Response 2

That instant of comfort nearly made Wang Yiyang moan aloud.

He slowly adjusted to the light, exhausted, and felt dull pain throbbing through his head.

"How... long was I asleep?" he rasped, forcing the words out of his throat.

"Thirteen hours, boss," Jian answered promptly.

"Thirteen hours?" Wang Yiyang tried to sit up in bed. He struggled a few times, only to discover he couldn't move. He was still tied up with a bunch of ropes.

Jian noticed and quickly helped him untie them.

Once the ropes were off, Jian even hurried to the bathroom, wrung out a hot towel, and brought it over for Wang Yiyang to wipe his face.

"Thanks." Wang Yiyang took the towel and covered his face with it.

The faint warmth made his whole head feel a little better.

Only then did he have time to check his system stats.

They hadn't changed much, but two new lines had appeared.

'Congratulations. You successfully passed the Red Hypnotist's deadly suggestion dream.'

'Congratulations. You have acquired alcohol immunity. Will slightly increased. Mentality slightly increased.'

Wang Yiyang wanted to laugh, but couldn't figure out how to move his face.

It seemed that after sleeping, even the muscles in his face had become difficult to control. Thinking of that, he put in some effort and managed to smile.

"Heh..."

"B-boss... you look a little scary when you cry..." Jian couldn't help commenting.

"..." I'm fucking laughing!!

The expression on Wang Yiyang's face stiffened, then slowly settled back to normal.

But he suddenly felt something cool on his cheek, so he reached up and touched it.

What was this?

He looked down at his fingers and saw a faint trace of moisture on his fingertips.

He put a finger in his mouth and tasted it. It was bitter and salty.

"Tears?"

Just then, it felt as if a giant hammer had slammed into his brain. A flood of new information surged into his mind, threatening to burst it apart.

Those memories were all from his time as Finn, hypnotizing people again and again.

The carefree Finn, the ruthless Finn, the confident Finn, the powerful Finn—and, in the end, the Finn who disappeared.

'Identity mission complete. Beginning random reward acquisition.'

The system in the lower-right corner abruptly displayed another line.

'Reward acquired. Congratulations, you have obtained Tasdak Symbol Hypnosis.'

In front of the Municipal Bureau building in Yingxing City.

A young man in a purple suit slowly entered through the main doors, accompanied by the mayor of Yingxing City and the council chair.

A large number of armed soldiers stood guard around the group.

Reporters who tried to sneak in were periodically grabbed and dragged away, their cameras and phones confiscated and their memory cards destroyed.

The young man in the purple suit had handsome features, gray-white hair, and a gentle, bright smile. As he walked, he chatted softly with several senior officials from the Municipal Bureau.

A tall, muscular, bald man followed close behind him.

The man's muscles were clearly visible beneath his black, form-fitting clothes. Two short, saw-like black blades were strapped to his back.

"Luokebing City was the first city to establish a sister-city relationship with Yingxing City. For more than ten years, we've worked together in the economy, culture, and public welfare, achieving quite a bit.

"On this visit, we also hope to explore new opportunities for cooperation with Yingxing City in marine and mining development, and pave the way for the upcoming land reclamation project..."

The man in the purple suit spoke eloquently, conversing with the mayor of Yingxing City as an equal.

"Councilor Gewen's visit on behalf of Luokebing City, along with his investment of ten billion to advance the land reclamation project, is of great significance to the deepening cooperation between our cities.

"This is a testament to and a symbol of our friendship, and it will also become one of the Federation's hundred major projects in the coming years..."

The mayor of Yingxing City, Bofaria, was already over fifty. He didn't know why a councilor from Luokebing City would come to invest heavily in a remote city like Yingxing City.

But businessmen were all driven by profit, especially those who also held the title of councilor.

He knew very well that Councilor Gewen, standing before him, represented not only the Violet Group of Luokebing City, but also had the Mister Group backing him behind the scenes.

With two major groups standing behind him, the seemingly enormous investment of ten billion no longer seemed quite so astonishing.

After discussing the cooperative projects he had come to arrange,

and exchanging a string of pleasantries, Councilor Gewen finally brought up a request of his own.

With a smile, he had his bodyguard hand over a note.

Bofaria, the mayor of Yingxing City, took it.

