The Daughter of the Mirror Lady — Spirit in the Glass
The three new players continued walking forward with excitement, confident that Yi Bai would lead them to the true target. But as they pressed on, something began to feel off. Their steps grew more rigid, and a sense of dread surged within them. Eventually, they halted in their tracks.
The noise that had been so loud just moments ago had suddenly disappeared. The eerie silence was more unsettling than anything.
The scariest thing is when the air suddenly grows still.
In the mirrors, ghostly children with twisted and grotesque features stared at them with malevolent eyes. There was something mocking, even taunting, in their gaze.
Only the shadow that had been following them remained in place, motionless in the distance, as though waiting for them.
The quiet, ominous scene amplified the fear creeping into their hearts. The three players trembled uncontrollably. They exchanged glances, each reading the horror in the other's eyes.
"Is that shadow... him?" one of them finally stammered, breaking the suffocating silence.
They had to talk—otherwise, their minds might break under the silent terror.
"I... I don't know," another replied, their voice shaking.
"Dammit! Why? Why won't he help us? It should've been easy for him..." The last player broke down, unable to hold back his despair.
With a loud thud, he collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he cursed Yi Bai.
It seemed like it was all Yi Bai's fault that they were in this predicament.
Swish! Swish!
The other two players recoiled, distancing themselves from the one who was now cursing Yi Bai. They may have been naive, but they weren't foolish enough to completely lose their composure.
It was obvious by now—the situation was clearly designed by the game. If they couldn't figure that out, they were truly blind.
As expected, the ghostly children in the mirrors focused their eerie, cold gazes on the player kneeling in despair. Their twisted, grotesque faces warped into unsettling smiles.
"Ah!" "Ah!!" "Ah!!!"
The chilling screams echoed in the air, the last sounds that the crumbling player left behind, swallowed by the ghosts.
The other two players, frozen in fear, unknowingly wet themselves. Thankfully, after the ghost children had consumed their companion, they merely exchanged a cold glance and returned to their mirrors, continuing to stare at them expectantly, waiting for them to make a mistake.
"Time's up! Please make your first-round choices, little toys," a playful voice echoed, as if mocking them.
It was the same voice that had haunted them all along. The chilling words sent a wave of dread over the players, leaving them pale and uneasy.
One of them, Liu Zhen, who had earlier begged Yi Bai to speak kindly of the ghost children's "big sister," now found himself in a dreadful predicament. It had been easy to ask Yi Bai for help before, but now, in the face of the game's eerie design, even Yi Bai couldn't help.
"Ah, I guess there's no choice but to go step by step," Liu Zhen muttered, sighing as he absentmindedly chose a mirror. He didn't have the Insightful Eye and had never encountered these ghost children before, so what else could he do but pick one at random?
Meanwhile, the other players, equally desperate, made their own choices.
"No!!"
"Ugh!!"
The agonizing screams echoed through the labyrinth, though only two players were still alive. The distance between them and Liu Zhen was enough for him to hear their suffering, imagining the gruesome fates they had met.
To his surprise, however, it seemed that the "big sister" of the ghost children had taken note of his previous actions in protecting him. The child in the mirror he selected merely played a harmless prank by pulling a few of his beard hairs. It stung a little, but Liu Zhen felt a strange sense of gratitude.
The power of the 'big brother' was real!
He silently swore to never let go of Yi Bai's "golden thigh," no matter what.
Meanwhile, Yi Bai continued identifying the ghost children and their behaviors, his thoughts racing as he pieced together the situation.
"Liu Zhen isn't being harmed, which means Hee-er is likely not targeting him because of me," Yi Bai mused. "Though it may sound a bit narcissistic, this is probably how it is."
"But I didn't make any deals in a mirror or with any fragments of it..." Yi Bai's eyes narrowed as he speculated about Hee-er's power.
"It's clear now—the mirror is not just a mirror. There's more to it."
His thoughts interrupted, Yi Bai proceeded deeper into the mirror maze. There, he found a "plain" mirror that stood out from the rest.
Inside the mirror, a little girl in a white princess dress, her big eyes blinking curiously, stared back at him with a longing gaze.
The Insightful Eye reflected the following:
[Daughter of the Mirror Lady: Hee-er]
[Race: Mirror Spirit]
[Friendliness: Trust (Her strict upbringing seems to have led to some unusual traits)]
[Strength: Vengeful Spirit (A rare and powerful ghost, though her true strength comes from the object she holds)]
[Likes: Perfection (Sometimes, perfection is more than a description—it's a unique attitude)]
[Weakness: Mirrors]
[Current Status: I really want to show my true self to Big Brother and bring him into the mirror world so we can play together! (Let's entertain the child! She's so obedient!)]