Dream Hunter

She’d booked the next interview yesterday. The boss said this was her last chance…

She checked her watch. 7:00 a.m. That left 30 minutes to get there. Whether she’d make it, she had no idea.

She thought again of the boss’s yelling… Xiaole sighed… No help for it. She was the newbie, after all. It made her think back to those days of job hunting.

………………

“Hotel management, huh…” The middle-aged fat man across the desk tapped his stubby fingers on the table.

“Do you write? Our work requires solid writing skills…"

“I do… I do…” Xiaole said quickly. “I joined the literature club in college, and I’ve written novels myself."

This was Xiaole’s first job interview… Zero experience. She just hoped for some validation, not a bucket of cold water.

“Hmm…” The fat man seemed to be thinking.

Xiaole started to panic… After all, she’d laid it on pretty thick. The literature club, she’d only signed up. Novels… well… who knows if the girlish romance fantasies she scribbled on her blog even counted… if you could call them novels…

“All right. You start tomorrow.” The middle-aged fat man—no, the editor-in-chief—thought for a while and actually agreed.

“Thank you!” Xiaole gave a bow that was practically 90 degrees.

“Don’t thank me yet.” The editor-in-chief stood up from his seat… “Three-month probation. Your workload is halved during that time. Check the schedule posted in the magazine office hallway for your hours."

“Welcome aboard.” The editor-in-chief extended his fat hand.

A handshake, and the contract was signed.

……………………

Bus 93 still hadn’t arrived… The winter suburbs were freezing.

Xiaole was going to visit a mysterious person today.

Someone who supposedly had special abilities. Honestly, this was just part of her job—visiting all sorts of weirdos, interviewing them, gathering info, writing it up, and publishing it in the magazine…

It wasn’t until after her first day that Xiaole realized the magazine she’d applied to was the editorial department of a soft sci-fi publication.

Soft sci-fi… as the editor explained it… basically running around collecting strange stories and interviewing strange people and things…

There are plenty of weird people in this world, but they don’t all just pop up in front of you. For Xiaole, gathering material was a real problem.

“We’re a magazine that focuses on original content, so we can’t just click a mouse like other publications—we have to be responsible to our readers!"

So Xiaole started running around. X (Twitter), the news, hearsay—she couldn’t let any of it slip by. Who knows, maybe one of them was a genuine oddity?

…………

Bus 93 finally arrived… On a winter morning shrouded in thick fog, a huge dark shape with a pair of bright headlights slowly approached…

Xiaole was headed to a very remote suburb… Well, “suburb” wasn’t quite right—it was more like a new urban district.

Every city ages, so developing new districts becomes especially important.

Ads for new district housing appeared in the papers. The new districts looked so fresh, so wonderful—too bad there was no one there…

Humans really are social animals after all…

“Looks like today’s interviewee must be a real eccentric…” Xiaole had her reasons for thinking that… Eccentrics are lone wolves, they don’t like crowds. Maybe they prefer the wilderness of a new district.

After too many setbacks, Xiaole was hoping this material would satisfy the editor-in-chief.

“We’re a science magazine! We don’t need unscientific stuff!” That was the editor-in-chief’s verdict on Xiaole’s first few interview results.

Or rather, a roar…

Xiaole had started out just looking for strange people and strange stories… but all she found were mountain hermits who could tell fortunes, people who ate dirt, folks who’d been immune to electricity since childhood, mental-math prodigies… it was like one of those late-night local human-interest news segments…

But Xiaole couldn’t help it… people who were both scientifically legit and had weird abilities were just… too rare, or rather, she’d never met one.

Science and paranormal powers… Spider-Man? Batman? Frankenstein?

Looking for heroes straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster in this second-tier city wasn’t exactly realistic…

“A scientific oddity? I know one~” Xiaoya was Xiaole’s friend. Over a dinner where Xiaole vented her troubles, she offered a piece of info that might just save Xiaole’s skin.

