Illusion Report

In crime dramas, detectives are always saying something along the lines of, "The killer always returns to the scene of the crime."

Mai Mingle couldn’t remember which show she’d heard that line in, but she thought, ’There’s a lot of truth to that.’

The morning of the 24th dawned, and it was not a good day.

She took the subway, then switched to a taxi. It was over an hour’s journey. By the time she reached the Kai Family Mansion, the sky was still a layer of heavy, damp, gray cotton, looking as if it could fall at any moment and smother her.

She didn’t know if it was the weather or her own guilty conscience, but she felt that the Kai Family members standing on the driveway to greet the prospective Hunters all had a sinister glint in their eyes and ashen faces.

The Kai Family Mansion stood just as it had yesterday, far at the end of the slope, nestled amidst a great expanse of grass and shrubs, with only a single private driveway leading up to it. Mai Mingle walked at a snail’s pace, feigning nonchalance as she scanned the mansion’s surroundings.

The Kai Family’s security was much tighter than yesterday. People were standing guard in twos and threes.

On the driveway, a Hunter was directing cars, telling the interviewees where to park and who to see. From the moment one set foot on the driveway, there was hardly an unguarded spot. ’Have they stationed every available person here?’

Mai Mingle hadn’t driven, so she could only walk along the edge of the shrubs by the driveway. A Hunter’s eyes swept over her a few times before he called out, "Here for the interview?"

"Yes," Mai Mingle replied, feeling as if her voice was hollow.

’...Are they suspicious?’

’Did the Kai Family figure out that I was the one who trespassed yesterday?’

"Go on ahead and find Sha Xue," the man said, then turned and shouted into the distance, "Sha Xue! One person, one car!"

The car that slowly drove past Mai Mingle looked familiar. It seemed to be that Li from yesterday—Li what’s-his-name? Oh, Li Stan’s car.

Sure enough, Li Stan, whom she had met once yesterday, soon opened his door and got out, greeting Sha Xue with a relaxed expression.

’Sigh. Life is so much more comfortable when you don’t have a guilty conscience.’

Seeing that Sha Xue had now spotted her, Mai Mingle silently urged her wobbly legs onward and mustered the courage to approach.

’Wait, this isn’t a trap, is it?’

’Are they pretending not to know I was the intruder, luring me back with this talk of a Nest interview, only to swarm and pin me down?’

Mai Mingle’s heart pounded louder and louder in her chest.

By the shrubs just off the driveway, a few people were already standing there. They all appeared to be prospective Hunters. When their eyes met, they would give a stiff nod but exchanged no pleasantries.

To be honest, their grim, silent demeanor really did make it look like a trap set by the Kai Family, just waiting for her to walk right into it.

But Sha Xue’s expression was normal. She smiled at her and said, "You’re all quite punctual. Please wait here for a moment. The vehicles will be here soon."

’What vehicles?’

"We’ve already chosen the location to open the Path," Sha Xue explained, seeming to sense her inexperience. "By opening the passage from that specific area, we can all land in the same spot inside the Nest. We need to drive everyone over there now."

"You don’t know that where you enter a Nest is linked to where you land inside it?"

A man asked her abruptly.

He was stout and round, built like a bear, and thick enough to be two of Mai Mingle. His words weren’t malicious, but they weren’t polite either. He was probably just used to speaking that way. After all, a burly man from a mainstream race didn’t need to mince words with anyone.

Mai Mingle just smiled. "I didn’t."

The few people standing nearby all glanced at her. They were naturally uneasy about having a complete rookie among the companions they were about to enter a Nest with, but no one said a word.

After two minutes, the sound of tires crunching over gravel came from the other end of the driveway, and two black vans appeared.

"The five people here today will be entering the Nest for the trial."

Sha Xue stood by the first van and said, "In the first van is our team leader, Tian Xi, whom you’ve all met. Then there’s Chebri, who will drive the second van, and myself. The three of us will be responsible for accompanying, evaluating, and supervising this time."

For some reason, she didn’t tell everyone to get in. Instead, both Tian Xi and the driver of the second van got out of their vehicles and came over to greet the group.

This was Mai Mingle’s first time seeing Chebri. He looked to be under thirty, with a messy, slightly curly shock of platinum-blond hair. His eyeliner and eyelashes were dark and thick. He looked less like a Hunter and more like the lead singer of a band.

’Things are better these days,’ she thought. ’Men and women can dress however they want.’ Under his open jacket, Chebri wore a semi-sheer white mesh tank top, and no one gave him a second glance.

When Mai Mingle was young, even wearing pants would draw stares, as people thought it was improper for a woman.

’I wonder if Chebri was part of the search party yesterday?’

"Please, everyone take a good look at each other. Memorize each person’s face and what they’re wearing."

Sha Xue emphasized, "Don’t forget. Including the Kai Family members and all you interviewees, there are eight of us in total."

’...Why emphasize that?’

"Some of the less experienced among you may not know, so let me explain."

