Night pressed heavy upon the city. It felt as if the metropolis had slipped into an unending dream from which it could not wake, the whispers of the cracks curling through every alley and shadow. Xiaohuo lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, haunted by fragments of memory: the countless waiting souls at the abandoned railway station, the mocking, sorrowful gaze of the Masked Man, the exhaustion and resolve etched onto his teammates' faces. He sensed himself drifting toward a boundary—a place where reality and dream grew indistinguishably thin.
Sleep would not come. The wind outside, the occasional honk of a distant car, the faint barking of a dog—all seemed to call to him from the depths of the crack. Suddenly, he realized he was dreaming, but everything around him felt piercingly real.
He stood on a street that was both familiar and strange. The streetlights glowed dim and uncertain; the neon signs above the shops flickered with incomplete words. Invisible whispers filled the air. Looking down, Xiaohuo saw his shadow stretch and split, becoming two black lines chasing one another at his feet.
"Is this... a crack illusion?" The thought struck him with dread. The oppressive sensation was the same as in the residential building, the school, and the station—but this time, the illusion was more real, more invasive. He could no longer tell if he was awake or asleep.
Around a corner, he saw a little girl crouched and weeping. Her sobs were soft yet pierced straight to the heart. Xiaohuo approached and recognized her as the same girl they'd once saved, but her shadow loomed enormous behind her, like a beast crouched on her back.
"Why are you here?" he asked gently.
The girl sniffled, "Mommy disappeared again... Nobody remembers me... I keep looking for home, but I can't find the way."
He tried to comfort her. "We'll stay with you, and we'll find the way home together."
As he reached for her hand, the scenery began to collapse. The lonely streetlights curled away like burning paper, the ground split with fine cracks, and countless shadows poured from the fissures, slowly surrounding them.
A cold, mocking voice echoed in Xiaohuo's ears—the Masked Man. "Welcome to the border of dreams, the threshold between reality and the unconscious. Your fear, loneliness, regret—they will be magnified here without end. Do you really think bravery alone can save you? How naïve."
Xiaohuo fought for clarity, reminding himself, "This is just a dream... just a crack illusion..." But he felt his consciousness being pulled apart—one part dragged into endless darkness, the other straining to return to reality.
Suddenly, a familiar resonance reached him—Sophie's voice, a gentle whisper from far away: "Xiaohuo, can you hear me? We're looking for you. Don't give up."
He remembered the promises he'd made with his team, the images of them fighting side by side. A spark of strength rekindled in his heart. He told the girl, "Let's shout our wishes together. Let the city hear us."
The girl looked up, her eyes shining with tears and hope. She and Xiaohuo drew deep breaths and cried out, "I want to go home! I want my family! I want to be remembered!"
Their shouts shook the shadows. The darkness wavered, and cracks appeared in the illusion. Light seeped through, as if somewhere in the waking world, someone had lit a lamp.
The dream shifted. The darkness retreated, revealing a warm hallway at the end of which a gentle yellow light glowed. The girl smiled; her shadow shrank to its natural shape, her fear melting away.
Just as Xiaohuo prepared to move forward, a powerful force yanked him back to consciousness. He awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat, clutching his blanket with trembling hands, his heart pounding.
Dawn's light filtered through the window. His phone vibrated—a message from Sophie: "You didn't reply last night. Did you fall into the crack dream too? Several of us had the same dream."
He replied quickly: "I met the little girl in my dream. Her shadow almost swallowed us, but in the end we shouted our wishes and broke the illusion."
Sophie: "We need to meet immediately. The cracks have spread to the dream realm. Everyone's subconscious is synchronizing. This is the sign of a collective unconscious threshold."
The team gathered at headquarters, faces drawn and pale, some with fear still in their eyes. Maya's voice shook. "I dreamed I was floating on a boundless sea. Countless arms tried to drag me down... but I heard your voices, and I managed to surface."
David said, "My dream was a city with no sound. People stood beside each other, but no one could speak. I was suffocating, until I heard Sophie call my name."
Ethan analyzed, "Our dreams are being linked by the crack network. This is the city's collective unconscious projecting itself. The synchronization means the cracks have reached a new level—not just targeting individuals, but resonating with the city's emotions as a whole."
Sophie added, "Professor Lin predicted this moment. When most people begin to dream similar scenes—about searching, waiting, being forgotten—the core of the crack may be about to open."
They decided on a two-pronged approach: continue public seminars encouraging people to confront their wounds and voice their fears and wishes, and, using a group resonance ritual, attempt to build a "safe channel" within the dreamscape so they could help each other in the illusions.
Night fell again. The team sat in a circle at headquarters, holding hands, eyes closed, breathing as one. Sophie spoke softly, "Imagine a shared place—a warm room, soft light outside the window, where we can always call to each other."
The resonance device displayed a steady pulse. They felt each other's presence, their heartbeats gradually synchronizing. That night, they entered the dream together.
In the dream, they found themselves in the warm room. Each team member was present; beyond the window, the familiar city glimmered in the night. Suddenly, someone knocked at the door. An old man, trembling, entered, a long, dark shadow dragging behind him.
The old man spoke, voice quivering, "I've been lost in this city for decades. My family is gone. I'm afraid, alone, but I don't want to forget them."
Maya stepped forward and embraced him gently. "You're not alone. We're here, willing to listen to your story."
With her embrace, the old man's shadow began to shrink; his face softened with relief.
At that moment, the city outside shook. A massive crack split the sky. The Masked Man's figure emerged from the fissure, his voice reverberating through the dream:
"You think resonance can fight the crack? The city's wounds are deeper than you know. Each of your fears, shames, regrets will be magnified endlessly. I'm eager to see how you save yourselves between dream and reality."
His words struck each heart. Sophie countered, her voice unwavering, "We can't heal every pain, but if we can truly see, hear, and accompany each other—even for a moment—a seam of light can appear in the crack."
Xiaohuo added, "We won't run. We'll help every person in this city cross the border of dreams together!"
Each team member shared their deepest fears and hopes. David confessed his dread of being forgotten; Ethan admitted his anxiety about the future; Maya spoke of her longing for family; Sophie revealed her fear of failure.
With every sincere confession, the crack's glow in the dream faded. Outside the window, more lights appeared across the city, and the night lost its suffocating weight.
Then, the Masked Man suddenly weakened. Cracks appeared in his mask, and his eyes filled with confusion and sorrow. He murmured, "So even I long to be remembered and understood... but I forgot how..."
With those words, a soft halo appeared at the edge of the city's crack, and the pressure in the dream abruptly lifted.
The team embraced in the dream, their warmth radiating outward. Xiaohuo led the girl and the old man down the dream's corridor to a door at the end. Beyond it, morning sunlight bathed a city where people greeted each other with smiles, the cracks vanished in the light.
...
They woke to a bright new day, tears and smiles on their faces, lighter in body and soul. The air at headquarters felt warm, touched with a hint of blossoms.
Staring out at the city, Xiaohuo understood: the cracks remained, but as long as there was resonance, courage, and love, there would always be hope at the border between dream and reality.
And now, the city's whispers had become a gentle chorus, offering everyone new courage and light for the day ahead.