Illusion Report

There’s only one secret to being happy in this life: manage your expectations.

Hai Luwei sat on the steps of the library entrance, gazing out at the dark, empty parking lot ahead and letting out a long sigh.

He’d thought he was sure to get it this time... thought he’d never have to come back to the Nest again. But he never expected that, in the final stage, a single overlooked detail would lead to a total loss.

No one falls from a peak when their goal is just within reach without feeling the pain.

’Dodging the fate of being paralyzed from the waist down should be a relief...’

’But looking at it another way, isn’t it depressing to have struggled so hard for so long, only to barely maintain the same state I started in?’

So you see, a person’s happiness all depends on the gap between their expectations and their reality.

He understood the logic, but Hai Luwei couldn’t help the whirlwind of emotions inside him. A mixture of loss and bewilderment, he sat stunned on the steps, waiting for the "short-haired young female Hunter" who needed him as a guide.

’Ah, whatever. At least I kept my life and my legs this time. Speaking of which, I have that female Hunter to thank for it.’

’I wonder what happened to her that could possibly replace my punishment...?’

He glanced at the fluorescent watch on his wrist.

It was 10:49. It would be the 19th soon.

He didn’t know if normal watches came in glow-in-the-dark versions and couldn’t be bothered to look. He’d just ordered a random kid’s fluorescent watch on Amazon. When it arrived, he saw it even had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon on the face—whatever, as long as it told time. Maybe he wouldn’t have to come to the Nest much longer anyway.

Hai Luwei wasn’t cut out to be a Hunter. He was well aware of this fact.

His desire for money and material things wasn’t that strong. As long as he had enough to live and could save a little, that was fine. There was no need to risk his life, entering the Nest again and again to earn so much money you couldn’t even spend it if you died. Look at this time—if his punishment hadn’t been replaced, the rest of his life would have been...

"So soon?"

Hai Luwei jolted and sprang up from the steps. A figure was approaching from the far side of the parking lot, their face indistinct in the distance. He felt a little uneasy and pulled his jacket tighter. "Weren’t you coming from more than ten kilometers away? How did you get here in less than half a day?"

In the human world, ten kilometers was just a little over a two-hour walk. But this was the Nest—forget half a day, there was a good chance she wouldn’t have been able to make it at all.

The question of whether his punishment would revert to paralysis if she died on the way was something Hai Luwei hadn’t dared to even consider until now.

’This person doesn’t know anything about the Nest, so she must be pretty lucky to have arrived so smoothly.’

The shadow gradually walked into the light. She looked to be of Asian descent, her short, messy black hair visible even from a distance.

Likely from walking for four or five hours, she was so tired her face was pale. She collapsed onto the steps with a PLOP, gave him a weak wave, and managed a smile in greeting.

"Um... I thought I was done for this time. I never expected the punishment would turn into this instead."

Hai Luwei walked down hesitantly, stopping a few steps above her. "You’re the one, right? The person who needs a guide?"

"That’s right," she said, catching her breath. She looked back at him and asked with a smile, "Have you been waiting long?"

"Nah, not at all."

A smile found its way onto Hai Luwei’s face, though his mind had been a tangled mess just moments before. He walked down the rest of the steps. "I’ve only been waiting about an hour. That’s nothing in the Nest."

Perhaps it was because of her bright, clean features; when she smiled, it was like a particularly pleasant autumn afternoon. She didn’t look old, but being looked at by her felt like being gently accepted by an elder.

"Really?" The woman was surprised to hear that. "Waiting an hour is nothing? What time is it now?"

"Ten fifty-four," Hai Luwei said, holding his watch out for her to see.

"I’ve been walking for that long," she mused with a smile. "Hey, I recognize that. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Seeing how obviously exhausted she was, Hai Luwei asked her about it. She gave a wry smile. "I haven’t really slept in two days, just been walking and walking. Young man, you guys must have places to rest in the Nest, right? You can’t go seven days without shutting your eyes."

’Calling me "young man" is a bit old-fashioned.’

"Of course. Household Hunters have their own private safe points, but freelancers like us know a few safe public spots where we can rest and sleep."

Hai Luwei sat down beside her. "By ’safe,’ I mean there are no residents, and the Nest won’t come after you. You still have to watch out for other Hunters, though. But generally, people don’t want to disrupt the order of a public spot and become a target for everyone."

He suggested, "Rest here for a bit. After that, I can take you to the nearest spot. There are things to keep in mind when you’re resting, too."

"You really are suited to be a guide, young man," the woman praised him. "You explain things so clearly and methodically."

"So, should we get started? I have to be a guide for twelve hours. The sooner we start, the sooner the punishment ends. I don’t have much time left in the Nest, so I need to finish this gig and get home," Hai Luwei said with a smile. "What’s your name? I’m Hai Luwei."

As he spoke, he extended a hand.

Normally, one should be extra cautious in the Nest and avoid touching strangers or strange objects. But some people just have an aura that puts you at ease, making you relax... almost like visiting your grandmother’s house as a child.

Besides, they had to spend the next twelve hours together.

"I’m Mai Mingle," the woman said, smiling as well as she shook his hand.

"Are you a new Hunter? Where would you like to start?"

She tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Being a Hunter... it must be pretty interesting, right?"

"Well, you definitely can’t call it boring," Hai Luwei answered sincerely. "As for whether it’s ’interesting’ or ’the stuff of nightmares,’ that depends on the person."

