Amamiya Rin snapped his eyes open.
In his field of vision was an unfamiliar white ceiling.
His body, however, felt even heavier.
The exhaustion from a hundred days of hard fighting still wrapped around his frame, but the sensation of being unable to get up was even more severe by comparison.
"Mr. Amamiya, you're awake. Are you feeling any discomfort?"
Having been instructed beforehand, the nurse who had come to the Hospital Ward early in the morning to observe Amamiya Rin's condition noticed his open eyes. She hurriedly stepped forward and asked with concern.
"You are... right, I'm still in the hospital."
Amamiya Rin looked at the nurse, the confusion in his eyes gradually clearing.
Having digested the memories of 100 days, he also realized what had happened: he had dreamed for 100 days.
Now, the dream was over.
The nurse hurried away.
Before long, the door to the Hospital Ward was pushed open. Dr. Kuroda walked in, followed by the eccentric Professor Matsuura.
"Amamiya-kun, how do you feel? The dream?"
Professor Matsuura overtook Dr. Kuroda, walking quickly to the bedside. He carefully observed Amamiya Rin's complexion, his eyes burning with intensity, as if he were looking at a difficult problem on the verge of being solved.
In fact, for Professor Matsuura, the current Amamiya Rin was the subject he cared about most.
"It was partially successful. I could move inside the dream, but moving made me extremely exhausted; I had to use ten times the effort. Furthermore, the safety mechanism you helped design for me was also present. She would appear by my side when I needed her most. However, the safety mechanism wasn't incredibly powerful; she was just somewhat stronger than I am in a healthy state..."
Amamiya Rin took a deep breath and carefully described his condition to Professor Matsuura.
Having stayed in the Dream World for 100 days, Amamiya Rin had also figured out many hidden rules. For instance, everything he could influence was based on the reality side.
For example, Saeko Busujima's combat ability, the composition of the explosive charges, and Shizuka Marikawa's massage techniques were all based on the theoretical knowledge possessed by the dreamer.
This even extended to the taste of food.
Amamiya Rin had eaten some things in the Dream World that he had previously only seen but never eaten; they tasted just like plain water, flavorless.
Professor Matsuura held a notebook, recording Amamiya Rin's experiences. His owl-like eyes flickered with a divine light, and his facial muscles twitched occasionally, revealing his heightened excitement.
"Wonderful! Amamiya-kun, if your condition is stable and controllable, that is equivalent to a form of consciousness immortality! The richer your experiences, the more realistic the Dream World becomes. The massive time span of the dream can even be used to learn knowledge. As long as you memorize... No! You don't even need to memorize it; you just need to read it once, and your subconscious can manifest it in the dream. Human civilization will leap into the next era because of the [Long Dream]!"
Dr. Kuroda and Amamiya Rin were frightened by Professor Matsuura's agitated attitude.
Dr. Kuroda studied the [Long Dream] only to free humanity from the fear of death, and Amamiya Rin did it only to survive. Neither of them had ever harbored such grand ambitions.
"Let's put that aside for now. Dr. Kuroda still has a lot of [Long Dream] substance. If you want to research it, you can take your time after we return. Right now, I need help more."
Amamiya Rin felt nothing for Professor Matsuura's vision.
Could researching science deal with The Hanging Balloons? Could it deal with Hellstar Remina? Could it deal with Uzumaki?
Those unsolvable oddities and science were simply two parallel lines!
"Apologies, I lost my composure... my thinking was too shallow."
Professor Matsuura pushed up his glasses and rubbed his large, square face with both hands, forcing himself to calm down.
"[Long Dream]... the danger of this thing might far exceed my imagination. The ethical issues it touches upon are far more terrifying than cloning technology."
Although the [Long Dream] had hooked his mind at first, Professor Matsuura was both a forensic doctor and a hypnotist. His understanding of human nature was deeper than that of ordinary people. Once he calmed down, he realized how terrifying it would be if the [Long Dream] were truly applied to the development of civilization.
Amamiya Rin guessed, "By that time, probably no one would be willing to stay in the real world, right?"
[Long Dream] plus controllable Hypnosis was equivalent to Limited Tsukuyomi. When a person has a world where they can do whatever they want, who would still want to live in the real world?
Professor Matsuura turned his head to look at Amamiya Rin and Dr. Kuroda. Keeping a straight face, he spoke seriously, "You two, I hope you can keep the secret of the [Long Dream]. Especially you, Kuroda. You absolutely must not use the [Long Dream] substance on anyone else again!"
Dr. Kuroda looked like he wanted to say something but stopped.
He was clearly unwilling to give up on the [Long Dream] just like that.
Amamiya Rin glanced at Dr. Kuroda, then said to Professor Matsuura, "Professor Matsuura, can you provide me with some teaching materials on Hypnosis? I can't trouble you to come over and hypnotize me every day, so I plan to settle this once and for all: learn Hypnosis myself, and hypnotize myself."
Being controlled by others is never a good thing. In Junji Ito's worldview, no one knows if humanity will still exist tomorrow. It is better to master professional skills oneself.
"OK."
Professor Matsuura acted resolutely and left Morita Hospital immediately.
More than half an hour later, while Amamiya Rin was undergoing rehabilitation exercises with the help of the nurse, there was a knock on the Hospital Ward door from the outside.
A stranger in a suit walked in, holding a paper bag in his hand.
The man bowed slightly. "May I ask if this is Mr. Amamiya Rin? I am a staff member from Kamone University. I was entrusted by Professor Matsuura to deliver these teaching materials to you."
"Yes, that's me. Where is Professor Matsuura?"
Amamiya Rin motioned for the other party to place the paper bag on the bedside cabinet.
The man placed the paper bag on the bedside cabinet and said to Amamiya Rin, "The Metropolitan Police Department has discovered a new victim's body. There seems to be new progress in the recent serial murder case, and the Professor is performing an emergency autopsy. The Professor asked me to pass a message to you: he will come over after eight o'clock tonight."
"I see. Thank you for your trouble."
Amamiya Rin nodded slightly to the man and spoke politely.
The man bowed slightly and politely took his leave.
Amamiya Rin didn't rush to read the books. Instead, with the nurse's assistance, he continued his rehabilitation training until his body reached its limit. Only then did he let the nurse help him into bed.
Leaning against the headboard, the nurse helped fix the adjustable overbed table in front of Amamiya Rin and took out five textbooks from the bag.
Hypnosis, A Guide to Lucid Dreaming, Hypnosis: Theory and Practice, Hypnotic Therapy: An Ericksonian Perspective, Hypnosis: Principles and Applications, as well as a note containing the reading order listed by Professor Matsuura.
Although Amamiya Rin's arms were weak, after two days of rehabilitation training, a small task like holding a book and turning pages was no problem.
He rested his arms on the table, picked up Hypnosis, and began to read.
When night fell, Professor Matsuura arrived at the Hospital Ward on time. He performed Hypnosis on Amamiya Rin, guiding him into the dream.
____
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