Chapter 313: CH 23.3

In the stream, the detective dalao is also typing.

“That’s right!

Wu Shen has always been lying there with his eyes wide-open but looking like he’s asleep otherwise. We can actually interpret this as him being in the middleground between normalcy and madness.

When the players go through the letters from Wu Shen’s friend in the study, Wu Shen would actually slowly be de-dollified and regain his sanity. His flashback at that time would be the memories the main personality remembers of Wu Chun’s disappearance.

Yet when the players go through the torn letters from Wu Shen’s ex-wife in the workshop, Wu Shen would entirely dollify, with his insane personality taking over his body completely.

Since the eighth run began, Wu Shen directly begins having dollified completely. I believe this is a result of what was mentioned as the gradual crumbling of the Nightmare, but after the players happened to open up the flashback again, Wu Shen regressed back to the chaotic state between his insanity and normalcy.

This actually means that the players could influence Wu Shen’s state in order to communicate with him.

Of course, the most key question remains. How do they achieve a True End? We know almost the entire truth by now, but it is still a mystery what the ending involves.”

Meanwhile, in the stream, Ponytail has made an analysis that is almost entirely the same as the detective dalao, and also adds in the end, that, “do you remember when Wu Shen almost managed to tell us what xiao-Chun wanted, but became stuck halfway, and showed a terrified expression before fainting?”

Quarrelsome immediately chimes in, “I do!”

Glasses asks with furrowed brows, “what do you mean?”

“I feel like, it wasn’t actually Wu Shen’s insane personality in full control back then… Otherwise, he wouldn’t have fainted, would he?” Ponytail says with equally furrowed brows. Then she shakes her head, and changes the topic, “never mind that, but I have a guess on the Ending. I think the most key thing in this Nightmare is to make the main personality aware that he has killed his own daughter.”

Glasses nods in agreement, saying, “or, we would have to conclusively prove xiao-Chun’s final whereabouts.”

“That’s right,” Ponytail then adds, “and also…”

Then the two both say in unison, “why Wu Chun is looking for eyes!”

They glance at each other, and both nod.

Glasses says, “we’ll have to communicate with the insane personality first, somehow.”

“It’ll be difficult,” Ponytail says with a slightly exasperated tone, “he’s completely mad, through and through.”

Quarrelsome blinks and has lost interest in their conversation a while ago. Instead, he looks towards the doll of the little girl, that is, Wu Chun.

Based on appearance alone, she really is just a normal, unremarkable doll. One wonders what Wu Shen must have done to her body to cause such an unbelievable thing to happen.

It almost sounds fantastical.

But hey, Nightmares. Nothing is impossible.

Perhaps, back in reality, Wu Chun, who was made into a doll, was just an ugly, dried-up corpse; in the Nightmare, Wu Shen’s rose-tinted memories instead gave her life as this pretty little doll.

Nightmare does not reflect reality entirely. It is merely a reflection, or an extension based on reality.

When Quarrelsome keeps staring at Wu Chun, the little doll tilts her head and asks curiously, “gege (TL: Older brother, not necessarily biological when used as a term of address), why do you keep staring at me?”

Wu Chun’s reaction spooks everyone present, including Ponytail and Glasses who were in a discussion.

Even if they know the doll is Wu Chun herself, but in the Missiontakers’ eyes, she is still no different from the background army of dolls that would chase after them, thirsty for blood.

Her past was lamentable, but the Missiontakers, who have seen much worse, will offer nothing more than a sigh.

Yet, Wu Chun’s rather human and nimble reaction suddenly made Ponytail and Glasses realise this doll is intelligent enough to be a source of information.

Ponytail is the quickest to react, immediately asking, “xiao-Chun, can jiejie (TL: Older sister, not necessarily biological when used as a term of address) ask you a question?”

The doll’s mouth opens a little. She seems to be trying to smile as she answers, “of course.”

Ponytail asks, “why do you want eyes?”

“Because xiao-Chun’s eyes are gone,” she says with a saddened tone. Then she lifts up her thin, plastic doll arms to touch her glass beads for eyes, and explains, “these are not my eyes; I borrowed them from my other doll geges and jiejies. I need to find my own eyes and return this pair to them.”

