Chapter 55: The World Within the Mirror

The person in the mirror was surprisingly Liang Tianxiu.

“Qin Xunfeng!” Mo Qi called out, but Qin Xunfeng in the mirror didn’t react, as if his voice was trapped within the Mirror Maze.

Unaware of the danger behind him, Qin Xunfeng remained focused on the mirror in front of him. He tapped the mirror with his gloved hand and continued speaking to Mo Qi, “We can’t judge the thickness of the mirrors by sound alone. You were right; Xia Yao might be lying.”

Before entering the Mirror Maze, Mo Qi had warned Qin Xunfeng not to fully trust Xia Yao’s words.

Under Mo Qi’s skill, most of what Xia Yao said should be true, but anything related to being trapped in or escaping from mirrors is definitely false.

Their visit to the Mirror Maze had two main objectives: first, to find the five people trapped inside, and second, to navigate through the maze to reach other tasks and discover the so-called “true path” indicated by the system. To achieve this, they needed to first solve the Mirror Maze.

Mo Qi instructed Qin Xunfeng to test two things as soon as they entered the Mirror Maze: first, whether the mirrors could be broken; and second, how to attack the mirror images. These two points were crucial for breaking through the Mirror Maze task.

Since the mirrors could not be shattered, Xia Yao’s claim about retrieving the lamp from behind the mirrors was false. Xia Yao must have used another method to gain control over the mirror images.

Although Mo Qi couldn’t hear Qin Xunfeng’s voice, he was able to observe his actions through the mirrors. Seeing Qin Xunfeng tap the mirrors and realize they couldn’t be easily broken, Mo Qi knew Xia Yao was lying.

At that moment, Liang Tianxiu’s face in the mirror behind Qin Xunfeng became sinister. He took off his clothes, twisted his cotton jacket into a rope, and quietly extended the rope towards the neck of Qin Xunfeng’s reflection in the mirror.

Qin Xunfeng, after examining the thickness of the mirrors, crouched down to inspect the gaps between the vertical mirrors, meticulously checking how the mirrors were bonded.

Just as he crouched, his reflection in the mirror also changed its action, narrowly avoiding Liang Tianxiu’s attack.

Liang Tianxiu, gritting his teeth, moved swiftly and vanished from the mirror. Mo Qi looked around, but could not find Liang Tianxiu in any of the mirrors.

Mo Qi understood that Liang Tianxiu, being trapped in the mirrors, could traverse between different mirrors and would not appear as a reflection. He could appear in any mirror he chose.

Therefore, Mo Qi only saw Liang Tianxiu in one mirror, which was not visible to Qin Xunfeng, so Qin Xunfeng couldn’t see him at all.

Because Liang Tianxiu unexpectedly appeared in front of Mo Qi and the Mirror Maze blocked his sound, Mo Qi couldn’t warn Qin Xunfeng.

However, is silence the only way to communicate? Communication isn’t limited to language alone.

Mo Qi drew a sharp bone saw knife from his waist. He had bought it from a knife shop, spending quite a bit of money to get a truly sharp blade.

He wasn’t sure why he had bought this knife, but holding it in his hand felt like having a partner fighting alongside him.

He aimed at the reflection of Qin Xunfeng in the mirror and lightly swiped the knife, grazing Qin Xunfeng’s arm.

Qin Xunfeng, startled, turned around to face Mo Qi through the mirror, almost attacking Mo Qi’s reflection out of fear.

Mo Qi didn’t stop. He raised the knife and made a quick slash toward Qin Xunfeng’s neck. Then, using the hilt of the knife, he gestured in all directions—up, down, left, right, front, and back—signaling Qin Xunfeng to be aware of unseen dangers. After finishing these motions, Mo Qi tapped his thumb on his left eyebrow.

Qin Xunfeng immediately understood and began to execute a series of unpredictable, intricate punches in all directions. His movements were so erratic that it was almost impossible to anticipate. Before long, both Mo Qi and Qin Xunfeng heard a simultaneous “ouch.”

While Qin Xunfeng was punching, Mo Qi didn’t stop. He continued to search for Qin Xunfeng’s location using an “invisible rope.”

This was an R Card used by Qin Xunfeng, which created an invisible, fine thread that could only be sensed by touch and was effective on both players and ordinary people. The thread was extremely thin and could be easily snapped with a slight pull. It wasn’t designed for restraint and had a limited range, extending only up to 2 kilometers before reaching its limit. Its primary function was to prevent people from getting lost in foggy environments.

