Illusion Report

Mai Mingle felt as if she were floating up from the bottom of a deep, dark, murky river.

Someone was shaking her, again and again, jolting her consciousness gradually toward the light. Reluctantly, she finally, slowly opened her eyes.

"...You actually managed to fall asleep," said the back of a head with long, disheveled hair, which was currently dominating her field of vision.

Mai Mingle stared at it, dazed for a moment.

The memories from before she fell asleep were a step behind, but they surfaced now. She couldn’t help but gasp and recoil, nearly hitting the wall. "What are you doing?"

She quickly flexed her hands, which were shoved in her pockets, to take inventory—a lipstick in her left hand, an eyeball in her right. Both were still there. The eyelashes were still gently pricking the skin of her palm.

’To actually fall asleep while surrounded by a pack of wolves...’ Mai Mingle was a little surprised at herself. ’It seems I was just too exhausted.’

The binding power of the rules was truly strong. As long as she held the face-piece, the resident couldn’t just come up and snatch it, not even while she was asleep.

The long-haired woman, squatting on the ground with her back to Mai Mingle, was silent for a second or two before speaking. "What am I doing? You ask—you ask what I’m doing? I should be asking what *you’re* doing! If you don’t give me back my eye, what in the world do you want do you want do you want—"

"Miss, please, calm down," Mai Mingle said, sitting up. "Having to listen to you talk like this right after I’ve woken up is honestly a bit much."

The back of the long-haired head considerately stopped.

The person and the back of the head stared at each other for a while. In the end, the back of the head was the first to give in. "What do you want?"

’What do I want?’ The question actually took Mai Mingle by surprise.

’What *can* I want?’

She’d been dragged into this face-finding game with no choice at all. She’d risked her life to find all the pieces, and all she’d get for it was to leave in one piece, with no gains and no losses. ’Wait a minute,’ she thought. ’From the way this resident is talking... does this mean I *can* make demands?’

"...You put me through all this trouble. There ought to be some compensation, right?" she asked tentatively.

The back of the head’s silence lasted for several seconds, which greatly encouraged Mai Mingle.

"Besides compensation, you also have to trade something for your eye, don’t you? Business is business, that’s only fair." Mai Mingle prepared to ask for the moon to prevent the other party from lowballing her. "They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, right? And Helen Keller even said, ’If I were given three days of sight’—"

"Oh, shut up!" the back of the head suddenly shrieked. "Are you an old lady? You’re such a nag!"

’...That was a bit harsh. Just what I’d expect from a resident.’

It seemed to take a deep breath—’Right, it should have a nose on the other side now, so it can breathe’—before saying, "I get it. You want some benefit before you’ll return my eye and get the hell out, is that it? Fine."

Mai Mingle hadn’t expected it to agree so readily. She was stunned for a moment.

"Wh... What kind of benefit?" she asked hesitantly.

"The lipstick is yours," the resident said, with a strange sort of pride.

"This lipstick is used, who’d want it? Besides, I don’t even wear—" Mai Mingle suddenly realized. "Oh, is it that... that Illusion?"

"Of course. Didn’t you think of that? We residents can’t use Illusions, nor do we have a need for them. So it’s useless for you humans to attack us with Illusions. However, for a few Illusions, even if we can’t use them, we develop a possessive desire for them, to varying degrees. This lipstick is one of them." The back of the head said, "Generally speaking, Illusions that residents also covet have a longer expiration date after leaving the Nest. You’re getting a good deal."

It was probably trying to make the lipstick sound more valuable. Mai Mingle nodded along as she listened, but at this point, she suddenly froze.

"An... expiration date?" she asked, staring blankly at the back of the head. "What expiration date?"

Through the thick, dense mane of hair, Mai Mingle couldn’t discern the resident’s expression.

It paused for a moment. When it spoke again, its tone had changed, as if a laugh was caught in its throat. Its voice was high and sharp, like the upturned corners of a smile.

"...You don’t know?" it asked slowly, as if leading her on. "Could it be... you just became an Illusion Hunter? Is this your first time in a Nest?"

Mai Mingle didn’t say a word.

"Ha, ha, ha." The hair trembled a few times with the laughter. "So you really didn’t know? Any Illusion that leaves a Nest and enters the human world has an ’expiration date.’ Once the expiration date is reached, both the Illusion itself and any effects it produced will disappear."

It was indeed the first time Mai Mingle had ever heard of this.

She sat stunned on the ground. She tried several times to lift her hand and touch the "Snake Belt" she was wearing, but it felt as if there was no strength in her muscles. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

’Does the Snake Belt have a time limit too? When its expiration date is up, will I turn back into an eighty-six-year-old? No, probably even older. Because even after putting on the Snake Belt, my body has still been aging. I’ll probably be eighty-six, plus all the time that’s passed since then, right?’

If the Snake Belt’s expiration date was short... then her current vibrant youth was nothing more than a fleeting dream before she departed this world.

She found it hard to accept.

"Where... where can I see the expiration date?"

"For the lipstick, it’s on the label at the bottom. But you’ll only be able to see it after you leave the Nest. Illusions inside a Nest don’t have a countdown timer."

’It sure knows a lot...’ At this thought, Mai Mingle quickly asked, "What about one that’s taken out of a Nest and then brought back in? Will the countdown stop?"

"It will pause. When it returns to the human world, the countdown will resume."

At least inside the Nest, she didn’t have to worry about aging again... but she remembered Jonah saying that the longest a human could stay in a Nest at one time was seven days. Any longer than that, and they would be broken down and digested by the Nest.

At this, the back of the head let out a couple of high, thin laughs. "So you really don’t know anything. To think you could still force something out of me... you’re not to be underestimated. This actually gives me an idea..."

Mai Mingle sensed ill intent in its words. She scrambled to her feet and hastily took two steps back. But the back of the head just turned slightly, keeping its back ramrod straight towards her. "Why are you running? I know what the second benefit should be. It’s something that won’t cost me a thing, and something you can’t refuse."

"What is it?"

"A few minutes ago, a Hunter who stumbled into a local game failed to clear it." The words from the back of the head made Mai Mingle pause.

"Originally, that Hunter was supposed to receive a punishment. It’s not too severe, you know, just taking half their life, leaving them unable to ever stand again. But if you’re willing, the nature of the punishment can be changed... to ’answering any and all of your questions and providing information about the Nest without holding anything back.’ In other words, to become your guide."

For a moment, Mai Mingle even suspected it was lying. "You have the authority to make that decision?"

The back of the head ignored her completely. "If you agree to this condition, leave now and meet them at the entrance to the Brooklyn Public Library. Well? Do you accept?"