Chapter 566 The Message Left Behind

Chapter 566: The Message Left Behind

Their retreat was completely sealed off, the thick fog devouring their original way back. This forced Chi Yan and Jie Ying to continue climbing upward.

To them, as long as they didn't actually cross the threshold of the fifteenth floor, they weren't formally entering the forbidden fifteenth floor. There was still wiggle room.

But when they reached the fifteenth-floor door, they, like Su Bai, saw it slightly ajar, a narrow slit from which warm, inviting light spilled out.

The door to the fifteenth floor remained intact, showing no signs of damage from high temperatures, and the air in the stairwell hadn't warmed at all.

It was as if the fifteenth floor itself was trying to tell them—there was no danger behind the door; behind it was where they truly belonged.

This tranquility was too deliberate, making it all the more eerily unsettling.

Chi Yan and Jie Ying were not so easily tempted. They stopped in unison, not taking another step forward. Their veteran player instincts warned them that proceeding further could lead to a point of no return.

At this moment, Chi Yan turned to look at Su Bai, who was standing at the rear of the group, and asked quietly, "Brother Su, what do you think? Should we... move forward?"

Su Bai didn't answer immediately. He steadied himself against the stair railing, trying to alleviate the dizziness caused by the chaotic vision from his blood butterflies.

Then he slowly exhaled and said calmly, "Actually, in the Nightmare World, we rarely have many choices."

"If I'm not mistaken, the fog behind us has gotten closer."

"This time, the Eerie Entity we've encountered has absolute control over the Newborn Science Ward building. That's not good news."

"It means it can control the temperature and lighting of this building at will, and can even instantly transform the fifteenth-floor door from a gate into a menacing, gaping maw, waiting to swallow us whole when we have nowhere else to go."

"Are Eerie Entities with absolute control over the Nightmare Game rare?" Le Shiya couldn't help but interject. "The ones I've seen before rarely had the ability to force us into a corner by controlling temperature..."

"Simply put, a powerful Eerie Entity is like the owner who bought this building, or has even merged with the entire structure." Su Bai paused slightly. "Most of the Eerie Entities we encounter are more like temporary tenants in a place. If they encounter a more powerful presence, they'll choose to step aside obediently, naturally lacking such a high degree of control over their occupied territory."

"Although it's not obvious, that fog has indeed moved a bit closer." Chi Yan carefully observed the changing distance between them and the fog.

Su Bai wasn't surprised; he had already observed this change through the blood butterflies' vision.

"There's no way back in the fog." Jie Ying, who was nearby, suddenly spoke up. "Although 'Deep Dive' was just a small team, we had at least a dozen members. Some of them were researching the ever-present fog in the Nightmare Game. They even repeatedly tried to walk into it to explore its truth..."

Her gaze drifted elsewhere, as if recalling long-gone memories.

"Some fog is just an illusion created by Eerie Entities. Though it looks frightening, it mostly just obstructs vision to a certain degree and doesn't cause real harm."

Su Bai nodded. Many Eerie Entities liked to use fog to instill fear. He had even encountered a fog-shrouded city and a ghost bride who used fog for petty tricks. That kind of fog might affect newcomers, but to veteran players, it shouldn't be much of a threat.

"Some fog creates a 'ghost wall'," Jie Ying continued slowly. "No matter how far you walk, you always end up back where you started. While there's no way out of this fog, at least it's not life-threatening."

"Some fog is like burning flames, devouring all life that steps into it."

"And then there's fog that's like an endless maze. Those who enter, though still alive, can never find their way out, eventually exhausting all their vitality within it."

Su Bai frowned slightly and remained silent for a moment before speaking. "The last type of fog... this is the first time I've heard of it."

"If those people never came out alive, how did those outside know it was an inescapable maze?" Su Bai's tone carried a hint of clear curiosity.

His voice was measured, tinged with an inquisitive note.

After all, even the closest companions, if they entered the fog and never returned, others would typically assume they had been "devoured" by the fog, with no way of knowing their specific fate.

"Everyone in 'Deep Dive' was willing to risk their lives for the truths they were passionate about. So, what they feared most wasn't dying, but being unable to pass on the truth and answers to others before their death." Her voice was flat, but each word seemed weighted.

Jie Ying let out a soft sigh and continued, "Fortunately, while staying in the Nightmare World, we unexpectedly obtained a small card, which led us to a special store."

"Because of 'Deep Dive's' passion for exploration, we had accumulated quite a few useful and not-so-useful items. After trading surplus items for points at that store, we selected a set of books from the product list."

"That set consisted of two volumes." Jie Ying's speech slowed slightly. "Though they looked like books, the pages were actually blank. If you wrote in one book, the text would also appear in the other. So, they kept one volume with me, and the pages of the other volume were torn out and distributed to each 'Deep Dive' member."

Jie Ying lowered her gaze slightly, her fingers brushing over the small bag she carried, as if caressing an old object laden with too many memories.

"During that time, the volume in my hands recorded various exploration reports from 'Deep Dive,' and also..." Her voice hesitated before continuing, "...their final messages."

"This once-blank book became the treasure 'Deep Dive' left behind."

Su Bai narrowed his eyes slightly. He then remembered that in the real world, he had advertised the Fog Store on forums, and in the Nightmare World, he had also distributed small cards. "Xiao Wu" had said these cards allowed people or non-humans to find the Fog Store even in the Nightmare World.

This was also one of the most mysterious and unique aspects of the Fog Store.

"So, we'd better try to figure out what kind of fog this is before us," Jie Ying stated her idea.

"I can try." Su Bai waved his hand, and the few blood butterflies circling around him flew toward the thick fog behind them.