Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

Gulu sat up in bed and stretched his stiff neck, the bones making a slight clicking sound.

Her face was somewhat pale, but she seemed to be in good spirits, with an alarmingly bright gaze, as if something was burning deep within her pupils.

"Success?"

Gulu didn't answer immediately; she simply raised her right hand, palm up, and her mind stirred slightly.

The next moment, the Kiss of the Night appeared silently in her hand as if it had grown out of the shadows, and she gently grasped it.

A dangerous aura emanated from her and the dagger simultaneously; it was an almost tangible, chilling killing intent that made the temperature in the room seem to drop several degrees.

She then looked at Lin Yi, a crazy smile curling at the corner of her lips.

"Ah, it worked. I almost didn't make it back... A hundred 'me's' chasing each other, it was really... exciting." Her voice was a little hoarse, but it carried a kind of transformed sharpness. "But now, 'I' am the only me."

"Congratulations," Lin Yi said calmly, his tone revealing no emotion.

Gulu jumped off the bed, stretching his limbs to adjust to his transformed body: "Thanks for earlier. If you hadn't been watching over me..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.

In that state of deep immersion and complete vulnerability, anything could easily kill her.

"It's just a contract." Lin Yi waved his hand, indicating that it wasn't important. "How does it feel?"

"very good."

She casually pulled out a piece of honey cake wrapped in parchment paper from her personal space, tore open the packaging in a few quick movements, and started eating it without any regard for decorum, her cheeks soon becoming bulging.

High-level contractors can already sustain themselves through energy, but Gulu still maintains her eating habits, especially her preference for sweet and high-calorie foods. This subtle detail reflects the extraordinary stability of her mental core.

The Paradise of Reincarnation has extremely strict control over contractors' right to return to the real world. Once it is determined that there is a high risk of instability, this "vacation" right will be directly revoked.

After all, the real world is an important talent selection and buffer zone for the Paradise, and it will never allow uncontrollable high-level forces to go crazy there and cause incalculable losses.

The fact that Gollum can frequently return to reality is the best proof of her "stable" state.

She quickly finished the cake, crumpled the parchment paper into a ball, and accurately threw it into the corner trash can. She licked the cream off her fingertips and looked at Lin Yi: "Come on, let's go test the waters!"

Lin Yi nodded indifferently. After several explorations, he had a general understanding of the Nightmare Realm: the danger level in most areas was relatively controllable, and as long as he didn't recklessly trigger those fatal instant-death rules, he could manage with his strength without much trouble.

Of course, things can go wrong anywhere, especially in a place like the Nightmare Realm.

The two put on their helmets at the same time, and a familiar feeling of slight dizziness and spatial disorientation washed over them.

……

When their vision cleared again, they found themselves in a completely different environment.

The air was thick with dust and a musty smell, and inhaling it had a stale, musty quality.

The surrounding area was filled with rusty claw machines with shattered glass. The plush toys inside were worn out from age, revealing the matted and tangled cotton inside. Some of the toys had empty or crooked plastic eyes staring outwards, making the scene look particularly eerie.

This appears to be a gaming area in an abandoned shopping mall, with broken game consoles and overturned chairs scattered around, and the ground covered in a thick layer of dust.

In stark contrast to this dilapidated and desolate scene, a movie theater stands directly in front of it.

It looked too new and opulent, as if it had just been renovated and opened for business.

The large neon sign flashed the words "Dream Cinema" continuously, and the light was somewhat dazzling.

A scarlet carpet was laid out at the entrance, with life-size cardboard cutouts of people dressed in formal attire standing on either side, but the smiles on the cutouts looked particularly eerie in the dim light.

At the same time, Lin Yi felt a weight in his palm. Looking down, he saw a slightly old-looking silver coin appear out of thin air in his hand.

On the other side, Gulu also opened his hand, holding a coin as well.

Almost the instant the coin appeared, a figure silently materialized on the scarlet carpet at the cinema entrance.

"Welcome." The voice was flat and monotone.

