Nightmare.
Sothing Yi Chen had abandoned long ago.
During his ti at the orphanage, if nightmares turned the teachers into ghouls or deliberately crafted horror scenes, they would make Yi Chen feel comfortable and amused;
on the contrary, it was the reality of the orphanage itself that was more painful and frightening.
Gradually, Yi Chen almost stopped having nightmares.
To adapt to the high-pressure life of the orphanage, even the frequency of dreaming reduced and his body adapted, resulting in efficient, dreamless sleep every night.
Even after coming to this sick world, he seldom dread and never had nightmares.
However, the recent nightmare experience left Yi Chen sweating profusely, as if it had truly happened, as if his physical body had been really cut open and worn by soone else as a garnt.
Staring at the black smoke rising from the liquid on the table, it was indeed the dead sore secreted unintentionally by the brain due to the nightmare stimulus.
“Sothing’s not right, sothing must be affecting .
Such a vivid nightmare wouldn’t appear out of thin air. Does the the of the nightmare have sothing to do with ‘Gentleman’s Skin’ since I have beco a garnt myself?
Since I beca a gentleman, I’ve been wearing clothes almost constantly, even when sleeping. The clothing can even transform into a sleeping bag structure, providing
with a good sleeping environnt, and I wear it nearly 24 hours when I’m out on a mission.
So, is that why I’ve developed so sort of ‘dependency’ on the clothing?
Could it be that the recent nightmare was caused by not being able to wear the clothes for more than ten days due to the clothing being remade, was it due to the dependency I developed on it?”
With doubts lingering, Yi Chen stepped out of the basent.
It was already noon the next day;
the extended sleep combined with the eerie nightmare had made Yi Chen a bit hungry. He slurped down a large bowl of sauce at noodles at a nearby shop before heading alone to the Naless Clothing Store.
As he turned the corner of the staircase, Yi Chen couldn’t help but glance towards the group of mannequins on the first floor, but he noticed nothing unusual.
Upon arriving on the second floor, which was built with giant mirrors like a dance studio, the door to the clothing room was shut tight, emitting a strange feeling as if the scene overlapped with last night’s dreamscape.
A sense of unease urged Yi Chen to step forward and knock on the hidden door to the clothing room.
Following a series of footsteps, a tired-looking Mr. Ivan with half a mask opened the door.
“Hmm? How co you ca over without notifying … But, your timing is excellent. The finished sample has just been revised;
co on in and try it on.”
Still, the faceless mannequins stood in the deepest part,
Quite different from the bizarre outfits in the dream, the garnt on the mannequin was yet to be colored, in the original flesh color of ‘Gentleman’s Skin’, resembling a human skin coat.
This couldn’t help but remind Yi Chen of the scene in his dream where his skin was ‘worn’.
“What are you standing around for? Go try it on.”
Mr. Ivan’s remark pulled Yi Chen back to reality.
“I had a dream last night…”
Yi Chen decisively shared his dream experience, listening to which even Ivan revealed a puzzled look.
Yi Chen continued to ask, “Mr. Ivan, could it be possible that it’s because I haven’t worn any clothing these past few days? After all, I always wore clothing before, and the prolonged contact with the skin made my body develop so sort of dependency?”
“That’s not likely, at least I’ve never encountered such a thing.
Back when I served the organization, I oversaw the production of many advanced garnts, even the clothing of old Qian Bosen was made by .
Though a dependency on the ‘Skin’ does indeed exist, it shouldn’t cause such intense and vivid nightmares.
Maybe it’s related to your extre breakthrough, considering that the relic you chose is from the madman, who were also crazed in the Old World.
The making of the clothing has taken up the main part of your life these days, and combined with the long period of not wearing any, it might have triggered the epileptic attribute in your brain during sleep.
If you’re not at ease, you could go to the hospital to have it checked out.”
“Alright.”
“Stop dallying and try it on now! There’s a lot of work to do afterward.”
After speaking, Mr. Ivan took out a pair of scissors from his pocket and threw them to Yi Chen, who caught them steadily.
“Scissors?”
“Indeed, I intentionally left so parts of the garnt sample without stitching. If you deal with it yourself, it could enhance its adaptability.”
“Okay.”
Yi Chen moved closer to the mannequin, and as he curiously wondered where needed stitching, he discovered that the shirt of the garnt was actually stuck to the mannequin’s skin.
The seams of the shirt were exactly where the stitching was required.
