Chapter 94.1 Crimson Sunset Expedition
The House of Mirrors was filled with shiny mirrors inside. There was not a trace of impurity, yet they create a confusing sight. However, Wen Shi was unaware that something even more bewildering awaited him—the octopus waiting patiently at the entrance.
Following the old rule: when a kid is quiet, they’re probably up to no good.
This rule worked perfectly for Big Eye.
The proprietor of the House of Mirrors finally got over his surprise and wanted to check if something was wrong with the interactive setup. He impatiently urged Burnt Player to hurry up.
Burnt Player took a moment to steady himself. He shifted the mirror in his hand slightly to the side. At first, he caught sight of the back of his head and a piece of the red candle’s reflection. Adjusting the mirror’s angle back and forth, he managed to see his own face in the mirror through the double reflection.
Burnt Player didn’t close his eyes. The old-fashioned small mirror had a design resembling an eye’s pupil, slightly pressed downward, like eyes that couldn’t shut.
“I can see you.” His voice lacked strength, unsure if it was just his feeling, but after saying those words, the gap between him and the red candle seemed to narrow a bit.
One eye stared at the mirror’s world, while the other eye focused on the red candle right ahead.
Whether inside or outside the mirror, just as Burnt Player’s full attention was fixed on the candle, a sharp “snap” was heard. Surprisingly, the red candle beneath his eyelids ignited on its own. The vigorous flame melted the upper layer of wax, emitting a foul smell worse than a corpse, causing many to hold their breath.
Burnt Player didn’t need to consciously control anything. The moment the candle started burning, he had even forgotten to breathe.
He had heard the story Qian Laiye told earlier—that lighting the candle was granting life to the dying. As the orange-yellow flame burned brightly, its light revealed the reflection of his own face in the mirror. The paleness of his complexion was clear.
At the same time, without warning, another virtual face squeezed into the mirror he held in his hand. Burnt Player’s hand trembled, nearly throwing the mirror away.
The proprietor gently reminded, “Don’t forget, you still have one more sentence to say.”
Realizing he had only said the first half, Burnt Player forced himself to focus. His lips quivered, and his hand gripping the mirror’s handle was sweating profusely. “Co-come…”
“Don’t say it.”
Suddenly, a voice came from the side. Wen Shi calmly directed, “Step back.”
Reflexively, Burnt Player took two steps back, visibly increasing the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
“Keep moving back.”
Maybe because Wen Shi had always appeared as a savior, Burnt Player, after hearing his words, involuntarily took a few more steps back. This time, his back was almost flush against the icy mirror.
The unfamiliar face in the mirror grew larger in his hand, almost overlapping with his own face.
“Don’t stop,” Wen Shi patiently reminded him, but a faint smile lingered at the corners of his lips.
The exposed eye of Burnt Player keenly caught the subtle expression on Wen Shi’s face. He abruptly stopped, as if jolted awake.
He did it on purpose, he’s deceiving me!
While he only remembered Pei Wenwei as a savior, he forgot that he was also someone who held grudges. This thought swelled, and Burnt Player became more certain that something terrifying would occur once the face in the mirror matched his own.
Qian Laiye at the back shook his head at the sight. “His rhythm got disrupted.”
Initially, the other side was focused on deciphering the game rules, but now it had narrowed down to whether Pei Wenwei was trying to harm him.
After confirming Wen Shi’s ill intentions, Burnt Player disregarded his warning and resumed moving forward. He increased the distance between himself and the mirror behind him. The red candle burned more intensely, and the sensation of life slipping away urged him to terminate this game urgently.
Back in his original position, following the game rule the proprietor mentioned earlier, Burnt Player spoke those three words: “Come out now.”
It seemed unlikely that the proprietor was lying. He had heard players who had come out of the Dangerous Room discuss the events that took place inside. Those people had entered and played the name-calling game as instructed by the proprietor.
The three words were spoken with light emphasis, and in the instant the words fell, the red candle extinguished.
“Good.”
Burnt Player let out a sigh of relief, narrowly escaping falling for the cunning ploy of the person standing nearby. His heartbeat gradually returned to normal, but when his eyes glanced over the mirror, he froze. With a horrifying realization, he saw that the red candle in the mirror was still burning, even more vigorously than before.
