Artifact Report

Chapter 373 Brianna, Special Guest
Dreams never last, and neither do the styling done at beauty salons.

Brianna had never looked at herself in the mirror so intently: she pinched her ears, fumbled with her eyelids, tried to gently tug at her hair, and opened her mouth to examine her teeth and tongue for a while.

...Everything felt natural and real, as if this was how she had actually died.

It was as if she had simply stumbled into a kaleidoscope, into a room of mirrors, and every facet she had seen in the past was an illusion; in the midst of this confusion, she turned around and was caught off guard to see the real Brianna now.

This is how she should be, isn't it?

But the beautician said, "Don't cry again. It will ruin your hairstyle, and it won't last long anyway."

Brianna looked up blankly. She had heard the words, but couldn't understand them at first.

"As for the hairstyle, it's already quite good if it lasts for a few days after it's done." The beautician's eyes crinkled as she looked through the bandages. "If you like it, would you like to buy this travel kit? Just pat it on your face, and you'll have a ready-made hairstyle. This is my exclusive product."

“Is it...like that too?” Brianna asked, pointing to her face.

"Without my personal adjustments, the effect wouldn't be this good."

Brianna lay on the ground, silent for a moment. She thought she would be disappointed, resentful... but she wasn't.

She has climbed such a long way.

Like a weary traveler, she can finally close her eyes and sleep for a while under the starlight and on the waves, and that's enough—even if she wakes up tomorrow and is still a victim adrift in the ocean.

She said quietly and gently, "Then... for the effect of your styling products, please lean towards the direction of 'Golden Pear'."

The comfort of dreams cannot smooth out the roughness of the road, nor can it sweep away the pebbles and hard bricks that scraped and cut her body as she crawled.

Brianna knew very well that it was just a facade and, in the long run, it was of no use whatsoever; what she had to do, she still had to do.

As she hung the suit bag around her neck and had Vulture carry Jacqueline's body, preparing to leave the beauty salon, Brianna still dared not look at the mirrors on either side—they were full-length mirrors that reflected more than just faces.

In the corner of my eye, a faint, flesh-colored shadow scurried past like a long worm.

Brianna's heart still held a breath of almost gentle comfort; perhaps this was what people meant by "consolation."

She was reluctant to take off the "Briana" costume so soon, so she walked very slowly.

The vulture had nothing to do and didn't urge her on; it had only recently gained consciousness and was still curious about everything, so it just followed and watched whatever Brianna did.

By the time the 1.5 residents finally crossed half of the nest and returned to the red brick building where Jin Xueli had settled, it was already December 2nd. Brianna sat by the roadside again and carefully interrogated the vulture. Seeing that she really couldn't get any information about Jin Xueli's past, she sighed with some reluctance.

"Is my look okay?" She wanted to touch her face, but didn't dare, afraid of ruining the look.

“Quite complete,” Vulture replied, sizing her up, his own face gradually taking on the look of “Briana.”

“Take it back,” Brianna said. “Don’t force me to smash your face into the back of your head.”

The vulture's face, as smooth as quicksand, stopped, its eyebrows and half-mouth crooked.

She looked up at the red brick building and sighed again.

If the makeup were messed up, she could just go all out and slap the suit bag that looked even more like Kim Sulli on her face; but now that there were no makeup pieces, she really couldn't bring herself to do it...

A white, doughy shadow gradually emerged from the dimly lit window on the first floor.

The thing tilted its head, as if it were observing Brianna from afar.

Why are you looking at me? Brianna raised an eyebrow slightly.

It's one thing to not let people into the house, but does that mean people can't even sit on the street outside?

The thing kept staring, and gradually approached the window. Finally, it pressed its face against the glass, its hands covering its eyes. Its pale, doughy face was flattened by the glass—"Jin Xueli's" features seemed like hesitant shadows, sometimes swaying and projecting onto the pale face, sometimes disappearing completely.

Brianna's heart skipped a beat.

She looked at the dim sky and the ambiguous streetlights, then at the white dough in the window; for a moment, she was completely at a loss.

The nest always appears in inexplicable places, suddenly adhering to common sense and logic—as if it always finds a few fixed footholds at random, and continues to intensify the distortion, deformation, and absurdity within the existing framework of human society…

So... could it be that the thing in the house couldn't be clearly seen because of the poor lighting?

Does Kim Seol-ri know where she's headed? Is that so logically plausible that it's laughable? Probably not.

Otherwise, she wouldn't dare hide the fake image in the house.

Once Brianna made up her mind, she immediately turned around, climbed into the garden, went up the steps, and knocked on the door a few times.

The thing in the window moved to the door and lowered a face belonging to Kim Seol-ri towards her—"Kim Seol-ri" looked at her, full of confusion.

