A Bizarre Dream

A blinding white light hung from the ceiling.

I forced my exhausted eyes open, blinking against the glare, and waited for my vision to clear.

I tried to move my limbs and found that I was sitting in a metal chair.

My wrists were tied to the armrests, and my legs were bound tightly to the chair’s front legs.

A brown leather strap was wrapped around the back of the chair, cinching my waist and stomach, preventing any large movements.

I was completely naked, and the cold, metallic touch of the chair sent a shiver of panic through me.

I looked around and realized I was in a sealed room.

No windows, no vents, no decorations.

Just pristine white walls and, about ten meters in front of me, a closed iron door.

‘Where am I? Why am I here? Wasn’t I at home?’

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

I couldn’t make a sound.

Realizing this, I began to struggle.

The chair seemed to be welded to the floor; it didn’t budge.

The ropes and straps binding me grew tighter, but I didn’t feel the expected constriction.

I think I understood.

And after a hard bite to my tongue, my suspicion was confirmed.

This was a dream.

My panic subsided a little.

But then another question arose: if I knew this was a dream, why wasn’t I waking up?

My consciousness was crystal clear, not foggy at all.

This had never happened before.

Time passed in the silent room.

I don’t know how long, but it didn’t really matter.

In a dream, a hundred years, a thousand years, it’s all the same.

Maybe I could finally get some rest here.

Not physical rest, but mental.

In the real world, I had to constantly think about how to survive, how to please the three spurned lovers who had found me.

And of the three, Su Yanlan was undoubtedly the most difficult.

Qin Dai was the leader’s subordinate.

I didn’t interact with her much, but as long as I was nominally the leader’s girlfriend, I wouldn’t die or lose a limb.

The leader was easy to understand.

She liked to see people submit to her, liked to be flattered, and hated betrayal.

She had her sadistic moments, but they were manageable.

Overall, she was easy to appease.

But Su Yanlan… I couldn’t figure her out.

She could be elegant, psychopathic, gentle, and cruel, and I couldn’t predict what would trigger the switch between these personas.

My mind drifted back to our time together.

When did her attitude change?

Before she knew my identity, she was kind, exuding the grace and politeness of the upper class, her lavender scent fitting my image of the pretentious elite.

After she found out I was the despicable cuckold, she dropped her reserve, but she didn’t explode with anger.

She left me her address, half-forcing me to come to her.

This showed that she was usually calm and wouldn’t do anything to tarnish her image.

Her hobby was separating flesh from skin, and she even had a special room in her shop for storing corpses.

Ordinary people didn’t have the time for such strange hobbies.

She also mentioned that she had taken gene serums to enhance herself.

And the accompanying enhancement surgery?

That must have been expensive.

All these clues pointed to one thing: Su Yanlan was from a wealthy family before the apocalypse.

She could run a clothing store and even get commissions from the leader.

These skills weren’t acquired overnight.

Combined with her wealth, her family was probably in the clothing business.

Thinking back to the scene before we left the camp, her attitude seemed to change the moment I said I didn’t want to go out.

In the forest, she only took back her coat after I said I wanted to go back to the camp.

I think I understood her trigger point: contracts.

She didn’t like it when people broke their promises.

The reason she had been so insistent on taking me to the medium-radiation zone was because I had promised the night before to help her collect specimens.

Business people value contracts.

It made sense.

From now on, I had to be very careful before making any promises to her.

‘Hah, even in my dreams, I’m thinking about how to please others. Only a loser like me would do that.’

I closed my eyes.

I had a basic understanding of Su Yanlan now.

Things should be a little easier from here on out.

Just as I was about to fall asleep in my dream, the door opened.

‘Huh? Someone’s here!?’

This was my dream.

No monster could hurt me.

With that thought, I looked up, and the person who entered made my heart clench.

It was Su Yanlan, the very person I had just been analyzing.

Why was she in my dream?

This wasn’t right.

The pink-haired girl was wearing a blue surgical mask, her long hair tied back in a ponytail, and a simple white lab coat.

In her hand was a scalpel and a small bucket.

“Miss Qin Yue, welcome to your final destination. Remember our agreement? To make me like you. I’m sorry, but you failed.”

With each step she took, my heart clenched and released.

Was I scared?

No, I shouldn’t be.

This was my dream.

I tried to suppress the strange unease, but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out.

She stopped in front of me and placed the small bucket by my side.

The blade of the scalpel touched my forehead, gently tracing a line.

‘Wake up, wake up.’

I tried with all my might to pull myself out of this strange dream, but it was useless.

I could only stare wide-eyed at the girl who was now leaning over me.

“Why aren’t you speaking, Miss Qin Yue?”

As she said this, her hand began to move.

A strange sensation.

No pain, but I could feel a warm liquid flowing down my face.

My limbs tensed.

Why?

If there was no pain, why was my body reacting like this?

My vision went dark.

Something warm and heavy flopped down from my forehead, covering my eyes.

I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel the knife moving across my body, more and more liquid flowing.

A chilling laugh.

Was it Su Yanlan’s?

I didn’t know.

I soon lost consciousness in the dream.

‘Great, let’s just skip to the next dream.’

That was my last thought before I blacked out.