“That guy lives in the new district. He’s a dream hunter.” Xiaoya tapped her chin with her finger. “I don’t know exactly what he does, but I heard he’s a psychiatrist—though he probably uses hypnotherapy. Curing mental illness through hypnosis, like hunting. "

Xiaoya made a finger-gun and fired at Xiaole. “Pretty cool, right?”

“What’s so special about that?” Xiaole didn’t think a psychiatrist qualified as an oddity at all.

“I just heard he has a unique treatment method… heard it online. They say his treatments basically never fail.” Xiaoya’s eyes lit up. “And I heard he’s handsome~ Hey~ Hey~ A handsome guy!”

Handsome psychiatrists are a dime a dozen…

“I’m serious… Xiaoya, stop joking… the editor-in-chief is tearing me apart over work right now…” Xiaole held her head in both hands… propping it up, she felt her head was heavier than ever…

“Hey…” Xiaoya said, her expression turning serious. “I’m not joking. He’s an oddity. You’ll be fine if you go interview him.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

…………..

Bus 93 stopped at the terminal… Xiaole got off, pulled out her phone. 7:28—just barely made it, you could say.

Following the address Xiaoya gave her, she found the rumored psychological clinic…

“This is obviously just a house!”

Xiaole checked the address several more times until she was sure she hadn’t gone wrong.

“Visitors, please ring the bell.”

She saw a sign by the door, took a breath, and pressed the bell.

The door opened quickly… A boy stood there.

Xiaoya wasn’t lying—he really was handsome…

“Um… sorry,” Xiaole said, a bit flustered, “I’m Xue Xiaole from the magazine. I… I’d like to interview Mr. Kanai Shirayuki.”

The boy stared at her without expression.

“Um… I have an appointment,” she added quickly.

“Come in.”

The voice came from the boy, but his lips didn’t seem to move.

The whole place was a two-story villa… clearly the owner was wealthy…

The boy walked ahead without a word, and Xiaole could only follow.

The room was large but plainly furnished… no paintings on the walls… no decorations on the floor… yet it gave off a sense of age.

The boy stopped at a room on the second floor and knocked.

“Father, Xue Xiaole is here.”

“Let her in!”

A booming voice came from inside…

Pushing the door open.

It was a large room, not quite a bedroom, not quite a living room either… several sofas on the left, and on the right a bed with a few armchairs.

Suddenly Xiaole’s pupils shrank fast…

Someone was lying on the bed… a boy, actually… dressed fashionably, with what looked like an afro…

“But… is that guy… even alive?” The boy lay there without moving a muscle—that was exactly what terrified Xiaole.

“Quit staring. He’s just asleep.” A booming voice came from the left.

It was a middle-aged man… well, not quite middle-aged… slightly curly hair, a sparse beard, all in black. He looked a bit haggard, but judging by his age he was still young—hard to believe he was the father of the boy who’d just opened the door.

So this was Jinshi Xue, the legendary “Dream Hunter,” the psychologist rumored to be unbeatable.

“Xiao Yan, you can go now.”

At the middle-aged man’s words, the boy who’d opened the door walked out and shut it behind him.

“I’m Jinshi Xue. Nice to meet you.” The middle-aged man extended his hand first.

Another handshake—this marked the start of the interview.

……………………

Jinshi Xue, self-proclaimed “Dream Hunter,” 30 years old, with one adopted son, Jin Yan. He didn’t want to talk about his education, saying only that he preferred to focus on the present…

“Does ‘Dream Hunter’ mean a doctor who specializes in hypnotic psychotherapy?” The definition of “Dream Hunter” was what interested Xiaole most.

“Strictly speaking, I’m not a psychologist.” Jinshi Xue tapped his fingers. “I’m a hunter. Calling me a psychologist is just because my hunts happen to have a psychotherapeutic effect.”

“A hunter?” Xiaole was surprised, and a little confused.

“Yes. Every hunt is a battle.” Jinshi Xue pressed a finger to his temple. “A grueling battle.”

“Then… what exactly are you fighting?” Xiaole was getting more and more lost.

“Dreams.” Kanshi Xue’s eyes were resolute. “The dreams of different people… or more precisely, the creators of dreams—the human brain."

“The brain?"