The two of them hung the cards on their waists, deliberately avoiding Xia Yao when using them, as they were worried about getting separated once they entered the Mirror Maze.

Mo Qi continued following the line to search for Qin Xunfeng. After hearing the “Oh no,” he turned a corner and finally saw the real Qin Xunfeng.

Liang Tianxiu was hiding in the mirror behind Qin Xunfeng, and was struck by Qin Xunfeng’s unmethodical military boxing.

The two of them hung their cards on their waists and deliberately avoided Xia Yao while using them, as they were concerned about getting separated after entering the Mirror Maze.

Mo Qi continued to follow the line to search for Qin Xunfeng. After hearing the “Aiya” sound, he turned a corner and saw the real Qin Xunfeng.

Liang Tianxiu was hiding in the mirror behind Qin Xunfeng and was hit by Qin Xunfeng’s unorthodox military boxing technique.

That’s right, it was a hit. In reality, Qin Xunfeng couldn’t harm Liang Tianxiu, but Liang Tianxiu was actually injured by Qin Xunfeng’s elbow strike in the mirror.

Mo Qi quickly calculated the direction of his actions in the mirror. With a powerful thrust of the Bone-Cutting Knife, Liang Tianxiu was pierced by Mo Qi’s reflection in the mirror, and blood flowed from his arm.

Injured by the cut, Liang Tianxiu glared fiercely at Mo Qi and disappeared from the mirror.

At this moment, Qin Xunfeng suddenly took out a makeup mirror, not looking back as he aimed it at the mirror behind him. Liang Tianxiu, who had planned to approach the mirror behind Mo Qi, was intercepted midway and trapped inside the makeup mirror by Qin Xunfeng!

“Just as I thought,” Qin Xunfeng glanced quickly at Liang Tianxiu in the mirror, confirmed he was behind, and immediately closed the mirror to trap Liang Tianxiu. “The movement of the mirror person relies on light reflection. As long as you time it right and intercept him the moment he leaves the mirror, you can trap him in another mirror. Without light, he can’t move.”

“Perfect teamwork!” He walked along the thin line to Mo Qi and tried to give him a high-five, but seeing the Bone-Cutting Knife in Mo Qi’s hand, he had to abandon the idea.

In the safe world, Mo Qi and Qin Xunfeng had discussed how to counter mirror attacks if they ever encountered them.

They believed that within the Mirror Maze, the methods of attack by mirror images could not possibly be limited to just pulling people into mirrors. If that were the case, it would be too easy for players like them with special abilities to counter.

There must be a type of attack that they cannot see or counter, and that is the attack coming from the mirror. The person in the mirror attacks their reflection, and the damage is transferred from the reflection to the actual person.

How should one resist such an attack? Mo Qi believes that everything is balanced; even the most challenging tasks have key items and countermeasures. The most likely possibility is that the reflection’s counterattack would hurt the person in the mirror. That’s why, after receiving Mo Qi’s hint, Qin Xunfeng was frantically waving his arms and legs, aiming to hit Liang Tianxiu in the mirror to confirm his location.

After Mo Qi saw Qin Xunfeng, she deliberately positioned herself directly in front of him. By controlling her reflection to injure Liang Tianxiu, she aimed to provoke Liang Tianxiu into attacking her out of anger.

Qin Xunfeng, who understands data best and can capture fleeting moments, is responsible for using the mirror to catch the light beam from Liang Tianxiu.

The speed of light is beyond human ability to capture. However, Liang Tianxiu’s attack—driven by hatred towards Mo Qi—chooses the mirror behind Mo Qi and decides to leave the mirror. This process takes time, and Qin Xunfeng’s task is to calculate how long this will take and time it precisely.

With his mastery of big data, Qin Xunfeng has a preliminary calculation of this time, but catching the person in the mirror also requires a keen intuition.

Qin Xunfeng doesn’t know where this intuition comes from, but somehow, it feels as if an inner voice is telling him that this is the moment.

After finally reuniting with Mo Qi, they stand back-to-back to avoid unseen attacks, staying vigilant of each other’s backs.

“Why does Liang Tianxiu want to kill me?” Qin Xunfeng asked after hearing Mo Qi describe Liang Tianxiu’s actions in the mirror.

