Illusion Report

Chapter 193: Chapter 159: Mai Mingle: A Merciful Nest? (Part 2)

"You’re the only one here?"

"Yes."

The person on the other end of the line was silent for two seconds, then offered a word of thanks and hung up.

The wind had turned a little chilly now that autumn had set in.

The college student, unsure of what to do with herself, sat in the cool wind and read for a while. When Mai Mingle started to feel cold, she stood up from her chair to close the window. As she did, she glanced down and saw a face looking up at her from beneath the windowsill.

The strange man’s mouth was slightly agape, his eyes fixed on her, unblinking. He was panting, "Hah, hah..." His pants were pooled around his ankles, one hand busy while the other clutched a sharp knife.

Even knowing it was all just a phantom image, every hair on Mai Mingle’s body stood on end. For a moment, she was so overcome with fear and disgust it felt as if she had just swallowed a beetle, its countless tiny legs scratching at the walls of her stomach and esophagus.

A normal college student’s first reaction would naturally be to turn and run.

Perhaps in her overwhelming panic, Mai Mingle tripped and fell. If she hadn’t dodged the corner of a nearby table in time, she would have hit her head again.

’Where did the female lead say she was going?’

Mai Mingle stumbled out of the room, desperately trying to recall what the girl had said before she left.

Only by returning to the main character’s side would this world revert to a harmless, death-free romantic comedy. As long as she could figure that out in time, this "Movie Life" trap wasn’t necessarily fatal.

Fortunately, it seemed fate wasn’t ready to let her die. As she ran into the school parking lot, she bumped into the male lead, who had just placed a cat in his car.

"Are you okay?" the male lead asked with concern, though he still remembered to bring up the female lead. "Isn’t Rachel with you?"

The moment the main character appeared, even the weather cleared up. The sun was bright and brilliant, bathing the air in a faint golden light, and everything looked as vivid as if it had just been scrubbed clean.

The lighting and filming style had switched back to that of a romantic comedy.

"There... there was a pervert..." Mai Mingle said, out of breath, as she explained what had just happened.

’This character seems to have terrible stamina.’

"He realized you saw him?" the male lead asked, his expression turning serious.

Mai Mingle could only nod frantically.

’It’s just what you’d expect from a movie made for a female audience.’ The male lead was acting both gentle and resolute. He said immediately, "Get in the car. We can’t stay here. That man might be looking for you. I’ll take you to report this right away."

’What’s it actually like to ride in a car in a TV show?’

’Am I just sitting on my apartment sofa right now, pulling an imaginary seatbelt out of thin air and buckling it?’

Mai Mingle sat in the passenger seat, a vague sense of unease growing within her as she turned to look out the window.

Rachel was standing on the road just outside the parking lot, next to a tall young man. The man was holding a photo printed on a sheet of white paper. Despite his anxious expression, you could tell he was handsome. He was pointing at the photo as he spoke with Rachel.

The scene flashed by in an instant.

Mai Mingle stared, stunned, at the road rushing past her window.

’...Was that a cat in the photo?’

’Wait a minute.’

’Is that guy looking for a cat? Could he be looking for the cat that’s in the back seat of this car right now?’

’Isn’t it the male lead’s cat?’

’A coincidence? Did someone else lose a cat too?’

’No, no. The world of a TV show is limited. The same element wouldn’t appear multiple times at random. A plot where two cats go missing at the same time, completely unrelated to each other, would only confuse the audience.’

’Thinking about it carefully, this man next to me has appeared in every scene change... but it’s also possible that for the first thirty minutes, the male lead didn’t show up near me, right?’

’Just now, even the sky and the sunlight became gentle and pleasant again... Was that because Rachel was standing nearby?’

"Don’t worry," the man beside her said, trying to comfort her. "No matter what, I will definitely get you to the police station."

’...That doesn’t sound like it should be so difficult, does it?’

His tone didn’t sound like he was comforting her. It was more like he was admonishing himself, making a secret resolve.

’What, is he being tempted by some other idea? Is it possible he might *not* take me to the police station?’

’And come to think of it, why did he pretend that cat was his?’

