The dry and crusty frame disintegrated in his palm. The powder broke into flying particles, helping to soften the foolishness of the person who had been tricked a little. Wit was like standing stupidly in the middle of a field of fireflies. The glowing leaves floated around him, no different from the marigolds below. They emitted the same light when exposed to sunlight. That was like confirmation that these two things must have come from the same source, from his dream!
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"That evil ghost! The ghost of Mrs. Marigold!!!"
Wit cursed.
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The moment of awakening made him want to wake up. He was lost in a dream within a dream that was similar to the movie Inception by director Christopher Nolan. He was so lost that the GPS didn't work. He was so lost that he couldn't tell if the phone he was holding was a "real iPhone" or a "Chinese iPhone". Perhaps right now, his original body was sleeping somewhere. And everything that happened was the result of the grudge that the female ghost had conjured up to hurt him!
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Batman has Robin, Sherlock Holmes has Dr. Watson, and even Conan has Dr. Agasa. Only Science has to fight alone throughout the story. He has no helpers except for his ultimate weapon called imagination and extreme imagination, which many times must be admitted as wrong!
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"Huh.. It must have started from the incident at the bus station. These rat bites must not be real?"
The young man looked down at his forearm and found that the small wounds that he used to have were now glowing. What happened to the marigolds and leaves of the rickshaw driver? All the wounds responded in the same way.
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"Solar eclipse? Oh yeah! The fact that our eyes can see without wearing glasses just reveals that we have not been in the real world to begin with."
"This is our own dream.. We just have to be mindful.. We must not be afraid.. We have to face it!"
"Ugh! Oh my gosh! Why did I realize this so late?!"
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He slapped his knee and prayed that his imagination wouldn't go astray again. Many factors and possibilities made Wit quite sure. A person's life would never be as fantastical as Star Wars if it weren't for the fact that he was dreaming. The young man understood. He had pieced together the whole story. In fact, the female ghost just wanted to lead him to this place as quickly as possible. The three-wheeled uncle, the army of ghosts, and the haunted station master were just decoys that would make him get here faster.
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His beloved smartphone was pressed into the map app again. It turned out that the coordinates of Prao's house were still there. The destination symbol was still blinking. This was like the only thing from the real world that still connected him to prevent him from drifting too far away.
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"Ouch! What's next?"
"If we walk to these coordinates, will we still be able to see Prao's house? Will we see Prao's and her family's bodies? We're in a dream world, aren't we?"
"Dreams should stay in dreams. Reality should stay in reality. Coordinates from two places shouldn't be the same number like this. This is where we don't understand!"
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To be honest, if Mark Zuckerberg found out about this, Science might have become the first presenter of the Metaverse system. He was showing the world the existence of a parallel world. Every step he took was like a leap for humanity. And to prove this further, his stupid thumb swiped the screen to enter the gallery mode.
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Of course, the first thing he wanted to see was the data taken from the wall. If the data could be linked to what he saw in front of him, it would be a lock! The mission might have to change. From attending his girlfriend's funeral, it might be revenge and settling the grudge between him and the vengeful spirit instead!
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"Come on! Come what may! If you can leave the dream and kill my girlfriend, I will kill you here as revenge too!"
"I don't care! I won't be sad anymore. And I'm not afraid of you!"
"You don't have a body. You don't even have hands or feet. Why should I be afraid of you, you asshole!!!"
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"Beep!!!!"
After checking, the sound of the app on the phone went off the screen before Wit turned around and walked back from the cliff to the entrance gate.
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The iron gate was rotten, vines were tangled, and what he saw was not close to the old nobility or the famous family that Uncle Samlor had given information about. It was in a state of disrepair as if it had not been taken care of in decades. But when he tried to look around, there was no way to go on except to push the iron gate open.
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"Screech...~~~~!"
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Halfway open, he found the words "Wang Sep Sawat Wong" carved into the top. The owner of the dream was slightly shocked after just noticing the family crest in the form of a flower and metal letters carved on a circular sign above the top of the door. It was quite old and the letters were blurry, but he could still read it.
