Illusion Report

Chapter 224: Chapter 187: Mai Mingle’s Emergency Supplementary Report

’I don’t know what kind of impact it will have?’

With only such a vague statement to go on, Mai Mingle couldn’t figure out what Hai Luwei was so worried about.

She asked hesitantly, "When other Illusions are released into the world... do the Hunters know what consequences they’ll have?"

Mai Mingle was asking sincerely, but Hai Luwei misunderstood.

He waved his hand with a bitter smile. "You’re right. It’s not just this one. For any Illusion we sell, we never know whose hands it will end up in, what it will be used for, or what kind of impact it will have."

"Worrying about this one Illusion of yours in particular would be a kind of hypocrisy... *Cough*. I’ve sold plenty of Illusions I probably shouldn’t have. If I really wanted to be responsible to society, I never should have gotten into the Hunter business in the first place."

"That’s not what I meant..."

"It’s alright," Hai Luwei said, his head lowered. He always looked somewhat tired. "Hunters don’t have moral dilemmas."

Mai Mingle watched him, almost in a daze. She instinctively wanted to offer a few words of comfort, but she had absolutely no clue what he was talking about.

’Come to think of it, this was probably unavoidable.’

For several years before the thief broke in and she obtained the Illusion, she had been alive, yet completely disconnected from society.

Her world was just that one apartment bedroom with the cracked wall. No matter how long the TV was on, the only sound that ultimately echoed in her mind was the low hum of the oxygen machine.

The social worker would only chat with her about the weather, her health, her medication, and her meals... She never imagined she would ever reconnect with the world outside her bedroom window.

’If I can keep living looking this young, I’ll get to know this world again. Until then, I might as well ask for Hai Luwei’s opinion.’

"So what you’re saying is... I should sell this lipstick?"

Hai Luwei glanced at it.

"Sell it. The effect it has isn’t unprecedented; it’s happened before. Humanity doesn’t need any outside help to sprint toward its own destruction... If you can make some money from the process, why not?"

Mai Mingle didn’t quite understand him, but she did grasp one thing: young people today seemed far more suspicious and pessimistic about the world than when she was young.

She hadn’t met many young people, but not a single one could be described as hopeful. Fu Tailan was like that, and so was Hai Luwei.

When Mai Mingle was in her twenties and thirties, however, she had never doubted that the world was getting better and better.

"Then I’ll sell it," she said with a nod. "I need the money."

’I’ll take whatever I can get. A million is probably bullshit—I still don’t think the lipstick is that powerful.’

’If people believed whatever you said after you put it on, that would be amazing. But the lipstick’s actual function feels more like a watered-down version of that.’

Hai Luwei took a few more photos and videos, then raised his hand to call over the waitress.

The waitress looked at Mai Mingle and smiled at her. "Newbie?"

Mai Mingle nodded. "Yeah, I just got into this line of work a few days ago..."

"I’m Megan," the waitress said, holding out a hand.

Mai Mingle quickly extended her own hand and shook Megan’s. ’I hope my hand is clean,’ she worried, ’I was just grabbing fries and chicken wings...’ But Megan just smiled.

"Give her your lipstick. She’s in charge of the initial inspection," Hai Luwei explained, rubbing his face hard. "This is to ensure the authenticity of the Illusion being sold."

’...Why didn’t you say so sooner?’

"But we should probably use one of your back rooms," Hai Luwei said, as if suddenly remembering. "This thing is quite valuable."

Megan glanced at the lipstick in Mai Mingle’s hand, nodded, and led the two of them through the bar. She pushed open an employee-only back door, which revealed a small hallway leading to the kitchen, office, and storage room. Megan opened the office door and said to them, "Please."

Without any strange Hunters around, the office just looked like a perfectly ordinary little office.

The only thing that stood out was the photograph hanging on the back wall:

Megan, dressed in hunting gear, stood in front of a forest, leaning on a double-barreled shotgun. In her other hand, as if she had caught a big fish or shot a prize buck, she was proudly holding up a—

"A resident?" Mai Mingle gasped.

A long, thin, white creature dangled limply from Megan’s hand. Although it looked like a leftover Halloween ghost costume, you could faintly make out that it seemed to be full of grievances. It was a resident, but looking at it like this, it really wasn’t very scary.

"Was this taken in a Nest?"

"Yep," Megan said, happily explaining, "Back then, I discovered a way to temporarily incapacitate residents. It worked the first time I used it on this one, so how could I not take a picture to commemorate it?"

"What was the method?" Mai Mingle asked immediately.

"Want to buy the information?" Megan said with a grin. "That was seven or eight years ago. I’m not sure what the success rate would be now, so I can give you a discount."

’Hunters really won’t do a thing unless there’s something in it for them, huh?’

’I’ll sell the lipstick first, then worry about other things.’

"Oh, he really wasn’t wrong."

Megan said, examining the lipstick closely and glancing at Hai Luwei.

"If we find the right person, they’d be willing to pay a high price for this... But on the flip side, if we can’t find that person, it won’t sell for much. Its application is very niche."

