Silence.
Nick just looked at the ceiling in silence.
He had expected that things wouldn't be as bad the second ti.
He had been wrong.
Things had been even worse the second ti.
Back when Nick had been underwater, the Nightmare had used subtle influences.
The next ti, it had used horrors to stop Nick from moving to where he wanted.
Then, it created illusions of Nick losing control and being swallowed.
And now, it had just directly inflicted an unending amount of pain on him.
The Nightmare had lost all its subtlety.
It had transford from horror into terror.
Nick just looked at the light at the ceiling.
He wasn't sure what he was feeling.
Fear, apprehension, relief, anxiety.
This wasn't like the last ti.
The last ti, Nick had been happy that he had managed to do it.
But this ti, Nick was not happy.
The pain had been bad.
Real bad.
For several minutes, Nick didn't do anything.
He just looked at the ceiling with a worried expression.
He didn't want to feel such pain again.
He never wanted to feel sothing like that again.
Just now, his body had been torn apart one piece at a ti.
This was a pain that should have killed soone.
But he was still alive.
…
…
Nick gulped in worry.
'I don't want to do this again.'
'How many tis do I have to do this?'
'What will happen next?'
'I can barely swim for a bit more than ten ters in pure darkness, and it's already this bad.'
'This is one of the smaller blocks of houses.'
'There are blocks with no toilets, which ans I have to look at the ceiling while under illusions.'
'And then, I need to go back.'
'Also, what about when I actually find the Drear at the ceiling in one of those?'
'At that point, I need to climb one of the pillars in pure darkness and catch it.'
'The Nightmare could easily show illusions and make move in the wrong direction.'
Nick just floated on the liquid as he looked up.
Silence.
'I don't know.'
'I have no idea how to find and catch the Drear.'
For over ten minutes, Nick didn't do anything.
Naturally, Nick knew that he couldn't spend the rest of his life in the light of this little toilet.
He had to leave at so point.
Yet, he just couldn't.
The terror he had felt just now was too much.
The pain was too much.
He was only 16 years old.
He had never undergone sothing this painful or terrifying.
This was not the work of so random weak Specter.
No, this was the Nightmare.
One of the only five level nine Specters.
Even the strongest Zephyx Extractors couldn't remain in the darkness for an extended period of ti.
The Nightmare's power was absolute.
It had killed tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people just by ntally breaking them.
It had killed people far more experienced and tenacious than Nick.
'I can't do it.'
Silence.
'I just can't do it.'
'I have to do this one more ti to get out, but I don't think I can enter another block of houses.'
Nick felt his chest shiver and hurt.
Regret, frustration, self-loathing.
'I'm not strong enough to do this again.'
'I want to turn my life around, not end it.'
'If I go through sothing like this again, I don't know if I will ever recover.'
'What then?'
'I want to try my best, but if I fail, I fail.'
'It's fine.'
'I can beco an Inspector.'
'It's not like I have so lofty and idealistic goal that requires to beco the strongest person in the world.'
'No, I just want to live a good life.'
'But what's the point of living a good life when I wake up in a cold sweat because I keep re-experiencing the things I have seen and felt here every night for the remainder of my life?'
Nick looked to the side at the block of darkness waiting for him.
And then, so tears appeared in Nick's eyes.
'I'm sorry.'
'I just can't do it.'
'I'm not strong enough.'
Silence.
The only sounds down here ca from the quiet scratching of the rats' claws and Nick's crying.
It was just too much for him.
Nick had just started his journey as a Zephyx Extractor, and he had already confronted one of the five strongest Specters several tis.
This wasn't sothing that he could deal with.
This was far beyond his current level.
He gave up.
For the next couple of minutes, Nick looked at the darkness around him.
Then, he moved his head into the darkness and did a routine scan of the ceiling.
Maybe he was lucky, and the Drear was actually here.
It wasn't.
Nick took a deep breath.
He only felt fear right now.
He didn't want to enter the darkness again.
But he had to.
He couldn't remain here for the remainder of his life.
Nick took another deep breath.
It took a couple minutes for him to gather his courage, but eventually, he shot into the darkness again.
As soon as Nick entered…
Nothing happened.
However, Nick didn't let down his guard and just kept swimming forward.
Silence.
Nick just kept rapidly swimming forward in silence.
After a bit, Nick opened his eyes.
He saw the light of the "street" of the Dregs in front of him.
He was almost there.
Nick continued swimming.
And then…
He entered the street.
Nick was now in the light of the streets of the Dregs.
Nothing had happened in the darkness.
Nick turned around to look at the block of houses behind him with suspicion.
Had the Nightmare given up?
He doubted it.
Yet, Nick was back in the light again.
The Nightmare had no influence over Nick here.
BANG!
Suddenly, sothing hit Nick's head!
Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!
Nick quickly shook his head and looked around him.
Rats!
"Don't wanna give bodies, huh?" one of the rats spoke.
"How about you give your body then!"
And then, the rats all charged at Nick.
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