Upon learning the origin of where the supposed dark tower came from, Jonathan knew that the collapse of realities could affect his world, and that worried him.
Now he not only needed to focus on the dark entities, but also remain alert to the Crimson King, who is the main antagonist and the embodiment of chaos in The Dark Tower saga.
As the ruler of End-World and the greatest enemy of Roland Deschain, he seeks to destroy the Dark Tower in order to plunge all universes into the darkness of the Prim.
Jonathan knew the Prim well; it is the primordial chaotic void, the "darkness behind everything," existing before time and matter.
It is the source of chaos and magic from which the entity Gan and the Tower itself emerged, serving as the home of demons that seek to destroy existence.
If that existed in Jonathan's reality, he had no idea what would happen in the future.
"In our dreams, we know that we weren't the only ones who connected through dreams, because at midnight, just before going to sleep, we join together in the dream and see a door."
"This door takes us to a tower with no exit that is hidden within dreams, and with each passing day, the dreams inside the tower become more real. We— all of us— didn't believe in something so childish…"
"So you wanted to find out more?" Jonathan's expression became serious.
He truly didn't know what these young people were thinking. It was true that if he were in their position, he might have been influenced by his friends to practice something so terrifying.
However, now, with the recent outbreaks of dark entities, it was unimaginable that one could exist within the dreams of those who had summoned it.
Simply by the fact that if this were real, the way the church and any special organization dedicated to eliminating dark entities around the world would view this would change drastically.
As for the young people, it was only about finding their friends; they wanted to venture into things they did not understand. And they, in their naivety, did not know that they had summoned a dark entity in their dreams.
Now, knowing all this, the world was becoming absurd.
"Tell me the details," Jonathan said as he paid close attention.
Elizabeth nodded and continued, "The way to enter the tower voluntarily is very simple. First, only those of us who want to start in the same place inside the tower must be alone in a room. Then, the lights have to be turned off at that moment. When the lights are off, everyone should have a candle in their left hand."
"A mirror is needed to enter the tower. Since I have a huge full-length mirror in my house, everyone can stand in front of it at the same time. We all stood in front of the mirror and waited for midnight to arrive."
"Two minutes before midnight, one of the candles in a friend's hand suddenly went out, so we helped him find a match to light it again."
"Just as we lit his candle, we turned around and saw a black figure."
"That figure wasn't frightening at all. No matter how we looked at it, at that moment we felt that everything was fine. The figure in the mirror extended its hand and handed us the balloon. My friend—the one who wanted to know where his best friend's family was—accepted the balloon cautiously… Then, the one holding the balloon realized that it had turned into a human head. Blood stained his hand, and shortly afterward he lost consciousness."
"The doll told us that it wanted to play a game with us. If we failed, our friend who had lost consciousness would die in a horrible way."
"It made each of us take a candle and hide in the complex before coming to look for us. The paper in our hands is the key to entering the tower. However, when all of us were hidden, no one came to look for us."
"Only… after some time, we all began to have dreams in which we appeared inside the tower. At first it was only for a few hours; the hours turned into days, and when finally no one could leave the tower, we would have to look for the exit in our dreams in order to wake up."
That was Elizabeth's story.
She took the paper out of her pocket.
The faceless figure standing at the door was obviously an omnipotent being.
"At that moment, all of us were scared out of our minds and hid in the residential building. However, it didn't find us in the residence; that figure searches for us in our dreams. The figure found three of our companions. Later, we discovered that as long as we had this piece of paper, that doll could appear at any moment!"
Jonathan held the piece of paper and gently slid his finger over it.
It seemed that the paper was infused with resentment, hatred, and malice.
This so-called figure did not seem as simple as it appeared. It should be a very troublesome dark entity.
"The three companions who were found by the figure were never able to wake up again and are now in a coma."
"We were all terrified. We didn't want to sleep, so we gathered at a hotel under the excuse of helping each other stay awake… However, days later I received news that my parents and my younger sister…" With a trembling voice, Elizabeth spoke through tears and anguish.
"However, my parents and my younger sister… both were found unconscious in the living room of our house. Their bodies were intact, and there were no traces of any drugs or toxic substances that could have caused their indefinite sleep."
"However, it was discovered that inside my parents' brains…"
"The bodies were intact, with no problems or signs of injury. But according to the medical examinations, it was discovered that they had suffered brain death…"
At this point, Elizabeth paused, as if she could no longer speak.
Resisting nausea and fear, Elizabeth said in a low voice, "Their brains were damaged. Maybe the figure punished me for not entering the tower. There were some words written in blood on the table in the hospital room where they died."
"They couldn't escape."
"My younger sister is still alive, but she won't last long. I wanted to enter the tower to find her… but the place is too big. I couldn't find her no matter how hard I tried to search."
"Today we discovered that one of our companions who was still in a coma suddenly died. Our school had already suspended classes at that time, so everyone had returned home. When he died, his entire body was covered with traces of torture, including signs of struggle on his knuckles. According to the forensic examination, the cause of death was shock. Until now, no one knows what he experienced inside the tower."
After hearing all that, Jonathan nodded.
He had basically listened to everything clearly. According to what he understood, the dark entity did not limit itself to attacking only those who had summoned it. On the contrary, it attacked Elizabeth's parents and younger sister.
"Could it be a punishment?" Jonathan thought to himself.
"Since this piece of paper will lead the figure to you, why don't you throw it away?"
Elizabeth quickly shook her head, her face full of fear.
"We don't dare!"
"When the figure gave us this piece of paper, it said that we could never break it or throw it away. If this piece of paper is damaged, the doll will come and kill us. If this paper is away from us for more than three hours, we will also die."
Jonathan nodded upon learning this information. No wonder Elizabeth had been so nervous after losing the paper. The piece of paper represented her safety.
"We had no choice but to seek help from shamans and witches. However, the figure warned us that we cannot let anyone else know about this game…"
"I'm telling you this because I have no other option. Maybe…" As she said this, Elizabeth sobbed.
"Don't worry." The details had already been laid out, so Jonathan placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of her.
Drinking hot beverages could help a person calm down.
"If you hadn't met us and hadn't lost this paper back then, what were you planning to do?"
"I planned to find the user who created the tower game. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be in such a miserable state. Since he knows this game better than anyone else, he might have a solution."
Jonathan nodded.
This creature had already set its sights on them. Unless they killed it, there was no other way to escape its grasp unscathed.
But from Elizabeth's point of view, there was nothing wrong with doing so.
"Can you gather everyone together? I should be able to help you," Jonathan suggested.
Elizabeth shook her head. "That will be difficult. I'm afraid it's impossible for anyone other than my best friend to meet again… Are you a Priest?"
Jonathan smiled but neither admitted nor denied it.
Once Doug arrived, Jonathan asked another question: "Among the people who participated in this psychic game, how many are still alive?"