After Wei Hu was taken away, the dormitory became empty, and Jin Tianyi naturally moved in, which made it easier for Chu Huai to observe him.
Over the past few days of observation, Chu Huai gradually noticed that the lively Jin Tianyi in front of him had subtle differences from the Jin Tianyi in his memory.
Previously, these peculiarities were unconsciously ignored by him.
For example, Jin Tianyi was more honest and had no reservations about him. But in Chu Huai’s memory, Jin Tianyi tended to bear everything on his own and only briefly mentioned it when discovered.
For example, he laughed more, had a more cheerful personality, and his emotions were written all over his face, making it easier for Chu Huai to understand him. But in reality, Jin Tianyi rarely laughed, and even when he did, his true feelings were hidden behind his smile.
There were many small changes like this, and at first, Chu Huai thought that Jin Tianyi’s mentality had changed after spending more time together.
Strangely, Jin Tianyi’s expressions, small movements, habits, and catchphrases were completely consistent with before.
Late at night, Chu Huai quietly got up, opened the window, and let the cold wind blow away his drowsiness.
Lost in thought, Chu Huai realized that when summarized, Jin Tianyi’s changes were not bad, and even more… in line with his expectations.
He often complained that Jin Tianyi was not honest enough, thought too deeply, and carried too much weight on his shoulders, causing him to feel oppressed.
But the gentle heaviness behind Jin Tianyi’s smiling silence, even his jokes contained a deep meaning that Chu Huai didn’t understand.
He had indeed thought about wanting Jin Tianyi to be more carefree.
During that period, he was busy searching for clues and contacting other residents, neglecting Jin Tianyi quite a bit. Now looking back, he felt a palpable sense of anxiety, as if an invisible shackle had bound him.
Chu Huai felt like there were tiny strands of thread, like hair, wrapped around his neck, tightening and suffocating him.
The truth was about to be revealed.
Chu Huai closed his eyes and pursed his lips.
Jin Tianyi was just a figment of his imagination.
Another answer.
Chu Huai opened his eyes, and the black and white pupils reflected the shadows of the trees downstairs, his two eyes were clear without any hint of confusion.
Only in this way could everything be explained.
Why did Jin Tianyi appear just because he wanted him to? Why did Jin Tianyi become more in line with his expectations, with no change in his demeanor, gestures, and habits?
Why did the daughter of Wei Hu, who committed suicide, appear in Memory City, and what about the mating party scene?
Why did the lonely otaku meet a beautiful woman willing to relieve his desires when he was lonely?
These desires inherent to the residents themselves gave birth to these human affairs.
Chu Huai smiled awkwardly.
How could he forget that people can alter their own memories and make them into what they want?
Are people’s memories entirely true? Are they factual records?
Not at all.
Subjective will can influence memories, causing them to unconsciously tend toward what a person wants.
A sentence repeated over and over again can generate many meanings that were not originally there.
A person may deliberately reinforce the dark side of their memories in order to gain sympathy from others. For example, when a young boy said something cruel to him when he was a child, that person may spread it as the boy bullying him every day, stealing his money, and beating him.
Repeat it enough times, and the fake becomes real.
Even the person themselves cannot distinguish it.
Especially when this false memory has been washed over for many years.
Memory is not at all objective.
Chu Huai had been unable to figure out why Wei Hu said that there was a celestial mark on Xiao Yun’s shoulder during the autopsy, but now it suddenly became clear.
Wei Hu’s intention was that Xiao Yun was still alive, so in order to achieve the “fact” that “Xiao Yun is still alive” and “she is Xiao Yun,” he unconsciously altered his own memory.
In reality, altering memories is a slow process, but here it is… Memory City.
In the world of memories, anything is possible.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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It’s normal to experience memory confusion during the time when it was tampered with, but eventually, the false memories that were expected will triumph over reality.
Fortunately, he discovered the abnormality in time before the process had reached its final stage. He still has the ability to stop it.
Chu Hua turned to look at the sleeping Jin Tianyi. His desire had given birth to a thief who steals memories from him. So the old man didn’t lie to him; he just didn’t tell him everything.