He glanced down at it, considered it for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"If this is a legitimate request for assistance, we'll naturally do everything we can to help."

Gewen immediately smiled.

"Good. If this goes smoothly, it'll also help advance both our futures."

Bofaria thought for a moment. "I'll tell the City Police Department to cooperate with your operation."

"Then let me thank you in advance." Gewen smiled and nodded.

When the meeting was over, he declined all the invitations to banquets and instead took his bodyguard back to his room at the five-star hotel where he was staying.

Someone had been waiting in the room for quite some time.

It was a woman Wang Yiyang knew very well—Lei Wei.

Lei Wei wore nothing but a simple, plain white dress, its hem so short it barely covered her hips.

She stood quietly to one side of the living room, her eyes lowered. The full, alluring curves of her figure were clearly visible in the soft light.

Gewen took off his jacket and went to the room's bar to pour himself a glass of juice.

"Tell me what you've found out during your time here."

"Yes." Lei Wei replied softly, then began reporting everything she had learned about Wang Yiyang over the past few days.

Her report lasted about five minutes.

"You're saying Wang Yiyang somehow got close to the Yanhu Sect? And the Avengers arrived early but haven't made a move? They're waiting?" Gewen asked with a frown.

"Yes." Lei Wei nodded. "I suspect the Avengers may have noticed something. The reason they haven't acted right away may be that they intend to investigate more thoroughly."

"They noticed so quickly?" Gewen took a sip of orange juice, held it in his mouth, and swallowed it slowly, a little at a time.

"We can't do anything about the Avengers right now. With only the people we have here, we can't take him down. We'll have to wait.

"But simply waiting won't do, either. I still have some people in the Security Department. I can make a few arrangements there."

His voice gradually dropped as he moved closer to Lei Wei.

"Been a while. Let's try a new game."

Lei Wei gave him a coquettish smile in response.

At the Light Blue Memory Bar.

In front of the counter.

The bartender moved his hands like a dancer, pulling out all sorts of tricks as he shook one cocktail after another.

Two young women with dyed-blond hair sat on barstools in short spaghetti-strap dresses, chatting as they watched the bartender's movements and let out little gasps.

The bar was quiet and small, with only a dozen or so tables and chairs.

The counter took up half the space, while a few customers were scattered among the tables.

A middle-aged man sat with his head down, scrolling on his phone.

A young couple leaned close together, whispering.

A black-haired man with a haggard expression and pale complexion sat alone on a sofa, his hands braced on his knees as he breathed a little rapidly.

In the dim light of the bar, the man slowly reached out and picked up a pale green drink with ice in it, bringing it before his eyes.

"Looks like it worked..."

He spoke under his breath, his voice filled with indescribable relief.

The trouble with Twist had been so easy to resolve that Wang Yiyang had grown careless, thinking that giving up alcohol and resisting the Red Hypnotist's suggestion would be easy.

But he had nearly become an idiot.

Nearly turned into a mindless fool.

This painful lesson had taught him that the trouble caused by his system identities could vary in severity. Some could be dealt with easily, while others seemed simple but could actually carry a deadly risk.

Wang Yiyang set down his drink and gently rested a hand on the edge of the cold glass table.

The gentle voice of a woman singing drifted through the bar, warming his heart a little after it had nearly sunk into despair and collapse.

Ever since waking from the hypnotic nightmare, whenever he was alone, an indescribable sense of loneliness and fear welled up from deep inside him.

He hadn't felt this way before, but it seemed to be an aftereffect of escaping the hypnotic nightmare.

Fortunately, he could tell that as long as he stayed somewhere relatively lively, his body would gradually recover.

"Hey, are you here alone?"

A short-haired girl in a leather skirt suddenly sat down on the leather sofa across from Wang Yiyang.

She had fair skin and wore a little purple off-the-shoulder sweater. Her shoulder-length hair was dyed dark red, and she wore light makeup.

She looked young, perhaps only eighteen or nineteen. But as she sat on the sofa, she crossed one leg over the other with a practiced air.

The pose gave her the casual impression of someone familiar with her surroundings.

It also helped keep her skirt from riding up.

"Who are you?" Wang Yiyang's voice still hadn't fully recovered, and came out slightly hoarse.

The girl smiled.