Mai Mingle suddenly threw her head back and laughed, her voice clear and bright. She wasn’t afraid of attracting something from the night; in fact, her laughter seemed to illuminate the small space around them.

"In that case, why don’t you start by telling me about the residents?" she said. "I don’t know much, but I’ve already seen several of the Nest’s residents... and they’re really bizarre."

Compared to things like navigating the Nest or escaping from pocket dimensions, just explaining what he knew was the easiest job imaginable.

"Alright, let’s... hmm, let’s start from the source. All the residents, Illusions, pocket dimensions, and the trapped areas you see everywhere in the Nest... let’s just say, everything you see here has only one origin: human beings."

Mai Mingle’s eyes widened.

Starting with how residents were born from dead humans, Hai Luwei gave her a detailed rundown of everything he knew about them. Some things he couldn’t recall at first came bubbling to the surface after Mai Mingle’s questions and prompts.

He hadn’t realized it until he started talking, but just the topic of "residents" alone contained a massive amount of information. He talked until his mouth was dry. When he checked his watch, he was surprised to see that over an hour had passed, and they were still on the same subject.

Mai Mingle listened with such focus and seriousness that Hai Luwei almost understood the sense of accomplishment a teacher must feel. If he had to find one fault, it was that this student could be a bit long-winded at times.

"That’s incredible. How many people must have spent how much time to summarize all this experience? See, human knowledge really needs to be passed down," she remarked with a sigh. "So, is there any way to check if a resident is hiding in the vicinity?"

"A foolproof method? Not that I know of, at least."

Hai Luwei replied, "But there are some common, problematic things. No matter where you go, you need to get into the habit of checking them first. Being careful can save your life."

As he spoke, he looked around, feeling like he was giving a field lesson. "The library is a very important type of landmark... hmm, there’s too much to cover inside, so let’s start with the parking lot."

He had already checked the parking lot when he first arrived, so he felt confident taking Mai Mingle on another tour.

"The most essential items in the Nest are a flashlight and its spare batteries. Because you can never, ever let your guard down around any shadow."

As he spoke, he pulled out his flashlight. The beam cut through the darkness like a curtain being pulled aside—revealing a curled-up figure on the concrete ground where the dark veil was lifted. "See that? Over there!"

Mai Mingle stared and sucked in a breath. "Huh?"

A toddler, maybe one or two years old, was squatting on the ground, head bowed between its legs, eyes shut tight. It was curled into a ball, perfectly still.

Hai Luwei skirted around the infant. "Don’t worry, this resident is sleeping. It’s harmless for now."

"How do you know?"

"It’s snoring."

’Isn’t that obvious?’

Mai Mingle stared at him, her mouth half-open, as if a hundred questions were about to burst forth.

"Besides shadows, you also have to be especially careful of humanoid things, or things with human faces printed on them." As Hai Luwei spoke, his flashlight beam illuminated a campaign poster on a telephone pole. "This one... um... humans don’t look like this, so it’s actually relatively less dangerous."

To defend the Nest’s independence, we must strike first!

A new, cautious approach to root out risk. A more serious solution to our problems.

Please vote for me.

Mai Mingle leaned in for a closer look, an equally strange expression on her face. "Mmm... humans definitely don’t look like that. But... two black dots drawn inside a Coil, with a red line for a mouth... who could possibly recognize the candidate from that?"

Hai Luwei shrugged. "What if that’s just what the candidate looks like?"

Mai Mingle laughed again.

"What else?"

"Quite a lot, let me see..." Hai Luwei’s flashlight beam swept over a car. "Oh, right. Things like this, that were obviously brought into the Nest by someone and have places to hide inside, you can’t be too careful with them. The Nest’s residents love things that carry the scent of humans."

The two of them walked over to the car. The flashlight beam swept over every inch of the vehicle, inside and out, top to bottom. Hai Luwei even demonstrated for Mai Mingle how to search and check for the telltale signs of a resident’s presence. When they straightened up, Mai Mingle let out a breath and said, "I didn’t realize it would be such physical work. We’ve been talking for a while now, it must be almost midnight, right?"

"It’s 12:20," Hai Luwei said, glancing at his watch. "It’s the 19th already."

Something glinted in his peripheral vision, suddenly reminding him of another thing that needed careful attention. "Oh, right, mirrors! Look at these rearview mirrors—"

Hai Luwei bent down, his gaze falling on the car’s rearview mirror.

Mai Mingle’s face was reflected in the mirror, small and blurry.

Half a second later, Hai Luwei realized her face wasn’t blurry because of the dim light, or simply because she was standing far away.

He turned his head stiffly.

The trunk, which he had just checked and deemed safe, was now open, gaping wide at the night behind them.

Next to Mai Mingle, a figure had appeared from out of nowhere.

Where its face should have been was an oval screen of flesh, constantly flickering and switching between all sorts of facial features—one moment a man with a square jaw, the next a portly woman with a small nose and small eyes, then a teenager whose features hadn’t fully developed, then a young girl wearing eyeliner.

It seemed utterly unconcerned with its own flickering face. It raised a hand, which held a white cloth.

As if Mai Mingle’s face were a pane of glass, it began to wipe it with the cloth in circular motions. With every wipe, her face grew a little blurrier.

"Let’s start over, from the moment you arrived at the library," the flickering face said in a thin voice. Before it had even finished speaking, its face suddenly froze on one particular set of features.

Hai Luwei saw himself.