How much longer do I have to wait?

With nothing to keep themselves entertained, only the faint lanterns illuminating the room, time felt incredibly slow for the group of five. It made the atmosphere inside the dark and spacious area quite dreary. Half an hour had already passed since Maria had woken up in the Stomach of the Nightmare Tower.

So far, nothing happened. The entrance to where they had initially come from was still closed off, and there weren't any new messages or announcements regarding the event. It gave the group of five a feeling of despair and hopelessness, or maybe it was just Maria, she wasn't sure.

Instead of pondering about the situation further, Maria decided to shift her attention to Kiana who kept asking her a set of questions, as if trying to avoid another dull silence falling between them.

Whether the questions were about family or work, Maria answered them truthfully. Maria would also turn the questions back to Kiana, trying to get some information about her, despite thinking she was nothing more but a creation of her own subconsciousness.

While conversing with the young woman, Maria began to think of ways to either wake up from the dream quickly or what to do first when entering the nightmare rooms.

For the former, Maria already tried various ways of waking up she had searched on the internet one time such as telling herself to wake up or doing complex actions yet none seemed to work. So, in the end, Maria decided to go with the latter and focus on going through the nightmare rooms.

If the Tower of Nightmares is really the same tower I read from Game of Survival, then learning about each other's dreamscapes is the first step to clearing the nightmare rooms.

Apart from gaining information about the woman and getting a better understanding of her character, there was still one more thing Maria needed to know.

Kiana took notice of Maria's fixed gaze and said, "If you want to ask me something, feel free to ask."

Maria's brows raised slightly, surprised by how casual Kiana seemed before calming down. Since the other woman didn't seem to mind, Maria didn't hesitate to ask the question that had been lingering in her mind after their introduction.

"What did you see in your dreamscape?"

A moment of silence fell between the two. Then, Kiana began tapping the floor with a thoughtful look.

While Kiana was thinking, Maria glanced at the three people curiously from behind and wondered how they were doing right now. It appeared that the three people were still talking about the same matters as earlier, such as Luke's muscles and Chun Hee's complaints of her having to attend summer school.

Based on their amused expressions, they don't seem to be listening to the two women. Luke and the two children seemed to be too busy indulging themselves in their conversation that they had forgotten that the two women were nearby.

Maria thought Chun Hee would've been more vigilant around them, so she was surprised to see her easily conversing with the other two.

"About that..." Maria's attention immediately shifted to Kiana. "It's a bit difficult to say, but it's similar to what happened to Luke."

Without waiting for Maria's response, Kiana began to speak. "I suddenly woke up with a stinging pain on my left waist and found myself in... a forest. At first, I thought an accident occurred during my hike, but when I finally managed to clear my head, I noticed that something was off about the forest."

"There were many mysterious shrubs and greenery that didn't look normal. They were almost... alien-like." Kiana muttered, furrowing her brows. "I thought about taking a picture or exploring more about where I was, but when I tried to walk, strange vines suddenly sprang out from the ground and got me..."

Kiana was trembling slightly, her brows drawn together, seemingly shaken as she recalled her dreamscape.

"I panicked and pulled out my knife to cut myself free... I managed to escape before those vines could even reach me... I didn't know where to go so I kept exploring that alien-like forest... trying to find any help but..." There was a short pause before Kiana looked at Maria. "Aliens appeared. Like... literal aliens... They were chasing me... luckily for me, I found a strange cave that led me to this place."

The cave must've been the Safe Zone.

The Safe Zone, it is where the exit of a dreamscape is located and serves as the main entrance that leads to the Stomach of the Nightmare Tower. Once a player enters the Safe Zone, a message will appear, stating that they have cleared the starting point of the tower, the Dreamscape.

But... I didn't receive any messages... or is it because I didn't actually clear it...? Wait... why does it matter? This is just a dream! It isn't real, so there's bound to be some missing information. I just have to remember the information from the book and continue on...

Trying to clear her thoughts, Maria shook her head and glanced at Kiana. She noticed the woman was looking at her silently, causing Maria to be confused at first until she realized that Kiana had already finished describing her dreamscape. Maria was a bit embarrassed for being so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that there was another awkward silence between them.

To dispel the awkward silence between them, Maria immediately forced a smile and nodded. Her reaction was a bit delayed but Kiana didn't seem to mind Maria's sudden pause.

"Okay, so you woke up in an alien-like forest and was attacked by strange vines and chased by aliens, right?" Maria asked with her hand on her chin as she slowly recalled Kiana's dreamscape.

Kiana nodded. "That's about it."

Alien-like forest, strange vines, and aliens... Ah, wait.

