Jin Xueli's Infinite Illusion's Virtual Guide

She had lost count of how many times she had fallen from a great height.

Sooner or later, under the combined effects of alcohol and a long fall, her heart would slam against her breastbone with the last of its strength-and then Jin Xueli would no longer exist.

But at least this time, she was still alive, though the blood her heart pumped so frantically lashed through her brain in waves, leaving her dizzy with every surge.

The hot alcohol turned to sweat and burst from her pores. The prickling heat across her back receded, leaving it cool and damp.

Perhaps Jin Xueli would never stop being afraid of jumping off buildings. But after so many jumps, she could at least keep herself from screaming when she landed-there was only her breathing, so heavy it verged on sobbing, while fear crawled and scratched inside her chest and throat like a hundred-legged insect.

Once again, she had landed in the same old place.

The smell of old dust hung in the room, bringing to mind cardboard boxes that had sat for years. It was dim, cool, and shadowy, but the darkness was not thick. It was like a half-drawn curtain she could reach out and pull aside, only to discover someone still hiding behind it.

Jin Xueli did not move.

The alcohol still rocked and buffeted her like waves growing inside her body.

She did not know who was watching over her, but no matter what position she jumped in, she always landed on her feet, like a cat favored by heaven.

She crouched where she was for a few seconds, then reached her right hand into the darkness, feeling for the wall. Every time she landed, she would steady her drunken steps against the wall to her right-if she turned on a flashlight and looked closely, she would probably see a glossy patch of wall where the oils from her skin had soaked in.

The instant her hand touched a smooth, square plastic plate, she jerked it back as if shocked. She cursed under her breath, her hairs standing on end with belated fear.

...You really can't guard against everything, she thought. Last time I came, the light switch wasn't on this wall.

Luckily, she had put no force into her hand and had not pressed that eager, impatient light switch.

Jin Xueli slowly walked into the corner, felt around, and found the faucet in the same place. She turned it on, cupped her hands, and drank several large handfuls of water. The faucet squeaked through two turns, and silence returned.

Unlike the food, the water in the Nest was generally safe.

Jin Xueli took a squashed doughnut and a can of coffee out of her bag.

Before jumping, she numbed her fear with as much alcohol as possible; after landing, she used fried food and coffee to dilute the alcohol as much as she could. Every time Jin Xueli entered the Nest, she had to go through the same routine.

She leaned in the corner and forced herself to finish the food despite having no appetite at all, then carefully put the empty can and paper bag back into her backpack.

Never leave your personal belongings in the Nest, even if they are only trash-that was a hunter's first lesson. Jin Xueli had forgotten when she had learned it.

Opposite the sink stood a locked storage cabinet.

After several attempts in the dark, she finally fitted the key into the lock. From behind the silently opening cabinet door, she felt out a cool, heavy, rectangular radio.

The crackle of static rose from the depths of the darkness and settled beside her. As she turned the dial to find the station, the static slowly became a man's voice.

"Welcome to the Nest 173 Radio," the man's voice said softly, as though he were about to tell a story. "This is 'Infinite Illusion’s Virtual Guide.' I'm your host."

No name, only "the host."

His-or perhaps its, since humans could not live in the Nest-entire identity seemed to exist only in relation to the radio station.

No matter when Jin Xueli turned on the radio, the first words she heard were always "Welcome to the Nest 173 Radio," as though the host were always waiting, and when a listener at the other end switched on the radio, they switched him on too.

"Today is Monday, November 16, 2026."

Time passed at the same rate in the Nest as in the human world. Jin Xueli glanced at her phone and confirmed it again.

Over a hundred ugly unread messages sat frozen on her phone screen. There was no signal, so no more texts were coming in.

"First, the news from the Nest."

In the darkness, Jin Xueli listened while waiting for the coffee and food to take effect. She was probably the only person who knew about this foothold, so she did not need to worry about anyone barging in.

Here in the Nest, where a single lapse in attention could mark the dividing line between life and death, she sat motionless, listening to the radio. When she thought about it, even she found it a little funny.

She was a hunter who worked alone, without the support of a family or faction, and the Phantasms she had managed to obtain before had all been low-grade things. In principle, she had no room to be choosy. She had to take any Phantasm she found and sell every one.