Ponytail knits her brows slightly, asking, “do you know where your eyes are, then?”

Wu Chun says confidently, “it’s in here,” but then she looks around the house, slightly less certain this time, saying, “inside my home.”

Glasses speaks up this time, asking, “did your daddy take your eyes?”

Wu Chun makes an ‘ah’ sound and blurts out, “daddy, daddy,” then tilts her head to say, “daddy… I don’t know. He wasn’t like daddy.”

Ponytail carefully asks for clarification, “you mean… the person, did not look like your daddy?”

“Mommy said, daddy was becoming stranger and stranger. She said, she will take me away from daddy,” Wu Chun explains, “but, mommy was gone one day. Xiao-Chun turned into this. Xiao-Chun’s eyes were missing.”

“‘Strange’? Do you know why mommy said daddy is strange?”

“Daddy used to care about xiao-Chun a lot. He liked xiao-Chun a lot,” Wu Chun says with a quieter tone, “but there was one day, when daddy started to stay in his room all the time. He doesn’t talk to xiao-Chun anymore. And when he was talking, he looked strange.”

“His room? The room where he makes dolls?”

Wu Chun tilts her head to think, and then nods, answering, “yes.”

Glasses quietly whispers to Ponytail, “this proves Wu Shen did go insane making his dolls.”

“I agree,” Ponytail says, then mulls over everything for a bit before asking again, “xiao-Chun, do you no longer like daddy because he is now strange? You would stay away from daddy when he is here?”

She is asking about how Wu Chun disappeared every time Wu Shen was in the vicinity.

Wu Chun shakes her head and answers, “xiao-Chun likes daddy, no matter how strange daddy is,” but then her tone changes a little, “but daddy cries every time he sees xiao-Chun like this; xiao-Chun doesn’t want to see daddy crying, but, when daddy is strange, he would smile when he sees xiao-Chun.”

The young little girl even looks slightly proud saying that.

Ponytail pauses, and can’t help but sigh.

It’s pretty obvious. The normal Wu Shen would cry when he saw the doll, but the strange Wu Shen smiles. That’s why, when the former is here, the doll avoids him; the latter is here, the doll would not avoid them specifically.

Yet… Why would the normal Wu Shen cry when he sees the doll of the little girl?

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Did he know he killed Wu Chun himself and made her into a doll?

Or, does this doll in a red dress simply remind her of that doll that was made in the image of Wu Chun? He cried because of the resemblance; the connection?

Ponytail is rubbing her chin in thought.

Quarrelsome suddenly says, “I think it’s been more than five minutes at this point.”

The rest of the trio seem taken aback and immediately look towards Wu Chun, who is still standing there motionlessly. She no longer seems interested in their eyes anymore.

Ponytail decides to ask, choosing her words carefully, “xiao-Chun, are you, not angry at us now?”

Wu Chun says, “I have seen gege and jiejie’s eyes already. I did not like them, so I don’t want them anymore.”

Quarrelsome, being his quarrelsome self, goes, “then why were you blocking us downstairs?!”

“Xiao-Chun could not find her eyes, so xiao-Chun was angry and wanted to scare you. And jiejie used that, that thing,” Wu Chun is waving her hands all about dramatically while explaining, “and hit me with it!”

Ponytail apologises, “I’m sorry, xiao-Chun, jiejie was wrong.”

Wu Chun says, slightly awkwardly herself, “I am sorry too. Xiao-Chun should not have tried to scare you.”

All three Missiontakers almost sigh in unison.

This means that, at least for now, Wu Chun is unlikely to target them.

Glasses then says, “Wu Shen is likely the bigger danger here, now.”

Ponytail falls into thought before saying, “Wu Shen probably has xiao-Chun’s eyes; why did he take his daughter’s eyes away, though?”

Quarrelsome says, “who knows what a madman is thinking.”

Glasses follows up from that to say, “so we have to ask Wu Shen himself.”

Quarrelsome looks at him in shock, saying, “hoh? You actually agreed with me?”

Glasses rolls his eyes at him, speechless, and says, “it was always you who was always… Never mind. I’m not going to argue with you.”