"What about the aliens? What do they look like? And how are you sure they're aliens?" Maria immediately dropped three questions without giving the other woman time to process the first question.

Kiana was a bit taken aback, nonetheless, she was able to sort out her thoughts and answer.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure if they're aliens but... they're definitely not human." Kiana stated firmly. "The first thing I noticed about them were their skin color... they were mostly yellow and orange skinned, with patterns on them like they were splashed with a cup of red and green paint... Their eyes had vertical slits, almost like a reptilian..."

Kiana then began to shake her head and looked at Maria. "...that's all I can remember. They only wore tunics and tattered robes, so I'm guessing they're some sort of tribe aliens? I'm not sure..."

Maria nodded and kept her head down, her brows furrowed as she analyzed her situation.

So, Luke woke up in a futuristic city and was chased by robots... and Kiana woke up in an alien forest and was chased by aliens... there's indeed a resemblance between their dreamscapes...

Based on the book, when one wakes up in their dreamscapes, they are immediately captivated by their surroundings. This is because the dreamscapes take the form or shape of objects that the owner would take an interest in or even their deepest desires depending on the person itself. An example would be Maria whose Dreamscape had manifested into a vast outer space since she had always been fond of astronomy.

But there was something off. The dreamscapes between the three people had one thing in common: The setting.

Luke woke up in a futuristic city with robots, Kiana woke up in an alien forest with aliens, and I woke up in space... they're all common settings used in sci-fi stories... Does this have some sort of meaning? Connection even? The only way I can be sure is if Chun Hee and Jiahao's Dreamscapes also have a science fiction setting.

As Maria fell deeper into her thoughts, two moderate taps came from her shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. She looked to her side to see Kiana with wrinkled brows.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her tone laced with worry. "Did I say something wrong?"

Maria looked at Kiana with some surprise before shaking her head. She stroked her forehead while smiling at the woman.

"Nothing, my head hurt for a moment," Maria lied and focused on her act. "What about you? Is there something you want to ask me next?"

After all, they were going back and forth with their questions. Since Kiana had answered Maria's question, it was now Kiana's turn to ask Maria another question. Maria didn't want to ask any more questions about Kiana's dreamscape, too afraid to look suspicious to the woman. She instead decided to resume their conversation to wait for the perfect opportunity to ask more later.

Kiana deliberated for a moment before asking, "Then... what's your dreamscape?"

Maria paused briefly, considering whether or not she should answer her question. She already expected this question and had prepared a slightly twisted version of her dreamscape.

Even though Kiana had told her about her dreamscape, Maria didn't want to reveal the entire truth to her. It's not that she didn't trust Kiana with her dreamscape, there was something else that was bothering Maria that prevented her from telling the truth.

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If I'm being honest... I don't want to mention anything about those two unknown entities that were in my dreamscape...

The two mysterious entities and the unknown monster frightened Maria to the core. She didn't even know what those things represented in her dreamscape and whether or not they were even supposed to be there. What was the point of even mentioning them? Maria would just twist the truth up a bit and hide what really happened.

It was her dreamscape, so it didn't matter if the others knew about its contents or not, in the end, she'd be the one responsible for clearing her nightmare room anyway.

And thus, Maria began to speak.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆

While the two women sat next to each other and near the closed tunnel, seemingly engaging in some sort of conversation, Luke and the two children stood a few feet apart from them. They quietly glanced at the two women conversing with one another.

'Maya' had a thoughtful look on her face while furrowing her brows. Kiana on the other hand, listened seriously. They were speaking to each other in low voices, looking as if they were close friends gossiping rumors they heard from the class next door. It was an amusing sight.

"What do you think those two unnies are talking about?" Chun Hee asked curiously.

Luke thought for a moment with his hands on his waist and answered, "Probably a way to escape this place? I mean, they look pretty serious so it's definitely not something casual like what we talked about earlier."

"Then again, after earlier, does Kiana have any intention of making a plan to escape...? I wonder if Maya would end up being dismissed coldly by her... Good luck to her I guess..." Luke thought as he shook his head, feeling sorry for Maya.

Chun Hee looked back at the two older women with pursed lips before speaking, "But... is there really a way to escape this place? I mean, from what I'm seeing, there's no other way to escape unless that tunnel where we came from opens."

A short pause fell between the two people as Luke looked at their surroundings.

Other than sitting around and sleeping for a few minutes, they had limited things to do in such a dark and restricted space. They could only wait for whatever to happen and hopefully find a way to escape this strange place.

Luke stared at the two women for a second until his gaze shifted to his watch. It was already half past 10 and he was late for work. He had already been late countless times, this was his 8th time being late since he started working two months ago.

