“I won’t let you pass.”
Su Li clicked the device onto his waist.
With a soft click, the silver buckle automatically released a black belt that wrapped around his waist.
Then he gripped the handles on both sides and turned them in opposite directions.
The moment the dial spun to the bottom, light burst from the center of the device.
“Transform!”
A scorching white stream of light spread along his arms, covering his shoulders, chest, waist, and abdomen, finally wrapping around his legs.
It condensed on the surface of his body into a thin yet tough silver armor, with a dazzling sheen flowing across its surface.
Su Li raised his hand and clenched his fist.
It wasn’t as heavy as he had imagined; in fact, it felt lighter than usual.
He stared at the mass of flesh getting closer and muttered.
“Come on!”
The writhing lump of flesh stopped less than ten steps away from Su Li.
Its dark red surface churned with bubbles like boiling lava, pustules bursting one after another, oozing viscous fluid.
Su Li did not retreat.
He took a step forward and swung his right fist.
This punch felt like striking a thick wall; the lump of flesh didn’t budge.
And the next moment, without any warning, the dark red mass suddenly burst open, turning into countless tentacles surging toward Su Li.
Su Li didn’t try to fight head-on; he rolled on the ground to dodge most of the tentacle attacks.
But some tentacles still caught up to him and struck his left shoulder heavily.
Su Li felt a tremendous force hit his shoulder.
Sparks flew from the armor’s surface, and he rolled several times on the ground before barely stabilizing himself.
Everything in this world was so real, and the pain was excruciatingly vivid.
The tumor monster extended another tentacle, which shot straight at Su Li’s face with a piercing whoosh.
Su Li couldn’t get up in time, watching helplessly as the tentacle grew larger in his vision.
Just as the tentacle was about to hit Su Li, a gunshot rang out.
A bullet grazed past Su Li’s ear and precisely struck the base of the tentacle.
The tentacle snapped at the root instantly, splattering scarlet blood around.
Su Li looked toward the direction of the bullet.
It was You Xue, holding a gun taller than herself.
“Su Li, believe in yourself!”
Su Li immediately flipped up from the ground.
Without hesitation, he punched the lump of flesh again.
He had to believe in himself.
Whether this was reality or a dream, truth or illusion, his childhood sweetheart You Xue was behind him.
He had to protect her.
This had been agreed upon long ago, so he absolutely couldn’t run away!
Just then, Su Li suddenly felt light.
The beam of light originating from within him finally manifested in this world.
His fists, wrapped in a starlight-like radiance, pounded the bloated monster in front of him again and again.
This time, the attacks finally had an effect.
Light seeped from his fists into the gaps of the bloated flesh, each impact blasting a charred depression.
Perhaps feeling pain for the first time, the lump of flesh suddenly contracted.
All tentacles retracted simultaneously, wrapping its body into an airtight sphere.
Su Li didn’t give it time to breathe.
He made even more dazzling light attach to his fists and smashed them into the barrier of flesh and blood.
But the barrier was too thick.
While Su Li’s attacks could damage it, he couldn’t penetrate it completely in a short time.
You Xue was also supporting from a distance.
She knew this level wouldn’t be easy to pass.
Under their continuous attacks, the thick barrier was finally breached.
But the monster inside had already completed its transformation into a humanoid form.
‘There’s a second form?’
You Xue completely lost her composure.
‘No, I have to think of something. The current output is completely insufficient, and Su Li hasn’t fully mastered using his ability in the dream yet. His combat power is greatly reduced.’
So she took out her notebook and wrote in it quickly.
After a moment, a golden light appeared in her hand—it was a longsword.
The blade was divided into two sections, entirely crimson and gold-plated.
The spine of the sword was entwined with streams of blazing flames, and the guard was shaped like a cross of Judgment.
Yes, what Su Li lacked was a weapon that could deal damage.
Although You Xue didn’t know if this conjured longsword would be useful, she hoped it would help Su Li.
So she threw the longsword with all her strength toward Su Li.
