Chapter 1: The Purgatory of Dreams

  Original work ~ First time writing a horror story, using my own dream as material. Don't mind friends who have finished reading giving some opinions to help with revisions.

  She suddenly opened her eyes, and everything around her was gray and hazy. The air was filled with a very pungent and foul smell that she had never smelled before, but she knew it must be the smell of blood mixed with the stench of rotting corpses.

  She carefully observed her surroundings, as far as the eye could see, the ground was covered with wet mud, and the few withered trees were crowded with crows. She didn't know where this place was, although she hadn't seen any corpses or more terrifying things, but she was sure that this was a hell-like place. The surrounding area was dead silent, and she was certain that this was the most terrifying place she had ever seen.

  She knew she couldn't just stand still and wait, because she wasn't sure what would come of it in the end. Although she had a severe case of nyctophobia, she had no other choice but to force herself forward, her fear making her legs heavier and heavier.

  Due to her inner repression and fear, she didn't notice the black paper with red letters buried in the mud where she had just woken up. It's not that she didn't notice it, but rather the black paper was camouflaged by the dark mud, something most people wouldn't have noticed. The paper steadfastly read "Dream Purgatory - Task Rules".

  The road ahead seemed to know her fear, growing darker by the minute. As she walked, she found herself lost, perhaps never having had a sense of direction in the first place, only the thickening fog around her making it harder to breathe.

  The damp environment made her feel extremely uncomfortable, but she didn't dare to stop or turn back, and could only continue walking forward with a stiff upper lip. Suddenly, she thought of a very crucial question - perhaps this was all just a dream.

  She pinched her thigh hard, it hurt. It wasn't a dream after all, this was too unbelievable. She started to recall what had happened before she woke up. She went home from work as usual, took a bath, played with her phone for a while and fell asleep, and when she opened her eyes again, she was here.

  She suddenly thought of something terrifying, if it wasn't for the non-human world being strange, how could this be explained? Was she like in horror movies, playing games with the devil?! Thinking of this, she couldn't help but shiver, her forehead was covered in sweat, she didn't dare to believe that all of this was real, but reality was right in front of her and she had no choice but to accept it.

  She vaguely saw a figure in front of her, and through the dimness she could only make out that it was a woman's outline. She stopped in her tracks, the surroundings had unknowingly become even more oppressive, her blood froze instantly, and she stood there dazed.

  I don't know where she got the courage from, but she shouted loudly: "Who's in front?" The figure seemed to have stopped for a moment as well. "Where is this place? There are actually other people here?" She seemed to feel a glimmer of hope and rushed forward. Presenting herself before her eyes was a slender, pale-faced girl with a delicate complexion. Although fear had distorted the girl's face, making it impossible to discern any expression, she was indeed a beautiful girl, looking like she was fifteen or sixteen years old.

  "What's your name? You look so young, probably still in school?" The little girl said with a trembling voice: "Gu... Meng, everyone... calls me... Little Dream, I'm studying at Sixth Middle School." "How did you end up here?" "I... I... I..." "Don't rush, speak slowly, Little Dream." "When I woke up, I was already here. I don't know who brought me here either. This place is so scary, it's all gloomy everywhere. Sister, I'm so afraid, I..."

  The fog suddenly dispersed a bit before they finished speaking, and it seemed like there was something not far from them. They decided to go over and take a look. As they approached, they found that it was an old mine cart with cracks all over it.

  There was a section of railroad tracks under the mine cart, which also looked quite old. The railroad tracks were very long and couldn't find where they ended. "Come on, Xiaomeng, let's go up."

  "Ah? I don't want to, I'm so scared." "Rather than waiting for death here, let's take a gamble and get on quickly." As she said that, she had already boarded the mine cart. Xiaomeng reluctantly followed her, because she really didn't want to be left alone here, with two people there would be less fear.

  "Ah!!!!!!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "Sister, there's blood over there..." It wasn't until they sat down in the car that they noticed the mining cart had bloodstains all over it. The two girls were terrified, but they knew regret was too late now because as soon as they sat down, the mining cart began to move slowly forward. Their hands clutched tightly together, waiting for those unknown terrors.

  The mine cart was going faster and faster, they could obviously feel a bit unsteady, vaguely seeing a large cave in front of them, "Whoosh..."

  "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!" They rushed into the cave, the darkness inside was overwhelming, they could no longer see each other, only the trembling hand they were holding onto let them know the other was still by their side.

  Further ahead, there are several bright lights in the distance. "Are those streetlights?!" Ah... It's a steep downhill slope. After passing this slope, the car accelerates once, and it can't help but remind one of playing roller coasters at an amusement park, but in such an environment, it feels like the roller coaster has been moved into a haunted house.

  "Sister, look!" Xiaomeng pointed to the rock wall of the cave, "What are those!" Although the car was moving fast, one could still clearly see that the rock wall was crawling with spiders, as big as a palm, their red eyes radiating a suffocating glow. It sent shivers down one's spine and made one's hair stand on end.

  The car suddenly swayed and stopped, as if it had hit something. The two girls rolled out of the car. "Wow, that hurts." A red light shone towards them, and because they had been in the dark for so long, the sudden strong light made their eyes ache and they couldn't open them for a while. When they slowly opened their eyes...

  "Oh no...... Xiaomeng, come over here." A huge black spider was slowly moving towards them.