Chapter 14
Chapter 14
At the Longguo Department of Supernatural Affairs.
Everyone except Elder Qin, who stood with his back to them, was exchanging glances.
At last, an old man broke the silence.
“We underestimated Su Chen. That young man is no simple character. Tell me, which of you saw through that trap beforehand?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Elder Qin, did you realize long ago that Su Chen was hiding his true ability?”
The old man looked toward Elder Qin at the head of the room as he asked.
Elder Qin turned around with a chuckle.
“No. I was merely willing to place some trust in Su Chen. After all, judging a person by their file can never be as reliable as watching their actions.”
“And so what if he were slow-witted? When Longguo faced its darkest hours, didn’t countless other ‘fools’ perform miracles no one could believe?”
“So, comrades, set aside your prejudices. Only by remaining sufficiently objective can we properly support him.”
Many faces flushed red at his words.
They lowered their heads in shame.
But the people of Longguo had the courage to admit when they were wrong.
Their fighting spirit soon blazed anew.
Their hero was risking his life. They would make certain to support him.
“Our primary line of investigation is now the Aquarium. That may be the true exit. We must find a viable method as quickly as possible.”
As Elder Qin spoke, his clouded eyes swept over the room.
Everyone his gaze passed immediately straightened, standing rigidly upright.
They answered in unison.
Then they plunged back into the painstaking work of analyzing the data.
Elsewhere, Su Chen was following the paths on the map toward the Elephant Enclosure.
In the distance, he saw Kim Siba of Kimchi Nation staring blankly toward it.
Once Su Chen made out his appearance, he paused.
The pair of snow-white rabbit ears was impossible to miss.
Su Chen knew the man’s perception had been contaminated, and severely so.
His appearance also allowed Su Chen to roughly infer some of “Its” methods of killing.
Then Su Chen remembered what had happened when they first entered the Horror World that day.
Kim Siba had tried to set him up.
He had told Su Chen to trust only Rule One.
But the man might never have imagined the truth.
Rule One was actually the soundest rule of all.
An arrogant, obstinately opinionated person was actually safest here.
Their perception was the most stable.
Su Chen wondered what expression Kim Siba would make if he learned the truth.
At that thought, an idea stirred.
The scene of Longguo’s Chosen One being betrayed in the previous Horror World remained vivid in his memory.
Courtesy demanded reciprocity.
Longguo was a nation of ceremony and etiquette.
Its generosity knew no bounds.
Why not tell Kim Siba the truth?
A cold gleam flashed through Su Chen’s eyes.
Then he put on his familiar, guileless smile.
He strode toward Kim Siba.
“What are you looking at?”
Su Chen stopped one meter away and asked the question.
At the sound of his voice, Kim Siba turned his head stiffly and looked at Su Chen.
He opened his mouth as if to speak.
But after a long while, no words emerged.
Seeing him like this made everything even clearer to Su Chen.
Kim Siba’s perception was clearly on the verge of collapse.
That made the situation even better.
“Kim Siba, I found a hidden rule. The black text is true. The blue rules are false.”
Su Chen spoke in a whisper.
Kim Siba’s body visibly trembled.
He stared fixedly at Su Chen in disbelief.
At the same time, his hands rose with the rigid motions of a zombie and reached toward Su Chen.
It looked as though he meant to seize him.
Su Chen stepped back again.
With a smile, he dropped a bombshell.
“Are you a rabbit or a human? Are you a human or a primate?”
Only the two of them could hear those softly spoken words.
They exploded like a bomb in Kim Siba’s mind.
“Ah… ah… oh…”
Pain twisted Kim Siba’s face into a knot.
His hands curled into claws and raked viciously across his own face.
As his fingernails raked downward, several bright-red scratches appeared across his face.
Then he began tearing handfuls of hair from his head.
Clumps flew through the air.
That was not all.
Kim Siba’s eyes grew redder and redder, as though blood were about to drip from them.
Then something bizarre happened.
The rabbit ears that had seemed to exist in another dimension suddenly made contact with his hands.
Su Chen narrowed his eyes at the sight.
He turned and left, continuing toward the Elephant Enclosure.
He knew Kim Siba could no longer be saved.
His perception had already been contaminated and stood at the edge of a cliff.
Su Chen had now told him that the blue text was wrong.
Whether Kim Siba believed him or not, his perception was bound to waver again.
At that exact moment, Su Chen had asked the crucial questions.
Are you a rabbit or a human? Are you a human or a primate?
Kim Siba’s perception was already drawing closer to “Its.”
Naturally, he could not answer.
After all, “It” could not distinguish humans from primates.
For that reason, Kim Siba’s perception would continue to fluctuate violently.
Until…