Artifact Report

Chapter 323 Kim Seol-ri: The Temptation of Succumbing to Temptation

Why don't you leave?

Jin Xueli almost heard the angry scream in her mind—she knew she had no reason to be angry, but for a moment, she almost yelled at the bushes.

Did the residents eat their brains?
It took her three hours to get to the phone booth. Jacqueline had so much time, why did she have to stay here?

Why talk to yourself?
Why did you let Kim Seol-ri know her location?

“You…you are human,” the female voice from the bushes said with a hint of certainty, as if she had grasped a rope. “I can feel it…you are human…please, help me.”

"Don't come out!"

Jin Xueli gave a low shout, and the sliver of flesh that had been barely visible through the swaying branches froze in the dim light of the bushes. Only with great difficulty could the shape of a hand be vaguely discerned.

"I am not one of those monsters, I swear..."

She was wrong; Kim Seol-ri would love for her to be a resident.

He hoped that what she just said was just an act, a trap to lull him into a false sense of security.

If the other person wasn't Jacqueline, but just a resident, she could manage to cope with the gnawing disappointment in her heart; but if it really was Jacqueline who emerged from the bushes…

The public phone was right behind me.

"Just don't come out, or I'll treat you like a resident," Jin Xueli said through gritted teeth.

As long as she couldn't see the woman's face in the bushes, she couldn't be 100% sure that it was Jacqueline.

If you're not sure, you can't just accept the bounty without knowing, right?

"Residents? You mean those monsters? I'm really not a resident,"

The woman seemed to have been crying; her voice was still slightly nasal. "I don't know why, I suddenly found myself here. At first, I thought this was Blackmore City—"

“Stop talking,” Kim Seol-ri murmured.

The other person didn't hear her and kept saying that his back hurt a lot from being hit, and that he thought he had also been hit on the head, which was why he couldn't remember how he got there; Jin Xueli had to raise her voice, almost shouting, "Stop talking!"

The woman's voice choked, and she fell silent.

Jin Xueli stared blankly at the bushes. When the other person stopped speaking, she too was speechless for a moment.

She didn't know what to do.

She couldn't turn away, nor could she tell the woman to move further away, and she certainly didn't want to face her...

Moreover, deep within her chaotic thoughts, there was always one idea, like a strong, bright red heart, throbbing and leaping, tightening and releasing, washing over her surging blood.

Nine million, nine million, nine million...

One hundred million.

Jin Xueli's eyes were tight and burning.

“…I know, I must have startled you by suddenly talking to you.” The woman in the bushes took a deep breath, seemingly suppressing her panic. “I am a person, and I am a rich person.”

……what?

Could she really be a resident? Realizing the thoughts in my mind, I decided to address them accordingly.
This conjecture sounds absurd, but even more absurd things are common in the lair.

"You seem to know this place very well, and you're handling things with ease. How about I make you an offer?"

The woman's panic subsided noticeably, as if anything involving "money" was something she was familiar with and comfortable doing in her backyard.

Kim Seol-ri felt that she no longer seemed like a resident.

“Tell me what this place is all about, and I’ll give you $50,000. If you can get me out of here and take me home, I’ll give you another $200,000. How about it? As long as this isn’t hell, money has value, right?”

No hunter would think this price is low—250,000 is indeed a very good price.

But Jin Xueli couldn't bring herself to nod.

"You don't believe me?" The woman misunderstood her silence, chuckled, and said, "A mere two hundred thousand or so, you think I don't have it?"

"Do not……"

"What else could it be?" the woman said. "I'm not like the average rich person... 250,000, ha."

As she spoke, there was a rustling sound in the bushes; just as Jin Xueli tensed her back muscles, she saw a small thing suddenly thrown out from the branches and leaves, spinning in the flashlight beam, flashing a bright white light, and then falling to the ground with a "thud".

It is a ring.

Jin Xueli remembered that when the radio reward description mentioned Jacqueline, it said that she was wearing a wedding ring.

"Consider this your collateral. I don't know if you know anything about jewelry, but this ring alone is worth more than two hundred thousand. You can return it to me after you receive your payment, how about that?"

Kim Seol-ri didn't touch the ring. She decided to give it a try.

"What if... what if I ask for a higher price? Can you afford it?"

"...How many do you want?"

"Nine million."

The woman in the bushes was silent for a moment. "Are you crazy?"

She seemed impatient to continue talking to Jin Xueli from behind the bushes. She pushed aside the branches and leaves, and before Jin Xueli could speak, she had already crouched down and stepped out, standing in front of the bushes and straightening up. Jin Xueli's flashlight beam lingered on the other woman's face for a few seconds, making her frown and squint—before the other woman could protest, she lowered the beam and was momentarily stunned.

When she was on the scaffolding, she couldn't see the woman's face clearly because she was too far away, so she couldn't compare her to the woman in front of her.

However, Jin Xueli remembered that the radio bounty clearly stated that Jacqueline was wearing yoga pants, but the woman in front of her was wearing an ill-fitting, loose long skirt.

"Do you think rich people are all fools? I know the value of nine million, but it seems you don't quite understand. Even if I agree to it now to go home, do you think I'll actually honor it later? Impossible. I'm just stating the facts."

