Chapter 267 Layers of Fear (1) (Patreon)

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The night had grown late, and Bruce, lying in bed, was falling into a deep sleep. Even in his slumber, his brows remained tightly furrowed.

Suddenly, a small sliver of light poured in through the crack of his bedroom door, accompanied by an annoying creak of the door hinge. Bruce's brows furrowed even deeper, his arm twitched, and he turned over.

A layer of shadow-like darkness covered his face, and Bruce seemed to sense something. In the instant he opened his eyes, a lightning bolt flashed outside the window, revealing a terrifying Joker standing by his bedside, wielding a raised knife.

As the knife fell, Bruce sat up in bed. He held his breath tightly, as if his throat had been constricted. After what felt like an eternity, he trembled and exhaled, releasing a breath. He looked around the empty room, confirming that it was just a nightmare.

The cold sweat on his forehead and back had not yet subsided. Bruce pursed his lips, wiped his face, and sat up in bed.

He noticed that the window in his room was slightly ajar, allowing the wind from outside to blow in, causing the lampshade on the desk lamp to sway. Shadows flickered in the room. Bruce thought that this might be the reason for his nightmares, so he walked over and closed the window.

With the absence of wind in the room, all light and shadows calmed down. Bruce moved sluggishly toward the bathroom, intending to find a towel to wipe the sweat off his face.

Once inside the bathroom, he leaned on the sink and quietly watched his reflection in the mirror. However, this time, he didn't experience any hallucinations. He only noticed that his complexion was pale, and the wound on his shoulder had reopened, oozing blood.

He gently touched his shoulder with his other hand, feeling a pain that wasn't too intense but lingering. It was probably caused by exerting too much force when he sat up earlier, resulting in a tear.

Bruce, somewhat resigned, turned on the faucet and bent down to wash his face.

Unbeknownst to him, as he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and cupped the water in his hands, the bathroom door slowly opened.

When he rose again, raised his head, and looked into the mirror, a horrifying shadow stood behind him. Reflected in the mirror alongside Bruce was a laughing and maniacal Joker, raising a knife and swinging it down fiercely.

"Ugh!"

Bruce let out a pained groan, sitting up in bed. He took deep breaths, feeling a bit disoriented as he looked at the surroundings. He was still lying in bed, and the room was still empty, devoid of anything.

Stiffly sitting on the bed, accompanied by his breaths, a tremor in his throat, Bruce hesitated for a moment before attempting to get up. He stood up and reached out to touch the sharp edge of the book table next to him.

The sharp sensation transmitted to his brain through his fingertips, providing him with a sense of security. This time, Bruce didn't go to the bathroom but walked to the door of his own room. He turned the doorknob, and in the instant the door opened, a terrifying sight unfolded.

Instead of the hallway of Wayne Manor, there was a howling black void outside the door. Bruce was almost instantly sucked in, and then, after the nauseating feeling of weightlessness and falling, he once again sat up in bed.

Bruce tightly closed his eyes, unable to determine whether this was still a dream or not.

Bruce began to contemplate, if this time was also a dream, what could he do to wake up?

He took several deep breaths to calm himself down, then began to survey the room. This bedroom was no different from his memory; everything was in its rightful place. The light that he had left on before going to sleep cast a faint halo over all the objects.

What was causing these recurring nightmares?

Bruce stood up again and walked to the center of the room. He paused for a moment and then took another step towards the bathroom. He turned on the faucet, lowered his head, cupped the water, washed his face, stood up straight, and sure enough, a maniacal Joker raised a knife towards him, and once again, he woke up from the dream.

Now Bruce understood. He was trapped in an endless dream and had to find a way to wake up.

Sitting up from the bed, Bruce began to search. Everything in the room was incredibly real, nothing like what should appear in a dream. The wood grain on the table was clearly visible, and the scratches on the edge of the chair were exactly as Bruce remembered.

If he lay down to sleep, a crazy Joker would come to the bedside with a knife. If he walked into the bathroom to wash his face, another crazy Joker would stand behind him with a knife. If he tried to open the bedroom door and walk out, he would be sucked into endless darkness.

After any of these situations occurred, Bruce would wake up again from the bed, only to repeat the same nightmare.

Bruce tried many times and triggered more conditions. For example, if he stood still in the center of the room, a clown would appear hanging upside down from the ceiling lamp, holding a knife to stab him. If he crawled under the table, a flat clown would appear on the wall behind him, holding a knife to stab him. If he opened the closet, a crazy Joker would rush out, holding a knife to stab him.

