Illusion Report

Hai Luwei was surprised to find that the moment the broadcast ended, he was the only one present who had calmed down, even just a little.

The broadcast was a boulder dropped into everyone’s mind, instantly sending out countless silent, emotional ripples—everyone’s but Hai Luwei’s.

He couldn’t care less about players or games.

All he cared about was whether he could use Mai Mingle’s distraction as a chance to escape from under her and save his own skin.

The resident, Mai Mingle, seemed not to have expected her name to be called, much less the content of the broadcast.

This time, she truly forgot all about killing him. She stood up straight, both of her heads turning toward the car in unison. Her confusion was so thick it seemed to radiate from the very hair on the back of her heads.

"...Hmm?"

Hai Luwei remained on the ground, not daring to scramble up. Like a beetle, he could only use all four limbs to scuttle backward, desperately stifling his trembling gasps.

"Player?"

Both of Mai Mingle’s heads tilted to one side as she muttered to herself, "...Nest Dominance Game? Following the Westley Team and the Fu Tailan Team... following the Westley Team and the Fu Tailan Team..."

The next second, one of her faces shot through the night sky, accompanied by a piercing shriek, bearing down on the young man. "I remember now! Fu Tailan! That’s you, isn’t it?! Isn’t it?! So you’re a player too!"

Fu Tailan clutched his cheek with one hand and scrambled to his feet, taking several hurried steps back. He had snapped out of his earlier stupor.

He stared intently at the face of Mai Mingle as it lunged at him, seemingly unafraid. Amid his pained gasps, he actually managed a laugh. "I never thought you’d be invited... So, are you going to join?"

Hai Luwei suddenly remembered why the name "Fu Tailan" had sounded so familiar.

’Generally, anyone willing to become a Hunter has a few screws loose. To become one of the most famous Hunters, you’re probably not a normal person by any definition. In other words, let Fu Tailan handle Mai Mingle! Isn’t he supposed to be amazing?’

At his question, Mai Mingle actually paused to think for a few seconds. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Hai Luwei seized the opportunity to speed up, his limbs making soft RUSTLING sounds as he crawled away.

"Of course I’ll join,"

She suddenly burst out laughing, both faces tilting back into the night. "The Nest Dominance Game... I have to join! I must join! As long as I’m in, no one can be my opponent! Hey! Broadcast! Broadcast! BROADCAST! BROADCAST! DID YOU HEAR ME?!"

The car remained silent. From a distance, its interior was pitch-black.

"Hey,"

Either Mai Mingle had truly forgotten about Hai Luwei or she was confident he couldn’t escape, because she actually started walking toward the car, moving farther and farther away from him.

"What’s going on? Weren’t you just asking for my reply? Why did the voice suddenly disappear..."

She raised a hand and slapped the roof of the car a few times, as if dealing with a faulty appliance.

"Talk! I want to joi—"

Before the "-n" of "join" could leave her lips, a black shadow lunged straight at Mai Mingle. Its long, sharp shriek split the night like a blade, threatening to shatter eardrums. "AAAAH! NO! NO! NO! I WON’T ALLOW IT! I’LL KILL YOU! YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO JOIN!"

Looking utterly disinterested, Mai Mingle raised a hand. With what seemed like a casual swat, the Dream Screenwriter went flying for the third time.

With a THUD, it landed squarely, not off by an inch, right beside Hai Luwei. A numbness spread through Hai Luwei’s limbs, and his entire body went rigid.

’If I screamed all the curses I’m thinking right now, I’d probably turn into a resident myself.’

’Is the Dream Screenwriter a complete idiot?’

’Is it trying to ride some kind of death-defying roller coaster for free?’

’It knows it can’t take a single hit from Mai Mingle, so why does it keep lunging?’

And now, great, Mai Mingle’s attention had finally been drawn back over. She slowly turned toward the man and the resident.

Hai Luwei didn’t dare move. He sat frozen on the ground, half-reclined, and even held his breath.

The Dream Screenwriter’s willpower was truly something to behold.

One of the recent blows had somehow knocked its neck back into place. However, the bones seemed to have been completely shattered, as its head now drooped onto its chest, dangling from a neck that resembled a soft, cloth sack.

Despite being beaten to such a state, not only was its wig still on, but its will remained intact.

"You can’t join the game!"

It shrieked like a child throwing a tantrum. "You’ve clearly been turned into a resident! Look at yourself! There isn’t a shred of humanity left in you! What kind of superposition state is this?! Superposition my ass! You’re just a resident, and residents can’t join the game! This is cheating! Cheating! CHEATING! CHEATING!"

