Chapter 413 - 360: Jin Xueli: Unseeable, Do Not Delve, Relentless Pursuit

[Welcome to the Elevator]

Ground Floor: __Rooftop, 40th Floor, Luo's Hill Mansion, Blackmoor City__

Access Floor: __High-Altitude Path / 38th Floor, Luo's Hill Mansion__

Current Floor: __21st Floor, Luo's Hill Mansion / Location of Jin Xueli and the Hate-Face Balloon__

-1: __1st Floor, Luo's Hill Mansion / Blackmoor City Ground Level / Splatter Floor / Welcome__

-2: __Unknown / Entry Not Recommended, But Welcome__

-3: __The-Slick-Slimy-Long-Countless-Coiling-Quivering-Tongues-Licking-the-Crevices-of-Your-Brain-Trembling-Floor__

-4: __The Depths of Central Bay__

-5: __Nest's Forest of Vertical Lower Limbs__

Below floor -5, all the names were Nest locations. But as Jin Xueli quickly scanned them, she found that none of the next five Nest locations were her usual safe room in the Nest.

No, it wasn't just that they weren't her safe spots; she didn't even recognize the names of the places.

These five Nest locations seemed to have no connection to Blackmoor City. In all her years as a Hunter, she had never even heard of them.

'Nest's Surprising-Pie-Flat-Out-Beach'? What the hell is that?

'I can't go there. A place with no trace of Blackmoor City... who knows if it's even a real part of the Nest?'

"whereamiwherehaveyoutakenmeimgoingtokillyoudeadtodeath"

Right now, besides the "elevator control panel," her vision was filled with nothing but dim, murky darkness. Silence swallowed everything. Only the Hate-Face Balloon and the thick hatred in its voice still echoed clearly from between her arms.

'Is it because it entered the "elevator" with me?'

'It's not struggling because it doesn't know what to do either, right?'

'Damn... no matter how long you're a Hunter, the Nest never runs out of new surprises.'

When Jin Xueli had decided to enroll, she'd actually forgotten that the night university's promotional sign had promised a "Surprise Welcome Gift for Enrollment." To be honest, when the resident at the admissions counseling office insisted on giving her a gift, she had found it troublesome and didn't really want it.

After all, things the Nest proactively handed to people were rarely ever good.

"If I can't refuse it... can I exchange it for a different welcome gift?" Jin Xueli asked tentatively. "See, I don't need my Path modified, but if you could change my Path to something else..."

"Oh, that won't do,"

the XXXL-sized resident said, friendly and enthusiastic, vigorously waving a cross-shaped hand. "A Path can't just be swapped out on a whim! What if I swapped out your self-perception, would that be okay? Besides, this doesn't modify your Path."

"What do you mean?" Jin Xueli asked. "Aren't you adding a 'floor-by-floor' setting to my fall after I jump off a building?"

She still had to jump from a great height. Just the thought of it made her legs go soft.

Since that part wasn't changing, what was the difference between falling all at once and falling floor by floor, bit by bit? 'The latter would only be more agonizing, wouldn't it?'

"No, no, you've misunderstood."

The XXXL-sized resident said, "Your Path itself is unchanged. After you jump, whether or not you use the surprise gift 'Elevator' is up to you. You get to choose. Every time you jump, the 'Elevator' will be activated. If you choose not to use it, you'll just fall like you always do. Only when you choose to use it will you take the 'Elevator'."

As Jin Xueli stood there with her mouth half-open, still processing the information, the XXXL-sized resident added another sentence.

"When you jump down from within the Nest, you won't activate the 'Elevator.' It only activates when you jump from a building in the human world... Hmm, think of it as an extra little tool added to your Path. Your Path itself hasn't been modified at all."

This was the first time Jin Xueli had activated the "Elevator" since enrolling. The moment she realized the "stairwell" was just an illusion, she knew she couldn't enter the Nest.

The remaining three face-balloons had watched her vanish from mid-air; they would naturally figure out where she'd gone. When the Knight Family's Hunters pursued her into the Nest, wouldn't she be at an even greater disadvantage and in more danger?

At the very least, the Knight Family had *some* reservations in the human world—well, looking at these four damn balloons, those reservations clearly didn't weigh too heavily on them.

'It was just one bottle of Original Liquid, so why are they so dead-set on killing me?'

'Because the Knight Family owns the place? Pissed a circle around the gas station to mark their territory?'

"letmegosendmebacki'mwarningyoumybrothersandsisterswilldefinitelycatchupwecanfeeleachotherthey'llgetmebackandkillyou"

"You don't sound very confident," Jin Xueli said.

"shutupyourswill-hole"

Back on the rooftop, the Hate-Face Balloon, much like the Rage-Face Balloon, had been so consumed by its core emotion that it was incapable of normal conversation. Only the Smile-Face and Sorrow-Face balloons had been able to hold a proper back-and-forth dialogue with Jin Xueli.

Although the Hate-Face Balloon was still staying in character, it had clearly pulled a part of its consciousness back from its all-consuming hatred. If you added punctuation to its speech, it would almost sound like a normal person.

"You don't recognize this place either, do you?" Jin Xueli asked.

"ridiculousweareworldsapartiknowfarmorethanyouofcoursei—huhwhy'dyousay'either'"

The Hate-Face Balloon fell silent for a moment. "You don't know what this place is yourself?"

'...Okay, it's completely normal now.'

"youdon'tknowthenhowdowegetoutwhycan'tiseeanthingit'ssodarksodarksodangerousihaveaverydangerousfeelingsohateyousohateyoui'llkillyouwaitformybrothersandsisterstocomesowecanshareyourflesh"

'Right, back to how it was.'

'Wait, it can't see the elevator control panel?'

'That seems to make sense. The "Elevator" was a surprise gift added to *my* Path...'