Tian Xi leaned against the van door with his arms crossed. "The larger the group entering a Nest, the more likely you are to attract... strange things. Take a good look at everyone. After we’re inside, whether you notice an extra person, a missing person, or that someone’s appearance, clothes, or voice has suddenly changed, you must report it to me immediately."

’That kind of thing can happen in a Nest?’

Mai Mingle lowered her gaze and swallowed a hard lump of guilt.

’I hope I don’t bring them more danger because of what I did...’

’If things get ugly, I’ll have to break away from the group and lead the danger away, even if it means failing the interview... I can’t let these seven young people get dragged down by me.’

"Please, take a good look at everyone," Sha Xue said. Her words felt as if they were aimed directly at Mai Mingle.

She let out a breath, raised her eyes, and met the gazes of the four other prospective Hunters, taking a look at each of them in turn.

There was Li Stan, whom she’d met yesterday. He had a mop of brown, curly hair on his head, revealing a large forehead. His shirt was tucked into his high-waisted pants, which were cropped at the ankle. He was dressed a bit like an accountant from the seventies or eighties. ’Is this what the kids call ’retro style’?’

’My closet is full of clothes this old-fashioned.’

Their eyes met. Li Stan nodded at her and asked, "We meet again. You didn’t bring your cane today?"

Talk about hitting a sore spot. Every pore on Mai Mingle’s body tightened. She didn’t dare look at Sha Xue or Tian Xi’s expressions and could only mumble, "Mm, it’s inconvenient to carry..."

Recalling yesterday’s events, it still felt unreal to her.

Even now, she didn’t know how she’d managed to escape the Kai Family Mansion. Of course, she knew how she had slipped out of that one room; it was connected to a small balcony, which she used to climb down from the second floor.

What Mai Mingle didn’t understand was why the door to that room had suddenly slid open, as if someone had pushed down the handle from the other side and pulled it open for her.

And why was there a human-shaped black hole standing in the middle of that room?

’What was that thing?’

At the time, Mai Mingle had stood frozen in place, not even daring to look directly at the black hole, keeping it only in her peripheral vision.

After a long moment, when she saw that the human-shaped black hole remained completely still, she held her breath and edged along the wall toward the window. Whatever that black hole was, she wasn’t there to solve mysteries. Her top priority was to escape as soon as possible.

There were two reasons she hadn’t walked toward the center of the room:

The first, naturally, was the human-shaped black hole. It was as if space itself had become a sheet of paper, and a person-shaped hole—with a head, shoulders, and limbs—had been cut out of it. Mai Mingle was terrified that if she got close, the long, narrow black hole shaped like an arm would lift toward her.

The second reason was the rug in the center of the room—a flesh-colored rug that anyone would immediately recognize as an Illusion.

For some reason, a ring of wet, glistening moisture soaked the floor around it.

Its short fibers lay flat. The rug was clearly flesh-colored, yet the fibers themselves were pale white. ’If the fibers are that color, how can the rug look like another color to the naked eye?’

Even the rug itself wasn’t still; it swelled and subsided, arching up and then falling flat again...

The image, which she had only glanced at for a moment, lingered in her mind for five or six seconds. Then, a sudden realization struck her, and she almost cried out.

It was a tongue.

Or rather, a hybrid of a rug and a tongue.

The rug’s fibers were taste buds. It rose and fell because it was a flexible muscle.

Once she understood, how could Mai Mingle dare to go near it? The rug was huge, leaving only a narrow path around the perimeter for her to pass.

She hugged the wall and circled to the window. As she opened it, a gust of wind blew past her body and into the room. Mai Mingle instinctively glanced back and saw that the countless short, fuzzy taste buds had all stood up in unison, as if they had caught a scent.

’...What would happen if I touched it?’

By the time she escaped the Kai Family Mansion, not a single one of her questions had been answered.

In the end, she had risked everything to sneak in, only to come away with a few photos of the mansion’s interior.

She wondered if this trip into the Nest would get her hired, allowing her to walk into the Kai Family’s home legitimately... It was her own property, and the lipstick was most likely inside the Kai Family’s walls, so why was it so hard to get it back?

Mai Mingle was lost in thought for the whole ride. When Sha Xue’s voice snapped her out of it, she realized they were about to arrive at the location where they would open the Path.

Sha Xue was distributing weapons. In addition to the standard-issue combat supplies like handguns, knives, and flashlights, everyone also received a fluorescent orange tag to hang around their neck.

"Even if we open the Path in the same area and at the same time, it’s still highly likely we’ll be separated on landing and lose the group—no, there might not even be a group to begin with."

Sha Xue warned, "The place we’re about to land corresponds to the Old Port area within the Nest, which is filled with 19th-century port warehouses. After you land, move toward ’Annie’s Warehouse’ immediately and gather at the main entrance."

Mai Mingle knew of that place. In modern-day Blackmoor City, the Old Port had become a venue for young performing artists to test out their shows. Troupes from all over the world staged various plays there year-round.

"Anyone not wearing an orange tag will be treated as a resident."

Sha Xue said, almost calmly, "Protect your orange tag with your life. This is your first test to become a Kai Family Hunter."