"Shit... I'm screwed," He thought with unease. "What's the point of even coming back to work? I'm just going to get fired in the end..."

He had been in this unknown space for almost 2 hours. He was beginning to feel sick seeing the same plain black walls surrounding him.

The cold air wrapped around his body, the faintest noises echoed, and the gloomy atmosphere covered the area. It was depressing and he felt his breathing quicken.

Small whispers echoed in his mind, and the sound of dripping water and footsteps bounced off the walls and entered his ears. He could hear even the slightest movements, making him even more paranoid.

Luke quickly calmed himself down and held his head. He had to calm down.

He sucked in a breath and slowly exhaled, feeling his heart slowly return to its original beat. The whispers soon faded and he felt his thoughts gradually return. He had to think carefully about his situation.

After pushing back his thoughts, he felt light taps coming from his arms and a heavy pull on his waist. Luke looked down and found Jiahao tugging on his shirt while Chun Hee was tapping on his arm.

"What is it?" He asked the two children.

"Oh good, the statue finally moved." Chun Hee retorted.

"Huh?" Luke was confused.

"We were calling out for you, but you didn't move. I even called you ugly and you still didn't move." Chun Hee said with a sneer. "You were ignoring us and kept staring at those two unnies."

"Ah, that's because I was..." Luke stopped midway and frowned.

Chun Hee seemed to think of something as her brows raised. She asked in a low voice, "Are you interested in one of them?"

"What? No! That's not it!" Luke was surprised and exclaimed with a flustered face.

"Really? You know lying is bad right Oppa?" Chun Hee responded with a grin.

Luke looked at the girl with narrowed eyes before sighing. "I was just thinking of something, I didn't notice I was staring at them."

"Yeah, sure." Chun Hee replied while rolling her eyes. "What were you thinking of anyway?"

Before Luke could even respond, he felt a small tug on his shirt. He looked down to find Jiahao holding the ends of his shirt with both of his small hands.

"Ah sorry Jiahao, what did you need?" Luke asked, wanting to avoid and get away from the topic Chun Hee brought up.

Jiahao didn't speak as he pointed his finger at the two women.

"Do you wanna go to them?" Luke asked with furrowed brows.

The little boy shyly nodded. Luke and Chun Hee exchanged looks.

"Sure, let's go." Chun Hee said with a smile as she held the little boy's hand.

Luke, on the other hand, glanced hesitantly at the two women. He was somewhat wary around them, especially Kiana. After they discussed how to escape earlier, he wondered if he had angered her. Her tone was quite cold when he tried to discuss escaping.

"Come on, Oppa." Chun Hee spoke with a teasing smirk. "You shouldn't be too scared of them."

"You weren't even awake when she lectured me..." Luke muttered dishearteningly.

But he didn't want to appear stupid or daunt, so he forced himself to follow the two children as they approached the two women.

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆

At this time, Maria and Kiana had finished their conversation and sat idly near the closed entrance. They were thinking amongst themselves before the sound of footsteps caught their attention.

Luke and the two children came walking toward them and sat down with mixed expressions. The two children had smiles on their faces while Luke remained neutral. They were sitting in the form of a semi-circle.

Compared to the discussion between the two women, the three people's conversation was more lively and less pensive than theirs. Maria couldn't help but raise a brow at their sudden approach.

"What did you two talk about?" Chun Hee inquired curiously. "You two looked so focused and serious that it felt awkward to call you to join us."

"I don't think we were that serious..." Maria said awkwardly.

"What did you talk about anyway? I want to hear it!" Jiahao asked with bright eyes.

Maria glanced at Kiana who looked back with a smile. The young woman patted Jiahao and said, "It's a secret between us, you three don't need to know what it is."

Chun Hee looked at Maria and asked, "Is it a girl thing? Or is it only for adults?"

"Both," Kiana quickly answered as she began rummaging through her bag.

The three people looked at the two women suspiciously. Maria felt awkward by their stares as well as the possible misinterpretation of Kiana's vague explanation.

Since the woman didn't seem to be interested in explaining things or coming up with an excuse, Maria decided to handle the situation as she quickly waved a hand to explain herself.

Once Maria managed to ease the suspicions of the three people, Luke's eyes flickered after remembering something.

"I didn't get to ask, but how did you two end up here? Especially you Chun Hee, you were the first one here." Luke asked the young girl.

Good, I'm not the only one curious.

Maria sighed with relief mentally, retaining her calm composure. Now Maria didn't have to ask Chun Hee since she was afraid that Kiana or the others would be suspicious of her asking about their dreamscapes.

Everyone was now looking at the young girl, even Kiana showed a trace of curiosity. Chun Hee nervously avoided their gazes at her while forcing a smile.

