Illusion Report

’Is... is this even a human hand?’

Having her wrist gripped by Chaisi felt like her hand had been sealed in steel and concrete. Jin Xueli even suspected that if he wanted to, he could snap her hand clean off at the wrist.

The pain was so intense she could barely hold on to her phone, but he saw this and didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest.

"What do you mean, you want to see?" Jin Xueli suppressed her shock and suspicion, trying to speak in a normal tone. "We’re just cooperating. Why should I let you inspect my phone?"

From Jin Xueli’s perspective, Chaisi was backlit. The soft glow of the streetlamp rested on his shoulders as if afraid of heights, not daring to fall any further, not daring to plunge into the abyss that was him.

She was shrouded in Chaisi’s shadow, unable to make out his expression.

Jin Xueli’s breathing grew heavy from the pain, but Chaisi remained deathly still. After two seconds of silence, he said nothing and gently slid the phone from her hand.

"This should be something that directly concerns me," he said, as if explaining himself, and finally let go of her hand. "I’ll give it back when I’m done."

"My phone? How could it have anything to do with you?"

Jin Xueli rubbed her wrist, watching as the light from her phone screen illuminated Chaisi’s face in the darkness.

He stared at the screen, silent.

’He could have just snatched the phone away. But he took it gently and even offered an explanation, which almost makes it less infuriating. Pah, what bullshit! Not even the president has the right to look at my phone. The only reason he does whatever he wants is because I can’t beat him, right?’

’I might be developing a little Stockholm syndrome,’ Jin Xueli thought.

"When you’re done looking, you have to let me see, too," she demanded. "It’s my phone."

She didn’t dare to just lean in, because she didn’t know if Chaisi would allow it.

’What if his way of disagreeing is with his fists? Why ask for a beating?’

Chaisi was completely engrossed in the phone, not answering at all.

"Hey,"

Jin Xueli called out, but he seemed not to hear her, his brow tightly furrowed.

’We were talking just fine, why is he ignoring me now?’

"Is this how you treat a partner?" Jin Xueli finally said loudly. "With an attitude like this, it doesn’t matter how handsome you are, you’ll never be good with women. Is it a general rule that women delete your number right after sleeping with you?"

This time, Chaisi finally reacted. He seemed startled, almost dropping the phone. He looked up, a little flustered. "You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?"

"Of course I am," Jin Xueli replied. "You wouldn’t listen to me otherwise."

Chaisi calmed down and fell silent again, still holding her phone, lost in thought. His tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek, then slid away.

His hands were so large they almost swallowed her phone. Even when she tried to peek at the screen from the side, she couldn’t see a thing.

"I was saying—"

The moment she started to speak, Chaisi cut her off. "I asked you today," he said in a low voice, "what is it you truly want? Do you have an answer to that question yet?"

’...Huh?’

’Why bring that up all of a sudden?’

"It’s not like I have a terminal illness," Jin Xueli said sullenly, rubbing the tip of her nose. "I have plenty of time to figure that out. Why are you asking me this now?"

Chaisi thought in silence for a moment, then handed the phone back.

"...I didn’t expect you to be recruited, too."

’Recruited? What’s that?’

Jin Xueli took the phone and saw something that looked like an Amber Alert on the screen—no, that wasn’t right.

’What is this?’

As she focused and began to read the message, she could still feel Chaisi’s gaze locked on her.

The Secret Nest Dominance Game

Three teams of contestants have joined so far, but none are as cute as you

Ugh, I hate that Chaisi is going to see this line

Contestant Team One: Westley Team

Major setback! Illusions scattered and lost! Progress reverted to 2/7, lead severely weakened.

Brianna

Currently collected: Black Cube (Image), Word Processor (Image)

Not yet collected

Old-fashioned Radio (Image)

Key (Image)

Time (Text)

A Tongue (Image)

???

*

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

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

Currently collected: Key (Image)

Not yet collected

Old-fashioned Radio (Image)

Black Cube (Image)

Time (Text)

A Tongue (Image)

Word Processor (Image)

???

*

Contestant Team Three, Child of the Cuckoo, Chase Monroe Team, joined November 19th, progress 1/7

Currently collected: A Tongue (Image)

Do you want to take his tongue do you want to take his tongue take it take it

Not yet collected

Sigh, just refer to the above and figure it out yourself, too many people is so annoying.

