I Persuade People With Reason

It was late at night, and the corridors of this small hotel were dark, and a blazing white light streamed from the room behind the hooded man, illuminating a small patch of the door.

A puppet covered in dust, with rough workmanship and a simple smile on his face stood at the door with his head tilted, stepping on the junction of light and darkness.

The smiling face it painted was facing the man in the door.

The man was dumbfounded? Standing on the spot, his face was pale, his whole body was stiff, he just stared at the dirty puppet with one hand on the door, maintaining the posture of just opening the door, looking like Almost fixed.

Compared with the animated puppet, now he looks more like a soulless dummy.

The puppet started walking into the room.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Its movements are very slow, its steps are not very steady, and it is a bit clumsy, like a child who has just started learning to walk.

The hooded man seemed to be awakened suddenly, and at the same time, he stepped back into the door, one step, two steps, three steps.

At the same time as he retreated, a pair of eyes stared at the puppet, with deep vigilance hidden in his eyes.

Almost as the puppet took a step forward, he took a step back. It seems that this is not a harmless puppet, but a vicious ghost.

His body was stiff, trembling and stepping back.

Until the moment when the puppet completely stepped into the room, the opened door seemed to be suddenly blown by an invisible strong wind, and closed with a bang behind him, blocking the pale man. inside.

In his frightened eyes, the clumsy puppet and the black smoke wafting from the puppet were reflected, like countless dark vines coming from the puppet. Outwardly, it outlines a huge shadow.

Some kind of extremely terrifying aura quietly permeates the room. Maybe ordinary people can't see or feel it, but for people like the Hooded Man, the more sensitive the perception, the more aware of this aura. The? Terrible.

It was as if the gate of the abyss was open in front of him, and endless malice surrounded him, and approached her step by step until he stood on the edge of the abyss.

So all kinds of phantoms were born in front of him, and his soul seemed to be torn to shreds by infinite malice in the next second. That kind of feeling was enough to drive people crazy!

The puppet is still approaching step by step, the footsteps are silent.

The light in the room flickered and dimmed, and on the graffiti of the simple strokes, there seemed to be thick ink spilling out, like a dark silt that would flood the entire room.

There was a violent gasp in the man's throat.

In the end, he couldn't bear it any longer, he retreated to the edge of the bed, and his whole body slumped backwards on the edge of the bed, his energy was extremely tense.

The puppet jumped up slightly and stood on the bedside table? Looking at him, it seemed very harmless.

"Don't come here! Don't come near me anymore—" The man's voice was full of helplessness and panic, he waved his arms, and frantically retreated to the side of the bed, "I promise you! What do you want? I will do anything I do. Promise! Don't come over—!"

I don't know when the puppet that had come to the pillow stopped obediently, it tilted its head and looked at the hysterical man, as if to check whether what he said was sincere.

For a long time, in the silence that made the man almost suffocate, the puppet's head slowly straightened back, and it finally opened its mouth and said a string of place names:

"Villa 17 in Kumho Community..."

"Tomorrow at noon, I want to see you there. Please, please, don't be late."

The man nodded frantically: "Yes, yes, I remember! I will not be late!"

"That's it, see you tomorrow."

The puppet suddenly raised his hand and greeted him cutely, very politely.

The endless black gas suddenly surged out, flooding the entire room like a sea of ​​silt.

The hooded man seemed to be pressed under the deep sea in an instant, and it was as if his entire body had been buried in the depths of the soil, his consciousness was blurred, and he was almost suffocated in pain. He vaguely heard the last ? sound:

"Have a good dream~"

·

"what--"

Breathing heavily, the man opened his eyes at once, and there was a dark hotel room in front of him. He was still wearing the hoodie he had prepared to go out before, and he just lay upright on the bed and fell asleep unconsciously.

"What happened just now? Everything was a dream? I was about to leave, why did I suddenly fall asleep?"

After wiping the cold sweat from his hands, his face was frighteningly pale, and after a few seconds of blankness, his eyes changed drastically.

"No, no, it's "Nightmare"? The ghost, it must be him! This kind of means of weaving nightmares, who else could he be? "The man sat up slowly from the bed, still having lingering fears in his heart, the scenes from the previous dream are still very clear when I think about it, there is no ambiguity at all, it is definitely not like a normal dream, but a dream The dream was deliberately woven, "It's just... I never met him with my real body, and that rare puppet was also decisively abandoned. How did he find me?? "

The hooded man subconsciously began to think hard, and then suddenly realized: "It's those puppets from the past!"