Losing 50% of memories doesn’t mean he can’t leave Memory City. It means losing 50% of the original real memories that cannot be replaced by the false memories reproduced in Memory City.
Of course, this reality needs to be put in quotation marks. This reality is relative to the false memories that are reborn in Memory City.
These thieves who steal memories were incubated by the desire that was infinitely magnified. They gradually consumed the original real memories and replaced them with even more beautiful false memories.
It was a sugar-coated exterior, but inside were not candies but stinking corrupt substances.
Lying on the bed was a ghost he had created.
These ghosts seemed to be partially controlled by Memory City and would unconsciously do things that obstructed them from knowing the truth.
Chu Hua remembered that day when he was talking to other residents, about to tell them his speculation, and Jin Tianyi interrupted him, reminding him to go back and pay taxes.
And that day, when Chu Hua asked Jin Tianyi if Xiao Yun had any problems, Jin Tianyi said no. At that time, he just felt a little strange and didn’t think much about it, but now a hint of coldness emerged in his heart.
He can’t drag this on any longer.
Even if Wei Huo knows the truth, he can’t kill Xiao Yun, but he is different.
Chu Hua smiled elegantly, closed the window slowly and quietly, and walked back to the bed, wearing his coat.
“They pushed the two beds together.
Chu Huai kneeled on the bed and leaned over, gently pushing Jin Tianyi.
Jin Tianyi opened his eyes, and a hint of dark purple seemed to flash by. He sat up and looked at Chu Huai, who was pale and peaceful in the moonlight. There was no annoyance from being awakened. He asked softly: “What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”
“Yeah.” Chu Huai nodded heavily, with a bit of nasal sound.
“Want me to keep you company and talk?”
“No need.” Chu Huai stubbornly shook his head.
“Then…”
Chu Huai interrupted him, with a complicated look in his eyes. “Can you hug me?”
Jin Tianyi was taken aback, then nodded happily.
In the warm embrace, Chu Huai whispered to the innocent and gentle ghost that he had created.
He didn’t want a fake, he wanted the real one.
Since it was in human form, firearms could definitely be fatal.
Chu Huai closed his eyes slightly.
The sound of the trigger, the cold object pressed against Jin Tianyi’s body.
With a loud noise, Chu Huai’s fingers tingled slightly.
He watched as Jin Tianyi fell down, dropped the weapon in his hand, and was about to think about how to survive the remaining 80 days. Suddenly, everything went dark in front of him.
In the moment of fainting, Chu Huai saw Jin Tianyi on the ground disappear and turned into a pile of cloud-like substance.
There seemed to be a sound of glass cracking in his ears.
The barrier around the dormitory began to break and distort.
Dazed and unaware of how long he had been asleep, Chu Huai suddenly woke up and found himself in a warm and familiar embrace.
He stiffened for a moment, then looked up to see Jin Tianyi’s handsome face, breathed a sigh of relief, and finally lowered his head to realize that he had fallen asleep in his arms in an extremely intimate posture, with his head nestled in Jin Tianyi’s neck.
Chu Huai blushed belatedly.
“Awake?” Jin Tianyi smirked, showing no surprise.
Chu Huai was clever and level-headed, he wouldn’t get lost in the first level of the memory city, indulging in illusions.
Chu Huai’s pupils dilated slightly, asking Jin Tianyi to let him go. He turned his head and found that the spacious ground was filled with sleeping people.
In the vast hall, only he and Jin Tianyi were awake.
Chu Huai then began to survey the surrounding environment.
On the ink-black walls, some positions seemed to be engraved with golden characters, and the soft carpet underfoot was adorned with strange patterns.
The hall was so large that one could not see its edge, but what could be seen were people lying asleep on the ground.
Chu Huai and Jin Tianyi were now in the southeast corner of the hall, and four statues of different colors were placed in the center of the hall, three small and one large. The large one was three meters high.
Chu Huai was a little bewildered. “Where are we?”