His steps moved forward uncontrollably, and like a puppet on strings, Burnt Player raised both arms and embraced the red candlestick. The hot wax that had dripped earlier during the candle’s burning scalded his skin, and this highly viscous wax stuck to him like industrial glue, rendering him completely stuck.
The skeletal remains that held the candle melted away. His belly felt as if it had been pierced by the burning wax. The red candle seemed like a monstrous entity, devouring his insides.
“He…”
His hoarse voice was on the brink of melting away. He strained to widen his eyes, from this angle he could only vaguely see the outlines of Wen Shi and the wormplayers.
“Help me.” Like grinding teeth, Burnt Player used his last ounce of strength to plead for help from Wen Shi.
Wen Shi’s eyes sparkled with a pleased smile, yet he sighed with a touch of regret, “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
He shrugged. “…In a death game like this, once you commit to a path, turning back midway means either you die or someone else dies.”
The tone laced with sarcasm instinctively sent shivers through those who witnessed the player’s guts being melted and spilled out.
Among those affected, Song Yan, who stood beside Wen Shi, felt as if the statement held a hidden meaning, a warning not to turn back.
Wen Shi didn’t need to pay special attention to notice the complex expression on Song Yan’s face at that moment. He simply smiled.
Admiration and gratitude alone were insufficient. These emotions were too intangible. Adding a hint of fear was necessary to build a barrier against betrayal.
Burnt Player used as an example exhausted his last bit of life amid the inhumane roasting.
The final emotion revealed in his eyes wasn’t fear, but rather hatred.
“I… will…”
Those lifeless eyes stared directly at Wen Shi, as if trying to slice him apart with that gaze.
“Are you cursing me to hell?” Wen Shi looked at the lifeless figure beside him, a touch of regret for him. “Then you might have to wait in line for quite a while.”
The proprietor blew out the candle in his hand, instantly plunging the House of Mirrors into pitch darkness. No one dared to move, and when the proprietor relit the long, slender candle, Burnt Player holding the red candle had been reduced to a mere skeleton.
He took out a sterilized empty bottle, storing the earworms and small glowing bugs that had appeared out of nowhere and were flying towards them, along with two other kinds of oddly shaped worms.
“A bountiful harvest!” The proprietor was extremely satisfied.
Qian Laiye cursed. “Even after death, they can still harvest organs.”
Most people shared the same thought.
Except for Wen Shi.
He had heard from Yu Xingzhou before that patients applying to the Crimson Sunset Cosmetic Surgery Clinic needed to provide a body within forty-eight hours.
Previously, keeping Burnt Player alive was meant for admission ticket. However, after Song Yan froze the body of the tour guide’s shadow this morning, the sole value of that life diminished significantly.
With one person dead in the group of four, Wen Shi and the others rejoined the larger group.
Burnt Player’s death held valuable lessons for the rest. At the very least, it proved that Wen Shi’s initial warning was likely accurate—never say that phrase, “Come out now.”
Song Yan hesitated by Wen Shi’s side, aware of his unspoken question. Wen Shi patiently explained, “During ‘Mirror Person,’ the game emphasized the safety of the Absolute Safe Room once again, but it didn’t do so just now.”
Throughout, it was solely the proprietor explaining how the game should be played.
Furthermore, the risk of the name-calling game lay with companions. This time was different, speaking it aloud to potentially existing spirits, wasn’t that seeking death?
“From the proprietor’s perspective, it can also be a good argument. He didn’t clear the room, which shows he’s confident players won’t cheat.”
Song Yan continued, “The true game field isn’t outside the mirrors, but inside them.”
“Exactly, if you die at this stage, your soul might be trapped forever, and the mirror gains another scapegoat.”
Considering this, it was obviously better to start as early as possible.
As for what might be encountered within the mirrors, Wen Shi wasn’t a sage, he couldn’t possibly know.
While analyzing, he didn’t intentionally lower his voice, making it easier for those around him to hear.
From Wen Shi’s selfless sharing, Song Yan gleaned something else. Since the beginning of the game, everyone’s impression of Wen Shi had been as a savior, even Burnt Player couldn’t deny that.
Under this psychological suggestion, anyone with even a hint of malicious intent, guided through game analysis, could result in a total wipeout.
While seemingly lamenting Burnt Player’s plight, Wen Shi gazed at the fresh bones with shreds of flesh clinging to the outer side of the red candle. “Being a good person is a must.”
Suppressing his fear, Song Yan nodded, learning his lesson.
