CNC: Chapter 30 Part 2

The moment the dream maker held his hand, Chi Nan couldn’t help trembling.

The hands wrapped in soft silk gloves didn’t seem to belong to the living.

They were cold to the bone, as if he had placed his hands into snow on a moonlit night… there wasn’t the warmth that a human should have.

Even so, these hands were gentle and dexterous as they pulled Chi Nan onto the bustling dance floor, doing the dance steps gracefully along with the melody. Under his guidance, Chi Nan moved jerkily with no sense of rhythm at all. He was someone out of place on the lively dance floor.

The other person laughed softly. Chi Nan looked over unwillingly and the dream maker pursed his lips. “Very cute.”

He said these words.

Chi Nan didn’t plan to talk to him and continued to learn the dance steps with difficulty.

One, two, three, one, two, three…

“I’m sorry, I knocked down your object just now.” Chi Nan looked at this person’s pocket. “Can you tell me what it is?”

The other person sighed. “Not yet.”

Chi Nan, “……”

Soon, the song ended.

The music stopped and the men and women dancing happily suddenly disappeared. The banquet hall was still radiant but only Chi Nan and the dream maker remained.

Chi Nan looked around suspiciously. The dream maker mysteriously raised a finger to his lips and made a ‘shh’ gesture.

Chi Nan followed his gaze and saw that the curtain of the ceiling was pulled open. The light of the sunset shone through every corner of the banquet hall.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and the originally disappeared guests suddenly turned into translucent bubbles. They floated toward the bright ceiling in the blood-red light like a school of fish chasing the light at the bottom of the sea or a soul walking the road to death.

They became fainter and fainter as they were gradually engulfed by the rays of the setting sun.

The old captain floated at the end of the crowd. Before he disappeared completely, he turned his head and bowed to Chi Nan and the dream maker, giving his last gentlemanly bow.

“They are free,” the dream maker declared.

---

”Chi Nan? Chi Nan? Are you finally awake?”

The next moment, Chi Nan opened his eyes and saw Hei Cha biting an apple in a bored manner. The sound was very clear.

Chi Nan rubbed his sleepy eyes, looked around and found many green chairs around him. “This is…”

“The waiting room of the Dawn Base.” Hei Cha chewed on the juicy apple. You have slept on the train for almost two days and two nights. It is even heavier than last time.”

“Oh…” Chi Nan sat up straight while his eyes skimmed over the group. There was the woman with the big chest, the short-haired man with the dyed t-shirt, the red-haired youth but…

He looked around again. There was no one else in the waiting room.

Chi Nan’s heart seemed to skip a beat. “What about Ye Chang?”

The moment he asked this question, everyone’s expressions sank in unison.

“What about Ye Chang?” Chi Nan asked again.

Hei Cha’s motion of biting the apple stopped. His eyes flickered without looking at Chi Nan’s face. “That boy, he…”

He stopped midway. Hei Cha lowered his head and sighed.

Chi Nan’s hands grasping the edge of the chair subconsciously tightened. “What is going on?”

His last memory of the Dusk Cruise ship was Ye Chang taking his hand and diving into the water. Then he didn’t know if it was an illusion or a dream but he saw the weird scene on the Dusk that had sunk to the bottom of the sea…

However, Ye Chang wasn’t at the dance party.

Hei Cha’s lips were strained and he finally couldn’t help revealing a flaw. “Hahaha, I can’t act any longer…’

Chi Nan, “…….?”

The woman bit the cigarette. “Don’t be angry. We are just teasing you.”

“Oh…”

“So what about Ye Chang?” Chi Nan continued to ask.

He didn’t say anything with his mouth but it was undeniable that his heartbeat had changed just now and there was a thin layer of sweat on his hands.

Hei Cha explained, “The attendant informed us that Ye Chang took the next vehicle. Wait for him to arrive before checking the favorability together.”

Chi Nan frowned imperceptibly. “Why didn’t he ride with us?”

“He was the last to come up from the sea. We really thought he was gone…” Hei Cha sighed with relief. “Not long ago, we were informed at the station to wait for our batch of teammates. It was just like last time so we were convinced that he was fine.”

Chi Nan’s eyelashes trembled. “As long as he is fine.”

Hei Cha gave him a deep look. “Chi Nan, do you…”

Chi Nan raised his eyes and looked at this person. “What?”

Hei Cha saw the pair of green eyes and shook his head with a smile. “It’s nothing.”

He bit on the apple again.

“What is nothing?”

A familiar voice was heard from behind him. Chi Nan turned his head and saw Ye Chang smiling at him, eyes curved beautifully behind his glasses.

He was still wearing the school uniform and the school bag on his back was heavy, as if it was filled with exercise books that would never finish.

“Cough, cough.” Hei Cha was caught off guard and choked on the apple.

Ye Chang naturally walked to Chi Nan’s side. “I made everyone wait for a long time. I am embarrassed.”

