Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Mirror World 4

“Teacher! Teacher!” Zhou Zhou crouched there, shouting to “Alvia” several times, hoping the other party would respond, but the shattered “Alvia” showed no movement at all.

He tried hard to put the other party back together, but the broken mirror shards could not be pieced together. After finally piecing together one foot, the wind blew it apart again, and he could only look at the scattered pieces on the ground and blink innocently.

“Teacher…you haven’t taught me yet.” Zhou Zhou called out, but unfortunately the pieces on the ground wouldn’t respond to him. In the end, Zhou Zhou could only dig a hole and bury these pieces.

Looking at the small mound of soil on the ground, he scratched his cheek, walked around the mound several times, then left with hesitation.

Not knowing which direction to go, Zhou Zhou observed the surroundings and finally found that he was very close to that mountain path, so he walked from the grass towards the direction of the mountain path.

There was no one along the way, nor did he see any vehicles passing by. Zhou Zhou stood on the mountain path for a while, then headed towards the mountain top. If there had been no accident, their final destination would probably be the mountain top too.

Walking alone on the path for a long time, Zhou Zhou kept recalling what he had done to make the teacher shatter. It seemed he had asked for his name. Could he not ask? Why would asking a name make him shatter? Unfortunately, there was no one to answer him at this time.

Looking at the remaining half of the mountain top, Zhou Zhou slowly walked along the mountain path. Although he had items that could take him directly to the top, there was no time limit for clearing the instance, so it didn’t matter if he went up slowly. Along the way, he could also look for where Alvia had gone.

Zhou Zhou walked slowly towards the mountain top along the path, stopping from time to time to look around for people, and casually picking a few wildflowers to hold in his hand. His relaxed manner made him look more like he was out for a spring outing.

After identifying the imposter, Alvia also rushed from the foot of the mountain towards the top. Though the two were walking from different starting points and directions, their goal was now the same.

The sky grew darker, but they both had night vision abilities, so they could move easily. For others, however, it would not be so simple.

Ah Yu had already noticed something was wrong with Xiao Zhi when he woke up. The Xiao Zhi he saw had a completely different personality from the original host. He didn’t know who this person was, so he could only play along while looking for a chance to escape.

The mountain path was too obvious, so he had to choose those remote and overgrown paths. But in this silent mountain wilderness, apart from his own breathing and footsteps, there was another sound like worms gnawing at bones that pursued him no matter which direction he ran.

“Ah Yu, Ah Yu wait for me.” A calm female voice sounded from behind, the voice suggesting she was less than a meter away.

Ah Yu’s back turned cold, and he ran even faster, but the person behind kept calling his name, without any signs of breathlessness from running or sounds of stepping on grass and undergrowth. It was as if she was stuck to his back.

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. Ah Yu didn’t dare look back, afraid of seeing something his mind couldn’t accept.

What should he do to get rid of the person behind him?

Ah Yu pondered, then suddenly noticed there was a grove of trees up ahead on the slope. Without further thought, he immediately ran towards the grove.

Due to the dense trees in the grove obstructing vision, he managed to shake off the person behind him this time.

Xiao Zhi lost sight of Ah Yu and stopped walking, calling out worriedly towards the dense grove: “Ah Yu, where are you? I can’t find you. I’m a little scared, come out quickly.”

Whether in voice, appearance, or the timely expression of worry, everything was exactly like Xiao Zhi.

Hiding behind a tree, Ah Yu’s chest heaved violently. He covered his mouth with one hand to muffle his panting, and held a dried up fallen branch as thick as his arm in the other hand.

Xiao Zhi was still searching for Ah Yu in the grove, slowly walking forward while looking around, constantly calling out Ah Yu’s name and expressing her fear.

Ah Yu heard her voice slowly approaching from not far away, listening to the sound of her stepping on dead branches, constantly judging her position.

As her voice was about to reach him, he slowly circled around and appeared behind Xiao Zhi, unhesitatingly swinging the wooden branch at the back of her head.

“Crack!”

