This was not reality...
Half a month after waking up, Karen spent almost a week accepting and verifying that he had "traveled" into another "real world" instead of just a dream or a figment of his imagination.
But right now, what he was facing is not reality!
He should... No, he must still be in the basement of the Immeras family's house.
All the strange occurrences began when he straighten Jeff's head.
Furthermore, the presence of these massive red high heels and the woman's face, both defying reality and rational thinking, could only mean one thing that he had been "hypnotized".
The term "hypnotized" has many interpretations. In this context, it means that he had been separated from his physical existence and trapped within his spiritual existence.
A vague interpretation: he was currently... dreaming.
The static noise from the radio continued to sound.
And above, the woman's mouth slowly began to open.
After reaching the extreme curvature of a normal human face, it continued to widen. He could even hear a sound similar to the teeth of a zipper being rubbed together.
The woman's mouth continued to widen until it completely split the face horizontally. The once-compressed teeth now stretched apart, revealed a large gap. The enormous and agile tongue rapidly descended more bizarrely and nimbly!
Like a gecko trying to swallow a tiny mosquito.
"Buzz!"
Karen only felt his entire body enveloped in a clammy warmth, before being lifted.
When people are rapidly hoisted high or moved quickly, like on a pirate ship or swinging pendulum, they experience a ticklish sensation.
When this sensation intensified, it could easily cause disorientation or even fainting.
This was a dream. This was a dream...
Karen silently recited in his heart. What he needs to do now was wake up as soon as possible.
He was not clear about the cause of the current situation, but this didn't prevent him from dragging the unknown into a field he was familiar with and adept at finding a solution.
Like problem-solving, it's better to try to apply known formulas bit by bit than sit idly by, even if... applied them mechanically.
The human mind had always been a mysterious "arena".
When dreaming, normal people naturally woke up after a certain point. Sometimes, at a very low probability, they became aware that they are dreaming but cannot wake up immediately. This was called "Sleep Paralysis."
In another group of enthusiasts, it was called a "Lucid Dream", which could be entered through certain training and self-suggestion techniques to increase the success rate.
Most people lost interest eventually because the desperation of forcibly waking up from a dream, like emerging from the depths of an abyss, was enough to drive them mad and leave them terrified.
Moreover, those whose mental thinking was frequently exercised due to work easily fabricated more realistic dreams, essentially entangling themselves in their creations.
A more severe situation was when several layers of dreams were created, where the subconscious mind began to "work" and deceived oneself through dreams, making them "awake" yet simultaneously "awake" in a new layer of dreams to reduce their resistance to dreaming. This was called "genuine self-deception."
If an ordinary person's "Sleep Paralysis" was akin to emerging from the abyss, then this kind of situation resembled a winter swimmer surfacing from a dive only to discover a thick layer of ice above.
What would be the consequence of not waking up in a dream... was currently undefined, as there was no option to select "death in a dream" on a death certificate. People who woke up from a dream usually stop mentioning it since it was merely a dream and there was no substantial harm to the body.
The wind violently whipped past Karen's ears. He was wrapped by a strong and elastic tongue before being rapidly sent into the oral cavity.
Then,
Karen heard the dense chewing and sucking sounds,
one after another,
constantly entering his ears.
You are being eaten. You are being torn apart. You are being swallowed...
You are dying... you are dying... you are dying... you... are dead!
Karen understood that if he doesn't wake up now, his fate will be grim.
A person who had died once often didn't take life lightly... On the contrary, they cherished their lives even more. Karen was no exception.
He didn't want to die!
In this situation, he must instill sufficient faith and courage to help break through the barriers of the "dream" and allow consciousness to return to the flesh and the real world.
In the past, due to his work and personal interests, Karen had encountered similar situations. Although they were not as bizarre and horrifying as this, he had effective and practical plans for dealing with it.
To pierce through lies, use the truth.
To rebuild weakness, use ideals.
To dispel hindrances, use the truth!
When you were powerless, you could try to borrow strength.
Therefore,
Karen began to sing.
Singing with all his heart and soul:
"Arise, ye prisoners of starvation! Arise, ye wretched of the earth!"