Quarrelsome goes ‘tch,’ bored.

Ponytail is not in the mood to deal with them; their quarrels really seem so childishly quaint. Instead, she says, “so we’re going to wake up the mad Wu Shen? That’s going to be risky.”

Quarrelsome asks, “so are we doing it or not? If we are, then I’m going to go kick that bin over.”

Ponytail quickly thinks over every clue they have obtained thus far, and nods, saying, “go.”

Then she heads into Wu Chun’s original room with Glasses. The doll does not go inside, but merely continues poking her head through the door to see.

A short while later, with Quarrelsome probably having picked up the pieces of the letter in the bin, Wu Shen, in the manner of a doll, suddenly, and stiffly, sits up on the bed. He has a twisted, sick smile on his face.

Ponytail strikes first with a powerful statement, “Wu Shen, you killed your daughter, Wu Chun.”

Wu Shen smiles to answer, “hehe, did you, not see already?”

Ponytail and Glasses are coldly staring down at the madman. Ponytail asks with a frigid tone, “who are you?”

“I’m Wu Shen,” the man answers, “who else but the… doll store owner. The dollmaker, Wu Shen.”

Glasses then interjects, “so you made your own daughter into a doll?”

“A doll… A doll is good,” Wu Shen takes a deep breath, and says, almost looking possessed, “immune to pain, to death, to rot and decay, to thirst and hunger, to sleep and… to blink. Every day, every day, just looking at you with wide-open eyes…”

“… You are insane.”

Wu Shen starts chuckling again, “hehe, you say the same thing as my wife. She also said I’m insane, but I know, I feel good, I have never felt so amazing! Why do humans try to deny dolls? What grounds do humans have to cast judgement on that?”

Quarrelsome is at the door now, he blinks and begins being his quarrelsome self, “at least humans are still alive.”

“I am also alive,” Wu Shen asks; he sounds confused, “and so is xiao-Chun.”

Ponytail says, “no, xiao-Chun has already died. You killed her.”

“She is alive! She is going to live forever, as a doll! She will be by my side, forever…” Wu Shen’s voice slowly drifts off and sinks in tone, “my daughter… my xiao-Chun…”

“Stop dressing up your excuses in pretty dresses,” Ponytail says emotionlessly, “xiao-Chun said she wanted the most perfect doll in this world, so…”

“So I made xiao-Chun into the most perfect doll in this world,” Wu Shen continues her sentence without hesitation, “that’s right.”

The statement stuns the three Missiontakers.

Wu Shen starts chuckling again, “what was that saying… ‘The burden of proof is on the one proposing.’ If xiao-Chun wanted the most perfect doll in this world, then xiao-Chun must be used to prove that, she is the most perfect doll in this world.”

“‘Used’…” Ponytail quietly repeats the word Wu Shen used, and adds, “you really disgust me.”

“You people are weird… Xiao-Chun likes dolls, what’s wrong with allowing her to accompany her beloved dolls?” Wu Shen retorts, “I did it for her sake.”

Quarrelsome’s jaws are on the floor from this logic, “what kind of parents would say something like ‘it’s for their sake’ and turn their children into a doll alive?!” (TL: … Pretty scathing social commentary there, author. I’ll give you an ‘A’ for effort, but try being less jarring next time, hehe)

Wu Shen is quietly murmuring, “xiao-Chun likes this… xiao-Chun, likes…”

Wu Chun, meanwhile, is poking her little head through the door secretly. Her glass beads for eyes are spinning around aimlessly. She is wondering what her daddy is talking about with these geges and jiejie.

“Then, what about her eyes?” Glasses takes a deep breath and asks, “why, is xiao-Chun looking for her own eyes?”

At the door, Wu Chun is touching her own beady eyes.

She also wants to know. Where are her eyes?

Wu Shen is tilting his head. This haggard-looking man is chuckling again, slowly licking his lips with his tongue.

He says with a highly disturbing tone, “you see, she wanted the most perfect, most good-looking doll in this world. If I did not take her eyes away, how is she——even going to ‘see’ that? Daddy thought ahead for her, and that’s why I took her eyes away!”

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