26: Chapter 26 Trial Preparation

The entrance to the Reversal Tunnel was more ordinary than Chen Mo had imagined.

It was just an inconspicuous cave entrance on the side of the road, with weeds growing over the top.

If it hadn't been clearly marked on the map, no one would have ever noticed it.

Chen Mo parked the car on the side of the road, turned off the engine, and stared at the cave entrance for a long time.

He scanned it with his Pupil of the Sequence; there were faint golden lines at the entrance, and they were very stable.

They didn't look like the active lines of a Ghost Shadow.

But those lines were flowing slowly, as if they were breathing.

【Special area detected: Reversal Tunnel】

【Danger Rank: E-Class】

【Recommendation: Enter during the day, or enter as a team】

Daytime.

It was daytime right now.

Chen Mo pushed open the car door and walked to the edge of the cave entrance.

Looking inside, it was pitch black; he couldn't see anything.

But this darkness was different from ordinary darkness; it was that kind of thick, impenetrable darkness that felt as if it could suck a person in.

He reached his hand in to probe it.

Cold.

Bone-chillingly cold, as if he had stuck his hand into ice water.

He pulled his hand back and looked at those golden lines.

Just then, the System notification sounded.

【Sequence Evolution Progress: 80%】

【Nightwalker Trial available for activation】

【Trial content: Kill 3 E-Class Ghost Shadows in the Memory Corridor within 24 hours】

【Trial reward: Complete Nightwalker Legacy】

【Activate?】

Chen Mo was taken aback.

80%?

He checked his fragment count—152 F-Class fragments; in terms of evolution progress, that was indeed about right.

Memory Corridor.

He had just come out of there, and now he had to go back in?

But this time was different.

This time it was a trial; it wasn't about killing a specific Ghost Shadow, but about staying inside for twenty-four hours and killing three of them.

Chen Mo didn't choose to activate it immediately.

He turned around, went back to the car, took out the core road map, and studied it carefully.

The Reversal Tunnel was right next to him, but the clue Old Li had marked was "core of the sequence clue · Reversal Tunnel".

If he entered the trial first, would he still have time to enter the tunnel after coming out?

If he entered the tunnel first, would the trial change after he came out?

He thought about it and decided to enter the tunnel first to take a look.

After all, it was on the way.

Chen Mo packed his gear, shouldered his backpack, gripped his cleaver, and walked toward the cave entrance.

The moment he stepped into the darkness, the whole world changed.

It wasn't a visual change, but rather a... change in time.

He could feel that the flow rate around him was different.

The feeling was subtle, like someone was secretly adjusting the speed of a second hand.

Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

【Entered special area: Reversal Tunnel】

【Current rule: Time flow rate changes randomly】

【Recommendation: Keep moving, do not stop】

Chen Mo gripped his cleaver and walked forward.

The tunnel was very deep; he had been walking for over ten minutes and still hadn't reached the end.

The walls on both sides were made of stone, covered in strange patterns that emitted a faint light in the darkness.

He scanned them with his Pupil of the Sequence; there were faint golden lines within those patterns, very similar to the ones on the door of the Source of the Sequence.

He reached out and touched one.

It was cold, smooth, and felt like metal.

He continued walking forward.

After walking for another ten minutes, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

Three paths, all identical.

Chen Mo stopped and scanned them with his Pupil of the Sequence.

In his golden vision, the path on the left had faint lines, the middle one had none, and the right one had very thick lines.

He chose the left one.

After walking just a few steps, those lines suddenly became thick.

Thick to the point of being blinding.

Something appeared ahead—

A huge stone, floating in mid-air, covered with dense text.

Chen Mo walked closer to look.

It was a list.

All names.

At the very top was "Zhang Lie".

Zhang Lie.

Old Li's best friend, the first person to be converted.

Below were dozens more names, most of which he didn't recognize.

There were a few names he was very familiar with.

Old Zhou's name was on it, and Lin Wei's name was on it too.

This was the membership list of the Old Driver Alliance.

Chen Mo stared at the stone.

A floating stone, a stone covered in names.

What did this mean?

He reached out to touch it.

The moment his fingers touched the stone, those names suddenly lit up, emitting a golden light.

The light grew brighter and brighter, finally illuminating the entire tunnel.

Then, those names began to move.

They floated down from the stone, one by one, drifting into his body.

Chen Mo wanted to dodge, but he couldn't.

Those names burrowed into his skin, into his blood vessels, and into his brain.

Then he heard voices.

Countless voices rang out in his mind all at once.

"Save me..."

"I don't want to die..."

"Why are you doing this to me..."

"Zhang Lie, you traitor..."

The voices grew noisier and louder, finally turning into a piercing roar.

Chen Mo covered his ears and crouched on the ground.

But it was useless.

Those voices were coming directly from his brain; he couldn't escape them.

He didn't know how long it had been, but the voices suddenly stopped.

Chen Mo opened his eyes.

He was still crouching in the same spot, but the surroundings had changed.

The stone was still there, but the names on it had all disappeared.

In their place was a line of text:

"Remember them."

Chen Mo stood up and looked at that line of text.

Remember them.

Remember those who died.

He took a deep breath and turned to walk back.

The fork in the road was still there, but this time he didn't choose again.

He exited the tunnel directly and returned outside.

The sunlight shone on him, warm and cozy.

But his heart was cold.

Every name on that stone was a person who had died.

Old Zhou, Lin Wei, and those people he didn't recognize.

Were they still alive now?

Or were they already dead, and their names were just left there?

Chen Mo got into the car and started the engine.

He needed answers.

But not now.

Right now, he had to complete the trial first.

He opened the System interface and looked at that line of text.

【Activate Nightwalker Trial?】

Chen Mo clicked "Yes".

In an instant, everything around him disappeared.

He was standing in that corridor again.

The corridor of the Orphanage.

But this time it was different.

This time, there were people in the corridor.

Many, many people.

They were all children from the Orphanage, the companions he had grown up with as a child.

They stood on both sides of the corridor, looking at him.

"Chen Mo." The one at the very front spoke, "You've returned."

Chen Mo gripped his cleaver.

"We want you to stay." The child took a step forward: "Stay and keep us company."

The children behind followed, stepping forward too.

One step, two steps, three steps.

They formed a circle, trapping Chen Mo in the middle.

Chen Mo looked at them.

Those faces were all real.

Those expressions were all familiar.

But he knew that this was all fake.

He closed his eyes.

Then he opened them.

"I'm not here to keep you company." He said: "I'm here to kill you."

The cleaver swung out.

The first child fell.

Golden threads surged out.

【Killed E-Class Ghost Shadow "Memory Phantasm" × 1】

【Current progress: 1/3】

【Remaining time: 23 hours 47 minutes】

Chen Mo didn't stop.

He charged toward the next one.

In the corridor, screams erupted everywhere.

But he couldn't hear those sounds.

He just wanted to end it quickly.

To leave this place quickly.