The woman shook her head and muttered, "The poorer a person is, the less they realize what real money is."

Could it be that she isn't Jacqueline at all?

Jin Xueli was unsure whether to be happy or not. After a few seconds of hesitation, she tentatively called out, "...Jacqueline?"

Unexpectedly, the woman jolted awake and looked up, staring intently at Jin Xueli. "You know me?"

Jin Xueli's mouth was half open, unable to speak.

It's so painful; wave after wave of hope and fear, pulling, pushing, and clashing.

Countless opposing thoughts intertwined tightly, forming an inseparable bond.

But a human life is at stake—so what? Human life is the cheapest thing in the den.

Even if Jacqueline's location information could earn a bounty, it might not be enough to earn nine million—but if we don't report it, we definitely won't get anything in return, right?

Betraying her would surely leave me with a guilty conscience—but if I let her go, who knows if I won't be filled with unbearable regret in the future?
Ultimately, all I want is the stock solution; I don't necessarily need to involve Jacqueline—how can I find the stock solution without using Jacqueline? Should I ask each resident one by one?

“…Hey? What are you spacing out for?” Jacqueline snapped her fingers and called out.

Jin Xueli realized that she had been talking for a long time, but she hadn't heard a word of it.

"You...did you change your clothes?"

After finally getting to the point, they asked about unimportant details.

"How did you know?" Jacqueline asked suspiciously, but still explained, "I've been here for hours. There don't seem to be that many monsters in this park."

She has good observation skills; no wonder she was able to stay in the nest for two or three days.

"But I felt uneasy staying in the open all the time... I wanted to find a place to spend the night, but I saw a billboard on the way."

Jacqueline sniffed hard; the fear she had just suppressed slowly seeped back in. "It was a clothing ad... Levi's jeans. But... but the model was wearing the jeans upside down. A head was popping out of the unzipped zipper, and there were two hands under the pant legs... It looked like she was upside down, but there was nothing above the pants."

She instinctively covered her neck.

“When I saw it, I just felt disgusted and quickened my pace... and then…” Jacqueline swallowed back a dry heave and said in a breathy voice, “I… don’t think I’m crazy, I’m not. I really… I really saw a hand slowly emerge from my trouser leg and gently press on my shoe.”

Inside the yoga pants, the shape of one arm appears even more distinct and prominent.

According to her, the thought that a human head might slowly grow out of her pants was enough to drive her to the brink of collapse. She didn't care about anything else, screaming and kicking desperately, but she couldn't kick the hand away. Finally, she ripped her pants off and threw them away. She couldn't bear to look at them and turned and ran away.

"I picked this skirt out of a used clothing recycling bin. Although wearing other people's old clothes feels disgusting, at least it's better than going bare-legged. At least, nothing will grow out of the skirt."

Jacqueline rubbed her face vigorously.

"Let's get back to the point. Although I don't know exactly where this place is, I do know a little bit."

She took a deep breath and regained her confidence.

“In this world, money is the foundation, even the ultimate solution, to all problems. I’m willing to raise the price for you, but let me make it clear beforehand that I’m not stupid. I know that money is a good thing not only in Blackmore City, but also here. Even if you try to raise the price and refuse to cooperate with me, there are definitely other people here who are willing to take me out.”

Jacqueline wasn't wrong; if she encountered any other hunter, returning to Blackmore City would no longer be a problem.

She suddenly realized that something Jacqueline said sounded a bit strange.

"Money is a good thing here?" Jin Xueli thought of the hundred million in the trash can. "Who told you that? Money here is completely useless."

Kim Seol-ri is easily distracted. In a piece of information, the parts that are explained as key points are often the easiest to understand, and once she understands them, she immediately puts the main information aside.

Some seemingly insignificant details, if not explained clearly, can actually grab her attention—which is why people often think that Kim Seol-ri is someone who can't grasp the main point.

Judging from her expression, Jacqueline seemed to share the same feeling.

"Impossible. If the goal isn't money, why would they advertise?"

Jin Xueli was taken aback. The countless thoughts that had been raging and surging within her seemed to freeze as they tumbled into the air—she couldn't help but laugh.

“You’ve got it wrong. The purpose of that jeans ad isn’t money.” She pointed to her own pant leg and said, “One of its purposes is to let a pair of hands slowly crawl out of your pants.”

Jacqueline's face turned pale, and she shook her head vigorously, as if in disbelief.

“But… that was just one of the ads.” She frowned. “What about the others? I’ve seen billboards for fortune tellers and massage parlors, and I’ve even heard radio ads inviting listeners to participate in some kind of prize draw… Since there’s this kind of business activity, it’s obviously because they want money too.”

Jin Xueli stood still for a few seconds, then licked her lips.

It turns out that succumbing to temptation is itself such a powerful temptation.

She couldn't help but ask.

She has no bones in her body, no memories in her mind, and in her twenty-eight years of life, no experience has been able to help her stand firm, keep her lips tightly shut, and not ask that one question.

"...Do you know how to call a radio program?"

(End of this chapter)