Artifact Report

Chapter 194 Mai Minghe Temporary Additional Issuance Report

Not sure what the impact will be?
With only such a vague sentence, Mai Minghe really couldn't figure out what Hai Luwei was worried about.

She asked hesitantly, "When other artifacts are released into the world... will the hunters know what consequences they will cause?"

Mai Minghe asked the question sincerely, but Hai Luwei misunderstood.

He smiled wryly, waved his hand, and said, "You're right. It's not just this one, but any fake we sell, we don't know who it will end up in, what it will be used for, or what impact it will have."

"To even have concerns about your fake image alone is a form of hypocrisy... Well, I've sold plenty of fake images, both appropriate and inappropriate. If you truly wanted to be socially responsible, you shouldn't have entered the hunter business in the first place."

"That's not what I meant..."

"It doesn't matter," Sea Reed lowered his head. He always looked a little tired. "Hunters don't have moral dilemmas."

Mai Minghe looked at him almost blankly, and instinctively wanted to comfort him, but he had no idea what he was saying.

If you think about it carefully, this seems unavoidable.

For several years before the thief came to her house and obtained the fake image, although she was alive, she was completely out of touch with society.

Her world was just that apartment bedroom with a cracked wall; no matter how long she turned on the TV, the only sound that would eventually linger in her mind was the low hum of the oxygen machine.

The social worker only talked to her about the weather, her health, taking medicine and eating... She never thought that she could reconnect with the world outside her bedroom window.

If she could continue to live in her youthful state, she would finally understand the world again. But before that, she might as well ask Sea Reed for advice.

"So what you mean is... should I sell this lipstick?"

The sea reed glanced at it.

"Sell it. The effect it will have isn't unprecedented; it's happened before. Humanity doesn't need any outside help; it can hurtle toward extinction on its own... If you can make some money from this process, why not?"

Mai Minghe didn't quite understand, but she understood one thing: young people today seem to be much more suspicious and pessimistic about the world than she was when she was young.

She had met few young people, but none of them could be considered hopeful, whether it was Fu Tailan or Hai Luwei.

When Mai Minghe was in his twenties and thirties, he had no doubt that the world was getting better and better.

"Then sell it," she nodded and said, "I need the money."

Whatever price it can sell for is whatever price it can sell for. One million might be a bit ridiculous - she still doesn't think lipstick can be that powerful.

It would be amazing if people believed what you said after you put it on; but the actual function of lipstick is more like it is diluted with water.

Hai Luwei took a few more photos and videos, raised his hand and waved to the waitress.

The waitress looked at Mai Minghe and smiled at her. "Newcomer?"

Mai Minghe nodded. "Yes, I've only been in this business a few days..."

"My name is Megan," the waitress said, extending a hand.

Mai Minghe quickly reached out a hand and held hers; she was vaguely worried that she had just grabbed French fries and chicken wings with her hands and didn't know if she had wiped them clean - but Megan smiled.

"Give her your lipstick. She'll be in charge of the preliminary inspection," Hai Luwei explained, wiping his face vigorously. "This is how we ensure the authenticity of the fakes we're selling."

...Why didn’t you say so earlier?
"But we'd better use your back room." Hai Luwei suddenly remembered and said, "The things are quite valuable."

Megan glanced at the lipstick in Mai Minghe's hand, nodded, and led the two through the bar and opened a back door for employees. Behind the door was a small corridor leading to the kitchen, office, and utility room. Megan opened the office door and said to the two, "Please come in."

Without the strange hunters, the office would look like just an ordinary small office.

The only thing that is different is the picture hanging on the back wall:

Megan was wearing a hunting suit, leaning on a double-barreled hunting rifle, standing in front of a forest. In her other hand, as if she had caught a big fish or shot a stag, she was holding a -

"Residents?" Mai Minghe took a breath.

A thin white object drooped limply in Megan's hand. Although it looked like a ghost suit left over from Halloween, one could vaguely tell that it seemed to be full of grievances - it was a resident, but looking at it like that, it didn't look too scary.

"Is this taken in the lair?"

"Yes," Megan introduced happily, "I discovered a way to temporarily disable residents. It worked the first time I used it on it, so how could I not take a photo to commemorate it?"

"What method?" Mai Minghe asked immediately.

"Want to buy it?" Megan said with a smile. "That was seven or eight years ago. I don't know what the chances of success are now. I can give it to you at a lower price."

...Hunting is really a job where you don't release the eagle until you see the rabbit.

Let’s sell the lipstick first, then we can talk about other things.

"Oh, he's not wrong after all."

Megan looked closely at the lipstick and glanced at the sea reed.

"If there's a suitable candidate, they're willing to pay a lot of money for it... but conversely, if they can't find the right person, they won't be able to sell it at a high price. It's applicable to a very niche market."