...As a member of the Monster Guild, although the two have never met in person, he has met each other quite a few times with puppets. This time, he threw away the puppet, but in the past it was impossible for him to throw away a puppet in one meeting. After all, puppet making is not easy. Who knows? When was the other party tracked to his real body through the puppet, and marked it?

After confirming that he had just been hit, the look on the man's face became more and more ugly, and he kept recalling what happened in his dream.

"... Villa No. 17 in Kumho Community, isn't that the place where the nightmare went tonight? Why did he suddenly violate the guild's rules and lead me there? No, it's not necessarily him. the meaning of."

In a second, he thought of a lot.

"...What happened there? Was 'Nightmare' controlled by someone? me next? ? ? "

Thinking of this, he almost instinctively wanted to run away, but in the end he suppressed all kinds of distracting thoughts in his heart with reason, and the expression on his face became extremely bitter.

If it is said that "Nightmare" really left a mark on him without his knowledge, then the people behind the scenes can come to him when he relaxes his vigilance and catch him by surprise. To warn him in advance with a dream like this, and let him take the initiative to find the other party tomorrow, would be a shocking move. Could it be that the other party is not worried that he violated the agreement and escaped secretly?

This has shown the confidence of those behind the scenes.

The inner world is mysterious and unpredictable, and no one knows what? Those who have entered the inner world? The Awakened brought out from it, and what abilities did they possess. Maybe he has already planted a curse on him, and if he violates the agreement, he will die on the spot.

... After thinking about it again and again, he decided to follow the will of the heart.

·

"Don't worry, that guy 'Puppet Master' is very cowardly? He would never dare to run away secretly. "

In the villa in the middle of the night, the man whose arms were tightly bound and hung as a chandelier in the living room barely squeezed out a pleasing smile and chattered.

"Although I haven't seen him, I guess only the guild leader knows his true identity. He appears in front of everyone as a puppet, but I know this guy's personality very well, and he will definitely I don’t want to take a risk, I don’t care about my face, I like to act mysterious in front of ordinary people, and I’m faster than anyone else when I meet a boss.

"—he would never dare to go against your will."

Why not? "Oh": "Looking at you like this, it seems that you are looking forward to reuniting with him sooner."

The "Nightmare" who was hung from the ceiling of the living room smiled awkwardly, but the smile was uglier than crying.

... Of course he expects, he can't wait to get the "Puppet Master" in the next second and hang it from the ceiling with him, to be a brother and sister next to the bed.

He literally scolded "Puppet Master" a thousand times in his heart.

Yesterday, this guy posted a mission in the guild, saying that he had recruited a potential newcomer, and now he wants to give benefits to the newcomer, so that everyone can help a little. The location is the capital of the third district.

It just so happened that "Nightmare" had something to do here recently, thinking that it would be a good thing anyway, and that he could befriend a potential newcomer, so he took up the task.

But now, he just wants to travel back to the day before, and kill himself, who was ignorant at the time, and kill the "Puppet Master" who issued the mission in the guild.

...what "it's just to deal with a powerless person? Ordinary people", what "don't do it? Kill people's lives, just make the other party have nightmares, and the other party can't call the police because of this trivial matter", what? "This is a great opportunity for the newcomer to owe favor. There is no easier task in the guild", all lies! lie! !

If everything is as simple as the "Puppet Master" said, then why is he hanging here now and facing such a murderous devil? !

——Not long ago, he watched as his "door" was eaten! This is the exclusive passage for every awakened person to the inner world!

This means that from now on, if he wants to enter the inner world, he can only rub someone else's channel, and this is risky. Who knows? Will it be hacked?

"Nightmare" had blood in his heart and hated him so much, but he didn't dare to cast his hatred on that terrifying man, he could only cast his hatred on the "puppet master" who was talking nonsense.

Therefore, when the terrifying man asked him to actively cooperate to catch the "Puppet Master", he gave quite a lot of useful advice, and it was the first time he worked so hard to weave nightmares. Even if he didn't do much in it.

With the ability of "Nightmare" itself, it is impossible to weave nightmares for the target from a long distance, otherwise he will not be caught near the villa tonight. However, the owner of this villa, the "ordinary ordinary person", temporarily merged a strange dark smoke into his dream, which greatly increased his ability in terms of nightmares. Improve, this can exert an influence on the "Puppet Master"!

It wasn't because he clapped his hands and interrupted his train of thought.

"...Okay, you continue. About the inner world, about the Awakened, I still have a lot of interest?"

This guy was not honest before, and he didn't tell the truth about many things. Now that he has been beaten, he should be more knowledgeable.

