Illusion Report

"Is this it?"

Chaisi twisted open a small, round tube. A stick of lipstick, etched with fine, thread-like lines, rose up, coming into their view.

"That’s it!" Mai Mingle shot to her feet in excitement, knocking her chair over with a CLATTER.

"I didn’t find the cap."

Even after several glasses of water, Chaisi’s throat still felt like it was being scraped with sandpaper when he spoke. He had been lost in the Black Abyss for a full five days; after returning, his whole body felt like it had been run over by a truck—tired, hungry, exhausted, and aching.

"It’s okay, I have the cap right here, see? It must have come off when that Illusion pulled me in."

As if subconsciously trying to prove she was the real owner, Mai Mingle even took out the lipstick cap to show him.

Chaisi looked at the lipstick in his hand, then at the face shining with anticipation.

The words, "You can have it back, but you can’t sell it to Fu Tailan," rushed to his throat, but he swallowed them back down.

...He had no right to demand who Mai Mingle sold her lipstick to, or who she didn’t.

Five days ago, before he had entered the Black Abyss Belt, Chaisi would never have returned the lipstick so easily. He would have estimated a fair price and just given her the money; that was the only way to ensure Fu Tailan wouldn’t get a single chance at it.

’She’s going to sell it anyway, so why not sell it to me?’

But now, he couldn’t bring himself to say it—not even after he had offered to buy the lipstick and she had gently shaken her head.

’Mai Mingle isn’t cut out to be a Hunter,’ he thought.

When she could have easily escaped the Nest trap on her own, she had instead found a way to bring Suo Beihua and another prospective Hunter named Emily with her. She had even told Suo Beihua that she was tied to a precious Illusion, yet she still entered the Kai Family’s residence alone to save Chaisi and Han Liuyue.

Chaisi refused to believe that it had never once crossed her mind that the Kai Family might move against her and snatch her Illusion—Mai Mingle wasn’t a fool.

But she had come anyway.

It was as if she held an almost innate trust in the world and its people, as if she had made a pact with the universe to walk forever in the light, in this life and the next.

...’Forget it.’

’If this lipstick falls into Fu Tailan’s hands, then I’ll just deal with Fu Tailan when the time comes.’

Chaisi handed the lipstick over.

Mai Mingle gently took the lipstick and snapped the cap shut with a CLICK. In that moment, a weight seemed to lift from her shoulders, her expression a mixture of joy and disbelief.

"Thank you... If you hadn’t been willing to give it back, there would’ve been nothing I could do."

’She must have heard about my reputation from the start and figured her chances of getting it back were slim, which is why she snuck into the Kai Family’s residence, right? Of course, Mai Mingle probably wouldn’t say it outright—’

"I’ve heard about your reputation, and my, it’s really not good."

Mai Mingle shook her head and sighed. "Based on your reputation, you’d be expected to repay kindness with cruelty even if I’d personally saved your life, let alone just provided Mr. Kai with a bit of information. But now that I see you, you seem quite reasonable, don’t you? I can’t imagine what you’ve done in the past..."

Chaisi shot her a look.

He had found it unbelievable at first, but now he was starting to think this young woman before him might really be eighty-six years old. They say when people get old, they become like children, their words gradually losing all restraint.

’Time to change the subject.’

"How did you know you could bring me back this way?" Chaisi asked.

Mai Mingle hesitated.

"I received help from one of the residents in the Nest... I don’t know what it was thinking, or why it helped me. But for now, it seems to be one of the non-malicious residents. It was very knowledgeable. It was the one who told me that Mr. Kai could use me as a beacon to call you back."

"How does the locating work?" Chaisi asked. "Can I use this method to find Han Liuyue?"

"We can try. I think there’s a chance."

Mai Mingle said thoughtfully, "Did you have any contact with Han Liuyue in the Black Abyss Belt? Did you see her? That resident told me that people gradually dissipate in the Black Abyss Belt—"

"That’s right," Chaisi added. "At that time, my consciousness, memories, and body all seemed to turn into countless particles and drift away."

"Exactly."

Mai Mingle nodded. "It seems that when you dissipate, if you interact or come into contact with someone, your dissipating ’particles’ will also cling to them... But I wasn’t in the Black Abyss Belt at the time. My only connection to you was through the reflection behind your eyes... So I was on edge the whole time, not knowing if I could really act as your beacon."

Chaisi remembered that when he had first entered the humanoid black hole, he had been chasing after Han Liuyue, calling her name.

’That counts as an interaction, right?’

There was a question Chaisi had to ask. "If it had failed, weren’t you afraid the Kai Family would take their anger out on you? Or worse, that they might start to suspect you?"

Mai Mingle looked up, her expression calm. "There was nothing to be done about that."

...’That’s it?’

They looked at each other for several seconds before Mai Mingle seemed to feel she needed to explain further.

"If I hadn’t known, that would be one thing. But since I did, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, could I? What kind of person would that make me? Besides, you two indirectly helped me, too. You helped me find the exit from that stairwell."

Chaisi still couldn’t understand.

He thought blankly for a moment, but the words that came out were, "I have to save Han Liuyue."

Mai Mingle just nodded, as if she knew Chaisi still had more to say.

"Before I accept someone as a partner, I thoroughly dig into their background to understand what kind of person they are... That’s always been my method. I have to understand someone before I can trust them. This time, the Nest gave me the perfect opportunity to learn more about a temporary ally... so I left the task to Han Liuyue."

He didn’t know why he was telling her all this.

He and Mai Mingle were practically strangers—strangers who, by a twist of fate, had learned each other’s deepest secrets.

While she acted as a beacon, she had sat quietly by as Uncle Kai recounted Chaisi’s past, piece by piece. The things he was afraid for people to know, the things he wasn’t afraid for people to know, the things he never wanted to remember again... She had heard it all.

Perhaps in this whole world, the only person suited to hear his confession was Mai Mingle.

"I didn’t order Han Liuyue to dig up that person’s past at all costs, without regard for the danger, but I didn’t remind her to stop when she should have, either."

Chaisi scrubbed a hand over his face and let out a low, bitter laugh. "Forget it. These are useless words; they can’t bring her back. In the end, it was me... It’s because I can’t enter the Nest, because I can’t find information on my own, that someone else got screwed over for me."

Mai Mingle clasped her hands in her lap. After a moment, she said softly, "Everyone has things they can’t do."

Chaisi gave a self-deprecating smile. ’There are far too many things in this world that are beyond my power.’

"Are you going right now?" Mai Mingle asked.

"She’s been in the Black Abyss Belt for more than five days," Chaisi replied. "I don’t have time to rest, recover, and take it slow."

On the other hand, it was precisely because he had such a deep understanding of every Core Hunter that he could even attempt to call out to Han Liuyue.

Mai Mingle sized him up for a few moments—she didn’t need to say it; Chaisi knew perfectly well how awful he must look—but she said nothing, merely standing up. "Well then, I should be going."

"I owe you a favor."

Chaisi didn’t move, remaining seated in the armchair. "A very big favor. You can come to me anytime. Whatever you need me to do, whether it’s killing someone or saving someone, I won’t ask a single question."

Mai Mingle seemed startled and quickly waved her hands in dismissal.

"It’s not that serious! I didn’t do much, just passed on a few words at most. Mr. Kai was the one who saved you."

"...I know."

Mai Mingle was about to turn when she suddenly paused. With some hesitation, she glanced at Chaisi. "Um... if you don’t mind, I do actually have a question for you. Do you know the mayor?"

Chaisi raised an eyebrow.

For a second, he almost thought that Mai Mingle had somehow found out what he’d done to the mayor—but she continued, "I plan to sell this Illusion to him, and I need someone to make the introduction."

"No problem." Chaisi nodded, careful not to let his relief show. The lipstick could fall into anyone’s hands, as long as it wasn’t Fu Tailan’s. "I’ll have someone arrange it for you right away."

The mayor, who had been completely taken over by the Noh mask, certainly wouldn’t hold a grudge against him. In fact, when he’d left the mayor’s residence that morning, the man had been behind him, stroking his new face with both hands, laughing in a mixture of shock and delight.

Selling an Illusion to the mayor wasn’t that strange in itself; what was truly noteworthy was that Mai Mingle seemed to have no connection to the mayor whatsoever.

’She has no connection, yet she insists on selling it to the mayor and no one else...’

"It’s a small thing," Chaisi said, as a thought dawned on him. ’So that’s how it is.’

’Selling the Illusion to the mayor would, in all likelihood, earn Mai Mingle an Illusion Report.’

"Making an introduction is nothing. I still owe you what I owe you. Anytime you ask, as long as I can do it, I will do my best to fulfill your request."

’Mai Mingle was also one of the contestants in the Nest Dominance Game.’

It was obvious if you just thought about it.

The Black Cube Illusion was originally in the hands of the Westley Team, and the one who released the Black Cube and trapped Mai Mingle that night was Westley’s secretary, Green.

But she hadn’t gone looking for Westley’s secretary. Instead, she had tried to get close to the Kai Family the very next day, as if she knew perfectly well that the Black Cube Illusion had already fallen into Chaisi’s hands...

Green was dead; there was only one reason she could have known the Black Cube’s whereabouts.

That night, the Nest Dominance Game had sent a notification about the Black Cube’s change of hands to every contestant. It was clear now that Mai Mingle was one of them. That was the only way she could have known the Black Cube was in Chaisi’s possession.

’So I have to pay off my debt to her before I can continue to compete with her.’

After all, the only way he could repay his debt to the Kai Family was by winning the Nest Dominance Game.

’It seems this life is just one of constantly being in debt.’

As Mai Mingle reached the door, she suddenly turned her head.

"I’m a little curious about something. You said this whole thing started because you wanted to dig up a temporary ally’s past... so, have you figured her out now?"

It had only been five days, but when he thought of Jin Xueli, it felt like many years had passed.

Chaisi said in a low voice, "No."

After a few seconds’ pause, he added, "There’s no reason, just a gut feeling... She doesn’t seem to be the kind of person I need."

Jin Xueli would never become a hyena.