After explaining the details of the university exam, Li Jing entered the Central Research Institute with Qiu Ren. The students of Yangmei University and Qingbei University also followed suit.

Qiu Ren was led to a spacious hall in the Central Research Institute.

​​

There were security personnel wearing ballistic vests and holding firearms in their hands in the hall. They saluted when they saw Kan Shaoni, who saluted back in response.

There were two researchers in white coats in the hall. The Nightmare Seeds for student research were placed on a stage in the middle of the hall.

These Nightmare Seeds were locked in transparent glass jars, which were tightly sealed off by a special metal structure from top to bottom.

This container could block the influence of the Nightmare Seeds, as well as location tracking. The students would take the entire container device away.

Qiu Ren glanced over the Nightmare Seeds on the stage. The ones that were only the size of a thumb should be Level E Nightmare Seeds.

Such Nightmare Seeds were as harmful as… spiders that would hurt people when they bit. Not the lethal ones, though. They were just spiders whose venom could make people dizzy.

Next, the Level D Nightmare Seeds were the size of a hand. They were as dangerous as dogs and weasels that bit people.

Qiu Ren's gaze finally stopped at a Nightmare Seed that was the size of a tennis ball! That was a Level C Nightmare Seed.

A Level C Nightmare Seed had a certain degree of lethality. Once people's consciousness was dragged inside, there would be a slight chance that they wouldn't ever be able to wake up.

"Can I adopt the Level C Nightmare Seed?" Qiu Ren whispered to the professor next to him, Li Jing.

"Qiu Ren, you're very brave!"

Li Jing nodded in agreement. In the field of nightmare purification, the most crucial thing was courage. Unfortunately, there were many problems that couldn't be solved with courage in reality.

"But that Level C Nightmare Seed was reserved by Qingbei University. Qiu Ren, if you're confident with yourself, it's also pretty good to choose a Level D Nightmare Seed and take your time to slowly purify it during the next four years in university. It's a good thing for young people to be ambitious. Even though you've had contact with a Level S Nightmare Seed, I still suggest you choose a Level E Nightmare Seed for purification first, then try a Level D Nightmare Seed."

Li Jing sounded a bit frustrated at first. He then started advising Qiu Ren not to be too ambitious with sincere words.

But Qiu Ren put all his attention on the professor from Qingbei University.

Qingbei University was undoubtedly the first to choose. The professor directly walked to the Level C Nightmare Seed and completed the handover procedures. He then gave that Level C Nightmare Seed to the young director.

The director also seemed very confident when holding the Level C Nightmare Seed.

After all, he had already won awards at the world level. So, it shouldn't be difficult… for him to create another Dream Dungeon that could suppress a Level C Nightmare Seed?

Next, it was the turn for special students of Yangmei University. Their numbers reached a dozen, most of them boys. However, they seemed a little daunted by the Nightmare Seeds that were exuding a strange aura.

Lin Wanxiang was the first one to step out there and take a Level D Nightmare Seed expressionlessly. Her actions stoked the vanity of the boys. They could definitely not let their goddess look down on them!

Thus, most of them braced themselves to get a Level D Nightmare Seed as well.

However, Lin Wanxiang was still looking at Qiu Ren with that Level D Nightmare Seed in her arms. She was wondering which seed Qiu Ren would choose.

Was this the feeling of being the husky among two wolves? Qiu Ren was the last to choose. Luckily, there were a few girls among the special students of Yangmei University, as well as boys who cared about their lives more than girls.

They had left a Level D Nightmare Seed for Qiu Ren in the end.

Ah… He could still sell it for a little bit of money after he purified it.

Qiu Ren came to the Level D Nightmare Seed alone. Just as he was about to take it away… The Level D Nightmare Seed floating in the glass container suddenly released beams of creepy light.

The surface of the Nightmare Seed was soon distorted. Then, an eye opened on the Nightmare Seed.

Wait, wait, wait, wait! This effect didn't seem right!

When Qiu Ren and the people around noticed something amiss, it was already too late. Qiu Ren's consciousness was dragged into the space of the owner of the eye. Again.

Fuck you!

"Fuck!"

Qiu Ren fell into a familiar dark space. He already knew what was happening.

"Welcome… Looks like Tapir… cares too little about you. Now, let us… talk about… humans."

A distorted figure appeared deep in the dark dimension.

This familiar feeling… made Qiu Ren realize that this was the dimension inside another Level S Nightmare Seed. The one before him was another Lord of Nightmare!

What Qiu Ren was feeling right now was like when he was about to choose his Starter Pokémon happily, Zeus suddenly came out and said, "Defeat me! And I'll be your Pokémon."

Fuck you!

"About what exactly?"

Qiu Ren slumped down in this dark space. He wasn't surprised that there was a Level S Nightmare Seed locked in the Central Research Institute.

But Qiu Ren thought that wasn't the lock a bit too weak?

When Qiu Ren was in Fengdu Prison, his consciousness was only dragged into the Nightmare Dimension of the Nightmare Seed when he directly had eye contact with the Nightmare Seed itself.

This time, this Level S Nightmare Seed had used the other Nightmare Seeds as stepping stones to forcibly pull Qiu Ren's consciousness inside.

Qiu Ren had already learned from relevant books that Nightmare Seeds were connected to each other. It explained why this Lord of Nightmare knew about Tapir. Qiu Ren wasn't surprised that it had heard about him from Tapir as well.

