“What… is this?”

  Somnu questioned as a new pop-up screen stopped him from opening the second door.

  It wasn’t related to it in any way, it simply was an unexpected message.

  [You have accumulated more grudge.]

  [Grudgekeeper is growing stronger.]

  “But… I didn’t do anything?”

  Somnu looked down to check on his new outfit, searching for a clue. When he didn’t find anything, surveying the room was the only thing left.

  “Caaw!”

  “!”

  A second later, he noticed his crow companion coming out of the small room. For some reason, there was a red liquid on its beak as it looked at its summoner with the same nasty, but proud look in its eyes.

  “W-what did you do?!” He asked while taking an instinctive step back.

  “Caaw!” The crow shifted in place and simply opened its right wing as if pointing to something.

  “You… ate it?” With his eyes wide, Somnu came to the only conclusion possible.

  The crow had eaten the Hopping Turtle nightmare, practically consumed it whole in a matter of seconds.

  Wait, it can eat nightmares?! Are they edible…? Somnu swallowed, not liking the conclusion he was coming to. Does that mean, I have to eat that too to survive…?

  For some reason, he received no answer from the System this time.

  “So, Grudgekeeper needs to consume nightmares to grow?” He wondered. “That doesn’t seem right…”

  Based on what he knew so far, Somnu needed to face and overcome his fears in the form of Nightmare Creatures. Only by doing that would he level up.

  Having his main item grow from something like consuming Nightmare Creatures felt odd.

  Consuming their corpses didn’t mean he had to fight or defeat them himself, the two systems seemed to contradict each other.

  Unless… is it related to those errors again? Do Dream Catchers usually follow a different system of leveling up?

  Somnu couldn’t think of any other option. He was basing this all on his instincts and knowledge from consuming plenty of video games. And yet, the possibility of this being completely different from what he was familiar with was still there, however unlikely.

  “Hold on…” Something else snapped into place inside his mind. “How come Grudgekeeper leveled up when the skill from my aspiration ability ate it?”

  He turned around and looked at his crow companion, still standing on the ground and looking at him.

  “Is {Crow’s Call} a skill from Grudgekeeper, not my Scarecrow class?”

  “Caaw!” The crow let out enthusiastically.

  “Huh… I guess that makes more sense.” Somnu paused. “A scarecrow doesn’t summon crows, it’s supposed to scare them away…”

  Whatever the case, Somnu had been trying to ignore the very concept that his Dream Catcher was based on.

  Why does it grow on grudges? I’m not that kind of person…

  However, deep down, he had known exactly why all along.

  Shoving that thought into the back of his mind, he walked closer and brought his two hands together in a praying position.

  “Rest in peace, Hopping Turtle.” He muttered. “Whatever grudge you had, I guess I’ll carry it with me now. As long as it wasn’t against me… I hope…?”

  He had disturbed its stagnant, perhaps peaceful life, and caused its death. He thought maybe a little resentment towards him was natural in the end.

  “!” Turning back, he noticed his crow companion looking at him with an odd expression. At least, that’s how he felt it looked. “What? I’m just paying my respects here… It might have actually been a deity in secret or something, okay?! Though I did destroy that deity idol…”

  After a long sigh, he finally resumed his walk towards the second door in the room.

  “I need to be smart about this…” Somnu voiced his thoughts as he grabbed the knob on the door. “I’ve been thinking of trying this… No time like the present.”

  “Caaw?”

  Somnu gestured to his crow companion as he opened the door just enough for it to pass through.

  “Go scout for food and water, please.” He asked politely, remembering the exchange from earlier.

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  However, the crow simply turned its head away.

  Don’t tell me… is it still grumpy about what I said earlier?

  He had made sure to apologize properly a couple of times already, but to no avail. It seemed a crow’s grudge was as strong as the rumors say.

  “You know, if you don’t do this, both of us will starve here, right?”

  “!”

  Somnu closed the door and pretended to give up by leaning on it and slowly sliding down. His brows furrowed slightly, and with a self-deprecating smile, the fallacy of a melancholic expression was achieved.

  “Caaw!”

  Not a moment later, the crow seemingly changed its mind and flew closer to the door, flapping its wings at the knob as if to urge its summoner on.

  Gotcha! Somnu snickered inwardly.

