Chapter 185: Chapter 185: Collapse
The dream ended, but not completely.
Haruko’s dream ended, but her Ichiko’s "dream" was still continuing.
A dream named "reality".
Opening her eyes, tears had already blurred her vision, and she was still holding that warm body in her arms.
The sound of breathing by her ear, the clear feeling of a heartbeat, were both pulling at Ichiko’s sanity, constantly telling her that Haruko was still alive.
Sento did not kill Haruko.
And she herself was not hospitalized because her appearance was ruined.
Because of Haruko’s extremism and yandere nature, she was able to see Sento’s true character early on and part ways.
It was just a dream just now.
Sleep, wake up, and then forget.
But could she really forget?
The miserable appearance of Haruko in the dream was still constantly flashing through Ichiko’s mind.
Eating leftovers scavenged by stray cats and dogs, sleeping in dark corners or on park benches, too afraid to sleep or make a sound every midnight, the "ink" staining her clean and cute self grew more and more.
Finally, to evade capture after being recognized, she had even gone so far as to drastically alter and ruin her own appearance in the dark.
Enduring unbearable agony without any comfort, she had brought that terrifying torment upon herself just to survive. Whether it was atonement or pain, her tears never stopped; she would faint from the exhaustion and wake up only to continue her flight.
From initially fleeing on the ground, she gradually devolved to barely surviving in the sewers.
Hunted, tormented, and eventually lost to the deep waters.
The world was so big, yet not a single person was willing to lend her a helping hand.
At the end of the dream, Ichiko didn’t even dare to look at such a scene, only feeling a heartache that made it hard to breathe.
She wanted to blame the Ichiko in the dream, but gradually realized that if she hadn’t changed because of Haruko’s yandere nature, would her ending have been like that in the end?
Wasn’t the self in the dream also herself?
She felt the pressure was too great, often thinking while spacing out, if Haruko wasn’t a yandere, what would the future be like?
Now, she had the answer.
In the first dream, Haruko had a dream while sleeping that Sento would harm her, and then she started to become a bit abnormal, paranoid and extreme, especially targeting Sento and others.
At first, she found it hard to believe, could a dream really make a person so obsessed? Was it possible?
Now, she somewhat believed it.
Could the dream Haruko had before also be the same as hers?
In the dream, watching Sento torment her and break her down.
She believed it was true and wanted to change such a future.
The gears of fate began to turn from this point.
Now she had two such dreams, so real that she didn’t believe they were fake.
She even wondered if this might be her and Haruko’s future?
She didn’t become a yandere and died alone.
Now she had become a yandere, but hadn’t reached the level of a lucid dream, yet what was the final outcome?
The people around her left one by one, all driven away or eliminated by Haruko, and in the end, only Haruko was left in her Ichiko’s world.
Ichiko was afraid of Haruko leaving, but also feared the latter outcome.
As for Sento, so be it, let him fall.
But her other friends, the people she cherished, she didn’t want them to be affected.
Now Long Mian was the first to have something happen, and the Teacher who had always wanted to mentor her and cared about her also followed in Long Mian’s footsteps.
Were these two endings really predetermined by fate?
She wanted other solutions, but this suffocating pressure made it hard for her to breathe, she didn’t even dare to think about it in detail.
She wanted to hug Haruko tightly in her arms, but didn’t dare to hug too tightly.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw Haruko being tormented and swallowed by the dark waves in her dream.
Until just before the end, she was still murmuring "Ichiko".
At four in the morning, Ichiko couldn’t sleep anymore.
And didn’t dare to fall asleep.
She stayed up like this until dawn.
Haggard, even her expression was a bit distracted.
After getting out of bed on tiptoe, Ichiko didn’t wake Haruko, but washed her face with ice water; the bone-chilling cold made her skin sting.
But it was precisely this pain that allowed her to clear her head.
"Today is the third day."
Ichiko glanced at the calendar and only then noticed that New Year’s Day had already passed.
It was now January 4th, a brand new year.
If there was anything special about today, it was that Haruko had promised this little dark room game would only last three days.
After today, would Haruko let her go?
Ichiko took out the pill Haruko had given her last night from her pocket.
It was that stress-relief pill, but Ichiko didn’t know this little thing could relieve stress.
She only took it as something with ulterior motives from Haruko.
But after experiencing the dream last night, she felt a bit of regret.
"Would it be better if I took this pill?"
No longer resisting Haruko, just letting time slowly pass.
And then...
"No, I can’t!"
Ichiko shook her head vigorously and slapped her face hard, "I can’t give up just like this, if I take this medicine, there will truly be no chance to change anything."
She stood up and took a deep breath.
As if cheering herself on, she pounded her chest with her hand again.
But when she looked at her hand, her pupils constricted unnaturally.
Her hand... was trembling.
Even when she gripped it tightly with her other hand, her hand was still trembling.
She glanced sideways at the television.
The unpowered LCD screen was like a mirror, clearly reflecting her haggard, deathly pale complexion.
She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in two days.
Her nerves were tense every single moment.
Even when she slept, the nightmares she had almost made her collapse in the dream.
"Is there really... still a chance?"
Haruko’s yandere nature, and Haruko’s heavy love...
Just then, Haruko’s voice suddenly came from beside her ear, "Ichiko, are you up so early today? How did you sleep last night?"
Haruko rubbed her sleepy eyes, leaned close to Ichiko, and stared at her cheek very seriously.
With a look of surprise, "Ichiko, your complexion is so bad, couldn’t you sleep last night?"
Those crimson vertical pupils stared at her just like that.
Their eyes met.
Ichiko only felt boundless fear assailing her.
With a blink of her eyes, Haruko’s cute face before her suddenly turned into the scarred, broken visage from her dream.
Wearing a desperate smile.
The last shred of courage she had mustered vanished completely.
It was as if she heard Haruko’s complaining voice by her ear, "Ichiko... why didn’t you save me? I like you, why didn’t you save me!"
In an instant, this distorted illusion became normal again, but in her mind, it felt stained with bright red orange juice, the smile at the corner of her lips unnaturally twisted.
"Hey Ichiko~ Everyone is already sleeping quietly, you know, no one can disturb our world for two anymore, staying together forever like this, you’re very happy too, right?"
Although this pretty face was so cute, in Ichiko’s eyes, the Haruko from both dreams seemed to occupy that face.
Until Haruko asked again, "Ichiko, what are you spacing out about? How about a cup of hot water?"
After speaking, Haruko walked towards the kitchen.
But this sentence, heard by Ichiko, had a different meaning.
—What are you spacing out about?
—Do you dislike me now?
Mentally exhausted to the extreme, and terrified, she had already started to hallucinate sounds.
Her pupils struggled, she looked at Haruko in disbelief, and slowly asked, "Haruko, why can you torment yourself so calmly and say you like me? I’ve told you, haven’t I?"
Haruko couldn’t help but turn her head, "Told me what?"
The young girl suddenly roared out loudly, "I told you I can’t accept your heavy and twisted love!"
Ichiko, exploded.
------------------------
I’ve posted 70+ Chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
/SolyuraMT
"And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter