Chapter 5: Dream Rules and Nihility State

"Special Affairs Group, Zhou Zixiu"

After writing these words on the blackboard, Zhou Zixiu smiled, "I know that many of you have questions. Please be patient and we will explain them one by one."

"First, what is the Special Affairs Group."

"This is an official organization specifically established for the Dream World, tasked with dealing with all situations related to the Dream World."

"Although it was established only yesterday, please trust our professionalism." Zhou Zixiu tapped the blackboard, "Now, I will solve the mysteries related to the Dream World for everyone."

He casually pulled out a USB drive, inserted it into the multimedia host in the classroom, and quickly opened a PowerPoint presentation.

"Firstly, the dangers of the Dream World." Zhou Zixiu paused slightly, "As of now, there have been 168 domestic cases of death caused by the Dream World."

Amidst the murmurs of the students below, Zhou Zixiu changed his tone, "However, these 168 deaths involved elderly individuals with severe underlying medical conditions, where pain and panic caused by dying in the Dream World led to sudden cardiac arrests or cerebral hemorrhages."

"Through our observations and verifications, dying in the Dream World itself does not directly cause death or injury in reality."

"Therefore, we recommend that elderly individuals with conditions like heart disease adjust their daily schedules to avoid sleeping times from overlapping with the opening times of the Dream World."

"We have already sent people to each household to conduct educational sessions. If you have such elderly individuals at home, remember to encourage them to adjust their schedules."

Hearing this, the classroom quieted down, and many students breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, they really thought that the Dream World could directly cause real death.

Fortunately, that was not the case.

"Next, issues related to the entry into the Dream World." Zhou Zixiu paused again, "Yesterday's text was not detailed enough, and we have attempted further verification on some finer details."

"Firstly, the timing of entry into the Dream World."

"Between midnight and eight o'clock, falling asleep at any time will lead you into the Dream World; if you fall asleep before midnight, you will enter the Dream World at midnight."

"But!" Zhou Zixiu emphasized, "There is an issue you need to be aware of."

"If you only enter the Dream World at one o'clock, then between midnight and one o'clock, your body in the Dream World could be at risk."

"Yesterday was everyone's first entry into the Dream World, similar to creating a new game account, which being delayed had no impact, but tonight, having already created an account, a delayed entry could pose unknown risks."

"What specific risks might arise will be verified tonight, and results will be communicated at the earliest."

"Before the verification results are out, we suggest that everyone sleep before midnight and not delay."

"That..." Zhang Yangwang raised his hand, and after Zhou Zixiu nodded, he stood up to speak, "If we just awaken the person who entered the Dream World last night and let them re-enter an hour later, wouldn't that verify the effects of delayed entry?"

"As we could have verified last night, why wait until tonight?" Zhang Yangwang's words hid a sting, obviously frustrated with the man in front of him.

"You are very thoughtful." Zhou Zixiu saw through Zhang Yangwang's mischief but didn't take it to heart, "We, of course, thought of this method."

"This leads to the second point I want to discuss." His gaze swept around the room, sensing the importance of what he was about to say, "Once you enter the Dream World, you cannot exit before the portal closes."

"You might have noticed, after entering the Dream World, there is no option to exit, the only way out is waiting until the portal closes at eight o'clock."

"We tested the possibility of forceful exits through external triggers." Zhou Zixiu opened a video from the PowerPoint at this point.

The video showed a high-tech laboratory environment, empty except for a hard bed with a man lying on it.

The top-left corner of the video displayed the time, starting at 00:00:00.

"The test begins."

Soon, another man appeared in the video. Under the tense gaze of the audience, he started making loud noises, trying to awaken the man, with a decibel meter displaying the current volume level.

Even when the noise reached 120 decibels – equivalent to sitting in the front row at a concert – the sleeping man showed no response.

After the noise test concluded, the tester pressed a button and the bed below the sleeping man began to shake violently, as if there was an earthquake.

However, even in such a test environment, the man showed no signs of waking up.

"Damn...sleeping so soundly?" Xiao Pang couldn't help but mutter softly, "Might as well just pull his bed away."

Qin Chuan: "..."

Act like a person!

But the next moment, he was dumbfounded.

The classroom erupted with exclamations.

Because the tester really started to pull away the bed.

Even more astonishing was that after the bed was pulled away, the sleeping man didn't fall to the ground as everyone expected; instead, he continued to sleep in midair, maintaining his original posture.

The tester in the video seemed stunned by this scene, clearly enough to utter a very distinct "What the hell."

After regaining his composure a moment later, the tester reached out a hand to touch the man's shoulder, attempting to shake his body.

Under the watchful eyes of all, the tester's hand just passed right through the man's shoulder.

The classroom erupted with shouts again.

With the progress bar on the video still less than half, everyone realized that things were probably not so simple.

Sewing needles, daggers, swords, handguns, flamethrowers...

When the video ended with a rocket blowing the entire laboratory apart and the man's body remaining unharmed, everyone's expressions had turned numb.

Sure enough, that tester must have had a grudge against the sleeping man.

"This is the state you are in after entering the Dream World." Zhou Zixiu had already seen this video, but his lips still twitched slightly at this moment, "We have termed this the Nihility State."

"As you saw, in the Nihility State, besides being visible, those who have entered the Dream World behave as if they do not exist in this world and cannot be awakened."

"Hence, there's only one way to wake up midway through the Dream World."

"Die in the Dream World, resetting the account."

Zhou Zixiu glanced at Zhang Yangwang, smiling slightly, "This is why the method you suggested couldn't be done, and verification can only be conducted tonight."

Zhang Yangwang silently sat down.

Qin Chuan, having watched the entire video, also couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at this moment.

The Nihility State significantly enhanced the safety of entering the Dream World.