The night was already very late, and Bruce, who was lying on the bed, was sleeping more and more deeply, but even in his sleep, his brows were still frowning tightly.
Suddenly, the door of his bedroom opened a small crack, and light poured out. The light sound of the door hinge was a bit annoying. Bruce's brows deepened, and he moved his arms, and then turned over.
A layer of darkness like a shadow covered his face, and Bruce seemed to notice it. The moment he opened his eyes, a flash of lightning flashed outside the window, and a scary clown holding a dagger high stood in front of his bed.
The moment the dagger fell, Bruce sat up from the bed. He held his breath tightly, as if his throat was being strangled. After a long time, he exhaled with trembling shoulders. He looked into the empty room and confirmed 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 from the bed.
He saw that the window in his room had opened a small crack, and the wind blowing in from the window made the lampshade of the desk lamp sway a little, and the shadows in the room flickered. Bruce thought that maybe this was the reason for his nightmare, so he
Go over and close the window.
After there was no wind in the room, all the lights and shadows became quiet. Bruce walked slowly to the bathroom, looking for a towel to wipe the sweat on his face.
After entering the bathroom, he put his hands on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror quietly. However, this time he did not have any hallucinations. He just found that his face was a little pale, and the wound on his shoulder had cracked and started to leak out.
Blood.
He gently touched his shoulder with his other hand. The pain was not too severe but very long-lasting. It may be that he used too much force when he just sat up, which caused the tear.
Bruce reluctantly turned on the faucet, bent down, and wanted to wash his face.
Just when he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and picked up the water, he didn't notice that the bathroom door slowly opened.
And when he stood up again, raised his head, and looked into the mirror, a terrifying black figure stood behind him. Appearing in the mirror at the same time as Bruce was a laughing crazy clown who raised his dagger and struck down hard.
Give it a hard swing.
"Well!!"
Bruce let out a painful groan and sat up from the bed. He took deep breaths and looked at the surrounding scene in confusion. He was still lying on the bed. The room was still empty and there was nothing.
The windows were closed tightly, no wind blew in, the lampshade did not shake, the light and shadow did not change, and more importantly, there was no crazy clown.
He sat stiffly on the bed, with a trembling sound in his throat as he breathed. When he wanted to get out of bed again, he hesitated at the edge of the bed, then stood up, and then reached out to touch the corners of the desk next to him.
The sharp feeling there spread to his brain along his fingertips, giving him a sense of security. Bruce did not go to the bathroom this time, but walked to the door of his room, turned the doorknob, and opened the door.
In an instant, a terrible scene happened.
What was outside the door was not the corridor of Wayne Manor, but a black hole with howling winds. Bruce was sucked in almost instantly, and then, after the nauseating feeling of weightlessness and falling, he sat up from the bed again.
Bruce closed his eyes hard, he was completely unsure whether this was a dream or not.
Bruce began to think, if this time was also a dream, what would he do to wake up?
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and then began to look at the room. This bedroom was no different from what he remembered. Everything was where he should be. He didn't turn off the lights before going to bed, leaving all the items in the room.
All covered with a thin layer of halo.
What on earth caused these serial nightmares of his?
Bruce stood up again and walked to the center of the room. He only paused for a moment, then walked to the bathroom again, turned on the faucet, lowered his head, held water, washed his face, stood up straight, and sure enough, a maniacally laughing clown raised his hand at him.
He picked up the dagger, and once again, he woke up from his dream.
Now Bruce understands that he is trapped in an endless dream and must find a way to wake up.
Sitting up from the bed, Bruce began to search, but everything in the room was extremely real, not like how it 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 the same as in Bruce's memory.
.
If you lie down to sleep, a crazy clown will come to the bedside holding a dagger. If you walk into the bathroom to wash your face, there will be another crazy clown standing behind you holding a dagger. If you want to open the bedroom door and walk out
, will be sucked into the endless darkness.
After all of the above happens, Bruce will wake up from bed again and repeat the same nightmare.
Bruce tried many times and triggered more conditions. For example, if he stood still in the center of the room, an upside-down clown would appear on the chandelier and stab him with a dagger. If he got under the table,
A flat clown printed on the wall will appear on the wall behind him, holding a dagger to stab him. If he opens the closet, a crazy clown will rush out of the closet, holding a dagger to stab him.
It's like no matter where he is or what he's doing, there are scary clowns everywhere.
Once he is stabbed by the clown holding a dagger, Bruce will wake up from his dream, find himself in the bed again, and then be awakened again.
