Mu Anqi cautiously left the home of the white paper resident. At this moment, the City of Samsara lay silent under the blood moon. It was as if she had taken a trip through the Mirror of True Sight and Self, and the normal, beautiful facade of the City of Samsara had been lifted, revealing its true appearance.
Well, not that the facade of the City of Samsara was all that beautiful to begin with.
Fortunately, it was just a change in filter to view the world—the roads and buildings of the City of Samsara remained the same. Mu Anqi moved quickly between the buildings. When she looked back, she saw a particularly out-of-place castle faintly visible in midair beneath the red moon. But upon closer inspection, it seemed the castle gate extended a red carpet, and that red carpet road stretched out, connecting with the roads of the City of Samsara.
And the point where they connected… was actually right beside that utterly ordinary house at the player's spawn point?!
Mu Anqi tightened her grip on the candy cane in her hand. Under the filter of this blood-colored moonlight, even the candy cane had taken on a dark aesthetic. Only now did Mu Anqi feel a hint of regret: this item of hers… why did it suddenly feel like it offered no sense of security at all?
Mu Anqi ran toward the spawn point. On the silent road, a uniform sound of footsteps finally echoed—the followers of the Goddess of Beauty had arrived!
Under this filter, the followers had turned into monsters similar to the white paper residents. The only difference was that the masses of flesh on their bodies were "black and red" instead of purely red.
The change wasn't much, really. After all, regardless of the color, seeing masses of black-red flesh pulp neatly forming a wall of meat—dripping with unknown fluids, shedding unknown chunky bits, and uniformly chasing after you—this scene was basically disgust opening the door for disgust, disgust all the way home!
She didn't know if it was just psychological, but Mu Anqi could even smell the blood and stench coming from the followers of the Goddess of Beauty.
"Over here!"
A flying sword sliced through the air, splitting into two above the followers, then into four, and then into countless numbers, forming a sword formation that rained down like a storm—
Silver sword light flickered. Within the formation, the movements of the followers slowed down. Countless swords slashed at the chunks of flesh, and as the minced flesh fell, the black-red meat on their bodies rapidly regenerated.
Mu Anqi didn't keep watching the followers of the Goddess of Beauty—after all, the scene was quite an eyesore. She didn't waste any time and ran toward Xia Yun, who had just spoken, carrying her candy cane.
"Is it just you?"
"They probably haven't passed the mirror's trial yet." Xia Yun formed a sword seal with her fingers, controlling her life-bound sword to return. "This is my ability, [Sword Heart]. I've unlocked two attack modes so far—one is single-target, the other is area-of-effect. The AoE skill can reduce enemy movement speed, while the single-target skill has an armor-piercing effect. Controlling the life-bound sword consumes a lot of my mental energy. An attack like the one just now—I can only manage at most three times in a row."
"I see." Mu Anqi glanced at the group of followers inside the sword formation and felt that the AoE damage was doing barely a scratch. But then she thought about her own candy attack and realized this was the pot calling the kettle black. But to go up against those piles of meat with a stick…
Mu Anqi felt like she wasn't mentally prepared enough for that.
"Qin Tianyang isn't here yet?" Mu Anqi and Xia Yun hid behind the house at the spawn point. Seeing the followers of the Goddess of Beauty resuming their patrol mode, she couldn't help but ask.
"Didn't see him," Xia Yun said. "I came around and saw only you."
With just the two of them, it wasn't easy to take action.
"I originally thought passing through the mirror was just about seeing the truth," Mu Anqi couldn't help but say. "But now, it seems like the people of Samsara City actually exist in this 'world.' Let's call this the deep layer. Their existence projects from the deep layer to the surface, and what we players first entered was the surface world."
And to enter the deep layer from the surface, the required item was that Mirror of True Sight and Self.
"I get what you mean. The pass should be in this world." Xia Yun glanced at the retro-style castle at the end of the blood-red road. The architectural style of the castle was vastly different from the single-story buildings of Samsara City. Yet under the blood moon, it didn't feel out of place at all. The structures blended together in a strange way, forming the true Samsara City.
At that moment, the patrolling followers of the Goddess of Beauty stirred again. The commotion was loud, and when Mu Anqi peeked out, she saw Qin Tianyang and the female player with the eavesdropping ability running toward them, gasping for breath, desperately trying to reach their location.
Ah, seriously—two players without offensive abilities actually came together? Mu Anqi didn't dare waste time. She raised her candy cane, switched it from hard candy to bullets, and fired a few shots at the patrolling followers of the Goddess of Beauty who were about to flank the two players, drawing them over.
"Run! Head straight for the castle!" Xia Yun controlled her life-bound sword to fly out again, unleashing another sword formation to trap the followers that Mu Anqi had attracted. There was also a group of followers coming up behind Qin Tianyang and the others—they couldn't stay here any longer. If the two groups encircled them, breaking out would be much more difficult.
"Can you fly with your sword?" Mu Anqi asked while firing her candy cane wildly. The bell-shaped hard candy bullets clattered to the ground. Some shot into the masses of flesh but didn't come out the other side, as if they had fused with the bodies of the followers of the Goddess of Beauty.
"Haven't unlocked that skill yet," Xia Yun replied as she summoned her life-bound sword back. By now, Qin Tianyang and the others were very close to the spawn point. Gritting her teeth, Xia Yun released another sword formation, trapping the group of followers chasing behind Qin Tianyang as well. After doing this, she looked visibly strained, but still forced herself to stay strong and ran toward the castle with Mu Anqi.
