Illusion Report

...A secret Nest Dominance Game?

Chaisi stood alone in the gloom as night fell. After a few seconds, he couldn’t help but look at his phone screen again. The blue-white light illuminated his field of view, yet everything seemed even more unreal.

’So while the Hunters under my command went in and out of the Nests time and again, risking life and limb for money, a plan like this was unfolding in the depths of the world...’

’So that "key" Fu Tailan took from Westley... it was for this, too.’

Only half of the notification he received was written in human language.

The other half was clearly Nest script, like writhing blobs of ink or deep holes punched into the lines of human text. Even with his formidable willpower, staring at it for a moment too long made him feel as if he could see faint eyeballs peering out at him from those depths. He had to look away immediately and compose himself to recover from the hallucination.

Still, even with only half of it in a human language, the information he needed to know was perfectly clear.

The Secret Nest Dominance Game

Two teams have already joined. You’re falling behind, Chaisi!

Team One: Westley Team

What a huge setback! Illusions scattered and lost! Progress has fallen to 2/7, your lead has been drastically reduced.

Brianna

Currently collected: Black Cube (Image), Word Processing Software (Image)

Uncollected

Old-Fashioned Radio (Image)

Key (Image)

Time (Text)

A Tongue (Image)

???

*

Team Two: Fu Tailan Team, joined November 15, progress 1/7

The "boy genius" lives up to his name! Snatched one in just four days!

Currently collected: Key (Image)

Uncollected

Old-Fashioned Radio (Image)

Black Cube (Image)

Time (Text)

A Tongue (Image)

Word Processing Software (Image)

???

Now recruiting a new competitor—Child of the Cuckoo 〚Chaisi Monroe〛

Wanna join? Wanna join? Wanna join? Let’s just say you’re in, ’kay?

’What a repulsive way to write a notification...’

Chaisi felt his tongue rise, press against the inside of his cheek, and slide across.

Putting aside his surprise and disgust, the notification alone made the situation more or less clear.

Reading between the lines, Westley was the first to learn of the "Nest Dominance Game." He had kept the news under wraps, secretly working to win dominion. But after his violent death, the Illusions he had collected were scattered, and one of them—the key—had recently fallen into Fu Tailan’s hands.

It seemed that winning the "Nest Dominance Game" required collecting seven Illusions. This was the most crucial piece of information. The many other questions could be set aside for now.

’...Could this notification be another stroke of good fortune sent my way?’

He had always hoped to lead the Kai Family to the pinnacle of wealth and power in the mortal world.

For anyone, this was a colossal, chaotic goal that relied almost entirely on fate. Yet now, a path to that destination was laid out before him, unbelievably clear and simple.

’If I monopolize the Nests, how could I fail to control the mortal world?’

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten that he himself couldn’t enter the Nests.

But what did that matter?

His rivals chasing the Illusions could only stay in the Nests for seven days at most; they all had to return to the mortal world eventually.

’If the person who ultimately rules the Nests is someone who doesn’t even have a Path... that would be unexpectedly delightful.’

As Chaisi was lost in thought, his phone buzzed. He glanced down and saw a message from Jin Xueli.

"What’s the address? I haven’t gotten it yet."

Before he could reply, the ellipses indicating she was typing appeared on the screen. A moment later, another message arrived. "Do you think five thousand dollars is too much?"

’...I’m speechless.’

’Didn’t she claim she wasn’t short on money? The way she talks, she sounds more like someone who’s chronically broke.’

Despite this new complication, participating in the "Nest Dominance Game" wouldn’t change what he had to do now. After all, the person who attacked the Kai Family may or may not be connected to the game.

To find the mastermind, he still had to search this cemetery for clues.

"Come to this address," he texted Jin Xueli back. "Be careful on your way. If anyone follows you, tell me immediately."

After a moment’s thought, still worried, he sent an uncharacteristically solicitous follow-up: "Will you be able to tell?"

"You really underestimate me," Jin Xueli replied after a moment. "I’m a lone Hunter. I don’t have a Family Faction looking after me, but I’ve managed to survive just fine. I’m in the cab now. Forget the meter fare—call it making a friend."

’Someone in Blackmoor City actually wanted to befriend me over a taxi fare. I guess if you live long enough, you really do see everything.’