“Open the door,” Brianna gestured with her chin toward the doorway. “I need to go in and get something.”

The white dough pointed to its own face, gave a thumbs-up, then pointed at her, thumbs-down. Brianna's heart sank.

Halfway through pouring, the white dough suddenly stopped moving—it hesitated, its hand rising and falling in mid-air a few times before finally slowly retracting, as if unable to make a decision.

Is there still hope?

"My name is Jin Xueli. After successfully completing the 'slide screen' scenario in the nest, the promised reward is a room here."

Brianna wasn't sure if it could hear her or if it would be fooled, but trying wouldn't hurt. "Didn't I just enter the nest a few days ago and end up here?"

A hint of agreement appeared on "Golden Snow Pear's" face, and she even nodded. As if realizing she had agreed a little too quickly, she couldn't help but glance again at what was behind Brianna.

She knew perfectly well what it was looking at.

“I’ve been tricked,” Brianna said, “so I need to get in there quickly and use the illusion to save my life.”

Jin Xueli looked at her and finally shook her head violently.

...As expected, it didn't work. Brianna watched it retreat and disappear through the window, unable to suppress her disappointment. She hadn't fooled it after all...she and Jin Xueli still weren't similar enough.

Just as she was getting annoyed, she heard a "click" from behind the door, and the lock opened.

Brianna stared blankly as the door slowly opened, revealing a dark, desolate side room that seemed small—not the living room on the first floor she had imagined.

Can we go in now? Wasn't that nowhere-before-seen white dough ball just shaking its head?
She tentatively crawled slowly through the door, like a snake, silently slipping into the hazy darkness.

...The darkness was filled with people.

Brianna's heart pounded against her sternum, and her hair stood on end for a moment before she remembered that she was already dead and there was nothing to be afraid of.

She crawled forward a step, and sticky, dirty grime clung to her feet. Her insteps pressed against the ground, and her heels and ankles dragged and scraped, tearing the hem of her once beloved skirt. The ripped skirt resembled the cracking of a loved one's face. She took a step back.

Brianna squeezed her eyes shut to steady herself.

There are too many things in the darkness.

Each one screams and laughs in the deathly silence, at a frequency that humans simply cannot hear.

No wonder... no wonder the access control for this room wasn't very strict, and Kim Seol-ri felt comfortable hiding the illusion here.

For an average hunter, the moment they stepped inside, they would probably be doomed—because humans have difficulty sensing things in the dark.

The entire room seemed to be gasping for breath, screaming in utter despair, hating Brianna for wanting her eyeballs to receive light, why she couldn't turn on the lights, for wanting light to see, to be seen; they only wanted to be seen, and once seen, could never be erased.

"Get out!" Brianna thought. "Don't push me, don't crowd me!"

Even though they didn't physically hinder her movements, they still densely filled Brianna's mind, making even a simple thought difficult and sluggish.

She endured it, groped her way forward, and crawled forward little by little.

Even though my body is blocking the door, it can't close, yet the light from outside can't illuminate the room.

The room was cool and dark, with countless light switches sprang up, panting and sliding, playfully tapping and rubbing against her head, asking if she could press one of their switches, just once, just once, please.
The vulture said... Kim Sulli hid a fake in the closet and locked it.

Brianna didn't have a key, nor did she need one; she found the cabinet door hinges and pried the entire door off with a little force—as for whether Kim Seolli would notice, what a joke. Forget the illusion, Kim Seolli herself would be hers sooner or later, why would she care?

Sure enough, there was something there.

She reached out and touched it; it was square and cool to the touch, and it even had a—hey?

Carrying an old-fashioned antenna?

What could be carrying—wait, what am I touching now, is it the speaker grille?

In her excitement, Brianna's mind went completely blank, and it took her a few seconds to finally come to her senses.

...Is the target illusion, the "radio," in Jin Xueli's hands?

Throughout the entire city of Blackmore, none of the contestants realized that Jin Xueli, who seemed to pose the least threat, was actually holding a target illusion called "radio".
No wonder Kim Seol-ri, who had no resources whatsoever, was recruited into the game...

She understood why the white dough was shaking its head: it wasn't preventing her from entering; it was indicating that the illusion couldn't save her.

It was wrong; the illusion itself might not save her, but it was part of the way she was saved.

Brianna's mouth was a little dry. Just as she was about to reach for the radio, she suddenly heard a crackling sound from the radio, as if it had received a signal.

"Welcome to Nest 173 Radio,"

The radio waves gradually transformed into a male voice, lingering softly in the room. "This is 'The Virtual Guide to Infinite Illusions,' I'm your host. Today is December 5th, 2026, and we have a special guest for our program named Brianna."

(End of this chapter)