Autophagy

"This is the last step. Be careful not to stumble," the monster said.

Song Lei gulped loudly and took the step. When he felt solid ground under his feet, he sighed in relief. For some reason, nothingness wasn't there. 'Maybe it's because of the monster's help,' he thought.

After he calmed down, the monster kept pulling him towards somewhere. Song Lei heard a door opening sound.

"Here. I'll be waiting outside. Finish quickly," the monster grumbled. Song Lei was pushed into somewhere and was left alone. He carefully opened his eyes.

*Click

'What?!' he shouted in his mind. The room he was in wasn't anything similar to a bathroom. The walls were covered in a viscous, blood-colored substance. It was constantly pouring down from an unknown place, slowly filling up the room.

Song Lei checked the room to see if there was anything that could be useful to him in it.

'This weird fluid is slowly filling up the room. If I stay here for long enough, I will eventually drown,' Song Lei thought.

He started touching the walls. As he couldn't see through the viscous liquid, he had to use his hands to determine whether something was there or not. Song Lei touched every place he could in the room to no avail. He didn't find anything and had to give up.

'I may have chosen the wrong action. What importance would a bathroom have in a dream space?' Song Lei thought. He had recently realized something astounding, something that could be of incredible importance to his survival.

'This dream space is made up of the memory of the child called Lady Mia. Everything I experience, every single rule that goes here comes from the girl's subconscious,' Song Lei deducted. 'Be it the reverse lights rule or the invisible monster, they have some amount of influence on this girl. I need to get back to the diary and read it again with another perspective.'

Song Lei closed his eyes back and knocked on the door to signal that he was done. He waited for the monster to open the door.

'Uhh...'

Although Song Lei kept waiting, no answer came from the monster. One-fourth of the room was already filled with the viscous liquid. Song Lei started banging at the door. He tried to open it but couldn't move it no matter how hard.

"Umm... Could you please help me?" Song Lei asked in a shaking voice. Drowning was one of his worst fears. Imagining that he would be submerged in this liquid. Having no space left to breathe. His legs were already shaking. 'Shit! I have to somehow get out of this place!'

He quickly abandoned the thought of getting help from the monster as it seemed like it didn't hear him. 'Maybe, it just doesn't want to answer.'

Song Lei looked at the toilet in the middle of the bathroom and gulped. He climbed on it and made sure he didn't slip. When he finished climbing on it, he had more access to the higher parts of the wall. He kept searching for an exit with his hands. Unfortunately, there was nothing different. Just cold, hard walls...

As more than half of the room was filled, Song Lei felt himself getting lifted. The liquid was too dense for him to properly move around. Even though he was scared out of his wits, he still kept searching for an exit. Finally, when his hands were able to reach the ceiling, Song Lei found a small key fixed on the ceiling with tape.

He used his fingernails to rip the tape away and grabbed the key with all his might. When he took the key, he dove into the liquid and grabbed the door handle to pull himself towards the lock. He inserted the key into the hole and closed his eyes.

*Clack

'Fuck! It doesn't work!' Song Lei shouted in his mind. His hands were shaking. If he weren't submerged in this liquid, he would probably be shouting out loud.

When Song Lei realized that the key didn't fit the door, he pocketed it and swum back to the ceiling. Unfortunately, the room was already filled up.

'I'm dead,' Song Lei thought. Normally, he wasn't a fan of shouting 'I don't want to die!' or 'power of friendship!' or something. But now, if he could get the chance to breathe again, he would probably do so.

Song Lei felt his mind going numb because of the lack of oxygen. His lungs burned like never before. His eyes were blurry. At some point, he couldn't even tell how long he had been in that room.

*Click

Suddenly, all the red liquid disappeared as if it had never existed before. Song Lei found himself curled into a ball on the ground. The burning sensation, the lack of oxygen; they were all gone. His clothes were dry and he could move freely. The only thing left was the emotional scar this left on Song Lei. He was coughing and heaving like he was still drowning.

"Ohh! Did our little lady feel helpless in there?" The monster jeered. "Here! Hold my hand so you can feel better!"

Song Lei stopped coughing after a few seconds. He still didn't dare to open his eyes as he got up and reached out with his hand to hold the monster.

'What kind of little girl has such subconscious?' Song Lei thought to himself.

"Good girl. Make sure that you don't trip and fall over. Remember to keep this fun session of ours a secret from the masters okay?" The ghost ordered in a joking manner. Song Lei nodded and wiped his eyes with his hand.

'I wish I had my cursed knife with me,' Song Lei thought. He had become red from fury. His mind was clouded with anger.

"*Sigh"

Song Lei took a deep breath to calm down. Getting angry didn't solve anything as he wasn't a battle manga main character. His only advantage right now was his somewhat superior cognitive abilities. If he lost them because of his anger, he would be sabotaging himself.

The monster pulled him out of the toilet without further speech. As they walked silently for some time, Song Lei realized something weird.

'She isn't taking me upstairs!' He cursed in his mind. If they were going back to the upper floor, they would've already climbed the stairs in this amount of time.

"Uhh... Where are we going?" Song Lei pondered out loud. This was the first time he was directly speaking to it. He felt the ghost stopping for a moment.

"Heh. Master told me that you'll be having a family dinner. It has been a long time since you've seen them right? I'm sure you've missed them...!"

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