang glared at Shen Yu.

"Outsider..."

"What did you do to us...?"

But after only a few curses, his voice changed.

"Hahaha..."

"Bunny Dance..."

"Bunny Dance..."

He began laughing uncontrollably alongside the black creatures.

Darkness climbed rapidly up his neck.

The room’s light grew dimmer and dimmer.

Meanwhile, the enormous black figure at the front led the smaller creatures toward them.

They hopped forward cheerfully, just like rabbits.

Yet Shen Yu’s eyes narrowed.

A realization finally clicked into place.

Narcolepsy had two stages:

Shallow dreams and deep dreams.

Dreams twisted themselves according to the dreamer’s memories and emotions.

"What you see is not what you get."

Now he finally understood.

Everything they had been seeing was false.

The entire Qing Shan Psychiatric Hospital existed within Yang Jin’s deep dream.

This place...

...was her shallow dream.

"Is this..."

"...Yang Jin’s childhood?"

Shen Yu remembered the memory fragments he’d witnessed through the Goddess Strategy System.

He had seen glimpses of Yang Jin as a little girl.

She had suffered from severe communication difficulties.

To everyone else, kindergarten had been bright, cheerful, and full of laughter.

But through her eyes...

...it had looked exactly like this.

A nightmare.

She had been terrified.

Yet Professor Yang had ignored every one of her feelings, forcing her to endure it alone.

Now...

Shen Yu and Professor Yang were experiencing that very nightmare for themselves.

"Bunny Dance..."

"Bunny Dance..."

The countless black creatures gradually merged together.

Their bodies fused into a towering hill of living darkness.

Its surface rippled like black water.

Across the hill, countless twisted smiling faces emerged one after another, all staring silently at Shen Yu and Professor Yang.

The words—

"Bunny Dance."

—echoed endlessly through the space like an inescapable curse.

The corners of Shen Yu’s and Professor Yang’s mouths curled upward at the same time.

Their smiles stretched wider and wider.

Darkness spread rapidly across their faces, staining their skin pitch black.

Even their thoughts began to stiffen, as if something were slowly erasing their sense of self.

"Damn it..."

"Damn it, kid!"

Professor Yang tried to curse through his forced grin.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"What childhood?"

"Where is this place?!"

But before he could finish—

"Hahaha..."

His mouth opened impossibly wide, and uncontrollable laughter burst out instead.

Shen Yu fought with everything he had to keep his expression under control.

Then he looked toward the enormous hill of living darkness.

After a brief hesitation...

He reached down, grabbed his own legs with both hands, and dragged himself straight into it.

Puff. Puff. Puff.

The mountain appeared cold and sinister from the outside.

Yet the moment he passed through it...

...it felt unexpectedly warm.

Inside, he heard nothing but the innocent laughter of children.

Thud.

As Shen Yu emerged from the other side, the world changed once more.

He now stood inside a dull gray classroom.

Written across the blackboard were the words:

"14 Days Until the College Entrance Examination."

Shen Yu stared silently at the lifeless classroom.

"So..."

"This is Yang Jin’s second point of despair."

An overwhelming sense of suffocation filled the room.

His chest tightened.

His stomach churned violently.

The dizziness resembled severe motion sickness.

A piercing ringing filled his ears until everything before him became blurry.

Too much pressure.

Far too much.

Then Professor Yang’s younger voice echoed from behind him.

"Kid..."

"You can’t escape."

The moment Shen Yu turned around, an inexplicable feeling of relief washed through his body.

But it lasted only an instant.

His face suddenly stiffened.

Slap. Slap.

Something papery fluttered against his skin.

Each small movement caused thin sheets to flap across his face, sending splitting pain through his head.

"This..."

"This is..."

"A high school classroom."

His eyes swept across the room.

Class 603.

Professor Yang’s expression gradually changed.

"Wait..."

"Is this..."

"...an actual memory?"

Ring—! Ring—! Ring—!

The school bell suddenly echoed throughout the classroom.

At the same time—

Buzz!

A deafening wave of tinnitus erupted inside both their ears.

The unbearable ringing made their hearts pound wildly.

Every instinct screamed at them to run away.

Shen Yu’s body instinctively wanted to step backward.

Retreating would ease the crushing pressure...

...but it also carried an indescribable feeling of numbness and surrender.

Then something unexpected happened.

Professor Yang suddenly clutched his head.

Instead of retreating—

He rushed straight toward the blackboard.

Buzz!

His body plunged directly into it and disappeared.

Shen Yu instantly understood.

This was Yang Jin’s real memory.

No matter how much suffering she endured...

...Professor Yang had ignored it all.

He had only ordered her to continue studying.

To keep preparing for the college entrance examination.

Shen Yu clenched his teeth.

Holding his throbbing head, he charged after Professor Yang.

Buzz!

The scenery shifted again.

This time...

He found himself inside a cold, blue-lit university dormitory.

Four beds filled the room.

On three of them sat young women with long, disheveled hair hanging over their faces.

Without speaking...

All three silently stared at Shen Yu and Professor Yang.

"So..."

"This is university."

"The next Chapter of Yang Jin’s nightmare."

Professor Yang slowly surveyed the dormitory.

Then his gaze froze.

Yang Jin’s bed was buried beneath piles of garbage.

Shoes had been tossed carelessly across it.

His expression darkened.

At that moment—

The three girls slowly turned their heads toward him.

Slap... Slap...

Blood suddenly began flowing from Professor Yang’s eyes.

Then from his nose.

His ears.

His mouth.

He staggered.

His breathing became ragged.

His head felt unbearably heavy from the blood loss.

Even so...

Grinding his teeth, Professor Yang forced himself forward and walked toward the far end of the dormitory.