Chapter 18: Entering the Apocalypse, Part 3

Page 1/3
In the midst of a dark world, gray mist began to materialize all around me.
Though it felt like “surrounding me,” I could no longer locate my own body. Within this realm shrouded in gray fog, I became like the “ghost perspective” after a character’s death in an electronic shooting game—unable to feel my limbs, unable to speak or move, unable to breathe or blink; unable to smell or hear anything.
I didn’t even know if it was because I couldn’t perceive my physical form, but at that moment, I no longer experienced any emotional fluctuations. I should have been shocked and terrified, yet somehow, I had already accepted it all, facing this mysterious space with an unexpected calmness.
After a brief pause, I tried to control the rotation and forward movement of my viewpoint.
Lacking any points of reference, I couldn’t tell if I was moving; I merely focused all my attention on the thought of “moving.” Perhaps I was indeed advancing—I had to trust that for now.
After an unknown span of time, something new appeared before me.
About several dozen meters away, I saw eight chairs carved from white stone. Of course, “several dozen meters” was merely a sense of distance, since no reference points existed. Seven of those stone chairs were larger than ordinary armchairs, arranged in a straight line; the eighth was twice as large and placed separately, facing the other seven.
On the largest stone chair sat an enormous figure, godlike in stature. The mist obscured details, so I couldn’t make out specific features or attire—only a shadowy black silhouette through the haze.
As I approached, I noticed two more shadowy figures occupying two of the other chairs; the remaining five seats were empty. These two figures sat on the far left chairs—the one on the farthest left was tall and slender; beside it was a smaller figure, delicate and childlike.
Compared to the godlike silhouette, these two appeared more human-sized.
Curiosity slowly stirred within me—who were they? Why were they seated here?
Despite having no supposed emotional activity, my curiosity was irrepressible.
Suddenly, I felt myself on the verge of awakening. This seemed to be a dreamlike realm, and regaining normal cognition would mean I could no longer remain in this dream.
At that moment, the tall, slender shadow on the far left appeared to notice me.
He abruptly turned his head and issued a low, hoarse voice: “Who’s there?”
“Hmm?” The small childlike figure also turned around.
The godlike figure remained motionless, like a statue.
Just as I was about to respond, I realized I shouldn’t be able to feel my mouth, and then all the chairs, along with the mist, vanished from my sight.
I had awakened.
I opened my eyes. The misty space was gone. I was still standing before the basement wall, holding the black jade stone in my hand.
—
Only then did a sudden chill break out over my skin.
What had just happened? Had I actually been standing and dreaming?
No, rather than dreaming, I had been dragged into some hallucinatory world...