Mo Qi said, “I suspect this is his way of trying to leave the mirror. Xia Yao once said that if you trick someone into leaving through the exit, you can escape from the mirror. If he wants to ‘lock me in a small dark room,’ he obviously can’t tell me the real way to leave the mirror, so this claim must be false. However, it’s very hard for a person to fabricate a lie out of thin air in a short time, so the lie he told is likely based on some truth. From Liang Tianxiu’s behavior, I think the idea of a one-for-one exchange might be correct—if the person in the mirror kills someone outside, they can escape from the mirror.”

“In the story, Liang Tianxiu and I are rivals; we have a grudge. If he must kill someone, it’s normal for him to choose someone he’s antagonistic towards before us,” Qin Xunfeng said. “Xia Yao’s words are completely unreliable—talk of breaking mirrors, exits, it’s all false.”

Mo Qi’s expression turned grave. “When Xia Yao mentioned being dragged into the mirror before, there was a clear hint of fear in his expression. This statement shouldn’t be false; it indicates that he really was dragged into the mirror. But how did he escape?”

“He… did he also have to kill someone to get out?” Qin Xunfeng’s expression also grew grim. “No wonder he became a ‘person in the gap.’”

Mo Qi sighed. “There’s an even bigger problem. Who did he kill to get out of the mirror? How did Liang Tianxiu know that killing someone would allow him to escape?”

Qin Xunfeng said, “Could it be that he went after one of the five people he was looking for?”

“Rong Feng is someone he knows in real life. Xia Yao’s words show a protective attitude towards Rong Feng, indicating no guilt. He firmly believes that Ke Manman, Xi Rou, and He Yang are monsters and villains, which reflects his own psychological projection. Only by labeling these people as villains can he avoid feeling guilty after killing them; it’s a self-soothing excuse,” Mo Qi explained.

“Is it possible that one of the five people I’m looking for is already dead?” Qin Xunfeng’s face was filled with despair.

“Not only that,” Mo Qi said, her frustration evident. “This task is really too difficult. After we entered here, Liang Tianxiu was the only one who came looking for us. What about the others?”

“Dead? Or… did they, after killing someone to escape, become people like Xia Yao who can control the mirror and leave through other exits?” Qin Xunfeng’s voice trembled. “Tell me this is just a hypothesis.”

“Your hypothesis fits the difficulty level of an SSR-class task perfectly,” Mo Qi said loudly to the mirror. “Xia Yao, you should be able to hear me. Is what I said correct?”

After a long pause, Xia Yao’s voice echoed from all directions: “You got it all right.”

“Oh no, how am I supposed to complete the task now?” Qin Xunfeng felt as if he were already dead.

Mo Qi, however, remained calm. “Xia Yao, who did you kill? I’m guessing it was Xi Rou.”

The “Student Council’s Wilderness Nightmare” task is still running normally. All the monsters are imagined by Ke Manman, so if Ke Manman’s main body is dead, it’s unlikely that new monsters would appear. Since the lizard monsters are still around, it’s highly probable that Ke Manman is still alive. He Yang, being a tall and strong person, is less likely to be targeted, so Xi Rou, who is relatively easier to deal with, is the most likely choice.

Xia Yao, hidden in the shadows, remained silent, which only confirmed that Mo Qi’s guess was correct.

“Take a look at your phone,” Mo Qi said to Qin Xunfeng. “Check if there are any changes in the task details.”

The Mirror Maze is also part of the shopping mall world, so using a phone is possible. Qin Xunfeng opened the app and saw that it displayed “Mirror Maze” with a total of 5 players, 2 remaining, and 2 dead.

“There are 5 players in total, 2 are dead, so how come there are still 2 left? Could it be that those 2 are us?” Qin Xunfeng realized slowly.

“Pretty much. If 2 players are dead, then the remaining one must have thought they found the exit from the Mirror Maze and left through some exit,” Mo Qi said.

If he and Qin Xunfeng hadn’t come to the Mirror Maze, there would originally have been 3 players in the maze. With 2 dead, the remaining one likely thought they had completed the maze and left, only to find another level behind the door.

“I hope none of my teammates are here. I can’t believe I put them in such a difficult task!” Qin Xunfeng was on the verge of tears. “We’ve never tackled such a challenging task before!”

Qin Xunfeng’s emotions were breaking down, but Mo Qi didn’t offer comfort. Instead, she said, “We need to keep going. No matter how tough the task is, don’t think about escaping. If we don’t solve this task, the world within the task will remain in the game forever, and those trapped in the task will never be able to return to reality.”

“Is, is that really the case?” Qin Xunfeng was stunned.