If others don’t harm me, I won’t harm them. But if they harm me, I’ll use my usual friendly facade to lead them to their own hell.
On the other side, Xiao Hua asked Yu Xingzhou, “Boss, should we go too?”
In case there were too many foolish people ahead, it would be troublesome to be delayed at the back.
Yu Xingzhou nodded. Passing by Wen Shi, he happened to hear Wen Shi’s guidance to Song Yan. Under his mask, his brows slightly furrowed. He really wished his assumption about the true spirit’s incarnation was wrong. If it were true, compared to an immortal manifestation, Pei Wenwei’s hands-on teaching method was even more terrifying.
It was hard to imagine what this manifestation would become once trained.
Learning from past experiences, Yu Xingzhou and the others refrained from speaking the ominous phrase “come out now.” When they completely merged with the mirrors, the mirror surfaces turned into a soft, gel-like membrane, causing the four individuals to be pulled in, one after another.
The spacious mirror lost its luster, even the candlelight in the proprietor’s hand couldn’t cast much illumination. Each person’s disappearance left a black palm print, as if they were dragged in by ghostly claws.
This sight sent shivers through those watching. Wen Shi casually said, “See? It’s a closed-book exam.”
“……”
Is that the main point?
Wen Shi wasn’t particularly concerned about the safety of Yu Xingzhou and the others. The guild leader had survival methods beyond the imagination of ordinary folks like him. Not to mention anything else, just the scapegoat item alone was something he couldn’t come close to.
Right now, he was more curious about the main quest that would be activated later.
“Hopefully, it won’t involve making choices again.”
Wen Shi muttered to himself. Ever since entering this game, he had been making non-stop choices. Human nature was exactly what couldn’t withstand tests.
The group that went in before hadn’t come out for ten minutes. The discussions gradually grew quieter, and even breathing sounds filled the entire space once more.
With a turn of the head, it turned out Wen Shi was preparing to conserve energy for the main quest ahead, as he cuddled with the teddy bear and fell asleep again.
Smooth mirror surfaces surrounded him, truly creating a fairytale ambiance. It was as if he was lying on crystal.
A steel pipe served perfectly as the role of a mood spoiler.
“Get up,” the teenager said coldly.
Opening his eyes unwillingly, the teenager tossed something over. “Take your medicine.”
The medicine case had been entrusted to the teenager by Wen Shi after breakfast, explaining that the backpack couldn’t accommodate such ordinary items and keeping it in the pocket would cause discomfort for him.
The teenager had even mocked him then, calling him “Pea Princess.”
Wen Shi, like the game, rarely did anything superfluous. He intentionally spent money on this seemingly unnecessary act to strengthen their connection. “I’m willing to take medicine you handed me, I trust you.”
With more interactions like this, the teenager would be more careful when doing things in the future. This was the approach Wen Shi’s father used during his youth—always giving love and trust.
Without water, Wen Shi forced down the pill and rested for a moment with the teddy bear in his arms. Soon, a voice came from up ahead.
A portion of the mirror regained its brightness, and Yu Xingzhou walked out from it.
“Where are the others?” Wen Shi asked.
“Not sure, once inside, it’s a separate space,” Yu Xingzhou shared his speculation. “It’s heavy with Yin energy in there, likely numerous ghosts. I encountered two when I entered, and one of them…”
He glanced towards the direction of the red candle.
There was no doubt he was referring to Burnt Player.
Song Yan asked Wen Shi, “Are the ghosts that the players transform into real or just generated game data? Will they persist indefinitely?”
This question was beyond Wen Shi’s ability to answer.
Inside the mirror, Yu Xingzhou completed a rock-paper-scissors task with his mirror self, guessing when to win to be able to leave. Each loss resulted in the red candle burning for three minutes.
Hearing about this game, Wen Shi found it absurd.
“How did you manage to win against it?”
Yu Xingzhou: “By having a hand speed faster than the speed of light.”
“……”
“Just kidding,” Yu Xingzhou said casually. “Before the player dies, the fire outside goes out, but the candle in the mirror continues to burn. This indicates that the candle exists independently inside the mirror.”
Wen Shi raised an eyebrow. “So the key isn’t in guessing the hand but in extinguishing the candle inside the mirror?”
Yu Xingzhou nodded.
In reality, this game was child’s play for someone with time-related skills like him.
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