The first stage of my newly acquired ‘Nightmare Form’ only featured three abilities, but they seemed to be quite interesting–Or at least, the names sounded alluring.

  Dream Walker: When near slumbering people or creatures, transforming into this form will allow you to invade their dreams and nightmares. Within, you will have minor control over your form and the ability to turn the dream into a nightmare of your own

  This was pretty much the first thing I had imagined the ‘Nightmare Form’ to be capable of doing. ‘Dream Walker’ granted the ability to trespass upon the imaginary world of the sleeping, and from there, it seemed like the point of the ability was to twist the dream or nightmare into what was essentially a nightmare trial of my own… That’s how I was interpreting it, using the rather cryptic description.

  Do you know more than what is presented to me, Nara?

  I do! Your idea of ‘Dream Walker’ is not that far off, only that when a person’s dream is turned into a nightmare by you, it isn’t quite turned into a nightmare trial as you understand it. To put it simply, it is more like a nightmare execution than a nightmare trial… You have near-complete control over the entirety of the imaginary landscape

  Though I don’t need to tell you that the stronger the target, not only is it more difficult to invade their dreams, but also to take over once in…

  Mmh, I see. I suppose that minor control over my form means that I can freely change how I look or something like that?

  It means that you can switch between the various forms you took upon within nightmare trials–Meaning that you can access any ability you’ve once been granted inside of a trial. So you could get the time freeze ability when invading a dream, or you could take on the tigress version of yourself, for example

  Sounds pretty powerful, what’s the catch?

  Unlike in nightmare trials, where the environment and such are tailor-made and maintained on its own, when using ‘Dream Walker’, most of that falls onto you. So switching forms and using abilities that do not truly belong to you will be quite tiresome… And you need focus and stamina to actually take over the dream, so…

  I get it. Still sounds pretty good nonetheless. That is a great ability that will definitely come in handy. Let’s check the next one.

  The Cauchemar Beast: When within a nightmare trial, or when performing an invasion, you can assume the nightmarish form of the beast that trial takers are faced with during the initial trials

  This one sounded less fancy, but to be given its own separate ability, I could only assume that this so-called Cauchemar Beast was actually quite the big deal in terms of strength, or at least, possessed some sort of special ability–Though nothing was precised about it in the description given by the system… Hell, I didn’t even know what it looked like. I had heard descriptions about it from the people who had suffered from my trials, but I had never laid eyes upon it myself.

  Sweetheart, any chance you can pull up a three-dimensional representation of this Cauchemar Beast?

  Sure thing!

  Oh wow, you actually can? Is it me, or are you way less restricted than before?

  I get the same feeling, but I know that I will eventually get blocked if I try to speak too much. This A.R.DL thing resulted in me getting rid of a bunch of restrictions concerning topics I could mention previously, so I guess… I guess I just feel more upbeat because of it

  I hope you stay upbeat. You’re adorable like this.

  My mind was soon filled with the appearance of the Cauchemar Beast, and it was indeed an impressive form. I would definitely like to be able to use that one in the real world. It seemed incredibly powerful.

  The Cauchemar Beast seemed to be about two and a half meters tall with impressively thick, yet clearly not muscular limbs. It was like its limbs were just hunks of flesh… In fact, it almost seemed as if my ‘Base Form’ were to grow enough flesh to be nearly completely covered in it, considering the metallic bits that could be seen sticking out in certain key spots.

  It had long claws made out of steel on both its hands and feet. Its eyes were the same two purple dots as in my ‘Base Form’, only way brighter to the point that they would probably provide decent illumination in the dark on their own.

  Most notable about it, though, were the two steel maws–Once again, the same style as my ‘Base Form’, only that there was a smaller maw inside the main maw, and looking closer… There was a third one deeper, only that it was not made of steel, it was made of seemingly spoiled flesh and had surprisingly white, human teeth.

  …And for some reason, this magnificently abhorrent creature was dressed up in a fancy grey suit featuring a waistcoat and a tie. I quite liked its look, and frankly, this thing looks like it would hit harder than even a hydraulic-enhanced punch in my ‘Base Form’.

  I take it that it isn’t free to transform into this form when inside a nightmare?

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  It doesn’t cost much per se, but it takes a while to actually occur, and if you decide to cancel the transformation, it will take a long while before you can transform back

  Mmh… Makes sense, I suppose.

  Our Little Horror Story: When within the A.R.DL, you designed your own Wonderland, and more importantly, mechanical daughters. Now, victims of your nightmare trials will have to endure another trial that will result in their death if they fail to achieve victory. A trial based on the game you've forced the night watcher to go through...

