The Heart of Constancy

The Art Student smiled.

"Whether they chose wealth or immortality, they were all corrupted in the end."

"They passively fused with the [Thrilling Pleasure], gradually losing their memories and humanity, and became a part of the [Carnival Paradise]."

[Thrilling Pleasure].

Zhu Yan thought of his own choice and sighed at how bleak his future was.

However, this was not what he was most curious about right now.

"If you chose neither, why did you gain immortality?"

"Because I obtained a power opposite to the [Thrilling Pleasure]," The Art Student said appreciatively. "This power makes me immortal."

Zhu Yan's appetite was whetted again.

He asked, "What power?"

"The power of constancy. We call it the [Heart of Constancy]."

The Art Student answered, taking out a small box from beside the sofa, opening it, and pulling out a beautiful white stone pendulum.

"The [Carnival Paradise] is a product of the collective consciousness of human society."

He explained, gesturing for Zhu Yan to look at the pendulum.

"Human society can produce strong desires and evil thoughts that often go beyond natural instincts."

"For example, wanting to eat pork when you are hungry is not an evil thought, but wanting to eat human flesh when you are not hungry is."

Zhu Yan nodded, indicating that he understood.

Eating for survival is the food chain.

But the latter is purely sick.

"Such actions are often for psychological satisfaction," The Art Student pondered. "They seem to think this can make up for what they are missing, or gain extraordinary pleasure."

"But at the same time, such people are psychologically disturbed. They live in fear their entire lives."

Zhu Yan connected the two words at the end of The Art Student's sentences, and a flash of inspiration hit him.

Pleasure and fear.

He remembered the secret sense of joy that often appeared before; he constantly felt this pleasure entangling his brain.

"So the source power of the [Carnival Paradise] is called the [Thrilling Pleasure]?"

"Yes. In this kind of evil thought, pleasure and fear coexist."

The Art Student suspended the pendulum, pulled it to one side, and let go. The opaque white stone began to swing wildly from side to side.

"You see, the mentality of this kind of person is like a moving pendulum. The greater the threshold of fear, the greater the threshold of excitement."

"The [Thrilling Pleasure] is essentially like this. It jumps between two extremes and is extremely unstable."

Zhu Yan asked, "What about the other one?"

The Art Student then pinched the white stone, making it hang steadily perpendicular to the ground.

"Look." His round eyes smiled into crescents. "Stable, calm. In your words, [not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personal losses]."

"This is the [Heart of Constancy]."

Zhu Yan stared at the stationary white stone for a moment.

His brain worked rapidly, and then he carefully scrutinized The Art Student, looking into his golden eyes.

"Let me think. You passed ten instances like that, meaning you passed the test of [Thrill]."

"Right." The Art Student briskly picked up the thread. "The reward segment afterwards is the [Pleasure]."

"I conquered the [Thrill], and I did not accept the [Pleasure]."

"I had no flaws, so the [Heart of Constancy] chose me. I stopped."

Zhu Yan somewhat understood, but he was still puzzled.

"If accepting a reward counts as a flaw, then I've been riddled with holes for a long time. I fused with the [Thrilling Pleasure], what should I do next?"

The Art Student burst into laughter. The crisp sound caused the cat to meow in dissatisfaction.

It had been dozing behind the sofa and was woken up by the commotion.

The Art Student rubbed the cat's head.

"Did you know," he stopped laughing, "the [Carnival Paradise] is a product of human desires and evil thoughts. It has always been able to subtly influence reality..."

This was another new topic.

Zhu Yan couldn't understand the connection between this and his question.

"Previously, the [Carnival Paradise] was located in another dimension and would not overlap with the real world on a large scale. This is also why many people are riddled with flaws but haven't become players."

Zhu Yan couldn't help but interrupt him.

"I mean, I already have flaws. If I fuse, wouldn't it be even—"

The Art Student patted his shoulder, signaling him to be more patient.

"In the past few hundred years, human desires and evil thoughts have reached their peak."

"The [Carnival Paradise] has descended on a small scale several times, developing and growing rapidly."

