“But I have to say, some things are truly terrifying. Neither you nor I can guarantee that we’ll survive when faced with these nightmarish monsters in the future.”

“That’s also why, if you had just chosen to shoot yourself in the head, I wouldn’t have stopped you.”

“For us, staying alive isn’t any easier than pulling the trigger on ourselves.”

“……”

From the ATM, a dark red card was dispensed, its surface textured and feeling like living flesh.

Henry Bennett took it in his hand, stood at the entrance of the subway station, and watched as Grace Cooper’s figure slowly disappeared into the hazy glow of the streetlights. Only after a long while did he slowly turn and head home.

Arriving at the entrance of that deep, shadowy alley, he looked up.

When he had just accompanied Grace Cooper out of the alley, he hadn’t felt anything in particular.

But now, coming back, it felt as if he was about to step into a giant mouth.

The three vicious dogs in the neighbor’s yard stared at him with eyes that seemed to flicker with ghostly fire.

Behind the white curtains on the second floor, an old record player was letting out a hoarse wail, like a tormented soul struggling in hell.

At the end of the alley, a butcher in a blood-splattered apron, towering at least three meters tall, cradled a chainsaw covered in bits of flesh and blood, staring intently at the prey hanging on the meat rack.

Henry Bennett stood in the middle of the alley, letting countless cold, sinister gazes and a sense of strangeness intertwine around him, feeling that tangible fear burrow into his heart, yet he remained silent for a long time.

He simply stood there in the darkness, wordless, stubbornly existing.

He had already struggled in fear and pain for four years, barely surviving in a cramped bedroom.

He had endured countless torments, survived endless nightmares, trained his focus, and forced himself to think normally under immense pressure.

He had done all this just to return to this world.

But now, he had finally succeeded, finally able to step out the door and walk the streets like a normal person.

Yet the world—had it already been stolen from him?

At this moment, a flame of frustration suddenly rose in Henry Bennett’s heart. Facing this vast, writhing city, he felt an urge to demand his world back...

...But after a long time, he only lowered his head and slowly walked toward his bedroom.

Chapter 9: The Mysterious Source

As Henry Bennett pondered all this, lying numbly on his bed, Grace Cooper, who had just returned home, sat silently on the sofa, her expression heavy and somber.

After much hesitation, she finally dialed a number.

The signal, traveling at lightning speed, shot straight to the very center of the city, where there stood the tallest building—over a hundred stories high, yet without a single billboard or decoration.

At the top floor, it was utterly silent, not a soul in sight—only precision instruments and a dizzying array of wires, all connected to a glass tank at the center.

Inside the glass tank, immersed in a deep green liquid, was a human brain—completely unprotected, with numerous wires attached to it.

Grace Cooper’s call was answered by a device outside the glass tank. Her voice echoed through the room, which contained only cold machines, complex circuits, and a single brain:

“Today I made contact with the newcomer, and helped him see the truth of this world…”

“……”

A cold electronic voice, surprisingly gentle, replied: “I don’t know whether to be glad we have another companion, or to pity that yet another person has fallen into a nightmare!”

“This newcomer is very strange.”

Grace Cooper slowly massaged her temples and said softly, “He’s calm, decisive, has strong analytical skills and the courage to confront malice, but he hasn’t reached the point of being cold and ruthless.”

“I have to say, after all these years in a foreign land, this is the first time I’ve met someone with such potential.”

“But at the same time, there are things about him I can’t see through.”

“……”

She paused, then said softly, “Looking back, everything he’s done has been perfectly reasonable, but he always manages to surprise people.”

“So, I hope you can investigate him.”

“……”

The gentle electronic voice was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll try.”

Grace Cooper said softly, “Thank you.”

Then she said nothing more, just waited patiently.

In the room filled with machines and complex circuits, the quietly existing brain seemed to tremble slightly on its surface, tiny sparks of electricity winding around it. These faint sparks triggered strong reactions among the surrounding machines, even causing some cables to writhe like pythons. Countless screens filled with garbled code, and the massive servers, in a state of overload, ran frantically.

It seemed as if some kind of microwave had begun to stimulate the city.

The vast and magnificent city’s foundations trembled in a way imperceptible to ordinary people, emitting strange signals that wove into a chaotic network.

Grace Cooper could also feel this tremor. She held the phone, motionless, waiting patiently.

After a long time, the tremor faded, and the gentle electronic voice sounded again on the other end of the line:

“I’ve accessed all his information in this city. It went smoothly—there were no signs of being blocked or tampered with.”