[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]

  [You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]

  [You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]

  [...]

  “They just keep coming.” The scarecrow’s figure blurred around the giant corpse, a shadow phasing through enemies left and right. “I guess we might as well take care of them all right here and now.”

  He considered using [Hollow Gaze] or [Feral Instinct], but considering he was still naked, those skills would likely scare all of the Specters away. He would lose on some easy Terror Cores, especially now that their restrictions weren’t active anymore.

  “Ah, wait! We still need one alive!”

  “I’m on it, master! Hiss!”

  “Caaw! I’ve got one right here for you, master!”

  Both Fala and Naga had joined him. A piece of Grudgekeeper was wrapped around their bodies as they took care of Nightmare Creatures on their own. Now that they had grown in both size and intelligence, their strength had spiked up too. Perhaps, more than even they realized.

  “Never mind, Master. I shouldn’t have grabbed it by its neck… It snapped.”

  “Ah! It’s dead… I squeezed it a little too hard… Sorry, Master!”

  “Stop calling me that, are you two just competing on who can say it more and louder now?!” The master cried out. “And be more careful! Lulu won’t get over her fear if we kill them all!”

  Somnu shuddered every time he got a new pop-up message about his familiars slaying another Nightmare Creature. A question kept repeating in his mind every time he saw one…

  What if I made them mad…? Will Fala snap my neck with her talons? Or will Naga crush my body? He shook those thoughts out of his mind and got back to the mission at hand.

  “Ohh-aaa-eee-eee!”

  “Thank you for coming to me. That saves me the trouble.”

  [Straw Storm!]

  Just as another monkey monster jumped at him, he imprisoned it in a sphere of straws, carefully making sure it was safe. In his previous attempts, he hadn’t been much better than his familiars. He either wrapped the straws too tightly over their bodies and killed them, or accidentally crushed their necks when he tried grabbing them first.

  This time, it finally worked. He had captured a Nightmare Creature without killing it.

  “Never thought I would be doing something like this… It almost feels a little freaky.” Somnu chuckled, then quickly frowned. “Wait, they’re not going to think I’m weird for doing this, right?”

  “You are doing this for their benefit, Master.”

  “That’s right, Master! If they don’t like it, I’ll still comfort you! Then you can praise me all night!”

  “Back to it you two…”

  Somnu sighed and jumped up to the chest of the Dreadbeast corpse. He walked closer to the wound he had made over its heart and sat in front of it.

  “So, even after ranking up Eclipsed Requiem, it still wasn’t enough to cut a Dreadbeast deeper than this.” He figured, rubbing his chin. “I’ll need to focus on upgrading it and Wistful Daystar before reaching the next Nightmare Layer…”

  As he realized other Sleepers have probably guessed by now, the next Layer was likely going to be swarmed by Dreadbeasts. The only problem Somnu could foresee is a current issue already emerging on the First Layer.

  “Something is up. If Dreadbeasts are showing up in the Abyss of Lethe for some reason, that is going to put everyone who hasn’t ranked up yet in grave danger.” The scarecrow narrowed his eyes. “Fighting the Thieving Slime was really tough, and we barely even managed to beat it by relying on another Nightmare Creature.”

  Somnu reached out and massaged what was left from his actual left arm. Thankfully, he had the straw replacement at least.

  “Now that I’ve ranked up, fighting this Dreadbeast here was a little easier.” Somnu stretched his arms high, getting up, then rested them on his naked hips. “Well, maybe it’s a little different for me. Despite everything and my non-combat skills, I’ve been doing well for myself, especially in the-”

  “Ohh-aahh-ahh-”

  As he was talking, another monkey jumped at him, only to get immediately beheaded by a summoned sickle.

  “Especially in the equipment department.”

  “What about me, Master?! Hiss!”

  “Caaw! How ungrateful of you, Master…”

  “Hey, Grudgekeeper! Are you about done with that leg yet?”

  “Hiss! We got ignored!”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “It’s all because of you, serpent skank.”

  “What did you say, bird brain?!”

  “...”

  Ignoring the usual bickering behind him, Somnu walked down to the legs of the Dreadbeast, and saw most of the left limb was already gone. It was a necessary sacrifice to the little ripped fabric pieces, each filled with a jagged row of teeth.

  “You ate that much in just a few minutes, but I can’t stay here any longer.” Somnu narrowed his eyes. “The others are probably getting pretty worried by now. I should go back.”

  Hopping down from the Dreadbeast corpse, Somnu faced the direction he had come from.

  I’ll just leave Grudgekeeper and the many clones here to eat all the remains. I haven’t encountered a distance limit with them yet, and I can just re-summon Grudgekeeper when I get the pop-up message that it’s done. He decided, then took a step forward. “Fala, Naga, leave your clones here and let’s go.”

  ““Yes, Master!””

  While Fala flew in front of him, leading the way, Naga crawled up his body and rested on his shoulders. He could actually see an expression on her face, but from her closed eyes and little hissing, he could tell she was enjoying herself.

  You were so shy when we first met, and look at you now…

  He didn’t dare utter those words out loud.