Jin Tianyi stood up, took him outside the hall, and Chu Huai looked up at the plaque with the gilded words “Memory Temple” and was a little confused.
“Temple?” Jin Tianyi laughed and explained: “You can understand it as the Memory Ghost Temple, which always needs to be beautified.”
“You just said awake?” Chu Huai realized, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked: “Does that mean that life in the memory city is just a dream?”
Jin Tianyi nodded.
“Like ‘Inception’,” Chu Huai sighed: “so we’ve been fooled by the world again. The bloody words said, ‘The tasker can leave after staying in the memory city for one hundred days,’ intentionally leading the taskers to regard the area outside the dormitory building’s barrier as the true memory city, and then mistakenly making the taskers believe that the only way to leave is to survive in the memory city for one hundred days.”
“In fact,” Chu Huai rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought, and guessed: “the task takers should be able to leave after passing several tests. The 100 days is actually a deadline for death.”
Jin Tianyi pointed out: “You’ll understand if you go look at those statues over there.”
The statues had their backs to Chu Huai before, so he couldn’t see them clearly, but now their appearance was clear as day.
The three smaller statues looked exactly the same, except for their colors. They resembled the memory-devouring demons that Chu Huai had seen in Memory City before. One was red, one was purple, and one was black.
Chu Huai had seen the black one before, which was responsible for collecting memories and kept by humans in their clothes. He didn’t expect there to be three types of demons in Memory City.
There were words on the base of the statues. Chu Huai leaned in closer, and on the base of the black one, he saw “Mechanical Tax Collector.”
[Introduction to the Mechanical Tax Collector: There are always people who want to get rid of their unbearable past and painful memories. The Mechanical Tax Collector was born for this purpose. It can bring happiness to humans. In 100 days, it will collect 45% of the tax, giving task-takers a sense of urgency and racing against time, racing against oneself. Taxation cannot be avoided. Can the task taker race against time and break free from this nightmare?]
There was also a note next to it that made Chu Huai’s heart tremble.
[Note on the Mechanical Tax Collector: When collecting painful memories, the Mechanical Tax Collector will kindly inject some false happy memories into the tenant’s mind, while stimulating dopamine secretion in the human brain, giving humans the ultimate enjoyment.]
It turns out that if painful memories are traded, it is not just 5%.
Because the actual failure condition is to lose 50% of real memories and not be able to leave. If the Mechanical Tax Collector injects false memories, the lost real memories will exceed 5%.
The red one was called the Temptation Trader, raised by vendors in the marketplace, producing some illusory products for task takers to purchase. It is a gentle seduction that leads to a slow death.
The purple one was called… the Invisible Feeder, born out of human desire, feeding on the memories of the creators. Memories, like time, can pass quietly without anyone noticing their existence.
After reading this, Chu Huai understood everything.
The previous Jin Tianyi was an Invisible Feeder that arose from his own fantasies and emotional needs. Therefore, when that Jin Tianyi was around him, he felt his memories gradually fading because that Jin Tianyi was feeding on his memories.
And 100 days was not the length of time that residents had to stay in Memory City, but rather the longest time limit. Even if the resident did not lose more than 50% of their real memories after the 100 days, they would still be forever trapped in Memory City.
This was a trap.
The existence of the tax collector implies that as one goes further, more memories must be sacrificed, so they should not just sit and wait for death but withstand the test, and find a way out, otherwise, they will be drowned in the slow passage of time.
The first test is to pay taxes, but what should be paid?
The second test is temptation, whether one is willing to trade truth for lies.
The third test is desire.
Behind the invisible eater, there is a line that says to kill the invisible eater, and the failures of the first two tests can be ignored.
Therefore, as long as one realizes the existence of the invisible eater before reaching the 50% mark and kills it mercilessly, one can pass the first level of the Memory City.
Having figured out these twists and turns, the thin thread that had been entangled around Chu Huai’s neck for a long time finally snapped.
Jin Tianyi came over at some point and said: “Those who enter the Memory City have demons in their hearts, regrets, and strong desires.”