Su Li heard the sound of the sword cutting through the air, instinctively sidestepped, and reached out to catch the sword thrown from diagonally above.
He didn’t hesitate or adjust, because the humanoid monster had already moved.
Completely different from the previously bloated and clumsy lump of flesh, what now stood before him was an extremely agile humanoid form.
The humanoid monster seemed to have abandoned flashy attacks like tentacles and instead began using the most basic punches and kicks—if one could call its tumor-covered, boneless limbs hands and feet.
The next moment, the monster swung its whip-like arm at Su Li.
In its humanoid form, its speed had increased dramatically—the movement was so fast that Su Li barely had time to react.
Only at the last moment did Su Li raise the longsword to shoulder height, managing to block the monster’s attack.
He wasn’t knocked down, but his arms were already slightly numb.
But Su Li didn’t hesitate.
Taking advantage of the monster’s opening, he gripped the sword and swung it downward.
The monster’s hide was torn open by the blade, creating a gash half an arm’s length.
Dark red fluid spurted out.
It stepped back half a step, but the wound quickly grew new flesh and healed in moments.
You Xue watched this happen, and her heart sank.
She might have misjudged the monster’s strength.
Perhaps this wasn’t something the current Su Li could defeat.
She needed to find a way to salvage the situation.
Looking around, You Xue suddenly thought of a plan.
Then she fired her gun at the monster and shouted loudly.
“Hey! You ugly thing, I’m your target, right! If you want me, come and get me yourself!”
The monster’s movement to launch its next attack on Su Li suddenly halted.
The featureless tumor surface of its face turned slightly, pinpointing the source of the sound.
“You Xue!”
You Xue didn’t explain much.
She turned around and simply ran forward.
‘As long as I can reach that place.’
The humanoid monster was very fast.
Su Li could only try to distract it from behind with light balls, but the monster had no eyes, so it wasn’t greatly affected.
Su Li watched helplessly as You Xue was caught up.
The monster extended a long arm composed of countless flesh tendrils and swung it at You Xue with a whoosh.
You Xue had no way to dodge.
She felt a tremendous force hit her back.
Her body was thrown forward, landing heavily on the ground and skidding for a distance before stopping.
Pain like her body was breaking apart swept through You Xue.
Her gray-white hair scattered on the ground.
But at this moment, the corner of her mouth curled up slightly.
Because the moment the monster knocked her away, the iron ball crusher she had activated earlier with her notebook had reached the correct position.
The huge iron ball, carrying incomparable force, sent the monster flying.
The monster struggled wildly in the air, but the next moment it plunged into the wet concrete.
That was the disadvantage of turning into human form: its body was firmly stuck in the concrete, completely unable to move.
The notebook’s power was almost depleted.
You Xue could only come up with such a roundabout plan.
Fortunately, she had guessed right.
Then You Xue looked at Su Li, who had rushed over.
“Now! Su Li!”
Su Li gave You Xue a deep look, taking in her injuries, the bloodstains on her clothes, and the somewhat excited smile on her face.
Then he turned around and quickly walked to the monster that was struggling in the concrete like a carrot, and pierced its chest with his sword.
But the monster was still struggling.
Su Li silently swung his sword once, again, and again…
Until the monster finally stopped struggling.
***
Meanwhile, You Xue heard footsteps in the distance, very clear, and growing closer.
She wondered, shouldn’t there only be her and Su Li in this nightmare?
She looked in the direction of the footsteps and saw a strange figure with short brown hair, wearing a black clerical robe with a cross hanging at the collar.
“In the depths of dreams and imagination stands the outline of another existence. But in the illusory night, all that is seen is falsehood. No one can tell whether this is redemption or a deeper nightmare…”
‘What does that mean?’
A big question mark appeared above You Xue’s head.
“Who are you?”
Before she could ask the question, she saw the entire world begin to shake.
Buildings collapsed, the earth shattered, the sky fell.
The nightmare world began to disappear.
It was time to wake up.