The front door swung open, startling the two girls outside so much that they nearly screamed.
Seeing them, the two jumped up, but while Xiao Jia was frightened, Fei Fei was delighted.
“Wow! This is so thrilling, way more fun than the games we played before, right, Xiao Jia?” Fei Fei said, slapping Xiao Jia on the shoulder with such force that it nearly knocked the shaky-legged Xiao Jia to the ground.
“I’d rather play something else!” In this group, Xiao Jia was a bit more timid, but still braver than the others; at least she didn’t cry, just complained with a grimace.
Xin Meng briefly explained the situation inside to the two girls.
“That man should be the target that the Mirror Fairy wants us to kill,” he said.
The two girls exchanged glances, and after a moment of hesitation, Fei Fei said, “You mean he’s burying a body at midnight, and it’s a naked female corpse? Just thinking about it makes him sound like a bad person. How are we supposed to kill him?”
Xin Meng shook his head. “How to kill him isn’t the problem; the real issue is whether we can kill him. The card says NPCs can’t die. If we kill him, the mission will fail.”
“But if we don’t kill him, the mission will fail too,” Xiao Jia pointed out.
Exactly, this was a paradox, and it was a question that Xin Meng had yet to figure out. It seemed like a bug, but theoretically, such a major bug shouldn’t exist in the game, and there hadn’t been any staff members appearing…
Wait, could it be that there was actually a new staff member hidden in their team without them noticing?
It wasn’t impossible.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt the need to confirm, so Xin Meng began to ponder in that direction.
Li Yan, Zhou Shengnan, Olivia, Shen Tu Kou…
Who is the GM?
Li Yan and Zhou Shengnan didn’t seem likely, and someone as eccentric as Shen Tu Kou probably wouldn’t be chosen as the GM, right?
“Shall we go find Olivia first?” he suggested to You Yi.
You Yi had no objections; the opinions of the two girls could basically be ignored, so they turned around and headed out of Happiness Street.
No one noticed a shadow quietly climbing over the wall, watching the direction the group had left.
In the moment of passing, the doorplate was brushed against by a shoulder, the last nail loosened, and the doorplate fell to the ground, the dirty “99” facing the sky, lying there like a corpse.
Silence returned.
“I remember she said her mission was to rob a bank, but she didn’t tell us which bank,” Xin Meng looked around, thinking that in such an abandoned old neighborhood, there probably wasn’t even an ATM.
You Yi glanced at Fei Fei, who quickly took out her phone to check the navigation, soon saying, “There’s a bank on Commercial Street… it’s the only one in this area.”
That must be it.
Following the directions on the map, the four of them walked for a full hour, almost until dawn, before they finally reached Commercial Street.
The two girls were panting and insisted on taking a break. Although Xin Meng wanted to complain about how an NPC could get tired, he still kindly let them sit for a while at a nearby bench while he and You Yi waited.
From a distance, this Commercial Street had a somewhat antique charm, with a wooden sign at the entrance. The text was unclear, but the hollow patterns and retro reliefs felt quite nice. Unfortunately, the first business they encountered upon entering was a McDonald’s…
Xin Meng stared at that McDonald’s, fixated for a long time. Just as You Yi was about to ask if he was hungry, Xin Meng suddenly burst out laughing uncontrollably, bending over with laughter, needing to lean on You Yi to avoid collapsing to the ground.
The two girls looked at him in shock, and even You Yi was puzzled, “What’s wrong?”
“There are four of us, and none of us need to eat, yet there’s not a single normal person here! Hahaha!” Xin Meng laughed until tears streamed down his face.
You Yi: “…”
Xiao Jia: “Haha…”
Fei Fei: “Hehe…”
Once Xin Meng had laughed enough, the two girls no longer dared to rest and rushed ahead.
The four of them entered Commercial Street.
It was unclear whether it was too early or if there were simply no other people in this game, but Commercial Street was eerily quiet, with not a soul in sight. All the shops, malls, and restaurants had their doors tightly shut, and the windows looked like the gaping mouths of monsters, dark and foreboding.
Even McDonald’s, which should have been open 24 hours, was strangely closed.
Xiao Jia felt a bit uneasy, gripping Fei Fei’s hand tightly, afraid to look around, only staring down at the asphalt road as she was led forward.
However, Fei Fei was curiously looking around and didn’t notice a stone in front of her. She tripped over it and nearly fell, causing Xiao Jia to sway forward as well, but she managed to grab Fei Fei’s arm just in time to prevent her from falling.
But because of this incident, she lifted her head and happened to see a clothing store’s large window on the right side. Inside the window were several mannequins dressed in fashionable women’s clothing, the glass shining brightly.
On that gleaming glass, a familiar shadow was reflected.
A woman with torn flesh and a twisted face smiled at her and asked, “Why didn’t you kill him? Why didn’t you kill him…?”
“Ahhh—” Xiao Jia covered her ears and screamed frantically, but the voice seemed to penetrate her palms, forcefully filling her ears. Xiao Jia was on the verge of a breakdown!