“Yes. The activity of the brain drives a person’s spirit; a person’s spirit forges their will; a person’s thinking is determined by that will; their thinking decides their position; their position constructs their thoughts; their thoughts drive their actions…"

Xiaole was already dizzy…

Kanshi Xue looked at Xiaole and laughed—he too realized his way of putting it was a bit off.

“Then, do you know the terms internal cause and external cause?” Kanshi Xue decided to try another angle. “The factors that determine how a person sees a thing."

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Parents have been using that phrasing since elementary school to describe a kid’s attitude toward studying—like, no matter how external forces act, if the kid himself doesn’t want to study, nothing will really change.” That way of putting it was clearly easier for Xiaole to accept, and easier to join in on.

“So… if you want to change a person’s view of a thing, changing their internal cause is the most direct and effective method."

Xiaole nodded.

“Changing the internal cause the normal way is very complicated. First you’d have to preach at them earnestly for years on end, and you’d also need them to realize their own mistakes themselves. Only after all that might this stubborn fool possibly change their original view.” As he spoke, Kanshi Xue glanced at the boy lying on the bed at the other end of the room, as if talking about him.

“Listen—possibly, not one hundred percent.” Kanshi Xue added.

“One hundred percent is a bit of a stretch.” Xiaole gave an awkward smile.

“Not just a stretch—many cases are basically impossible to achieve. A person only has one life, and many losses are ones you can’t afford. By the time you realize after taking a loss, it’s sometimes too late.” Kanshi Xue smiled. “This isn’t a game. There’s no Save and Load."

Xiaole nodded again in agreement.

“But the one hundred percent thing you mentioned—it’s actually not a stretch. There is a one-hundred-percent method.” Kanshi Xue said quietly. “Break a person’s heart. Make them submit to you, obey you. Then you teach them what’s correct. That’s the most effective method."

Xiaole was someone who noticed details. He saw that when Kanshi Xue said these words, a vicious glint appeared in his eyes…

This guy suddenly seemed a little scary…

“So… how do you break a person’s heart?” Xiaole asked in a quiet voice… She had a feeling this guy might say something outrageous…

“Didn’t I tell you… I’m going to crush him from the inside.” Jinshi Xue let out a breath. “Inside his dream."

Having said that, Jinshi Xue glanced at the boy still deep in sleep.

“The one lying over there is a middle schooler. A troubled kid. His parents pulled some strings through a friend to find me, hoping I could talk some sense into him."

“So he’s the patient you’re going to treat?” Xiao Le chimed in, adjusting the voice recorder in her hand.

“I told you, I’m not a doctor. Please don’t call him a patient. He’s my client, and in a moment I’ll begin a new dream hunt.” Jinshi Xue shifted in his seat. “Inside his dream, of course."

“Dream… hunt?” Xiao Le was curious now. “What’s that?"

“You enter his dream, crush him inside it, and force him to reexamine the world.” Jinshi Xue always spoke with dramatic rises and falls when saying something serious.

“So how do you get the other person to fall asleep, and then get into their dream yourself?"

“I usually start with a long conversation,” Jinshi Xue said unhurriedly. “Just like a psychiatrist. During the talk I read his psychological state, and gather as much other information as I can."

“Once the conversation ends, I have him lie down in my chair to rest for a bit, tell him we’re doing hypnotherapy, and then use psychological suggestion to put him under…"

Xiao Le’s eyes went wide.

“It’s not hard.” Jinshi Xue spread his hands. “That’s just the prologue to the dream hunt."

Xiao Le was still completely lost, but she felt there was nothing more worth hearing. Better to see it for herself.

“Then could I ask Mr. Jin to demonstrate a dream hunt?"

“Of course. I hope Miss Xue will join in."

“Me?” Xiao Le was surprised. “Is there anything I can do to help?"

“Not help, exactly. Just participate. It’s quite interesting.” Jinshi Xue got up and walked toward the boy on the other side of the room. Xiao Le followed.

The boy lay on a flat bed. Only then did Xiao Le notice two wires taped to his temples… and a ring-like device around his wrist.