Chapter 245: World

The man glanced at her, then suddenly lifted her in his arms and began walking.

He moved cautiously, making sure no one was around. Once confident the coast was clear, he quickly ran up the stairs, carrying Yamaguchi Tomoko all the way to the rooftop of the building. He opened the door to the rooftop and stepped out.

Near the rooftop’s water tank, Yamaguchi Tomoko was shocked to see Kurata Ryoko and Tachibana Sui lying on the ground with their hands and mouths bound. They were tied tightly to a metal frame, unable to move.

When the two saw that Yamaguchi Tomoko had also been captured, their eyes filled with even more anxiety and fear. Both of them had been caught and tied up at different times after returning to the apartment.

After placing Tomoko with the others, the man sat down in front of them and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. My methods may be a bit rough, but it’s the only way to ensure you listen calmly to what I’m about to say.”

Hearing that he wouldn’t harm them, the three women felt slightly relieved.

Then, the man lowered the collar that had been covering his face and asked, “Do you recognize me?”

The three women stared at him. He appeared to be around forty years old, with unremarkable features, though his thick eyebrows gave him a rugged appearance. However, they were certain they had never seen him before.

Noticing their confused expressions, the man understood that they didn’t recognize him.

After a brief pause, he said, “What I’m about to tell you might be hard to believe, but everything I say is true.”

He took another pause before continuing in a deep voice:

“Listen carefully. You, me, and everyone here are currently inside a dream. The world you know is entirely an illusion. Within this dream, your deepest desires are fulfilled. That’s because this dreamscape is collectively created by our consciousness, and it faithfully reflects your inner wishes, helping you achieve them.

“For example, you, Kurata Ryoko. Deep down, you’ve always wished to reunite with your high school literature teacher. Subconsciously, you crafted a story where he divorces his wife and comes to beg for your forgiveness and asks to reconcile with you.

“Tachibana Sui, you’ve always wanted to be with the man you’ve secretly admired. In this dream that belongs to all of us—but also to you—he accepted your feelings and is now with you.

“And you, Yamaguchi Tomoko, your greatest wish has always been for your sister to live a normal life. Because of your inner desires, she miraculously succeeded in undergoing a bone marrow transplant.

“But all of this is false—nothing more than fantasies born from your hearts. Now, the game is over. It’s time to wake up.”

At that moment, Lei Yin, still disguised as Yagami Iori, began recounting everything that had happened at the Andes church, including how they had escaped the underground chapel only to be struck by a strange light while fleeing.

As the man spoke, the three women’s faces reflected confusion. His story felt oddly familiar to them, as though it had truly happened, yet they couldn’t recall it clearly. It was like a distant memory of something experienced in a dream.

After finishing, Lei Yin said seriously, “I know it’s hard for you to believe, but it’s all true. If you don’t believe me, I can prove it.”

The three women exchanged puzzled looks, curious about how he would prove his claim.

At that moment, Lei Yin pulled a dagger from his clothing. Holding it in his right hand, he extended his left hand toward them. Before they could react, he slashed his hand clean off at the wrist with a sharp “swish.”

The sight of the severed hand—its red muscle tissue exposed and blood gushing out—left the three women utterly terrified. Their bodies went limp with fear, and they instinctively shut their eyes to avoid looking.

“Open your eyes and look carefully!” Lei Yin commanded loudly.

Startled by his sharp tone, the three women reluctantly opened their eyes, trembling with fear.

Lei Yin did nothing to stop the bleeding and calmly looked at them. “I told you, this world is just a dream. In this dream, any wish you truly desire can come true. However, because this isn’t just one person’s dream but a collective one, you can only realize wishes that pertain to yourself. For example, I wish for this severed hand to regrow.”

As he finished speaking, the three women were astonished to see the blood flowing from his wrist suddenly stop. The wound began to heal rapidly before their very eyes. Once the injury had fully closed, something even more unbelievable happened—a complete hand slowly materialized on the previously bare wrist, becoming clearer and clearer until it was fully formed.

After the hand had fully regrown, Lei Yin picked up the severed hand from the ground and softly recited, “All is illusion; like a dream, like a mirage.” As he spoke, the severed hand gradually vanished into thin air.

Turning back to glance at them, Lei Yin said coolly, “No matter how good a dream is, it’s still just a dream. It’s time to wake up.”

Tears began streaming silently down the faces of the three women.

“What about the others?” Kurata Ryoko, who was the first to recover after Lei Yin untied them, asked.

“Besides the three of you, I have no idea where the other five women are. This world is constructed from all of your collective consciousness, mirroring your everyday environments. I don’t know where to start looking for them, so their fates are now up to chance.”