The woman threw the cigarette into the trash can and patted her clothes. “As long as you are fine. Let’s go.”

Like last time, they were guided by a staff member to the room where the score was calculated.

On the way, Chi Nan asked Ye Chang, “What did you mean by playing a game together when we were in the water?”

Ye Chang’s lips curved slightly. “Pretending to die for love.”

Chi Nan’s footsteps stepped while Hei Cha, who had been listening carefully, choked again. His coughing was incessant.

The smile on Ye Chang’s face widened. “Just kidding.”

Chi Nan, “……”

Ye Chang put away his smile and pushed up his glasses. “I just felt that instead of waiting for death, it is better to jump into the water and actively choose to end our lives.”

“Yes, that is true.” Chi Nan looked at him. “Did you see anything in the water?”

Ye Chang shook his head. “What was in the water? No, I fainted afterward. Why?”

Chi Nan was silent for a moment. “It’s nothing.”

The group came to the room for calculating the scores. After having a sumptuous dinner like last time, the system’s flat voice was heard.

[First of all, congratulations to all the sleepwalkers for successfully clearing Dusk Cruise. The following is the calculation of favorability.]

[On the first night of the cruise, everyone shared a wonderful horror story at the request of the captain. Everyone has a favorability score of +5.]

[On the second night of the cruise, the sleepwalkers who shared a horror story as required gained a favorability score of +5 per person. However, some sleepwalkers ignored the rules and the story ended unhappily. The system will give the sleepwalkers who didn’t follow the rules a warning and a favorability score of -50.]

Hearing this, Hei Cha cursed and jumped up from the chair. “Did you make a mistake? Telling a story gives 5 points but not telling a story deducts 50 points? How is it 10 times the calculation?”

The system ignored his protests and continued to read out the distribution of favorability.

[Succeeded in making the horror stories impact the instance world. Those who shared stories that prompted some sleepwalkers to stay on the Dusk Cruise ship forever will gain a favorability score of +20.]

At this moment, the remaining few sleepwalkers looked at Hei Cha. He was the only sleepwalker to share a story that actually happened and remain alive.

[Worked together to find the captain’s forgotten painting. Favorability is collectively increased by 10.]

[You found the clue and made the right choice, letting the Dusk sink into the sea and releasing the undead trapped on the ship. Favorability is collectively increased by 20.]

[The Dusk Cruise ship special reward: The sleepwalker who slept for the longest time during the instance will receive 5 favorability as encouragement.]

Hei Cha’s gaze wandered over the faces of Chi Nan and Ye Chang. Only these two could sleep soundly. He just didn’t know which one of them had slept better.

Ye Chang seemed to see his doubts and said with a smile, “I stayed up all night to study. I didn’t sleep as well as Brother Nan.’

Hei Cha, “……” It was too much to study all night in a nightmare instance.

[Hei Cha has earned 60 points of favorability.]

[Jiang Yu (woman with the big chest) has earned 40 points of favorability.]

[Peng Hao (red hair) has earned 40 points of favorability.]

[Guo Ran (short hair and dyed t-shirt) has earned 40 points of favorability.]

[Chi Nan has earned -10 points of favorability.]

[Ye Chang has earned -15 points of favorability.]

[The scores of the people who disappeared from the dream instance are cleared and won’t be counted.]

The group looked at Chi Nan and Ye Chang with question marks and sympathy.

They risked their lives and finished the instance, only to end up with a debt of favorability. It was too miserable…

[Due to sleepwalker Chi Nan’s initial favorability of -5, the final score is -15 points.]

[Due to the dangerous state of two sleepwalkers with a favorability of -15, the system will severely punish them.]

Several veteran sleepwalkers heard for the first time that the system could give out a punishment. They were a bit surprised and at the same time, they felt fortunate and sympathetic.

[Punishment content: In the next nightmare instance, the death rate of sleepwalkers whose favorability has fallen to a dangerous level will rise to 90%.]

The group froze when they clearly heard the 90% probability of death and Hei Cha cursed loudly.

This was really a narrow escape but it wasn’t much different from a direct death sentence.

[However, the dream maker is very appreciative of the performance of the two people and made an exception to provide the two of them with one last chance.]

Seeing hope at the bottom of despair, the group instinctively held their breaths and waited for the system to say the last chance.

[The system will select one lucky person from the two sleepwalkers with a favorability score of -15 and provide a pardon. The punishment will only be imposed on the other sleepwalker.]

Silence spread in the banquet hall. Everyone looked at Chi Nan and Ye Chang with complicated expressions. Only the two parties involved didn’t show any change in expression.

Ye Chang even laughed playfully. “Can’t we buy one and get one free so that both of us are pardoned?”

[Sorry, no.] The system answered him.

Chi Nan wondered, “How will the recipient of the pardon be decided?”

[For the sake of peace, the two sleepwalkers will roll the dice to decide.]

Chi Nan, “……” It was too much like child’s play.