The pocket watch in Professor Matsuura's hand began to swing rhythmically. Its metal casing reflected the fluorescent light, beaming into Amamiya Rin's pupils, which followed the watch's rotation in tandem.
"Watch this swinging motion... very good. Your eyelids are becoming heavy, and your breathing is slowing down... yes, just like that. But your heart remains lucid, more lucid than ever before."
Professor Matsuura's voice became lower and more distant, as if coming from the ends of the earth, yet also echoing directly in the depths of Amamiya Rin's heart.
"You will fall asleep, but your consciousness will remain awake. In the Dream World, you are the center. What you see, what you hear, what you sense... all is shaped by your will."
"Everything in the dream is false; only your will is real. You are the master of the dream. In the Dream World, you are absolutely safe. Nothing can harm you..."
"..."
Gradually, Amamiya Rin felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, and the scenery before him began to blur.
He didn't know how much time had passed before ear-piercing alarms, explosions, and terrified screams startled him awake.
Amamiya Rin fell into a trance, only to find himself standing in the middle of a chaotic street.
As far as the eye could see, it was a mess.
A dozen cars had crashed into each other at odd angles. The friction of metal had ignited leaking gasoline, and the raging fire formed a high wall, cutting off the street while billowing thick smoke rose into the sky.
People scattered like headless flies, their screams and cries rising and falling in waves. Walking dead with ashen skin wove through the chaotic crowd, emitting meaningless rasps from their mouths. After pouncing on the fleeing living, they opened their bloody maws to tear and bite into fresh human flesh.
"Resident Evil?"
Looking at the scenery around him, Amamiya Rin spoke, and in the next moment, he realized that he seemed to be able to control his body.
He lifted his hand and clenched his fist, feeling his body was unusually heavy.
But he could move! He could move according to his own will!
"Sure enough! Hypnosis is useful!"
Amamiya Rin waved his arm in excitement, smiling uncontrollably.
He remembered a certain manga by Junji Ito where a genius hypnotist hypnotized a capitalist. The effect continued even after the capitalist died and became a ghost.
Sure enough, in this bizarre world, even Hypnosis was surreal!
While Amamiya Rin was still immersed in the joy of his plan's perfect execution, a gust of wind carrying a rotten stench blew into his face.
Several zombies with hideous features stumbled forward. Despite their gait, their speed was not slow at all as they pounced from the front.
Amamiya Rin's expression shifted slightly. Subconsciously, he wanted to dodge to the side, but his body felt as heavy as lead. Between the thought arising and the action following, there was a delay of more than a beat.
Even his attempt to construct the thought "these zombies do not exist" in his mind was like a stone sinking into the ocean; the Dream World remained unchanged.
As expected, Professor Matsuura's Hypnosis had only allowed him to awaken from the Nightmare, but it hadn't truly allowed him to turn the Nightmare into his home turf.
After all, the [Long Dream] was not his personal dream.
Amamiya Rin could faintly sense five other consciousnesses. The five people connected by the [Khala] were also in this Dream World. This Dream World was constructed by the spirits of the six of them; Amamiya Rin was not the sole master of the dream.
However, even if Amamiya Rin were the only one dreaming, he didn't feel he could control the dream.
Although Professor Matsuura's Hypnosis was impressive, it was still limited to human technology, and the [Long Dream] was obviously not something a human brain could construct.
To completely control the Nightmare, perhaps he would need that unnamed genius hypnotist to step in?
"Even so... I don't want to be bitten by zombies! Can someone save me?"
Amamiya Rin stood frozen in place. He already had thoughts of giving up—it was a dream anyway. But his resistance to becoming food for zombies made him pray from the bottom of his heart for someone to come and save the day.
Almost at the same instant this thought flashed by—
Bang!
A muffled sound echoed. The anticipated pain did not arrive; only a few drops of warm, viscous liquid splattered onto Amamiya Rin's face.
He snapped back to reality, only to see the head of the zombie in front of him explode like a smashed watermelon. The headless body swayed before crashing heavily to the ground.
Standing beside the corpse was a beautiful girl holding a Wooden sword.
Her long purple hair was strikingly conspicuous amidst the firelight and smoke, fluttering slightly with her movements. The hills on her chest heaved like pudding. The tall, slender girl had a cold, beautiful face and wore a white school uniform. Her Wooden sword remained in a downward swinging posture, the blade stained with red and white filth.
"Are you alright, Rin-kun?"
The purple-haired girl slowly lowered her Wooden sword and turned her head to look at Amamiya Rin.
"Saeko Busujima?"
Amamiya Rin's pupils gradually dilated as he shouted the name of the girl before him in shock.
"What is it? Rin-kun?"
The purple-haired girl tilted her head, confused by Amamiya Rin's exaggerated reaction.
It was Amamiya Rin who should be confused.
He absolutely could not be mistaken. The beautiful girl before him was none other than the heroine of Highschool of the Dead, Saeko Busujima!
But why would Saeko Busujima appear here? And acting as if she were very familiar with him?
"Could it be... the influence of my will on the dream?"
Amamiya Rin reacted quickly.
Just as Professor Matsuura had said, dreams come from the dreamer's will, or rather, the dreamer's cognition.
The things in the Dream World were all evolved from Amamiya Rin's subconscious. Since it was a zombie world, Amamiya Rin's subconscious would definitely think of Leon and Ada Wong. If it were a Japanese setting, he would inevitably think of Saeko Busujima.
Under Professor Matsuura's targeted Hypnosis, although Amamiya Rin could not yet manipulate the dream, this dream definitely had safety mechanisms.
When he desperately needed protection, the sudden appearance of Saeko Busujima was obviously his safety mechanism.
"This is truly... fantastic!"
Amamiya Rin began to feel that living in the Dream World might actually be quite nice.
After all, the Junji Ito worldview had too many world-ending crises.
The Hanging Balloons, an unsolvable apocalyptic urban legend.
Hellstar Remina, based on the judgment star of Cthulhu mythology, an unsolvable natural disaster.
Gyo, cursed bacteria, an unsolvable apocalyptic urban legend.
I Am a Hero: Spin-off, a side story drawn by Junji Ito for I Am a Hero, featuring a biohazard-type apocalyptic disaster similar to Highschool of the Dead.
The Village of Spirit Music, where a demon god from underground transforms women into demons.
Uzumaki, an unsolvable curse that transcends the planet and can twist the galaxy.
Army of One, where humans commit mass suicide.
"Rin-kun?"
Saeko Busujima reached out to touch Amamiya Rin's forehead, her gaze revealing a look of worry.
Her slightly cool fingers touched Amamiya Rin's forehead, pulling him back to reality from his chaotic thoughts.
____
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