Chapter 33: Nightmare Invasion
After the sedative was administered, Gu Yunsheng felt as if his body were filled with lead, sinking continuously into a suffocating darkness.
He wanted to struggle, but he couldn’t move. Only the sound of waves crashing against reefs hit his eardrums again and again, growing louder and more urgent, as if wanting to swallow him whole.
“Do you regret it? Abandoning me, choosing the other me…” A low, hoarse voice seemed to rise from the depths of his soul, carrying endless sorrow and malice, echoing in his ears over and over.
He struggled to open his eyes, but before him was only a surging black ocean.
Not far away, a familiar figure struggled in the seawater. A soaked black windbreaker tightly wrapped around a thin body, looking as if it would be swallowed by a giant wave at any moment.
“Ling Xi!” Gu Yunsheng wanted to shout, wanted to get closer, but he was bound by an invisible force. He could only watch as his beloved lover was swallowed by the darkness.
The figure seemed to hear the call and slowly turned around, revealing a face identical to Ling Xiâs.
But those eyes, once as gentle as water, were now bone-chillingly cold. A cruel smile hooked his lips. “What, seeing me like this makes your heart ache?”
Gu Yunshengâs heart constricted sharply. Fear and sorrow submerged him like cold seawater.
Before he could speak, the sound of waves was gradually joined by a mechanical roar, becoming clearer and sharper, like a wail from a bottomless abyss.
“Gu Yunsheng… save me… why…” Sailuoâs pained voice sounded exceptionally shrill amidst the waves, filled with endless resentment and despair.
Gu Yunsheng looked toward the sound in terror. Sailuo was standing on the surging sea. His once clear eyes were now blood-red, staring at him hollowly.
His trembling mechanical arm was covered in blood, looking as if it craved redemption.
“No, Sailuo, itâs not like that… I saved you from the hospital, but I didn’t save you from hell…” Gu Yunsheng explained weakly. He wanted to tell Sailuo that he hadn’t expected the injection from that nurse named Lili to be anything other than a normal inhibitor; it was his own weakness that prevented him from stopping it in time. But his throat was gripped by an invisible hand, and he gradually couldn’t make a sound.
Just then, a white figure stepped over the waves, slowly walking toward them.
Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, the lenses reflected a cold light, and his lips were curled in a hair-raising smile.
“Don’t be afraid, Sailuo, Iâll make him pay the price…” That figure was none other than Xue Chenxi, but as he approached step by step, his face seemed to melt. His features distorted until they eventually became the mask of Dr. Liâs mocking face, gazing at the struggling Gu Yunsheng with a touch of cruel tenderness…
“Don’t… don’t… Ling Xi, Sailuo, Iâm sorry… don’t go…” Gu Yunsheng murmured in pain, his hands waving wildly in the air as if trying to grasp the disappearing figures.
The ward was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Lu Jingheng sat by the bed, his brow furrowed, his heart feeling as if it were squeezed by an invisible hand.
Gu Yunshengâs pale face was covered in tear streaks. He murmured unconsciously, calling out the names of the characters from the novel.
Those people he had personally characterized, those fates he had built with lines of text, were now biting back at Gu Yunsheng, becoming an inescapable nightmare.
Lu Jingheng looked at him with heartache, holding his cold hand and trying to transfer his own warmth.
“Yunsheng, wake up. Look at me, okay? Iâm Lu Jingheng…”
Lu Jinghengâs voice trembled, his eyes filled with unmaskable panic and helplessness. “Your mother is coming soon. Wake up quickly, don’t make her worry, please…”
Gu Yunsheng could hear his voice. it was very close, yet it felt as if they were separated by a layer of something. Lu Jingheng was in the light, while he was in the boundless darkness, unable to reach out no matter how he struggled.
Something was coiled around his ankleâbone-chillingly coldâdragging him down… down…
Lu Jingheng sprang from his chair like a coiled spring. He slammed a fist onto the table in front of the bed. The laptop on the table shook, causing the images on the screen to ripple.
Damn it! How did my childhood friend get stuck in my novel and can’t get out?
“No! I have to save him!” Since Lu Jingheng was the author, he was the Creator. He would never allow his charactersâespecially his brother Gu Yunshengâto be trapped in endless darkness!
Thinking of this, his fingers flew across the keyboard. Lines of text scrolled past his eyes like jumping spirits.
He cast aside the editorâs warnings. Logic, rationality, and outlines were all thrown to the wind at this moment.
() [Granting ‘Ring of Bound Dreams’ maximum authority!] [Activating ‘Creator God Mode’!]
() [Warning! Warning! Illegal operation detected! System is about to crash…]
Lu Jingheng was deaf to it. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the screen. He didn’t want a warning; he wanted a miracle!
() [Deconstructing dream creatures! Data reorganization!] [GoâEXPLODE!]
Boomâ!
The laptop emitted a scream-like electrical sound. The next second, the screen turned blindingly bright. The piercing light climbed up Lu Jinghengâs fingers as if it were alive. It was so hot he reflexively threw the mouse aside, feeling as if he were about to smash the keyboard.