It was as if no matter where he was or what he was doing, there were terrifying Jokers everywhere.

Once the Joker with the knife stabbed him, Bruce would wake up from the dream, only to find himself back in bed and then wake up again.

This terrifying nightmare continued in an endless loop, seemingly without an end.

In this way, within Wayne Manor's bedroom, one Bruce after another began to try various actions. Some moved their mattresses, some lifted the legs of the book table, and some moved the wardrobe. Whenever they triggered a certain condition, Bruce's figure would disappear, but then more Bruces would appear.

After realizing that it was a recurring dream, Bruce knew that he had no choice but to exhaust all possibilities, because in dreams, nothing made sense.

After all, in reality, with Wayne Manor's security system, a Joker with a knife would never be able to enter his bedroom.

In normal reasoning, exhaustive search and brute force method were only used when the train of thought was stuck or when there were no other options. However, in this case, the efficiency of these two methods was the highest.

Finally, until one Bruce in the room touched the switch of the desk lamp, everything changed.

When he used his hand to switch off the desk lamp and plunged the room into darkness, the terrifying Joker did not appear again.

Whether he walked into the bathroom to wash his face or lay back on the bed to sleep, within the dark bedroom, there was no longer that insane smiling face.

But this didn't mean that the endless cycle of the nightmare had ended.

Bruce still couldn't be sure if he was still in a dream. He walked to the window in the darkness, opened it, and felt the cold wind and rain on his face. The sensation was very real, but Bruce didn't relax in the slightest. He now finally understood what the Joker meant when he said, "The game has begun."

After trying all possible actions that could trigger the appearance of the Joker, but the Joker didn't show up, Bruce knew that turning off the lights might be the key to this puzzle.

And then, he walked to the bedroom door and opened it.

Outside the door was the corridor of Wayne Manor.

But Bruce remained vigilant. After going through countless rounds of nightmares, he no longer trusted everything that was called "reality."

At this moment, Wayne Manor was also dark. Bruce walked along the dark corridor until he reached the edge of the staircase. In the instant he took a step down, the next step disappeared, and he fell down, only to wake up again from the dream.

Getting up, turning off the light, opening the door, and walking out, this time Bruce took a different direction. He wanted to descend from the staircase on the other side. However, he discovered that no matter which staircase he took, the steps would disappear as soon as he lifted his foot, and then he would enter another dream.

What was the key to this puzzle? Bruce stood in the dark corridor, contemplating. He felt no anxiety or impatience. Rather, he found a brief moment of tranquility in his thoughts.

If he couldn't use the staircase, how could he leave this floor?

Bruce attempted to jump directly from the edge of the atrium. In reality, a two-story fall would be nothing for him, but in the dream, as soon as he felt the sensation of falling, he would wake up again. He realized that this method was futile.

If he couldn't leave this floor, perhaps he should explore other rooms. But the situation in other rooms was the same as the bedroom. Many of Bruce's actions would trigger the deadly Joker, that figure with the maniacal laughing face. He would appear behind him, beside him, overhead, or even in front of him, swinging a knife and causing him to wake up again.

Room after room, puzzle after puzzle, Bruce's presence once again filled the entire third floor of Wayne Manor. Everywhere, there were his movements, his pauses, and his pensive figure.

After waking up countless times, Bruce decided not to follow the same process again and stayed in his bedroom.

Just like many times before, he turned off the bedroom light and half-knelt down, lowering his head and peering under the bed.

The only place on the entire third floor of Wayne Manor that he had never checked—under his bed.

But Bruce knew why he had overlooked it. As he placed his trembling hand on the edge of the bed, he couldn't forget the terrifying story he had heard when he was very young.

When you sleep in bed, there is a shadow sleeping under the bed, an exact replica of you.

If a child doesn't sleep well, the shadow will crawl out from under the bed and throw you down, taking your place on the bed.

It will completely replace you, enjoying the care of your parents, playing with your friends, wearing your clothes, and playing with your toys. Meanwhile, you can only hide under the bed like a shadow, crying in sadness.

Childhood memories of shadows are the most profound, but even without this story, it takes immense courage to look into the darker depths under the bed.

And there, Bruce discovered something that shouldn't be in his room. It was a spinning... Earth globe?

Beside the Earth globe was a small note with a line of words written in a messy and peculiar font:

"This is Miss Earth Globe, and her partner is Jack. Joker Jack wants to remind Batman, good children should sleep! Turn! Off! The! Lights!"

In the instant he finished reading the note, a pale hand with a knife emerged from under the bed, lunging towards Bruce.

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 268: Layers of Fear (Part 2)