  The moment I focused on this one, I felt myself being transported, like when I would decide to plunge into my mind palace–Only that instead of finding myself inside of my own mindscape, I was dropped inside a familiar place.

  Glown’s Wonderland. A most magical, grandiose place that both my true self and alternate self could agree was a most incredible creation. I walked around the place, finding out that the exit was not actually locked, or at least, it opened for me, giving way into a piece of city that quickly ended, giving way to an endless black void.

  There was nowhere to go. The centerpiece of this place was the wonderland… Looking around the place, I found that my lovely clown girls were around as well, standing in their designated spots.

  I really absolutely killed it when designing them. They are all gorgeous.

  I wasn’t here to do a tour, although it was rather enjoyable…

  ‘Our Little Horror Story’ was a very interesting ability that was a direct and immense buff to my nightmare trials. Now, it was as if my victims had to go through two final trials if they wanted to live. They had no other choice but to play the same ‘game’ Medurio had played before, even having a chance to face me in the true final trial.

  It was also rather practical in general. I would no longer be distracted or interrupted nearly as often because I had to deal with a final trial, most people would probably fail right here instead, in a trial I wasn’t even directly involved in… In a trial that pretty much ignored the strength of the participant and instead tested their stamina, their nerves, and their ability to manage thirteen adversaries who attacked in a variety of manners.

  It was simply prodigious.

  Paying closer attention to the ability, however–More revealed itself about it, unlike with the previous ones. It was the system directly providing more information, not Nara.

  Note: Although a person undertaking the trials will only be faced with one of such mortal trials alongside the final trial, you are able to create more variations and instances. Glown’s Wonderland is currently the only instance available, and will thus be the only trial of its kind for all participants

  It is recommended that you create more instances featuring different levels of challenge–Specifically harder challenges. The specific instance of this trial will be decided based on the capabilities of the nightmare challenger. Otherwise, all challengers will face the same challenge of the same difficulty

  To create new instances of this trial, simply enter this space and use your will to enter a creative state–In this state, you will have access to the creative genius of your alternate self in the realm of machines and mechanical knowledge

  Oh my… If I want to create new automatons, I’ll have to do it the good old way? That’s interesting…

  Out of curiosity, I entered this creative state as it was called, and soon found myself floating in the dark void. The floating island upon which Glown’s Wonderland was situated was off to the side, and I immediately understood that the various instances were actually going to cohabit together inside of this seemingly infinite void.

  I could only assume that this was some sort of nightmare realm, and that this might actually be the place where nightmare trials existed… At the moment, it seemed no one was still suffering from my nightmares–I must have been gone for a while–But I infected people again, I might just be able to see their trials forming here, and I might even be able to watch them undertaking them… Which was fascinating to think about.

  Since I–Once again–Had all the time in the world, I decided to quickly try my hands at creating a new instance, but rather than creating something completely brand-new, I tried something else…

  I tried to copy the existing instance. I wasn’t certain how this creation stuff worked, but I figured that while I had to play the mechanist, I wouldn’t have to do the damned architecture by hand… Indeed, the power of my mind and will were enough in this regard. I used my will to copy the existing instance, and it happened without any sort of strain on my mind.

  Huh, I would have thought that there would be some sort of cost associated with it.

  Perk of having the boons of an undead, unless a cost is expressly associated with one of your abilities, you can expect it to be basically free, even if it should split your head and give a lifetime’s worth of migraines

  I guess I lucked out by being pressed like a fruit and becoming an unheard hybrid creature due to sheer negativity…

  In any case, my idea was to basically have the exact same building and my clown girls as the antagonists, but simply change things up in how they attack–Well, I wasn’t changing much. I was actually just adding additional methods of attack for each of them, basically making an identical instance that was just way harder.

  After all, as their creator and mother, I found it a shame that they didn’t all get the same spotlight. Braunlili spent all of her time inside the vents normally, which meant that the victim wouldn’t get to actually gawk at her incredible design much at all.

  So, I gave the ability to exit the vents and go for the door instead, where she would basically act in a similar manner to Gelbimi–Though the upbeat cheerleader would still be the only one to actively run up to the door from across the hallway. The others who would gain the ability to attack from the door would just walk to it instead.

  Nonetheless, if Gelbimi was no longer as unique in her method of attack, it meant that she should gain a new method of attack to keep her interesting–Ah, this is quite a lot of fun, don’t you think, Nara? Don’t hesitate to share your ideas!

  …And remember, the point isn’t to make it actually enjoyable or a good challenge for the victims. Those guys can go fuck themselves. The point is to make it interesting and put the spotlight on the clown gals. They are the real stars of the show!

  By the way, while I am here, do you have any idea how much time passed in the non-alternate reality?

  I am uncertain–Let me run some calculations…