“Then how do we get out of here? I mean, how do we wake up?” Kurata Ryoko asked, having now fully believed his words.

“That’s why I brought you here. If my theory is correct, jumping from here should wake us up,” Lei Yin said, a playful glint in his eyes.

“You want us to jump off a building?” Tachibana Sui’s legs weakened at the thought.

“Yes. Have you ever had a nightmare where you were being chased by monsters or a mob of people? Just as they were about to catch you, you likely woke up. That’s because the human self-preservation instinct kicks in to protect you from fear beyond your tolerance. Similarly, if we jump from here, the imminent threat of death should force us to wake up, just like in a nightmare.”

“Isn’t there any other way? I’m afraid of heights,” Kurata Ryoko said, her legs trembling as she looked down at the view below.

“There are other methods. For example, being burned alive or stabbed with a knife might work, as long as it induces enough fear. But those methods are too troublesome. Jumping is the easiest option.”

“Easy for you to say! What if you’re wrong?” Kurata Ryoko grew increasingly terrified.

“Well, if we do end up dying, there’s nothing we can do about it. Luckily, there are four of us here, just enough for a game of mahjong. At least we won’t be lonely,” Lei Yin said with a smirk.

“I don’t even know how to play mah– Ahhh!” Before Kurata Ryoko could finish saying “mahjong,” Lei Yin threw her off the rooftop.

Following her were Tachibana Sui and Yamaguchi Tomoko, both screaming as they plummeted through the air.

Just as Lei Yin was about to leap after them, a graceful woman with long flowing hair appeared behind him.

“Lei,” the woman called softly.

Lei Yin turned to look at her. After a moment, he said in a low voice, “Ah Wei, these past few days with you have been truly wonderful. But there are still people waiting for me outside. I’m sorry.”

The woman stepped forward and gently embraced him. After a while, she looked up at him with a tender smile and slowly disappeared.

As he watched her vanish, a faint look of loss appeared in Lei Yin’s eyes.

After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and leaped off the rooftop.

※※※

“Master, please… please don’t hit me anymore. Ahhh…”

In a spacious, brightly lit room, a woman’s anguished cries and the sound of a whip striking flesh echoed.

“Shut up! It’s all your fault, you filthy women!” Messias, the usually composed and elegant leader during sermons, now had a twisted and furious expression as he panted and mercilessly lashed the naked body of Kikuji Himeyama with a whip.

Slowly, Deacon Moers’ mistress stopped screaming. Messias continued whipping her for a while before looking at her face, only to realize she had fainted.

Feeling disappointed, Messias angrily kicked her, tossed the whip aside, and sat down on the sofa.

As his gaze fell on the suitcase on the table, a wave of anxiety and irritation surged within him.

Although he had successfully captured those who tried to escape, the sacred energy of the holy artifact had been completely depleted. He had no idea how to explain this to that superior. Moreover, the treacherous Chernaux would undoubtedly seize this opportunity to kick him while he was down. The mere thought of Chernaux’s smug face filled Messias with rage.

It was all Daimon Nagatomo’s fault—that pig had allowed a spy to infiltrate their ranks, causing such a mess.

The more Messias thought about it, the angrier he became. He abruptly stood up, walked to the door, and yelled to the guards outside, “Has Daimon Nagatomo arrived yet?”

“Sir, you—you just told us you didn’t want to see him and ordered him not to come,” one of the guards cautiously replied.

Furious, Messias roared, “When did I say that? Get him here immediately, now!”

“Yes, right away!” The guard scurried off as if fleeing for his life.

“Useless idiots,” Messias muttered, walking over to the liquor cabinet. He grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured himself a drink.

Just as he was halfway through his glass, a knock came from the door.

“Who is it?” Messias shouted.

There was no response—just the persistent, gentle knocking.

Thinking the person hadn’t heard him, Messias cursed under his breath and went to open the door.

The moment he opened it, he was met with a pair of coldly smiling eyes.

Startled, Messias reached for his gun, but the other man was faster. His wrist was seized and twisted behind his back in one swift motion.

Pain shot through Messias as his arm was locked painfully in place. He let out a pained scream as his handgun was pulled from its holster.

Holding the weapon, Lei Yin smirked. “It’s been a while, Master Messias. How have you been?”

“How did you wake up?” Messias asked incredulously, twisting his head to look at him. He knew full well that without someone forcibly waking them, people in that state could potentially never wake up. Regret filled him—if he’d known this would happen, he would’ve killed this man outright instead of trying to uncover his secrets.

“How could I possibly not wake up to hear your esteemed teachings? Don’t try anything funny. Your men are unconscious and tied up. No one can save you now.”

