"Impossible!"
Gao Yi couldn't hold back his voice, as the detailed scenes from before exploded in his mind.
Recalling it now, when he first arrived in this instance, everyone had already gathered, and the "Blizzard Mountain Villa" mode within the supermarket had already formed.
His understanding of this world came entirely from others' mouths, not just the time and season, but also the events that had occurred.
A large number of errors and contradictions had always existed, but Gao Yi himself had overlooked them.
"Not so loud, Mr. Gao Yi, don't wake the little one..."
Seeing Gao Yi suddenly shout, Ms. Najia quickly waved her hand, leaning down to check on the little boy.
Then, she sighed softly and made an "OK" gesture, indicating that he hadn't been woken up.
But at this moment, Gao Yi felt cold sweat trickling down his back; realizing the contradiction, an even greater mystery surged into his mind, his voice inevitably trembling slightly:
"This... this child, who brought him?"
"Who brought him?"
Not only Ms. Najia, but also the student couple, all showed confused expressions, as if they didn't know what Gao Yi was asking.
"Grandma, did you bring this boy?"
Seeing that no one reacted, Gao Yi turned around and called out to the old woman sitting at the innermost part of the supermarket.
If he remembered correctly, when they first gathered, it was the old woman who was holding this child's hand.
"No... I saw him walking around by himself earlier, and I thought he was lost..."
The old woman frowned, squeezing her already wrinkled skin even tighter.
"Then how did this child get into the supermarket? Has anyone seen him?!"
Gao Yi walked around the supermarket, asking loudly, but everyone else's faces were filled with confusion and bewilderment.
Not only the time, but this space was also off.
Gao Yi realized that his previous conjectures and explorations had gone completely in the wrong direction; this script was not the material world he was familiar with, but was already closer to a transcendent spiritual domain.
Everyone here had incomplete memories; they were also unclear about what exactly had happened in this world.
And this was why Gao Yi's exploration had been stagnant.
When Gao Yi first arrived at this 【Heart Ghost Mist】, he saw the people inside the supermarket and subconsciously felt that as a "player," he had joined this event midway.
Similarly, he subconsciously believed that the other characters in the script knew more things and had clear perceptions.
But on the contrary, their understanding of this script was no more than Gao Yi's.
The little boy beside them also seemed to have heard Gao Yi's shouting, rubbing his eyes and slowly sitting up from the sofa.
Everyone in the supermarket was deep in thought; Little Red even went limp, sitting on the floor in a duck squat, holding her head in pain.
Clearly, Gao Yi's question had awakened their memories, and the conflict between memory and reality began to emerge.
It was at this moment that the ground suddenly began to shake violently; this tremor was significantly stronger than the slight shaking at the beginning of the script.
The light fixtures on the ceiling were shaking violently, and soon began to break and fall off, with sparking wires swaying in the air.
The shaking of the shelves intensified, first with various goods falling, then the entire iron shelves losing balance, making the array of shelves look like a giant set of dominoes.
Amidst the rising and falling screams and curses, the light became flickering and dim.
This was not the scariest part.
Gao Yi didn't need very keen observation to notice that the glass wall outside the supermarket was damaged, and a large number of dark figures emerged from the white mist, slowly approaching the inside of the supermarket.
It was hard to describe what kind of creatures they were—or even if they could be called creatures.
They were tall and humanoid, but completely black, with band-like strips floating around them; even when near a light source, they appeared as complete darkness.
It was as if they were inherently the opposite of light, born to be unobservable by humans.
Previously, for a folk culture report, Gao Yi had crammed world mythology.
But this was the first time he had encountered monsters with such an appearance.
No, that wasn't the problem now.
The problem was why such a sudden change had occurred.
Looking back inside the supermarket, everyone else had fallen into confusion and collapse, completely unaware of the monsters outside at this moment, merely instinctively dodging the falling light tubes and ceiling fragments.
"Did my words cause contradictions in their incomplete memories, leading to the destruction of spatial balance?"
The conjecture formed instantly; those monsters were huge, but beneath them, a large number of sticky tentacles appeared, already breaking through the riddled barrier and entering the supermarket.
No, he had to calm these people down.
His thought condensed slightly, replacing the 【Reporter】 tag with 【Deadbeat】.
In an instant, the skill effect of 【Deception Game】 to enhance the persuasiveness of lies had been activated.
Gao Yi stepped onto the collapsed shelf to the side and roared into the supermarket:
"Stop recalling! It's all the mist affecting our memories, that's why there's confusion!"
As Gao Yi's words spread throughout the supermarket, the intensity of the earthquake significantly decreased by two levels, and even the tentacles that had just entered the supermarket slowed down a bit.
Good, it seemed that this shout attracted a lot of people's attention.
"The mist outside should have an effect on the mind and memory; we're just being affected, it's okay!"
The tentacles moved even more slowly, and the ground's shaking also became less intense.
"Yes, everyone, calm down. Look at the faces of those around you, aren't they all familiar? That's enough, don't try to remember what happened anymore."
He needed to find an anchor point, a fulcrum for them, to make them clear-headed.
Everyone in the supermarket was gradually returning to normal, following Gao Yi's instructions, looking up and examining each other.
Even the most distraught Little Red had calmed down considerably, sitting on the ground with her knees hugged, her body still trembling slightly.
However, she didn't look at the others around her, but stared intently at Gao Yi.
As the supermarket gradually calmed down, Gao Yi noticed that the tentacles quickly retracted, and the monsters outside the door also gradually retreated.
But unlike before, those dark figures became extremely close, and the white mist at the entrance was noticeably denser, further reducing visibility.
An unprovoked premonition surged into his mind; if this happened again, Gao Yi might not have the chance to control the situation.
Throughout the entire supermarket, only the little boy was curiously looking around, seemingly excited by the thrilling experience he had just had.
It seemed he was the only one who completely couldn't understand what had happened.
"So, this child..."
At this moment, Ms. Najia was holding the little boy in her arms with a look of heartache; although she had worries in her heart, her instinct to protect the child clearly took precedence.
"Can we not recall this for now? These mists are affecting us, we need to calm down."
Gao Yi squatted down beside them and touched the boy's forehead.
Of course, Gao Yi had fabricated the mental damage caused by the mist.
If the mist outside the supermarket had such a great impact, the three people who had wandered in the mist for half an hour should have gone crazy long ago.
But at this moment, the burly man Fujimoto slowly walked over, his eyes filled with obvious lingering fear and confusion.
"Uh, Brother Gao Yi, I understand, we all understand the effect of this mist."
"Very good, what's wrong?"
Gao Yi's reply didn't relax Fujimoto; he awkwardly tilted his neck, his eyes a bit hazy:
"If we all know each other and understand each other, then... who are you?"
....................