Hai Luwei put on the air of a proper businessman and said, "That’s why we came to Between the Backlight to handle it."

Megan twisted off the cap and spun up the lipstick. "Huh?" she murmured. "What are all these wispy marks from?"

"The resident’s mouth was hidden in its hair," Mai Mingle explained, amazed at the words coming out of her own mouth. "It probably made those marks when it was applying the lipstick to the back of its head."

"Oh, so it’s an Illusion taken from a ’scenario’," Megan murmured.

’What does that mean?’

"Residents generally can’t use Illusions, so even if they’re holding one, it just serves as a prop for the scenario," Hai Luwei explained. "For example, this lipstick was taken from a scenario of ’a resident putting on makeup.’ To that resident, it was just a lipstick, without its ’Flock of Birds Crossing the Sky’ effect."

Mai Mingle mentally searched her knowledge base on Nests—she realized this was a classification system used only by Hunters; the Nests themselves didn’t care for it at all.

"Illusions that serve as scenario props usually aren’t affected."

Megan gently swiped the stick with her fingertip, but the wispy marks remained. "...If its appearance was changed by a resident, that means its function has changed too..."

"Can’t it be sold anymore?" Mai Mingle grew nervous—that was her main concern right now.

"Not necessarily. Let’s list it first and see. If a buyer requests further testing, we’ll deal with it then."

Hai Luwei added in a low voice, "There are Family Factions that offer that service—paid testing. But I don’t think it’s necessary for the lipstick... You can just put it on and spout some nonsense at me. It’s not dangerous, anyway."

Mai Mingle nodded and asked, "List it where?"

Between the Backlight seemed to have a well-established process for handling the goods Hunters brought in to sell—it was just that Mai Mingle didn’t understand it.

"Have you AirDropped the photos and videos?" Megan asked, handing the lipstick back. "We don’t handle that part, as you should know."

"Already done," Hai Luwei said.

’...Air what?’

Mai Mingle stared blankly as they both took out their smartphones.

"Between the Backlight has an official channel on Telegram. All Illusions for sale are uploaded there... Ugh, never mind, you wouldn’t understand."

Hearing this, Megan immediately looked up at Mai Mingle. The latter, despite looking like a young woman in her twenties, wore a completely baffled expression.

She was a true Hunter through and through; even for things that didn’t concern her, she had an instinct to dig for the truth. Seeing that Hai Luwei wasn’t elaborating, Megan seemed to get an idea. She smiled at Mai Mingle and said, "Why don’t you give me your phone number? We can exchange WhatsApp info, or email addresses."

"She doesn’t have a phone," Hai Luwei said, trying to cover for her. "Her phone... was stolen."

"That must be inconvenient, right?" Megan paused for a second, then seized another opportunity. "It’s two or three in the morning, so there’s nowhere to buy a new one. Do you need one urgently? Want to buy mine?"

’Huh?’

Megan opened a drawer, took out a phone in a green case, and pushed it toward Mai Mingle.

"I just got a new phone, and this old one has been wiped clean. I can sell it to you for cheap."

Mai Mingle looked down at it. ’Not that I’d know what to look for anyway,’ she thought. ’I can’t tell the model or whether it’s any good.’

"The model isn’t that old. Still, it’s probably better to buy a new one..." Hai Luwei commented from the side.

But Megan’s old phone didn’t look old at all; it was sleek, black, and shiny. Mai Mingle gave it a light touch, and a single word lit up on the screen: "Welcome."

That single word, for some reason, gently touched Mai Mingle.

’This phone is so thoughtful, it’s welcoming me. It must want a new owner, right?’

"Okay," she agreed, a sudden warmth spreading in her chest. "I’ll take it."

Megan was very satisfied, her face breaking into a wide smile. ’She must have been a good Hunter,’ Mai Mingle thought. ’She’s not at all ashamed of her own desires.’

’The price for the old phone really wasn’t that bad. I definitely made the right decision.’

Only Hai Luwei seemed regretful, saying, "Sigh, now you won’t get to enjoy the feeling of unboxing a brand-new phone..."

"But I have one right now. Otherwise, I’d have to wait for you to finish your nap before you could take me to buy one—"

Before Mai Mingle could finish, the phone suddenly buzzed in her hand.

The other two froze.

"That’s not right. Is it connected to the Wi-Fi?" Megan was also confused. "How is it getting a signal...?"

When Mai Mingle looked down, the word on the screen was no longer "Welcome." She immediately angled the phone upright, hiding the screen from Megan’s view.

_Illusion Report_

_Special Bulletin_

_Only those who bring change to the world are worthy of the right to advance._

_Dearest Contestant Mai Mingle, this Special Bulletin of the Illusion Report has been issued to you under emergent circumstances. We hope you will seize this unexpected opportunity to capture your first target._

_Attention: A target Illusion is currently approaching your position rapidly._

_Graphic: Black Square_

_Please proceed with extreme caution in the face of the risk ahead._

_We wish you swift success._