Illusion Report

"Really?"

In the dim light, the look of disbelief on the guide’s face was perfectly clear. "In this day and age, there’s actually someone who doesn’t know how to turn on a computer?"

Mai Mingle didn’t know what to say, so she could only press her lips together and nod.

She had just bent down and fumbled in the darkness, and she did feel a cool, metal computer case. But she had no idea where in the gloom she was supposed to press her finger. Everywhere she touched was the same darkness, and she couldn’t see a thing.

She had no choice but to tell the truth. ’I can’t believe things are going so badly right from the start,’ she thought. ’This is so annoying, so annoying.’

"Do we even need to do the questionnaire?" the other girl sneered. "Her cover’s blown already, hasn’t it? If she were an old lady, fine. But a young woman in her twenties who doesn’t know how to use a computer? She must be a resident."

"Even if she is a resident, they grow from people. It should have the same knowledge a person has."

As the guide spoke, he walked around the computer station, not forgetting to gesture for Mai Mingle to stand further away. Only then did he crouch down and press something. "A Hunter who died in a Nest is still someone who lived in a modern metropolis like Blackmoor City. How could they not even know how to turn on a computer? The world is full of strange things."

’You can accept the existence of a Nest, but you think someone who can’t use a computer is strange? So rude. So ignorant.’

Mai Mingle took a deep breath, trying to suppress her irritation.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her vision; it was good one moment and bad the next. Mai Mingle squinted, but she still couldn’t see what the guide had pressed. In any case, the screen on the desk lit up.

"Begin a New Cognitive Experience"

A line of large text floated on the almost blinding, sapphire-blue wallpaper.

"From this point on, you need to be careful and follow my instructions exactly," the guide said, his face looking blue and tense in the screen’s glow. "The resident might be fine, but if the Hunter among you dies because of the computer, I’ll be in big trouble..."

’People can die? Are computers that dangerous?’

’What a shame. The guide must know how to avoid the danger, right? Guess I can’t just wait for the fisherman to reap the rewards...’

"Listen carefully. From now on, keep staring at the desktop. Try to concentrate. After staring at it for a while, a folder will appear in the top-left corner..."

’Stare at the desktop?’

Mai Mingle lowered her head and, following the guide’s instructions, stared at the dim surface of the desk.

The screen’s glow was like a multitude of blue hands, layered one on top of another, reaching out from the monitor into the darkness. Above the cubicle, in a place they couldn’t yet touch, the darkness still swayed as if being pulled by them.

Ever since she discovered she was a resident, her vision had changed. The darkness was always rippling like water. ’So this is what a resident’s vision is like,’ she thought. ’It’s as if my eyeballs have gone insane.’ In the rippling darkness, a face emerged at the edge of her peripheral vision—

The face opened its mouth.

"...What time is it?"

Mai Mingle flinched, realizing it was the other girl who had poked her head over the cubicle wall and was speaking to her in a low, breathy voice.

’I’m not wearing a watch. Why doesn’t she go ask the guide? So annoying, so, so annoying—’

Mai Mingle suddenly remembered that computers usually show the time. A young person’s computer would have everything, so of course it would display the time.

This thought made her even more annoyed. ’Since the computer shows the time, why don’t you look at the computer? Why do you keep asking me? This girl has no manners... No, wait. This is a good opportunity.’

’I need to make the guide notice her strange behavior.’

"Why are you sticking your head over here?" Mai Mingle turned and asked loudly. "Why won’t you cooperate with the guide—"

Before she could finish, she froze.

There was no face at the edge of the cubicle. The other girl was standing one cubicle away from her and had just looked up from her screen upon hearing her voice.

"Are you hallucinating," the girl said irritably, "or is your resident nature finally breaking through?"

’No, if she’s a resident, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to stretch her neck across an entire cubicle, right?’

"Guide, she really did stick her face right next to me just now," Mai Mingle said quickly to the guide opposite her. "Didn’t you see it?"

"No, there’s a partition between us." The young man looked pained, as if he really didn’t want to get involved. "You’re saying her face crossed over an entire cubicle to get next to you?"

"It’s true!"

"I understand," the guide said, unable to stop a long sigh. "If this is your way of accusing her of being a resident, it’s a bit childish... Let’s not talk about this for now. If you want to prove you’re not a resident, the only way is to complete the ’Roundabout Truth-Finding Questionnaire’."

"Got it. Let’s continue then," the girl replied.

’Look at you, all obedient like a teacher’s pet. What the hell. You’re doing a pretty good job of pretending to be human.’

’I have to find a way to get rid of her before this truth investigation is over.’

