In a dark world, gray mist began to emerge all around me.

To say it surrounded "me" might not be entirely accurate, as I couldn’t locate where my body was. In this realm filled with gray mist, I felt like I was in the "ghost perspective" mode after dying in a first-person shooter game. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet, couldn’t speak or move, couldn’t breathe or blink. I couldn’t smell anything, nor could I hear anything.

Perhaps it was because I couldn’t perceive the existence of my body, but I found that even my emotions were utterly still. Ordinarily, I should have been shocked and terrified, yet somehow, I had already come to terms with it all, facing this mysterious space with an unprecedented sense of acceptance and equanimity.

After pausing for a moment, I began to try controlling my perspective, willing it to rotate or move forward.

Without any points of reference, I couldn’t tell if I was actually moving. I simply focused all my attention on the thought of "move." Maybe I was indeed advancing now; I could only trust in that possibility.

I don't know how much time passed, but eventually, something new appeared in front of me.

About several dozen meters away, I saw eight chairs carved from white stone. Of course, "several dozen meters" is also an imprecise way of describing it, just a feeling I got. These eight stone chairs, seven of which were larger than ordinary armchairs, were arranged in a straight line. The eighth chair was even bigger, about twice the size of the others, and it was placed separately, facing the other seven.

On the largest of these stone chairs sat an extraordinarily massive figure, resembling a god. Because of the mist, I couldn’t clearly make out the specific features or clothing, only a black silhouette blurred by the fog.

As I got closer, I noticed that there were also figures on the other stone chairs, but only two of them, while the other five seats were empty. The two figures sat on the two seats to the left. The one on the farthest left was a tall and slender shadow; next to it, in the seat right beside, was another shadow, small and childlike in appearance.

Compared to the god-like figure, these two shadows had a physique that at least resembled that of a normal person.

Slowly, a feeling of curiosity began to arise within me—who were they? Why were they sitting here?

Although I wasn’t supposed to be experiencing any emotions right now, my curiosity was unstoppable.

Suddenly, I felt like I was about to wake up. It seemed like this was just a dreamlike realm, and regaining my normal mental faculties meant that I wouldn’t be able to continue dreaming.

At that moment, the tall, slender shadow on the far left seemed to notice my presence.

He suddenly turned his head, letting out a deep, hoarse voice: "Who’s there?"

"Hmm?" The small, childlike figure next to him also turned around.

The god-like massive figure remained completely still, like a statue.

I was about to respond to him, but just as the words were on the tip of my tongue, I realized I shouldn’t even be able to feel my mouth. At the same time, all the chairs, along with the mist, completely disappeared from my sight.

I had woken up.

I opened my eyes. The surrounding space was no longer filled with mist. I was still standing in front of the wall in the basement, holding the black jade stone in my hand.

---

It was only then that I suddenly got goosebumps.

What just happened? Did I actually stand there and dream?

No, rather than saying I was dreaming, it felt more like I was pulled into some kind of illusionary world…

Was it the black jade stone that caused this?

I immediately placed the black jade stone on the ground, then quickly stepped back a few paces, cautiously observing this mysterious object. However, this time, the black jade stone didn’t show any signs of mysterious power; it simply lay on the ground like an ordinary stone.

No abnormalities? But just now, this thing clearly controlled my consciousness… No, "controlled" is not the right word. It didn’t bring me any danger, it just made me experience an odd illusion for no apparent reason.

What was the meaning behind that illusion? The mist-filled realm, the eight stone chairs, the three strange figures… Were they human? Or were they some kind of incredible creatures living in that illusionary world?

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There were too few clues for me to analyze, so I could only pick up the black jade stone first.

I knew that this black jade stone might still harbor other mysterious dangers, but now that I had come this far, I couldn’t just throw it away. If it were clearly harmful, that would be a different story. But since its nature was still unclear, I needed to take it back and study it carefully.

If I were to avoid strange objects simply because of fear of danger, I would never have come to this basement in the first place.

I still planned to continue my investigation in the basement for a while. Although I estimated that my gains for tonight were probably limited, the basement was quite empty. Everything, whether present or absent, was obvious, and the "fireflies" I had set up around the place had observed it thoroughly. Still, this was a "space that didn’t exist in reality," and its mere existence was enough to captivate me.

Suddenly, I sensed something was wrong. This basement seemed to have changed in some way compared to when I first entered. Something had shifted, a very crucial detail—

I suddenly turned around.

The staircase I had descended was gone, and the ceiling was completely flat, with no entrance or exit at all!

