The Real Illusion

Carolina ran recklessly down the deserted streets, her entire body remaining in a state of absolute focus.

Although the surroundings looked perfectly normal, no different from the real world, Carolina understood that in this world shrouded in crimson light, nowhere could be called "safe."

Carolina had no idea who the illusion waiting for her at the next intersection would be. It might be her friends, her family, or even those superheroes and supervillains from television.

Carolina had considered before whether she was already dead, and whether the world she was in was actually the world of the dead. That seemed to explain why she kept seeing those illusions over and over again.

But just moments ago, Carolina had suddenly felt immense "pain" coming from her body. Pain—utterly real pain. And it was not pain caused by the injuries she had suffered; it came from her "body" itself. Real pain!

She had no idea how many years she had spent in this world, but Carolina had never felt such genuine agony. The pain that seemed to travel from every cell and neuron around her wounds into her mind made her feel, for the first time in so long, what it meant to truly be alive.

She understood now. She was not dead. At least, outside this place, she was not dead yet. Someone had saved her. Someone was trying to save her, trying to treat her injuries and preserve her physical body.

But.

Carolina sighed. She knew it would be difficult for her to wake up. She was trapped. No matter what this world was, she was trapped here. If she could not find a way out, her body would remain in a vegetative state until she died.

She did not want that. She still had things to do.

Carolina steeled herself. Deadpool’s figure appeared in her mind, standing atop a hill made of countless superhero corpses. Carolina quickly spotted the bodies of her comrades among them.

"I haven’t avenged you yet," Carolina murmured, her face gradually turning solemn. "How could I fall here and keep sinking deeper? No matter what this place is, I’ll find a way out! I will!"

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from the corner ahead. A Hydra squad immediately rushed out, their masks concealing their true faces. But Carolina did not care what they looked like.

"There she is! Capture her!" the Hydra commander shouted. Then, the soldiers raised their guns.

"Capture me? You can try." Carolina smiled coldly and raised her hand, firing a massive beam of light as thick as a water barrel.

Rainbow-colored light burst forth violently, instantly tearing through the Hydra soldiers’ defensive line. Facing countless gun barrels, Carolina advanced rather than retreating. Blinding radiance erupted from her body as she streaked through the air, breaking through their defenses and leaving behind an arc of light like a meteor.

The moment she burst out of the street, before Carolina could catch her breath, her vision blurred. She suddenly discovered that a massive building had appeared before her at some unknown time—the legendary Sanctum Sanctorum.

Carolina froze for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening. But by then, slowing down was impossible. Gritting her teeth, Carolina erupted with tremendous energy. Her flying speed increased faster and faster, and then she slammed viciously into the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Crack!

The violent collision she had expected did not occur. Carolina only heard the crisp sound of shattering glass beside her ear. The next moment, inertia flung her forward, and she crashed onto the ground.

Looking up, Carolina was shocked to find herself in a school corridor. She turned back, only to see a flawlessly painted white wall behind her, completely undamaged.

"It changed again…" Carolina stared blankly at the wall for a long time without recovering her senses.

She had experienced this feeling long ago. It had been after she personally killed the illusion of her comrades, when her mind had nearly collapsed. In this world made of countless false things, Carolina, as the only "real" existence, could no longer endure.

So she chose an incomparably tall skyscraper. Without the slightest hesitation, she leaped from its highest point.

But what awaited her was not the end of everything. On the contrary, the instant she touched the ground, it felt as though she had passed through an impenetrable barrier and arrived somewhere else.

The two worlds were vastly different. Carolina could neither determine where she had been at the time nor distinguish the differences between the two places. Yet they shared one thing in common: both were shrouded in crimson light.

Carolina lifted her feet and walked down the corridor, her gaze sweeping past one classroom after another. Every classroom was empty, yet every desk held schoolbags and textbooks. Some blackboards still bore chalk writing left behind by teachers during class.

It was as if students had been attending class there one moment, only for everyone to vanish the next, without any warning and without leaving anything behind.

Everything had happened so suddenly that it caught people completely off guard.

Licking her lips, Carolina casually entered a classroom. She passed the lectern and walked over to the desk in the middle of the first row. On it lay an open textbook, along with an exercise book and a fountain pen.

Carolina tilted her head and curiously turned her gaze toward the textbook.

It was an American language arts textbook, teaching material used by most schools in earlier years. Carolina had used one herself. On the page currently open before her was a printed lesson titled THE STORY TELLER.

The classroom was quiet, so quiet that only Carolina’s breathing remained. Her gaze passed over every letter one by one, and slowly, drowsiness crept into her heart.

Chaotic red and blue shadows flashed across every object around her. Trembling, distorted colors split the blackboard into several sections. Milky-white liquid slowly flowed down the walls, exposing the black mucus hidden beneath the white surface.

Everything was gradually losing its original color, but Carolina did not notice the changes around her. Or rather, she could no longer perceive them.

She could not even tear her gaze away from the textbook.