Artifact Report

Chapter 449 Brianna: The Vanished Illusion, the Appearing Person
Brianna's heavy blow passed through Shirley's neck almost without any resistance, hitting the air directly; the slap suddenly lost its force, almost making her fall forward—she quickly braced herself with her hands on the ground and stood up again.

Something fell into the grass in the small garden with a soft "thud".

Brianna stared blankly at the empty space in front of her, blinking a few times.

It wasn't entirely unexpected, since it had happened once before; but it wasn't entirely unexpected either, because it had already happened once before.

“…Jin Xueli?” she called out tentatively.

Of course, no one responded. The small garden was completely empty; there was no one else there but her.

The Kim Seol-ri who had just spoken to her seemed like a hallucination she was having in a daze.

She disappeared again? What happened? There was definitely a Jin Xueli here just now, right?

Brianna even waved her arms back and forth in the air a few times, as if Shirley Kim had simply become invisible.

He didn't hit Jin Xueli, but he hit his own hand on the iron gate.

...This time, Jin Xueli's disappearance should be unrelated to ???

Since this is the lair, the host shouldn't waste energy on it—even if he remodels the lair, so what?

It's already an unpredictable and bizarre place, so what difference does it make if it changes a bit more?
If Kim Seol-ri's "unbelievable condition" is unrelated to ???, then what caused it?
And what exactly happened to her? She disappeared as soon as she was hit, and then reappeared with amnesia?
Brianna couldn't think of an answer for a moment.

When Jin Xueli disappeared just now, it seemed that she dropped something... She looked down and searched in the grass, but stopped when she saw it.

She slowly picked up a cell phone and examined it repeatedly.

...Jin Xueli's cell phone?
Wait a moment.

Wait, wait, wait! The person with Kim Seol-ri's phone must be Kim Seol-ri herself. So, if something strange is impersonating her, wouldn't that be terrible? Where did they send the real Kim Seol-ri?
I'm so angry, I can't take it anymore, I feel so awful, I want to smash someone's face! A phone can't be damaged!

Brianna quickly let go, and before the phone even hit the ground, she had already swung her hand back and struck several times, bending the small garden gate with a bang—she grabbed the iron bar, tore it off, and flung it away.

The twisted and broken iron gate flew into the night and crashed heavily to the ground, the echoing sound momentarily drowning out Brianna's heavy breathing.

Calm down... calm down and think about it, it's a bit strange.

Jin Xueli had a lot of things on her, but her keys and clothes didn't fall off, except for her cell phone.
What about the rest?
Oh right—Briana suddenly realized—Jin Xueli came to get the radio, did the radio fall down?
She quickly searched the ground, but couldn't find it.

Sure enough, only one phone fell down... Brianna touched the screen, and a photograph of the night view of Blackmore City lit up.

2026年，12月6日，2:13AM
Face recognition unlock failed.

Brianna imagined how horrible she looked at that moment, compared to Shirley's thin, ethereal face, like a white pebble submerged in clear water.

That's probably what you call a world of difference.

Just as she was about to put her phone into the small bag around her neck, she suddenly remembered that there was also a "beauty makeup product" in the bag—it was a convenient makeup product that Brianna had specially asked the beautician to make for her based on Kim Sulli's appearance; as long as she patted it on her face, she would look 80 or 90 percent like Kim Sulli.

Brianna glanced at the half-open door in front of her.

If Kim Seol-ri didn't take the radio with her, then it's probably still in the room. She needs to transform into Kim Seol-ri's appearance to enter the house and search...

Are you going to use it now?
Although reluctant, Brianna knew that the illusion was more important; she took out the cosmetics and carefully put her face up to bury it in the white, clay-like "mask".

The "mask" instantly disappeared from her face; Brianna raised her phone, aimed it at the camera—the lock symbol—and this time it opened smoothly.

She casually scrolled through Jin Xueli's message list and found the latest one, a notification from the Nest Domination game to the players regarding the birth of ???.

After that, I received no further news.

Brianna turned off the phone's security lock screen, put it in the small pouch around her neck, and climbed into Shirley's room.

The bloody mess she left in the room is still splattered on every wall.

Jacqueline, no longer existing, had turned into countless tiny fragments, meant only for the creatures of the nest to suckle; she could almost hear countless things invisible to the naked eye, nibbling at every corner of the room.

Brianna opened the cabinet with practiced ease, reached inside and glanced around—she paused, stunned.

She stood up, turned on her phone's flashlight, and ignored the pair of bare feet standing on the cabinet, only carefully scanning the inside of the cabinet—yes, it was empty.

The radio is missing.

Brianna stood there, stunned, screams replacing the blood rushing through her mind.

What happened? Who took it? Did it disappear along with Kim Seol-ri?

What if they all disappeared? No, that's impossible. She couldn't possibly have a radio on her.

That old-fashioned radio was heavy, square, and bulky; it wasn't something you could just casually stuff into your pocket.

When Jin Xueli opened the door, she was empty-handed and had no backpack on her...

It was taken by a third party?
Is Kim Seol-ri mentally challenged? If it had been taken by a third party, she didn't look anxious or panicked at all when she opened the door just now—no, it's impossible that it was taken by a third party.

