Illusion Report

Chapter 172: Chapter 140: Fu Tailan: Transmigrating... Might Not Be So Bad After All?

"Look at you, so completely unfazed."

The woman on the television in Room 201 backed away again and sat down in a chair, her shadow no longer looming over the screen.

She looked like she was in an interview, facing the camera directly.

"From what I can see, it’s not that you don’t believe what I’m saying. You’re just being overly cautious, aren’t you? Ever since you came upstairs, you haven’t spoken to me, haven’t made eye contact, and have even refused to stand directly in front of any television, all while keeping a grip on your gun... So young, yet so calculating. Quite meticulous."

’That’s not the kind of compliment I was looking for,’ Fu Tailan grumbled to himself.

Besides, wasn’t this just common sense?

He didn’t know how the televisions on the second floor operated or how they might attack someone. Who would be reckless enough to just walk right up to one?

"The woman who came upstairs before you walked right up to a television the moment she saw it. She even touched it a few times."

...It had to be Mai Mingle.

Only she would see so many television screens and think she had an escape route, approaching them with a sense of security.

When she had turned into a resident, she’d said her mind had been filled with a massive amount of information about the Nest. From the looks of it now, either that information vanished when she returned to being human, or it didn’t include details about this apartment building.

Either way, it was good news for him. After all, what Hunter would want their prey to know more than they did?

201—Fu Tailan decided to call the woman on the television 201 for now, as he had no intention of asking for her name—turned her head to look toward the end of the hallway, as if she could see the stairs leading to the third floor right from her TV.

"I can’t be bothered to harm you. Believe it or not, that’s up to you. I’m just offering my advice... If I were you, I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to rush through this hallway and go upstairs all at once."

Fu Tailan kept his eyes lowered and said nothing.

A common self-preservation tactic within a Nest was to ignore abnormalities. Right now, the safest course of action was to remain silent while gathering information.

Although he had already made up his mind, what 201 said next sent a tremor through him, and he nearly looked up at her.

"Because this place offers humanity a chance to choose their destiny anew."

’...What does she mean?’

Fu Tailan glanced toward Room 202.

The doorway to Room 202 was a little farther away, and he couldn’t see the contents of the television screen behind it.

In other words, for anyone just arriving on the second floor, 201 served as a guide and an introduction. Everyone would hear 201’s explanation before they saw the next television.

"As I was saying, the worlds displayed on each television are real... They are all different ’realities.’ That’s right. In the universe, there isn’t just one reality."

The woman from 201 explained calmly, "If it helps you understand, you can think of them as parallel worlds.

"To borrow a concept from some novels and movies, you can ’travel’ into these parallel worlds.

"In some parallel worlds, humans might use magic, and you could be a Mage. In another, you might have won a 1.3 billion-dollar lottery. Once you enter, the fate of winning the lottery becomes your new reality. It’s also possible you might find your soulmate in one of these televisions... Hmm, you’re a bit young for that, but it has indeed happened before.

"The life, or destiny, that is currently tied to you isn’t necessarily your only one. If you want, you can change your life just like changing clothes."

Fu Tailan stared blankly at his own body.

The woman in Room 201 must have seen the reactions of many Hunters before. Without waiting for him to speak, she smiled and said, "Of course, even if you enter another reality, you are still you. If you completely became someone else, wouldn’t that mean ’you’ had died?"

She continued, "As for how to choose a reality from the televisions... on that topic, your caution is warranted. Although being cautious of me is unnecessary, since I was going to warn you anyway.

"When you’re watching the content on a television, don’t face it directly. Stand at an angle in the doorway. There are two ways to enter a television’s reality. One is to charge headfirst into the screen. The other is to face the television directly for over thirty seconds, after which someone will come to take you inside.

"If you don’t want to go in, it’s also simple. Just don’t face the television for thirty seconds, or walk past it quickly."

’...The conditions to pass are this lenient?’

Fu Tailan felt it was probably safe to speak now.

"What if someone’s Path is a screen?" he asked. "After crashing into the screen, would that person return to Blackmoor City?"

