Chapter 59: Creating the Boss

After entering the Mirror Maze, Mo Qi had been searching for two things: one was the corpse of a person killed by someone in the mirror, such as Xi Rou who was killed by Xia Yao; the other was the mirror image of a person who had left the mirror, but neither was found.

According to Liang Tianxiu, Xia Yao’s mirror image suddenly appeared after he exited the mirror, and it had never been seen before, nor was its hiding place known.

As for Xi Rou, after her death, everyone scattered in fear due to Xia Yao, and since the Mirror Maze was completely uniform, Liang Tianxiu was unsure whether he had found the original location or if she was still there.

Mo Qi leaned towards the idea that Xi Rou was no longer in her original location.

Based on the descriptions of the distances between the exits of the Mirror Maze and the ventilation situation inside the maze, Qin Xunfeng determined that the entire Mirror Maze was not large. It was likely that paths would frequently repeat, making it nearly impossible not to return to the original location.

Given this, where could Xi Rou’s corpse have vanished to?

Based on Mo Qi’s past experiences with games, corpses do not simply disappear. The Wish Box task was collected by the counselor, which also revealed Wen Miao’s identity. Therefore, Xi Rou’s corpse must still exist somewhere within the Mirror Maze.

Mo Qi entered the mirror specifically to search for these corpses, but found nothing. He speculated that there must be a place they cannot locate, where these corpses are hidden—a place that neither those inside the mirror nor those outside can access.

“What kind of place can’t be accessed from either side?” Qin Xunfeng asked.

The mirror image of Mo Qi replied, “Do you really need to ask? A place without ‘light.’”

The entities within the mirror can only move through light reflections and cannot reach places without light. Since the “light” of the Mirror Maze exists in the reflections of ordinary people within the mirror, those outside the mirror will always have light wherever they go.

“Doesn’t that mean it’s impossible to reach such a place?” Qin Xunfeng asked. “I have light wherever I go, and Mo Qi can only go to places with light. How are we supposed to find it?”

The mirror image of Mo Qi looked at Qin Xunfeng.

Qin Xunfeng suddenly realized that only the mirror images can move freely without carrying “light”; only they can find the place of absolute darkness.

“But why are we looking for that place?” Qin Xunfeng asked, confused. “Isn’t our goal to find the exact exits of the Mirror Maze and proceed to other tasks, ultimately completing the entire SSR-level mission?”

The mirror image of Mo Qi replied, “That was the original plan, but Mo Qi’s perspective changed after entering the Mirror Maze.”

“What did it change to?” Qin Xunfeng asked, puzzled.

Qin Xunfeng considered himself not to be foolish, but he couldn’t keep up with Mo Qi’s thinking. They both entered the Mirror Maze, saw the same scenes, and experienced the same events, yet Mo Qi’s thought process was entirely different. It was as if Qin Xunfeng were viewing scenes in a two-dimensional comic strip, while Mo Qi was observing the entire comic book from a three-dimensional perspective.

“Don’t you think there are too few people in the Mirror Maze for it to be a proper mission?” the mirror image of Mo Qi asked.

Mentioning numbers perked Qin Xunfeng up. “It is a bit few. So far, we know that Xia Yao’s group of five, myself, Mo Qi, and three other players entered the Mirror Maze. Xia Yao, who entered first, had to wait a long time before Rong Feng and the others arrived. Even for an SR-level mission, this number of participants is pitifully low.”

“Theoretically, the rule of the Mirror Maze mission is a kill-to-escape mode—you have to kill to leave the mirror. But with the current number of participants, it’s not enough for that purpose,” the mirror image of Mo Qi said. “Instead, everyone who has obtained fragments and merged with their mirror selves has made the same choice—to leave the Mirror Maze and proceed to other tasks.”

Qin Xunfeng thought for a moment. “Xia Yao isn’t… wait, Xia Yao did that too!”

After gaining his freedom, Xia Yao brought several mirror images to their “Wilderness Horror” mission. If Mo Qi hadn’t captured Xia Yao, he would have used the environment to escape and wouldn’t have brought them to the Mirror Maze.

“The way Mo Qi and I see it, the Mirror Maze isn’t just a task. It’s a central hub that continually creates small bosses of Xia Yao’s caliber and sends them to other missions, thereby increasing the overall difficulty of those missions,” the mirror image of Mo Qi explained.

Qin Xunfeng thought about this and found it made a lot of sense. His “Wilderness Survival” mission was originally very simple—just subdue the lizard monster and wake up the imaginative Ke Manman to win. But Rong Feng’s group brought back Xia Yao, and everyone turned into mirror images. To complete the mission, he now had to go to several other worlds to find Rong Feng and Ke Manman, raising the difficulty from SR-level to SSR-level.

“Is it because I’ve been using big data to calculate the game’s difficulty that the game noticed and used this method to fix data bugs, dragging my friends into this mess?” Qin Xunfeng said, feeling down.

“It’s a double-edged sword. Both you and Mo Qi are thorns in the game’s side,” the mirror image of Mo Qi replied.

Being in the game, it was inevitable to engage in a battle of wits with it. Qin Xunfeng remained silent for a moment but then quickly regained his composure. He needed to proceed to other tasks and find his friends as soon as possible.

“So, what should we do next?” Qin Xunfeng asked.

“Of course, we need to destroy the Mirror Maze. We can’t allow it to keep increasing the difficulty of other tasks, nor can we let people from other tasks keep ending up here,” the mirror image of Mo Qi said.

To achieve this, they had to go to a place of darkness that neither players nor ordinary people could reach—a place only the mirror image of Mo Qi could access. However, why would the mirror image of Mo Qi do this? There was no benefit for him.