Page 2/3
Was this black jade stone responsible?
I immediately placed the black jade stone on the ground, then quickly stepped back several paces, watching the mysterious object cautiously. Yet this time, it showed no supernatural power—just an ordinary stone resting on the floor.
No anomalies? But that thing clearly took control of my consciousness… No, it didn’t exactly control me; it didn’t pose any danger, merely forced me to undergo a strange hallucination without reason.
What did that hallucination mean? A realm filled with gray mist, eight stone chairs, three strange figures… Were they human? Or some incredible beings inhabiting that hallucinatory space?
There were too few clues to analyze anything. I could only pick up the black jade stone and move on.
I knew this black jade stone might harbor other mysterious dangers, but since I was already here, I couldn’t just discard it. If it were undeniably hazardous, that would be another matter, but since I couldn’t determine its nature for now, I had to take it back for thorough study.
If I feared danger and avoided strange things, I would never have come to this basement in the first place.
I intended to continue investigating the basement for a while longer. Although I estimated tonight’s gains would be limited—the basement was utterly empty, with nothing hidden or ambiguous. The “fireflies” I placed around had thoroughly scanned the space. Still, this was a “space that did not exist in reality,” and its mere existence fascinated me.
Suddenly, I sensed something amiss. Compared to when I first entered, something had changed in the basement. Something crucial—
I spun around abruptly.
The staircase I used to descend had vanished, and the ceiling was now perfectly smooth, with no sign of any entrance or exit!
A terrifying chill surged through me, as if several ice-cold cockroaches were crawling from my tailbone, up my spine, to the back of my head.
The exit had disappeared? Why?
I had been monitoring the staircase and exit with the “fireflies” all along—when had it vanished?
Was it during the hallucination?
I immediately checked the spot where the stairs had been, but no matter how I examined it, there was no sign that stairs had ever existed there. The ceiling too—down to its subtle concrete texture—seemed as if it had always been like this.
Absurd beyond belief: if there was no entrance from the start, how had I come down?
I had to calm down and think carefully about what to do next.
The appearance and disappearance of this cave must follow some predetermined pattern; once I discovered that pattern, I should be able to reopen the exit.
However, “all things exist by law” is a principle humans have deduced from nature, while I am facing an event that defies common reason. So perhaps there is no pattern at all, and all my reasoning is futile.
Indeed, the cave appeared within a ritual array, and the ritual array was manmade. But Agent Kong had mentioned that the ritual array itself did not possess the function to open the cave. This might be an unknown phenomenon beyond the understanding of fallen demon hunters—beyond human realms.
By tomorrow morning, the demon hunter woman would come to the fifteenth-floor room. Whether she intended to dismantle the ritual array or open the floor of the fifteenth floor, she would ultimately resolve the cave anomaly in her own way.
In that case, I would never see the cave reopen, doomed to be trapped forever in this space that did not exist in reality.
A true dead end!

Page 3/3
Yet, this was a hardship I brought upon myself.
I would never utter weak regrets like “If only I had known…”—at least not now. I must think positively. Perhaps this is a trial; sometimes one must place oneself in a desperate situation to truly understand oneself. Haven’t I always wanted to see how I would perform when facing hopeless peril? Now is that crucial moment.
First, let me analyze the cave’s pattern of appearance. What had I done to cause the cave to disappear?
No, I should change my perspective... Could it be “because I did nothing that the cave disappeared”?
During the hallucination, I temporarily lost the ability to monitor the cave and stairs, and the cave and stairs vanished during that time... So could the answer be, “The cave disappears when unobserved”?
This hypothesis seems reasonable.
When Agent Kong knocked during the day, Chang’an temporarily covered the cave with a carpet. When the carpet was removed, the cave vanished. Undoubtedly, during that time, both Chang’an and I lost sight of the cave.
When Chang’an first encountered the cave anomaly, he temporarily left the fifteenth-floor room to confirm if the cave led to the lower floor. During that period, he surely lost observation of the cave. He then reported to the police, and the cave vanished after their arrival... But had he checked the cave again before calling? He never told me.
Even if my hypothesis is correct, I only know why the cave disappears; what I need is to make it reappear.
On that front, I have no clue.
What if the conditions for the cave to appear cannot be met inside the basement, but only outside it? Then I would be truly helpless. Should I hope that someone else will enter the fifteenth-floor room and, by chance, fulfill the conditions for the cave’s appearance? The problem is, nobody will come to the fifteenth floor now—except the demon hunter woman planning to end the cave anomaly.
Perhaps I need to shift my analytical approach again, broaden my perspective.
Why must I rely on a pattern without any clues to solve this predicament? I’m not an ordinary person without special powers—I’m a superpowered individual. Maybe I should try an “outside the box” move, attempt a brute force solution.
But... regrettably, my superpower doesn’t seem suited for this situation.
My powers excel at killing and destruction, but solving puzzles with them is like performing delicate surgery with a chainsaw—it would only cause chaos.
Speaking of brute force, there’s a question I never considered before.
This basement is a “space that does not exist in reality”—so what lies beyond it? By “beyond,” I don’t mean the fifteenth-floor room accessible through the cave exit, but the “other side of the walls.”
I don’t believe breaking through the walls would lead directly to the real world, but in this moment of desperation, any new discovery could be the key to breaking the stalemate.
More importantly, I’m curious.
With that thought, I stepped up to the wall and raised my right hand.
I unleashed my superpower.