Gatekeeper and Door Pusher

"Chasing me? Why?" The girl listened to the roaring motorcycle engine, her expression a little strange. It wasn't fear or worry, but more like the confusion of a plot enthusiast facing an inexplicable turn of events.

Fortunately, it was the Cross Sword Guild. If it had been the Landfill Area before, the girl would have likely seen a bizarre scene of a group of burly men riding bicycles.

"Because you're a Transmigrator," Feng Xue said, pulling out his Work Card. He quickly logged out of his dorm, then opened his personal profile and changed his Account name from "Xiao Feng" to "Assassin."

He didn't know if it would help, but it was better than doing nothing.

"Huh? How do they know?" the girl exclaimed, but immediately covered her mouth and mumbled in a very small voice. Feng Xue ignored her. Seeing that the logout was complete on his Work Card, he picked up the girl again and ran towards the distance.

Honestly, he had no destination at the moment, but he knew that if he were caught, he wouldn't have a good end.

Just like that Doctor from the Landfill Area before, logically speaking, he couldn't fight an entire gang, but he still died. Why?

As he ran, Feng Xue, who was absorbing Knowledge, understood the reason—

Because of memory.

Though it sounded a bit pathetic, the source of power for Supernatural Tales was Human imagination, faith, wishes, and memory.

Ordinary Supernatural Tales were formed from human thoughts, accumulating over time through word of mouth until they solidified into tangible existence, becoming real entities. In ancient times, such beings were called "deities."

But the [Nothingness] within the Infinite City was a bit different. To be precise, the true Supernatural Tales were the Infinite City itself, and the residents within were merely its appendages.

They were [Nothingness], possessing nothing. Because they had no legends of their own, no associated thoughts, and no corresponding faith or imagination, they had to have Tags that could anchor their existence if they wanted to become Supernatural Tales.

But this wasn't enough, because the power of Tags always relied on the Infinite City. Those [Nothingness] who utilized Tags were always just appendages of the Infinite City.

The way to break free from this relationship and take the first step toward becoming a Supernatural Tale was "to be recognized."

This "person" referred to someone from the real world.

However, going to the real world was extremely difficult. Even setting aside the hefty daily consumption of over a hundred thousand Towers, just finding a Gate that could lead to the outside was a monumental task.

Gates were merely accidental overlaps of coordinates. When the person who opened the Gate returned to their own world, the Gate would immediately disappear. Even if the person who traveled through the Gate to reality left behind the coordinates of their original world, it was at best a return ticket, and a return ticket couldn't bring anyone else.

So, theoretically, each Gate could only be used by the Door Pusher once. However, if one could capture the person who opened the Gate and make them repeatedly open and close it without leaving, they could gain semi-permanent control over that Gate.

But this wasn't the real reason the Doctor was silenced. The real reason was that it was extremely dangerous for ordinary [Nothingness] to go to the real world.

Because [Nothingness] had very low presence, even with the help of Tags, many couldn't quickly establish enough "memory" in the real world, leading them to be quickly forgotten. According to the records in the [Gatekeeper] Tag, during a certain period, there was even a strategy of "killing indiscriminately immediately after arriving in the real world," because Death, bloodshed, and terror were the easiest things to engrave in memory.

But this behavior also provoked a backlash. It was precisely because of the unrestrained slaughter by these predecessors that organizations specifically designed to counter [Nothingness] emerged in the real world.

And in the real world, [Nothingness] couldn't borrow the power of the Infinite City. Before gaining true recognition, they were at a disadvantage against soldiers armed with live ammunition, or even against police officers wielding batons.

So later, some people came up with a more sinister method—

Be remembered by someone before going to the other side of the Gate!

This seemed like a paradox. After all, how could one be remembered by people in reality without going to reality?

But don't forget, the Door Pusher was also a person from reality.

In other words, by leaving an indelible memory in the Door Pusher, one could gain a portion of recognition after the Door Pusher returned to the real world.

And what could be more impactful than the otherworldly being one encountered the first moment they opened a Gate?

Therefore, for those attempting to gain the recognition of the Door Pusher, the Gatekeeper had to die!

As a fellow Manager, Feng Xue didn't believe the Cross Sword Guild's Manager was much stronger than the one from the Landfill Area. He couldn't bet his life on their mercy.

However, he wasn't lying when he said he was chasing the girl.

After all, for a Door Pusher, even being imprisoned and forced to repeatedly open and close a Gate was torture. Yet, this was considered the best treatment a Door Pusher could receive after being captured by a major force—

To become a Supernatural Tale, one needed to be remembered. Once forgotten, they would fall from the realm of Supernatural Tales.

If recognition was obtained directly from reality, there would be no problem. After all, with a large number of people, if one person forgot you, others would still remember. But the problem now was that the only one who could remember was the Door Pusher...

So the question arose: how could one make a Door Pusher remember a [Nothingness] with such low presence?

Initially, people were more gentle, but as Time passed, all sorts of selfish tactics began to emerge. And what gradually became mainstream was certainly not a gentle approach.

After all, compared to comedy, tragedy was always more easily remembered.

Torture, interrogation, imprisonment...

Through all sorts of indescribable cruel methods, leaving the Door Pusher with unforgettable memories, and then entering the real world together, this was currently the most reliable path to becoming a Supernatural Tale in the Infinite City.

And this reliability was built upon the psychological trauma of the Door Pusher's entire life.

But for most [Nothingness], this price was nothing. As long as one person was hurt, they could achieve the status of a Supernatural Tale. There was no better deal than this!

Frankly speaking, if Feng Xue were a Manager, he might do the same. The reason he showed kindness to this girl now was simply because he lacked the capital.

Even if he inflicted lifelong psychological trauma on this girl, he wouldn't be able to send her back to her original world—

He was certain that as long as the Manager of the Cross Sword Guild wasn't an idiot, his original dorm, or rather, the Gate in his original dorm, would definitely be guarded like a treasure by the Cross Sword Guild.

It wouldn't be easy to go through that Gate.