The middle-aged man glanced at the burly man, only to be met with a sharp glare that made him quickly look away.
The awkward atmosphere gradually dissipated.
Standing up, the burly man declared it was late and time to end the discussion. He would take first watch and urged everyone to rest early.
The burly man would watch from 10 to midnight, leaving six hours to cover.
After some discussion, they arranged for Jiangcheng to take the midnight to 2 AM shift, the middle-aged man from 2 to 4 AM, and the fat man from 4 to 6 AM.
The burly man dragged over a thick cushion and sat by the fireplace, the flames casting shifting shadows across his face.
Jiangcheng's sofa was next to the fat man's, while the middle-aged man was some distance away at the other end of the living room.
"Brother," the fat man stretched his neck over and whispered, "are you asleep?"
Jiangcheng rolled over, turning his back to him.
During the burly man's two-hour watch, Jiangcheng remained awake the entire time. Fortunately, nothing happened except for the sound of burning wood.
When the time came, the burly man walked over and shook Jiangcheng, who "woke up."
"Stay alert during your watch. If anything happens, shout to wake us up," the burly man seemed uneasy and added, "Those things are most likely to happen around midnight."
"What things?" Jiangcheng asked as he got up.
The burly man's expression darkened, but he lowered his voice and said: "Supernatural events."
After this brief exchange, the burly man lay down on Jiangcheng's previous sofa while Jiangcheng walked over to sit by the fireplace, taking up his watch duty.
All was quiet except for the fat man's occasional snoring.
The middle-aged man and the burly man had their eyes closed, appearing to sleep, but Jiangcheng suspected they were actually awake, just as he had been earlier.
Two hours passed quickly. Jiangcheng walked to the other side of the living room and woke the middle-aged man.
They exchanged no words. Jiangcheng returned to sleep while the middle-aged man took a few sips from his water bottle before walking to the fireplace.
First, he added some firewood, then sat cross-legged before the fireplace.
He held the pocket watch in his hand.
Though less experienced than the burly man and the woman, the middle-aged man had survived two missions and knew well what the burly man meant by "supernatural" events.
He knew all too well their terrifying nature.
As Jiangcheng had guessed, the middle-aged man hadn't slept since the burly man's watch began, staying vigilant for any potential dangers.
An hour and a half passed without incident.
He had added firewood once more during this time. The fire burned brightly in the fireplace, warming his body, as if it could dispel the cold fear in his heart.
His two-hour shift was almost over. He slowly stood up, turning his head to look toward the windows.
Through the gaps in the curtains, the sky seemed to be lightening slightly.
Those trapped in nightmares share a paranoid aversion to darkness and an excessive fondness for daylight.
The middle-aged man was no exception.
Just as he was stretching his limbs, preparing to wake the fat man for the next shift, a sudden urgent need to urinate caught him off guard.
He stared at the water bottle in his hand... had he drunk too much?
The approaching dawn gave him some comfort. He looked back - the bathroom was in the corner of the living room, less than 20 meters away.
His wary gaze toward the bathroom gradually changed, that sense of alertness and unfamiliarity slowly receding.
In its place came an inexplicable feeling of familiarity.
And... safety.
Adjusting his glasses, he walked slowly toward the bathroom in the corner.
Carefully opening the door, he relieved himself carefully, leaving the bathroom door wide open - after all, there were only men in the living room.
After finishing and shaking off, the middle-aged man felt relieved.
Truthfully, after a full day of ordeals and six hours without sleep, his physical and mental strength were failing him. He wasn't a young man in his twenties anymore.
Looking at his tired reflection in the mirror, the middle-aged man sighed, removed his glasses, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face.
The water was ice-cold but refreshing.
Just as he was about to wash his face a second time, his peripheral vision caught something in the mirror - there was someone standing behind him.
The person had appeared silently, without any footsteps.
"Who's there?!"
The shock lasted less than a second before the middle-aged man calmed down. Though his vision was blurry without his glasses, the person's rotund figure betrayed their identity.
"It's me."
Hearing the fat man's voice, the middle-aged man completely relaxed, then said irritably, "Next time, say something before appearing behind me."
The middle-aged man wiped his face with his sleeve, then put on his glasses, shaking the water from his hands as he turned around.
