Chapter 18: Confronting the Nightmare

The ominous energy grew louder, closing in on Bernell’s room.

“Master! How could this be!”
“The late mistress…”
“A monster! A monster has appeared!”
“A specter in the mistress’s form attacked the master!”
“Protect the young lady… and the young master!”

Despite the chaos, Bernell remained asleep.
The Nekomata blocked my path, fur bristling, tail low, ready to protect me.

“The dreamcatcher’s gone—what do we do?”

“Forget trapping it. Pray it flees, or that Catsy arrives soon.”

“It’s already causing havoc… will it flee? Can’t you handle it?”

“I’m still a kitten,” the Nekomata said, pride wounded.
“Even adult dream cats struggled against this nightmare. Without a ward, I don’t stand a chance.”
It hesitated, then added, “But Catsy ordered me to protect you. I’ll buy you time to escape. If it comes to it, run to the dream’s edge. Better to be a dimensional stray than die here.”

“Dimensional stray…”
I hoped the nightmare would cause a ruckus and leave, as the Nekomata suggested.
But it clearly had other plans.

“Where’s my darling?”
A chilling voice echoed outside, like a wraith seeking prey.

“Damn! It’s after the dreamer! It’s stronger than we thought!”
I couldn’t stand idle. I dragged furniture to barricade the door.

“What happens if it finds the dreamer?”

“It’ll devour them, digest their Causality, and reshape the dream to hide again!”
Imagining Bernell eaten by a monster sent shivers down my spine.

“My darling… Mommy’s here…”
The Nekomata’s voice was grim. “It knows the dreamer’s one of the family—likely a child.”

The wraithlike wail stopped at Bernell’s door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The door shook violently.

“Escape through the window! I’ll hold it off.”
As the door’s durability waned, the Nekomata’s hisses grew desperate.

I glanced at Bernell, still asleep.
“What about him?”

“Better to sacrifice the dreamer. You want to die?”

“No, but…”
Despite being a stranger, I’d grown fond of him. Leaving him to die felt wrong.
But my life wasn’t equal to his in this moment.
His pained, claw-pierced image flashed, but I pushed it away.
Pity wouldn’t help.

‘I have to live. To go home. Bonds here mean nothing.’
The door’s hinges gave way, signaling time was running out.
Following the Nekomata’s advice, I rushed to the window.

Third floor, high ceilings—jumping risked a broken leg. Could I escape injured?
I gauged a midway landing spot and prepared to leap.

Crash!
The door shattered with a deafening boom, startling me.
The barrier gone, a wave of blood and dying groans flooded the room.
Outside was a living hell.

“You vile nightmare!”
The Nekomata charged, claws out, but was flung back, hitting the wall with a sickening tear.
It was gravely wounded, proving the nightmare’s strength.

“Kik kik, my darling…”
Over the broken doorframe stood a blood-soaked fiend—no longer the frail woman who worried over my health.
Disheveled blonde hair whipped like straw, her elegant dress torn to rags.
Her bloodshot eyes locked with mine, drying my mouth with fear.

No time to hesitate. I braced against the windowsill, loosening my grip.
“…!”
My movement provoked the nightmare.
It lunged with beastly speed, seizing my throat. Sharp claws dug in, pain erupting unlike anything I’d felt.

“Guh…”
It ignored Bernell, targeting me instead.
Why did I recall advice to play dead when facing a bear?

‘Should I have stayed still…?’
The Nekomata, staggering up, was too injured to help.

“You’re the dreamer, aren’t you? Living like a corpse in bed, longing for a normal life. How did I not see it sooner?”
Its voice unleashed a chilling frost, freezing my soul.

“Ggh…”
Its grip silenced my denial.
Its eyes gleamed, certain I was the dreamer.

Crack.
Its cheeks tore grotesquely, mouth splitting to its ears, revealing a void within.
Realizing death was near, injustice filled me.
Lost in a dimension because of a negligent god, now facing a gruesome end.

‘I lived so hard. This death is absurd.’
My vision blurred, sounds fading into a ringing hum.
Like Bernell, my life’s moments flashed before me…

‘Bbiak!’
A pig-bird’s cry? In my life’s montage?
Why it appeared was unclear, but it triggered something.

Flash!
A brilliant light burst from me, hurling the nightmare away.

“Kyaa!”
It roared, crashing into the wall like the Nekomata.
Four transparent cards appeared between us—my café recipes.

‘Bbiak!’

Manager Mode Activated!
Time froze, a strange window appearing in my mind.
The pig-bird’s cry and “Manager Mode” felt like a lifeline.

Manager Mode Activated!
Manager: Kong Iwoon (Causality: 6 cheok)
Affiliation: Baby Bird Café
Presence Rank: 2 (12 cheok to next rank)
Staff: Pig-Bird (1/2)
Latte Art Available: None (0/1)
Use your heightened presence to alter reality with ‘Latte Art.’
Choose one effect from an A-grade recipe to design as latte art.

• Silver Vine Flower Tea (A): Fatigue recovery
• Dried Silver Vine Flower Tea (A): Inverts target’s good/evil alignment for a time
• Warm Cloud Milk (A): Mild calming effect
• Special Cloud Milk Ice Cream (A): Slightly boosts luck

The window summarized the café’s status and revealed new details, as bewildering as when I got the transparent cards.
‘Latte art can change reality?’
Most info was familiar, but latte art stood out.
‘A skill unlocked by my presence level?’
Though not fully clear, the explanation helped me grasp the situation. It might be my hope against this nightmare.

“Struggle all you want! Into my belly!”
Manager Mode wasn’t omnipotent—time began creeping forward.
The nightmare, recovering from the shock, radiated malice again.

‘Which effect helps now?’
I had to decide fast.
All effects seemed lackluster.
Fatigue recovery against a nightmare? Useless.
Slight luck boost? Doubtful help.
Calming a rampaging fiend? Unlikely to work.
That left… inverting good/evil alignment, risky but promising.
I recalled Yama’s favor, leaving an idol at our café.
A nightmare, inherently evil, might turn good if inverted.

No time for doubt.
I grabbed the Dried Silver Vine Flower Tea card from the four.

Latte Art Design Selected!
The other cards vanished, the window updating.

Manager Mode Activated!
Latte Art Available: (1/1)
[Beginner] Dried Silver Vine Flower Tea Latte Art – Upgradable –
(Causality needed for next upgrade: 12 cheok)
Effect:
[10 minutes] Inverts target’s good/evil alignment by [25%].
[Cooldown: One Dream]

‘Beginner…?’
Only 25% inversion—not ideal.
But with the nightmare charging, I had to act.
Instinctively, I knew how to use it, like with the cards.

I thrust the card toward the nightmare. A bitter herbal scent of dried silver vine flower tea spread, and milky light burst forth.
Flash.
The light hit the nightmare, swirling like steamed milk on coffee, forming a pattern—a butterfly with symmetrical, plain wings.
The pattern enveloped the nightmare, absorbing and fading slowly.

“Guh!”
The nightmare faltered, its movements slowing.
I prayed for a good outcome.
It clutched its face with trembling hands, despair in its eyes, and spoke in a pitiful, guilt-laden voice.

“Aileen…?”
The 25% inversion had stirred something within it.

“What’s happening?!”
Bernell, finally awake, stirred from his sleep.