"Yes, I said." "Nightmare" silently lowered his head, daring not to speak out, "Actually, I don't know much about this. I used to be an ordinary salesman, and my life was ordinary, nothing special. About a year A while ago, I was very unlucky. My father was terminally ill and had no money to treat it. I borrowed money everywhere, from friends, relatives, and neighbors, as long as I could get to know each other. I even borrowed money. Borrowing loan sharks..."

"...In the end, my father died. I still owed a lot of debt, and my relatives and friends have no face. Later, the loan sharks forced me to the door, pulled a banner at the entrance of the company, splashed paint and chickens on the door of my house. Blood, calling in the middle of the night... I lost my job, I was mentally anxious, and I jumped off the balcony when I couldn't think about it..."

At that time, he really wanted to die and vented the anger in his heart, but he didn't expect it to die. He was blocked by a drying rack and fell paralyzed.

"...Before I thought? I was miserable enough, lying in bed? Then I found out? That's nothing."

"Nightmare" had a brief history of what happened after the paralysis, but it must not have been a pleasant experience.

"...I'm just so half-dead? Lying in bed?. Thinking about my dad, thinking about those debts, thinking about my life like a waste... Somehow? Well, for a moment, I suddenly resented this The world, resenting the injustice of God... I have already worked so hard, I have worked hard to live, why should you treat me like this?!" At this point, his tone seemed to change , full of extreme distortions and paranoia.

"Huh?" Why didn't he look at him.

The man who was still "crazy" was shocked, and he was so frightened that he became obedient: "Cough, in short, I was like a ghost at that time! Now think about it, if I could act at that time. , it's very likely that they all came out with kitchen knives? They went to hack people to take revenge on society!"

The man who was hung from the ceiling lowered his head, his tone seemed to be very complicated because he recalled the unpleasant experience: "Then, I felt as if a seed was awakened in my heart, and the world seemed It's different. From my bed, to the smaller half of the room, it has become very rotten and outdated, like an old house covered with dust... After that every once in a while, every time I have a problem in my heart In those extreme emotions, you can see that strange vision."

"...Until one day, the dust covered the whole room, and I vaguely saw a door."

His narration is similar to the vision that Xie Huaying saw when he awakened, but he saw the door to the inner world after a period of time, and the ghosts and gods opened it.

However, he is luckier than Xie Huaying. When Xie Huaying opened the passage, there seemed to be a monster nearby. And when he opened the passage, there was a wilderness behind.

"...I don't know what's going on. Anyway, as soon as I entered the door, I appeared? I was in a barren mountain, and I was really frightened at the time! But I couldn't run, so I could only lie on the ground? ? Wait to die."

"The inside of the door seems to be another world. When I entered, it was daytime outside, but it was night inside. There was nothing around, and the ground was black swamp. The soil was soft and sticky. I I lay there, don't know? How long, I felt thirsty and hungry, about to have a hallucination, I touched the ground, I felt like I touched a frog-like thing, was it warm? It was alive ?... I was dizzy anyway, so I just stuffed it into my mouth regardless."

When "Nightmare" spoke, his tone became strange again, a little excited.

"...And then, when I woke up again, I found that I was no longer a paralyzed man! I could run and jump, and I was even healthier than most ordinary people!"

"Not only did I recover my body, but I also gradually discovered that I have some special skills. For example, I can fall asleep when others fall asleep."

"...It's a script designed by a third-rate novelist. You can become the protagonist of the novel with this adventure." Why didn't he make a light comment, and continued to ask, "What happened after that? What happened to the Monster Guild? What's the matter?"

"Also, after entering the inner world, will the door remain in place? Will the things inside run out? If the door is destroyed, how will you come out?"

——Why not? Noticing a detail. "Nightmare" is not paralyzed, at least he can climb inside the door from the outside? Then when he entered the inner world for the first time, he could climb back through the door completely. Why? Why did it happen to be in that wilderness? Lie down for so long? Does this mean that there is no door after entering?

Why not? A series of questions made "Nightmare" a little flustered. In fact, he deliberately avoided the method of leaving from the inner world just now, and he was thinking that Keng Yuan would not do anything. What if he didn't? One day he entered the inner world, and he was likely to stay there forever because of poor information.

Now being questioned, he had to reluctantly say, "It's the dust."

"...The world is very huge, we open the passage? It's random? After entering, the door will disappear, and it will not stay in place?. If you want to return to the real world, you must sprinkle dust and point out through the dust. A road, at the end of the road, the door will slowly appear. If there is no dust to guide the way, if you can't find the door, you can only be lost in the inner world forever."