In that instant, a chilling sensation surged up from my heart, as if several ice-cold cockroaches were crawling from my tailbone up along my spine to the back of my head.

The exit disappeared? Why?

I had been keeping an eye on the staircase and exit through the "fireflies" around me, watching for any changes. When did it vanish?

Was it when I fell into the illusion just now?

I immediately went to the spot where the staircase had originally been to check, but no matter how I inspected it, I couldn’t find any sign that a staircase had ever been there. Even the ceiling—every tiny detail of the concrete texture seemed to say that it had always been this way.

This is utterly absurd. If there was no entrance or exit from the start, how did I even come down here?

I need to stay calm and carefully think about what to do next.

The appearance and disappearance of the basement should follow some kind of established pattern. If I can figure out this pattern, I should be able to reopen the exit.

However, the idea that "everything follows a pattern" is a general truth humans have concluded from analyzing nature, but what I’m facing now are bizarre events that go beyond the bounds of logic. So it’s possible there was never any pattern to begin with, and all my thinking could be in vain.

Indeed, the basement appeared within the ritual array, and the ritual array itself was man-made. But Agent Kong had also mentioned that the ritual array didn’t actually have the power to open the basement. This might be an unknown phenomenon beyond the Fallen Demon Hunter's understanding, something that falls outside the scope of human control.

By tomorrow morning, the demon huntress will come to the fifteenth-floor room. Whether she intends to eliminate the ritual array or break through the floor of the room, in the end, she will use her own methods to bring the basement's strange occurrences to an end.

At that point, I will never see the basement open again and will be trapped forever in this space that doesn’t exist in reality.

What a desperate situation!

But this is the bitter fruit I’ve brought upon myself.

I will never say something pathetic like "If I had known..." at least not now. I need to think in a more positive direction. Perhaps this is a trial. Sometimes, one must put themselves in a desperate situation to truly understand themselves. Didn’t I always want to know how I would react when faced with hopeless, dangerous circumstances? Well, this is the critical moment.

Let’s first analyze the pattern of the basement’s appearance. What did I do just now that caused the basement to disappear?

No, I should shift my perspective... Could it be that "because I didn’t do anything, the basement disappeared"?

When I fell into the illusion, I temporarily lost my ability to monitor the basement and staircase, and it was during this period that both disappeared... So, could the answer be, "The basement disappears when it is not being observed"?

This hypothesis seems quite reasonable.

When Agent Kong came to knock on the door during the day, Chang'an temporarily covered the basement with a carpet. When he uncovered it again, the basement had disappeared. And without a doubt, during this time, both Chang'an and I lost our ability to observe the basement.

When Chang'an first encountered the basement's strange occurrence, he temporarily left the fifteenth-floor room to confirm whether the basement led to the room downstairs. During that time, he have lost the ability to observe the basement as well. Afterward, he called the police, and when they arrived, the basement was gone... But did he go back to observe the basement before calling the police? It seems like he never mentioned it to me.

Even if my hypothesis is correct, I’ve only figured out why the basement disappears. What I need is to make the basement appear again.

This is the one area where I truly have no ideas.

What if the conditions for the basement’s appearance can’t be fulfilled in the basement and can only be achieved outside the basement? Then I’d be completely helpless. Am I supposed to rely on someone else entering the fifteenth-floor room, and by coincidence, fulfilling the conditions for the basement to appear? The problem is, no one will be coming to the fifteenth-floor room now—except for the demon huntress who plans to eliminate the basement's strange occurrences.

Perhaps I need to change my perspective again and broaden my thinking.

Why do I have to follow a pattern with no clues to solve this current predicament? I’m not an ordinary person with no special abilities—I’m a superpowered individual. Maybe I should look for an "outside-the-box" solution and try to break through the problem by force.

But… unfortunately, my superpower doesn’t seem well-suited for this situation.

My superpower is top-tier when it comes to killing and causing destruction, but using it for solving puzzles is like using a chainsaw for delicate surgery—it’s probably just going to make everything worse.

Right, speaking of breaking through the problem with force, I realize there’s a question I’ve never considered before.

This basement is a "space that doesn’t exist in reality," so what lies outside of the basement? By "outside," I don’t mean the fifteenth-floor room that can only be reached through the basement’s exit, but rather the "outside" of the walls.

I don’t believe that breaking through the walls would lead to the real world, but at this point, I’m out of options, and any new discovery could potentially provide a clue to breaking the deadlock.

More importantly, I’m really curious.

With that thought, I walked up to the wall and raised my right hand.

I activated my superpower.