Chu Huai looked at the people lying on the ground absentmindedly, thinking that he was probably like them before, but Jin Tianyi woke up first and carried him up.
Thinking of this, his face turned red for a moment, and he asked nonchalantly: “You came out so soon?”
Jin Tianyi paused and looked a little embarrassed: “My invisible eater was too weak.”
“How weak?” Chu Huai’s curiosity was aroused.
Jin Tianyi turned his head and made it clear that he didn’t want to say, then he pulled Chu Huai and walked towards the wall of the hall with golden characters inscribed on it.
“Tell me.”
“I don’t want to.” Jin Tianyi brushed him off and refused to say, his ears even turned red.
Chu Huai became anxious and made a firm decision: “If you tell me, I’ll kiss you.”
Jin Tianyi looked at him, and Chu Huai blinked his eyes.
“I’m afraid of you, actually it’s nothing,” Jin Tianyi turned his head, apparently too embarrassed to speak: “That Chu Huai, whom I met not long ago, told me that… “
“What did he say?” Chu Huai urged impatiently.
“He said… ” Jin Tianyi coughed twice, feeling too embarrassed to look at him: “He said I love you.”
Chu Huai’s expression froze immediately, his heart pounding and his face gradually turning red, even forgetting to breathe.
The invisible voyeur reflects the creator’s most real desire, just as he hopes Jin Tianyi to be more open and honest.
And he himself hopes…
Although Jin Tianyi’s tone was plain, his words were equivalent to confessing his desires.
So he felt embarrassed and tongue-tied.
“I love you” These three words were jumping around in his mouth, time seemed to stand still.
Jin Tianyi saw Chu Huai’s stunned expression, and was about to skip over this part, but Chu Huai suddenly looked up and asked casually: “Then… it’s so good, and it can even say sweet nothing. Do you… have the heart to kill it?”
Jin Tianyi was taken aback, shook his head, and said: “If it wasn’t you, it wouldn’t be good enough.”
Chu Huai’s breathing became a bit rapid, still trying to act strong: “But you clearly want it, clearly like it, otherwise it wouldn’t have appeared… you are lying.”
Chu Huai regretted what he said, it sounded double-standard and unreasonable.
Jin Tianyi was not angry, but a smile appeared on his lips, and Chu Huai became nervous and embarrassed, while he became relaxed.
“In fact, when you have too many desires, it’s like,” Jin Tianyi paused, leaned in close to Chu Huai, his voice low and pleasant, with a hint of ambiguity: “like I want to do this and that to you.”
Chu Huai’s body stiffened, staring at him, annoyed and embarrassed, with small flames burning in his eyes.
“But as long as the real you is in front of me,” Jin Tianyi’s smile finally reached his eyes: “desires will always become reality.”
For example, Chu Huai will one day say those words to him.
He doesn’t want fake, he wants real.
Chu Huai felt Jin Tianyi’s voice tickling his heart, he stared at him for a while, then suddenly smiled and beckoned to him: “Come here.”
Jin Tianyi leaned in.
Chu Huai climbed onto his shoulder, his cool lips close to Jin Tianyi’s ear, looking a bit uneasy: “I’ll only say it once.”
“What?”
“I… I love you a little bit.”
Then he quickly got down and turned his back, saying: “Hmm, I’m looking at what’s written on the wall…”
Jin Tianyi stood frozen like a statue, Chu Huai’s clear voice echoed in his ears, over and over again, becoming clearer and clearer.
He automatically ignored the words following “I love you”, and his mouth visibly lifted into a smile.
His wish came true so quickly.
So the purple was because it was the Invisible Feeder demon (°O°)
Sweet, sweet, sweet!!!! I truly love their interactions in moments like this! 🥰
I’m sad this wil end in another 3 chapters. 😢
Thanks for the chapter(s).
Wow, you’re a little bit shy and you love your husband!!!
Thank you for your translation 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
I wish they can stay together until the end…
Awwwwww, they are so cute!! ><
Aaaaah! Chu Huai is the cutest protag yet. A top tier tsundere.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……. I’m melting……🫠🫠🫠