Chapter 1 Deep Dream

Midnight. Chen Ge turned off the lights, hugged Bai Mao, and lay on the bed, habitually taking out his black phone to check the time.

The moment midnight passed, his daily tasks refreshed. Seeing the three tasks listed, Chen Ge sat up abruptly, clutching the phone.

The three new daily tasks were:

Recruitment (Normal Difficulty): The scene is constantly expanding, and there is a serious shortage of manpower. You need more employees. Please recruit three employees before sunset tomorrow.

Security Protection (Medium Difficulty): Please install at least twenty surveillance cameras in the new scene, Tongling Ghost School.

Deep Dream (Nightmare Difficulty): There is a figure in your dreams, watching you, observing your past and future. Find it, and it will tell you all the answers.

"It?" Chen Ge felt an indescribable sensation. This was the first time he'd seen such a description on the black phone. Even for Red Specters, or even a Calamity, the black phone had always used "he/she" to describe them. This time, it used "It."

"Tell me all the answers..." However, his heart couldn't help but race when he saw those words. All the answers... his parents, the black phone, the amusement park... could he really know all the answers to everything?

Even a four-star scenario mission only allowed him to understand a few clues related to the truth, but this nightmare mission claimed it could tell him "all the answers!"

Chen Ge's gaze focused on the nightmare difficulty daily task. In previous nightmare tasks, he had already obtained the abilities of Corpse Makeup, Yin Yang Eyes, Living Puppet, and Ghost Ear. At the same time, these four abilities had helped him greatly in various ways.

If it were any other task, he wouldn't hesitate and would choose it directly, but this nightmare difficulty task was different.

"I only have one chance. If I don't choose, the daily task will refresh tomorrow..." Chen Ge pondered for a moment, then his finger tapped the nightmare-level daily task.

"Lucky Ghoul Devotee, do you wish to accept the Nightmare-Level Daily Task? Warning, this task is extremely dangerous!"

"Yes." After confirming again, the black phone displayed specific task information.

"Deep Dream (Nightmare Difficulty): This task is divided into three stages. Stage One—Please enter the shallow dream after twelve midnight and find a special door. Pass through it to enter the middle dream realm."

"Stage Two—Find a street without lights in the middle dream realm, enter Room 444 on the 4th underground floor of Building 44, and fall asleep before 4:44:44 AM dream time to enter the deep dream realm."

"Stage Three—Survive in the deep dream realm and find the deepest, most special building in the deep dream realm."

"Note: This Nightmare-Level Task is of the highest difficulty. You may bring any ghouls and obsessions with you, and you may bring any items related to the Haunted House!"

"Hint: The method for bringing the Haunted House's ghouls, obsessions, and items into the dream is hidden in the middle dream realm. Explore on your own!"

Chen Ge memorized the task information, reading it over and over again. He still couldn't quite understand it. He had originally thought that this task was called "Deep Dream" for some special reason, but who would have thought that he really had to enter a dream.

However, the idea of dreams was ethereal and illusory. Terms like shallow dream realm and deep dream realm were not enough to explain anything. Moreover, could there really be logic in dreams?

However, the black phone's tasks must have other considerations, and it was clear that he had to explore the truth himself.

"Three stages. This task is really different." Chen Ge thought. Previous daily tasks, even nightmare-level ones, were never divided into several stages.

Moreover, this was the first time he had seen so many "4s." Just looking at them made him uneasy, and he felt that it wasn't a good thing.

But this task was divided into three stages, which was a bit strange, as if he was carrying out a scenario mission.

"Dream..."

He did have a way to enter dreams, such as the Spider Boy, who could pull others into dreams. He had already experienced it when he went to Bailong Cave.

With a solution in mind, Chen Ge no longer hesitated. He put the Skull-Cracking Hammer, the Repeating Machine, the Comic Book, the Rag Doll, the High Heels... and some other props into his backpack. After everything was ready, he hugged the heavy backpack and Bai Mao, preparing to enter the dream.

...

When he opened his eyes again, Chen Ge was standing in a strange room, holding the black phone in one hand. But after looking around, he couldn't find his backpack or Bai Mao.

Then, he looked at his shadow. However, unlike before, the current shadow seemed to be just an ordinary shadow, without any strange features.

"The black phone was brought in directly? But not the others, not even Zhang Ya... It seems I still have to go to the middle dream realm first." Chen Ge thought, then began to examine the room he was in.

This was a tidy room, with a desk placed in front of the window. Two orange curtains were pulled to the sides, and bright sunlight shone into the room, adding a touch of warmth.

The desk in front of him was spacious, with several books neatly arranged and a pen holder containing four or five black pens. On the right side of the desk, there was also a computer that was turned off.

In addition, there was a photo in a gray frame, showing a boy with a sunny face and bright eyes, wearing an academic gown and a gentle smile.

This was a graduation photo, but Chen Ge had no memory of the person in the photo. However, he didn't think too much about it. The Spider Boy weaved dreams, and inevitably mixed in some strange things. The scene in front of him might be one of them.

"I'm in the shallow dream realm now. If I want to enter the middle dream realm, I need to find a special door... Is it the same as a 'door' in the real world?"

Chen Ge guessed that the doors in the real world connected the real world to the crimson world and would lead to a building in the crimson world. Could the special "door" in this dream also be like that?

Looking at the room in front of him, Chen Ge tried to turn on the computer. Surprisingly, the computer didn't have a password. After turning it on, he also knew the current time.

But this was just a minor matter. After noting it down, Chen Ge chose to open the browser and search for information about the city he was currently in.

What caught his attention was a news story: yesterday, on a certain street, a small truck lost control and crashed directly into a girl on the side of the road. Just when everything was about to happen, a man in a suit rushed out from the other side and rescued the girl at all costs.

The face of the man in the news was not clearly photographed, but Chen Ge had a strange feeling, as if... that man was like him!

"Sure enough, kind people attract each other?"

Chen Ge couldn't help but say, while also remembering the man's face. Then, he continued to learn about the city's information.

"This city is a bit strange. Why does it feel like it's divided into two parts?" Chen Ge said strangely, looking at the city map he found on the browser.

When investigating information, he certainly had to start with some urban legends. After all, in his concept, the special "door" that the black phone called would definitely be related to ghosts, so collecting urban legends was very reasonable.

But it was also because of this that he discovered that in the city he was in, almost all urban legends revolved around two buildings. One was an amusement park, and the other was a plastic surgery hospital.

Many strange murders and urban legends revolved around these two places. As the president of the Urban Legend Association, Chen Ge could responsibly say that those two places were strange.

"Then I'll go to the amusement park."

As an excellent haunted house owner, he had a natural fondness for amusement parks. He believed that this amusement park could give him the answers he wanted. Besides, he also wanted to experience what a haunted house in a dream would be like.