Illusion Report

When the old woman reached out her hand, the real rules must have been reposted in a nearby corner, going "live" once again.

In that instant, it seemed even the air itself hummed with excitement. It was as if a faint, flickering spark lurked just beneath cognition, and in the depths of her senses, it CRACKLED once. But if one were to look closely—

Mai Mingle couldn’t look closely.

She had her eyes squeezed shut and her head twisted away, but she could still feel the shadow of the old woman’s completely unobscured face fall upon her own.

The old woman’s fingers sank deep into Mai Mingle’s cheeks—so, so deep that her ten fingers met inside Mai Mingle’s skull. Her left cheek was pressed against her right, and her teeth were crushed into a handful of grit between them.

"You caught me off guard last time, but not again."

The old woman said in a singsong voice, "You see, we residents have to learn from experience, too. That’s how we improve."

With a single twist, the creature forced Mai Mingle’s head to turn toward it. Mai Mingle wouldn’t have been surprised if, after the old woman let go, she discovered her head and neck had been severed and would tumble to the ground.

"Open your eyes," the old woman sang on. "Open your eyes and look at my face, and all your troubles will disappear."

A few fingers lifted from deep within her cheeks and began to crawl toward her eyes.

For the past few seconds, from the moment she realized the old woman’s hand was reaching for her, Mai Mingle had forced herself not to move a single step. No—other than turning her head and shutting her eyes, every muscle in her body had contracted, freezing her in place. A cramping pain was beginning to set in.

Only by remaining perfectly still could she ensure that her rapidly tapping finger would stay on the trash can icon. And because of that, she had been caught squarely by the old woman.

’I must have deleted the recording by now. What happened?’

’Or... did nothing happen at all?’

’Maybe I failed to save Emily and only ended up getting myself killed—’

A man’s voice suddenly announced, "Following a heated competition among all the company’s gardeners, the Holy Trinity has decided to promote John Johnny to Manager of the Maze Market Department! Because Mike has performed exceptionally over the past fifty thousand years of evolutionary history, completing multiple Human World Disguised Retribution Raid Squad operations, the fertile fields of sweet melons will now be used to make a wedding dress for Johnny..."

’...What?’

The confusion had barely formed when a gunshot cracked through the air, nearly shattering Mai Mingle’s eardrums. The shot seemed to have come from just two or three steps away. A loud ringing immediately filled her ears, making it almost impossible for Mai Mingle to hear the shout that came through the ringing: "Run!"

It was Emily.

The grip on Mai Mingle’s cheeks loosened. She immediately wrenched her head away again, feeling her cheeks spring back as her jaw, teeth, and tongue all snapped back into place. Not daring to even glance in the old woman’s direction, she turned and ran.

On the road a few steps away, Emily took off after her, firing back over her shoulder as she ran. Her face had finally returned, and with it, her vision.

"Don’t look at its face!" Mai Mingle shouted.

"I know," Emily replied between shots.

"What was that just now?"

"It’s a recording I have on my phone," Emily shouted. "Random, illogical, and nonsensical human speech. It can briefly confuse a resident, make them forget what they’re supposed to be doing. That’s a trade secret I don’t share with anyone."

Her aim was much better than Mai Mingle’s. Though she only fired a shot every few seconds, she successfully held the old woman back for a good while. It wasn’t until the two of them reached an intersection that Mai Mingle finally found a moment to glance back.

’As expected of an experienced Hunter.’

Every single one of Emily’s bullets had hit the old woman’s same kneecap. The joint of its right knee was already bent sharply backward. Every time it tried to give chase, it would lurch violently and lose its balance as it took a step.

"Which way?" Emily asked, pausing at the intersection.

"This way," Mai Mingle said, pointing to the road on their left and darting ahead.

"Wait, there’s something on that road—"

Mai Mingle looked up and saw the back of Li Stan desperately fleeing in the distance. He looked slightly more human than before; it seemed he was gradually recovering after escaping the trap.

"Don’t worry, that’s Li Stan."

If Emily was full of questions, she didn’t voice a single one. After all, it wasn’t a good time for questions.

Two able-bodied people with healthy legs—well, Mai Mingle’s foot couldn’t really be called healthy—could run much faster than Li Stan. It didn’t take them more than ten seconds to catch up to him.

"I am Li Stan,"

As they drew closer, the tangled, chaotic shape ahead of them—a thing whose bones and organs seemed undecided on where they should go—was still muttering to itself. "I am a Hunter. Today is November 24th, 2026. I entered the Nest to participate in the Kai Family Hunter interview... Ah!"

He turned his head—if one could call the part that twisted around a "head"—and seemed to jump in surprise, nearly toppling off one of his ankle bones. "When did you—"

"Is this thing really Li Stan?" Emily was already raising her pistol as she ran. "How could anyone look like that and still be human? You’ve been tricked by it!"

