Lord of Rot

Leech put down the ninth-grade physics textbook. Reciting its contents had been agonizing for him recently. Thankfully, anything in his memory could reappear as a book within this dream.

The pile of assorted books the little nurse had bought for him even included a copy of The School Belle’s Personal Bodyguard. This was definitely the oldest, still-ongoing novel from his memories; even the dream couldn’t conjure up its ending.

The door pushed open, and Malin walked in, dressed in a nurse’s uniform.

She had gone to great lengths to infiltrate the hospital and get close to Leech.

Leech picked up the Coke on the table and took a sip. ”You’re here.”

’If there’s one thing in this dream I’ll miss, it’s definitely all the junk food.’

The first gulp after cracking open a can brought an unparalleled sense of satisfaction.

Malin said, ”You knew this was a dream all along!”

She was done playing games. Now, she just wanted to torture Baron Porcupine, make him have a complete mental breakdown, and die in his dream.

”This is *my* dream,” Leech countered, suddenly asking, ”Haven’t you noticed? This place has a complete worldview, a complete history.”

He picked up a history book he hadn’t flipped through much. ”Five thousand years of history. Do you think my brain could fabricate five thousand years of it?”

”What do you mean?” Malin frowned.

”When you sneak into other people’s dreams, have you ever wondered where you yourself come from?” Leech’s true intentions were finally revealed.

He sat up straight, looking at Malin. ”Since you know this is my dream, how can you be so sure that you weren’t created by my dream?”

Malin couldn’t help but laugh. ”I have my own thoughts. I just entered your dream, I’m not...”

She suddenly froze.

This world had its own rigorous logic and a culture that was completely beyond her comprehension, yet incredibly rational.

Malin had entered many people’s dreams. A dreamscape was limited by the dreamer’s perception, sometimes only encompassing a village, a town, or a single territory. If you ran in one direction for long enough, you’d hit a blank void.

But in Leech’s dream, she couldn’t find the edge.

How could she possibly understand the terrifying scope of the internet age? People from Earth might not have deep knowledge, but everyone is widely informed, bombarded with countless bits of information every day. It didn’t need to be perfectly logical; Leech’s subconscious simply had to project the information he’d absorbed from the internet into the dreamscape to create a world with only minor flaws.

It didn’t matter. Malin had never seen Earth; she wouldn’t notice those flaws.

In the past, Malin had experienced times when she’d delved so deep into a dream that she couldn’t pull herself out, struggling to distinguish dream from reality. Hearing Leech’s words now, she subconsciously recalled those moments.

But Leech presented her with a new concept. ”This is indeed a dreamscape. But were you an existing being who entered it, or do you only exist *because* of my dream? If I wake up, will you still exist?”

Malin said, ”I’m from the Lu Leiyi Continent. I don’t belong to your dream.”

Leech just shook his head gently. ”The Lu Leiyi Continent? *That* is the real dream.”

A clear struggle appeared on her face.

”How about this,” Leech said, picking up a knife from the table. ”I’ll wake up, and then we’ll see if you still exist. It’s that simple.”

”...No!” Malin stopped him instinctively.

”I’ll have to wake up eventually,” Leech said. ”I’m very curious. When I do, what will happen to this world? It should dissolve into nothingness, right? And what will happen to you?”

Malin lunged like a leopardess, grabbing Leech’s wrist.

It wasn’t that she accepted Leech’s words, but she couldn’t refute his hypothesis.

For a Dreamer, how could one distinguish dream from reality?

Leech hadn’t expected her to fall for it so easily. He had simply borrowed the concept of Brahma’s dream; once she started pondering his hypothesis, she had trapped herself.

In truth, Leech had had similar thoughts himself, but not about whether he was dreaming. He was thinking about something else.

’Transmigration is just too ridiculous. It’s more likely that I’m the protagonist of some web novel than that I actually became a Lord in an Otherworld. Maybe a bunch of readers are watching me right now. All those secrets I think are only known to me have actually been seen by hundreds, even thousands of people, who are laughing or cursing as they watch me.’

’Maybe when I’m in a tough spot, the author shamelessly adds a ”Please subscribe” or ”Please donate” at the end of the Chapter. I’m just a toy for their amusement.’

’If I really am a character in a novel, what does the future hold?’

’An enemy appears, I defeat them, and then another one comes along?’

It didn’t seem that way for now, as Leech still had plenty of opportunities to develop.