Lei Yin glanced around the room, quickly spotting the suitcase on the table. Without hesitation, he dragged Messias over to it.

Seeing Lei Yin’s focus on the holy artifact, Messias panicked. “Yagami Iori, name your price! Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you!”

Ignoring him, Lei Yin opened the suitcase to reveal an oval, jet-black metal object resembling a football. Strange tubes and conduits extended from its sides.

“Master Messias, if you don’t want to meet your god immediately, you’d better tell me what this thing is,” Lei Yin said coldly, pressing the gun to Messias’ temple.

Feeling the icy metal against his skin, Messias trembled. “Yagami Iori, you mustn’t touch that thing! If you let me go, I’ll give you whatever you want!”

Lei Yin suddenly struck Messias’ collarbone with the butt of the gun, making him cry out in pain. “Master Messias, I’m not known for my patience after just waking up,” Lei Yin said darkly.

Realizing the man wasn’t bluffing, Messias reluctantly confessed, “This is a holy artifact assigned to each of us by the leader.”

“A holy artifact? Interesting. You used this to pull us into that virtual mental world, didn’t you?”

“How—how did you know it was all fake?” Messias stammered, astonished. He had entered that world once himself and only realized it was a dream when that superior finally released him.

“It’s simple. Although that world looks exactly like what I usually see, I happen to have a habit of reading. And when people dream, they can’t clearly read written words. From that moment, I knew it was all fake. But I must admit, I’m increasingly intrigued by how your so-called ‘sacred object’ can create such a convincing illusion.” Lei Yin glanced at the object again.

“Even if you take the sacred object, it’s useless because the sacred energy inside is already depleted. Every time it’s drained, we must return it to the leader for a recharge. I used up all its energy trying to capture you and the others. I swear, this is the truth,” Messias pleaded, trembling.

Lei Yin’s eyes flickered with interest. He suddenly asked, “The so-called miracles during your ceremonies—are they also tricks using this thing?”

Messias’ expression shifted dramatically at his question.

Seeing his reaction, Lei Yin knew he had hit the mark. He began pressing Messias for more details.

Under Lei Yin’s threats, Messias finally confessed.

It turned out that during ceremonies, Messias would place the sacred object inside an amplifier behind the pulpit. When activated, the amplifier could induce vivid hallucinations within a 400-meter radius, indistinguishable from reality. The so-called “miracles” were preprogrammed illusions, but since these hallucinations only affected living beings, the Andes Cult had strict rules forbidding photography equipment during ceremonies.

After hearing the explanation, Lei Yin frowned deeply.

He couldn’t determine what this “sacred object” truly was, but its ability to induce such convincing sensory illusions for so many people, and even immerse individuals in a virtual mental world without their awareness, far exceeded the capabilities of current technology. The thought of the Andes Cult leader distributing such devices to various subordinates made Lei Yin deeply wary of the leader’s true identity.

“Why did you capture those three Japanese women?” Lei Yin asked.

“Two months ago, an Italian physicist residing in Japan became a follower of our cult through an introduction. However, he didn’t sincerely believe in the faith—he had other motives. That bastard took advantage of my absence to steal the sacred object. During our pursuit, he passed it to those three meddling women, asking them to deliver it to one of his students. Later, we captured his student, and during the arranged meeting at an apartment, we managed to seize those three women as well.”

After thinking for a moment, Lei Yin asked, “What kind of person is your leader?”

“I—I can’t say,” Messias suddenly showed a look of fear.

“You’re already this far in—why hold back now? I can guarantee that if you tell me, I won’t kill you.”

Messias hesitated, clearly tempted. “You really won’t kill me?”

“I promise. Besides, you don’t have a choice.”

After some contemplation, Messias gritted his teeth. “Fine, I’ll tell you. Actually, I’ve only met the leader a few times. He—he…” Before he could finish, Messias suddenly clutched his head and let out a horrifying scream.

Lei Yin was startled and tried to restrain him by his arm, but what happened next shocked him. Despite having his arm twisted behind his back, Messias forcefully surged forward, ignoring the excruciating pain.

With a sickening crack, Lei Yin realized Messias had just snapped his own arm. Even so, Messias kept struggling forward, seemingly oblivious to the pain.

Realizing Messias was beyond reason, Lei Yin let him go to avoid injuring himself further.

Once freed, Messias suddenly lunged headfirst into the wall with great force. With a loud thud, he collapsed to the ground, blood streaming from his head as his body convulsed.

Seeing Messias lying there, bleeding and twitching, Lei Yin knew that while he wasn’t dead, he was as good as gone.

At that moment, the sound of police sirens came from outside. With a soft sigh, Lei Yin grabbed the briefcase containing the sacred object and leapt out the window.