After the gang set up camp away from the fire before it attracted Nightmare Creatures, Somnu had offered to take the first watch.

  It had taken a few more hours before his familiars returned at the same time, their bickering announcing their arrival from miles away.

  “I found it! You better not take credit! Master will praise me even more on top of what he still owes me!”

  “Stop clinging to master, skank! It’s clear that I found it first from the sky!”

  “Nonsense!”

  “Alright you two, this is kind of getting old now-”

  ““Shut up, Master!””

  As usual, Somnu stood between them as they bickered for quite a while before finally telling him what they had actually come back to report.

  “So, you two, together, in a team effort, found the lair where the monkeys are currently staying.”

  ““...””

  “So, is this how you’re going to treat me from now on?” Somnu scratched his cheek, noticing the attitude from his companions.

  Fala was to his left, looking to one side, while Naga was to the right, looking the opposite direction.

  “It’s Master’s fault for not praising me properly… You still owe me for earlier. Hiss!”

  “Caaw! Such utter neediness…”

  “Alright, enough about that. I need to get ready, then wake Mathros up before we leave. Can you keep an eye on the surroundings in the meantime?” Somnu got up and dusted the silent Grudgekeeper off as he watched Fala and Naga leave without saying another word to him. Your constant bickering is going to wake even Lulu up at this rate.

  Thankfully, the bunny girl was known to be a heavy sleeper from the few nights Somnu had spent with the party, and since it had taken her quite a while to drift into deep sleep, he wasn’t worried. On top of that, he knew neither she, nor Mathros would be able to understand his summoned familiars. Not until both of them level up to 100, and rank up their Ego Cores.

  “Heh.” The scarecrow chuckled, imagining how his party would have heard that conversation. A lot of hisses and caws, probably…

  Not that he wasn’t hearing those either. Somnu realized that even after the rank up allowed him to understand them, and the articulate speech they suddenly were able to use, the previous noises they made were still part of who they are and occasionally let it out with no translation available. He guessed it was similar to the chuckle he had just let out himself.

  Nevertheless, after hearing about the lair he was going to go up against soon, he decided to make a proper plan and prepare ahead.

  Hopefully, this time everything does go according to plan…

  Nevertheless, while he waited for his familiars, he finally had the time to check his entire updated status profile, along with reading the descriptions of his new skills.

  It now looked something like this:

  [Name: Somnu ERROR!]

  [Species: ERROR!]

  [Personal Rank: Dreadbound.]

  [Hollow Core Rank: Ashen.]

  [Hollow Core Level: Lvl 4.] {With 100 more Cores to the next level up.}

  [Dream Catcher: Grudgekeeper.]

  [Skipping Dream Catcher description...]

  [Mementos: {Veilbinder’s Diadem}, {Eclipsed Requiem}, {Wistful Daystar}]

  [Terror Cores Available: 26.]

  [Ego particles Available: None.]

  [Personal Titles: {The Last Unrested}, {Fated Terror}, {Naked Prince}]

  [General Abilities: {Multilingual Comprehension}, {Enhanced Natural Prowess}]

  [Aspiration Classes: {Scarecrow}, {Strawman}]

  [{Scarecrow} Skills: {Silent Stalk}, {Rooted Vigil}, {Straw Storm}, {Hollow Gaze}, {Hay Stitching}, {Feral Instinct}]

  [{Strawman} Skills: {Distorted Fallacy}, {Decoy Doppelganger}, {Stuffed Resilience}, {False Echoes}, {Burlap Bandage}, {Stillness of Straw}]

  [Additional Skills: {Crow’s Call}, {Crow’s Cohort}, {Serpent’s Summon}, {Serpent’s Slither}, {Night Terror State}, {Resonance}, {Ceaseless Spiral Passage}]

  [Current Active Fears: {Fear of Everything - Omniphobia}]

  [Processing Active Fears…]

  [Processing conquered Fears…]

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  [The number of current active fears to overcome will be updated at a later time.]

  [Inventory: Dreamkeeper’s Amulet.]

  [Notice: The item in inventory cannot be equipped by Sleeper Somnu ERROR.]

  [Current Quest: You are in the First Nightmare Layer, {the Abyss of Lethe!} You must find the entrance to the Second Layer after facing and overcoming your current fears! Stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings! Lethargy is the primary cause of inability! Beware, stagnation rots the soul!]

  [Alert: Nightmare Creatures will sense the active fears and hunt them relentlessly. Be sure to grow strong and travel through the Nightmare Layers to prevent your world from falling into despair, to fear.]

  [Requirement to reach the Second Layer: {1. Overcome current active fears}, {2. Find the exit of the first Nightmare Layer}]

  It was a lot, Somnu had quickly realized that, but knowing what his current arsenal consisted of was more than necessary before heading into another life or death situation.

  He would rather not be reduced to any of the previous states he had found himself in when fighting Nightmare Creatures.

  It should be fine, right? These are simple Specters who ran away at the slight hint of Hollow Gaze before… He reminded himself, slowly tiptoeing up to Mathros’ sleeping body.