Mai Mingle smiled.

Both of her smiles, one stacked above the other, were exceptionally gentle and forgiving.

"No matter how upset you are, I was still invited," she said, her tone almost placid. "And since I was invited, I’m going to join. Of course, if you’d rather not see me in the game, I could help you by gouging out your eyes... oh, right. You don’t have any."

The face of the Dream Screenwriter, currently dangling over its chest, was indeed still blank.

’Even my worst nightmares aren’t this disturbing,’ Hai Luwei thought.

"Hmm... oh well. No point in caring what some trivial little thing thinks."

Mai Mingle tilted her heads, as if trying to convince herself. "The car’s broadcast went silent. I don’t know if my confirmation to join was even accepted..."

At this, she suddenly turned both of her heads toward Fu Tailan. "As the only other player here, Fu Tailan, you should know how I can confirm my entry, right?"

"Sorry, I don’t know either."

Fu Tailan still had a hand pressed to his face. The earlier blow must have hurt, because his words came out slightly muffled. "When I was drafted, I wasn’t given the option to refuse, much less a chance to reply."

"I see."

Mai Mingle’s mood had stabilized considerably, but she continued to stare at Fu Tailan without blinking.

When she spoke again, however, her words sent a shiver down Hai Luwei’s spine and plunged him back into despair. "Hai Luwei, did you really think I would let you leave?"

"B-but aren’t you going to join some game?"

He had only managed to crawl a few steps before he was forced to stop again, on the verge of tears. "Aren’t you busy? If you’re so busy, why are you so intent on killing me?"

But it wasn’t Mai Mingle who answered him. It was the Dream Screenwriter, who had completely lost its patience.

"Just shut up!" it shrieked furiously. "Asking and asking and asking! Aren’t you annoying?! Is it so important to know why she wants to kill you? Just get it over with and die, why don’t you?"

"Besides, why shouldn’t she kill you? Have you looked at yourself? You’re the type who looks tired and empty, like you’ve seen it all, but you’re actually just soft, kind, and won’t fight back. The type that, if someone finds your weak spot and bullies you to death, you’ll just curl up and endure it in silence, right?"

The Dream Screenwriter huffed. "If I were a female resident, I’d want to kill you too. You just have the kind of face that makes women want to watch you cry."

Even in such a critical situation, Hai Luwei was stunned.

"Is that a specialty of yours?" Fu Tailan interjected. "You’re very good at summing people up."

’...What’s that supposed to mean? Does he agree with it?’

"You just wait, Fu Tailan! Don’t think I’ll let you go just because I can’t beat her! I’m going to eliminate all the players! All of them! Every single one! Ugh, how many are there now anyway?"

Mai Mingle’s two faces looked from one person to the next, seemingly interested in what everyone had to say. But if you had to pick who she was most interested in, it was definitely still Hai Luwei.

Just as he was sinking into a deep regret, wishing he could go back a few hours and cut off his own legs, Fu Tailan called his name.

"You’re saying she ended up like this because of that resident?"

"Huh? Oh, right," Hai Luwei said. He sat on the ground, watching Mai Mingle approach him step by step, all hope draining away. "...So what?"

"She’s in a superposition state between human and resident?" This question from Fu Tailan was directed at the Dream Screenwriter.

"That’s what she said," the Dream Screenwriter mumbled. "To me, she looks like all resident, no human."

Mai Mingle’s shadow fell over Hai Luwei. He’d already felt like he was done for once, but it seemed fate decided that wasn’t enough and wanted him to feel "done for" all over again.

"Since the Nest Dominance Game acknowledges she’s in a superposition state of human and resident, it must be true."

In fact, apart from Mai Mingle’s two faces looming over him, he couldn’t even see a shadow of Fu Tailan. All he could hear was the young man’s soft, muffled voice carrying on a back-and-forth conversation with the resident.

"So what? So what?! You’re so annoying! Maybe I’ll kill you first and then deal with her!"

Mai Mingle bent down toward Hai Luwei.

"Don’t be so hasty," Fu Tailan said, perfectly calm. "I want to ask you, since you were able to superimpose a resident state onto her, can you also remove it?"

The moment he said this, the plaza fell silent.

All four of Mai Mingle’s eyes turned toward Fu Tailan.

"Eh... Eh?" the Dream Screenwriter stammered. "Re...remove it? In a lucid dream, I can indeed issue a ’Non-Resident Data Registration Form’... but..."

"But she’s too strong now. None of us can stand against her, right?"

Fu Tailan said softly, "But what if the three of us were to team up for a moment?"