This horrible nightmare keeps looping, as if it will never end.
In this way, in Bruce's bedroom in Wayne Manor, one Bruce after another began to try various actions, some moved their mattresses, some lifted the legs of the desk, and some moved the wardrobe. Every time
When they trigger a certain condition, Bruce's figure will disappear, but then more Bruce will appear.
After discovering that this was a cyclic dream, Bruce knew that there was no other way but to exhaust it, because nothing in the dream made sense.
After all, if it were in reality, with the security system of Wayne Manor, it would be impossible for the clown with the dagger to enter his bedroom.
If it is normal reasoning, the exhaustive method and carpet search are undoubtedly the last resort methods that will be adopted when the idea is in trouble or there are no other new options. However, in this case, these two methods
The efficiency is the highest.
Finally, everything changed when Bruce touched the lamp switch in the room.
When he flipped the switch of the desk lamp with his hand, turned off the desk lamp, and plunged the room into darkness, the scary clown did not appear again.
Whether he walked into the bathroom to wash his face or lay down on the bed to sleep, that crazy smiling face never appeared again in the dark bedroom.
But that doesn't mean this endless cycle of nightmares is over.
Bruce was still not sure whether he was in a dream or not. He walked to the window in the dark and opened it. The cold wind and rain blew on his face. This feeling was very real, but Bruce did not relax at all. He finally understood
What did the clown mean when he said "the game begins".
After trying all possible actions to trigger the appearance of the clown, but the clown did not appear, Bruce knew that "turning off the lights" might be the key point of the puzzle.
Next, he walked to the bedroom door and opened the bedroom door.
Outside the door is the hallway of Wayne Manor.
But Bruce did not relax his vigilance at all. After experiencing countless rounds of nightmares, he no longer trusted anything called "reality".
At this time, it was also dark in Wayne Manor. Bruce walked forward along the dark corridor until he reached the edge of the stairs. The moment he stepped down, the next step disappeared, and then he fell down, and then again
Wake up from a dream.
He stood up, turned off the light, opened the door, and walked out. This time, Bruce changed the direction and wanted to go down the stairs on the other side. Then he discovered that no matter which staircase he took, the moment he lifted his foot, he would go down.
The steps will disappear, and then he will enter the next dream again.
What is the key to the puzzle this time? Bruce stood in the dark corridor and thought about it. He did not feel any anxiety or impatience. In other words, he gained a short period of tranquility from this kind of thinking.
How on earth is he going to get off this floor if he can't take the stairs?
Bruce tried jumping straight down from the edge of the patio. In reality, the height of two floors was nothing to him, but in dreams, once he felt a falling sensation, he would wake up again, and he discovered that,
This method won't work.
If he can't leave this floor, then maybe he should explore other rooms, but the situation in other rooms is the same as in the bedroom. Many of Bruce's actions will cause him to trigger the deadly clown, the figure with a crazy smile, who knows why.
It would appear behind him, on his side, on top of his head or even in front of him, and then swing a dagger at him, causing him to wake up again.
Room after room, puzzle after puzzle, Bruce's figure once again filled the entire third floor of Wayne Manor, with his figure acting, stopping and thinking everywhere.
After waking up countless times, Bruce did not go through the same process again, but stayed in his bedroom.
As he had done many times before, he turned off the light in the bedroom, then half-knelt down, leaned over, put his head on the floor and looked under the bed.
Among the entire third floor of Wayne Manor, there was the only place he had not checked - under his bed.
But Bruce knew why he had ignored this place. His hand on the bedside was trembling very slightly. He could never forget the horror story he heard when he was very young.
When you sleep in bed, there will be a figure like you sleeping under the bed, that is your shadow.
If the child does not sleep well, the shadow will crawl out from under the bed, then throw you under the bed, and he will lie down on the bed to take your place.
He will completely replace you, enjoy the care of your parents, play with your friends, wear your clothes, and play with your toys, while you can only be like a shadow, hiding under the bed and crying sadly.
The memories of childhood shadows are the most profound, but even without this story, it still takes great courage for people to look under the bed in the dark and even darker.
And there, Bruce found something that shouldn't be in his room. It was a rotating... globe?
There is a small piece of paper next to the globe, with a line of words written on it in a very sloppy and weird font——
"This is Miss Globe, and his dance partner is Jack. Jack the Clown wants to remind Batman that when good children sleep, turn off the lights!"
The moment he finished reading the note, a pale hand holding a dagger stretched out from under the bed and stabbed Bruce.