When the sturdy branch struck the back of her ponytailed head, her skull instantly shattered, tiny mirror shards constantly falling from the back of her head. But there was nothing inside her brain, only Ah Yu’s twisted, horrified face reflected off the inner surface close to the skin.

Along with the shattering sound, Xiao Zhi slowly turned her head, finally finding Ah Yu, her worried expression instantly turning to delight: “Ah Yu, where did you go? I’ve been looking for you.”

Ah Yu still gripped the branch, but his legs were trembling. What was this thing?

Xiao Zhi seemed completely oblivious to the abnormality at the back of her head. Seeing Ah Yu’s terrified expression, she walked towards him in confusion: “Ah Yu, what’s wrong with you?”

The usually calm and indifferent person tightly gripped the branch and shouted loudly at her: “Don’t come any closer!”

Xiao Zhi was startled by the shout, immediately stopping in her tracks and blinking slowly in confusion before asking slowly: “What’s wrong with you?”

Seeing that he only trembled without responding, Xiao Zhi thought for a moment, then walked a few steps towards him with concern.

“Ahhhhh~”

Seeing that unknown thing approaching, Ah Yu tightly gripped the branch and swung it down at her head again.

“Crack!”

Shards flew everywhere as Xiao Zhi’s head was shattered halfway.

She slowly felt the remaining half of her face and head, looking at Ah Yu with her one remaining eye, her expression slightly puzzled: “Ah Yu, why did you hit me?”

She still wasn’t dead!

Ah Yu trembled again, raising the branch, his eyes bloodshot as he gritted his teeth and swung the branch fiercely at her.

One swing, two swings… As the mirror shards scattered everywhere, he could finally no longer see that terrifying face.

Having lost her head, Xiao Zhi still felt around with her hands, as if trying to find Ah Yu’s location. Ah Yu then shattered her two hands, leaving only her feet. The remaining legless Xiao Zhi stumbled a few steps before Ah Yu, who had caught up, shattered her entire body.

By this point, Ah Yu was drenched in sweat. He stepped back several steps, away from the range of the shards, and collapsed sitting on the ground, dropping the branch from his hand.

With his hands on his knees, Ah Yu panted with a pallid expression. The constant tension had finally allowed him a brief respite.

Gazing at the scattered pieces on the ground, still reflecting fragments of golden light through the trees, Ah Yu muttered to himself: “What was that thing?”

Why would it pretend to be Xiao Zhi, what was the purpose?

After resting for a while, Ah Yu got up and looked around. He had to go find the others.

Just as he turned and took two steps, Xiao Zhi’s voice came from behind again: “Ah Yu, where are you going?”

The slightly naive and confused question made Ah Yu’s scalp prickle, his mind went blank, and his heart felt like it was being tightly gripped, his breathing almost stopping.

With some unknown thought, he slowly, hesitantly turned his head to look back. The Xiao Zhi who had just been shattered pieces on the ground was now standing intact behind him, smiling and tilting her head to look at him.

“Thump!”

His heart jumped violently, all the color draining from Ah Yu’s face. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask what she intended to do, but it felt like something was stuck in his throat, unable to get a single word out.

Xiao Zhi slowly walked towards him, her high ponytail swaying in the breeze, the dappled sunlight falling on her body with a faint golden glow, as if this person was reflecting light.

“Ahhhhhh~”

Ah Yu finally let out a scream, his expression twisted as he fled in terror. His mind was now completely blank, no longer concerned about anything else.

“Ah Yu, wait for me.” Xiao Zhi called out urgently from behind as she gave chase.

Until nightfall, their game of chase had not ended. Ah Yu was almost too exhausted to run, but driven by sheer terror, he kept going without stopping.

Holding an illumination tool, he ran through the mountains in long strides. He didn’t know where he was or which direction to run. The bizarre creature behind seemed to be toying with him, maintaining a neither too close nor too far distance, occasionally calling out his name to let him know it was right there.

“Let me out, I don’t want to play anymore, I want to quit this instance!” Ah Yu shouted loudly.

In the vast, pitch-black mountains, apart from his own echo, there was no response.

