Chapter 60: Story Mode, Activate!

Before knowing that the opponent he had to face was a Totem Mismagius, Qian Lin had been wondering if he could attempt to capture a Ghost-type Pokémon and let the state try to research the mysteries of ghosts.

However, once he realized that trying to capture the Totem Mismagius was completely out of the question, his mindset changed. He prepared for the worst-case scenario: that he too would end up like the others, and these attacks would continue indefinitely.

Of course, that was just the worst-case scenario.

In fact, judging by what that shadowy figure had said earlier and Mismagius's attitude toward him, things didn't seem to be quite what he had guessed.

That is, it wasn't a case of Ghost-types attacking humans, nor was it a case of Ghost-types wanting to play with humans.

The ghosts here existed as a community—or rather, under the leadership of a Totem, possessing their own social structure. Ghost-type Pokémon under such circumstances would never initiate contact with humans, because they could grow and play entirely on their own; human intervention would only disrupt the social structure of their community.

Research institutes in the Pokémon world had studied Ghost-type Pokémon before, because the birth conditions of some Ghost-types were extremely bizarre, even uncanny, yet they still retained the same ability to reproduce offspring as ordinary Pokémon.

Thus, Ghost-type Pokémon were a group of entirely enigmatic beings.

"Alright," Qian Lin put down his cup and looked at Mismagius. "My purpose in coming here is just as you said. I want to know what happened to those humans—were they attacked by you, were they forced to play by you, or was there some other reason?"

Hearing this, Mismagius narrowed its eyes with a smile: "I thought you'd be a bit more tactful. Saying it so directly, aren't you afraid I'll get angry and pull out your soul as well?"

"So those people's souls really were pulled out by you on purpose?" Qian Lin instinctively pursed his lips.

If that were true, what should he do?

He definitely couldn't win in a fight, and as for persuasion... was that even possible?

This was a Totem! A Ghost-type Totem that had lived for an unknown number of years!

"Of course not." Fortunately, Mismagius's reply made Qian Lin unconsciously heave a sigh of relief.

As long as he didn't have to throw his life away.

"Although I possess the ability to pull out other people's souls, I didn't do it." Mismagius's expression turned unusually serious. "We have no desire to become enemies with humans, even though this world has no Trainers, and your name for Pokémon is 'monsters'."

"Then..." Qian Lin instinctively wanted to ask.

Mismagius's eyes radiated a blue glow: "This story is simple. I will give you the answer, and as for what to do when the time comes, that will be the choice of you humans."

The blue light expanded, and as Qian Lin instinctively reached for a Poké Ball, the surrounding environment began to change.

[About a month ago, we descended into this world.]

***

The imagery began to shift, and Mismagius's voice echoed directly in Qian Lin's mind.

[The very moment we discovered we had been transferred to a new world, I hid all of us away.]

In the vision, beneath a pitch-black night sky, led by Mismagius, a large group of at least several dozen Ghost-type Pokémon of various kinds appeared out of thin air. Yes, out of thin air, without any special effects or lighting effects, just like a sudden teleportation.

Because it was nighttime, there was no one else at the construction site besides the patrolling guard dog. Mismagius and the others' arrival caught the attention of a golden retriever guarding the site. It cowered in fear in a corner of the site, yet mustered the courage to bark at Mismagius and the others.

Mismagius, noticing the golden retriever, instantly executed an unknown move. As a flash of light swept past, all the Ghost-type Pokémon vanished from the spot on the instant, and even Mismagius itself slowly dissolved into the air.

Mismagius gazed at the golden retriever, its eyes filled with solemnity.

[After that, we simply scouted this world. You know, as ghosts, we possess an innate advantage over humans.]

Various Pokémon slipped out from the construction site, relying on the formidable stealth capabilities of Ghost-type Pokémon to continuously gather intelligence in the human world, and information about this world gradually reached Mismagius.

[At first, I simply thought we had been transported from the Sinnoh region to another region, but after investigating, I realized we had come to another world.]

In the imagery, Mismagius stood hidden on the rooftop of a certain villa, looking around with a dazed expression. Most of the Ghost-type Pokémon behind it were also looking around in bewilderment, and a few newborn baby Pokémon even burst into tears.

Hearing the cries, Mismagius turned around, scooped a crying Ghastly into its arms, and its tone grew firm.

"Misha!"

It was a deep, masculine voice...

[?]

The last shred of wishful thinking shattered. Qian Lin coughed dryly: "And then?"

[And then, that human came.]

The scene flowed, and a man walked out of the construction site building, moving sluggishly like a walking corpse, muttering something under his breath while holding a bottle of liquor.

He walked step by step until he reached the highest point of the structure, sat down on the edge, and drank while looking down, his eyes completely numb.

The first to spot him was a Misdreavus. The little Misdreavus, attracted by the negative emotions emanating from the man, instinctively drew closer to his side. Remaining invisible, the cute Misdreavus stared curiously at the man who had run upstairs to drink in the middle of the night instead of resting.

Little Misdreavus watched the bottle of liquor that the man had put down after taking only a single sip, and suddenly became curious about how wine tasted. So, it crept forward, took the bottleneck into its mouth, and sucked in deeply.

Then... it spun its eyes in dizziness and fell off the building.

***

"Mish~"

Falling down right along with it was that bottle of liquor, of which only a single sip had been taken.

The man had no idea what had happened; he hadn't noticed the Misdreavus. He just stared blankly at the bottle that had slipped from his side and fallen.

His hands began to tremble, then his lips, and finally his entire body.

He broke down.

Clearly, it was just a bottle of liquor falling away, yet his entire being completely collapsed.

He buried his face in his hands and wept bitterly. A man in his forties cried like a four-year-old child, weeping and falling apart.

Mismagius watched the dizzy little Misdreavus fall, stepped forward to catch it, and looked up to see the man weeping in despair. Mismagius didn't quite understand, but it could sense the massive wave of negative emotions erupting from that man.

Misdreavus could feed on human fear, so the entire Misdreavus family was extremely sensitive to negative emotions. The fear in that man's heart was substantial, but even more so... was despair.

Not knowing what else to do, Mismagius could only watch helplessly as the broken man leaped off the ledge.

Instinctively, Mismagius stepped forward and caught him, but before it could establish a mental connection with him, it saw the man's lifeless eyes—yes, he had completely broken down beyond recovery.

Placing the man gently on the ground, Mismagius looked at the dizzy little Misdreavus, then back at the man, and chose to read his mind.

[I saw the inner world of that man.]

The imagery shifted once more, revealing the story of that man.

Zhao Zhugang, male, 47 years old. He had a wife, but because the family lacked money, he had to work away from home. They had no children. The only elderly family member left was his mother; his wife's parents had passed away years ago. He had an older brother who had gone out into society years ago and disappeared, and two younger brothers—one had drowned in a river, and the other had been sold off to parts unknown by human traffickers.

Just moments ago, he had received a phone call: his mother, suffering from Alzheimer's due to her advanced age, had chosen to jump into a river so as not to be a burden to her family. When they fished her out, she was already gone. By then, the family still owed money to the people who retrieved the body—not much, just two hundred yuan, but the household could only scrape together one hundred thirty-two yuan and fifty cents.

Sometimes... reality is even more absurd than fiction. Fiction has to follow logic, while reality has no logic whatsoever.