The mirror image of Mo Qi looked at the mirror. “But why should I help you? Are you offering me love or death?”

He placed his hand on the mirror’s surface, knowing that Mo Qi was just on the other side, though he couldn’t see him.

Qin Xunfeng fell silent. If the mirror image of Mo Qi were an ordinary person, he might be able to persuade him to help, and they could all survive together. But the mirror image of Mo Qi was entirely different; he wasn’t a real person but a creation of the Mirror Maze. If the Mirror Maze were destroyed, he might disappear as well.

“My life has always been in your hands,” Mo Qi’s voice came from within the mirror. “I have never shied away from your intent to kill.”

Whether it was towards Xia Yao, Liao Ruxue, or the porcelain doll Mo Xiaohong, Mo Qi had always faced their intense killing intent and love head-on, without fear. Countless times, he had entrusted them with his back, placing his trust in them.

“Forget it,” the mirror image of Mo Qi suddenly said. “I’ll help you, to satisfy my own desire. I want to see you.”

To meet Mo Qi and be in the same space with him, Mo Qi would have to kill someone with his own hands. Even if Mo Qi was unwilling, the mirror image of Mo Qi could manipulate him through their “resonance,” making him kill Qin Xunfeng or Xia Yao. This wouldn’t be difficult.

However, Mo Qi would never do such a thing, and the mirror image of Mo Qi didn’t want to force him to act against his will.

“The ‘gaze’ will be lifted in 20 minutes. Any later, and you won’t be able to see everything happening in front of me through ‘resonance.’ I’m heading out now,” the mirror image of Mo Qi said.

He turned and prepared to venture alone into the dark, unknown, and dangerous place, without any protective measures.

“Wait,” Mo Qi said.

Qin Xunfeng immediately received two cards, an R-level card “Night Vision Goggles” and an SR-level card “Damage Transfer.”

Mo Qi had used the “Night Vision Goggles” in the Yin-Yang Ancient Town before, with the side effect of temporary blindness. Clearly, this time, the one to endure the negative effects would once again be Qin Xunfeng.

Qin Xunfeng, his hands trembling, handed the materialized night vision goggles to the mirror image of Mo Qi. His vision was already severely blurred, and now he would be blind. During this period, if there was any danger, he really had no way to protect himself!

“What are you afraid of?” the mirror image of Mo Qi said nonchalantly. “Mo Qi won’t let you die.”

Qin Xunfeng knew Mo Qi would help him, but with Mo Qi trapped in the mirror, unable to affect the outside world, how could he possibly provide assistance?

The mirror image of Mo Qi picked up the barely conscious Xia Yao and, in a voice as soft and sinister as a whisper, said to Qin Xunfeng, “You should align Xia Yao with this mirror. This way, if you encounter danger, Mo Qi can quickly slice Xia Yao out to save you, right?”

Xia Yao, barely clinging to life, could only remain silent.

Qin Xunfeng could only stare, speechless.

Though the mirror image of Mo Qi’s expression resembled that of a soul-collecting demon, the method he proposed was undeniably effective!

Qin Xunfeng couldn’t help but gaze eagerly at the mirror.

Liang Tianxiu was eager as well, thinking that since Mo Qi could kill Xia Yao, perhaps he could too.

“Don’t be swayed by his words,” Mo Qi sighed. “If there’s real danger, I can use a scene card. You don’t need to worry.”

Scene cards were extremely valuable and capable of turning the tide of a situation, so Mo Qi intended to reserve them for critical moments. Outside the Mirror Maze, there might be even more dangerous tasks, making it a waste to use the cards now.

Reassured by Mo Qi’s promise, Qin Xunfeng used the second card, “Damage Transfer,” on the mirror image of Mo Qi.

As the name suggests, “Damage Transfer” can shift the damage endured by the mirror image of Mo Qi to another person. This time, the recipient was not Qin Xunfeng but Mo Qi himself. The card allows for a specified target, provided that the person being targeted (in this case, Mo Qi) is willing.

Since the card was meant for transferring damage, it had no negative effects beyond the inherent harm, as the damage had to be absorbed by someone.

“I have ‘External Strength, Internal Weakness’ protection,” Mo Qi reassured the mirror image of Mo Qi. “Even with ‘Damage Transfer,’ I won’t be harmed temporarily.”

The mirror image of Mo Qi replied, “If I consume your ‘External Strength, Internal Weakness’ and then sustain a fatal injury, you dying for me would essentially mean I killed you, wouldn’t it?”

Mo Qi responded calmly, “That would be the case. I have entrusted my life to you.”

Hearing this conversation, Qin Xunfeng felt a rising tension. The price of asking the mirror image of Mo Qi for help seemed exorbitant.

The mirror image of Mo Qi, however, said with disinterest, “Never mind, I prefer to do things myself.”

The mirror image of Mo Qi took several grenades from Qin Xunfeng and turned to head in one direction.

Logically, finding a completely dark place should be challenging, but as a mirror image, he had a clear sense of direction from the moment he became self-aware. There was no need for guidance; he headed directly toward that unknown place.

Only after the mirror image of Mo Qi had completely left did Qin Xunfeng let out a sigh of relief and asked Mo Qi, “The mirror image of Mo Qi is a bit frightening. Will he really help us?”

Mo Qi, who was under threat to his life, remained the calmest of all. He confidently said, “He will. Fighting against this mysterious force is a fate he will never abandon.”

Soon after, Qin Xunfeng’s vision went completely black, indicating that the mirror image of Mo Qi had put on the night vision goggles.