Hai Luwei acted like a serious businessman and said, "That's why we asked 'Niguangjianjian' to handle this."

Megan unscrewed the cap and spun out the cream, then exclaimed, "Huh?" "What's with those marks?" "The resident hid their mouth in their hair," Mai Minghe said, her words a revelation she had never imagined she'd say. "Maybe it was scratched on the back of her head when she was applying lipstick."

"Oh, it's an artifact from 'The Situation,'" Megan muttered.

What do you mean?
"Residents generally can't use artifacts, so even if they do, they're just props for the scene," Hai Luwei explained. "For example, if the lipstick is from the 'a resident putting on makeup' scene, to that resident, it's just lipstick, without the effect of 'a flock of birds flying across the sky.'"

Mai Minghe searched her own nest knowledge base - she found that this classification method was only used by hunters, and the nests didn't care at all.

"Artifacts used as props for the scene are generally not affected."

Megan gently dabbed the cream with her fingertips, but traces of it remained. "...The residents' appearance has been altered, which means the function has also changed..."

"Can't sell it?" Mai Minghe became nervous - this was what she cared about most now.

"That's not necessarily the case. Put it up first and see if a buyer asks you to do further testing."

Hai Luwei added quietly, "There are some companies that offer this service, and they charge for testing. But I don't think it's necessary for lipstick... Just put it on and tell me what you mean. It's not dangerous anyway."

Mai Minghe nodded and asked, "Where should I put it?"

"Against the Light" seems to have a complete set of procedures for processing the prey that hunters bring in for sale - but Mai Minghe just can't understand it.

"Have you airdropped the photos and videos?" Megan asked, handing the lipstick back. "We're not responsible for that, you know."

"It's done," said Sea Reed.

...What air fell?
Mai Minghe looked at them blankly as they both took out their smartphones.

"'Backlight Between' has an official channel on Telegram, where they upload all the artifacts they want to sell... Oh, forget it, you don't understand."

Upon hearing this, Megan immediately looked up at Mai Minghe; the latter, a young man in his twenties, looked confused at the moment.

She was a former hunter, and even if it wasn't something that concerned her, she instinctively wanted to dig deep. Seeing Hai Luwei remained silent, Megan seemed to have an idea. She smiled and said to Mai Minghe, "Give me your phone number? We can exchange WhatsApp or email addresses."

"She doesn't have a cell phone," Hai Luwei covered up, "Her cell phone... was stolen."

"It's inconvenient, isn't it?" Megan was startled, but then seized another opportunity. "It's two or three o'clock now, and there's nowhere to buy a new one. Is it urgent? Do you want to buy mine?"

what?
Megan opened the drawer, took out a mobile phone with a green case, and pushed it in front of Mai Minghe.

"I just got a new phone, and this old one has been wiped clean, so I can sell it to you at a discount."

Mai Minghe lowered her head to look - she didn't know what the point was, since she couldn't tell whether it was good or bad, or what the model was.

"The model is not old. But it's better to buy a new one..." Hai Luwei said on the side.

Megan's old cell phone didn't look old at all, it was black and shiny; Mai Minghe touched it lightly, and a line of words suddenly lit up on the screen: "Welcome".

Somehow, these two words touched Mai Minghe gently.

This cell phone is so sensible and is welcoming her; it must also want a new owner, right?

"Okay," she agreed, her heart suddenly warming up. "I'll take it."

Megan was very satisfied, her face wide with a smile - she must have been a good hunter in the past, she was not ashamed of her desires at all.

The price of the old mobile phone was indeed not expensive, and Mai Minghe felt that he had made the right decision.

Only Hai Luwei said repeatedly, as if with regret: "Alas, you won't be able to enjoy the feeling of unpacking a new phone..."

"But I already have it. Otherwise, I have to wait for you to get up after catching up on your sleep before you can take me to buy it—"

Before Mai Minghe could finish her words, her cell phone suddenly buzzed in her hand.

The other two were stunned.

"That's not right? Is it connected to Wi-Fi?" Megan was also confused. "How can there be a signal..."

When Mai Minghe lowered her head, the words she saw on the screen were no longer "Welcome" - she immediately held up her phone, blocking the screen from Megan's sight.

Artifact Report

Temporary additional issuance
Only those who change the world should be qualified to advance
Dear contestant Mai Minghe, this "Pseudo-Image Report" was issued to you temporarily due to an emergency. I hope you can seize this unexpected opportunity and win your first goal.

Attention, there is a target artifact approaching you rapidly.

Graphics: Black square

Please be cautious when facing the risks ahead.

I wish you success in everything you do.

　From tomorrow until the 23rd, I will have to be a human background board. I don’t know if I can squeeze out a few words to update. I just want to say a word to everyone and give them a heads up.

　　I don't know if Lengwen is afraid of discontinuing updates, I'll take a look this time...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)