Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Brainwaves (Second Update)
"End the Nightmare World?" Yang Xiao blinked in surprise and it took him a while to respond. He quickly asked, "Is that for real? Has anyone ever succeeded?"
Kuang Hongyi’s gaze was deep, and he eventually shook his head. "I don’t know. However, I think it’s probably just a rumor. I’ve never seen anyone survive 10 consecutive missions, let alone have to kill all of their teammates to ensure they survive alone under such harsh conditions."
"The difficulty of the missions is getting higher, right?" Yang Xiao asked in a lowered voice.
"Generally speaking, yes, but not absolutely." Seemingly realizing something, Kuang Hongyi quickly added, "But this mission from Fengmen’s Ghost Script is the toughest I’ve ever encountered. To put it bluntly, if I hadn’t run into you, Younger Brother Yang, I’m afraid I would have been done for."
"This mission is definitely an exception, you don’t need to worry too much. It’s unlikely you’ll encounter tasks of this difficulty level again." Kuang Hongyi never understood this part completely. In theory, missions with many newcomers shouldn’t be too challenging, but who knew what happened this time...
Reassured by Kuang Hongyi’s words, Yang Xiao felt a bit more at ease. If every task from now on was harder than this, with difficulty increasing incrementally, that could indeed be fatal.
"What about Zhao, is it true that killing a teammate can delay the arrival of the next Ghost Script?" Yang Xiao asked again.
Without hiding anything, Kuang Hongyi nodded, "It’s true, otherwise Shi Dali wouldn’t have been so desperate to finish us all off."
"How much can it be delayed?"
"Killing one can delay it by about a month, two will have a diminished effect, maybe one and a half months. I’m not sure about three, but I imagine it absolutely won’t be more than two months." Kuang Hongyi suddenly stopped there, and the next second, he smiled at Yang Xiao, explaining dryly, "Of course, this is just what I’ve heard from others, I’m not sure about the specifics."
Yang Xiao acted as if he hadn’t noticed anything and changed the subject. "How often does one usually receive a Ghost Script?"
"It varies. A newcomer like you might get it every 3 to 4 months, but as you experience more of the Nightmare World, the time before you receive the next Ghost Script will extend. Take me, for instance. This is my fourth time receiving a Ghost Script, and it’s been a whole 8 months since the last one."
Each experience in the Nightmare World is terrifying. A single misstep could lead to complete destruction. If he could eliminate some teammates with malicious intentions while ensuring his own safety, Yang Xiao could completely accept that.
"Whose head does Shi Dali’s count as?" Yang Xiao suddenly asked.
This abrupt question stunned Kuang Hongyi. It took him a while to understand, "Yours, of course. It counts as yours, Younger Brother Yang. You took down Shi Dali all by yourself. We all saw it."
Yang Xiao felt much better. Shi Dali’s head had won him about a month’s breathing space, and it was not for nothing that he had fought with his life on the line. He had already planned that once he joined the organization, he would use all available time and resources to strengthen himself.
Yang Xiao’s eyes shifted constantly, now sharp, now profound, which made Kuang Hongyi’s heart thump. He felt as if he had unintentionally awakened a murderous demon. When Yang Xiao asked about Shi Dali’s head, Kuang Hongyi was momentarily baffled. Who talks like that?
"That... Younger Brother Yang, actually, there are other ways to postpone the arrival of the Ghost Script besides killing teammates. Please... don’t get too fixated on that idea."
"There are other methods?" Yang Xiao’s eyes lit up. Killing a teammate was difficult for a newcomer like him, plus he wasn’t inclined to harm good people.
"Yes, there is. This method is also what most people, or should I say we Angels Envoys, typically use. It is relatively more reliable too," Kuang Hongyi paused, "Neutralizing supernatural events."
"Research has found that successfully resolving real-world supernatural events can also postpone receiving the Ghost Script. The higher the Supernatural Event Levels, the more significant the delay."
"These real-world supernatural events are caused by the Resentful Eye, right?" Yang Xiao extrapolated, "If we can find the Resentful Eye and contain it, then the supernatural event is considered resolved."
Kuang Hongyi chuckled, "That’s the theory, but it’s a lot more complicated in practice. It requires joint operations by multiple departments. Of course, we investigators play the most important and direct role since we have to go into the field, facing those things head-on."
"Let me ask you, Younger Brother Yang, what do you imagine a Resentful Eye is?" Kuang Hongyi looked at Yang Xiao.
"An object. Controlling some sort of power," Yang Xiao tried to describe.
Kuang Hongyi slowly shook his head, his expression becoming unusually serious. His voice was very low, "No, a Resentful Eye is a Ghost."
As soon as he uttered the word ’Ghost,’ Yang Xiao suddenly felt the temperature around him drop, not just perceptually, but for real. He instantly looked towards his backpack beside him. The costume was in there, and it seemed that the chill was emanating from the backpack itself.
Yet Kuang Hongyi appeared to feel nothing as he continued, "You can think of the Resentful Eye as the residence of a ghost. Normally, the Resentful Eye and the ghost are one. I prefer to think of it as the ghost sleeping in some way we can’t understand. Then, the Resentful Eye is safe."
"I’ll ask you another question, what do you think a ghost looks like?"
Even though Yang Xiao wrote about these supernatural beings, he was still an educated college graduate. Now someone official was suddenly giving him a scientific explanation about ghosts, which left him somewhat dazed. "What does it look like?"
"There is no consensus yet, but the tech department has a theory that’s gradually becoming mainstream. They are more inclined to think of a ghost as a kind of magnetic field, created in an instant by a strong fixation held by a person just before death—anger, pain, resentment, any of these. Generally, a Resentful Eye is something very important to the ghost before its death, or their possessions after death."
"When left undisturbed, they sleep in the Resentful Eye, potentially indefinitely. However, when stimulated, they can awaken instantly, acting on instincts from their residual memories."
"There are many ways to awaken these beings, such as repeating what was most important to them while alive, or reenacting the scene of their murder. Of course, the simplest way is through meditation, quieting the mind and focusing."
Kuang Hongyi’s voice grew even lower, "There’s a notion that when you’re within the magnetic field of a Resentful Eye and you quiet down and think about it, in some future moment, when your brainwaves happen to sync with the ghost’s magnetic field, it will awaken, following the guidance of your brainwaves to come to you."
