Illusion Report

A deathly chill seeped into his skin, slowing his blood. It felt as if he could just let go, just release his grip, and gradually melt into the empty, dark cosmos.

Chaisi opened his eyes.

As usual, when he woke up, he had no idea what time it was.

His usually precise sense of time was suffocated by the silence, the cold, and the pitch-black darkness. Every time he fell asleep, it was like dying.

The process of waking was like an instinct that refused to die, urging him to crawl his way up, bit by bit, from the empty abyss. When he opened his eyes again, there was still not a single sliver of light to serve as a dividing line between the mortal world and the Black Abyss.

The thin sheet and blanket slid off his bare skin with a RUSTLE.

The room’s temperature was always kept at 55 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of season. Roller shades imported from Europe, paired with thick blackout curtains, blocked nearly one hundred percent of the light and kept out most of the outdoor heat.

Sometimes, Chaisi thought his tomb looked just like a bedroom.

In this pitch-black bedroom, which no light, temperature, or sound could penetrate, he sometimes dreamed of Luocheng’s tall palm trees and brilliant sun. But with each dream, they grew more distant, more blurry.

’Perhaps one day, I’ll no longer be able to see the West Coast in my dreams.’

In the darkness, he fumbled for the phone he always kept in the same spot. He flipped it over and tapped the screen, and the date—November 19th—stabbed into his eyes.

’It’s this day again.’

Chaisi sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, head bowed. He sat quietly for a while.

The last remnants of the night gradually slid off his back. Before him, the roller shades WHIRRED open, and the hazy daylight illuminated his naked body.

Even the weather today was considerate enough to match the occasion. Beneath a low-hanging layer of clouds, a dreary rain fell without end.

Every year, he knew it was useless to go, but he still performed every futile task to perfection.

His hair was combed back immaculately. His skin was shaved clean. Even his cologne came from a matte black bottle. He put on a black shirt and a black suit, then fastened a jet-black watch to his wrist. The only color on his entire person was the pair of long and short, faint silver hands on the watch face, ticking away in the darkness.

Just like every year, the snow-white bouquet that was always delivered on this day was waiting for him at the door when he opened it.

There was only one car left in the garage. Fortunately, it was also black.

Chaisi parked in the usual spot. Holding an umbrella in one hand and the flowers in the other, he walked step by step up the grassy slope.

Under the gray, overcast sky, the grass and trees were shrouded in a somber gloom, as if a dark mist was rising from the soil and seeping into the branches and leaves. Tombstones stood silently amid the rain and dark greenery, watching from a distance as Chaisi walked by.

At the same bend in the path, he saw a few familiar cars and the Kai Family’s private bodyguards.

One of the bodyguards, holding an umbrella, stood his ground and gave him a distant nod. "Mr. Monroe."

Chaisi understood what he meant.

The same scene had played out at least a dozen times. It was like a dance rehearsed too many times; he knew exactly where he was supposed to stop.

The bodyguards stationed at the turn were there to keep unauthorized people from going up the hill. Later, Chaisi came to think they were perhaps only there to block him.

This part of the cemetery was not often visited.

He stopped and looked at the small path that continued upward, gradually disappearing into the dark green. From the end of that path, on the grass at the top of the hill, one could see a distant corner of Blackmoor City’s skyline.

Thinking back on it now, Damian had been too young when he died. Chaisi didn’t even know what kind of scenery he had liked to look at before his death.

Nearly twenty years had passed. Even Damian’s face had become a blur.

The Damian in his memory had a laugh, blond hair, and shining eyes, but he couldn’t recall his features. Whenever he tried to remember what Damian looked like, the only image that came to mind was the photograph on Uncle Kai’s desk.

Chaisi bent down and placed the white bouquet on a bench beside the path.

Rain pattered against the wrapping paper, gathering into droplets that slid one by one down the ribbon. The paper grew soaked, and the petals trembled gently, like the rise and fall of a smooth, white back racked with uncontrollable sobs.

