[Key item discovered: Mirror of True Sight (Unactivated)]
Unactivated, huh. Looks like it only activates at night. Mu Anqi restored the clothes to their original state, then closed the wardrobe door. After making sure everything in the room was back in place, she exited the master bedroom and returned to the sofa.
Since she had agreed with that player to exchange information tomorrow, there was no rush. Mu Anqi felt that while her progress in finding clues wasn't the fastest, it certainly wasn't slow either. Although her method differed from other players, such minor details could be ignored. Sitting by the sofa, Mu Anqi looked at the paper-white resident who still had her back to her and said, "I found it. Tomorrow night, can I enter your room one more time?"
"…Alright."
Mu Anqi wondered, if other players were also staying over, how would they discover the mirror in the master bedroom? If a player was careful enough, they could naturally notice subtle clues like that one player did. Then, using an excuse to distract the paper-white resident and re-enter the room to search, they could quickly find the mirror and enter it—it should be doable. If the player had an offensive ability, they could directly… kill the paper-white resident. As for those with defensive abilities, maybe they could forcibly withstand the damage for a short time and rush in?
Ah, right. It seems there's no rule against forming teams. After discovering clues, perhaps players could team up and break into the paper-white resident's master bedroom to search. With division of labor and cooperation, the danger would be greatly reduced.
Mu Anqi watched as the paper-white resident slowly turned around and suddenly asked, "Can you leave Samsara City?"
The paper-white resident clearly wasn't purely made of malice—she had consciousness. If that was the case, could she… leave this place?
The paper-white resident didn't answer whether she could or not, only silently looked at Mu Anqi, then stood up. "It's late. Do you want something to eat?"
"…Ah, yes." Mu Anqi didn't ask any further.
That night, Mu Anqi didn't go to sleep immediately. After midnight, she stood by the bed and looked out the window. The moonlight outside was pure and bright, casting a silver gauze carpet over the road. At this moment, the night scene of Samsara City seemed cold and silent.
Just then, neat and powerful footsteps echoed. Mu Anqi saw a player sprinting by, wind at their heels, with a team of tin soldiers hot on their trail.
The distance between the followers of Goddess of Beauty and the players was quite subtle—it was close enough to keep players safe, yet not enough for them to let their guard down. Mu Anqi couldn't tell from that paper whether the Goddess followers were tired, but they didn't spread out to hunt players down either. It was as if they were merely going through the motions of "chasing."
Players were being pursued to the point they couldn't rest, nor did they have the opportunity to explore the map or clues during this time period.
Hmm, or maybe not. What if a player who was hiding or evading accidentally discovered that mirror? Mu Anqi didn't believe that the mirror only existed in the master bedroom of her own paper-white resident's home. After all, this was a trial, not the real Black Mirror Vortex. She hadn't sensed any pure malice or felt "corrupted." She figured that in every paper-white resident's home—or perhaps in some corners outside—there were surely more Mirrors of True Sight.
True Sight of the Self. Now that she thought about it, the name of the mirror was quite interesting.
She wondered if the player who had said they wanted to cooperate had found the mirror. If not… she would have to ask whether she could bring some "guests" here to enter the master bedroom. Mu Anqi rubbed her temples a little awkwardly—she felt like she was really pushing her luck.
Early the next morning, after finishing the breakfast prepared by the paper-white resident, Mu Anqi hurried to the spawn point to meet up with the other players.
The male player who had agreed to cooperate with Mu Anqi introduced himself this time. Because when he waved at her upon seeing her, he didn't even know what to call her and could only awkwardly shout, "Hey, female player!"
After a brief exchange, Mu Anqi learned that this player was named "Qin Tianyang," and his ability was called "Live Broadcast." Hmm, though the name sounded like that, the actual skill was "Rewind."
As long as an incident had occurred at the location he was in, he could activate his ability to see what had happened within a certain range over a period of time in the past. At present, he could rewind three times per game.
"After passing this trial, I'll upgrade the ability again. Then I'll be able to rewind four times after each game," Qin Tianyang said, pushing up the glasses on his nose. "I still have one rewind left I haven't used. I can follow your lead with it. But after I use it, I'll be weakened and exhausted, so I hope you can protect me then."
"Mm…" Mu Anqi scratched her head and couldn't help but say, "My single-target control… actually has its limitations. I'm not that strong myself. How about… we bring in a few more teammates?"
"I go to the virtual trainer after every game to study and train!" Qin Tianyang widened his eyes and said urgently, "I may not have an offensive ability, but I'm not weak!"
"I know, but I am weak!" Mu Anqi said helplessly. "I've only cleared two games so far."
Qin Tianyang: "…???"
Wait a minute—this big thigh he just clung to… how did it suddenly turn out not to be that big after all?!