  The lizardman was sleeping in the shadow of a massive ancient tree. A small campfire was lit a bit far from him, sitting at the same distance between him and the sleeping Lulu on the other side.

  Somnu had been tasked to keep an eye on that fire, and even when he stepped away to talk to his familiars, he had still made sure to check on it constantly with his eyes.

  “Mathros…” The scarecrow gently shook the lizardman, waking him up.

  “Hngh. Yeah…?”

  “It’s your turn.”

  “Five more clicks…”

  “Hey!”

  “Relax, I’m joking.” Noticing his panic, Mathros got up with a chuckle. “Brother, you should have seen the look on your face. It was-”

  “I don’t want to hear it! Just give me the flint stones and keep an eye out.” Somnu reached out his hand aggressively, but on the inside, he held back a chuckle. Why am I always surrounded by jokers?

  “What are you planning now?” Mathros raised one of his hairless brows as he fished for the stones.

  “Some Nightmare Creatures are closing in. I’ll go and create a distraction somewhere else. Don’t worry about me, if anything, I can just use that intimidation skill from earlier.” Grabbing what he was after, Somnu turned around and walked away.

  “... I don’t quite believe you, but fine. Be careful.” Mathros said, then looked down at his palm before letting out a long sigh.

  Whether Mathros knew it or not, Somnu had made his choice to leave his friends behind this time for multiple reasons.

  For one, both of them were still shaken up and unable to fight properly, especially not Lulu. The recent attack had made that clear.

  Second, Somnu’s chances were much better solo, on his own against some low level Specter Nightmare Creatures. If anything, he could escape at any second. The restriction the monkeys had of flipping the world upside down would only complicate things when there are multiple allies around.

  Third, the naked prince had no idea how his translucent crown worked. He figured the recent explosion had been the very thing that destroyed the gargoyles beneath the cursed lake of Lethe and he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t go haywire again during a fight. Thankfully, he never had to sleep and could get away at any time if it started acting up around them as well.

  Fourth, he would be lying if the strawman didn’t want to try out his new skills without worrying about anything else.

  Let’s do this! Solo hunt!

  ***

  Having reunited with his familiars, it hadn’t taken Somnu long before finding the place. It had only been a mere quick run for him now.

  In fact, he was just fast enough to avoid hearing the start of another crow and snake bout. Instead, he sent both in different directions to scout ahead.

  Using his new [Resonance] ability, Somnu could now steal a glimpse into his familiars’ vision. By switching between Fala and Naga, he was able to get a good grasp on the situation.

  The Nightmare Creatures’ numbers were in the dozens, all of them gathered together around a massive hollow tree. The trunk had plenty of giant-sized holes, allowing them to come in and out as they pleased.

  However, something was off.

  I’ve seen plenty of monsters coming at me together, but do they really have a home or lair? Somnu narrowed his eyes into slits. Do Nightmare Creatures take a break from hunting…? They always seemed too hungry and desperate, the second they smelled fear, they jumped… So, why…? It almost seems like these are… organized.

  Somnu frowned at that conclusion. The implications of that made his hair stand on end, even if they were impossible.

  Come on! I only need to capture one or two… Then both Lulu and I can overcome the active fear that these monsters are based on… Somnu deduced, knowing full well Lulu’s last active fear was Invertophobia, the fear of being in an inverted space. It was something she had deep in her psyche from the time she was a small child… I wonder if that’s what the active fears are for most Sleepers…

  Nevertheless, Somnu summoned Eclipsed Requiem and began to sneak closer to a nearby tree using [Silent Stalk] with bursts of [Stillness of Straw] to blend in. He set his sights on a branch he could traverse to get closer, the end point housing some of the Nightmare Creatures that were nonchalantly hanging upside down.

  Easy prey. He had thought.

  Due to the size of the massive trees in the grotesque swamp, the nearest branch meant there were still dozens of meters between the strawman and the nearest prey he was after. Enough to make sure they couldn’t smell his active fears yet, or at the very least, not in a strong enough stench for them to get alerted.

  Using [Rooted Vigil] to stand upside down on the branch’s bottom side, the scarecrow relied on his straws from afar and wrapped the nearest Nightmare Creature with them, like a mummy of straws.

  Nice! One should be enough for now! Let’s play it safe and head back before they notice me-

  Just as he began to reel in his latest catch…

  “!”

  The world around him began to turn upside down. That alone would have been fine, he was prepared for it. After all, he hadn’t overcome that fear yet himself and was planning on keeping his distance from his catch or kill another monster before heading back.

  However, what he hadn’t accounted for was the new Restriction pulling him closer, as though gravity itself had shifted. It rendered all his plans to escape completely null.

  ““AHHHH-OOO-OHH-EEE-EEE-EEE!!””

  The ear-shattering sound woke every single Nightmare Creature up, the ensuing tremors threatened to topple the massive tree itself.

  No way, It can’t be…! That’s impossible! Two restrictions at the same time could only mean… Another Dreadbeast?! Really?! Crow-Shit! Just my luck!

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