Fear Entity

[Detective Center]

The circular building, only one story high, was so clean that no one could be seen in the entire hall.

It wasn't until Luo Di reached the counter that he discovered a skeletal young man, wrapped in cloth with bone rings on his hands and feet, and with dark skin, sleeping inside.

The other person's breathing was also very weak, almost non-existent.

If this weren't the Exploration Bureau, Luo Di would most likely have assumed the other person had died suddenly during work hours.

A closer look reveals that the person in front of you is extremely tired. This fatigue comes from a long battle and staying up all night, and he is probably an agent who has just returned from a corner.

Since it was his first time there, Luo Di was too embarrassed to wake the other person up directly. Unexpectedly Yu Ze stepped forward and slammed his fist on the desk.

"Dude, time to get to work."

The young man slowly awoke to the sound of knocking and gradually propped himself up.

With very little flesh on the cheeks and prominent cheekbones, combined with the person's Egyptian-influenced clothing, one can immediately associate them with a mummy.

"Oh... excuse me~ You're a newbie, right? Let me check your files."

The man quickly started working on the computer to confirm that Luo Di and the other person had passed the Personnel Department's review.

Then, quite clumsily, he rummaged under the table and finally found two exquisite handbags.

"Here you have the key to your apartment in the Nexus, and the instruction manual for new agents. You can rest in the apartment until your files are officially transferred."

If you need to eat, you can go to the cafeteria. Currently, only Cafeteria No. 1 is still open.

And also...

Before he could finish speaking, the man's head slammed onto the table with a loud thud, and he fell asleep again.

This time, Yu Ze didn't wake the other person up. He picked up the bag and prepared to leave. He knew exactly what the procedure was; all he needed was the bag.

The two did not take the bus, as the apartment building was nearby and could be reached in less than five minutes.

Luo Di raised another question, "The front desk agent should have just come back from the corner, why is he still working here in place of others when he's so tired?"

Since the agents are all elites handpicked and their time is precious, and they need to recover quickly after returning to the Nexus, why arrange for them to be on duty here temporarily?

Wouldn't it be better to let the intelligent machines produced by the Atom Military Industry manage it?

Yu Ze was walking ahead, responded while reading the novel, "It's not that simple. This is a Transfer Station between the Earth's surface and its corners. Since the agents can go inside through the cracks, the fear inside can also seep out slightly."

Luo Di, you should be able to sense it, right? That vague 'feeling'.

As he spoke, Yu Ze gently scraped the surface of his skin with his fingers.

This reminder made Luo Di realize that something seemed to be covering the surface of his skin, something very thin but clearly different.

Previously, Luo Di's attention was focused on the Exploration Bureau and the assessment issues, and he hadn't noticed anything else.

With all attention now focused on the feel of the skin

Buzz...

Soft, viscous, and in strips.

It's like an invisible tadpole or earthworm, swimming on the surface of his skin, trying to burrow into his body.

"This is... fear, the fear hidden in the corner?"

"That's right! The fear in the corner is no longer a mental concept, but a tangible thing that can be felt and will directly affect the individual."

It permeates any space related to a corner, just like air, it is everywhere.

This fear can erode any conscious life, even AI life forms created through programming. Therefore, those working in the Exploration Bureau must be full-fledged agents with fear resistance.

No matter how tired you are, once you return to the Transfer Station, you have to go on duty if you are assigned to one.

At least here we don't have to worry about the risks inside the corners anymore.

Luo Di's finger grew a gray tentacle, which gently swept across the surface of his arm, scraping away the fearful touch, but it soon stuck back on.

"Our pituitary glands, already saturated, are feeding on this kind of physical fear, aren't they?"

"It's not food, but the most basic soil."

If we consider our pituitary gland as a seed, the Human World's environment is like a desert, where seeds are unlikely to germinate.

The corners, on the other hand, are filled with soil rich in various nutrients, and the deeper you go, the higher the quality of the soil becomes.

Of course, such a soil of fear can nourish my pituitary gland, but it can also affect our physical body and invade our Divine Sense.

We entered the Corner System as human beings; we did not subjectively degenerate, nor did we succumb to fear. Unlike those Pseudo-Human who were Fear Invasion early on, whose ideology was based on desire, and the Corner Monster evolved from these Pseudo-Human.

Although we are allowed to develop our pituitary gland and enter the corner, the corner itself will try to transform us, and fear will constantly invade.

Of course, monsters are also affected, but they have certain privileges in the corners that allow them to avoid this effect under specific conditions.

When individuals spend a long time in corners, especially in deeper areas, they accumulate Fear Entity within themselves.

When this accumulation reaches the limit of an individual's endurance, the individual's human nature will be tested, and there is a high probability that an irreversible change will occur.

Therefore, when fear accumulates to a certain level, it is essential to return to the surface, to the Transfer Station, to receive treatment from doctors, or even undergo some extreme therapies, to ensure that the fear within the body is completely eradicated before restarting the previous exploration.

This is also the main constraint on human exploration; the depth we can explore remains limited.

"What happens to an individual when fear exceeds its limit? Do they become like a monster?"

"No..." Yu Ze stopped and gestured an explosion around his brain with his hand. "Imagine a plant that was normally sprouting and growing suddenly growing out of your control, sucking at your brain, and bursting through your skull."

Your primary consciousness will be erased, and the constraints on you as a "human being" will be completely released, discarding all your original forms and resulting in utter spiritual death.

Your flesh will transform into a crazy, chaotic, beautiful... plant, becoming part of the corner.

These are all things I saw in the University of Los Angeles library. To see for yourself what they look like, you'll have to go to a corner and experience it for yourself; it's my first time there too.

"Is it like planting trees in a corner?"

"You could say that. From the perspective of someone in the corner, it's actually a good thing. Every time an agent is consumed by fear, the environment in the corner improves, and the concentration of fear increases."

However, neither of us should have to worry, at least not in the shallow areas.

Whether it's Luo Di, you, or me, we all possess high fear resistance and the ability to suppress the pituitary gland and curb mutations.

Moreover, as long as you maintain a strong enough resolve, no amount of fear can crush your spirit.

We've arrived at the apartment building.

There was still no sign of a living person inside.

Although they were assigned double rooms, according to Yu Ze, such suites were rarely used. The agents spent most of their time in the corners, trying to plunder as much as possible.

The following day at noon.

The two people, who were feasting in the No. 1 cafeteria, simultaneously received a notification from their wristbands.

Your personal files have been received by the Exploration Bureau, and your newcomer status has been officially confirmed. Your first exploration is scheduled to begin at 14:00 today.

Please arrive at the plaza area half an hour in advance. At that time, relevant requirements will be explained, team equipment will be provided, and exploration items will be distributed.

Those who are late will have their files returned immediately, and a "deserter" mark will be left on their personal profile.

The so-called plaza is the center of this island and the Exploration Bureau, the area containing the vertical structure that stretches for hundreds of meters.

When Luo Di and Yu Ze arrived, there were already many people waiting in the square. They were not newcomers, but agents who had rested and were ready to start exploring the corners again.

Among them, Physician You Zhen was in charge of receiving the two yesterday, is also at the edge of the square, currently smiling and waving to them.