But this radio alone was something she would never sell to anyone-it was her lifeline.

"...I'm sure all residents who truly love the Nest will be delighted. An enormous threat to the Nest had only just begun to emerge before the efforts of all parties snuffed it out in time. We hope you'll share this good news with friends and family, if you haven't made them into dinner yet."

Jin Xueli listened absently. To be honest, she had not understood, much less known what the "enormous threat" referred to.

The broadcasts were not intended for humans. The host's audience was presumably the residents of the Nest, so she could not understand eight sentences out of ten.

As long as it sounded as though it had little to do with her, Jin Xueli could not be bothered to puzzle it out. The curiosity she had felt when she first got the radio had long since vanished completely after she had nearly died once.

She barely understood what she heard, but she still had to listen.

"A Toyota with the license plate MKA-388 has been parked outside the Blue Blue District Library for over seven days. The owner is requested to move it as soon as possible, or they will be added to the library's revenge list."

That plate sounds like a real Blackmoor City plate... Surely a hunter didn't drive a car in here?

If they haven't moved it in this long, they're probably dead.

The thought flitted past without leaving a mark on Jin Xueli's heart.

Being a False Image Hunter meant racing the darkness. Hunters swept under by the black waves sank forever into the depths of the Nest, and by now, there had been countless such hunters.

Sooner or later, she too would sink. She wondered what form her grave would take when it appeared before her.

"...Next, traffic conditions and map information."

Jin Xueli perked up. Much of the alcohol's effect vanished at once, and her head cleared. She hurriedly took out a pen and a fresh tourist map of Blackmoor City. Holding her phone between her teeth, she spread the map on the concrete floor by the faint light of its screen.

"First," the host said, slowing his speech as though he too understood how important this information was, "Fifth through One Hundred Ninetieth Streets remain unchanged and can be entered and exited normally today."

She immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

For better or worse, the Nest seemed alive, forever slowly mutating.

Before she had obtained the radio, Jin Xueli had needed to brace herself every time she entered the Nest. Even in a familiar place she had explored over a hundred times, on her next visit, she might still open a door and step into a strange room she had never seen before.

The Nest's layout resembled Blackmoor City's, but the resemblance was off-key and subtly warped. It was as though the Nest were a crooked, deformed reflection, distorted by light and shadow, with things that did not belong in this world growing from the shadows in its uneven gaps.

Was this a crack in the universe, the hell of legend, or a delusion inside a mad patient's mind?

Jin Xueli had come here more times than she could count, and she still did not know the answer.

After listening to enough broadcasts, she had learned a few things.

"Construction/renovation/repairs currently underway"-phrases like these meant that the place was changing.

"Attracting large numbers of visitors/a great place for a weekend outing"-absolutely do not approach; even the surrounding area had to be given a wide berth.

"Remains unchanged, may be entered and exited normally"-exactly what it sounded like. As long as she had familiarized herself with the layout and investigated the risks before, she could still trust her previous experience.

The thing Jin Xueli planned to use against the stalker was hidden on Ninety-Ninth Street, conveniently within the unchanged area. If everything went smoothly, it would take only two days to get from her landing point to Ninety-Ninth Street, retrieve it, and return to Blackmoor City.

Two days... She could not help giving a self-mocking laugh.

In terms of distance, the two places were at most fifteen kilometers apart. But in the Nest, covering fifteen kilometers in two days counted as unusually smooth progress.

By the time the traffic report ended, Jin Xueli's map was covered with circles and lines of various sizes, along with notes such as "Danger!" "Straight ahead," and "Bus available, but don't talk to the driver."

According to the experience she had gained by repeatedly risking her life, the broadcasts could be trusted.

If she decided to retire one day, this radio could probably fetch her at least a million dollars, couldn't it?

But Jin Xueli knew she could not retire-even with a million waiting for her, she could not bear to stop being a hunter. There were too many things in the world worth trying, her desires surged too fiercely, and she needed far more than a million dollars.

"I'm giving him far too much credit," Jin Xueli said, growing more annoyed the more she thought about it. "What gutter did a rat like you crawl out of, to deserve me bringing a Phantasm back to deal with you...?"

