The sound in the corridor suddenly turned chilling. It was the sound of nails scraping across the floor, sharp and ear-piercing, as if it were scratching directly against the heart.
The sound grew closer, every beat like the countdown of death itself, pushing everyone's nerves to the breaking point.
Freddy had come.
That name screamed in everyone's mind, yet no one dared to make a sound.
Suddenly, the door of the anesthesia room was kicked open with a deafening crash. The noise echoed inside, making the silence even more unbearable.
Freddy appeared in the doorway. His tattered red-and-green sweater and black hat looked especially sinister under the dim light.
His gaze swept across the room before locking onto Yujin—the human he most wanted to kill.
Yujin's response was swift and decisive. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and thrust out the prepared anesthetic needles toward the people lying on the ground.
In an instant, everyone felt a sharp sting in their legs as the needles pierced their muscles.
Though the pain made their brows furrow, none dared to move. Not a single breath of resistance escaped them, for fear of drawing Freddy's attention.
They squeezed their eyes shut, forcing themselves into stillness, praying silently that this nightmare would soon end.
The tension in the room was unbearable. Each person could hear only their own ragged breaths and pounding heartbeats.
"Be ready to call them!" Yujin shouted, then charged straight at Freddy.
Freddy's eyes gleamed cruelly in the dim glow. Seeing Yujin rush toward him, he sneered inwardly.
This human must have lost his mind in despair, daring to face him head-on.
Without hesitation, Freddy raised his clawed hand, ready to deliver a fatal strike.
The blades sliced through the air, cold light flashing as they aimed straight for Yujin's eyes.
Freddy's face twisted into a gruesome grin. He was already imagining the sound of Yujin's agonized screams.
But just as the claws were about to connect, Yujin's body vanished. In his place stood an ordinary wooden log.
Freddy's claws slashed deep into the log with a dull thud, splintering it to pieces.
He froze for a moment—then felt a sudden, sharp discomfort from his back.
Behind him, Yujin's voice rang out.
"If it's that itchy, why not just scratch your own back with those claws?"
Freddy was furious.
With a snarl, it lunged at Yujin, claws slicing through the air.
But just at that critical moment, the people lying on the ground began to snore.
Freddy vanished without a trace.
Yujin raised his wrist and checked his watch. Ten minutes had already passed. If everything went smoothly tonight, then he had finally found a way to break the deadlock.
Inside the anesthesia room, Zheng Zha carried a basin of water, ready to splash it over the unconscious team members.
This step was the most crucial part of Yujin's plan—Zheng Zha was the key to waking everyone.
The plan was simple. Wake them up. Give them an injection to put them back to sleep. Repeat it all night long.
Whether they caught a cold or ended up covered in needle marks didn't matter. As long as they survived, nothing else mattered.
Just then, a sound echoed from the corridor outside.
It wasn't Freddy.
It was a guttural roar—something like a zombie.
Yujin's eyes narrowed as he glanced toward the hallway. Then he turned back to Zheng Zha with a faint smile.
"Good news or bad news—which do you want to hear first?"
Zheng Zha blinked, confused. "Good news?"
Yujin's hands flashed through seals, gathering chakra. "The good news is, your daughter came back to find you."
Zheng Zha froze. "And the bad news?"
"She's a ghost now."
Without wasting another word, Yujin finished the seals and thrust his hands forward.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A roaring sphere of flame shot down the corridor, engulfing everything in its path.
Zheng Zha's daughter—adorable once, but now twisted and clawing like a fiend—was swallowed by the inferno. In moments, she was nothing but blackened ash.
A crisp notification rang in Yujin's mind.
[Dream Slave Eliminated. Reward: 100 Points]
Yujin grinned, pleased. "Easier than killing a facehugger."
Zheng Zha stared at Yujin's back, his thoughts momentarily adrift.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw blood spreading across the chest of the old white man beside him—the husband of the team's Aunt.
Zheng Zha snapped out of his daze and quickly splashed the water from the basin onto the man's face.
The water drenched him, but the old man didn't stir.
His chest no longer rose and fell.
He was already gone.
The old man died in his dream.
Zheng Zha jolted in shock and hurriedly shouted to wake the others!
He shook everyone awake one after another, dragging them out of their nightmares. But just as he finished, Freddy suddenly appeared in the anesthesia room!
Feeling the sudden pressure behind him, Yujin, who was still struggling in the corridor against the dream-slaves born from the dead, cursed inwardly: "Damn it!"
"Swish!"
Freddy's claws stabbed straight at Zheng Zha!
Zheng Zha felt like a skewer of lamb, pierced through and lifted high into the air before being flung away by Freddy!
"Zheng Zha!"
Zhan Lan's scream of despair sent the others in the room into chaos. Terror spread instantly.
Nobody could even think about sleep anymore—everyone just wanted to run!
Run back home!
Even if it meant never sleeping again, anything was better than facing Freddy in reality.
The entire plan had collapsed!
This was Freddy—the nightmare demon who had nearly wiped out the Central Continent team in their later, almost fully prepared days!
Without considering human nature, Yujin's strategy might have worked.
But humanity is complicated, unpredictable!
Stealing victory in such a gamble—how could it be so easy?
Freddy, returned from the dream, rose like a devil resurrected from hell. At once, the slaughter began!
He cut down a newcomer and his wife and child as if he were chopping vegetables, splitting them clean in two!
Just as he moved toward his next target, Freddy's body suddenly vanished from the room.
He realized he had once again been dragged into someone else's dream!
Frowning, he scanned his surroundings and saw nothing but a vast, empty training ground.
Opposite him stood a girl, her chest wrapped in white bandages. For a brief second, their eyes locked.
Then Zhao Yingkong turned on her heels and bolted!
Her sudden flight even left Freddy momentarily stunned.
In the corridor, Yujin panted heavily as he clutched the communicator.
Freddy entering Zhao Yingkong's dream was his backup plan. When the situation in the hospital spun out of control, they could let Freddy enter the dream and let her fight him—a last resort insurance.
But it couldn't last. Zhao Yingkong could only hold him for less than a minute. The moment she was forced awake, Freddy would return and the slaughter would continue!
"Think. Think. What should I do…"
With his Gene Lock fully open, Yujin's brain spun at its peak speed.
"There must be a way… The Lord God wouldn't set us up with an unsolvable dead end!"
"Even in the Alien team battle, that bitch Mengyao still got an Xenomorph Queen! Why would Nightmare on Elm Street give us no chance at all?"
"What is it…"
Yujin flipped through the missions on his Reincarnation Watch.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
Picking up the communicator, Yujin urged Zhang Jie on the other end.
"Wake Zhao Yingkong! Leave Freddy to me! You guys head to the TV station, now!"
****
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