But the moment he fully turned, an icy chill ran from head to toe, as if his blood vessels had frozen solid.
There was... no one behind him.
Where was the fat man? Where had he gone?!
His eyes instantly reddened, and he instinctively wanted to look back at the mirror, but he didn't because he felt something settle on his shoulder.
Like... something had been placed there.
...
Dawn broke.
The three people sleeping in the second-floor rooms, like those in the living room, had kept one person on watch.
The male clerk, huddled in a corner of the bedroom, was about to yawn when a scream like a slaughtered pig interrupted him, making him jump and nearly fall from his chair.
The woman and the innocent-looking girl sleeping in the bed were also awakened by the scream.
They exchanged glances before rushing downstairs.
Jiangcheng and the burly man were gathered around the fat man, who sat on the ground, pale with terror - the source of the pig-like scream was obvious.
All three stared at the bathroom in the corner.
With fear, unease, and... confusion.
The woman with the mole by her lip looked around, not finding the middle-aged man, and mentally prepared herself.
She shook off the innocent-looking girl's hand and walked alone toward the bathroom.
The bathroom door was open. She stood at the entrance and took a quick glance inside.
Even someone as experienced as her drew in a sharp breath.
The middle-aged man stood straight before the mirror, his body facing the door, back to the mirror, but his head was twisted 180 degrees, facing the mirror.
Through the mirror's reflection, they could see the middle-aged man's eyes bulging enormously, almost popping out of their sockets.
After calming down, the woman cautiously approached the middle-aged man's side, followed by the burly man.
After observing for a few seconds, Jiangcheng also followed, standing outside the bathroom door looking in.
The woman removed her hand from the middle-aged man's neck and after a moment said, "His neck was suddenly broken by tremendous force."
This was obvious, so no one disagreed.
"He was also extremely frightened before death," the burly man added, staring at the middle-aged man's eyes.
The burly man studied the middle-aged man's final expression carefully, his brow furrowing deeper. That look of terror mixed with disbelief suggested something utterly chilling.
"What did he see?" Jiangcheng asked softly, his gaze never leaving the reflection in the mirror. On that cold glass surface, the middle-aged man's twisted face seemed frozen in a final moment of despair.
The woman's fingers lightly traced the middle-aged man's collar, where there was an almost imperceptible mark. "Time of death was around 3:50 AM," she stated with unnatural calmness, as if reciting an ordinary fact, "just ten minutes before the fat man's shift was to begin."
The fat man remained slumped on the ground, deathly pale, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. "I... I just woke up and found him missing," he stuttered, "then I saw... I saw..."
The burly man cut him off: "What did you see?"
"In the mirror... something... it flashed by..." the fat man's voice grew increasingly faint, barely a whisper by the end.
Jiangcheng noticed the burly man and the woman exchange a meaningful glance. Clearly, this situation wasn't unfamiliar to them.
"Everyone, back to the living room immediately," the burly man's voice was steady and forceful, "don't look back, and don't look at any reflective surfaces. From now on, all mirrors are forbidden zones."
The group quickly retreated to the living room. The innocent-looking girl tried to close the bathroom door but was stopped by the woman. "Leave it open," she said, "closing it might make things worse."
Jiangcheng caught a detail: as they left the bathroom, the middle-aged man's reflection seemed to move slightly in the mirror - a tiny, almost imperceptible movement. But when he tried to confirm it, the burly man firmly gripped his shoulder.
"Don't try to verify anything you think you saw," the burly man's voice carried a warning tone, "in this place, curiosity often costs you your life."
Back in the living room, they gathered around the fireplace. Each face in the flickering firelight bore an indescribable tension. This was their first casualty since entering the Dream Realm, and terrifyingly, everyone understood this might only be the beginning.
"We need to reassign the watch duties," the woman spoke up, her gaze sweeping across everyone present, "and from now on, we must work in pairs."
"Agreed," the burly man nodded, "acting alone is too dangerous. Especially now that..." he paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, "especially now that it has found us."
"It?" Jiangcheng seized on the word.
The burly man didn't immediately answer, instead rising to add more firewood to the fireplace. The flames suddenly flared, casting his shadow on the wall behind him, seemingly much larger than his actual form.
"Every Dream Realm has its specific rules and... residents," he finally chose this word, "and our task is to find a way out before we become their prey."