Volume 4 - CH 68.5

Fei and Mu Jiashi both agree that the tattered man in front of them has lost his memories as well. He seems to have entirely forgotten about the fact that he already got a piece of bread, that he already had food.

He feels like he did not, so he is still hungry, like how Wu Jian felt hungry a very short time after forgetting he has already eaten.

This is like some terrible curse, a curse that he will gain food but forget about it, ending up as much ado about nothing.

But… why? Are other survivors in the Nightmare similar? Why are the ruins causing this shadow of forgetting and endless exercise in futility to blanket the area?

The Missiontakers try whatever they could to spur the forgotten memories of the man of their previous meeting, but the man only impatiently denies it all along, and is now looking wary, no longer willing to cooperate.

Hugging the bread, he looks like he is nervous to get away.

Fei suddenly says, “someone has died.”

The man stops in place.

Fei observes the man’s micro-expressions and movements, while explaining, “someone pushed the person down from the building, but the killer has gone missing.”

“Shut up!” The man suddenly reveals a violent, angry look he has never shown before, while yelling at them, “you, stop pestering me! I know nothing!”

Fei is quite spooked by the reaction, and doesn’t react.

Mu Jiashi follows up instead, “but you actually know something, right? Was the dead person… someone you knew?”

The man almost wrathfully proclaims, “no, I know nothing! Stop pestering me!!!”

Then he forcefully drags his hunger-addled feet up to get away from them. He slowly disappears from view.

It seems he is once again headed to his self-proclaimed home off the southwest corner of the ruins, inside the fog.

Mu Jiashi stares at his retreating silhouette as he analyses, “it seems this Nightmare has another hidden rule… This man is also losing his memories, forgetting about the food he got and return to the Treasure Trove for food.”

Fei asks, “but, why?”

Mu Jiashi sighs and says, “I have no idea… the last run, we didn’t even realise he came back.”

Fei nods to say, “sorry about that, it’s on me,” she is apologetic as she continues, “I should have paid more attention to the ruins behind me when you were looking for the killer in the building…”

“Never mind the blame game,” Baldie impatiently interjects, “what we should be doing right now is going to the bookstore.”

Mu Jiashi nods.

Collector isn’t in any hurry to move, however, as he is observing the survivors busy as bees nearby, while inhaling some of the muddled, but distinctly recognisable air of the ruins of the apocalypse.

Then he asks, “do you not feel, how this Nightmare felt erratic in places?”

The rest of the Missiontakers turn their attention to him.

Collector, with shimmering eyes and a glowing smile, explains, “the amusement park people may say ‘Humans are Impurities of Earth,’ but why do they not have to look for food? Then there’s the dead person, who the bookstore owner says is punished by those people…

But why did that death not cause any visible changes to this Nightmare? And why did the other man keep looking for food fruitlessly? Do you not feel like, there might actually be no underlying logic to it? There is a very clear…

Sense of erratic delineation.”

Mu Jiashi asks, “delineation of what?”

Collector shrugs, and answers, “the area itself?”

“I know what you are trying to say,” Fei suddenly speaks up, “in this Nightmare, there is no single thread, or a single event, that links up the Nightmare;

it is much of a stretch if we say that the man who fell off the building is linking up the group of people from the amusement park, and the man that walks into the fog.”

Mu Jiashi slowly nods, saying, “the clues in this Nightmare so far can be described as erratic.”

Fei then follows up smoothly, “but in all Nightmares, there must be one single core that gives rise to the Nightmare itself——Giving rise to the fear or trauma of the Nightmare’s owner.”

“… That said,” Baldie then asks, “who is the owner of the Nightmare in the first place?”

The Missiontakers then look at each other, nonplussed.

Fei murmurs, “could it be that guy? Collecting food every day but still feel hunger; or a survivor of the amusement park who fears the apocalypse, or even fears the ruins itself? Or…” Then she suddenly comes up with another option, “the man that was pushed off the building?”

Wu Jian widens his eyes to say, “the dead person… the owner of the Nightmare?”

Collector has an intriguing smile on, commenting, “we can’t rule that out, especially since his death did not cause the Nightmare to restart. This is a clear enough sign that there is something wrong with him.”

Wu Jian meekly suggests, “it might just be part of the fixed plot…”

The rest of the Missiontakers all give him looks.

Wu Jian immediately shuts up.

Mu Jiashi then gives it some thought and idly suggests, “what if… it’s a book?”

When he says that, he is recalling the book Lin Qin returned to Xü Beijin; recalling the book’s cover of a bloodied piece of paper and a pen; recalling how, that day, at a certain intersection, he ran into the Tower resident holding a pen in his hand.

He then changes topic to say, “in this Nightmare, all that we write turns into nonsense, but there is still one bookstore here, with countless books inside——what would those books be like?”

Collector is the first to react, but is to his earlier point, and so asks with this shocked but also excited tone, “are you suggesting we might be experiencing events of a book?!” (TL: Going by Mu Jiashi’s answer of “what if it’s a book” to the earlier question of “who is the owner of the Nightmare)

Mu Jiashi shakes his head, and selectively mentions only his encounter with that particular Tower resident, and then says, “so not exactly, but I believe it is a direction that is possible to explore.”

Baldie isn’t interested in working through the leaps of faith in logic here, and just says, “then let’s hurry up and go.”

A short while later, the Missiontakers arrive in the bookstore.

Mu Jiashi takes a step forward, and tells Xü Beijin, who is sitting behind the counter, “owner, we’ve come looking for a book. A book, that we can read clearly.”

He observes this man with pale skin while asking, and notes that he seems to have the hints of a smile on his face.

… A smile? Why?

Mu Jiashi is now wondering once again, whether his image of Xü Beijin in the Tower, can really be applied to the man here inside of the Nightmare.

… Although Xü Beijin is just merely feeling touched, even proud of the intelligent thinking the Missiontakers have displayed thus far.

He, with this face that is almost gentle to a fault, is feeling so glad for the Missiontakers who have come to him for help, which in the Missiontakers’ eyes, merely resembles how a demon would look seeing prey fall right into his trap.

Well, technically, it’s similar in how they’re both reactions to ‘people coming to him.’

Mu Jiashi could almost be convinced his earlier thoughts about a key book is wrong at this point.

“A book?”

Xü Beijin repeats the word with a quiet tone.

Then, he abruptly breaks into a chuckle.

Then, using his long, pale, and elegant right hand placed on the counter, he lifts up his right index finger, to tap lightly on a particular book.