Naturally, Mai Mingle had no enthusiasm for starting the questionnaire. She didn’t see a problem with looking away from the desk for a moment.

It was the girl’s repeated questions about the time that sparked a bit of suspicion in her—shouldn’t the time be on the computer? ’I’ll just take a look.’

It took her over ten seconds to find the small time display on the screen.

Thur-Nov-19

00:20

...Huh?

Why is it still 12:20?

’Hmm, maybe the computer is a few minutes slow. Even watches need to be adjusted from time to time. Maybe it’s the same for computers.’

The last time they asked the guide for the time was probably just a few minutes ago. A few minutes’ discrepancy was indeed normal.

"Has the folder appeared yet?" the guide asked. "Enough time should have passed."

’Besides the screen, there was only a keyboard and a mouse on the desk. Where was the folder?’

"No," Mai Mingle said, pretending to be diligent. "I’ll keep staring at the desk... I haven’t even dared to blink."

After what felt like another minute, she secretly glanced at the time on the screen again.

00:20

’Eh? Did my sense of time change after I awakened as a resident? Has it not even been a minute since I last looked, so it still says 00:20?’

’So strange, so strange, so strange. It definitely should be after twelve, but why isn’t the time moving forward?’

’Wait a minute.’

’When we left the restaurant, it wasn’t dark yet, right? It should have been before five o’clock.’

’We walked and walked and walked and walked on the road.’

’For four or five hours.’

’Huh? Huh? Huh? Should it be after twelve now? If I add it all up, that’s ten... or eleven at the most... That sounds more right, doesn’t it?’

’No, no, no, I have a strong feeling that it’s past twelve now, absolutely. I’d seen the watch face with my own eyes; the hands were already past twelve. That couldn’t be wrong. Counting from when they left the restaurant until now, it should be well past twelve.’

’Eh? That’s weird. But when I add it up, it doesn’t make sense. What’s going on?’

"What are you doing? It’s right there,"

The guide’s voice rang out abruptly, making Mai Mingle jump. She looked up and saw him standing a few steps away, looking from her screen to her face—his expression a mix of wariness and suspicion. "The folder appeared. Why did you say you didn’t see it? Click on it."

"What?"

Mai Mingle looked over blankly. Only then did she belatedly realize that on the blue light of the computer screen, a small blue folder had appeared in the top-left corner. Everything was blue, making it hard to distinguish at first glance.

’So "folder" refers to something that appears on the computer?’

’And the thing I was supposed to be staring at wasn’t the desk, but the computer? Seriously, then why call it a "desktop"? It’s so misleading.’

’It seemed her staring at the time was an accidental success, and she’d made the folder appear without meaning to.’

Mai Mingle had seen young people use computers before. She vaguely knew that if she moved the mouse, a cursor on the screen would move with it. She tried moving the mouse over and clicking, and sure enough, a new window opened.

’This is pretty magical. I should get myself a computer in the future. And a phone. Oh, right. I can’t go back to Blackmoor City anymore. I’ve already discovered I’m a resident.’

"Okay, you’ll see several files in the folder."

The guide was watching Mai Mingle as he backed away step by step, as if worried she would suddenly attack him from behind. ’Is he getting suspicious already? This is not good.’

Format_Conversion_Document.dooooocx

Secrets_of_Blackmoor_City.png 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Resident_Information_Registry.html

Non-Resident_to_Resident_Application.html

Non-Resident_Information_Registry.html

"First, open the ’Resident_Information_Registry.html’," the guide said, his nerves taut. "Be careful not to accidentally click anywhere else. A resident might be fine, but if a human clicks on the wrong file, I won’t be able to save you."

"Why open the Resident Information Registry?" the girl asked.

"Because we’re trying to find the resident between you two, right?" the guide explained. "If you’re the Hunter, you won’t be able to complete the Resident Information Registry, no matter what. Conversely, a resident *might* be able to complete the ’Non-Resident_Information_Registry.html’... if that resident thinks they’re human."

The girl replied, "Got it," then pulled out her chair, stood up, and took two steps toward Mai Mingle to look at her computer screen.

"On the form... the name."

"What?" Mai Mingle was taken aback.

"The guide’s name?" she asked again. Looking at her, it was hard to tell who she was asking.

But she must have been asking the guide; sure enough, he answered.

"...*%&%¥¥."

Mai Mingle nodded.

’Hai Luwei. The guide’s name is Hai Luwei. What’s going on? I’ve been calling him "guide" this whole time. Is my memory becoming fragmented now that I’m a resident? This is bad. I wonder if I can fix it by digesting a human—’

Huh?

...Did she even hear what the guide said just now?

How did she know the guide’s name was Hai Luwei?