Qin Tianyang didn't want to believe it, but Mu Anqi looked serious—there was no reason to lie about something like this. As for that item… Qin Tianyang thought about the lottery system after becoming an official player. While it was technically possible to draw items from it, the odds were terrible, and many players never got anything. Could it be that this girl in front of him… is a luck god?
"If we're teaming up, then let's call Xia Yun and the other female players," Qin Tianyang said. "Last night I found the location of the Mirror of True Sight, but since I was waiting for you, I didn't go in. Then I ended up getting chased by the followers of Goddess of Beauty. Xia Yun and her group were also being chased at the time and happened to save me in passing. So I gave them the information too."
"Alright, then you all go to that mirror tonight and meet up there," Mu Anqi said. "I'll enter through the mirror at the home of the paper-white resident I'm staying with. If, as you said, there's an inner world, then the buildings and layout on the other side of the mirror should be the same. We'll meet at the spawn point afterward."
Qin Tianyang had wanted to say that entering from different places might land them in different worlds. But then he thought, if the mirrors really lead to different worlds, then it was even more important to split up. Otherwise, they wouldn't know what secrets might be hidden inside the other mirrors.
So in the end, Qin Tianyang didn't say anything. Instead, he joined Mu Anqi in finding the group of female players dozing off in a corner and extended the invitation to act together that night.
"Sure, we were already planning to take action tonight," said Xia Yun, the female player who had previously invited Mu Anqi. She smiled and shook hands with Mu Anqi, then seriously introduced herself again and exchanged names with her.
"Some players also discovered the mirror during last night's chase—those who entered it vanished completely," Xia Yun said. "This instance is already nearly halfway over, so they're also planning to explore that mirror tonight."
"That's your ability?" Mu Anqi asked curiously. "Gathering information?"
"Uh, well…"
"It's my ability," said the female player standing behind Xia Yun, looking a little embarrassed. "When I was alive… I really liked listening to gossip. Whether it was online or in real life… uh, I guess that might be the reason. So my ability is called 'Walls Have Ears.' If there's a wall between me and the target, I can hear their conversation."
Mu Anqi blinked and silently gave her a thumbs-up.
With the night's actions decided, Mu Anqi didn't wander around. She stayed at the spawn point for a while, observing the players who had won and lost yesterday. They were all still alive, but whether they had won or lost, they all seemed especially exhausted…
"Those guys? Last night, the followers of Goddess of Beauty prioritized chasing them," Xia Yun said. "But the ones who chased the winning players weren't carrying weapons. The ones who chased the losing players… somehow pulled out two-meter-long broadswords from who knows where. In the middle of the night, I won't lie—it was pretty terrifying."
"Ah… geez…" That's seriously miserable. The 'little gifts' from the Black Mirror bosses really weren't something the average person could handle.
After the other players learned of this, the hostility between the two players from the first group who had ended up betraying each other didn't seem as intense anymore. Although the two of them didn't team up again, after seeing the miserable state of players who didn't score 20 points in the game, they both began to look at each other with noticeably more kindness.
The day passed peacefully, with no more tricks from the Goddess of Beauty. Naturally, the followers of Goddess of Beauty didn't hold any events either.
But while Mu Anqi was eating fruit and sitting by the window at the paper-white resident's home, waiting for after midnight, something odd happened. Though it was only 11 p.m., the followers of Goddess of Beauty had already started moving, chasing down players like herding sheep.
Would the nightly pursuit time extend as the days went on? Well, it made sense. In this kind of instance, the longer you stayed, the more difficult it would get—that seemed normal. After finishing her apple, Mu Anqi washed her hands. Then, she glanced at the paper-white resident who was zoning out nearby, greeted her, and walked toward her room.
She skillfully folded the clothes and placed them on the bed, then opened the wardrobe. When she touched the mirror, it was still in an unactivated state.
Hmm, it seemed that only the chase had started earlier—this special time period hadn't changed.
Time ticked by, second by second, as Mu Anqi listened to the various sounds coming from within Samsara City, waiting until after midnight. She got up, stretched her limbs, slung her backpack on, and gave the paper-white resident a deep and respectful bow: "Thank you."
Then, she walked into the master bedroom. The clothes she had just taken out weren't put back, so when she opened the wardrobe door, she could clearly see the mirror inside glowing with a dim blue light. That gloomy radiance intertwined and formed the image of a "vortex" on the mirror's surface.
Taking a deep breath, Mu Anqi knew—this was the moment. She looked back at the paper-white resident. She was standing still at the master bedroom door, not stepping inside. When Mu Anqi looked over, she raised the apple in her hand and waved it slightly, saying nothing.
The game hadn't been cleared yet, so it wasn't time for farewells. Mu Anqi extended her fingers and touched the surface of the mirror. In that instant, she seemed to hear a voice from behind:
"You are a very good guest."