“Ah Yu, wait for me.” Xiao Zhi started calling out to him again.

“Please, stop chasing me, I won’t do the mission anymore!” The afternoon’s chase had drained all his strength and courage, his entire being on the verge of collapse.

Ah Yu kept frantically running forward until he finally stopped somewhere, this time because the person behind seemed to have not made a sound for quite some time.

He looked back in terror, but found nothing behind him, Xiao Zhi was gone.

Had he finally shaken her off? Or had she lost interest in him?

Either way, as long as she didn’t chase him anymore, it was fine.

Ah Yu remained vigilant, shrinking his neck in cowardly terror as he constantly swept his illumination tool around, afraid Xiao Zhi would appear again from somewhere.

But when he looked at a certain spot, he noticed a white speck of light there. His mind nearly shattered, mistaking it for another bizarre thing, he dropped the illumination tool, hugged his head, and screamed as he curled up on the ground.

“Don’t chase me anymore!”

But this time, he waited a very long time, waiting for the other party to come and eliminate him. He could no longer bear it, but nothing came.

Ah Yu’s breathing trembled, his entire being in tatters. He tentatively picked up the illumination tool from the ground and slowly swept it towards the spot where he had seen the light, once again spotting the speck.

His whole body shuddered, but this time he resisted dropping the illumination tool. With trembling legs, he stood up warily and looked over there.

It didn’t seem to be… Xiao Zhi. Although still terrified, he slowly walked forward, his trembling hands almost unable to hold the illumination tool, his feet shaking like a sieve. But just before he couldn’t resist the urge to turn and flee, he finally realized it was a mirror.

A full-length mirror as tall as a person, just left out in the wilderness. The earlier light had been the reflection of his own lamp.

Recalling the instance’s name, Ah Yu suddenly had a guess, could this mirror be related to the exit for clearing the instance? If he could find the exit, he wouldn’t have to stay in this spooky place anymore.

The desire to clear and leave reignited his last bit of courage. He slowly approached the mirror, his gaze shifting around in search of the exit.

The him in the mirror also shifted his gaze around in search.

There was nothing around. Ah Yu’s line of sight finally turned back to this mirror. The him in the mirror had messy hair, a flushed complexion from the extended running, and disheveled clothes, his light-colored pants stained with green grass juices. His whole appearance was completely different from his usual aloof, elite look.

Instinctively, he glanced down to straighten his clothes, but as he lowered his head, the him in the mirror didn’t. Instead, it kept examining itself, or rather, examining him.

There was no helping his clothes now, forget it, he’d worry about it after getting out. Ah Yu slightly frowned as he raised his head, but the moment his gaze met the mirror, his pupils shrank violently.

Why… was him in the mirror smiling?

The corners of its mouth seemed fixed in an arc, at first glance making the originally decent-looking him appear friendly and kind. But the longer one looked, the more stiff the smile seemed.

He wasn’t smiling, though.

Cold sweat instantly seeped from his back and forehead, even his previously flushed face from running turned deathly pale in an instant.

Yet the “him” in the mirror remained ruddy, even using the illumination tool to shine on his face, as if admiring his terrified expression.

“Ah Yu, I’ve been looking for you for so long.” Xiao Zhi suddenly appeared behind him, wearing the same arced smile as the “him” in the mirror.

The person behind drew closer, the one in front still smiling.

The bizarre scene made him want to immediately flee.

But he couldn’t move. His mind was screaming at him to run, but his feet wouldn’t budge, as if rooted to the ground, his whole body so limp he couldn’t even take a single step.

The “Ah Yu” in the mirror looked him up and down, then suddenly thrust a hand out from the mirror, pulling the Ah Yu in front into the mirror.

Ripples spread across the flat mirror surface before calming, and Xiao Zhi once again vanished from the spot…

Ah Yu had been eliminated.

Zhou Zhou, walking along the mountain path, suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction. He thought he had heard someone speaking, saying something about not chasing them anymore.

Was there someone there? A player?

Zhou Zhou gazed in that direction blinking, but still decided to go take a look.