"I hope… you can build… a nightmare for me."

The figure of the Lord of Nightmare walked out from deep inside the dark.

It was an armor full of decayed traces. Dim red glitters flashed deep inside the eyes under the armor. On the helmet, there was a red tassel covered in blood. Even though there was no wind, it still fluttered quietly like a ghost.

Its voice echoed around, but learning from Tapir's lesson, Qiu Ren couldn't directly judge if this Lord of Nightmare was a male or a female by just looking at its armor.

"I knew it. Tell me, what requirements do you have?" Qiu Ren was pretty familiar with this sequence.

The adopted Nightmare Seed required four years of university to be tamed. It wasn't a problem if Qiu Ren adopted a Level S Nightmare Seed back to school.

But this time, before that Lord of Nightmare started telling Qiu Ren its requirements, a voice that sounded very familiar to Qiu Ren suddenly resounded in the entire Nightmare Dimension.

"You evildoer! How dare you do this here!"

"I… may not be able to beat you… but I can severely injure you… If we go all out… How many people out there… can survive?"

The Lord of Nightmare wasn't afraid when it heard this voice. A spear made of blood suddenly appeared on its left hand.

Was this the voice of the Great Sage? Qiu Ren heard that the Great Sage wasn't scared at all. It was even planning to compete with this Lord of Nightmare. However, Qiu Ren stopped this unnecessary battle!

"If it's just building a nightmare, I can try! So, what are your requirements?" asked Qiu Ren.

Qiu Ren's question made that Lord of Nightmare hold the spear slightly harder. Cracks started to appear on the surface of the spear made of blood.

"The way… you're being tortured." Its voice gradually became louder, "I want to watch you get knocked down, pierced by a spear, smashed to pieces by horseshoes, and burnt to death by flames… Experiencing countless sufferings and burning your fighting will, your soul, and everything! Giving it all and fighting until you've got nothing else. And in the end, the realization… that you still have the courage to do it all over again."

After saying this, it remained silent for a while. It actually had another requirement, but many Dream Makers would already be at a loss about what to do after facing the first one.

Not to mention the second one.

It also found it a little… ridiculous to put its hope on this young Dream Maker.

"I should be able to do it."

Qiu Ren pondered for a while. He had several plans that could fulfill this requirement, but he wasn't planning to work for this Lord of Nightmare so easily this time.

"I hope you're not… lying."

"I never lie to my clients. This is about my reputation. However, I have one condition."

Qiu Ren knew the importance of his word. If he deceived a client, the other clients wouldn't come to find him anymore.

And yet, Qiu Ren had satisfied Tapir, which caused a group of Lords of Nightmare to search for him. Qiu Ren didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing.

"What… condition?"

The Lord of Nightmare thought Qiu Ren only wanted Dream Seeds before, but the condition he proposed was much more of a trouble than it imagined!

"I want you to be my gatekeeper, the guardian of my core dream."

Qiu Ren made a request that sounded very bold. Countless people in this world were worried that the creatures in the nightmares would invade their dreams. And now, Qiu Ren was inviting a Lord of Nightmare to guard his own dream…

This Lord of Nightmare certainly wouldn't agree!

The reason why it looked for Qiu Ren to build a nightmare at first was to prepare for the upcoming invasion of its own kind. Right now, its own kind overseas were preying on Qiu Ren, yet he wanted to turn it into a guard? This was like throwing it to the frontlines on the battlefield.

The most important thing was that it was a Lord of Nightmare! How could it possibly be a guard dog for a human?

"Tell me first… What will your nightmare… be like?"

It wants to see what my nightmare looks like? Does that mean I can negotiate with it?

"My idea is a bit complicated. I don't have any concept maps and design drafts at the moment. Let me go back to the real world first. Give me a week or two… I'll offer you a satisfactory nightmare project."

The new nightmare game Qiu Ren wanted to build wasn't the kind that relied on the rules to dominate the world… like eating chicken.

The new game had many things to consider, including the art style, the construction of the world power system, and the construction of the rule template… These were all big projects. Qiu Ren would need to spend quite a lot of time with this Lord of Nightmare to build this world.

"…"

This Lord of Nightmare stared at Qiu Ren for a long time. In the end, the blood spear in its hand vanished.

"I… have to negotiate with humans outside as well… so I can try to make you my… new Dream Maker."

"Can you convince them?"

This was a huge problem. What happened in Fengdu Prison was an accident. Qiu Ren acted before asking for permission, so the leading body couldn't stop him at all.

However, it would probably be really, really hard if Qiu Ren wanted to do something on this Level S Nightmare Seed this time.

"They're very stubborn, but I'll think of a way. The most important thing is… the nightmare you build must… satisfy me."

"Then, I'll also try my best…" Qiu Ren had no intention of missing this chance.

Once this Lord of Nightmare became Qiu Ren's gatekeeper, those who wanted to intrude his core dream in the future would have to go to the Nightmare Dungeon of this Lord of Nightmare first and fight with the terrifying boss and monsters. They must suffer from all kinds of torture and find a way to break through all the levels to finally meet Qiu Ren!

So, what game should Qiu Ren use to welcome those intruders?

But before that, Qiu Ren must first think of a way to adopt this Lord of Nightmare!