Chapter 53: Upside-Down Thinking: Yangjin’s Scheme
Wow. It seems that every time the flash—or whatever passes for thunder—strikes, we’re sent right back to the starting point.
Standing at the entrance to the first floor, Shen Yu narrowed his eyes at the bright sky, deep in thought. He rubbed his chin while his soul repeatedly tried to force its way back into Yuji’s body.
Unfortunately, an S-rank talent wasn’t so easily overcome. Every attempt to touch Yuji’s unconscious body ended with Shen Yu’s soul being violently repelled.
"If every flash sends us back..." Yuji muttered through Shen Yu’s body, "...and the flashes come this frequently, then no human could possibly reach the security booth in time."
"There has to be another trick to this task."
Step. Step. Step.
Using Shen Yu’s body, Yuji continued his endless experiments across the lawn.
His eyes drifted to the perfectly normal skin on Shen Yu’s arm before a mocking smile spread across his face.
"Speaking of which... you never answered my earlier question."
"What exactly did you find in the warehouse?"
He stared at Shen Yu’s vacant body.
Gradually, Shen Yu’s pupils turned dull, and his lips trembled as if speaking in a dream.
Inside Shen Yu’s first-person livestream, panic erupted.
"It’s over... It’s really over!"
"Yuji’s talent is just too broken."
"Everything Shen Yu worked for is about to be exposed."
"Once Yuji learns about that mysterious item, he’ll definitely steal it."
"Soul Request is completely unfair."
"In the end, all it took was one opportunity."
"S-rank talents are impossible to beat."
The comment section split into two camps.
Some blamed the authorities for choosing Shen Yu instead of Yuji from the beginning.
Others could only sigh helplessly at the overwhelming advantage granted by an S-rank ability.
Very few still believed Shen Yu could turn things around.
Inside the Safety Defense Department, Ho Yong’s face turned pale.
"It’s over..."
"If Yuji extracts every secret from him, Shen Yu won’t survive."
"Did we really back the wrong person?"
"The wrong person?"
Lucian shook her head with a faint smile.
"I don’t think so."
"Yangjin deliberately assigned both of them the same mission."
"I have a feeling this playground is hiding the real answer."
Ho Yong frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"If Yangjin knew Yuji would attack Shen Yu the moment they left her protection—and she clearly did—then why would she intentionally send them together?"
"There has to be a reason."
"This task itself is the clue."
Just as doubt spread through both the livestream and the control room...
Shen Yu’s vacant body slowly opened its mouth.
"I... found nothing."
"...What?"
Yuji froze.
Not only Yuji...
The livestream audience...
Ho Yong...
Even Shen Yu’s own soul...
Everyone was stunned.
"What?"
"He’s lying?"
"How is that possible?"
"Can Soul Request be resisted?"
Yuji frowned.
His expression became unusually serious.
He asked again.
"You really found nothing in the warehouse?"
"...Yes."
The answer remained dull, emotionless, and unfocused.
Yuji frowned even deeper.
"Impossible..."
"A controlled body cannot lie to me."
Could Shen Yu truly have wasted an entire Rationality Potion and returned empty-handed?
Yuji doubted many things...
But he had never doubted his own talent.
He glanced toward the distant security booth before walking forward once more.
Snap!
The white flash filled the world.
An instant later—
He was standing back at the hospital entrance.
"...Again."
The livestream exploded.
"Wait!"
"How is Shen Yu lying while under Soul Request?"
"That shouldn’t be possible!"
"Did he discover a way to deceive the ability?"
"What is happening?"
No one could understand it.
Ho Yong stared blankly at the screen.
"...I don’t get it."
Beside him, Lucian smiled knowingly.
"I told you."
"The problem isn’t Soul Request."
"It’s this task."
"Keep watching."
"The answer will reveal itself soon."
Snap!
For the sixth time, Yuji forced Shen Yu’s body across the lawn.
He shut his eyes.
He covered his head with his hospital gown.
He sprinted.
He zigzagged.
He even tried predicting where the flashes would occur.
Nothing worked.
Every single attempt ended exactly the same.
Barely a dozen meters from the entrance...
Snap!
He returned to the starting point.
"Damn it!"
"How am I supposed to reach the security booth?"
"And why..."
Yuji glared at Shen Yu’s headband.
"...is your pollution level still zero?"
After making mistake after mistake, Shen Yu should have been rapidly losing Sanity.
Yet the number never changed.
That made even less sense.
Returning once again to the entrance, Yuji looked toward the bustling first-floor lobby.
Suddenly...
He smiled.
Instead of heading toward the playground this time...
He turned around and walked straight back into the hospital.
Shen Yu’s soul immediately realized what he intended.
"You bastard..."