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This was an unauthorized break-in. Behind the gate, there was still a forest of trees. Wit saw a half-lane dirt road cutting through the middle of the forest. Its shape is a straight road that divides the forest into two halves. It is dense with natural vegetation. The sound of crickets is heard. In addition, there is an eclipse at this time, so the atmosphere is a bit scary. It is a dull gray with an indescribable loneliness.
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Clusters of marigolds are sprouting along both sides of the road at intervals. Although they are not as bright yellow as the ones on the cliff, it can be assumed that the person is probably on the right track. Before, Wit was just trying to trace the path from his own dreams, but now he is living with it, becoming a part of the dream. What's more, the clearest evidence has also appeared clearly!
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"Quackkkkkkkkk! , Quackkkkkkkkk! , Quackkkkkkkkk!!!!!"
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"Hey!!! , That damn bird scared me!!"
"Fuck!!!"
I screamed so hard I almost broke out! I barely had time to cover my ears.
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When the shadow of a large bird flew up from the treetops! Some call it an owl, some call it a barn owl. As for the legend of this type of bird, everyone knows that wherever it screams, there will be death. Just sitting on the roof of a house will kill. And now, the most ominous bird is screaming at a strange man like Wit nonstop! Its high-pitched voice and murderous eyes stare at him without blinking! Wang Sep Sawat Wong must not be a dog, but this one guarding the entrance to the house instead.
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Fortunately, the brave young man did not flinch at all. He was instead glad that he remembered it.
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"Huh? What's up, you owl! Aren't you locked in a cage now?"
"You're going to guide me to your hip roof house faster, right? Huh?"
"I remember you, huh? Don't be threatening!"
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Not only did he say that, Wit also picked up his smartphone to check if it was the same bird he had drawn. Which is really the same one, further emphasizing that he is approaching what he has always dreamed of.
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"Quackkkkkkkk! , Quackkkkkkkkk! , Quackkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!"
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"Whump , whump , whump"
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The bird flapped its wings and flew away from the treetops. The direction it flew in was exactly the same as the GPS had indicated. Wit and his body covered in glowing wounds almost ran after it. He just wanted to see what the final destination would be like. How much would it be like what he had dreamed of? The fears of the past were in the past.
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10 minutes passed.
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The once fierce footsteps had to stop! The lion's excitement had to turn into a little chick! He was shocked to the point of being crazy after our dreamer Yodchai had to face what he saw in front of him!
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"Huh.. Is this the Seb Sawatdiwong Palace?! Shouldn't it be an old, ancient, hip roofed house? Shouldn't it be deserted like a haunted house? But this... What is this? Why is there something like this hidden behind the forest!?"
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The owl flew back into its cage. It was in its usual spot before letting out a loud cry from the roof where the cage was hung. Who would have thought that such a shrill voice would be like waking up everything! From the viewpoint of the dirt road beyond the forest, Wit suddenly saw the life that had arisen! He even heard the sound of ancient Thai music and the singing of western musical instruments.
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"Teng Teng .. , Teng..ng..ng..ng , Teng Teng .. , Teng..ng..ng..ng ♫ "
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People in suits and cream-colored hats appeared out of nowhere. Vintage cars the color of eggshells were parked in a row in the parking lot on the side. There was dancing on the lawn in front of the palace. Men and women in Rattanakosin Thai costumes were standing around like there was a club event. And most importantly, the hip roofed house that Wit imagined actually existed! But he didn't think it would be this big and white and clean like a palace! It wasn't as dark and gloomy as he had thought!
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This is real! This is the real world! The people who saw it were real people! He didn't notice that the eclipse overhead had long since disappeared. The dimness and the creepy atmosphere had completely disappeared. There was no trace of fear here. Only Wit looked different from the other 50 or so people on the lawn in front of the palace.
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"What the... is this... what the...!"
Wit didn't feel cold, but his voice trembled. Fortunately, no one had noticed his arrival.
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"Huff...huff...huff...huff...huff..."
Apart from himself, he found that there was no golden light emitting from the rat bite wound anymore.
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They were back to being bloody wounds. He was back to feeling the pain. It wasn't like a dream, it was like returning to the real world, with the numbers on the GPS clearly indicating that...
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"Wang Sep Sawat Wong is Prao's house!"