However, the way these jellyfish-like ghosts operated was entirely different. They did not hunt humans using mere illusions. It all began with a first, accidentally recovered corpse: the ghost of this deceased person seemed to appear before anyone familiar to them—whether close friends, relatives, or blood kin. Showing no regard whatsoever for past relationships, the ghost would appear every single time with malicious intimidation. In all the dreams Hao Qi witnessed, the more fear these people felt toward the ghosts, the more terrifying the ghosts became. Gradually, the phenomenon escalated from hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and tactile hallucinations to a point where the ghosts could physically touch these individuals and even cause them harm. Yet, this terror showed no signs of stopping.
As more and more people died and the number of generated ghosts grew, an even more terrifying phenomenon occurred. In his dreams, Hao Qi witnessed something akin to a maze-like trap of ghosts. As the death toll rose, these ghosts were capable of traversing and altering space, time, causality, and even the boundary between reality and virtuality. The sheer horror of their power made even Hao Qi feel a trace of dread, for there was only sheer uncanniness here—no tangible enemies to speak of—so bizarre that it seemed to violate the fundamental laws of physics.
As for the man who proclaimed himself a Grand Scientist, he arrived in this tragic and terrifying era just as humanity was…
Chapter 445