/
“What should we do next?” Wu Jian asks for Ye Lan’s opinion, knowing her to be a far more competent Missiontaker than he is, “should we wait somewhere, or…”
He still has his laptop with him, hoping this piece of technological relic can find his companions.
Ye Lan falls into thought, then mentions something else, “do you think it is really possible for us to resolve this Nightmare?”
Wu Jian thinks about it, about the Apocalypse he’s learned, about the Tower, Nightmares… and shakes his head earnestly, saying, “I’m doubtful. Rather, we came to this Nightmare to try and shut down the Tower…”
Here, though, his words also trail off a little.
He’s realised a terrible preconception, that everyone seemed to have tacitly assumed a True End in the Ultimate Nightmare gives the key to leaving the Tower.
That is why they’re willing to enter the Ultimate Nightmare, and so passionately chased after it in the first place.
Because it is the final instance of this game. It is the means to the bitter end.
But, how are they really supposed to resolve this Nightmare?
They never imagined the Ultimate Nightmare to be a complete recreation of the Apocalypse on Earth. If they can’t resolve it, would they end up locked inside a ‘Tower’ once more?
What’s this, matryoshka dolls?
Wu Jian looks a little odd when he thinks of it like that.
Feeling how thorny the issue is, he can’t come up with a single thought… a single clue for how this Nightmare might end.
Instead, it is Ye Lan who is now mumbling to herself, “he told us, warned us… To stay awake and clear-headed in this Nightmare.”
Wu Jian’s eyes widen a little, but he doesn’t sound confident when saying, “you mean, our actual purpose in this Nightmare, is to buy time?”
“I think so, yes…” Ye Lan nods after pausing a little, adding, “this is what I think he wants us to do. Perhaps… if we do not succumb until the end, we will win the Ultimate Nightmare somehow? But then…”
Wu Jian, with his brows furrowed, shakes his head, and says, “that’s too impossibly simple.”
“You’re right. At best, I can only picture that leading us to some Normal End,” Ye Lan agrees, and then starts talking to herself, “maybe he just told us the most basic thing to achieve; however, it is up to us to look for the truth behind this whole Nightmare, and achieve a True End.
We can’t just hope someone else can bring us salvation.”
Ye Lan’s tone grows firm. Clearly, she’s resolved to continue investigating the Nightmare, instead of settling down as a sitting duck.
Wu Jian nods in agreement.
Then Ye Lan’s tone softens and she says, “all in all, the Nightmare has only just started. First, we should ensure our own safety, and then, with that in mind, we look for other companions… the ones who are still awake, I mean.”
All the people, who still remember their duty.
Wu Jian is thinking the same.
They thought many of the people present would be doing the same, given the entirety of humanity in the Tower is in the Nightmare.
However, street after street, the situation turned out completely unlike what they had hoped to see.
Wu Jian, astonished, mumbles, “I see a few faces I recognise, on some floor of the Tower… But, it doesn’t look like… they remember me.”
They completely ignored his greetings, looking irritated, or simply baffled; they continue their idyllic lives, notwithstanding Wu Jian’s appearance.
It’s quite likely they don’t see Wu Jian as anyone but some insane person inexplicably here to intrude on their lives.
If one day, someone stopped you on the street, and says, “the Apocalypse is happening! We have to save the world!” You would probably be quite put off and not believe them at all. You’ll perhaps refer them to the closest mental institution.
This is the predicament Wu Jian and Ye Lan find themselves in.
Wu Jian, looking utterly defeated, says, “they’ve forgotten completely… the Tower, the Nightmare, the Apocalypse. They don’t remember a thing.”
Even though they entered the Ultimate Nightmare in further search of the truth, but after finally entering the Nightmare they desperately sought, they’ve lost themselves inside.
Ye Lan is still quite calm, saying, “it’s fine. From what Xü Beijin said, as long as at least one person can maintain their sense of self to the very end… we’ll win.”
Wu Jian wants to say that that would be such a terrible state of affairs that they should avoid it at all costs. Just one person left? What kind of hopeless last stand would that look like?
Though… Yes. Please. Do let him wallow in his cowardice for a moment.
The two of them have seen for themselves how countless others have strayed off the path they walk – a path of false, vapid happiness.
Wu Jian sighs in his mind.
They are quiet for a moment.
Suddenly, Wu Jian spots someone out of the corner of his eye.
He greets the person out of reflex, and excitedly tells Ye Lan, “that is the founder of our organisation…”
He couldn’t even finish introducing the man, before that man looks at him oddly, then quietly backs off with his wife by his side, and leave them behind.
Wu Jian hears them speak as they retreat.
“Who’re they? Do you know them?”
“I don’t, what a weirdo… Anyway, what were we talking about? Do you want to go running tonight…”
Wu Jian’s jaw is on the floor; his whole face is blank. Then finally, he closes his jaw up, after losing all hope.
He can’t lie to himself anymore. In this Nightmare, they’re on their on. They have no retreat.
He quietly shakes his head, and tells Ye Lan, “never mind. Let’s go.”
Ye Lan watches him, then nods.
They continue walking forward, hurrying past the founder of Fei and Wu Jian’s organisation – Xie Zhijin.
When they do, Xie Zhijin subconsciously looks at the two of them, looking a little stunned.
“What’s wrong?”
His wife asks him.
Xie Zhijin falls into thought for a moment, then tells his wife, “I don’t know,” he looks a little lost as he continues, “I think I… forgot something. I missed something.”
His wife teases him gently, “oh, really? I didn’t know you were at that age already, are you remembering alright?”
Xie Zhijin awkwardly smiles.
He continues walking home with his wife. Every so often, another paranoid-looking person pops out onto the street, but they ignore them entirely.
But, as they walk into their house’s neighbourhood, Xie Zhijin feels like his vision is going blurry. He stops.
This time, his wife is knitting her brows already, worried, and asks, “what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Xie Zhijin is staring fixedly at a point in the air, muttering, “it’s a fog…”
“A fog?” His wife seems astonished, then looks around, remarking in amazement, “oh goodness! Where did this fog come from this sunny afternoon?”
Xie Zhijin narrows his eyes a little. Behind the thin veil of the fog, he thinks he can see something.
Right there, right behind the layer of murky, grey air.
Is the silhouette, of a door.