"You mentioned a dreamscape right, Oppa?" Chun Hee glanced at Luke. "A dreamscape... The very first place I woke up before waking up here..."

There was a small pause as Chun Hee gathered her thoughts carefully. Then, with a deep breath, she looked at the four people and spoke, "My dreamscape started with a kingdom. A very big kingdom."

A kingdom...

"I saw many houses and villages that surrounded the castle walls made of shiny bricks." Chun Hee looked down with her brows drawn together. "The land looked like it came straight out of a fantasy manhwa because of how vast and mystical it looked."

"A castle made of platinum, it was big. Bigger than my school. It was awesome." Chun Hee smiled as she said this, but her body betrayed her calm exterior as she trembled slightly.

"I saw knights, guards, warriors outside the castle." There was a faint trace of admiration in Chun Hee's eyes. "They wore heavy armor and carried swords with them. I thought they looked cool when I first saw them..."

Next, there was a bitter smile on Chun Hee's face as she said, "But I should've just stayed vigilant. I wanted to try getting a little close to them but the moment I stepped forward... those knights instantly turned to look at me."

Huh... A fantasy setting instead of a sci-fi setting...

"I got scared when they started to jump down out of the castle and draw their swords at me... that's when I ran to get away from them." Chun Hee scratched the sleeve of her jacket and continued. "I thought I got away from them, but who knew a Gangcheori would suddenly appear."

Gangcheori? I guess some words aren't completely translated.

"What's a... Gangcheori?" Luke asked while raising a hand.

"Basically a dragon-shaped monster in Korean Mythology," Kiana explained.

Chun Hee looked impressed and asked, "You know our Mythology?"

"I once studied Korean Folklore and Myths while I was visiting Korea with my father." Kiana smiled and gestured for Chun Hee to continue.

The young girl nodded and resumed her storytelling. "When it appeared, obviously I got scared and tried to escape it. Then those knights and warriors suddenly came out of nowhere and I got chased around by them for half an hour."

She breathed a deep sigh and said, "Aren't knights supposed to protect the innocents? How can a knight and monster work together to kill a little girl like me?"

Chun Hee made an expression full of annoyance, as if looking back on it made her feel offended.

"It was annoying that I picked up a nearby rock and bashed it on the head of the knight that was closer to me." Chun Hee made a proud expression as she mentioned her attack. "I was able to get away since the gangcheori started eating those knights."

She sure is something... and her dreamscape...

"Then I found the safe zone and fell unconscious, but I don't remember entering some tunnel here." Chun Hee furrowed her brows at her words. "So when I saw you guys, I thought you kidnapped me or took me somewhere against my will."

Both Luke and Chun Hee began discussing their experiences while the two women just looked at the young girl. Maria recalled Luke's words before.

"Then I found an entrance that led here and saw these two children."

So Chun Hee was likely dragged by Jiahao... this mysterious boy who was pulled into this event and hasn't revealed any hints of his dreamscape yet.

Maria felt suspicious about this boy. It wasn't like Maria felt threatened or wary of the boy, she was just wondering why Jiahao lied about Chun Hee being the first one in the lobby when in reality, he was the one who dragged Chun Hee inside.

What's there to lie about?

Just as Maria was about to join in on their conversation, the ground beneath them started to shake, and loud noises could be heard all around them. The sound of metal gears shifting and turning rang in their ears.

A dim flash of light illuminated beside them, prompting up two short messages and one long one.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

『The Main Event will now Begin!』

『Event Name: Determine Your Will to Live.』

『Gamemode: Team Mode

Type: Tower Game (Tower of Nightmares)

Objective: Clear the Nightmare Rooms

Time Limit: None

Difficulty: Intermediate (variable)

Rewards: 60,000 experience points, 50 silver coins, 100 credit points, free random skill draw

Penalty for Failure: Remain in the Nightmare Tower

Comment by the Host (Z-237689): Fear? Do you think cowards and faint-hearted people can survive in this world by living in fear and solitude? Hah! No! If you want to live in this cruel world, then prove it, fight and survive.』

"W-What...?" Jiaohao paled as he read the message.

When the system message appeared, a flash of light suddenly illuminated below their feet. The white light became wide and swallowed the five people, serving as some sort of vortex.

It was so sudden that they didn't have time to react when they were suddenly sucked in by the white vortex. Messages rang in their ears, but they ignored them as they fell into a tunnel. The fading screams of the group echoed until there was only silence.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

『The Black Tower Main Event, Player Selection, has now begun!』

『Players are currently being transported into their sorted levels.』

『The Host (Z-237689) commented: Give it your all and good luck, dear players.』