Because neither she nor Kim Seol-ri received the notification on their phones.

Once the target artifact changes hands, the Nest Domination game will send a notification to each player, informing them which artifact it is and who has it—just like when Brianna had her black piece stolen by Chess last time.

Since there was no notification of transfer, it means the radio is still in Jin Xueli's possession...?
But Jin Xueli clearly didn't have it on her... Did she hide it somewhere else?

Yes, she said she had made an appointment with a friend, so it's possible she moved the radio to a different location beforehand, which is why she felt comfortable meeting the person here...

Brianna has suffered so many misfortunes and setbacks tonight that if they were laid out, they could fill almost a lifetime for someone else.

When it's difficult to stay rational, it's no wonder that she was slow to realize that it was only now that she slowly remembered that sentence.

"I made an appointment with a friend."

Kim Seol-ri made an appointment with someone. A hunter with access to the area.

Brianna opened her mouth, then immediately shut it tightly. Fear was like a large, slippery snake, coiled tightly around her internal organs; if she opened her mouth, it would force her to vomit up everything churning and screaming inside her.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry! It's over, it's over, it's over! What if, what if, what if...
She turned her head and scrambled toward the door; her palms were cold and slippery, and she lost her grip and dropped her phone.

It felt like someone was tightening a wire around her neck, circle after circle. No scream could escape her body. Tears welled in her eyes, her back was covered in cold sweat, and she couldn't see anything. She groped around on the ground several times but couldn't even grab her phone.

Walk quickly, walk quickly, walk quickly
求求你了
She didn't know who she was pleading with.

There's only this one thing, please don't, please don't, I beg you, please don't!

As long as they get out now, crawl away immediately, even if they leave a piece of their body behind, it doesn't matter, because she never described it in detail—

"...Jin Xueli?"

As Brianna crawled out of the room and into the back hall, before she even reached the door, a voice pierced the darkness.

She lay motionless in the dimly lit hallway, too afraid to move.

No, no, no
If she remained silent and motionless, fate might overlook her and let her go.

"Jin Xueli?"

The sound drew closer. The person stopped where the iron gate to the small garden had been standing, and with a soft "click," the safety latch on the pistol was released.

“There is a resident here who has entered your room.”

After two unanswered calls, her voice completely changed—cold and rational, like she was giving a report. "Jin Xueli, no matter what happened, if you can still hear me, don't be afraid, I'll come in right now."

No!

Brianna clenched her teeth so tightly that they almost clicked together as she trembled violently. She hunched her shoulders, curled up, and buried her face in her hands.

No! Don't see me! Don't come to save her!

Morando was approaching the doorway step by step, his steps cautious and steady.

Don't come to save her. Don't see me. Don't come to save her. Don't come to save her.

Why are you still moving forward? Is Kim Seol-ri important to you?

Brianna's face was buried in her hands.

Ah, yes, this is already Kim Seol-ri's face.

Ah, she's so scared and in so much pain, but there are actually solutions.

Honestly, the solution was right in front of me, why didn't I think of it then? Instead of cowering in the gutter alone, trembling with fear, why not just kill Morandall? Kill Morandall and make her die a gruesome death, becoming a resident alongside her, forever keeping her company in her lair. Kill her, kill her!
Wouldn't that make everything perfect?

Brianna opened her mouth.

After her death, her vocal cords dried up and wore down, and her voice bore almost no resemblance to Brianna's when she was alive. Naturally, it didn't sound like Shirley Kim either—but that didn't matter.

She slowly crawled forward a few steps; upon hearing a rustling sound, Morando outside immediately stopped.

"Molando..."

Brianna let out a soft cry.

It felt like a lifetime ago. It turned out that she had another chance to call her name in this lifetime; and the last time she called that name was to send its owner to the underworld.

With that trembling cry, Brianna slowly peeked out from the shadows behind the door—it was Kim Selena's face.

She finally saw Morando.

She finally saw Morando.

She really wished she could keep watching forever.

She wished someone could just rip Morandow's image off her retina so she would never have to see it again.

"No, don't come in...there's a trap inside..."

Morando lowered his gun slightly when he saw Jin Xueli's face. She didn't move at all, but quickly scanned the inside and outside of the room—her eyes turned into the darkness, like the rippling sea, flashing with light before dimming again.

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Please..." Brianna's eyes were half-open, feigning a state of near collapse from her injuries. "Pull...pull me out...I can't hold on any longer..."

Morando was tense, staring at Brianna's body in the doorway, as if afraid that her back would suddenly attack.

...I don't recognize you anymore.

She was so eager to save Shirley. She took a few steps up the stairs, still on high alert, and quickly crouched down outside the door, extending a hand to Brianna.

Actually, we could have removed her head right now.

But Brianna couldn't control herself.

She reached out and placed her hand in Morandall's; after several years, she finally held her hand again, their hands intertwined, and they cried to each other, promising never to say goodbye again.

Morando suddenly lowered his eyes.

late.

"...Why do you think that is?"

Brianna murmured, her other hand forming a sharp blade, which she plunged into Morandall's abdomen.

(End of this chapter)