Now recruiting new competitor—Jin Xueli, oh whoops, no, Jin Xueli.

Whoops, a typo! Hehehehehehehe.

’...What an obnoxious way of writing.’

She stood frozen, staring at her phone. It felt like a long time had passed, with Chaisi’s gaze pressing down on the top of her head the entire while.

Jin Xueli didn’t know what kind of expression she should wear when she finally looked up, how she was supposed to get through this.

’Chaisi’s joining date... is today?’

She glanced at the time.

November 19th, 8:11 PM

’No wonder he demanded to see the phone the moment it rang. He must have just received the same notification, right?’

’I can’t pretend to be reading the notification forever... The most critical question now is, why would Chaisi show me this recruitment message?’

’If he had deleted it right away, there would be nothing I could do besides complain a bit, and I naturally wouldn’t have become his competitor.’

’In other words, he allowed Jin Xueli—no, to be more precise, he *wants* her to join this Nest Dominance Game.’

’Even at the cost of revealing the Illusion he has in his possession.’

’Why?’

Her gaze lingered on "Old-fashioned Radio" for half a second before she quickly looked away.

’No matter how I look at it, that has to be the one I hid in the Nest... If that’s the case, is that why I was recruited? Was I recruited because I already had 1/7 of the progress?’

’But Chaisi doesn’t know that.’

’Why did he let me see the recruitment message?’

"This can’t be real, right?" Jin Xueli looked up and said. "What does it mean? Collect seven Illusions and you get dominance? This isn’t a video game... It’s just a prank by the Nest, isn’t it?"

’It really is incredible, but just trying to bluff my way through by "not believing" probably won’t be enough.’

"...I was just thinking about what conditions one must meet to be recruited."

In a silence that was growing more and more suffocating, Chaisi finally spoke. But the built-up pressure didn’t lessen; instead, it seemed to be weighed down by his voice, growing even heavier.

"Do you want to know how I received the notification?"

Jin Xueli really wanted to know.

She was curious, but she had to pretend she didn’t believe it and wasn’t interested. Her expression became a bit contorted. "You—you don’t actually believe this, do you? I think it’s a prank—anyway, just tell me."

In the gloom where the light could not reach, Chaisi let out a low chuckle.

"My foster father was the target of an assassination attempt today. While I was here searching for the person behind it, I unintentionally bumped into a woman and made physical contact with her—what’s with that look on your face?"

Jin Xueli wiped her face. "Just keep talking."

"...After I touched her, a recruitment notification appeared on my phone."

Chaisi tilted his head slightly. On his rain-dampened neck, the moisture was dull, its sheen faint.

"I don’t know her, but thinking about it now, Westley is also buried in this cemetery, not far from where I ran into her. Could that woman have a connection to Westley?"

"If she’s part of the ’Westley Team,’ then I was recruited after making contact with her."

"After I was recruited, I made contact with you, and then you were recruited. Following that logic, could the first condition for recruitment be physical contact with a contestant?"

’...That seems pretty logical.’

"What the hell," Jin Xueli grumbled. "Is this recruitment thing contagious, like a virus?"

She paused, suddenly realizing something.

"You just said, ’the first condition’? You think there’s a second one?"

"Correct."

Chaisi tapped her phone screen. "Fu Tailan joined, too. According to the notification, he was empty-handed when he joined; he only obtained an Illusion *after* joining. In other words, the Nest took a liking to him. Probably because of that undeserved fame he got through trickery, right?"

’From his tone, it seems they don’t get along.’

"Fame is something you have none of," Chaisi said, not at all afraid of offending her.

"That’s right," Jin Xueli accepted this fact readily. "I keep my feet on the ground."

"It’s not just you. I’m not famous either."

Chaisi seemed to know what she was about to say. He raised a hand and said, "Don’t forget, the one doing the recruiting is the Nest. I’m not a Hunter, so I shouldn’t have any fame within the Nest... which means, neither you nor I meet the second condition."

"So?"

"Besides ’physical contact with a contestant,’ there’s another characteristic I have. I believe this is the third condition, and the reason both of us were recruited."

Chaisi took a step forward, pressing into her personal space.

’...Oh, crap.’

Jin Xueli already knew where this conversation was heading.

"I was recruited because I had obtained a target Illusion *and* I made contact with a contestant."

He lowered his head and asked softly, "...Which Illusion did you get?"