Yuji laughed.
"Weren’t you clever enough to use pollution to discover the laboratory?"
"Then let’s see how much pollution you can withstand now."
"If completing the task doesn’t work..."
"I’ll simply violate the task itself."
His footsteps echoed rapidly through the lobby.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
"Hahaha!"
"Trash. Who do you think you are to survive this dungeon with me?"
Yuji burst into mocking laughter.
Yet in the middle of his laughter, something impossible happened.
The bustling hospital lobby suddenly distorted with a sizzling sound. The marble floor melted away, transforming into a vast lawn bathed in an eerie green glow.
As Shen Yu’s body continued running, the distant security booth grew closer instead of farther away.
"...What?"
Yuji froze.
The familiar flashes never appeared.
No thunder echoed across the sky.
More importantly...
He wasn’t sent back to the entrance.
A moment later, Shen Yu’s body was standing directly in front of the security booth.
"What... the hell?"
The livestream exploded.
"Wait!"
"Wasn’t Yuji trying to sabotage Shen Yu?"
"How did he accidentally complete the objective?"
"My brain can’t process this!"
"What is happening?"
Even Ho Yong and Lucian stared at the screen in disbelief.
The sky above remained bright and cloudless.
The door to the security booth slowly creaked open.
An elderly guard with a snow-white beard stepped outside, smiling kindly.
He looked Shen Yu up and down before speaking warmly.
"Young man... are you here to collect a package?"
Yuji instinctively opened his mouth.
"Yes—"
But halfway through, he remembered.
If he admitted it, he’d be helping Shen Yu complete the mission.
His expression darkened.
"...No."
Unexpectedly...
The old man’s smile became even brighter.
"Excellent."
"Then come inside."
"...Huh?"
Yuji stood frozen.
The livestream audience was equally stunned.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Watching from outside his own body, Shen Yu suddenly remembered Yangjin’s words.
"I hate it."
At that instant, realization struck him like lightning.
"I understand..."
"It’s all reversed."
Everything inside this mission operated according to inverted logic.
No wonder Yangjin had insisted that Yuji accompany him.
She had already predicted Yuji would attack him.
But in this place...
Every malicious intention would produce the opposite result.
The more Yuji tried to sabotage him...
The more he would unknowingly help him.
Shen Yu couldn’t help smiling.
"So that’s your plan..."
"Yangjin..."
"You’re incredible."
Yesterday, Yangjin had said she hated his flirting.
Now he finally understood.
That "hatred" had actually been her way of expressing the opposite.
The same rule governed this entire playground.
Trying to move toward the security booth sent you back to the hospital.
Trying to move away from the objective brought you closer.
Everything was reversed.
Even words.
When Yuji used Soul Request and desperately wanted Shen Yu to reveal the truth...
The controlled body had instinctively answered with the opposite.
"I found nothing."
That wasn’t resistance.
It was simply another rule of the reversed world.
Yangjin had foreseen everything.
She knew Yuji’s personality.
She knew he would use Soul Request.
She deliberately arranged for them to take this mission together because the very act of trying to hurt Shen Yu would force Yuji to solve every obstacle on Shen Yu’s behalf.
"If I had answered ’yes’ to the guard..."
Shen Yu murmured thoughtfully.
"...something bad would’ve happened."
"But Yuji answered ’no’ because he wanted to stop me."
"And ironically..."
"He helped me."
A grin slowly spread across Shen Yu’s face.
"Maybe I don’t have to do anything."
"As long as Yuji keeps trying to ruin me..."
"He’ll clear the mission for me."
Inside the cramped security booth sat little more than a desk, a narrow cot, and an old television mounted on the wall.
Beneath the desk rested a heavy package.
The old guard bent down with a grunt, lifted it onto the table, and set it down with a metallic clang.
After adjusting his security cap, he looked back at Shen Yu.
"So..."
"You came here to collect a package, didn’t you?"
"No."
Yuji answered without hesitation.
Once again, the old man’s expression softened.
"Very good."
"I’ll ask you three questions."
"Answer them correctly, and the package is yours."
"..."
Yuji was completely bewildered.
"I’ve already denied it twice."
"I said I’m not here to collect a package."
"So why does every answer make him happier?"
The old guard’s smile slowly disappeared.
His eyes sharpened.
"First question."
"Do you believe Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital has any problems?"
The atmosphere inside the booth instantly grew heavy.
His piercing gaze locked onto Shen Yu’s body like that of a hawk watching its prey.
Yuji fell silent.
If everything here truly worked in reverse...
Then the obvious answer was probably the wrong one.
But if he intentionally answered the opposite...
Would that still count as the truth?
For the first time since entering the dungeon...
Even Yuji wasn’t sure which answer would save him.
