3 SAN values
Boom!
A thunderous roar, like a mighty dragon, snaked down from the sky, bursting with dazzling light, then quickly faded away!
In the midst of this thunderous sound, Zhang Yaoyang suddenly opened his eyes, springing up greedily gasping for breath!
"It's a dream! It must be a dream!"
Shaking all over, his eyes bloodshot with disbelief and fear, Zhang Yaoyang was drenched in sweat.
It took him several minutes to catch his breath. As he regained consciousness, something seemed to click in his mind, and he looked abruptly towards the table beside him.
On the table, the grotesque figurine lay still, not coming to life as it did in his dream.
"Phew!"
At this moment, Zhang Yaoyang finally breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a bitter smile.
That dream was just too real...
He had never experienced such a vivid dream before. Usually, dreams were chaotic, one moment you might be dreaming of picking up gems from the ground, and the next, those gems turned into stones without you noticing anything wrong.
Generally speaking, dreams lacked logic, let alone the kind of eerie, indistinguishable dreams he just had.
Could it be because of lucid dreaming?
Shaking his head, Zhang Yaoyang had attempted lucid dreaming a few times before, even studying tutorials online, but mostly failed. Besides, even with lucid dreaming, it was rare to have such a vivid and logical dream.
"In the end, it's just dreams reflecting thoughts."
Shaking his head again, he glanced at the figurine once more, but this time, he thought he saw a flash of red light in its eyes.
"An illusion?" Zhang Yaoyang quickly rubbed his eyes, looking again, but the figurine remained unchanged. Perhaps it was just his imagination.
Shrugging it off, he no longer dwelled on it, checking the time on his phone. It was already 3 a.m., the dormitory dark and quiet, except for Liu Yang's snoring.
Another wave of drowsiness hit him, and after plugging in his phone to charge, Zhang Yaoyang went back to sleep.
In a haze, Zhang Yaoyang felt as if a vague barrier had appeared before him, like a phantom created by countless intersecting rays of light, constantly shifting in hues of brightness and darkness. However, he had already slipped into a light slumber, paying no attention whatsoever to the barrier before him.
After an indeterminate amount of time, perhaps several minutes had passed, or maybe just a few seconds, when Zhang Yaoyang regained consciousness, he was astonished to find himself standing before the same ambiguous barrier.
This barrier seemed endless, its length and height impossible to gauge, with dreamlike lights flickering incessantly, seemingly encompassing all phenomena of the world, utterly divorced from reality!
In that moment, Zhang Yaoyang suddenly realized - he was still dreaming!
This was... the rumored "Dream Screen"!
Recalling his knowledge of lucid dreaming, he quickly remembered - during his studies of lucid dreaming, he had indeed learned of two methods of entering dreams: one was "knowing within the dream," and the other was "dream screen entry."
The so-called "dream screen" was actually a product of subconscious activity.
When a person closes their eyes, the subconscious gradually becomes active. Everyone experiences something similar - when on the verge of sleep, the mind often conjures up vague or extremely bizarre hallucinations, the mischief of the subconscious.
And the so-called "dream screen entry" is maintaining a trace of lucidity when these hallucinations appear in one's mind. When these hallucinations gradually solidify and form the so-called "dream screen," it indicates a successful entry into the dream.
"Is this thing the dream screen?" Zhang Yaoyang gently reached out his hand. Although he had been observing the dream screen from a third-person perspective, as soon as he entertained the thought of reaching out, his entire body materialized, shifting from a third-person to a first-person perspective.
With a slight touch, as his fingers made contact with the dream screen, it was as if a calm lake had suddenly been disturbed by a stone, creating ripples that spread outwards.
However, Zhang Yaoyang did not retract his hand. Instead, he extended his entire arm into the dream screen, experiencing a sensation akin to dipping his hand into cool stream water, thoroughly enjoyable.
Since the dream screen was originally intangible, once Zhang Yaoyang confirmed that it wouldn't hinder him, he hesitated no longer and stepped right in.
Instantly, the scene before his eyes flashed, and he found himself back in the previously pitch-black, dimly lit expanse of the sea, still aboard the yacht.
"Another Clear Dream?"
This time, armed with experience, Zhang Yaoyang didn't panic. He took a deep breath and silently recalled the various precautions for a Clear Dream.
