Behind him, the Cap-wearing guy, now transformed into a Puppet, had already crashed against the barrier created by the Moon Wheel several times. An ordinary Puppet could never break through a Legendary Item, but Yan Wei’s own abilities were limited, and he was quickly reaching his breaking point.
His face turned pale as the person in front of him looked at him and smiled.
It was a face identical to his own, even the attire and demeanor were indistinguishable. Yan Wei stared at this “thing” that resembled him, momentarily thrown off balance, and the Moon Wheel in his hand trembled slightly.
The Puppet lunged at him from behind, and Yan Wei hurriedly sidestepped to avoid it.
The Puppet, propelled by inertia, ran into the space between the two of them.
Through the Puppet, Yan Wei continued to gaze at the “person” who looked just like him. Even though his rational mind told him to turn and run in the opposite direction, knowing that if he delayed a little longer, Yan Mingguang would surely arrive—after all, positioning Items were no longer restricted inside the castle, and he had just sent Yan Mingguang his location. Yet, suddenly facing “himself,” Yan Wei found himself subconsciously stunned.
The Puppet, now in the middle of the two, seemed to hesitate for a moment due to the sudden presence of two targets, then directly charged at the other “Yan Wei.”
The Puppet’s intelligence was clearly low; it seemed to indiscriminately attack both “Yan Wei” figures, not caring who was who, simply lunging at the nearest one. Whether the Puppet transformed from the Cap-wearing guy was a Benevolent Automaton or a Malevolent Automaton, if there was a difference in strength, the Cap-wearing guy should just be an ordinary type, posing no significant threat. Perhaps Yan Wei couldn’t defeat it in direct combat, but he could still evade and hold out for a while.
Sounds of movement came from the rooms on either side of the corridor; the players inside must have been aware of the commotion outside, but they were all players on the fortieth floor or higher, and no one would recklessly venture out at this moment.
Yan Wei stood still, catching his breath, and glanced down at the digital light beneath his feet—”29.” The second floor was now also crawling with Puppets; although the castle was vast, it was uncertain which unknown Puppet, good or evil, might appear next.
He should take this opportunity to run.
But Yan Wei remained rooted in place, staring ahead. He saw the identical version of himself raise a hand, and a fragmented moon appeared in “his” palm, drawing a barrier around “him.”
Yan Wei’s expression froze—this “person” even had the same Moon Wheel and skills as him!
One cannot see their complete self; even with the help of a mirror, one can only see their face from a certain angle. Only through the aid of images can one see a full representation of themselves. For the first time, Yan Wei saw a complete version of himself, and the familiar yet strange feeling sent a shiver down his spine, making him feel cold all over.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and his mind raced with thoughts. Relying on the fact that even if he became a Puppet today, he wouldn’t die, Yan Wei surprisingly forgot about the Puppet transformed from the Cap-wearing guy and called out to the person in front of him in a low voice, “Who are you?”
The person in front of him awkwardly dodged the Puppet’s attack, running toward him, and stumbled, rolling on the ground.
Then, Yan Wei heard a familiar voice, breathless: “—Who are you?”
Yan Wei’s expression darkened as he dodged the Cap-wearing guy’s hand and suddenly pulled out a dart, throwing it fiercely at the other Yan Wei!
Having practiced with Yan Mingguang for quite some time, at such a short distance, the dart accurately aimed for the neck of the other Yan Wei, the sharp blade poised to embed itself in the throat of the person who looked just like him. But that person’s incomplete Moon Wheel spun again, dividing the space in front of his neck, momentarily halting the dart in mid-air, while “Yan Wei” sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the dart.
In the midst of the action, Yan Wei noticed a small black dot on the other’s ear—that was the walkie-talkie he used to communicate with Yan Mingguang, Lin Zhen, and Yu Feizhou. This suddenly appearing, identical person even had the same Items as him, and in that moment, Yan Wei couldn’t even discern what differences existed between him and this person.
He suddenly felt a bit dazed.
What on earth was happening?
He already knew that Puppet Castle had both benevolent and malevolent Puppets; the night before, he had been thinking about how to catch Puppets and how to use Gold Coins to exchange for his own Puppet from the Man in Black Robe. He had never imagined that an identical version of himself would appear before him. The same appearance, the same habits, the same attire, even the same Items and skills…
Was this one of the mysteries of Puppet Castle?
In this bizarre and ever-changing castle, besides the Puppets transformed from players who died in the maze, there was also an identical version of himself. What did this have to do with the instance/dungeon of Puppet Castle? Was it only him who encountered this situation, or…
Everyone?
Third floor of the castle.