He stood for a moment under his umbrella, then turned and asked the bodyguard in a low voice, "Mr. Kai and Madam Kai... are they already up there?"

"Yes," the bodyguard replied.

"This year, they also..." Chaisi paused before continuing, "...wish not to be disturbed?"

"Yes," the bodyguard said, lowering his gaze.

He ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek. Chaisi gazed at the upward-sloping path, thinking in a daze that he probably wouldn’t be able to deliver the "rumor" to Uncle Kai today.

’But that’s fine, too.’

There was something he might be able to achieve using the "rumor." The more he thought about it last night, the more he felt it was worth a try. But he couldn’t tell Uncle Kai about that idea today.

He stood silently in the rain for nearly an hour before finally nodding to the head bodyguard. "Thank you for your trouble."

"Mr. Monroe, you’re leaving?" The bodyguard was slightly taken aback. He seemed to want to check his watch but stopped himself.

It was a bit early today. He usually stayed much longer, leaving only just before Uncle Kai and Aunt Hai came down.

"Mhm," Chaisi replied in a low voice. "I have something to take care of."

Along with the date and time, a text message from an unknown number had also lit up his phone this morning.

The sender’s name was Jin Xueli. She seemed to be a Hunter who usually worked alone. She said she had the latest news about a "Vulture" resident and could provide it to him.

"Two o’clock this afternoon," Chaisi had said when he called, skipping any greeting and getting straight to the point. "Go to the address I send you. We’ll talk in person."

He hadn’t actually expected such a quick response to the inquiry he’d put out.

’The rumor only just went into effect on the 17th, and someone is already reporting in on the 18th?’

The informant was either extremely lucky, or they were trying to cash in with some plausible-sounding but false information... Then again, Hunters suicidal enough to try the latter had become increasingly rare in recent years.

Temptation was a large nightclub, one of the properties under the Kai Family’s umbrella.

On a rainy weekday afternoon like this, its neon signs were dark and its main doors were shut tight. A nightclub in the daytime always had a drab face, a kind of weary gloom like a performer after leaving the stage.

Chaisi sometimes came to the club to check on things. The usual nighttime scene—the dazzling lights and debauchery, the long lines of beautiful men and women, the boisterous chatter and laughter carried on the smell of alcohol... all of it was gone this afternoon. All that remained was a young woman by the entrance, holding an umbrella crookedly.

The umbrella was tilted on her shoulder, and she seemed completely unaware that half her body was getting soaked by the rain and the music from her headphones. She tapped her foot to the beat, kicking up musical-note-like raindrops on the wet sidewalk.

’Is that the Hunter?’

Chaisi wasn’t so sure.

’It might sound arrogant to say it,’ he thought, ’but it’s been years since I’ve seen a Hunter who could be this relaxed and cheerful knowing they were about to meet me.’

Chaisi stopped the car in front of her, lowered the window, and asked, "...Jin Xueli?"

"Huh?"

The woman seemed startled. She took off her headphones and bent down toward him.

The car window was like a picture frame. Through the gray, drizzling rain, a drenched face appeared, water streaming down it. The water made her skin look pale, which only made her wet hair and wet eyelashes seem all the more dark and rich, like a crow’s feather in a light mist.

’She’s so soaked, it’s like it makes no difference whether she’s holding an umbrella or not.’

"You’re... eh?"

Jin Xueli stared at him, stunned for a second or two. Her gaze was bright, direct, and unflinching—an expression that almost brought to mind a child who had just walked into Disneyland. "Don’t tell me... you’re Chaisi Monroe?"

Chaisi rarely had this kind of feeling—as if he himself had become an object of desire.

’Is this person really a Hunter? She doesn’t know who I am?’

"They said you were the Kai Family’s second-in-command. I thought you’d be a bit older." Jin Xueli grinned at him, the smile breaking the water droplets on her face and sending them sliding down her chin. "This is great. Looking at a handsome guy is way more fun than looking at some old man."

