I'm a monster in Demon King's Castle

Dark!

Several fences split the firelight, allowing it to seep through the gaps between the bars, making everything before Li Yue's eyes sway and blur, indistinct and unclear.

Stench!

Bloodstains were smeared across the earthen walls, layer upon layer, countless times, like randomly splattered paint, emitting a pungent and unpleasant odor.

Noisy!

The surroundings were enveloped in a clamor, the vibrations of the sound waves stirring up dust, which drizzled down from the walls above, landing on Li Yue's head, causing a tickling sensation.

Chaotic!

Strangely, whether it was the firelight, the stench of blood, or the dust, as reflected in Li Yue's perception… it didn't seem so unpleasant; instead, it stirred up a surge of excitement, as if some great, wonderful thing was waiting ahead.

Li Yue was still pondering where this was when he subconsciously shook his head and raised his hand to wipe away the dust from his head, only to discover something interesting.

He didn't have hands.

Not only no hands—eyes, nose, and ears hadn't escaped either, all gone.

Just a smooth, bare brain.

Full of ravines, without hands or feet, the brain grooves still covered in dust, shadows layering upon each other under the flickering firelight, giving it a rather profound appearance…

Wait a minute, without facial features, how could he perceive the firelight, sound waves, and dust?

As soon as Li Yue had this question, he immediately grasped the entirety of his location—a square, dilapidated stone room, three stone walls, and an iron door locked behind him; the front had no wall at all, only iron bars covered with sharp thorn flowers…

If he tried to squeeze through… his entire brain would be sliced to pieces.

As his thoughts extended, what Li Yue could perceive became increasingly concrete—besides the continuous bloodstains on the left and right walls, new and old, covering them like layers of tough leather, there were… quite a few weapons?

Cleavers, needless to say, were covered in nicks, old items, not very powerful; chain hammers, with small handles, displaying a… medieval knightly flair in their gesticulations.

Greatswords, unfortunately broken, were leaning diagonally in the corner; hand crossbows, the quality of the bolts uneven, riddled with rust.

Two muskets were crossed, hung quite neatly, but without any bullets.

And… what was with that scythe? The handle was almost ten feet long; could anyone even wield that?

Immediately afterward, Li Yue sensed a brain about the same size as his own, floating to the side of the scythe, and with a creaking sound, it used its mind to lift it, swinging it around beautifully twice, looking quite adept.

One, two, three… fifteen brains in total, including Li Yue, were trapped in this stone room, accompanied by the stench of blood and the noise; but unlike Li Yue, these brains seemed to know exactly what to do, forming groups of two or three, foreheads touching, brain grooves trembling, vaguely revealing a hint of eagerness.

So we see, in the semi-enclosed stone room, fifteen "brains," some choosing weapons, some discussing in groups, and one Li Yue… spacing out.

Like a child's messy graffiti, forcibly piecing together several unrelated things into a painting, layering and modifying it endlessly, ultimately creating such an extremely distorted work.

The ubiquitous stench of blood and flickering firelight… constantly reminded Li Yue that this place was not simple, but until now, Li Yue's mood was still relaxed, with a slight sense of absurdity.

Okay, he was dreaming.

This was, of course, Li Yue's first reaction—this dream seemed quite innovative; he had become a monster in a stone room… holding a meeting with his monster companions?

Thinking of this, Li Yue suddenly experienced a feeling that was difficult to achieve in a dream—a headache.

With the headache, some chaotic fragments of memories suddenly appeared in Li Yue's mind, knowing that these lonely brains floating in the air were called Brain Spirits, and he had become a Brain Spirit…

And obviously, Brain Spirits could sense the surrounding environment and had basic telekinetic abilities; otherwise, Li Yue wouldn't be able to "see" the firelight or "hear" the noise.

Quite realistic, with background settings too; this dream must be because he played too many games recently, leading to this kind of dream at night.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing passed through the thorn flower iron bars and entered Li Yue's perception, interrupting his thoughts.

With a thought, Li Yue floated and moved towards the iron bars, wanting to see what was happening outside; but outside the bars was still a wall, and on the wall hung two huge torches, seeping out a trace of moonlight, revealing a sense of danger.

"Why are you still wandering around? Like a lost fool. Have you chosen your weapon yet?" While wandering, a thought entered his mind.

Li Yue turned his "head" and found that the Brain Spirit who had been playing with the scythe was standing in front of him.

"Choose what weapon?" Li Yue instinctively asked, suddenly mastering the skill of telepathic communication, like muscle memory.

The Brain Spirit in front of him swung the scythe around twice again, finally freezing in a dragging-the-blade position, looking quite cool: "Of course! No Brain Spirit has ever set foot in the arena in so many years; we must seize this opportunity!"

Arena?

Li Yue suddenly realized, thinking no wonder it seemed familiar—gladiators were locked in this kind of small dark room before going on stage, choosing weapons and waiting to enter…

This explained the room's closed layout and the noise outside, but what about the bloodstains on the walls?

The deeply hidden bloodstains were black like mud, not so much a bloody, rusty smell, but almost a stench… Could it be that gladiators fought a round in the waiting room first? No one would be that stupid, right?

But then again… assuming it was a monster arena, infighting seemed to make sense?

Li Yue felt the surrounding absurdity and temporarily gave up rational deduction—it was a dream, after all, so whatever; let's see what great scenes his brain could imagine.

"Yeah, the brothers have all got their weapons; only you are still here, not being proactive at all," the Brain Spirit in front of him complained. "I've already told them, listen to my command later, we will make a name for ourselves this time! We will let them know that Brain Spirits are also powerful warriors!"

Li Yue felt the enthusiasm of this fellow Brain Spirit and found it quite amusing—what were Brain Spirits supposed to be as gladiators? This small body would die with a single touch, wouldn't it?

But if 15 of them went together, maybe they could have some combat power?

Li Yue slandered with an outsider's attitude, without a trace of tension, only looking forward to how far this dream would take him.

Many times, Li Yue remembered that when he dreamed, whenever he got to a crucial point, either it dragged on and on without getting to the point, or it stopped abruptly and was very boring; the most annoying thing was that he was dreaming of this main storyline, and while dreaming, the main storyline would change, making it a lonely experience.

"Hey, did you hear me? I'm talking to you." Li Yue didn't respond for a long time, and the Brain Spirit opposite was a little unhappy. "Take a few more hand crossbows, just shoot arrows from afar; no matter who the enemy is, my tactics will succeed, victory is ours…"

Li Yue cast his mind to the weapons on the wall, not planning to use the hand crossbows, but instead picked up the two muskets.

"Hey, hand crossbows, hand crossbows!" The Brain Spirit was angry, the scythe pressed against Li Yue's brain, bringing a chill.

Li Yue's brain grooves furrowed, also quite unhappy—in his dream, could he still be bullied by you?

Give me a Gatling gun!

Li Yue activated his mind, wanting to imagine a powerful weapon to shock his companion, but… nothing happened.

"Hurry up." The Brain Spirit pulled the scythe, and Li Yue's meninges were injured, with fluid flowing down.

Pain!

Like a small carving knife, embedding itself into his brain with a "snap."

Li Yue shuddered—this pain was so real, could it be… not a dream?