“Xiao Jia! Xiao Jia! What’s wrong with you!” Gradually, the voice faded, replaced by the familiar voice of her friend. She opened her eyes to see Fei Fei anxiously calling her name. When she saw that Xiao Jia had stopped screaming, she finally sighed in relief.
“What did you see? Why did you suddenly scream? You scared me to death!” Fei Fei complained.
Xiao Jia immediately turned to look at the glass, pointing vigorously, “There! There…”
She froze.
There was nothing on the glass, only three mannequins standing crookedly, their expressions strange, as if mocking her panic.
“There’s nothing there!” Fei Fei pouted, “Did you mistake the mannequins for real people? Don’t be so jumpy, you scared me.”
Saying this, she pulled the dazed Xiao Jia forward, and Xiao Jia had no choice but to follow her.
Xin Meng and You Yi exchanged glances, and Xin Meng shook his head, “She didn’t scare me…”
So it turns out ghosts are afraid of the bold.
The four of them continued walking, but Xiao Jia’s legs were so weak that she nearly fell several times, relying on Fei Fei to catch her just in time, and the two unknowingly lagged behind.
They didn’t know which city this was; the navigation didn’t indicate, and the two girls couldn’t clarify. The area looked somewhat unprosperous, but the Commercial Street was quite large, shaped like a “bow” from entrance to exit, requiring several turns to reach the bank on the last street.
Just after they turned the first corner, Xiao Jia suddenly tugged on Fei Fei’s arm, then covered her mouth with one hand and whispered something in her ear.
Fei Fei rolled her eyes, “Alright, alright, I’ll go tell them.”
Then she called out to Xin Meng ahead, “Um… Xiao Jia wants to go to the bathroom, can we wait for her?”
Go to the bathroom?
Xin Meng pursed his lips; going to the bathroom in a horror movie was never a good sign, a definite flag…
But first, this was a girl; he couldn’t act like a creep and not let her go. Second, it might also be part of the NPC’s mission, which they probably couldn’t avoid. As players, they could only adapt and prepare in advance.
Sure enough, the main mission of the NPC was to take a big risk. There was only one shop on this street with its door half-open. Xiao Jia, holding her stomach, resolutely pushed the door open and went inside.
Xin Meng looked up at the sign: The House of Mirrors.
Xin Meng: “…”
Strangely, Xiao Jia, whether out of fear or bravery, stood inside the door, waving at them, “Don’t stand so far away, can you wait for me right at the bathroom door? I’m scared.”
Xin Meng really wanted to say that if she was scared, she shouldn’t enter such a place that looked like it would be deadly, but Xiao Jia had already rushed in on her own.
To prevent this clueless NPC from actually dying inside, he could only pull You Yi in after her. Fei Fei, seemingly tired from walking, simply sat down on a round stool at the door to relax her legs.
The so-called House of Mirrors was actually a place that sold mirrors. The space inside was small, with shelves displaying various mirrors hanging from above, including Chinese-style, European-style, finished products, semi-finished products, and large mirrors that hadn’t been processed yet. The mirror surfaces all faced the door, reflecting the dim light from outside, which would surely scare anyone who entered.
However, this brainless NPC seemed to have forgotten that she had just been scared by the Mirror Fairy, and instead, she was enchanted by this scene that could rival an artistic fantasy film, wanting to transform into the heroine and dance gracefully among the chaotic mirrors, shedding tears of emotion.
Xin Meng: “…”
He refused to acknowledge her as a colleague.
This small shop was also empty. At this moment, thinking about why the door was open only made it feel more like a trap. The NPC had to come here to use the bathroom, which was clearly a triggered plot.
From an outsider’s perspective, Xin Meng pondered these thoughts, and then, together with his dear boyfriend, did something he had never done before—guarding the bathroom door for a girl.
You Yi glanced at the wrist that was being held, “…Why are you pulling me along?”
Xin Meng tightened his grip a little more, “It’s awkward for me to be alone, like a creep. You have to stay with me.”
You Yi: “…”
As if having more people would make it less awkward.
The two chatted while thinking, but their attention remained focused on the small bathroom in front of them. Xin Meng occasionally called out to Xiao Jia, and upon hearing her respond, he patiently waited, fearing that this NPC, who was destined to be a liability, would quietly die, causing their mission to fail.
According to the usual pattern, there must be a mirror in that bathroom, and the chance of Xiao Jia being scared or attacked by the Mirror Fairy was over eighty percent. As long as she screamed or suddenly stopped responding, they could rush in to save her.
Every second of waiting felt incredibly long. Just as Xin Meng was internally complaining about why girls took so long in the bathroom, a sudden, piercing scream rang out, shrill and filled with terror.
Here it comes!
However, when Xin Meng reacted, he was shocked. No! It wasn’t Xiao Jia!
The voice was coming from the entrance!
It was Fei Fei!
You Yi was already a step ahead and ran out, but it was too late. He could only catch a glimpse of Fei Fei being grabbed by a man around the neck, dragged toward the street corner, and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared from sight!
