The Trembling World
chapter-298

TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney

The reflection portrayed Zhou JingJing as a Black-Spot Variant, mainly due to her being in an extremely frightened state of mind. A weak state of mind would lead to a weak spirit and change their outer appearance.

HuJun was with Zhou JingJing the whole time, but even with the emotional rollercoaster, he had a strong will. After making level 5, he committed wrongdoings that didn’t match his personality. He accidentally killed Huang WeiTao and was imprisoned. Even then, HuJun didn’t have a weak state of mind that allowed his spirit to be easy prey. That was why he didn’t have any Black Spots in the reflection.

Even though Han GuangMing was a college student in a police academy, his personality had been consistently weak. Now that he was stuck in The Trembling World, he was only thinking of ways to earn the trust of Elder Liu and the respect of other members. The shaky voice and hands were clear signs of his inner weakness showing up through physiological reactions.

When Liu Gan had left him alone with Treadmill, Han GuangMing didn’t have the courage to face him. With extreme fear taking over, Han GuangMing wanted to control Treadmill as a worst case scenario. At the same time, his fear opened up a path for his spirit to be invaded. That was how Black Spots appeared in his reflection.

Qi Shaohua was still a level 4 player, was one of the weakest players in the group. When he saw Treadmill covered from head to toe in blood, running out from darkness with assault rifles, it was natural for him to panic. Once Qi Shaohua spooked out, his reflection would show up with a face of Black Spots.

Originally, Treadmill thought of himself as a strong willed person, but after this nightmarish experience he lost hope. The tipping point was when he saw a reflectionless Liu Gan. After that, Treadmill ran up to the second floor to see his own reflection covered with Black Spots.

As Treadmill’s spirit sank deeper into the dream, it would also be easier for Nightmare Jellyfish spirit to consume. If he didn’t find the strength to muster up his courage or receive some external help, he would remain like that forever. He wouldn’t be able to wake up from his coma after a certain point.

Since the Nightmare Jellyfish was outside of the airship, it couldn’t physically reach the sleeping members. All it could do is spread its four tentacles, each weighing nearly a ton, and stir the inner turmoil of the sleeping members. This way in the dreamland, they could kill each other from suspicion and hopefully ‘die’ within the dream.

If you were killed within the dream, it didn’t mean true death yet. Only when the spirit received serious damage to the point of no return, which is only possible if the members in the dreamland fell deeper into the abyss. As their spirit energy became weaker, even the Nightmare Jellyfish outside of the airship could reach them. It could eat parts of their spirits.

Raincoat’s remaining soldiers weren’t as lucky. They didn’t have Yin He. Her special build and properties made her immune to all mental attacks from the Nightmare Jellyfish. At the same time, Liu Gan had a very strong will and capability, so he was only temporarily dragged into the dreamscape. Liu Gan woke up soon after when Yin He called for him.

Since the Nightmare Jellyfish was responsible for dragging these members into dreamland and since its underlings, the Black Spot Variants, couldn’t retrieve their physical bodies, it could only continue with trapping their spirits in dreams. The Nightmare Jellyfish was livid that it couldn’t feast on their spirits.

The Black Spot Variants were very tricky, since they had taken the opportunity to push the docked cars into the sea. As a result, Liu Gan was only able to carry an umbrella and risk getting struck by lightning as he carried each team member off the airship. One by one, he took them off the boat and placed them far away from Serenity. The members were placed into a far away empty room off the shore.

After every team member was moved into the room, Yin He was the last to enter inside.

Being further away from Nightmare Jellyfish’s attack, Liu Gan tried to wake up the members once again. Using various methods of, HuJun was the first to wake. When he woke up, his complexion showed a mixture of anger and humiliation. When he looked around to see Liu Gan and Yin He and the surroundings, he slowly lost those negative feelings. Yet, HuJun was still disgusted by suspicion.

“No matter what you dreamed of, it never happened. From last night to now, you have been in a comatose state. So disregard all the events that have happened in the dream,” Liu Gan explained to HuJun.

“Dream?” HuJun said in a daze looking at Liu Gan. If it was truly a dream, the dream was too real.

“Ah. According to my speculation, there is an advanced zombie that is under the airship. It took the opportunity to strike us as we were asleep in our dream-like state.”

“Ah…,” HuJun sighed and didn’t say any more words. That dream wasn’t worth recalling.

Shortly after HuJun awoke, Zhang Hua and Martial Thunder also woke up. Their dream experiences were relatively similar, but they didn’t fall into that degree of deep sleep. It couldn’t be said for the other team members, they weren’t waking up from their slumber. That was evidence that their spirits were still suffering within the trapped dreamland and they would need more time to recuperate before waking up.

“Thank goodness, that it was only just a dream,” HuJun said that as he embraced Zhou JingJing. As for Zhou JingJing’s disgusted expression, there were no physical signs of being raped.

“What did you dream about?” Liu Gan curiously asked HuJun.

“Elder Liu, were you in the dream too?” HuJun curiously looked at Liu Gan.

“No? Within your dream, I was in it?” Liu Gan frowned.

“Yes! You were definitely there!” Zhang Hua butted in.

“If there was someone in the dream impersonating me, it sounds like there will be severe consequences! Quickly, tell me what you had dreamed about?” Liu Gan touched his chin, as he was unsatisfied.

“I… I don’t remember.” HuJun shook his head. The events that took place within the dream were things he didn’t want to recall.

“My dream was rather dull, I slept until I was woken up here. In the dream, the airship was drifting in the sea and further away from the docks. I was with a few members in the cabin helping out. I wasn’t able to figure out how to drop the anchor. Elder Liu, in the dream, you came down to the cabin a few times asking about progress. But, I couldn’t figure that out..” Zhang Hua truthfully reported to Liu Gan.

“In my dream, it was basically the same. It was rather dull, but the feeling was realistic since we had never experienced this type of dream before,” Martial Thunder yawned after interrupting Zhang Hua.

“Elder Liu, should we continue sleeping? Would we be affected by another attack?” Zhang Hua asked Liu Gan. The first half of the night was restless sleep, that nightmare was quite tiring.

“Of course you can continue sleeping. Since we are far away from the creature in water, it is unable to attack us. I will also sleep too. This whole night tired me out,” Liu Gan replied, as he slipped into his own sleeping bag.

[TL: Hopefully no more of that mind games]