At the same time, Gu Yunshengâs dream world began to distort. The tentacles dragging him down were suddenly torn away. Cold seawater flooded his nose, and his lungs felt as if they were being burned by fire.
Gu Yunsheng struggled instinctively, but he felt something pulling him, dragging him upward at high speed.
The ring on his finger was currently glowing, responding to his cry for help.
A moment later, Gu Yunsheng finally broke the surface. The cold seawater made him cough violently, his chest feeling like it would explode.
“Yunsheng! Yunsheng!” Lu Jinghengâs heart-wrenching shout sounded in his ears. Immediately after, a warm embrace tightly encircled him.
“Thank god… youâre finally awake…” Lu Jinghengâs voice trembled as if he were about to cry. He pointed at the ring on Gu Yunshengâs hand. “It was this. This saved you…”
Gu Yunsheng was held so tightly by Lu Jingheng he could barely breathe. Sweat had soaked his hair and back. The cold clothes clinging to his body made him feel as if he had been submerged in the sea. He coughed a few times, pain radiating from his chest. After a while, his consciousness returned, and his vision slowly focused.
Realizing he was being held in Lu Jinghengâs arms, Gu Yunsheng moved his arms with difficulty, feeling as if his ribs were about to be crushed.
He pushed hard on Lu Jinghengâs shoulders, only to find the other man was holding him too tightly for him to move.
“Cough, cough…” Gu Yunshengâs face turned red. He struggled to push the man off him. “Let go… I can’t breathe… ugh…”
Lu Jingheng was ecstatic. The joy of regaining what was lost made the corners of his eyes redden. Instinctively, he imprinted a kiss on Gu Yunshengâs lips.
Gu Yunshengâs eyes widened in terror, his mind going blank. “You… youâre crazy… weâre brothers…”
“Sorry, sorry, I was just too happy. I thought you transmigrated into the novel and couldn’t get out.” Realizing his loss of composure, Lu Jingheng quickly let go and scratched his head awkwardly, though a suspicious blush appeared on his cheeks.
“You bastard, you can’t just kiss me because you’re happy!” Gu Yunsheng coughed violently while looking at Lu Jingheng in disbelief, as if heâd seen a ghost. “Do you know what youâre doing? My sexual orientation is perfectly normal!”
Lu Jingheng was amused by his shaken appearance. His eyes flickered, not daring to look at him directly. “What, is my charm so low in your heart? You turn into an Omega after one kiss?”
“Get lost! Iâm a ‘Steel Straight Man’!” Gu Yunsheng slapped his hand away and gave him a sharp glare. “If it weren’t for the fact that you got me out of that ghostly place, I would definitely…”
“Definitely what?” Lu Jingheng raised an eyebrow, his heart skipping a beat because of those words.
“Definitely…” Gu Yunsheng got stuck. He couldn’t say “definitely beat you up,” could he? After all, Lu Jingheng had done this to save him. In the end, he had to be grateful, but… what was that kiss about?
“Definitely kiss me back?” Lu Jingheng leaned close to his ear and whispered with a wicked smile, attempting to hide the trace of emotion deep within that he didn’t even dare to touch.
“Go away!” Gu Yunshengâs face turned red. He pushed him away, feeling his heart inexplicably speed up for a few beats. Was it because he just returned from the dream and his body hadn’t recovered yet?
“Aww, is our Young Master Gu shy?” Lu Jingheng continued to tease relentlessly. “What? Did you get addicted to being a heartthrob Omega in the novel and want to try it in reality too?”
“Lu Jingheng! You bastard, say that one more time?!” Gu Yunsheng instantly bristled. This guy was really poking at a sore spot!
“What, did I hit the mark?” Lu Jingheng laughed with a punchable expression. “Do you want me to help you remember how you were… in the novel?”
“Shut up!” Overwhelmed with shame and anger, Gu Yunsheng couldn’t help but roar. He really wanted to grab a pillow and stuff it into Lu Jinghengâs chattering mouth.
Lu Jingheng was still laughing, but Gu Yunsheng couldn’t laugh at all.
Thinking back on his experiences in the novel now, it was simply an unbearable nightmare.
“Alright, alright, Iâll stop. Iâll go call Dr. Li to check on you.” Lu Jingheng stopped while he was ahead, ceasing his laughter and pressing down on Gu Yunshengâs hand which was reaching for a pillow.
“Dr. Li?” Hearing those two words, alarm bells instantly rang in Gu Yunshengâs mind.
The images from before he lost consciousness surfaced again: that man in the white coat with the cold face was practically carved from the same mold as the Great Villain Xue Chenxi from the book!
Is he really just a doctor?
Or is he, like Xue Chenxi, a character set by the virtual world?
A series of questions tangled in Gu Yunshengâs mind like a ball of yarn, making him restless.
Before he could think further, the ward door was pushed open. A familiar voice that made his spine chill sounded in his ear: “It seems youâve recovered well.”
Translator’s Note: “Steel Straight Man” (é˘éç´çˇ) is a common internet term for a man who is very traditional and perhaps a bit dense about romance. Also, the “Creator God Mode” suggests Lu might have more power over this world than he lets on.
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