He was a man dressed in a sharp black suit, the fabric of which looked like synthetic fiber, with an unnatural sheen.

He wore an extremely standardized smile, but his skin was so smooth it didn't look real, too delicate, and his eyes were empty, like a finely crafted plastic doll.

Lin Yi instinctively wanted to summon the Shadow Legion to scout ahead, but Gulu excitedly waved his hand to stop him: "No! Let me do it! It's a good opportunity to test the knife!"

Before she finished speaking, the [Kiss of the Night] appeared in her hand. With a light tap of her toes, she darted forward, her target the eerie welcoming doll.

Just as Gulu's foot was about to step onto the scarlet carpet leading into the movie theater—

A terrifying malice, powerful enough to freeze one's soul, suddenly descended.

A palpable pressure emanated from every corner of the cinema, and the magnificent building seemed to come alive at that moment, transforming into a colossal beast ready to devour its prey, its invisible maw gaping open.

The gurgling motion froze abruptly, the wind pressure from its high-speed movement stirring up dust from the edges of the carpet.

Her raised foot hovered in mid-air, just centimeters from the scarlet carpet, but it could no longer fall.

Her sense of danger was screaming wildly at that moment.

You'll die! Stepping in will absolutely kill you!
Lin Yi's eyes sharpened as he also sensed the edge of the instant death rule being triggered.

He had previously sacrificed over a dozen shadow soldiers to verify that violating the instant-death rule rendered any defense, substitution, or immunity meaningless; it was an absolute annihilation from the very bottom of the Nightmare Realm's logic, domineering and unreasonable.

Unless the Paradise of Reincarnation intervenes, they will need to use life-saving items to escape.

The welcoming mascot seemed completely unaware of the near-conflict that had just occurred. With a soft "click" from its stiff neck, it turned to the two of them, its smile unchanged, and slowly extended its right hand, gloved in white, palm up.

The meaning is obvious: ticket, or something similar to an admission ticket.

Lin Yi placed the silver coin in his hand into the doll's palm.

In an instant, the terrifying malice that had enveloped him receded like a tide, as if it had never existed.

Seeing this, Gulu withdrew her right foot that was about to step in, and the feeling of her feet being on solid ground made her feel a little more at ease.

She learned her lesson and obediently stepped forward, placing her coin on the doll's outstretched palm.

After accepting the two coins, the welcoming mascot pulled out two slightly yellowed movie tickets with curled edges from somewhere with its other hand and handed them over.

Lin Yi took the movie ticket; it felt slightly cool to the touch.

The ticket stub was made of ordinary paper and printed with "Hall No.: 4, Seat: Row 7, No. 13".

Turning it over, four rules are printed in red:

Rule 1: Admission is by ticket only. Your ticket stub has the screening room number and seat number; please take your assigned seat.

[Rule 2: Please refrain from loud noises during the screening and silence your mobile phones.]

[Rule 3: If a character on screen looks at you and waves, immediately look down at your feet for three seconds, then get up and go to the restroom to wash your face with cold water until the movie ends.]

[Rule 4: Popcorn is free, but please only take white popcorn. If you find any yellow popcorn, please spit it out immediately and leave the area.]

After handing out the tickets, the welcoming mascot stepped aside to make way, made another "please" gesture, and its plastic-looking smile flickered in the neon lights.

Lin Yi patted Gulu on the shoulder, signaling her to put away the dagger.

The two followed the puppet into the movie theater. The corridor was covered with thick carpets, which provided excellent soundproofing, making their footsteps barely audible.

The walls are covered with old movie posters, brightly colored but with a musty feel. The posters mostly depict exaggerated expressions and thrilling scenes.

The doll led them to a dark wooden door marked "Hall 4". Pushing open the heavy, soundproof door, light and sound from inside could be faintly seen through.

The theater was dimly lit, with only a silent color commercial playing on the huge screen in front. The image was vibrant but somewhat distorted, jumping around and promoting some unclear product. The theater was quite large, accommodating about a hundred people, but the audience was sparse, with only three or four people scattered around in different seats, quite far apart from each other.