He had always focused on escaping from the tasks, never attempting to fight the strongest boss or truly solve the task’s problems.

The difference between R-level, SR-level, and SSR-level tasks isn’t about the world’s difficulty but rather the complexity of the task requirements.

For tasks like R-level and SR-level, players might never even see the real boss, nor are they required to defeat the boss. They only need to briefly hide in a safe location.

For example, in the “Wilderness Nightmare” task, the task prompt Qin Xunfeng received was very clear: just escape back to the city. There was no need to defeat the lizard monsters or solve the psychological issues of the protagonist, Ke Manman.

For Mo Qi, every task is at the highest difficulty, and most of the time, there aren’t even clear hints.

Even so, he has made it through step by step.

Qin Xunfeng wiped his tears. “Xia Yao is the boss of this game, right? If we kill him, do we win?”

“No,” Mo Qi said calmly. “He’s just a pitiful person caught up in this game.”

Mo Qi had once thought deeply about whether the true mastermind behind the Wish Box task was Xiang Wansi. It wasn’t; it was the Wish Box that evokes people’s inner desires. For the Yin-Yang Pendant task, was the boss Da Shuai and his mother? No, it was the two jade pendants that promised immortality to Da Shuai.

A mysterious force lurks behind the scenes, manipulating human hearts and gradually taking over the world.

And the players, with their goal of clearing the tasks, are the guardians of the real world.

Mo Qi had once believed that the true boss was the game “Mysterious Domain Cards” on the phone. But upon closer examination, everything the game does is actually to help the players.

The game provides players with the power to draw cards, gives them points to exchange for cards—without these, Mo Qi and the others would be as helpless as Xia Yao and the rest, eventually being consumed by the world.

Mo Qi believes that the game is a battlefield, a stage where the self-defense power of the real world clashes with the mysterious force that seeks to devour it. The players are the warriors, and their abilities and cards are their weapons.

They use these weapons to protect the world and safeguard ordinary people.

Xia Yao has indeed made egregious mistakes in this world, but he entered a strange and mysterious realm with no one to save him. He is also trying to save himself, just a pitiful person forced into a corner.

“So what is the true boss, then?” Qin Xunfeng asked.

“I’m not sure either, but I think if we keep being overly cautious, we might never find the answer,” Mo Qi said as he sheathed his bone-cleaving knife.

“Why are you putting away your weapon?” Qin Xunfeng asked. “Though, it’s fine if you do; your weapon isn’t very good.”

“Give me a few firearms,” Mo Qi said.

“Alright.” Qin Xunfeng, while staying alert, handed Mo Qi several grenades and tear gas canisters.

After securing his weapons, Mo Qi said to the mirror, “Xia Yao, drag me into the mirror.”

“What!” Qin Xunfeng exclaimed.

Mo Qi continued, “We’ve been outside the mirror all this time, protected by skills and cards. What have we gained in the end? The other players have already shown the outcome: either death or leaving through the exit to another task. If we keep this up, we’ll never overcome this task. Only by entering the mirror and delving into the secrets of the task can we solve it. If we keep hiding in a safe place, we’ll never see the truth.”

“You can’t go in! You have to kill someone to get out!” Qin Xunfeng said.

“So, you stay outside while I go in,” Mo Qi replied. “You’ll search outside, and I’ll protect you from within. Only this way can we ensure our survival.”

“Well… you’re smarter and more experienced than I am, so maybe I should go in,” Qin Xunfeng insisted. “It’s better for you to stay in a safe place; you’re our best hope to break the situation.”

“Xia Yao won’t let me go. Only if I go in will he give up,” Mo Qi said with a smile. “You’re a good person.”

Qin Xunfeng: “…”

It felt like he had been handed a ‘good person’ card.

“So how do we get in? Should we have Xia Yao pull you in?” Qin Xunfeng asked.

“Of course not. If he comes to capture me, I’ll be too passive,” Mo Qi said, looking at the mirror. “Why do you think, after we’ve been in the mirror for so long, our mirror images haven’t attacked us yet?”

Qin Xunfeng: “I’m curious about that too.”

Mo Qi stared intently at the mirror for a while, then took off his gloves and pressed his hands firmly against the clean surface of the mirror.

At the moment his palm prints were left on the mirror, the Mo Qi in the mirror seemed to come alive, his eyes changing in expression.

Seizing this opportunity, Mo Qi cast “Gaze” on his mirrored self!