Chapter 290: The Game Begins


    In the darkness, Bruce felt himself continuously descending, experiencing a strong sense of weightlessness and dizziness that made him extremely ufortable.


    His limbs and body werepletely unresponsive until the prolonged darkness and descent caused him to start feeling lightheaded, and he finallynded on the ground.


    Instantly, Bruce regained consciousness.


    Since thest incident, Bruce had set up an rm in his own mind. Once he fell asleep or if someone attempted to interfere with his dreams, he would immediately wake up. Now, Bruce realized that he had entered a dream.


    He looked down and saw a floor interwoven with ck and gold beneath his feet, and when he looked up, he saw endless floors above.


    The dull sound of his footsteps on the floor resonated in his ears as Bruce turned around and saw the figure of Schiller.


    The professor was dressed as usual, wearing a long coat and a tie, except that his head was a spinning Earth globe.


    "Professor..." Bruce squinted his eyes, remembering the words Schiller had said to him when they parted ways earlier that day.


    "''Have a good dream.'' Does that mean you wanted me toe to you in a dream?""I''m sorry, Bruce. Without your consent, I entered your dream and brought you here."


    "But I must say... wee to the pce of my thoughts."


    Schiller opened his arms, presenting everything to Bruce. Bruce looked at him and said, "Is this the tower that appeared in the depths of my consciousnessst time?"


    "That''s correct. They have all visited, except for you. However, your journey will be somewhat different from theirs..."


    "What do you mean?" Bruce asked.


    "Others bought round-trip tickets, but you only have a one-way ticket toe here. If you want to go back, you''ll have to climb to the very top. Otherwise, you''ll be trapped here forever..."


    "Is that so?"


    Bruce looked up, snapped his fingers, and instantly sat up from the bed.


    Ever since thest series of dreams, Bruce had installed a series of intricate mechanisms in his mind, enabling him to wake up immediately once he was forced into a dream.


    Just then, he heard a knock on the bedroom door, and Schiller''s voice came from outside, "You don''t need to try using that mechanism in your mind. It''s aplete waste of your energy because I haven''t simply hypnotized you. Instead, I borrowed from the Sandman to directly pull you into this dream. You won''t be able to wake up..."


    Bruce closed his eyes, and in an instant, the scene copsed, and he sat up on the bed once again.


    Schiller had already opened the bedroom door and stood there watching him. Bruce fell back down, then sat up again, and Schiller was still there.


    Bruce furrowed his brow, repeating the process of getting up, as if doing sit-ups, but no matter how many times he did it, Schiller remained at the door, watching him.


    After an unknown number of repetitions, Schiller knocked on the door frame, creating a sound to catch Bruce''s attention, and said, "If you can''t understand it this way, then let me tell you in a different manner. This is part of a psychology ss assignment..."


    However, Brucepletely ignored him and continued his attempts to wake up, despite having turned pale and being covered in cold sweat from the multiple mental stimtions.


    Batman''s character prevented him from trusting anyone and allowing anyone to freely pry into and manipte his dreams.


    Schiller said to him, "Stop."


    Bruce paused for a moment, turned to look at Schiller, and noticed the professor''s face gradually turning cold.


    Schiller looked into his eyes and said, "Bruce, you''ve been in my ss for so long, why don''t you understand..."


    Bruce stared into his eyes, remaining silent, and then he heard Schiller''s tone drop:


    "...in my ss, no one can fail to turn in their homework."


    As the words fell, Schiller''s figure disappeared, and in an instant, another terrifying figure appeared in front of Bruce''s bedroom door. He was wearing a red and green striped sweater, with one hand bearing sharp iron ws and his skin resembling burnt, red muscles. A terrifying, sinisterugh emanated from his mouth.


    Bruce couldn''t even catch his movements clearly and felt the sharp de on his finger piercing his chest, causing him to wake up once again from the dream in excruciating pain, as if it were real.


    However, this time, a man wearing a white mask and wielding a dagger stood outside his bedroom door. What was more significant was that he came with his own entrance music—a pulsating beat resembling an elerated heartbeat. When the music yed, Bruce rolled under the bed, narrowly avoiding the glimmering dagger, and counterattacked the tall killer by elbowing his knee. But ultimately, he couldn''t evade the glimmering dagger.


    As Bruce sat up on the bed again, he quickly rolled off andnded on the floor. This time, a man wearing a hockey mask and wielding arge cleaver appeared outside the door.


    Bruce managed to inflict an injury this time by impaling the man''s chest with a sharp candlestick. Unfortunately, the man only took two steps back before swinging his cleaver at Bruce again.


    Upon awakening once more, a terrifying serial killer with sewn human skin on his face and wielding a chainsaw stood before him...


    This time, Bruce chose not to confront him directly. Instead, after throwing a handful of ss shards at the killer, he jumped out of the window and found himself in the rainy night of Gotham.


    As hended, he looked up and witnessed a lightning bolt streaking across the night sky. In that brief moment of illumination, he saw the colossal tower standing in the city center, resembling a silent ck giant.


    At that moment, he heard Schiller''s voice resonating in his ear:


    "Bruce, initially, I only wanted you to climb the Staircase in the temple of my mind. It''s the best choice for a rookie vignte to develop willpower and thinking abilities."


    "You can climb just one floor in a night. It''s merely an easy homework assignment. You have at least two years toplete a long-term project..."


    "But now, Bruce, you''re attempting to evade doing your homework, so I must resort to a less humane approach..."


    "I will make every child who neglects their homework understand the consequences... The game has begun, Bruce."


    In the end, Schiller''s tone was colder than the rainy night in Gotham. Simultaneously, Bruce saw another lightning bolt strike in the dark alley outside Wayne Manor.


    A man wearing a white mask and holding a dagger swiftly approached him, while a monster with a striped sweater and one hand bearing iron ws leered at him from atop a wall. The deafening sound of a chainsaw grew louder, and as the machete swung towards him, Bruce could hardly discern the killer''s movements before darkness enveloped him once again.


    This time, however, Bruce didn''t return to bed but found himself back at the entrance of Wayne Manor. Waiting for him were still four terrifying murderers.


    Bruce was unarmed, with no avable resources to utilize. He had to rely solely on his bare hands to fight his way through them.


    And Bruce saw that behind the alley, in the deeper night of Gotham, there were countless terrifying eyes staring at him.


    The rain in Gotham is getting heavier and heavier, ascending along the thin rain lines, and after piercing through the thickyer of clouds, overhead was a ceiling adorned with twinkling stars.


    Beyond the ceiling, there were seats in the theater. Evans, who was resting on a chair, shuddered. He turned around, crossed himself on the chest, and said to Schiller, "Professor, I swear I have never missed a homework assignment! I alwaysplete my assignments diligently! I swear..."


    Copperpot also swallowed, contemting whether to strike Gotham University off his list of prospective colleges. Victor touched his temple and turned to Schiller, asking, "It''s all right, this is a dream, isn''t it?"


    "The assassins you fabricated are quite intriguing. Not only do they each possess distinctive traits, but they also seem to have their own set of behavioral logic..."


    "...Wait, that''s fictional, isn''t it?"


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