Just then, someone happened to walk by.

Seeing this, he tapped a key, exiting the page he was on and returning the computer to its normal state.

Then, he stretched his arms and neck, working out the numbness in his body from sitting in the same position for so long.

He leaned back against the heavily worn leather chair.

Hu Qi’s eyes were half-closed as he recalled and organized the information he had just gathered.

His online search had indeed yielded some significant discoveries.

Although the information was cryptic and nothing was stated outright, by continually piecing it together, Hu Qi had still managed to gain a considerable understanding.

’It seems the Extraordinary System of this world is related to Nightmares!’

Hu Qi mused to himself.

He summarized and inferred from the information he’d gathered, and an outline of this world’s Extraordinary System began to form in his mind.

Some people, under special circumstances, could be marked by monsters from within a Nightmare.

These monsters could enter reality, and any ordinary person who encountered one was almost certainly doomed to die.

However, nothing was absolute; there were exceptions.

Some of these lucky few, or elites, could not only survive but also, after paying a certain price, successfully harness the power of the Nightmare and become beings who wielded Extraordinary Power.

However, there wasn’t much information on how to harness the Nightmare’s power or evade the pursuit of its monsters.

’Monsters from a Nightmare... interesting!’

A glint flashed in Hu Qi’s eyes.

From a scientific perspective, dreams—and the reason people have them—could be attributed to no more than three factors.

Physiological, psychological, and environmental.

From a physiological standpoint, the brain doesn’t completely shut down during sleep. During the REM stage, in particular, brain activity is frequent and neurotransmitters are in constant flux, which prompts the creation of various dreams.

On a psychological level, daily experiences and memories can surface in dreams, allowing repressed emotions to be released and the subconscious to express itself.

Environmental factors were also not to be ignored. External stimuli during sleep, like sounds or temperature changes, can be integrated into dreams by the brain. A comfortable sleeping environment can reduce negative stimuli and lower the frequency of dreaming.

In short, dreams are a product of the interplay between physiology, psychology, and environment.

However, in Hu Qi’s understanding, dreams had a much deeper explanation.

The dreams of living beings were a derivation of the Mind Realm.

The Mind Realm, as a part of the Spirit Realm, could, by a stroke of luck, reflect a sliver of imagery and information from the Spirit Realm itself.

This allowed living beings to see familiar yet strange scenes in their dreams.

Those scenes were, in fact, memory fragments from one of their past lives, washed clean by the waters of the Sea of Sumeru.

In certain specific circumstances, one could even see fragments of future events that had not yet occurred.

This was why some people, upon encountering certain situations, would suddenly find them incredibly familiar, as if they had experienced them before.

But regardless, dreams shouldn’t be able to interfere with reality.

’There’s something very wrong with this world.’

It seemed he would need to find a Transcendent to understand things more clearly.

But before that, he needed to acquire some means of self-protection in case of an emergency.

At this thought, he glanced at the time in the bottom-right corner of the computer screen. It was 7:35 PM.

He stood up, shut down the computer, and walked out of the internet cafe.

The night sky was like a deep, black cauldron turned upside down, its thick darkness seeming to swallow everything.

The rain was still drizzling down.

The downpour had lessened, but the rain now seemed to carry a faint chill.

...

Before long, Hu Qi returned to his residential district, carrying a bag of medicinal herbs to replenish his Qi and Blood.

He had picked them up at a pharmacy on his way back.

This purchase nearly wiped out the original owner’s already meager savings, but Hu Qi didn’t care.

Money was only yours once you spent it. Right now, he needed to get this body back into shape as quickly as possible.

A short while later, Hu Qi arrived at the complex and entered his apartment building.

While waiting for the elevator, he heard the faint sound of footsteps from outside.

Moments later, a young man in his early twenties walked in. He was holding a black umbrella in one hand and had a white backpack slung over his shoulder.

The Young Man was holding a phone in his other hand, apparently chatting with someone.

Although the building had two elevators, one of them had a black, dead screen.

Only one elevator was still in operation.

The Happy Home District, where Fang Xi lived, was a resettlement housing complex. The elevators were old and severely degraded, frequently breaking down and trapping people on random floors.

Elevator maintenance had become a regular occurrence, and the residents were full of complaints. However, applying to use the complex’s special maintenance funds to replace the elevators required signatures from over half of the homeowners.

But because it was resettlement housing, most of the residents were elderly, many of whom wouldn’t sign. Compounded by the inaction of the property management staff, the matter was indefinitely delayed.

Fortunately, not many people were going up or down at this time, so the elevator soon arrived on the first floor.

The elevator doors opened, and a woman in her thirties wearing a black dress walked out, leading a dog. After she had exited, Hu Qi and the young man stepped inside.

Since Hu Qi entered first, he immediately pressed the button for the 33rd floor.

Seeing this, the Young Man, who had been about to raise his hand to press a button, paused.

He put away his phone and glanced casually at Hu Qi. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his gaze shifted, a flash of astonishment in his eyes before he quickly concealed it.

He spoke with a smile.

"You’re Fang Xi?"

Hu Qi glanced at him, a perfectly measured look of confusion on his face. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"And you are?"

"It’s me, Wei Fan! Don’t you recognize me, old classmate?"

the Young Man said.

Hearing this, Hu Qi immediately remembered who this person was.

He was the neighbor who lived across the hall from the original owner of this body, and he had also been his middle school classmate.

But unlike the original owner, who had dropped out, this man had earned exceptional grades and gotten into a top-tier university in another city.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the other man.

"Shouldn’t there still be some time before winter break? Why are you back so early?"

"We got out early this year," Wei Fan said casually.

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the bag in Hu Qi’s hand. "But what’s going on with you?"

"Just a minor ailment."

"Take care of yourself..."

The two chatted, and soon, with a DING,

the elevator reached the top floor.

Afterward, they parted ways, agreeing to grab a drink sometime before entering their respective homes.

—BANG!

The door shut, and the smile on Hu Qi’s face instantly vanished, replaced by a cold expression.

’Interesting... He acts very concerned about me, but according to the original owner’s memories, they were just neighbors and not actually close. Moreover, he seemed shocked when he recognized me.’

Not only that, but while they were chatting, although his outward demeanor was normal, his eyes kept darting around.

This was an involuntary, instinctual reaction that only occurred when someone was nervous.

He could clearly sense that the other man was wary of him.

If he had to describe the feeling, it was as if Wei Fan had seen someone who was supposed to be dead, now standing there alive.