The first floor was a hall filled with stairways, the second floor had corridors and guest rooms, but the third floor was a series of spacious glass rooms. Through the glass walls, in the dim light, one could see various bizarre tools inside. Some were large scissors stained with blood, others were eyeballs floating in transparent liquid, and there were even giant sewing machines…
The entire third floor was permeated with the stench of rotting blood.
The castle had lost its warm yellow lights, and a flock of black crows hovered outside, casting shadows through the windows, further enhancing the eerie atmosphere of the silent third floor.
Yan Mingguang stood in a corridor littered with shards of glass from a recent confrontation.
The glass shards scattered on the ground seemed to cause him no trouble; he stepped carefully over the debris, his Long Whip trailing on the ground, creating a faint sound. His usually refined and clean eyes were slightly downcast, a drop of blood on the lens making him appear even colder.
In the distance, sounds of combat echoed.
After midnight, there were multiple players engaging with Puppets. Yan Mingguang was just one of them, and Yan Wei was just one of them.
As the Man in Black Robe had said, once the game began, players and Puppets were both hunters and prey. Some players had experienced nothing in their rooms, while others had already fought their way to the third or first floor alongside Puppets. Yan Mingguang had not moved from his position, yet he watched as the digital light beneath him, indicating the number of Puppets within three hundred meters, slowly fluctuated—an indication that the number of players turning into Puppets was increasing.
The voice of Yan Wei came through the walkie-talkie in his ear: 【…Are you awake? Ice block!! Yan Mingguang!! Teacher Yan!! Whether to save people or save the Puppets they turned into, it all depends on how fast you get up!!!… Teacher Yan, where did you run off to?】
The young man’s tone was urgent, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps and the rush of wind, clearly being chased by something.
Yan Wei clearly trusted him immensely; without waiting for a response, Yan Wei immediately sent him a rough location using the walkie-talkie’s Item function.
Yan Mingguang’s pure black eyes suddenly darkened, his expression shifted slightly, but his gaze became even more inscrutable, and the hand gripping the Long Whip gradually tightened, veins bulging on the back of his hand. He frowned slightly, hearing the sound of something lurking in the shadows, and whispered to Yan Wei: 【…Wait for me.】
He paused his steps.
Suddenly, the Long Whip lashed out violently, cutting through the air with a sharp sound, instantly shattering the glass in front of Yan Mingguang.
The glass shattered all around, and the whip lashed toward the shadow hidden in the corner. In the next moment, the figure in the shadows did not retreat but instead stepped forward, and another sound of the Long Whip slicing through the air followed—
The two whips collided at that moment!
Yan Mingguang, however, had completely lost the calm demeanor he had moments ago, instead pressing forward with fierce intensity. The other person was forced to abandon their attack, and in a moment, the two of them fought their way out of the glass room filled with various bloody tools. In the dim light of the corridor, the other person’s appearance became clearer.
He was a tall man with silver hair, holding a Long Whip. He wore gold-framed glasses, and his cold black eyes were extremely indifferent.
He was identical to Yan Mingguang. Whether in appearance, strength, or even Items, this person possessed the same attributes.
But as Yan Mingguang looked at the person before him, his expression was more one of disdain than the surprise other players might show upon seeing a similar figure.
The other Yan Mingguang clearly heard Yan Wei’s voice from the walkie-talkie; he exchanged a glance with Yan Mingguang and turned to run toward the second floor’s stairway. However, Yan Mingguang did not react in the same way; he swung his Long Whip again, hooking onto a railing ahead, using the force of the whip to leap in front of this false Yan Mingguang.
“You can’t learn from me,” he said.
He would not be the first to abandon the challenging situation before him to run to the second floor to save Yan Wei upon hearing his call for help. He had confidence in Yan Wei. He would first eliminate this fake threat, remove the danger, and then go find Yan Wei alone.
Before Yan Mingguang’s words had even finished, he had already launched another attack. The other Yan Mingguang also swung out his Long Whip, but at the moment the whip was about to reach Yan Mingguang, he surprisingly did not dodge.
In the next moment, the skill Live Towards Death suddenly activated.
Yan Mingguang surged forward, retracting the Long Whip into the Black Ring, replacing it with a double-edged long knife. The blade gleamed as it approached the other’s face, and at that moment, the other seemed to activate Live Towards Death as well.
But Yan Mingguang did not stop.
The data boost from Live Towards Death peaked, and Yan Mingguang’s complexion paled slightly, but his physical stats actually increased a bit in that instant.
Until the blade cleanly sliced through the throat of the person with the identical face, a rare flicker of surprise crossed the indifferent eyes of the other Yan Mingguang, his cold voice cracking as he gasped, “…You are not bound by the instance/dungeon rules.”
Yan Mingguang simply withdrew the long knife with indifference, the blade slicing across his sleeve, wiping the blood clean. He turned and stepped over the shards of glass, quickly making his way to the second floor.
