Chapter 290: The Game Begins_1

In the deep darkness, Bruce felt himself continually falling, the intense weightlessness and dizziness surrounding him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

His limbs and body were completely unresponsive, until this prolonged darkness and falling made him begin to feel dizzy, and he finally landed on the ground.

In an instant, Bruce regained consciousness.

Since the last incident, Bruce had set an alarm in his own consciousness, and as soon as he started dreaming, or rather as soon as someone tried to interfere with his dreams, he would immediately wake up. Now, Bruce quickly realized that he had entered a dream.

He looked down to see the black and gold intertwined floor beneath his feet, then he looked up—there were infinitely many floors above him.

The dull sound of his shoe hitting the floor echoed in his ears, Bruce turned around and saw the figure of Shiller.

The professor was dressed much as usual, wearing a long coat and necktie, only his head was a spinning globe.

"Professor..." Bruce squinted, remembering the words Shiller had said to him when they parted during the daytime.

"'Have a good dream' means you are coming to find me in a dream?"

"I'm sorry, Bruce, for entering your dream without your consent and dragging you here."

"But I still have to say... welcome to my Thought Palace."

Shiller stretched out his arms, showing everything to Bruce. Bruce looked at him and said, "Is this the High Tower that show up in my consciousness last time?"

"Yes, they've all visited, only you haven't, but obviously, your visit is going to be a bit different..."

"What?" Bruce asked.

"Others have bought round-trip tickets, but you only have a one-way ticket here. If you want to go back, you must climb to the top, otherwise you will be trapped here forever..."

"Really?"

Bruce looked up and snapped his fingers, suddenly, he sat up from the bed.

Since the last series of dreams, Bruce had set up a series of complex mechanisms in his brain so that he could immediately wake up if he was forced into a dream.

Just then, he heard a knock at his bedroom door, Shiller's voice sounded from outside the room: "You don't have to try to use the mechanism in your brain, it's a complete waste of your energy, because I haven't simply hypnotized you, I borrowed from the Sleep Demon, pull you directly into the dream, you won't be able to wake up..."

Bruce closed his eyes, instantly, the scene collapsed, he sat up from the bed again.

Shiller had already opened the bedroom door, standing in the doorway looking at him, Bruce fell back down again, and then sat up again, Shiller was still there.

Bruce frowned as he repeated the process of getting up, like doing sit-ups, but no matter how many times, Shiller was still standing at the door watching him.

After who knows how many times, Shiller knocked on the door frame, making a sound to attract Bruce's attention. He said, "If you can't understand this, then I'll tell you another way—this is part of a psychology class assignment..."

But Bruce completely ignored him, still trying to wake up, even though the repeated mental stimulation had already made his face pale and his body covered in cold sweat.

Batman's personality meant that he could never trust anyone, nor let anyone casually peek into and manipulate his dreams.

Shiller said to him, "Stop."

Bruce paused for a moment and turned to look at Shiller, only to see the professor's face turning gradually cold.

Shiller looked into his eyes and said, "Bruce, you've been in my class for so long, why don't you understand..."

Bruce looked into his eyes without saying a word, then he heard Shiller's voice drop:

"...In my class, no one gets away without doing homework."

As his words died away, his figure disappeared, and the next second, another horrifying figure appeared in front of Bruce's bedroom door—he was wearing a red and green striped sweater, one of his hands held a sharp iron claw, his skin resembled burned and peeled red muscle, and a horrifying cackle emitted from his mouth.

Bruce didn't even get a clear look at his movements before he felt the sharp blade on his fingers piercing his chest. In the real-like intense pain, he woke up from the dream once again.

And this time, standing outside his bedroom door, was a man in black, wearing a white mask and holding daggers. More importantly, he even had his own entrance music— when the heartbeat-like "dun dun dun" sound started, Bruce rolled under the bed avoiding the cold shining dagger, then elbowed this tall assassin in the knee from the side, but in the end, he still didn't avoid the dagger.

When Bruce sat up from the bed again, he instantly rolled off the bed, and this time, the figure outside his door was a man wearing a hockey mask and wielding a huge machete.

This time, Bruce was able to successfully harm him with a sharp candlestick plunged into his chest, but unfortunately, this only made him step back a couple of steps, and then swung his machete again, aiming for Bruce.

After he woke up again, the figure in front of him was a terrifying serial killer, sewing human skin onto his face, and holding a chainsaw...

This time, Bruce didn't choose to fight him. Instead, he threw a handful of glass shards before jumping out of the window into the rainy night in Gotham.

When he hit the ground, he looked up to see a lightning bolt streaking across the night sky. In the short-lived brightness, he could see the giant tower standing in the center of the city, silent like a black giant.

At this moment, he heard Shiller's voice ringing in his ears:

"Bruce, initially, I just wanted you to climb stairs in my Thought Palace. For a rookie vigilante, it's the best way to build up willpower and cognitive ability."

"You could take your time, climbing just one floor each night, a little bit of easy homework. You would have had at least two years to complete a long-term task."

"But now, Bruce, you're trying to evade doing homework, so I am forced to use a less humane method ..."

"I'm going to make sure every naughty child who refuses to do their homework knows what the consequences are... Let the game begin, Bruce."

In the end, Shiller's tone was colder than the rainy night in Gotham. Meanwhile, Bruce glanced over to see another bolt of lightning illuminate the dark alley at the entrance of Wayne Manor—

The man in the white mask, wielding the dagger, was briskly striding towards him; the creature wearing a striped sweater, with a metal claw for a hand, was perched atop the wall, laughing at him; the sound of the chainsaw was getting louder, and when the machete swung towards him, Bruce barely had a chance to see his movements before darkness overtook him again.

This time, Bruce didn't wake up back in his bed, instead, he returned to the entrance of Wayne Manor, where the terrifying murderers were still waiting for him.

Bruce was unarmed, and there was nothing else he could use. He'd have to fight all four of them off barehanded.

Bruce noticed, beyond the alley, countless pairs of dreadful eyes were fixed on him in the deeper darkness of Gotham.

The rain in Gotham became heavier, following the slender rain threads up, beyond the thick clouds, there was a ceiling covered with stars.

Further up from the ceiling, were the seats of a theater. Evans, who was leaning on his chair, shivered, turned around, crossed his chest and said to Shiller, "Professor, I swear I never missed doing homework! I always did my work diligently! I swear..."

Cobblepot swallowed, he was considering crossing off Gotham University from his list of prospective universities. Victor touched his temples, turned to Shiller, and said, "This is a dream, right?"

"Those killers you fabricated were rather interesting, each with distinctive features, and seemingly following their own behavioural logic..."

"...Wait, it was fabricated, right?"