  “Alright, alright.” The summoner got back up and opened the door slightly again. “Glad you changed your mind. Go on, I’ll wait here and make sure no one follows you.”

  The crow seemed tired of its master’s nonsense, because the moment the door opened, it flew in so fast he didn’t have time to explain the plan properly.

  “Wait!” Somnu called after it, but he didn’t hold out hope. “That little…”

  He sat back down and waited for a few minutes.

  Then, he canceled the summoning skill.

  Then used it again.

  “!” The crow suddenly found itself back in front of its master, which seemed to take it by surprise.

  “You’re back… So, it worked.” Somnu scratched his chin. “By sending you away, I can cancel the skill and reuse it for you to reappear around me. That’s good to know.”

  Somnu was already considering the different situations he could use this newfound trick in.

  “Now, tell me what you found behind the door.”

  “Caaw?”

  “Right, you can’t talk. I guess the general ability [Multilingual Comprehension] doesn’t extend to animals…” The summoner rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think. “How about this, I ask you questions and you answer with one caaw for yes, and two caaws for no, got it?”

  “Caaw!”

  “Good, let’s try it.” Somnu thought of a couple of questions. “Are you holding a grudge against me-?”

  “Caaw!”

  Crow-shit!

  “Do you have a name?”

  “Caaw! Caaw!”

  “Alright, seems like you get it. Did you see any Nightmare Creatures behind the door?”

  “Caaw!”

  “Were they bigger or of a different rank than the Hopping Turtle?”

  “Caaw! Caaw!”

  “So, not very dangerous… I hope.” He paused, then continued. “Did you find any food?”

  “Caaw!”

  “Wait, food that I can eat too, not just you.”

  “Caaw!”

  “What about water?”

  “Caaw!”

  “Okay, that’s enough.” Somnu stood up, his mind was made up.

  Low danger, possibility of food and water, as well as the answer of what is hiding behind the door… I have no reason not to explore it now!

  With that, he turned the knob and opened the door wide.

  CREEK!

  “?!”

  Instead of a room, however, stood a long and narrow hallway that seemed nothing but empty beside the occasional hung up torches lighting the way.

  “You…” Somnu looked down at his crow. “Are you messing with me because of your grudge?”

  “Caaw! Caaw!” The crow turned its head to the side, then took off flying down the hallway.

  “I guess I’ll trust you for now then…” Somnu muttered before taking a step into the narrow hallway.

  A tightness in his stomach was beginning to creep in, causing his eyes to dart left and right uncontrollably.

  It was obvious another active fear was being enhanced. He had a guess about how the active fears worked by now.

  Everyone was a little scared of something, but if the System chooses an active fear for you in this place, once you come across the specific fear or Nightmare Creature based on it, your symptoms are enhanced further, pushing you into fight or flight mode.

  And right now, in front of Somnu, a fear of tight spaces was pushing against his curiosity to explore further.

  So, I guess Claustrophobia is part of the all-in-one package that I got… He scoffed. I have to push through though.

  Focusing on every step he took, he forced himself down the hallway where the crow was flapping its wings in the air, waiting for him. Oddly enough, it seemed patient.

  CREEK! THUDDD!

  “?!”

  A sudden noise made Somnu and the crow look back to the entrance they just left behind.

  “W-what…?”

  In front of the now closed door, on the inside, stood a hunched figure blocked by the shade.

  THUD!

  The first step it took made Somnu’s heart skip a beat.

  The light of the first torch revealed a hairless creature standing on two feet, the pale skin so tight on the bones, it almost looked like a skeleton instead. The only things recognizable about it were the two long bunny ears protruding from its skull.

  It was hunched down like a vicious and hungry wolf, evident by the steam and saliva covering the jagged teeth.

  Its deep crimson eyes focused only on the prey in front of it. The prey that could only swallow in response.

  Somnu’s nerves tensed up, making him shudder in place. Had he consumed anything after coming to this place, the sight alone would have made him empty the contents of his stomach.

  He was in fight or flight mode once again.

  However, what many people didn’t account for when referring to that, was that there was one more outcome when faced with such a situation.

  It was a natural occurrence for quite a few animals in the wild.

  Instead of fight or flight…

  They would freeze in place.

  That’s what Somnu was currently experiencing as he faced his first real threat since he got his System.

  Crow-shit! That’s definitely stronger than the Hopping Turtle! I’m screwed!

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