Doomsday Wonderland

Unexpectedly, the plan actually worked. Wu Yiliu felt a hot, trembling sensation in his chest, a mix of lingering fear and relief.

At first, this plan wasn't really a plan—just a vague idea, something that seemed like it could be useful. It floated in the back of his mind, and even though Wu Yiliu didn't know what it would turn into or how it would be useful, he couldn't bring himself to let it go. Now, looking back, he realized just how lucky he had been.

The seed of this idea came from something "Abby" had said. That player probably hadn't realized how important that little detail was: "In our soul state, we moved through a landscape completely different from the normal one, and we followed the light of the camping cabin to find you all."

"Abby" quickly moved on to talking about other events, but Wu Yiliu couldn't shake off her words. He kept thinking about them, analyzing them over and over. The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was a lot of information hidden in that statement.

For players in their soul state, the world looked entirely different, as Abby had admitted herself. But what exactly did they see? What did she mean by a "completely different landscape"?

From the central zone, it took four players—testers from the pocket dimension—over ten hours of high-speed driving to cover nearly a thousand kilometers and reach the small camping cabin in the woods. Since most organization bases were located in the central zone, it was safe to assume that the pocket dimension's location was also in the central zone. That meant the bodies of those four players should still be nearly a thousand kilometers away from the cabin.

But from what Abby said, it sounded like once they entered the soul state, they just followed the light and found the cabin right away—even arriving around the same time as the others. She didn't even mention the nearly thousand-kilometer distance.

Could the players have left early?

Wu Yiliu quickly dismissed that idea. Leaving early would mean they knew their destination ahead of time. If they already knew where they were going, why would they need to "follow the light of the cabin" to get there?

Based on his pocket dimension experience and the warning message from the cabin's TV, he could infer something else: if the lights in the cabin hadn't been turned on, the players in their soul state wouldn't have been able to find it. This suggested that, at first, they didn't know where they were going and needed the light to guide them.

There was also a bigger possibility: when the players entered their soul state, they appeared near the woods to begin with. But even though they were nearby, they still needed the cabin's light to see and find it. Isn't that interesting?

To maintain both conditions—that "the cabin's light can definitely be seen even through the woods" and "the cabin is completely invisible if the light isn't on," combined with what that player said about a "completely different world"—Wu Yiliu couldn't help but form a theory.

Could it be that the world the players saw was actually dark?

They couldn't see the woods or the cabin; everything around them was just a mass of chaos. Only when the light appeared in the flat, endless darkness could they follow it to the cabin and spot the prey inside.

Of course, Wu Yiliu understood that this was just one possibility, but it was the only theory he had that was supported by evidence.

He remembered that not long after the players found the cabin, he had been mesmerized by a whisper and unconsciously started putting on a pair of women's hiking boots. It wasn't until Cuining reminded him that he snapped out of it and tossed them aside.

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He could never figure out why the player who whispered to him made him put on boots that clearly wouldn't fit. Cuining was right there with him, and Abby was in the cabin too. Why didn't they make one of the women wear the boots? Why target a man?

Could it be because the player, in the darkness, couldn't tell who was male and who was female?

After all, even though the players could likely tell genders from voices, now that he thought about it, when he was being influenced by the whisper, he hadn't said a word. He was too busy searching the cabin for suspicious items.

With this conclusion forming in his mind, Wu Yiliu wasn't sure what to do with the information. He just stood there, continuing to talk with Abby for a while longer—until Abby regained control of her body, and the two of them rushed into the woods. When Abby asked where they were going, a new idea suddenly came to him.

"We're going back to the cabin!" Wu Yiliu had shouted to Abby, who was only a few feet away.

At that moment, he wasn't sure whether there was still another player in the woods. He had heard a command, which had caused him to raise his hand without realizing it. This could have been from the fourth player or from "Abby" herself.

Once Abby had been compromised and couldn't keep up, if there was indeed someone still pursuing them, it had to be the fourth player. Wu Yiliu couldn't afford to take any chances—he had to act on the assumption that there was definitely a fourth player.

Now Wu Yiliu knew for sure: another player was indeed chasing them. In the dim post-rain light, his field of vision was still empty—he couldn't see anyone. The only reason he knew there was a player in front of him was because the Special Item Abby had lent him had an effect on the air in front of him.

