10 I'm Freddy

Watching the tentacled girl wriggling on his shoulder, Zhang Yaoyang furrowed his brow, then turned and pushed open the door of the dormitory.

Instantly, he found himself once again in the vast expanse of pitch-black ocean, riding the small boat-like yacht, bobbing up and down as if at any moment it could be engulfed by the waves.

Gradually, he realized that this ocean was his subconscious mind, and the small boat he was riding represented his "self-awareness."

Zhang Yaoyang had once read a scientific paper indicating that everyone's mind possessed immense energy, with the subconscious energy of humans being over thirty thousand times that of self-awareness.

Self-awareness is constantly influenced by the subconscious, it's human instinct—from the beating of the heart and the flow of blood to your worldview, values, and even survival instincts, all controlled by the subconscious.

If metaphorically speaking, human self-awareness is like an island in the ocean, and being in a dreaming state is like floating on the surface of the ocean. Going deeper, it's the middle layer of cognition, where the subconscious originates.

Accessing the middle layer of cognition isn't difficult, as long as it's deep sleep or being hypnotized by a therapist. Therefore, when treating psychological disorders, psychologists often use hypnosis to help people access their subconscious and find the root of the psychological problem.

As for the lower and bottom layers of cognition, that's beyond human reach, at least not yet for Zhang Yaoyang.

Looking up at the sky and the giant stars above, Zhang Yaoyang raised an eyebrow and chose Tang Ning's dream. However, as he broke through the dream screen, he paused and began to try to control his own appearance.

"The so-called dream, if explained by scientific principles, is nothing more than a biochemical reaction produced by synaptic activity in the brain. And since entering someone else's dream involves interference with their brain waves, according to the method of reductio ad absurdum, if it's all interference, then I logically should have the ability to alter my appearance in someone else's dream."

With this in mind, Zhang Yaoyang focused, attempting to communicate with his own subconscious. To his surprise, he found that his appearance had indeed distorted after entering Tang Ning's dream!

"Indeed, my speculation was correct!" Zhang Yaoyang's heart burned with excitement. After thinking for a moment, he had a sudden insight!

The next moment, his form dramatically changed. His skin began to decay, oozing pus, becoming pockmarked as if scorched by fire!

Simultaneously, a pitch-black top hat appeared on his head, his attire turned into a dirty red and green striped sweater, soaked with sticky pus. And on his right hand, an ugly glove made of metal materialized, adorned with sharp iron claws!

This appearance was none other than the infamous demon from Hollywood's "A Nightmare on Elm Street"—Freddy Krueger!

At the same time, a black dialogue box suddenly appeared before Zhang Yaoyang's eyes without warning. He noticed that the "Illusion Creation" value had automatically decreased slightly. However, a new ability was blinking in the ability section!

Illusion Creation: 2793

SAN (Sanity): 60

Abilities: Dream Detection (Novice), Dream Intrusion (Novice), Dream Disguise (Novice).

Dream Illusion: Not activated.

"Dream Disguise, is this a new ability I've acquired? Hehehe..." Zhang Yaoyang chuckled eerily, his voice now as hoarse as scraping metal against glass, incredibly discordant.

"Freddy, a demon from hell who can kill in dreams. How similar my abilities are to his?" Zhang Yaoyang muttered softly, satisfied as he looked at the blade on his right hand, whistling a tune, then turning to Tang Ning's dream, a faintly eerie smile playing on his lips.

"I~see~you!"

...

This time, Zhang Yaoyang saw in Tang Ning's dream a rather luxurious high-rise residential area.

The residential area was spacious, lush with greenery, neatly arranged with lawns and streetlights, and had its own underground parking lot, as evident from the absence of any cars parked outside.

However, being just a dream, the residential area appeared somewhat blurry upon closer inspection, like pieces of paper, with only the floor marked as B7 slightly clearer.

By now, Tang Ning had regained her usual appearance, lazily strolling out of the building towards the outer area of the residential complex.

"This should be the residential area where Tang Ning lives." Zhang Yaoyang's figure slowly emerged from the shadow of a building several tens of meters away, wearing a pensive expression. "How should I conduct the experiment this time?"

As Tang Ning hummed a tune while walking into the distance, Zhang Yaoyang suddenly had a thought. Suddenly, a faint mist began to envelop the entire residential area without warning, like the morning fog, obscuring visibility.

"Oh, fog?" At that moment, Tang Ning, who was walking in the residential area, was surprised by the appearance of the mist in her dream. However, she didn't dwell on it too much and continued walking. But as she took a few steps, she heard the singsong voice of a little girl.

"One, two, it will come looking for you."

"Three, four, lock your door tight."

"Five, six, hold onto your blanket..."

Tang Ning found it strange as she followed the sound. Through the mist, she could vaguely see three little girls, about seven or eight years old, wearing white dresses, skipping rope on the lawn several tens of meters away. Two of them swung the rope while the third jumped in the middle, the breeze causing their dresses to flutter, creating a scene reminiscent of a dream.

However, witnessing this scene, Tang Ning inexplicably felt a surge of unease, and as she walked, she watched the three little girls with growing suspicion. When she was about to reach them, she suddenly blinked, and the three girls disappeared before her eyes!

"Five, six, hold onto your blanket."

"Seven, eight, you'll stop breathing."

"Nine, ten, you'll struggle to sleep..."

"Giggles, laughter..."

Just as Tang Ning was puzzled, she heard the playful voices of the little girls behind her again. She quickly turned around but saw the three girls reappear several tens of meters behind her, still in the same playful posture, as if...

Nothing had changed at all.

The eerie nursery rhyme echoed slowly in Tang Ning's ears, but the more she listened, the more eerie it seemed, sending a bone-chilling coldness through her, causing goosebumps to rise uncontrollably.

"What the hell?" Tang Ning spat, not wanting to investigate further. Instead, she quickened her pace towards the exit of the residential area. After walking a distance, she looked back again, only to find that the three little girls, along with the eerie nursery rhyme, had disappeared, and even the inexplicable fog had vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, not far from Tang Ning, Zhang Yaoyang frowned as he watched the scene unfold before him.

"Consumed 10 Dreamcraft Points."

Just now, Zhang Yaoyang attempted to alter the other's dream again and immediately discovered his ability to interfere with the dream. However, the cost was quite substantial. After all, collecting a normal dream would only yield a few Dreamcraft Points, whereas interfering with someone else's dream would cost much more. It was a completely unprofitable deal.

However, since he was still in the experimental stage, Zhang Yaoyang shrugged it off. After all, experimentation sometimes required sacrifices. The effectiveness would ultimately depend on the final outcome.

At that moment, he saw Tang Ning had already left the gate of the residential area and was standing by the roadside, apparently trying to hail a taxi. Seeing this, Zhang Yaoyang shifted his focus and followed her out of the residential area. In a hidden spot, he once again used Dreamcraft Points. Suddenly, a taxi appeared out of nowhere in front of him.

"Now it gets interesting." Zhang Yaoyang chuckled as he opened the door and sat in the driver's seat, transforming into the appearance of a middle-aged man.

"It cost me 1 Dreamcraft Point to summon the taxi, but transforming into a driver didn't require additional expenditure. In other words, dream disguise only needs to be paid for once, allowing for various transformations."

Quietly noting this, Zhang Yaoyang drove off, pretending to have come from afar, heading towards Tang Ning's direction.