Chapter 29: The Price

……

1690 sat on the chair, his body straight and stiff. He raised his hand and gently pulled the piece of paper with writing on it toward him.

He remained motionless, as if he were truly reading the words that the quill had just written by itself.

To 1690, everything seemed perfectly normal; there was nothing strange about it.

Because he had only felt a moment of confusion at the very beginning.

However, the expressions of Zou Zhihua and Lin Zhiqi, who were sitting in the observation room, had grown slightly more solemn.

The high-precision motion-capture cameras were still recording the situation in real-time.

Although 1690 had maintained this normal posture throughout and nothing seemed different,

the situation opposite him was far from normal.

The position of the chair had shifted again.

From far away to close up.

This closing of distance did not bring a sense of relief; on the contrary, it felt inexplicably as if someone had suddenly leaned in while using a quill to write.

A sudden approach while sitting there.

The motion-capture cameras had clearly recorded this detail.

Everyone currently at the scene realized, to varying degrees, that something was very wrong.

Because under the current circumstances, even they could clearly see the chair moving; it was as if someone were sitting on it, yet they could see absolutely nothing with the naked eye!

"Interesting..."

Zou Zhihua looked at the large screen in front of him and leaned toward the microphone once more.

"1690, make a deal with him. See what the content is. Try your best to find out who it is you're dealing with and how the deal is being made."

Just as he finished speaking,

1690's expression remained blank, as if he hadn't heard a thing, staring blankly at the parchment before him.

Zou Zhihua rubbed his chin. "Is he being influenced? Or is it possible that he is already in the middle of a deal?"

……

After a while, 1690 seemed to be judging whether what was before him was real.

At this moment, 1690 suddenly moved forward slowly, settling himself more securely.

He looked at the thing in front of him with caution; it had completely exceeded his expectations, though as a test subject, he should have had some level of preparedness.

He had heard of plenty of strange occurrences, but he hadn't expected his turn to come so soon.

With a hint of curiosity, he tried to make out the person's appearance.

Just a moment ago, someone had suddenly sat on the chair in front of him. Although blurry, judging by the basic physique, it appeared to be a man.

1690 did not realize that, in fact, only he could see the appearance of the person before him right now.

In the eyes of everyone else, the chair opposite him was completely empty.

To be precise, the most significant observation was merely that the chair had moved forward a short distance.

However, before 1690 could see clearly, he discovered a strange whispering coming from all directions. At first, the voice was very low, filled with a thick sense of eeriness, like a stranger whispering softly in his ear.

Yet, there was no emotion carried within these words.

And before much time had passed, this strange whispering shifted; the unintelligible words turned into a clumsy, not-so-fluent, yet understandable language.

"What do you want? Wealth, power, or love?"

"I can give you whatever you want, as long as you provide the corresponding thing."

"I guarantee this is real; there is absolutely no deception."

"Come, friend, I can give you everything you desire!"

"You only need to pay a small price!"

"Tell me what you want, and we will make a deal that satisfies both parties!"

This was a voice of extreme temptation, the other party's words filled with a sense of languor.

Immediately, 1690's heart trembled upon hearing these words.

A flash of confusion suddenly crossed his eyes.

"I... what do I want?"

"I... what do I want?"

An extreme desire, welling up from within his heart, emerged forcefully at this moment.

The next second, 1690 began to think along the lines of the other party's suggestion.

"What do I want? Can you really give it to me?"

"Of course."

At the same time, 1690 suddenly saw the other party's appearance clearly.

1690's eyes instantly became dazed again.

But the next second, a different kind of horror took hold.

Because at that very moment,

the man in front of him suddenly moved; his head turned with an eerie speed to face 1690.

Immediately, 1690 was so terrified that his face turned white.

This man had no face, no features; there was only a layer of skin and flesh, his face a blank slate.

He wore a wine-red suit, exuding a noble and refined temperament. He sat there quietly, as if observing 1690 with his gaze.

Most eerie of all, even with such a strange face, 1690 still felt that the other party looked very much like him.

"Damn..."

1690 growled in his heart and, without a word, prepared to stand up at that moment.

