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Corridor Maze—Is this a trial within the Nightmare Space? Was it born from the subconscious? Could it be Xiao Ya Xian’s subconscious? As Aiwen sensed all this, she couldn’t help but wonder. Yet faced with the real Xiao Ya Xian, she was at a loss, for Xiao Ya Xian knew nothing of Nightmare Space. She was trapped within it, unable to see clearly, though thankfully, her memory had returned.

Nightmare Space—

Now, Xiao Ya Xian could only follow her instincts. At the outset, five branching paths appeared before her, and she didn’t hesitate, choosing the central one first. Though she felt fear, it was no longer overwhelming—memory had steadied her. The necklace she’d found—might it guide her to the right exit? She hoped so; such an object could not have appeared without purpose.

The corridor’s lighting shifted from daylight to the dim, yellowed glow of old indoor lamps. Every few meters, a door appeared. Were they all accessible? What would happen if she opened one? What lay beyond? Anxious but curious, she randomly opened a door, imagining it would lead to a typical apartment, differing only in size. Yet reality was nothing like her expectations—

Suddenly, chaos surged through the space: oil smoke thick in the air, raw ingredients scattered everywhere… Voices shouted: “Table 4, boiled fish! Table 16, tomato beef stir-fry! Table 9, eggplant casserole!” “Two plates of greens!” This was the back kitchen of the restaurant where Xiao Ya Xian worked—she knew it intimately.

She didn’t marvel at finding this place behind the door. After so many strange occurrences, surprises no longer frightened her. This was, after all, a dream. She had yet to learn the term “Nightmare Space,” but after many cycles, reason and memory had convinced her that this was a dream.

“Why aren’t you changing into your uniform? What are you daydreaming about? Are you trying to slack off?” A loud voice behind her—Boss Zhong, hurrying over, chiding, “Get moving, serve the dishes! Can’t you see everyone’s frantic? Hurry!”

Xiao Ya Xian nodded in acknowledgment, saying nothing, showing no anger, knowing none of it was real. She still needed to find the exit, so she slipped through the kitchen and out the back door. There, another door appeared; upon opening it, she found herself once more in the endless corridor.

So many doors, so many branching paths—how could she return to Aiwen? Should she try every door? But… there might be hundreds, thousands… she could lose herself. Still, she pressed on, randomly opening a door to her left—

She emerged at the entrance of a kindergarten. Behind her, a street lined with parked cars, thronged with people—likely parents of the children. Someone tapped her shoulder—

“Miss Xian, fancy meeting you again.” It was Mrs. Lin.

“Hello, Mrs. Lin, picking up your daughter again?” Given the time and the crowd of cars and people, it must be school dismissal.

“Yes, what a coincidence to see you here.”

“I… Yes, just passing by while shopping, I need to get to the supermarket, so I’ll be off…”

“So busy, Miss Xian. Remember, don’t delay the rent this month,” Mrs. Lin reminded her with a smile.

“Of course, absolutely.” Xiao Ya Xian nodded repeatedly, eager to excuse herself and try another door.

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As Xiao Ya Xian hurried away, Mrs. Lin’s daughter ran out of kindergarten and into her mother’s arms. She overheard their conversation behind her.

“Sweetheart, what new things did your teacher teach you today?” Mrs. Lin asked gently.

A childish voice piped up, “The teacher taught us arithmetic.”

“Do you remember what it was?”

“Four plus three equals what, Mom? I know it.”

“What’s the answer?”

“Seven.”

“Brilliant, darling!”

…

Xiao Ya Xian remembered clearly: the current cycle began on the thirteenth floor. In every loop before, she would pass the thirteenth floor, then reach the seventh apartment, which could be opened without a key. Was that Aiwen’s clue?

In fact, she’d found Aiwen’s necklace in the seventh apartment then—the pendant engraved with Aiwen’s initials. It was the necklace Aiwen always wore; she couldn’t mistake it. Perhaps that room was the so-called portal…

But now the thirteenth floor had become a labyrinth. How could she find the original seventh apartment—room 1307? All the doors were now accessible, and there was more than one corridor. Was it because regaining memory had altered the dream’s layout, making escape more difficult? Xiao Ya Xian pondered, weighing her options…

October 25, 2020, 10:19 AM

SNS Experimental Center—

Nearly seventy minutes had passed since the consciousness library was synchronized. Yet Horen’s intervention had not succeeded in swapping Aiwen’s consciousness with Xiao Ya Xian’s. Both retained their autonomy, and Aiwen’s consciousness was shielded by her own coded space, hidden from Horen’s detection. This made Horen uneasy—the situation had grown unpredictable. Neither was under his control anymore.

However, Xiao Ya Xian’s consciousness was less guarded than Aiwen’s. If she entered the Nightmare Space again, perhaps her consciousness could be permanently sealed. If Aiwen refused to enter her body, the shell would eventually die from consciousness loss, leaving her comatose, just as Aiwen had become.

The H Code included a Nightmare Space lock program. Horen could input a password and place it as a plugin at the edge of the code space—a temporary portal. Once Xiao Ya Xian was pulled in, the portal would disappear automatically, giving Aiwen no chance to react and block its closure.

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Thus, Horen began to input the plugin, creating a temporary portal at the edge of Aiwen’s code space. As they tried to escape, Xiao Ya Xian inadvertently fell into the Nightmare Space.

“Doctor, Subject Two's consciousness has been locked in Nightmare Space, but… she’s not in a suppressed-memory state, rather…” the programmer reported to Horen.

“Probably Aiwen restored her memory again. What is Aiwen trying to do? Does she not want to revive?” Horen muttered darkly. His careful planning was disregarded; Aiwen had her own agenda. Still, his experiment was crucial—if successful, it would overturn the academic world.

“What code instructions should we issue next? If this keeps dragging on, the swap program will never succeed,” the programmer pressed.

“Upgrade the level of nightmares,” Horen answered coldly.

The programmer was startled, seeking confirmation: “Are you sure? Subject Two’s consciousness could be permanently lost in the nightmare.”

Such a risk could inflict lasting damage to her brain, as they had anticipated.

But Horen replied, “If she doesn’t sink, how can we achieve the swap?”

‘I want to see how Aiwen helps her escape,’ he thought, indifferent to Xiao Ya Xian’s fate. As long as the body remained intact, nothing else mattered.

Visual shift to the Code Space—

This was a realm without the concept of time, Aiwen’s sanctuary for her consciousness. What did ‘timeless’ mean? Events here, no matter their duration, could not be measured by time. Concepts like long, longer, or forever simply didn’t exist. Even endless time here would not affect a second—or a hundredth of a second—in the outside world.

Yet Horen’s H Code required some measure of time, though minimal. For example, if all events within H Code lasted a year, only five minutes would pass in the real world. Xiao Ya Xian’s three years in the dream amounted to barely a dozen minutes outside.

With memory restored, Xiao Ya Xian now faced upgraded resistance in Nightmare Space. The portal she'd set to the thirteenth floor had become a maze—she couldn’t find the entrance to the seventh apartment, and thus couldn’t reach the portal! Aiwen pondered how to enter Nightmare Space to help Xiao Ya Xian, but Horen had already closed the entrance. How could she break through? She had set her consciousness to a quantum state—like a quantized electron, able to transmit to any corner of the system, if only there was a portal! Or, if she could find a tiny fissure where she was transmitted, her consciousness could move instantly. Even without a portal, a crack would suffice…

With this in mind, she conceived a new plan—

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