Mr. Ivan’s voice ca again, “Correct, I used a unique biomitic garnt making thod, you just need to ‘stitch’ along the midline of the mannequin’s body.
Rember to clean out all the mannequin’s internal organs and bones.”
Upon hearing these words, Yi Chen imdiately associated them with his own dreams.
An eerie feeling spread through the air, and the tungsten light bulbs overhead began to flicker.
He suddenly turned his head, only to see Mr. Ivan maintaining a gaping mouth, with sothing tentacle-like clearly writhing inside it.
“Go on, try it. This is the outfit I worked so hard to make for you~”
As he spoke, smoky, ink-colored tentacles erged from Ivan’s mouth, spreading open like those of an octopus.
Hum!
Awakened once more.
A puddle of smoking pus lay on the desk, and Yi Chen suddenly stood up!
This ti he didn’t hesitate, imdiately triggering his illness ability. Clang! Spiked iron chains grew, wrapping around his arms and dragging on the ground.
Yi Chen found a beam strong enough to bear his weight, then took out the black umbilical cord, using it to hang himself up.
While in a hanging state, he whipped himself with the chains, ensuring each spike struck accurately into his body, hitting vital points and causing the greatest amount of pain.
Even though blood kept spilling, and his body was full of holes, Yi Chen had no intention of stopping.
Crack!
Because of the nurous holes in his abdon, one forceful lash caused his lower body to break off,
and the hanging black umbilical cord began to drain Yi Chen’s vitality, hastening his death.
When pain filled his body and he was about to die,
the basent scene before his eyes crumbled away, layer by layer, like stripped skin… Hum!
Awake again,
the wooden desk, where he should have been resting, was completely eroded by the pus that had spilled from the corner of Yi Chen’s mouth, leaving only a small puddle of fluid on the floor.
The black umbilical cord, as if self-aware, hung Yi Chen fully in the air in reality,
his body covered with spikes, especially on his head.
His face was even covered with “Dead Man Makeup,” which seed to have been freshly applied judging by its state.
“Fuck!”
Yi Chen couldn’t help but curse and imdiately rid his body of its tense state, returning to its original form.
“If I didn’t have these abilities to break out of the illusion, I’d likely be trapped in it indefinitely… What the hell is going on!”
When Yi Chen walked out of the basent wearing clothes full of holes, looking like a vagabond,
a hooting owl landed directly on his shoulder.
Following that, the stern-faced Professor Qian Bosen descended from above, his eagle-claw-like hands gripping Yi Chen’s shoulder tightly, a chill creeping in through his fingertips and probing Yi Chen’s physical state.
“William! Are you alright?”
“Huh? Professor Qian Bosen, how co you’re here…”
“The Principal specifically reminded
to check on you. Judging by your spirit and ragged clothes, sothing did happen, didn’t it?”
“I had a nightmare last night, a very dangerous one.”
“I knew it!” Qian Bosen’s eyes widened at the ntion of ‘nightmare’.
Yi Chen quickly asked, “Huh? Are other people in the city having nightmares too?”
“This goes back to three months ago, when an ordinary resident from the middle-level streets, Marco Bellasquez, was found dead at ho. He seed to have experienced extre terror before death, but the autopsy revealed nothing.
Since then, every week, 1 to 5 people with similar circumstances have been found dead. Later, joint investigations by the Prophet’s Unified Surveillance Brigade determined that their deaths seed related to nightmares.”
Yi Chen instantly realized sothing, “Wait! Professor Qian Bosen, if I’m not mistaken, did all the victims have a habit of sleeping without their clothes on?”
“Exactly, our investigation found that all of them were in that state before they died.
About a month ago, Zion notified all districts, asking people to sleep in their clothes at night. At that ti, you were with the Principal and did not receive the notice.”
Qian Bosen wiped at Yi Chen’s clothes, full of holes, “The outfit Ivan made for you also contained Gentleman’s Skin… Perhaps because it didn’t match you, not an issue with the original garnt, it failed to provide protection.”
“An unknown pathogen causing nightmares has invaded Zion, hasn’t it?”
“Hard to say, Hippocrates Hospital hasn’t co to a conclusion yet. After all, if such a thing were made public, the organization would beco chaotic.
Anyway, it’s good that you’re alright.
Also, your outfit should be about finished. Don’t sleep again until you put it on. Afterward, go talk to the Principal about this;
as a survivor, you’ll help uncover the truth behind the nightmares.”
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