1. In a dream, suddenly realizing that one is dreaming is known as lucid dreaming, which is what Clear Dreams are all about.
2. During a Clear Dream, because the subjective consciousness is not fully awake, it is easy to fall back into a normal dream and forget that one is dreaming. Therefore, a signal is needed to remind oneself, such as checking the fingers or pinching the nose.
3. If the dream feels too real and even checking the fingers or pinching the nose doesn't work, one should create a "totem," like the spinning top in "Inception." Since dreams have no inertia, the totem would keep spinning indefinitely, serving as a reminder of the dream state and preventing confusion with reality.
However, Zhang Yaoyang couldn't help but feel that his current dream was different from the typical Clear Dream.
After all, his dream was too real and stable, just like those experienced Clear Dreamers online, where the dream formed its own world, completely unlike the unstable dreams of a novice.
Moreover, considering the monster he had dreamt about before, the bizarre figurine, and Li Dazhuang's death...
Several events connected, making Zhang Yaoyang feel that nothing was as simple as it seemed.
Extraordinary occurrences often have extraordinary causes, he thought.
He looked around and confirmed that the giant monster was not there. He then began to explore the old yacht he was on.
The yacht looked somewhat dilapidated, but it was quite large, about thirteen meters long and nearly four meters wide, resembling a small cruise ship. It had two decks, and at the moment, the cabin door was open, revealing the interior, which looked like his own dorm room.
He walked slowly through the door. The room was empty, except for the eerie figurine with its tentacles wriggling and its eyes glowing red.
"What are you, exactly?" Zhang Yaoyang reached out hesitantly towards the figurine, but to his surprise, it seemed to leap into his hand, assuming a pleasing posture.
At the same time, a system interface appeared in his mind!
The interface was bright black, like the color of a night sky, and it displayed several lines of text that were completely unfamiliar!
The fonts looked like a combination of cuneiform and oracle bone script, but at first glance, Zhang Yaoyang seemed to understand the meaning of each character.
It read:
Creation: 2778.
SAN: 90.
Abilities: Dream Detection (Primary), Dream Invasion (Primary).
Dreamscape: Not Opened.
Looking at these few lines, Zhang Yaoyang fell silent.
"So, the giant monster from before wasn't just my imagination in a dream, but some kind of real existence?"
A sense of absurdity rushed into his mind, as if his worldview of twenty years had been instantly shattered. He took a deep breath and glanced at the interface again, but when he blinked, he noticed that the number behind "Creation" had suddenly flickered.
Creation: 2779.
What's going on?
Zhang Yaoyang looked again, and it wasn't his imagination. The number behind "Creation" had indeed increased slightly!
Could it be that this "Creation" value is constantly rising? And what about the abilities of 'Dream Detection' and 'Dream Invasion'?
He looked pensive. Suddenly, as if on impulse, he silently repeated the words 'Dream Detection.' The next moment, the dim seawater around him began to surge!
Giant waves churned relentlessly. Zhang Yaoyang staggered, quickly looking out of the cabin, only to see the heavy black clouds above dispersing, revealing two enormous objects that looked like planets!
No, not planets!
The two enormous orbs, resembling stars, turned out to be two Dream Screens!
Zhang Yaoyang was deeply shocked. He could sense that these Dream Screens were emitting continuous fluctuations, causing ripples in his perception as if summoning his arrival!
This was an unprecedented phenomenon compared to his previous experiences entering dreams. Subconsciously, he began moving towards the direction of the emanating waves.
As soon as the thought of 'walking' occurred to him, the scenery around Zhang Yaoyang suddenly changed, and he found himself instantly transported right in front of one of these Dream Screens!
"This isn't my Dream Screen!" Zhang Yaoyang gasped, his voice trembling.
This Dream Screen emitted a peculiar resonance, one that even felt somewhat familiar. As Zhang Yaoyang concentrated, he gradually sensed the presence of his roommate, Liu Yang, and in an instant, a profound realization dawned upon him!
This is... my roommate Liu Yang's Dream Screen!
Zhang Yaoyang's heart pounded violently. He had never imagined that Clear Dreams possessed such incredible power, capable of bridging across individuals' thoughts, allowing one's dream world to enter another's dream world!
Wasn't this the dream connectivity theory that Clear Dream masters had been researching online for years?