Illusion Report

Chapter 332: Chapter 288: Fu Tailan · Blue Blue Blue

This was probably a statement of the obvious, but the Nest Hospital was not a good place to recover from an illness.

In fact, besides being an excellent place to experience all sorts of novel ways to die, the Nest Hospital was probably not a good place for anything at all.

Fu Tailan lay on the hospital bed. The moment he heard the ward door being slowly pushed open, his eyes snapped open.

The bed curtain was still drawn tightly around him, forming a small, pale blue world where he was the only inhabitant, with the white ceiling as its sky. He fumbled for his phone under the pillow and glanced at it.

November 25, 2026, 0:00, No Signal. ’Right on time.’

Even though he was gravely injured, groggy, and in terrible condition, he had successfully survived another day.

One day left—only one day left.

If he were hospitalized in Blackmoor City, he could have recuperated in peace. He wouldn’t have to be on guard against surrounding dangers while drowsy and exhausted in the middle of the night. Of course, that would also have meant being placed under 24/7, comprehensive surveillance and control.

But that wasn’t why Fu Tailan had decided to check into the Nest Hospital.

Fu Tailan wasn’t too concerned about surveillance and control. After all, as long as there were doors, and as long as he could open them, he could escape whenever he wanted. No one could control him.

He chose the Nest Hospital for one crucial, fundamental reason—something that couldn’t be achieved in a human-world hospital.

"Bed 2, it’s time for your medicine~" a sweet female voice said from outside the curtain.

Fu Tailan didn’t make a sound. He slowly sat up in bed, leaning against the pillow.

Yesterday, the simple act of sitting up would have left him gasping in pain. Any large movement would make his vision go black. Remy had told him that, under normal circumstances, his injuries would take at least one or two months to heal.

Fu Tailan couldn’t stand the thought of wasting one or two months like a cripple while others were chasing Illusions. He couldn’t afford to waste that time.

’Who knew if the Nest Dominance Game would even be over in two months?’

And now, just one day later, not only could he sit up smoothly, he could even raise his arm above his head.

His jaw, which had been injured by the resident Mai Mingle not long ago, was now smooth and whole. The skin looked even better than it had before he was hurt.

"Oh, you’re awake?" The female voice clicked her tongue, as if disappointed. "I so enjoy waking you up... really, what a shame. Maybe I should come a little later next time? When will I get another chance to catch you sound asleep and off your guard?"

’Being woken up by it once was more than enough.’

That had happened a few hours after he was admitted. Fu Tailan had been in so much pain, so exhausted and dejected, that by morning, he finally couldn’t take it anymore and drifted into a stupor. It was as if the nurse had been waiting for him to fall asleep; the moment he did, it came to deliver his medicine.

Fu Tailan would probably never forget the terror of being placed inside a blender, about to be whipped and shredded by the rotating blades—a primal, raw, insect-like fear. Through the wall of the container, he had seen a resident disguised as Fu Han reaching out a hand, pressing the start button.

"I don’t like it, so you won’t get the chance again."

When Fu Tailan spoke, his voice was so tired it was almost soft and hoarse. "Where’s the medicine?"

The nurse sighed. "Then pull the curtain open a little."

’Pulling the curtain completely shut could block some of the attention from the outside world—and by "outside world," he of course meant the residents.’

’It wasn’t very logical, but it worked anyway. As a "patient," once he drew the curtain, some of the residents wandering the hospital would indeed ignore him and stop bothering him.’

Fu Tailan pulled it open just a crack, only as wide as a fingernail.

Two flat, flesh-colored shadows squeezed through the crack, inching into his small, enclosed, pale blue world. They gradually inflated like balloons, forming two full, fleshy arms.

Two fists came to a stop side-by-side in front of Fu Tailan.

"The blue pill will speed up your recovery. The red pill will make you think you chose the blue pill and that your recovery is speeding up."

’Fu Tailan had heard the same words twice since being admitted.’

’According to Nest Hospital regulations, patients had to take a pill three times a day. Refusal was not an option, but choosing was.’