"This time it broke through its original dimension, wanting to devour all of reality."

Alright, The Art Student had explained the descent of the [Carnival Paradise] very clearly.

Zhu Yan really wanted to know how he could remedy his situation in the future, but he still patiently watched The Art Student eat a bunch of small baby bok choy.

"What I want to say is," the youth blinked his golden eyes twice, "since it has already descended into reality, don't believe the nonsense from the broadcast about [only individual players being qualified to become hunters]."

"Most players only have two endings: returning to dust, or becoming a thriller creature."

Wow.

This meant either dying or fusing.

"You indeed progressed very quickly. Four instances in just ten days, and it caught your flaws, so it fused you first."

"No one can escape this corruption. People always want to live, or always have this or that need."

"The mechanics of the [Carnival Paradise] have long been iterated. Under this mechanism of giving a reward for every instance passed, everyone will have flaws."

"Even if there aren't any, it will try every means to make people jump into the pit."

"Therefore, the [Heart of Constancy] has absolutely no way to directly choose a certain player like before."

The Art Student looked into Zhu Yan's eyes, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile.

"I actually admire you quite a bit. Your mentality is more stable than most people's."

The edges of his messy short hair showed a soft light brown, like warm straw.

"Moreover, you found us."

"We were chosen, so of course we can also hear the voice of the [Heart of Constancy] and have the authority to use it."

"[Mount Fangcun] is our organization."

"In short, the world is out of balance, and we need you."

The Art Student's tone was very serious, and Zhu Yan actually felt a hint of surprise.

"I have already been corrupted," he said. "What do you mean you need me?"

"Because we are deeply rejected by the [Carnival Paradise]."

The Art Student let out a sigh.

"You know, to destroy the [Carnival Paradise], one must enter the [Carnival Paradise]."

"Before, at most we could stay down there for an hour. That was the limit."

"Once this time was exceeded, those thriller creatures would frantically attack us as if receiving an order. We had no choice; we couldn't even defeat them."

"...Couldn't even defeat them?" Zhu Yan was surprised. "That weak?"

The Art Student cast him a sidelong glance. "There are thousands of them fighting a few dozen of us. Like hell we could win."

That was very understandable.

Zhu Yan also roughly understood The Art Student's meaning.

"This one hour was before. Ever since a certain firefight, we were marked by the [Carnival Paradise]."

"Now, as soon as we go down, we will be frantically attacked."

Zhu Yan fell silent.

He really wanted to ask why this group of guys would engage in something as bizarre as a gang shootout, but considering The Art Student's erratic train of thought, Zhu Yan chose to stick closely to the main topic.

"So, you need someone who can freely enter and exit the [Carnival Paradise]?"

"Yes." The Art Student nodded. "About two hundred years ago, we had a male player who could do it too. But he offended the [Vine Cage Girl] by trying to preach that feudal superstition nonsense."

"So he couldn't escape that catalog."

The Art Student suddenly remembered something, stood up, and took down a small framed painting from the corridor.

"Next time you go to the [Recitative Terrace], could you give this to the [Vine Cage Girl] for me? I really can't bring myself to go down there anymore."

Zhu Yan had held back for a long time, but finally, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"You know the [Vine Cage Girl]? What exactly is on the second page of the catalog?"

"It is a long story..." A nostalgic expression appeared on The Art Student's face.

He shoved the small painting into Zhu Yan's hands. Then, his body rapidly shrank and grew snow-white fur.

It was actually a cat!

A real cat, with the fur on the top of its head dyed black!

Zhu Yan was shocked. "Didn't you say you were a player?!"

"Of course I used to be!"

The Art Student spoke in a human voice.

"My ability was to turn into a cat, and this ability was retained."

"Real [Cats] can recognize me. Let me show you what the uncanny valley effect really looks like—"

The Art Student bounded behind the sofa, and then Zhu Yan heard the most tragic, blood-curdling cat screech he had ever heard in his entire life.

The tuxedo cat puffed up into a black furball—

It abruptly sprang two meters away, its shrill voice frantically pounding against Zhu Yan's brain.