"…" Mu Anqi glanced back at the lagging Qin Tianyang and the others. The commotion here had drawn in all the patrolling followers nearby. Clusters of black-and-red flesh were swarming toward the spawn point—an utterly nauseating and horrifying sight. "Qin Tianyang, use this!" She pulled a crudely made smoke bomb from her bag and threw it hard toward him. Her aim was always excellent. Despite running for his life, Qin Tianyang heard her shout, raised his hand, and caught what she had thrown. One look, and he immediately understood what to do.
"Ssssss…"
The choking white smoke instantly enveloped the followers of the Goddess of Beauty. Qin Tianyang and the others pushed themselves to the limit, sprinting with all their might. Under the cover of the smoke bomb, they finally stepped onto the blood-red carpet and followed behind Mu Anqi and the others into the castle.
From the outside, it clearly looked like a dilapidated castle straight out of a horror movie, but inside…
Mu Anqi pushed open the castle doors and was nearly blinded by the dazzling golden interior. Her eyes widened. This—this level of glittering luxury put even the last game's greed-themed level to shame. Just what kind of beauty goddess was this… was she actually the Goddess of Wealth?!
But before she could marvel any further, Xia Yun made a strange face and muttered, "This place… actually feels kind of girly."
"?" How does blinding gold decor have anything to do with girlish vibes?
Before Mu Anqi could respond, Qin Tianyang stared blankly and asked, "You think this is girly decor? No, seriously, the inside of this castle is completely different from the outside. Why does it feel so sci-fi in here?!"
"What are you talking about, sci-fi? This is just a regular palace-style castle, isn't it?" said the female player with the eavesdropping ability—her name was Hao Qiqi. Hearing Xia Yun and Qin Tianyang's comments, she looked completely bewildered. Wasn't this a totally normal medieval castle interior? What's sci-fi about it? What's girly about it? There's no prince or princess, and definitely no aliens.
Mu Anqi pressed her lips together, deeply thankful that she wasn't the talkative type. At this point, what wasn't obvious? The castle's style appeared differently to each person. As she looked at the dazzling, blinding decor seemingly made entirely of gold, she couldn't bring herself to admit that her own aesthetic taste might be this… tacky.
She'd never even spent a single day as a nouveau riche, so why was this happening to her?!
Xia Yun and the others quickly caught on as well. Xia Yun's face gradually turned red; she seemed like she wanted to explain something but didn't know where to start. Thankfully… she'd only mentioned "girly," and hadn't blurted out that the castle looked like a pink ocean of sparkles…
"Ahem, well, even if the filter differs, the essence of this castle hasn't changed," Qin Tianyang said with forced composure, clearing his throat. "It's way too quiet in here. Everyone, stay alert."
"The Goddess of Beauty—what exactly is She? And what does She even look like?" Mu Anqi really couldn't imagine Her appearance. A being so fixated on picking flaws—even if someone were as beautiful as a celestial being, someone like that would still find fault. As for a person who is truly flawless and perfect—well, human aesthetics vary wildly, and Mu Anqi simply couldn't picture what perfection was supposed to look like.
The silent castle was completely empty. They cautiously climbed the stairs and arrived on the second floor. There, they found many rooms—but all the doors were tightly shut, making it impossible to see inside.
"Could the Goddess of Beauty be in one of these rooms? Or maybe the pass is hidden somewhere in the castle?" As they walked, it seemed as though there wasn't a single living creature in the entire castle. Not just the Goddess or her followers—even a mouse seemed absent here.
"One door, one challenge?" Xia Yun also speculated.
"Let's split up and search the castle for any clues," Mu Anqi said. "Whether it's items or information. If you encounter danger, just run—and shout loudly. The castle isn't that big, so unless we get pulled into an illusion or another layer of reality, any commotion will be heard. Whether we find something or not, regroup here in one hour."
"Alright," Xia Yun agreed. "We might even find some kind of item to counter the Goddess of Beauty."
Qin Tianyang and Hao Qiqi had no objections. Qin Tianyang still had one use left of his rewind ability—if they couldn't find any clues in the end, he could use it inside the castle. Maybe he'd see the moment when the "Goddess of Beauty" placed the pass somewhere.
Hao Qiqi's ability wasn't particularly strong in either offense or defense. Her "Eavesdropping Through Walls" skill was very useful in puzzle-solving and exploration-type games, but in survival games, it was rather difficult to apply. That she had made it through so many games and even caught the attention of a BOSS meant she clearly had her own strengths.
She didn't complain, didn't back down. When her ability could be used, she actively searched for information. When it couldn't, she didn't drag the team down, nor did she blindly rely on stronger teammates.
When Mu Anqi suggested splitting up, she had actually considered that Qin Tianyang and Hao Qiqi might encounter danger here. She was prepared for the possibility that they'd request to explore in pairs. But neither Qin Tianyang nor Hao Qiqi objected—they calmly accepted Mu Anqi's plan.
After all, no one knew how long the inner world would remain accessible. What if, once night ended, they were forced back to the surface world? No one knew whether they'd get another chance to come back in—and whether the Mirror of True Sight and Self would still be the key to re-entry.
Clearing it in one go would, of course, be the best outcome.