The woman from 201 stared at him for a few seconds, then shook her head and smiled.

"Did my words not feel real to you? Or did you think the televisions on the second floor are just here to harm people? You listened to my whole introduction, yet your focus is still on your original objective."

’Even if the worlds behind the televisions are real, they probably aren’t good places,’ Fu Tailan did, in fact, think. ’These TVs are likely just like Venus flytraps, trying every trick in the book to pull people in.’

’In any case, there’s no way I’m choosing to enter any of these realities. I just need to get through this hallway as quickly as possible.’

"This kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that humans dream of will disappear when the rest period ends... Of course, whether you change your mind or regret it later, that’s your business."

The woman from 201 paused, then said, "Let me answer your earlier question. The woman who came up before you actually asked the same thing. The question itself is invalid."

"Invalid?"

The time it took Fu Tailan to repeat that single word gave him enough space to think; by the time the sound of his voice faded, he vaguely understood the answer. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Of course. Her ’Path’ is still a ’screen.’ That hasn’t changed. The only thing that’s different is the ’destination.’ Who says that entering a Path must lead back to Blackmoor City? That might usually be the case, but not today. Today is a rare opportunity."

"I see," Fu Tailan exhaled. "The woman before me, she didn’t choose to enter any of the televisions, did she?"

"Now that, I can’t tell you."

But just then, 201 crinkled her eyes and nose in a smile. "However, in one of the real worlds she was shown, people don’t gradually grow old..." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Fu Tailan shot a quick glance at her—but 201 said no more.

"What about you? Is the place you’re in a reality too?" he asked. "You seem to know a lot about the background and experiences of the people who come here."

"No, I’m the only exception. I’m only appearing on this television to give an introduction to those who enter the second floor. In reality, I don’t exist."

As 201 spoke, she tilted her head, and her entire neck and head suddenly melted, their shape and shell collapsing like a fleshy torrent into her shoulders and torso. Her voice, however, remained.

"You see, I’m just an artificial image."

The melting of her form served as a conclusion, bringing 201’s explanation to an end.

’Did my question prompt the end of her explanation?’

Still, 201 had already told him all the important information, so it seemed like the right time for it to end anyway.

Fu Tailan took a few steps past the door of Room 201 and stopped just before he reached the front of 202. The sound from the television in Room 202, which had been suppressed to mere background noise, suddenly grew loud, demanding his full attention.

Fu Tailan had mentally prepared himself to see a parallel-world version of himself. He never would have imagined that the television in Room 202 would be playing... an animal documentary.

"This little fox, named ’Xiaotai,’ is seven months old and has just left its mother this autumn. Born in Yellowstone National Park, this is Xiaotai’s first time seeing the deep, slanted red sun of fall..."

On the television screen, a red fox with fluffy, downy fur—so beautiful it looked like a painting—tumbled in a patch of grass covered in colorful leaves. As it stretched languidly, its two small hind paws kicked high and long into the air.

The world of wild animals... that was indeed a type of reality.

’But... generally speaking, would anyone give up being human to become a wild animal?’

After all, wild animals lived with the cruelty of nature—

Oh, wait, not Xiaotai.

Fu Tailan stared at the bottom-right corner of the television screen in Room 202, his mind going completely blank for a moment.

The second-floor apartment was quite considerate. As if displaying the documentary’s title, the bottom-right corner read, "Xiaotai: The Happiest Fox on the North American Continent."

’To be the happiest fox on the North American Continent... Xiaotai’s got it way better than me.’

Fu Tailan felt he should just avert his eyes from the television and hurry through the hallway to the third floor. However, he remained standing outside Room 202, unmoving, for two reasons.

One, if all he had to do was not look at the televisions to get through the hallway, it seemed far too simple. It was hard to believe a place in the Nest would be so kind.

And two...

Fu Tailan stared intently at the little red fox on the screen, a sweet yet troubled feeling swelling warmly in his chest.

The second reason, of course, was that Xiaotai was just too cute.

He could even understand the residents’ way of speaking now. ’Xiaotai is just so, so, so cute. Being a fox like that... doesn’t sound too bad, huh?’