The Trap

The world is wrong.

This was the source of the fear and confusion that had plagued the Helm family for the past few days.

Lande, Friedman, Salter, Lorne—everyone knew there was a vast world outside, yet no one had ever left the city, and no one had ever witnessed the world beyond.

More importantly, everyone considered this reasonable; no one had any interest in discussing the issue, including the Helm family just a few days ago.

Until one day, Luke saw that woman.

A down and out clerk, living the same life day after day, crushed under the weight of mundane chores and the burdens of existence, unwilling to go home after work. Under the pretense of overtime, he would duck into the cheapest pub, letting alcohol numb his brain while fantasizing about an exciting, intense adventure. Even if it were just a dream, it could add a splash of color to this dull life.

Perhaps this was not the sorrow of every middle aged man, but it was at least the sorrow of Mr. Luke Helm. He sat in the same spot every day, drinking the same rotgut, complaining about the same troubles to the same bartender.

Until he met the young woman in fine clothes with a black fan covering her face, who laid a choice before him.

It was not a red pill or a blue pill, nor did he need to follow a rabbit; it was merely a strange book.

Either return the book to the girl with the black fan and continue his original, muddled, unchanging life, drowning in the trivia of daily existence until the end of his boring life.

Or open that book and let his life experience some novelty and change.

Two choices. It was that simple.

Luke, who had always been timid and cowardly, had only ever dared to fantasize in his head. However, perhaps due to the anesthesia of alcohol, Luke downed three shots of strong liquor in a row and opened the ancient book titled 《Goddess of the Black Fan》.

That was the last shred of sanity he had left that day, before the surging alcohol flooded his senses, and he lost consciousness entirely.

When he woke up, he was back home. The ancient book, the girl with the black fan—they were as if they had never existed. Even the bartender and his other drinking buddies had no memory of it, unanimously agreeing that Luke had just been drunk.

The changes were nowhere to be found. Every day remained mundane and mediocre, everything like a dream.

Until one day, a dream appeared.

It was not his, but his daughter Nara's. The little girl had been having the same dream for several days in a row.

The little girl told the couple about it, but no one took it seriously. Life was already burdensome enough; who had the energy to worry about inexplicable dreams? If they had time to obsess over such things, they would rather earn a few more crowns to buy Nara some old clothes, as she had grown taller again.

But a few days later, the same dream spread to the entire family.

The three of them dreamed every night of a beautiful wilderness with lush green grass and flowers everywhere.

It was a remote patch of wilderness on the outskirts of town that few people visited, where the three of them had gone camping before.

And so, troubled by the dreams, the three decided to find time to go back and try to figure out what was there.

Yet, no one knew the answer to that question, because the three of them went, came back, and had no memory of what they had done, seen, or heard.

But from that point on, the family's life gradually began to change.

Things they had never questioned before started to seem strange. Knowledge about many aspects of this world appeared in their minds out of nowhere. In their sleep, they could sometimes dream of a world without red mist, and the little girl, Nara, could even see strange monsters walking on the streets at any time.

Fear kept the two women from going out and made Luke increasingly miserable. He had been drinking his sorrows away at the bar every night, rambling about his experiences, hoping for a chance to see that girl with the black fan again, hoping to trade back for the dull but safe life his family of three had once known.

"Everyone must be responsible for their own actions. Since the dice have been cast, whether the result is good or bad, one can only accept it calmly."

Lynch had by now put down his pistol and sat down with the family of three. The three had been driven nearly to the brink of collapse by the strange changes over the past few days, and meeting someone like Lynch who showed interest in their plight felt like grabbing a straw for survival. They honestly recounted their experiences.

"Using my shallow knowledge of the occult to understand this: an unidentified person gave you a suspicious looking ancient book, and you read it without hesitation. After finishing it, signs appeared, and you actually followed them? Not only did you do it yourself, but you took your whole family with you?"

The family of three nodded in unison.

What are you nodding for? Is this something to be proud of? Can you have some brains? Even if I had never experienced supernatural events before I crossed over, I would know this thing was definitely problematic. A dog knows to sniff food before eating it when it finds it on the side of the road, but you didn't even sniff it before following along. You are not even as smart as a dog on the street.

Lynch was so angry his head was spinning. The girl with the black fan Luke spoke of had indirectly thrown knowledge representing the origin of the world at the Helm family; this was an act full of malice, and for anyone in this current world, it would be a catastrophic disaster.

According to his description, that person was dressed exactly like the monster Lynch had just encountered. Presumably, they were together, or perhaps it was even the same person. They shared the same style of operation: find the target's most desperate desire, toss out a choice filled with malice, and let the target fall into deep trouble while they watched from the sidelines, even adding fuel to the fire.

Could these guys be doing all this just to watch the show? Is there really such an idle evil god in the world?

【Heh...】

"Forget it, what's done is done." Lynch sighed. "So, that book is not in your hands now, and you don't remember any of its contents?"

"The book is gone. I only remember the title, 《Goddess of the Black Fan》; I have no other impression of it. I've tried to recall it many times, but I haven't succeeded."

"Then there's no help for it; we'll have to approach this from a more troublesome angle." Lynch frowned and considered for a while before speaking. "The impact of that book awakened memories from the depths of your soul, which is why you remembered that wilderness."

"That's not right, Mr. Hunter. Why didn't I dream of it? Nara hasn't even read that book."

"The concept of 'family' itself is a good carrier for the mysterious. Bloodlines pass down shared ancestral memories, and coupled with a child's clear mind, it is easier to be permeated, which is why she was several days ahead of you two. In short, the ancient book opened the memories, and the act of going to the wilderness directly led to everything that happened to you afterward."

"What exactly did we encounter?" Luke asked in distress.

"I estimate that location must hide a huge secret. You inadvertently saw the original knowledge of this world, which is exactly what I am lacking. I need these things to help me see this world clearly and find a way home. So I hope we can cooperate now. Everyone takes what they need; I will try my best to figure everything out and help you return to your past lives."

"What should we do?"

"The three of you prepare. I'll go call a taxi carriage, and we'll leave right away for your picnic spot. Your problems mainly originated there; wanting to know what happened, returning to the scene is the most effective path."

"Ah? But it's so late?"

Luke and Clara were taken aback. Nara, however, was still oblivious to what was going on and burst into cheers the moment she heard about a picnic.

"Variables can arise every minute, so we cannot delay. I even feel like going now is already a bit late."

"But Clara and Nara... is it necessary for them to go?"

"Do you want to leave them behind and then run straight into those monsters hunting you?" Lynch sighed and explained helplessly, "Don't be naive. Right now, the three of you are one entity; no one can stay out of this. So, hurry up. I don't have much time, and I must resolve this as quickly as possible, otherwise, if those black fans..."

"Don't you think it's already too late? Outsider."

Boom! The next moment, a loud noise erupted outside the window. The entire window, along with the windowsill, was blown away by a shockwave.