"Y-you're a system?" Dean asked, staring at the man who was now standing tall, twirling his cane in front of him.
The man, who called himself Nightmare System (NS), looked at Dean, his face serious. Then he rolled his eyes as if Dean's question was completely pointless and too tiring to answer.
"Where do you think you are right now? You're in my world, the Nightmare World," he said, gesturing around.
Dean looked around. Everything was still black and white and unmoving. But suddenly, the surroundings changed. He was still lying in the same spot, but the whole room became "alive," like he was inside the belly of a giant beast with pulsing, veiny flesh walls.
He also saw Zack moving again, but his form was unclear and ugly. Then, Dean stood up and looked at the scary man in front of him, who was also looking back, twirling his cane.
"So... do you want to work and live... or die, because you won't survive if you go back to your world... or become my collection?" NS asked.
"Die? What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"As you can see, you're in my world, the Nightmare World. (He pointed to Dean's body with his cane) In the real world, you're dying there, and as soon as you go back, you'll go straight into your body and die. And since you didn't pay me, consider the revenge you just saw a mere delusion in the mind of someone facing death, not real. Hmm I guess you have a hard time deciding. Come with me," NS said casually with a sly smile.
NS led Dean through the cell wall to look outside. After passing through the wall, NS's cane pulled Dean's hand and lifted them high into the air. Then they saw the city around the prison.
Dean's eyes widened because the city looked utterly destroyed, like a post-apocalyptic scene after a huge nuclear war, even though he recognized it as his own city. All the buildings were ruined and dark, the roads cracked, cars burned, making everything look like hell.
Dean could see people walking on the broken roads, some sheltering near burning cars to keep warm. Dean saw a huge moon hanging in the sky, seemingly unmoving, as if it was always night. There were no clouds, no wind, just chilling cold.
"This... what is all this?" Dean stammered.
"This is my world, the Nightmare World," NS replied.
"Those people... do they live in this world?" Dean asked, pointing to a crowd gathered around a large burning barrel, stretching their hands towards the fire.
"They're not people. They are souls of people, or perhaps, more accurately, reflections of human souls in the real world," NS said.
"Huh... soul reflections?" Dean asked.
"Yes. If you become my collection, you'll live here with me, forever," NS replied, turning to look at Dean with his sly face.
Dean suddenly got goosebumps. He turned back to look at the crowd, squinting because they were so far away. He just realized that not everyone in the crowd was human. Some were terrifying, zombie-like figures, which shocked Dean when he noticed them.
"H-hey, why are there zombies too, and worse than in movies?" Dean asked, pointing at the crowd.
"Hmm, they are reflections of human souls too, as I said. Some are rotten, some are good, some are black, and some are white," NS replied.
"So that's what you mean?" Dean asked.
"Everyone there exists in the real world. They are a representation of their souls, not my collection. My world is a reflection of the real world, or more accurately, the nightmare world of the real world, hohoho," NS explained.
"Then if I work for you, what do I have to do?" Dean asked.
"You'll work as my agent. You find people who want revenge and carry out their revenge through the dream world, just like I just did to your 'friend'," NS answered.
"Huh... Alex? He's not my friend... what did you do to him?" Dean asked.
"You saw it in the show earlier, right? Black smoke went into his body. That was me. In an instant, he experienced a nightmare that destroyed his soul and he died. Then I took over his body and said all that to your ex-wife. It was truly enjoyable, hohoho," NS said.
"A nightmare while conscious?" Dean asked, confused.
"Yes. I made him feel like he was you and his other victims... oh, by the way, you weren't his only victim. There were his college friends, his ex-girlfriends, and even his former in-laws. You didn't know he was married and divorced before, did you? Once you go inside him, you'll know what to do and make him feel what he did to his victims. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough, and halfway through, he chose to be destroyed, hohoho," NS said casually, twirling his cane.
"Huh... how is that possible?" Dean asked, bewildered.
NS looked at Dean, his cane once again linked to Dean's hand, lifting Dean closer to a woman walking on the sidewalk. Dean gasped because the woman looked like a bloody zombie, with melting flesh and wounds all over her body, but her clothes were a beautiful, expensive designer dress, and she carried a designer bag. She wore a smartwatch on her arm and a gold necklace around her neck. "Thump!" NS hit Dean's lower back with his cane, pushing Dean forward.
Dean immediately turned to look at NS, confused, but NS raised his cane as if telling Dean to touch the shoulder of the zombie woman walking in front of him. Dean reached out and touched the zombie woman's shoulder, and a red hologram screen appeared in front of Dean, showing "the life of a woman named Helen." It turned out Helen had just given birth and "sold" her baby to a rich couple because she didn't want the baby, and immediately went shopping with the money the rich couple gave her.
Dean lifted his hand, and the screen disappeared. Then he turned to look at NS, who was smiling behind him, twirling his cane.
"That woman is still alive in the world?" Dean asked.
"Of course. As I said, why does she look bad here? Because in the real world, she did bad things, even if it's not visible from the outside. Understand?" NS asked.
"So... so what you just did to Alex...?" Dean asked.
"I approached Alex in this world and immediately destroyed him here as soon as I saw his 'live stream' like you just saw, and made him feel what his victims felt. Then I went to the real world and entered his body through his ear to create that murder drama scene. Understand?" NS replied.
Dean nodded, showing he understood and realizing that this man named NS in front of him was truly terrifying.
"Then you said if I become a collection, I'd live in this world, right? Where?" Dean asked.
"Click!" NS snapped his fingers. Everything suddenly went dark. Then "boom!" everything became bright again, but they had moved. They were now in an office with many employees working non-stop in front of their laptops, computers, and desks.
Their faces all looked extremely tired, their bodies skinny like mummies, so their clothes looked too big, and their eyes were large but with dark circles underneath, as if they hadn't slept for days. They all wore tight black collars with NS's wide-smiling face emblem around their necks.
"They are all my collection, working for me to manage this world, hohoho," NS said, spreading his arms and proudly raising his cane.
"Huh... they're... like office workers who work more than 100 hours a week," Dean said.
"Exactly. They won't stop working and will continue to serve this world. So, which one do you want? To die? To become a collection and work here forever? Or to work for me as my agent and pay off your debt?" NS asked, looking at Dean with a terrifying stare and a cynical smile.
Dean turned to look at NS, his face full of hesitation. Then he looked at the office workers in front of him and immediately decided he didn't want to be like them. He seemed to be thinking hard about his decision.
"Come on, decide quickly. I don't have a lot of free time," NS urged cynically.
"But... why me? Why do they work like that, and you're giving me an offer?" Dean asked.
NS sighed, then looked back at Dean. "Thump!" He tapped his cane on the floor, and they immediately returned to the cell, startling Dean half to death.
"The reason I'm offering you a job is because you're special. You're a very rare soul," NS said.
"Me... special?" Dean asked, surprised.