She put away the map and pen and was about to pick up the radio, which was playing "No. 1 on the Nest's Hottest New Songs Chart," from the floor-today's song was not too unpleasant, sounding like faint, long human shrieks amid a forest lashed by howling winds-when the "music" suddenly paused and stopped.

After all, with things like long, piercing shrieks, who knew which one was the last?

"What a soothing, melodious song," the host said softly. "I just received a call from a listener, so we'll now be adding an unscheduled special bulletin."

Jin Xueli's breath caught.

A "special bulletin"-she had heard only two since obtaining the radio.

The first had helped her find a fixed, hidden, safe private foothold: the little room she was in now.

Before that, she had not even known humans could bind themselves to a foothold in the Nest.

Previously, every time Jin Xueli opened a passage and dropped into the Nest, she had appeared in a public foothold like everyone else-the city hall, the Between the Backlight garden, St. Louis Hospital, and other such areas. Surrounded by hunters, residents, and still more unknown things, she had not even dared stay in one place long enough to finish her coffee.

The second time, the Phantasm she had obtained thanks to the special bulletin had bought her that home in Blackmoor City, somewhere ordinary people could never get near in their entire lives. In addition to paying for it, the buyer had signed an indefinite contract granting Jin Xueli the right to live in the apartment for as long as she lived.

At last, the third had come.

For a moment, the radio on the floor was the only thing left in Jin Xueli's vision. She forgot to breathe, her entire attention forming a hook that caught tightly on every word it transmitted.

"...After entering through Door D of the Museum of Modern Art, take the elevator on the left to basement level one."

The host's voice flowed slowly from the radio, as though drawing a map of the building's interior in her mind. "Remember, you must take the first elevator on the left. If the doors of the other elevators open, do not enter, do not look, and no matter what happens, pretend you don't know."

Although the broadcast's audience seemed to be the Nest's residents, there were always little details like these that made Jin Xueli feel the host was giving instructions to her-or rather, to the hunters listening to the broadcast.

"'Candle Tears,' in the exhibition hall on basement level one, is what you need to watch out for. As far as I know, it became a 'Phantasm' only recently... Some might call it one of the most powerful Phantasms since the Nest came into existence."

The host paused, as though he could feel Jin Xueli's pounding heart.

"To anyone who wants to investigate, take my advice. A human life is as flimsy as a cotton towel. There are too many torrents in this world, too unpredictable, crashing about without mercy. Amid their churning, humans can only be torn apart, swallowed, and flung toward a future they cannot see clearly by forces far greater than themselves.

"And Phantasms... are flash floods and tsunamis, storms and towering waves. They are genies that grant your wishes, and gods deaf to pleas..."

At that point, he stopped involuntarily, as though what came next was difficult to say.

For a moment, the dim room fell silent. The host did not breathe; Jin Xueli had realized that long ago.

There were only four or five sounds of breathing in the room, including her own, rising and falling in the darkness.

"Dear listeners, that concludes today's broadcast. Please stay safe, and we'll see you next time."

Jin Xueli stood dazed for a few seconds, then snatched up the radio and put it away again. Feeling around for the doorknob, she opened the door a crack and slipped out.

The Museum of Modern Art was in the direction she was heading.

First, she would go to the museum to look at the Phantasm mentioned in the broadcast, then head to Ninety-Ninth Street to fetch the thing she needed to deal with Anthony...

An extra day or two was no big deal.

Actually, Jin Xueli only had one chapter. There wasn't a second Jin Xueli chapter in my backlog, so I rolled my face across the keyboard and churned out four thousand characters... With a serving this size, I've done right by my conscience, haven't I?

I saw someone ask what Mai Minghe's English name was. Actually, Mai Minghe is of Chinese descent, and her Chinese name is simply Mai Minghe. But of course she has an English name too, and it's one I'm proud of. It sounds so lovely that I regret giving it to her-River Rye.

I really want to take it for myself (.

So what if she's my daughter? Isn't it only right for a daughter to give her mother a little something out of filial respect?

For minor supporting characters, like Anthony the stalker, I won't localize their names into Chinese. If you can't remember them, so be it. Coming up with names that sound good and stand out takes quite a bit of effort.

Writing on an iPad while away from home is so uncomfortable. Sigh, it's even affecting my performance.

Now I want an e-ink tablet again (.

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(End of chapter)