’Or maybe the author just isn’t skilled enough to create a sense of urgency.’

But he was different from the woman before him. Overthinking philosophical questions was just borrowing trouble. For him, being able to wake up and keep on living was enough.

’If the day ever comes when I truly ”wake up,” I’ll deal with it then.’

Before the horrified eyes of Malin the Dreamer, Leech snatched the knife and plunged it into his own neck. He smiled. ”Time for me to wake up.”

”No!”

Leech’s eyes snapped open.

”COUGH! COUGH! What an intense dream!”

He touched his neck. The sensation of the suicide was crystal clear: the sharp pain as the blade pierced his throat, the feeling of flesh being severed. It was bloodcurdling, but it also made the memory sharp.

’If I hadn’t tricked her,’ Leech thought, ’if she had managed to trap me in that dream, she might have really killed me over and over until my mind broke.’

’Man, what a power. Non-stop killing, 100% pain, dreams within dreams you can’t escape... it’s the perfect Extraordinary ability for psychological torture.’

”Someone!”

”My Lord?” came the voice of his personal manservant from outside, followed by a soft knock.

”Bring me a pen and paper, immediately!”

”Yes, sir!”

Leech rolled up his sleeves and, while the memories were still fresh, quickly began writing down the formulas he had memorized. He’d spent several months in the dream poring over textbooks, not aiming for true understanding, but for pure rote memorization.

His personal manservant, Caocha, saw his Lord writing furiously and didn’t dare to disturb him, simply bringing in his breakfast quietly.

When he returned at noon with lunch, he found that his Lord had already eaten breakfast; the bowl and chopsticks were on the floor.

He silently cleaned up, set down the lunch, and tiptoed out of the room.

When Leech had finally finished scribbling down everything he could remember, his eyes were completely bloodshot. But looking at the thick stack of papers in his hand, he burst out laughing. ”Hahaha! With this peerless secret manual, who in this world can stop me!”

His smile faded, and Leech felt a bit awkward. ’Thankfully, I’m the only one in the room. A little chuuni self-entertainment now and then is fine.’

He rubbed his nose. ’Alright, I got a little carried away. But with this, the development of knowledge in my territory will save a lot of time.’

Looking up, he saw it was broad daylight outside.

Leech stood up and stretched.

”Someone.”

A voice came from outside the door. ”My Lord?”

”How long has it been?” he asked.

”A day and a night.”

”Oh? My efficiency isn’t half bad,” Leech said, quite pleased. Although he hadn’t managed to write down everything, he’d gotten at least eighty percent of it. He never realized just how much math, physics, and chemistry knowledge was packed into elementary, middle, and high school until he tried to write it all out.

Once that burst of intense focus faded, he found that some of the things he had memorized by rote were already starting to fade. He hadn’t forgotten them yet, but if he didn’t use them, they would be relegated to the depths of his mind again, and forgetting would only be a matter of time.

Opening the door, Caocha, who was waiting outside, saw Leech’s bloodshot eyes and asked with concern, ”My Lord, shouldn’t you get some rest?”

”Hahaha, no need! I’m in high spirits right now,” Leech said. ”What about the people who came for the ball?”

’I was attacked by a Transcendent who invaded my dreams. I can’t just let them get away with it.’

”Most of them left yesterday, but...” Caocha said in a low voice, ”a noble lady hasn’t woken up since yesterday morning. The people from Roaring Castle said a scholar examined her, and she probably won’t ever wake up.”

”That lady, where is she from?” Leech asked.

”I heard she’s from Monkey Island.”

Everything made sense now.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, much less a mother-daughter combo meal.

”What a shame,” Leech said with a smile.

His enemy had met a terrible end, so of course he was happy.

Leech had woken up, but she hadn’t. There was only one possibility: she was terrified that she truly was a character in his dream, and so she had trapped herself within it.

’But without me to support the ”Earth Dream,” without its underlying logic, it has probably turned into a living hell.’

”What about the Eldest Prince?” he asked.

He couldn’t be sure what role the Eldest Prince had played in this dream invasion. He really didn’t want to have a complete falling out with a Prince at this critical juncture—he’d wait until next year, at least.

Caocha replied, ”He has already left. We are the only ones left in Roaring Castle.”

”Is that so?” Leech said. ”Then let’s pack up too. It’s time to go home.”

”Yes, My Lord!”