Chaisi suppressed his reaction, pretended he hadn’t seen the message, and put his phone away.

The streetlights flickered on, like drowsy eyes just waking, hazy and unfocused. Beyond the dim halos of light along the road, the distant ground was pitch-black, dotted with the looming shadows of tombstones.

No one was stopping Chaisi from walking up the hill now.

He picked a concealed spot where he could watch the path at the bottom of the hill. From there, he would be able to see Jin Xueli from a distance, as well as anyone who might be following her. As he watched the cemetery, Damian’s tombstone watched him silently from not far behind.

Chaisi never once looked back.

Jin Xueli arrived much faster than he had anticipated.

When Chaisi saw her again, she was wrapped head to toe in a flimsy, cheap plastic poncho—the kind sold to tourists on the street when it rains. As she walked toward him from a distance, she looked like a giant trash bag peering around for someone.

He sighed internally.

As expected, Morando hadn’t sent anyone to follow her. Perhaps it was because she thought Jin Xueli had already served her purpose and was no longer paying attention. Or perhaps the mastermind had gotten their fingers burned and temporarily pulled back, unwilling to return to this troublesome place.

Not only was there no activity in the cemetery, but the man he’d stationed at the entrance also reported seeing just one yellow taxi. The person who got out was Jin Xueli.

"Don’t worry,"

When they met, Jin Xueli patted her poncho and said, "I took a cab from a place far from my home and bought this poncho to hide my face. I’m positive no one followed me."

Chaisi gave her a look.

The displeasure she had shown upon learning that Morando was behind their arrest was now completely gone. Not a trace of it remained on her face.

It was one of the most natural things in the world for a girl to be taken with Morando. In the past, when he went drinking with her, Morando would have a stack of phone numbers before he’d even gotten a single one. But he couldn’t tell if Jin Xueli was one of her admirers.

"How do you know Morando?" Chaisi asked.

"I borrowed money from her once while I was buying something in a Nest. When I paid her back, we met at a Hunter’s Bar, and I happened to hear you were asking about Vulture... She was sitting right next to me, counting her money, when I contacted you."

Jin Xueli’s expression remained impassive. She just let out a long sigh and said, "And here I thought I’d met a good person... I should have known better. There are hardly any good people among Hunters."

"And you?"

"Of course I’m no good, either," Jin Xueli said with complete frankness. "Look, if she’d sent someone to follow me to this cemetery, with you lying in wait, the tracker would’ve been a dead man. A ’good person’ wouldn’t conspire with you to get someone killed for five thousand dollars, right?"

Chaisi couldn’t help but crack a smile.

The fact that she could find Bureau Chief Ashley proved she was far from stupid. With so much time to think on her way over, she would have naturally figured out why he was willing to pay to have her come here.

"...What a coincidence. I’m not a good person either," Chaisi said slowly. "I have a proposition, one that perhaps only someone of our kind would accept."

"What proposition?"

"Morando doesn’t know we’ve been in touch, let alone that you’re onto her," Chaisi said in a low voice. "I want you to stay in contact with her. Use whatever excuse you want, but make her believe there’s nothing between us... When the time comes, you will become the trap I’ve set for her."

Before Jin Xueli could answer, he added, "Don’t you want to maintain your freedom while also having the support of a Family Faction? Agree to my terms, and the Kai Family will back you. You won’t be bound by our orders, but you’ll have access to our resources. I doubt you’ll get an opportunity like this a second time."

"She must have really done something to piss you off."

Jin Xueli tilted her head, thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled and extended a hand to Chaisi. "All right, no problem. You’ve got a deal."

Chaisi looked at her hand.

A handshake was meaningless, but he met her hand with his own large one—it was less a handshake and more an annexation. In the warmth and the rain, their fingers and skin intertwined for a brief moment.

As their hands parted, Chaisi heard the buzz of a phone coming from her direction.

"Huh? An alert?"

Jin Xueli lifted her poncho and pulled out a phone, its screen shining brightly.

She had just glanced down at it when—SLAP!—Chaisi grabbed her wrist. He wasn’t using much force, but Jin Xueli still gasped in pain. "What are you doing?"

"Let me see, too," Chaisi said, stepping closer, his shadow falling over her. "...How about it?"