For a moment, Chaisi was actually at a loss for words.

By the time he’d overcome that momentary blankness and was about to tell her to wait at the entrance, he saw that Jin Xueli had already straightened up, swiftly rounded the front of the car, and was pulling on the passenger-side door. Her movements were so quick that Chaisi was finally convinced she was a Hunter.

"Hm?" The door didn’t open when she pulled. A look of confusion on her face, she knocked on the window and said, her voice muffled, "Unlock the door."

Chaisi looked at her, then at his own spotless car.

He had originally planned to talk with the Hunter on the second floor of Temptation while the club was empty during the day. But somehow, a few seconds later, a dripping wet Jin Xueli had climbed into his car.

"Sorry, I’m a little wet."

’So she’s not completely oblivious. She didn’t actually think her umbrella had the insulating properties of a spacesuit. Then why did she get in my car?’

"Why did you get in the car?" Chaisi asked the question out loud.

"Huh?" Jin Xueli looked even more bewildered than he was. "Were we supposed to stand on the street talking in the rain?"

’Forget it.’

"Where are you headed? I’ll give you a ride." He started the car. "You can tell me about your Vulture encounter on the way."

Jin Xueli nodded. "I probably shouldn’t ask why you want to know, should I?"

’Then why are you asking?’

"You shouldn’t." Chaisi felt he should get her started, so he asked, "When did you encounter the ’Vulture’?"

"Hold on, let me turn off my music first." Jin Xueli took out her phone, stopped the music, and then opened her notes app. "Hmm... the timestamp on my recording is 12:16 AM on November 17th. So, it looks like I ran into the ’Vulture’ not long after midnight."

In other words, the "rumor" had only just become reality, and she had become the first victim.

If she were just trying to swindle some money with a fabricated story, it was unlikely she’d get the timing this perfect. This meant that even before he’d heard the full story, it already had a certain degree of credibility.

His luck was good—of course, Chaisi already knew that.

"I need you to tell me the whole story from beginning to end, and give me the relevant notes," Chaisi said. "Name your price."

"Money?" Jin Xueli paused. "But I don’t need money. I want something else."

"What do you want?"

He felt Jin Xueli glance at him.

"I’ve always been a lone wolf in the Nest. It’s freeing, but it can also be really inconvenient... I heard you’re a big deal, right?"

Chaisi had no idea how to even begin answering that question.

"...In what way? I’m not a Hunter."

"That doesn’t matter," Jin Xueli said. "I just want a favor from you. You’re not a Hunter, but you have plenty of Hunters under you. When I need help, I want the Kai Family’s Hunters to give me a hand. That’s not too much to ask, is it?"

"I’d rather you ask for money." Chaisi was being honest. "Your request sounds like a lot of trouble."

"That’s why I have to take the opportunity of a deal with the Kai Family’s second-in-command to ask for it," Jin Xueli said earnestly. "Asking for money would be such a waste. If you were me, you wouldn’t ask for money either, right?"

"...I wouldn’t," Chaisi admitted after a few seconds of silence. "You can start now. This ’Vulture’ you encountered—how was it different from before?"

Although he didn’t turn to look, he could feel Jin Xueli’s body tense up. She subconsciously raised a hand to touch her neck.

’It’s as if she’s touching a wound that isn’t there,’ the thought suddenly occurred to Chaisi.

"The biggest difference is... the ’Vulture’ I met no longer has to wait for a Hunter to die before it can take on their appearance."

In his peripheral vision, he saw her hand clench her pants.

"It’s like even the Nest is doing everything it can to help the ’Vulture’ replicate a human’s appearance. Once it takes on the form of its target, it also gains their memories. It even wholeheartedly believes it’s the real person.

"I... I still can’t stop feeling terrified sometimes."

Her voice dropped. "I know I made it out alive. But I still can’t help but think... if the things in the Nest are all helping it... then maybe I’m actually a ’Vulture,’ and I just don’t know that I’m nothing more than a Nest resident who has entered the human world."