  Then, the scarecrow began to run, dragging the monkey’s straw prison behind him with a rope attached to his bare stomach.

  “They’re going to say something about this for sure, but better to return naked than have them look for me and wander about.” He chuckled, covering the important parts with straw wrappings at the very least. “Time to check those pop-up messages now.”

  [You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]

  [Rank of Nightmare Creature: Specter.]

  [Specter Name: Flipping Monkey.]

  [Flipping Monkey: An evolved monkey creature based on the fear of being in an inverted space, Invertophobia, and the fear of invitations, Invitophobia. It typically hangs upside down in one place, inviting its prey to join it in the inverted world. If hit by this restriction, the Flipping Monkey will immediately move around to distort its prey’s perception even more.]

  [Specter Level: Lvl 71.]

  [Specter Level: Lvl 59.]

  [Specter Level: Lvl 62.]

  [...]

  [You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]

  [Rank of Nightmare Creature: Dreadbeast.]

  [Dreadbeast Name: Swiping Ape.]

  [Swiping Ape: An evolved ape creature based on the fear of being in an inverted space, Invertophobia, the fear of invitations, Invitophobia, and the fear of not being invited Aproskletophobia. It typically stands in one place, forcing its prey into the inverted world, and inviting it close to its chest. If the prey is unable to stay in place and gets sucked in by this Restriction, the Swiping Ape will immediately move the countless arms to exude its frustration for not being the first to be invited.]

  [Dreadbeast Level: Lvl 48.]

  [Calculating rewards…]

  “That’s odd.” Somnu commented, keeping a steady pace back towards his party members. “The Dreadbeast was an exact copy of the Specter version, except for an additional fear.”

  He had noticed the similarity in the appearance too, but it all almost felt as if…

  “Did it evolve here to a Dreadbeast instead of being teleported into the Abyss of Lethe?” He furrowed his brows. “Then why aren’t there more Dreadbeasts normally? I need to keep an eye on this. It’s just one new mystery on top of another. A mystery buffet!”

  Needless to say, he had to figure out how things really worked, especially now that he knew his adopted siblings were on the First Layer too, assuming his vision had been recent.

  “One more thing…” He narrowed his eyes after putting the info of the two Dreadbeasts he fought next to each other. “Thieving Slime and Swiping Ape… The names are ridiculously straightforward, but both of those had an unusual fear in addition to the two… Or at least, the way they worked was different…”

  The slime Dreadbeast had stolen the age of others and stored them as souls trapped forever within its gelatine body. On the other hand, the ape Dreadbeast was inviting prey to beat them up for not being invited first…

  “Unlike the Woodland Spirit Dreadbeast I fought in the forgotten realm of Nirvia… if these two I fought here are any indication of what’s coming in the next Layer, then it should be either based on greed or envy…” He assumed, basing his hypothesis on the fact that the First Layer was based on Lethargy, as in Sloth, and most Nightmare Creatures around him had fears related to movement of some kind.

  He frowned, not looking forward to whatever greed or envy would have in store, not to mention any of the other deadly sins.

  Sloth had been a hell on its own already.

  [Calculations complete!]

  [You have obtained 1 Ebony and 48 Gray Terror Cores.]

  [Note: Ebony Terror Cores are worth 100 Transparent Cores each.]

  [You have obtained 68 Additional Transparent Terror Cores due to Swiping Ape’s level.]

  [You have obtained 80 Additional Transparent Terror Cores due to multiple Flipping Monkey’s levels.]

  [Randomizing percentage of obtainable Ego particles…]

  [You have obtained 3842 Ego Particles based on Swiping Ape’s level.]

  [All rewards have been sent to your inventory.]

  [Terror Cores Available: 754.]

  [Ego Particles Available: 3842.]

  Jackpot! Time to level up-

  “Caaw! Master! We’re here!”

  Looking up from the pop-up messages, Somnu finally realized he was about to reach the area where Lulu and Mathros were. He didn’t know how long it had taken him, but probably less than 10 minutes.

  Okay, let’s cheer up the bunny girl! He put on a cheerful expression, held the monkey cage above his head, then jumped into the party’s safe camp. “Lulu!! Look! I got you a monkey!”

  ““...””

  “?!”

  Upon landing, Somnu was met with some unfamiliar gazes staring at him, their judging looks mixed well with Lulu’s and Mathros’ furrowed brows.

  The two were standing at alert in front of at least four other Sleepers. All their weapons were drawn and at the ready.

  All except for Somnu who was holding a monkey cage above his head. His chest was covered in dried up blood, while only a little bit of straw covered his private parts.

  Even that last bit of dignity gave out and fell from his sudden halt, leaving him completely naked in front of the newcomers.

  Master! I’m picking up different smells near your friends!

  That’s way too late, dammit! I needed that information like an hour ago, Naga!

  However, the scarecrow’s eyes quickly widened, noticing something far more relevant.

  While everyone stood in a momentary shock at his arrival, Somnu could only see two Systems, Lulu’s and Mathros’.

  The four new Sleepers had hidden Systems that he couldn’t glimpse into.