"You really let it out of the poster?" Li Stan yelled at the same time. "I told you, the thing on the poster is definitely not the human Emily—"

"Both of you, listen to me,"

Caught between them, Mai Mingle felt like they were pumping air into both her ears, making her head feel like it would split. "I guarantee it, you’re both real. As real as you are, that’s how real the other one is. I’m the one who saved both of you, so I know this better than anyone."

Neither of them spoke.

It was as if someone had just said something they’d never heard before, something for which their life experiences offered no suitable response.

For a moment, the only sounds floating in the air were hurried footsteps, panting, and the opening and closing of Li Stan’s lungs.

Without leaving the Nest, there was only one way to truly shake the old woman: enter another domain of rules, another script, or another resident’s territory.

It was, in a sense, drinking poison to quench their thirst.

But Mai Mingle had no choice but to deal with the immediate crisis first. As for what to do about the next deadly threat, well, they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. No—more accurately, she didn’t even know how to stumble into the next danger zone. If she did, things would actually be easier.

"Where are we running to?" Emily couldn’t help but ask.

"’Annie’s Warehouse’," Li Stan said.

"You know where Annie’s Warehouse is?" Mai Mingle froze, unsure whether to be pleasantly surprised or hesitant.

"I found an Old Port Map in the ’Tourist Information Center’. At first, it pretended to be harmless and let me see the location of Annie’s Warehouse. I only fell into its trap as I was about to leave."

Emily immediately asked, "How can you be sure that’s the real, correct location of Annie’s Warehouse?"

As Li Stan’s recovery speed quickened, his replies became faster too. "I’m not sure, but do you have a better idea?"

Emily snorted and fell silent.

"But we still have someone chasing us," Mai Mingle said, worried. "If we lead it to the others... won’t they be in danger?"

The other two Hunters didn’t respond.

After they ran in silence for a few seconds, Emily said abruptly, "I believe you."

"What?"

"I completely believe now that you’re the one who saved me from that faceless state just now. I’m not afraid to tell you the truth, I was actually a little suspicious before. I thought maybe some coincidence had helped me escape... because you and I have no connection whatsoever, and we’re even competitors. You had no reason to help me. But now I know. You’re just the type of person who saves people."

Li Stan paused.

"I told her to run back then, because it couldn’t possibly be a real person coming out of a poster, but she wouldn’t leave. Even when that resident was about to catch up, she was still tapping and poking at the poster..."

He turned his face—in just half a minute, Li Stan had grown a face again, and even his glasses were once more perched on his nose.

As they ran, his height had also been gradually returning to normal. Now, at a glance, all his parts were in their proper places. At the very least, he wouldn’t be shot on sight from a distance.

"You don’t need to worry,"

He said to Mai Mingle, "There are five Hunters gathered at Annie’s Warehouse. With us, it shouldn’t be hard to drive away one resident together. Besides, the Kai Family Hunters have definitely prepared the next stage for us... If Annie’s Warehouse is itself a script, the old woman chasing us won’t be able to get close at all."

’That did make sense... but the thought that she had nearly died and the Kai Family interview hadn’t even truly begun was enough to give Mai Mingle a throbbing headache.’

’I’ve even lost my supply bag. All I have left is a fluorescent orange tag and an empty pistol at my waist. I have no idea how I’m going to get through the next stage.’

The group ran for a little longer before Emily shielded her upper eyelids with one hand to avoid accidentally seeing the old woman’s full face and quickly peeked back. She then reported, "The resident is gone!"

"Really?"

Emily glanced back at the ground behind them a few more times, her gaze covering a much wider area this time. "Really. I haven’t seen it for a while now. I think we’ve lost it... or maybe it gave up on its own."

"Wait, does that mean..." Mai Mingle hesitated.

If there wasn’t another trap up ahead, it was hard to imagine the old woman would voluntarily give up on her.

Almost as if in response to her thoughts, as Li Stan led the other two around a corner and onto the next street, a group of Hunters standing at the entrance of a large red brick building up ahead turned to look at them.

From a distance, Tian Xi let out a whistle and raised a hand in the air.

’...We’ve finally reached the rendezvous point.’

The long sigh of relief Mai Mingle was about to let out froze as she ran closer, getting stuck in her chest so painfully it ached.

Tian Xi, Sha Xue, and Chebri, the three Kai Family Hunters, seemed to have been waiting for a while. The other two interviewing Hunters had also arrived early and were sitting on the curb, chatting idly.

The brawny man even let out a mocking laugh. "What took you so long? The assembly time ends in half an hour. We thought you’d all been eliminated."

...That’s right, there were five people in total.

But there were six faces.