Hearing the door open, the group of people subconsciously glanced back, their gazes lingering briefly on Lin Yi and Gulu before shifting away indifferently to continue observing the screen or their surroundings.

Judging from their clothing and demeanor, they were clearly "dream enterrs" who had entered this place.

Lin Yi and Gulu's seats were in the middle of the seventh row. Before sitting down, Lin Yi carefully checked the seat number on his ticket stub and only sat down after confirming that it was correct.

Gulu followed suit, carefully checking the tickets before sitting down and putting them directly into his personal space.

Five minutes later, the lights in the screening room went completely dark, leaving only the flickering light from the screen.

The commercials have ended, and the main feature seems to be about to begin.

A figure walked in through the side door at the front. He was wearing a crisp uniform, like a ticket inspector, but his face was smooth and had no facial features.

Holding a dim ticket-checking light, it began checking the ticket stubs of the audience members one by one, starting from the first row.

The faceless ticket inspectors moved very slowly, like pre-programmed machines.

Those who were checked silently presented their ticket stubs; the process was completely silent.

Soon, it arrived at the row where Lin Yi and Gulu were.

The two took out movie tickets from their personal space and handed them over. The faceless ticket inspector's empty "face" lingered on the movie tickets under the ticket inspection light for a few seconds, seemingly verifying them, before nodding and moving on to the next one.

The next person was a man in a jacket sitting diagonally behind Lin Yi.

When the faceless ticket inspector stopped in front of him, the man's body visibly began to tremble.

He frantically searched through all his pockets, his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat.

"The ticket...the ticket is gone...it was just here..." His voice trembled, almost breaking into a sob, "Can...can I get a replacement ticket? I'll use something else to pay for it..."

The faceless ticket inspector did not respond; his smooth face simply "turned" toward him and remained motionless.

The man was even more terrified. He tried to stand up, his voice filled with despair: "I...I'm not watching anymore, I'm leaving...I quit!"

Just as his buttocks were about to leave the seat, the faceless ticket inspector suddenly opened his "mouth"—which could not be called a mouth at all, but rather a black hole filled with spiraling sharp teeth split open from the middle of his entire face.

A powerful suction force erupted instantly, and before the man could even scream, he was grabbed by an invisible giant hand, shrunk into a ball, and swallowed directly into the black hole.

The spiral teeth closed, producing a grinding sound that made your teeth ache.

Lin Yi watched the scene before him expressionlessly. The aura that the faceless ticket inspector had just unleashed far exceeded the fifth rank and had definitely reached the sixth rank.

But this aura only appeared for a moment. As it closed its "mouth" and returned to its faceless state, the aura quickly subsided, and it turned back into the seemingly stiff puppet, continuing to walk towards the next "audience".

Sure enough, in places where instant death rules exist, the "monsters" or "mechanisms" that enforce those rules are bound to be much more powerful.

The danger level of this Nightmare Realm is much higher than that of the Silent Factory.

After the brief incident, the theater fell into dead silence.

The movie opening credits began playing on the screen, accompanied by somber background music.

The film appears to be an old-fashioned black-and-white suspense film with a grainy visual style, telling a family secret that takes place in an ancient castle.

The plot was dull and drawn-out, but none of the dreamers present were really interested in appreciating the film.

Time ticked by. About half an hour into the film, the scene switched to a close-up: the pale-faced female lead in the old-fashioned long dress was putting on her makeup in front of a mirror.

Suddenly, she stopped combing her hair.

Then, her head turned at an extremely unnatural angle, frame by frame, and her black and white eyes through the screen stared straight at the audience—or more accurately, at the two people sitting in the seventh row.

Lin Yi and Gulu simultaneously felt a chilling gaze lock onto them. The woman on the screen slowly stretched her lips into a strange smile, then raised her pale hand and gently beckoned her finger toward them.

Rule 3!

Almost the instant the woman beckoned, Lin Yi and Gulu didn't hesitate at all. They immediately lowered their heads and stared intently at the carpet beneath their feet, illuminated by the reflection of the screen.

Silently count in your mind: One, two, three!

Three seconds later, the two stood up at the same time and walked quickly toward the exit marked with the direction of the restroom on the side of the theater, their movements swift and decisive.

Their actions attracted the attention of several other dreamers. Seeing Lin Yi and Gulu decisively leave their seats, they seemed to realize something, but since there was no problem with the movie in their eyes, they continued to sit in their seats without moving.

The restrooms were located not far from the theater exit. The interior was also old-fashioned, with dim lighting and a mixture of disinfectant and musty smells in the air. Several old-fashioned faucets were slowly dripping water, and the signs for the men's and women's restrooms were somewhat blurry.

Lin Yi and Gulu didn't care about anything else and went straight into the same restroom—at this time, safety was far more important than rules.

The restroom was empty, with a row of old-fashioned white sinks above a mirror covered in water stains.

The two walked to the sink, turned on the brass faucet, and the icy water gushed out, irritating their skin.

Following the rules, Lin Yi kept splashing cold water on his cheeks to stay awake and wait for the movie to end. Their wet faces were reflected in the mirror.

About twenty minutes later, the end credits music of a movie could be faintly heard outside, and the water flowing from the tap seemed to gradually decrease.

Just then, Gulu saw through the mirror that a pool of red liquid was silently seeping out from under the door of the innermost stall in the toilet. The liquid was spreading towards their feet and began to emit an extremely tempting fragrance.

"Let's go!" Lin Yi also noticed something was wrong, immediately turned off the tap, turned around and rushed out of the bathroom.

The lights in the theater have come on; the movie has indeed ended.

The other dreamers were also coming out of the movie theater, but their faces were not good. Two of them had their left arms missing below the elbows, the cuts were smooth, as if they had been cut off instantly by something extremely sharp, and blood was dripping from the wounds onto the carpet.

The faceless ticket collector was standing at the exit of the theater, like a guardian deity.

"Is it over?" Gulu asked in a low voice, shaking the water droplets off his hands.

"I don't know." The two dreamers behind Lin Yi also hesitated when they saw the current situation. They were unsure whether watching the movie meant the end of the exploration and that they could leave.

However, the Nightmare Realm itself is fraught with danger and has unpredictable rules, so no one dares to easily test the faceless ticket inspector who has just swallowed a living person whole.

Suddenly, a soldier from the Shadow Legion appeared behind Lin Yi. As Lin Yi pointed to the door, the soldier immediately rushed towards the entrance.

The other dreamers remained silent upon witnessing this scene; it was merely a summoning ability, rare but not entirely unfamiliar to them.

Just as the Shadow Legion soldiers approached the exit, the Faceless Ticket Inspector suddenly opened his mouth and swallowed one of them whole.

“This road is blocked.” Lin Yi shook his head, stating the obvious conclusion.

"I knew things wouldn't be that simple." One of the other dreamers sighed after seeing this scene, but didn't show too much disappointment, as if they had expected it.

If watching a movie could complete this exploration of the Nightmare Realm, that would be far too easy.

In this way, it is more in line with the bizarre and unpredictable nature of the Nightmare Realm.

Just then, Lin Yi seemed to sense something and took out the movie ticket that he had put away earlier.

Lin Yi's movie ticket originally read "Hall No.: 4, Seat: Row 7, No. 13".

Now it has become "Hall No.: 5, Seat: Row 8, No. 02".

Seeing this, Gulu immediately took out his movie ticket and began to check it. Sure enough, the numbers on it had changed. The theater number had become 5, and the seat number had become row 8, seat 04.

The others weren't stupid. After seeing the change in the two men's expressions and their checking of the ticket stubs, they immediately realized that there might be a problem with the movie tickets. They all took out their own tickets to check, and their faces turned ugly.

Sure enough, after Lin Yi and Gulu noticed this, the mascot in the ceremonial uniform reappeared, standing silently a short distance away with its unchanging, standardized smile, gesturing for them to turn a corner deeper into the corridor. (End of Chapter)