Nightmare’s Call

The nascent ray of the morning sun came through the window and landed on the desk, creating a pale-yellow reflection.

Lin Sheng was lying silently on his bed with open eyes and a calm expression. There was only a hint of regret in his pupils.

“No way!” Lin Sheng jumped up abruptly, throwing the quilt aside to get out of bed. He approached the desk and pulled the drawer open, taking out a pen. A moment of rustling later, he had written down a row of text on a white sheet of paper. It was a line of ancient Rehn text.

Lin Sheng scrutinized the text, which he had written down from his memory of his dream. The black Rehn text looked like a row of shredded metal—sharp and disorganized yet neatly arranged in a line. It looked like debris, which was the most typical feature of ancient Rehn writing. That was also the reason why Lin Sheng could point out its characteristics instantly.

“Interesting.” Lin Sheng smacked. He was in a profession that required a sharp perception of texts in his past life. Right now, the unknown language had reignited his long-lost passion.

“I can’t believe I’ve managed to copy the Rehn text from my dream. And it looks authentic.” Lin Sheng scratched his chin as old habits died hard. He wanted to translate it.

“This Rehn text… Translating it is not difficult; I can check the words one by one online. Others may not be able to do it, but I’ve been studying ancient languages for six years. It’s really not a challenge.” Lin Sheng was focused. He folded the paper carefully and kept it secure.

“This is the first time I’ve come across this language. I never thought it would appear in a dream. I just hope that the translated text won’t be a bunch of garbled characters.” He was curious about what the Rehn text meant.

Lin Sheng securely tucked the paper away, then got to his feet and put on his clothes. His daily routine started all over again.

After breakfast, he changed into his school uniform and hit the road with his school bag on his back. He soon hopped on the bus that carried him to school.

At school, the day went by uneventfully. There was a short break in between lessons, and after lunch, there were more classes.

It was business as usual after school in the afternoon. Lin Sheng concentrated on revisions to prepare for the next weekly test. He would only study the Rehn text, dismantle each word, and look it up online during his free time.

“There’s a mobile book fair. Do you want to go and have a look? I heard it’s a big one with many booksellers.” The class was just over when Shen Yan turned and whispered to him.

“Mobile book fair?” Lin Sheng began to recall what it was. It consisted of a group of booksellers who bought and sold old books. They were basically selling second-hand books. Before the internet became prevalent, book-hunting was one of the few popular student hobbies.

“Let’s go together. Maybe you can find something interesting,” Shen Yan invited him. It appeared that she was the most eager to go.

“I’m not going. I’m penniless,” Lin Sheng said.

“Don’t you have several hundred yuan? I saw the money yesterday. You have it in your pocket.” Shen Yan smiled slyly.

“I have to live on that money for quite some time.”

“Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Are you sure you don’t want to go? Maybe you’ll find some good stuff for a bargain.” Shen Yan made a face at Lin Sheng, her smile was ambivalent.

Lin Sheng was impassive. “I really have no money.”

“It’s just a few yuan a copy, and we can share it equally,” Shen Yan got closer and said in a low voice.

Lin Sheng understood what she was talking about. The so-called “a few yuan a copy” referred to the most popular publications—the adult magazines. The magazines, which had photos of handsome men and pretty women on the cover, were stuffed with erotic content. A copy of such a magazine was usually sold at ¥4, which was the standard price. But the content varied from magazine to magazine. Shen Yan was a girl, but she liked to buy them in secret.

“What do you think? These magazines will be our common property. And we’ll take turns reading them. After that, we can rent them out for fifty cents a day,” Shen Yan said.

“…I’m not interested.” Lin Sheng remained silent for a while before he managed those words.

“Wee!” Shen Yan looked at him and smiled. “We’ll meet at the school gate later.”

Shen Yan turned around and packed up her things. She never regarded herself as a girl. Her relationship with Lin Sheng was like that of buddies. She was tomboyish, and she got along well with boys. As a result, it gave the impression that she was just like an ordinary boy. Had it not been for her growing breasts and butt, which always reminded others that she was a girl, Lin Sheng would have treated her as a boy. After all, why on earth would a girl bring a boy to buy adult magazines?

Lin Sheng was speechless. Shen Yan would be treated like a creep even in the society of his past life, let alone the present one. Lin Sheng wanted to decline her invitation since he was trying to focus all his energy into the texts that he had memorized from his dream. Curiosity was driving him to translate the book as soon as possible.

“Why not. The second-hand bookstalls used to sell pirated copies of the Rehn language dictionary. That would be a bargain and should be good enough for my purpose.” With that thought in mind, Lin Sheng’s interest grew.

While he quickly packed his things, two students from another class came over to borrow study notes from Shen Yan. So, Shen Yan asked Lin Sheng to wait for her at the school gate.

Lin Sheng carried his bag and stood at the school gate as groups of students in blue and white school uniforms left their classes and walked out of the school. The golden ray of the sunset dyed the students a shade of pale red. There were also loud shouts coming from the school field nearby, where students were playing soccer. Some students rang the bell of their bicycles as they rode past him. He stood on one side of the iron gate and took a deep breath. The mild weather gave him the feeling that oxygen had displaced all of the carbon dioxide in his lungs.

“Let’s go!” Shen Yan suddenly appeared out of nowhere and patted him on the shoulder. The girl had tied her hair into a ponytail, and it dangled freely from the back of her head. She peeked over her left and right side with a wicked smile.

“I brought a dark-colored bag today. We can buy more when we get there,” Shen Yan said.

Lin Sheng wanted to tell her that he was not interested and would rather go home to translate the text, but he did not want to pour cold water on Shen Yan’s enthusiasm. Therefore, he paused, stopping short of speaking his mind.

“I wanted to bring Ali along, but she has thin skin,” Shen Yan said. It was not so much that Ali had thin skin. She was actually too embarrassed to tag along because there was a boy following them. Lin Sheng also knew Ali. She was Shen Yan’s bestie and her only close friend in the class. However, Ali was not that close to Lin Sheng.

While they were on their way, the two did not talk much. They walked along the roadside and passed two street corners to arrive at an alley in the old section of the town. The lane, packed with bookstalls, was only two hundred meters away from their school.