"You looked kind of pitiful drinking alone, so I thought I'd keep you company."

Without waiting for a reply, she opened the bottle on the table, asked the server to bring over a clean glass, and poured herself a drink.

"How about it? One hundred an hour." The girl grinned and downed her glass.

Wang Yiyang immediately understood. She was a bar hostess, paid to keep customers company while they drank.

People like her encouraged customers to order more drinks from the bar in exchange for a commission.

They dressed themselves up to stir men's hormones, then teased them with a few words, making male customers splash out and order all kinds of drinks.

On an ordinary day, Wang Yiyang might have turned her down outright.

But today, he didn't want to drink at all. He just wanted to sit quietly and watch someone else drink.

"Sure, you can drink. I'll ask the questions, and you'll have one drink for each answer, no matter the price." Wang Yiyang spoke calmly.

The girl was taken aback, then a flash of delight appeared in her eyes.

"Sure. What do you want to ask? You can even ask something a little naughty~" She leaned forward a little boldly, showing off her cleavage.

"Your name."

"Nai Nai." The girl quickly filled her glass to the brim with red wine and downed it.

"Can I order my own drinks?" she asked.

Wang Yiyang waved a hand, giving her permission to do as she pleased.

"Your age?"

"Nineteen." Nai Nai quickly downed another glass and added a bottle of the most expensive red wine on the menu.

She wasn't shy about it. She knew she'd found a big spender.

Wang Yiyang didn't mind. Given his current identity, buying up all the bar's liquor would have been a drop in the bucket.

He dipped a finger into the drink and drew a circle on the table.

"Why don't you go to school?"

Nai Nai quickly poured herself another glass and replied without a care.

"What's the point of studying? You still end up working for someone else after you graduate. I make more money than that."

"Do you like this kind of life?"

"Of course. It's easy money, it's an easy life, and it lets me enjoy myself more. Why wouldn't I like it?" Nai Nai had another drink.

Wang Yiyang drew another circle on the table.

"Do you like drinking?"

"It's okay, but I don't feel very good if I drink too much." Nai Nai opened the most expensive bottle and filled her glass.

"So what you like is money, but you dislike drinking?"

"I guess... maybe." Nai Nai kept drinking.

Wang Yiyang drew another circle.

"You know, don't you? Dislike and disgust are connected."

"Is that so?" Nai Nai poured herself another drink, though by now the circles Wang Yiyang was drawing on the table had begun to catch her attention.

"Are you starting to feel a little sick?" The number of circles Wang Yiyang drew was steadily increasing.

"...A little." Nai Nai's movements as she poured herself another drink gradually slowed.

"I think you don't actually find the alcohol disgusting. You find yourself disgusting."

"..." Nai Nai paused, then gritted her teeth and poured herself another drink.

Wang Yiyang slowly stopped moving his index finger. The entire table was covered in circles he had drawn with the drink.

The dense circles made for an unsettling sight.

"Do you remember why you left school in the first place?"

Wang Yiyang looked up, a strange light faintly reflected in his eyes.

"Because I got bad grades. What other reason could there be?" Nai Nai murmured.

"Do you want to go back?"

"No." Nai Nai downed yet another drink.

"Then, did you miss home?"

The hand Nai Nai held her drink in began to tremble.

She didn't take a sip for a long time. She just held the glass suspended in midair, frozen.

A few seconds later, she abruptly set it down, lowered her head, and buried both hands in her long hair, letting out a pained whimper.

"I'm sorry... Dad... I'm sorry... It wasn't my fault..."

In just a few seconds, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Tears, snot, and saliva streamed down together, dripping onto her short skirt like water from a broken thread.

She remembered being little, throwing a tantrum because she wanted a doll from a shop. Her father had risked crossing the street outside the crosswalk to buy it for her.

Then there had been a car accident, and he had fallen in a pool of blood.

Back then, she had been so desperate, so full of pain.

She seemed to have fallen into some kind of hallucination of her own, completely losing awareness of her surroundings.

Wang Yiyang fell silent for a moment, then stood up and reached out to gently place a hand on Nai Nai's head.

He said nothing. After paying the bill, he turned and left.

In the lower-right corner of his vision, a new line of text slowly flickered into view.

'Tasdak Symbol Hypnosis: Activated.'