But since the player's soul state was determined by the pocket dimension, even though the player had been influenced by the Special Item [Priest's Roman Collar] and was now inclined to trust Wu Yiliu as their "cleric," they still couldn't change the soul state the pocket dimension had assigned them.

Wu Yiliu turned to Abby and gestured for her to be quiet, then held his breath, remaining perfectly still.

The sound of the rain started to fade away, and in the silence, he focused all his attention on listening. Finally, he heard that faint, almost hallucinatory whisper again—except this time, it wasn't trying to brainwash him.

"I... I... Father, what's happening to me? I feel like I've just woken up from a long dream... I regret it. I've gone down the wrong path." The voice was male, tinged with fear and confusion. "I'm a member of Zhai Hospital... My name is Christo. I've been in this pocket dimension room for several days now, with the goal of brainwashing one of you. Only then, when the Driver game ends, will I be able to pass and escape..."

The [Priest's Roman Collar] not only required the person to be within forty centimeters but also only lasted for ten minutes. Wu Yiliu didn't want Christo to waste time on information he already knew, so he cut him off and ordered, "To atone, tell me all the rules and penalties of this pocket dimension."

The rules of the Driver pocket dimension weren't complicated, but the setup was intricate and hard to grasp—it required a level of imagination to understand. Wu Yiliu had tested many pocket dimensions but had rarely encountered one like this. As Christo muttered his confession, Abby, who couldn't hear anything, became visibly anxious. She paced back and forth, stepping on the wet leaves, which made a squelching sound that earned her a sharp glare from Wu Yiliu.

"Once we find the cabin, even if the light goes out, we can still follow behind our targets and brainwash them by whispering, since we can still see their silhouettes. When there are no more targets left in this area, the pocket dimension will calculate our success or failure..."

Wu Yiliu felt a chill run down his spine. If this was the only condition to end the pocket dimension, it was a huge disadvantage for them.

As the "priest," Wu Yiliu was limited by the [Priest's Roman Collar] around his neck and couldn't directly ask Christo how to harm the players. If he did, Christo's "devout conversion" state would instantly vanish. He had to carefully consider how to ask for useful information without breaking the illusion.

"Father, there's something I don't quite understand," Christo said suddenly after answering several of Wu Yiliu's questions. "How were you able to see me? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you've shown me the way and given me new life... I'm just curious."

The fact that Christo asked this confirmed Wu Yiliu's theory—Christo couldn't see the real world.

Wu Yiliu let out a small breath and leaned back against the tree. The trunk was damp, but he was already soaked, so it didn't bother him.

He couldn't help but smile a little.

"If you weren't in soul form right now," Wu Yiliu said quietly, "you would've known the answer already."

"Huh?"

Wu Yiliu turned and exchanged a glance with Abby. The rain continued to drip from the canopy above, tapping lightly on the leaves beneath their feet.

The truth was, they hadn't returned to the cabin at all—his earlier shout of "We're going back to the cabin!" had been meant entirely for the player chasing them.

Christo had no clue about any of this. Wu Yiliu speculated that his view was filled with chaos and darkness, so he couldn't actually distinguish between the cabin and the surrounding forest. The only thing the players could see were the vague outlines of the people they were targeting. Since their target mentioned going back to the cabin, Christo naturally believed they were indeed heading there.

Once Wu Yiliu borrowed the [Priest's Roman Collar] from Abby, everything clicked into place, and a clear plan formed in his mind. The execution was simple enough—all he needed was to find two trees spaced about the width of a door apart.

Standing between the trees, he mimicked the action of opening a door and walked between them as though he was stepping inside. Then, he instructed Abby to walk past him while he remained still. From the perspective of a "soul" that couldn't see anything but the faint shapes of their targets, it would naturally seem like Wu Yiliu was blocking half of the doorway.

If the player wanted to enter the "cabin" as well, they'd have to follow Abby—meaning they'd have to walk right past Wu Yiliu.

By using the fake doorway and his body, Wu Yiliu restricted the player's movement at that exact moment. When Abby passed by, it created the perfect opportunity for him to activate the [Priest's Roman Collar].

"Once I suspected that your vision was filled with darkness, finding a solution was easy," he said with a smile. "Speaking of the cabin, I have another question. What's its purpose? If we were to head back recklessly, what dangers would be waiting for us?"

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