Now that he has said it, he will no longer hide it, and will explain everything frankly.

"...I didn't deliberately collect dust at the beginning, so after entering the inner world for the first time, I couldn't find the door, and I couldn't return to reality. I traveled in that wilderness and suffered a lot until I accidentally met a man. A member of the monster guild. He told me how to use dust, helped me return to reality, and also recommended me to join the monster guild. I know a lot of common sense in the world from the monster guild."

The Monster Guild refers to the inner world as the dark side of the outer world. The mysterious elements that are not in the real world are piled up in the inner world; similarly, the chaos and darkness that the real world does not have will also appear in the inner world.

There are no moral and legal constraints, only the lawless.

What's more, the Awakened originally stimulated his aptitude when the negative emotions were at their most intense. They themselves are one after another indeterminate? dynamite barrels that could ignite at any time.

Some of them are just ordinary people, like "Nightmare", maybe just because of a temporary predicament aroused negative emotions, awakening their own aptitude, and after changing their lives through adventures in the world, they returned to normal;

There is another part of people who are completely anti-social, their minds have long been distorted, full of hatred, unwillingness, pain, and desire to destroy... These people are the real lunatics and paranoia.

Maybe in reality, they will still be bound by morality and law, and have a certain bottom line, but in a disorderly world, they are like being released from a cage. Beasts, can do whatever they want with impunity!

"...There are quite a few lunatics like this in the "Monster Guild". Once they find out that you are against them, they will never let you go. "Nightmare" explained very seriously, and the madness implied that he had a backer. "According to the president, the stronger the guy is, the more crazy he is, or in other words, the crazier the guy is." The stronger the strength... I think the president will be stronger."

It's a pity that his remarks not only failed to scare Yuan Buwei, but successfully aroused Yuan Buwei's interest: "Have you met the president of the Monster Guild?"

"Of course not." Nightmare shook his head frantically, "Many awakened people are aggregates of negative emotions? There are very few normal people. Who knows? Some Awakeneds are wary of each other, unless they trust each other, they will not meet easily, and they will not expose their real identities."

"Most members of our monster guild don't know each other's true identities, but they were pulled into a group by the guild leader. Usually, they can post tasks in the group, accept tasks, and benefit each other." Nightmare seems to be Specifically, it is very detailed, "Every once in a while, the president will inform everyone to gather in the inner world, maybe go to a certain ruins to explore together, or exchange some inconvenient resources with each other."

"As far as I know, the only organizations in the entire world that are comparable to our monster guild are the "Carnival Party" and the "Aoyama Hospital Mutual Aid Association". I have seen the initiator of the "Carnival Party" slaughter an entire island with monsters before. The president who can be compared with them should be very powerful. "

At the end of the day, he looked forward to the original.

...So, if you don't want to offend the president? If you don't want to offend the president, you will treat me like a fart, right?

Why not? Sure enough, he fell into deep thought.

After a while, he suddenly looked at "Nightmare": "I'm becoming more and more interested in your monster guild, I don't know? Those of you who have joined? How do members verify their identities every time they meet??"

"Nightmare" opened his mouth wide, his expression dull.

...He had some kind of bad premonition.

Sure enough, the next moment, the man in front of him asked with great interest, "Do you think it's your identity or the identity of the puppet master, which is more difficult to see through? Or, neither? "

"Nightmare" is even more sluggish: "..."

Looking at the meaning of this boss, one of the two of them is bound to lose his identity. So, will the replaced one be silenced by murder, or will the abandoned one be silenced by murder, or will both be silenced by murder? ? ?

For a time, his mind was filled with the words "kill and silence", as well as all kinds of endings of being killed and silenced, and his heart instantly became cold.

"This, in fact, I think there is a better way." He hesitated to look at Yuan, "The two of us can recommend you to join the Monster Guild together."

"No, I think it's more fun to mix in." Why didn't he respond to him with a smile, in his uneasy gaze, he raised his hand and yawned again, "Forget it, who to choose, wait for tomorrow?" "Puppet Master" when it arrives? Decide, you can also think about it tonight. "

Consider what? Think about whether you will die tomorrow, will you die, or will you die together? "Nightmare" couldn't help but complain.

Why didn't he stand up from the sofa, walked slowly to the bedroom, and didn't forget to say hello politely:

"Well, good night, have a good dream."

"???" Behind him, "Nightmare" who was hanging from the ceiling almost cried. It is very likely that the next day will be killed and killed, and the last one night can only be spent in this way?

...have a good dream? Are you serious?