’Right, my phone—’

Now an ordinary college student, Mai Mingle was finally feeling the importance of a cell phone. But when she patted her pockets, she realized she’d run out in such a hurry that she hadn’t brought it.

Mai Mingle sat in the passenger seat, biting the inside of her cheek, trying her best not to let any strange expression show on her face.

’...Someone who would steal another person’s cat is definitely not a good person.’

"That guy sure is brave," the former male lead muttered. "In broad daylight, to actually have the resolve to wait patiently for an opportunity under the target’s window..."

’Brave isn’t a word you should use for a pervert, is it?’

’What is he admiring?’

The car stopped at a red light.

She placed her right hand on the door handle, pointed her left hand toward the far side of the road on the driver’s side, and screamed with all her might.

"It’s him! Over there, he followed us!"

"What?" The former male lead immediately whipped his head around.

Mai Mingle’s left hand took the opportunity to slap the unlock button. With her right hand, she threw open the door and scrambled to get out—only to be jerked back by the seatbelt.

’An imaginary seatbelt can still hold a person back?’

Frantic and furious, Mai Mingle saw the former male lead turn back and reach for her. She quickly pressed the seatbelt buckle and leaped out of the car—only to slam her head into empty air the next second.

She stood dizzily between a wall and the car, unsure for a moment whether she should be more worried about her head turning into a TV or the man behind her grabbing for her back.

’Wasn’t I supposed to get out of the car? This man is obviously suspicious, right?’

Mai Mingle wasted a precious second or two in a daze. Just as the former male lead was about to drag her back into her seat, she suddenly realized—her path to survival, though narrow, was right in front of her.

’Isn’t there a long, narrow space between the invisible wall and the car, just wide enough for one person?’

’I’m standing in it right now.’

Mai Mingle frantically shook off the hand reaching from the car. She turned sideways and scurried backward like a panicked crab. Her judgment seemed to be correct; the space grew wider as she moved. Before long, she could no longer feel the wall beside her, and she broke into a jog on the open road.

They hadn’t been driving for long, so she wasn’t too far from the school. After sprinting for several minutes, Mai Mingle saw Rachel—and the *real* male lead beside her—walking toward her in the distance.

The moment she saw them clearly, her heart dropped back into her stomach, and her legs nearly gave out from under her.

Even at a critical moment like this, the two of them were trading barbs, playing out a classic bickering-lovers scene:

"You were in that car just now, too?" the young man asked insinuatingly. "Let me guess, did Rachel hand you over to him as well?"

"I already said I was sorry! I thought it was a lost cat," Rachel retorted angrily. "Why don’t you put a tag on your cat?"

"Because I didn’t expect someone to perform charity with another person’s cat."

"Why don’t you go wait for me in that coffee shop over there," Rachel said to Mai Mingle, ignoring the male lead. "I’ll come find you after I get the cat back."

’...Romantic comedies are a terrifying genre.’

Outside the main characters’ field of vision, there was a pervert in front and a potential pervert behind. But the moment the male and female leads met, amidst their witty banter, accidental touches, and unintentionally locked gazes... the world became bright and soft again, with the golden-pink dust of romance floating in the sunlight.

’I bet when they finally find the cat-napper, nothing serious will happen. Instead, it’ll probably just lead to a series of gags, right?’

Mai Mingle stared blankly as the two of them hailed a taxi.

Although she was reluctant to leave the safe zone around the main characters, the male lead needed to open the car door, so she had no choice but to step aside. Her vision abruptly went dark. The sky, the road, and the two leads all vanished from before her eyes.

’...Is it o-over?’

Mai Mingle felt she still couldn’t catch her breath, but the fiery pain in her foot was the first thing to return.

’It seems like only forty minutes have passed... I didn’t have to play it out for the full 65 minutes. Did the Nest go easy on me after all?’

As her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, she found herself standing at the top of the staircase leading to the first floor.

In the dimness to the side, Fu Tailan was sitting there.

The television on Fu Tailan’s neck was gone, revealing a face so handsome you’d suspect he was a hallucination.

"You made it out alive, too? Judging by the duration, you went through a TV episode as well."

He gave her a lazy greeting and a smile. "We’re just waiting on Hai Luwei, then we can go downstairs. But... I have no idea what the first floor has turned into now."