’To be honest, even now, he couldn’t be entirely sure if he had chosen correctly the last two times.’

"Take the blue pill, and, well, needless to say, you’ll live a long and healthy life. Take the red pill... eh, everyone dies eventually. Whether you live seventy or eighty years and die of old age, or you leave the hospital only to have your injuries secretly worsen over time, rotting away as you live your life until you suddenly dissolve into a puddle of fleshy ooze with twitching nerves and rolling eyeballs—what’s the difference, really?"

The nurse wiggled its fists.

’When he inhaled, the fists looked as small as peanuts; when he exhaled, they swelled to the size of soccer balls. They grew and shrank, expanded and contracted, almost as if they were warping and piercing through space itself. Staring at them for too long would not only make him dizzy but send the whole world spinning.’

"One hand has the blue pill, one hand has the red pill. To make your choice, grab the corresponding hand."

Fu Tailan didn’t move. "What’s the hint?"

"Eh? Just pick one, what’s the difference?"

"Give me this time’s hint," he demanded again.

The nurse sighed, as if he were a troublesome patient who was giving it a headache.

"The blue pill is in the left hand, and the red pill is in the right hand. And I don’t have a left or a right hand."

’Fu Tailan really wanted to grab something and smash it in its face.’

’What kind of hint was that? If it didn’t have a left or right hand, how could it distinguish between them? Was it based on position?’

’Fighting the dizziness caused by the fists repeatedly shrinking and swelling, Fu Tailan managed to watch for only a few seconds before he couldn’t take it anymore. If he kept looking, he was afraid he’d bend over and vomit up everything in his stomach. He couldn’t even see them clearly, let alone tell left from right.’

He closed his eyes, collected himself for a moment, and raised his phone.

CLICK. The flash lit up the space within the curtain in a blaze of white. A new photo appeared on his phone screen.

’He could ignore the circle of human-like shadows pressing against the curtain and standing around him for now; it wasn’t like he had only just discovered them. He zoomed in on the photo, carefully examining the fists frozen by the camera.’

’...There were no thumbs.’

’Bone, skin, tendon, and muscle formed something that resembled a fist, but where the thumb should have been, there was only the smooth edge of a palm. The other four fingers were completely identical in knuckle size and width, making it impossible to distinguish the index finger from the pinky.’

"No thumbs? What are you, some kind of animal?" Fu Tailan cursed under his breath. "Is that the hint? Is there anything else?"

"The hint is just that one sentence. Don’t worry, I won’t secretly switch the fists’ positions. Based on the hint, you can ask up to ten more questions. But note, I can’t directly tell you which hand has which pill."

’Ten... That’s a pretty generous limit this time.’

’The Nest always had a bizarre desire to maintain a kind of "fairness." If a hint was impossible to work with, it would allow you to ask more questions—as if that balanced everything out.’

"...Are ’left’ and ’right’ defined by a standard like physical position?"

’Although he already knew it wouldn’t be that simple, the nurse’s answer was still infuriating.’

"No. It has nothing to do with your position or my position. My arms sprout temporarily from a mass of chaotic flesh specifically to feed you your medicine, so for me, there’s no such thing as an arm being on the left or right side of a body. As for the definition... the one holding the blue pill is left, and the one holding the red pill is right."

’Isn’t that just a chicken-and-egg problem? It’s going in circles.’

’Patients are not allowed to look at the nurse who delivers their medicine. That was the first rule of the hospital. That’s why Fu Tailan still didn’t know what it actually looked like, or what this "chaotic flesh" was.’

"How am I supposed to determine left and right?" Fu Tailan decided to waste another question.

"Your left is left, and your right is right. Didn’t they teach you that in kindergarten?"

’...This is not the time to get angry.’

’Getting this kind of uninformative, circular answer could only mean one thing: he wasn’t asking the right questions.’

’Since it said it didn’t have a concept of left and right, getting bogged down on that point would naturally lead nowhere.’

’So... what should he ask next?’

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