The fear in his heart had already overridden the desire he felt earlier.

But the next second, a voice filled with temptation, which he found completely impossible to resist, pierced his ears and flooded into his brain again.

"Friend... have you forgotten the life you used to lead? Do you really wish to spend the rest of your life here in such a dull, even worthless, manner?"

"You only need to meet a small condition, pay a small price, and you can obtain many things you desire. Are you really going to give up this opportunity? What do you want? Power, status, or love?"

Accompanying the other party's words,

a flood of memories surged into 1690's mind, and the various negative emotions in his heart began to erupt at this moment.

In truth, 1690 had never lacked ambition; he also wanted to stand at the pinnacle of this world.

But it seemed fate always lacked an opportunity. He had struggled for so many years, yet he remained in this position for a long time; in the end, he had achieved nothing and remained ordinary.

Trembling, 1690 stared fixedly at the "person" opposite him at this moment.

He spoke: "Can you really give me everything I want?"

"Of course." The other party leaned forward slightly, and a pleasant floral scent drifted over, as beautiful as a dream.

"So, what do you want?" The other party smiled and asked the question again.

In 1690's mind, the image of a woman appeared at this moment—a woman he had loved for a long time, but whom it was impossible for him to obtain.

"I want the love of a woman..."

"The love of a woman." The other party smiled, though the voice was a bit low. About 10 seconds passed.

"No problem. As the price, I need a little bit of your memory."

"My memory?"

"Yes, your hot and burning memories. Are you willing to accept?"

1690 fell silent, for he did not know what this so-called memory actually represented.

As if sensing 1690's hesitation, the voice came again with a soft laugh: "It's just a memory, what else do you have to hesitate about? This deal is very worthwhile, isn't it? As long as you are willing, I can let you obtain that woman's love in the next second..."

By the end of the sentence, the voice actually blurred and shifted toward a sharp, thin tone. 1690 trembled subconsciously again, because at the end of this voice, it was indeed the voice of the woman he had just mentioned.

A sense of hope suddenly welled up in 1690's heart.

It seemed he could really fulfill his wish, and the price was merely so-called memory. What use were memories, anyway?

The scene remained silent for another two minutes.

The other party seemed to see that 1690 was thinking, so he didn't speak, just sat there quietly in place.

"Fine! I agree."

1690 gritted his teeth. After various considerations, he finally agreed.

He wanted to try and see if what the other party said was true.

Because for someone like him, those so-called memories were simply not worth mentioning.

To obtain that woman's love.

Moreover, such a condition seemed to have far outweighed his rationality; he wanted to see if there would be an opportunity to ask for other requirements later.

Or perhaps, for him, he already had nothing left to lose.

"A wise choice." The other party's words now carried a clear smile.

"Then, now, the deal begins."

The next second, 1690 saw the protagonist of his desire, that woman, slowly walking over from the room in the distance.

1690 saw the woman's eyes filled with tears as she looked at him.

And just at the moment 1690 wanted to stand up,

he discovered with horror that a sharp pain was coming from his brain, and everything before him was rapidly blurring at this moment.

1690 subconsciously reached out to touch the corner of his eye, while his other hand touched the corner of his mouth.

When he looked at his hand, he discovered with horror that it was covered in fresh blood; it was clearly flowing from the corners of his eyes and mouth.

Suddenly, 1690's consciousness blurred, and accompanied by intense pain, he collapsed to the ground.

In his final glance, he saw the woman rushing toward him, her face full of concern.

Perhaps this is what is called...

Love?

……

Behind the table, the man who had been sitting on the chair walked out.

He walked to the side as if nothing had happened, watching 1690, who lay motionless before him.

Until several seconds later,

the other research staff swarmed forward and immediately dragged 1690 to the side.

Suddenly, the man moved.

He turned his head slowly; this time, he was no longer without features or a face.

At this moment, he revealed a remarkably handsome face.

His lips were red and moist, as if stained with blood.

And at this instant, the parchment behind him began to move again, just as it had at the beginning, with the quill starting to write.

【Deal completed. The other party obtained the desired love; as the price, I have taken his memory.】

…… ===== CHAPTER 30 =====