Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Mirror World 8

Although Alvia dealt with the five imposters easily, even if they turned into shards, they could re-coalesce and revive, which was quite troublesome. It was impossible to defeat them completely.

Alvia took Zhou Zhou with him and ran to the place where the driver had gotten out of the car to catch the sheep. He asked Zhou Zhou to look for clues around there while he held those people back.

The two worked together. Zhou Zhou carefully searched the area, but found nothing after a long time.

There were no traces of a car passing by on the mountain road, nor any teeth marks from sheep walking or grazing. It was as if an invisible hand had wiped everything away, leaving no trace at all.

“How was it?” Alvia came over. Behind him was a mess of shards. It took those people two minutes to recover from the shards to their original state, so Alvia was not in a hurry.

“Nothing.”

“Alright, let’s go to the next place.” Alvia said as he walked forward, and Zhou held his hand tightly.

The people behind gradually recovered their original forms, and Zhou Zhou and Alvia ran ahead on the mountain road.

If those behind caught up, Alvia would deal with them.

Soon, they reached the place where they had fallen off the cliff before.

This was a very sharp bend. Last time, instead of turning, the driver had accelerated straight ahead. There were no guardrails on the mountain road here, and there was no time for any protective measures.

Zhou Zhou continued searching for clues while Alvia stopped the people behind.

Zhou Zhou found nothing. All traces were wiped out, or perhaps they never existed in the first place.

After turning the people behind into shards again, Alvia calmly walked over.

“Still nothing?” Zhou Zhou looked up from his crouched position at the cliff’s edge.

Alvia nodded. He had guessed this would be the result, as he had taken a look earlier and found nothing as well.

However, seeing the five imposter players staggering up again behind them, and this time they revived half a minute faster with increasingly urgent movements towards them, Alvia was certain there was something wrong with this place.

The five players behind were getting closer, their steps quickening.

Actually, there was one more place they hadn’t checked. Alvia looked down the cliff. Since they couldn’t find any clues on this mountain, maybe if they fell down from the same place again, they would discover something new?

Zhou Zhou seemed to read Alvia’s gaze and also peered down.

Looking at the nearly vertical cliff below, he shrank back and stood up, saying with a hint of resignation, “Do we really have no choice but to die together?”

Alvia: “……”

The five players were just a few steps away from them. Alvia didn’t have time to care about Zhou Zhou’s nonsensical words. He picked Zhou up and jumped straight down.

This must be the place, as the imposters’ outstretched hands behind weren’t trying to push them down, but rather to pull them back.

These NPC’s goal was to eliminate them, so how could they be kind enough to try to save them?

The imposter players were just a step too late, as these two had jumped off the cliff without any hesitation.

The five imposters watched helplessly as the two disappeared into the air, their bodies gradually dissolving into small particles starting from their hands, and eventually scattered by the wind, leaving nothing behind.

The two who jumped off the cliff passed out again. When Zhou Zhou woke up, he found himself lying on the grass, in the same scene as when he had woken up after the car accident before, with the same person beside him.

Alvia was half-kneeling beside him. Seeing Zhou Zhou awake, he showed no extra expression. “Awake?”

It was indeed the familiar Al. Zhou Zhou sat up and smiled at him, “Al!”

Seeing his delighted look, Alvia asked, “Not afraid I’m a fake?”

Zhou Zhou pointed at his hand, where Alvia was still holding the few little wildflowers he had given him. Even after fighting those imposter players for a long time, these delicate little flowers were unharmed.

“Notice anything different from before?” Alvia asked, clutching the flowers in one hand.

Different? Zhou Zhou looked around, bewildered. The scenery seemed exactly the same. As for the difference… it was the sound!

Zhou Zhou realized it. The mountain they had woken up on last time was far too silent. This place, although quiet, had the occasional sounds of insects or birds in the distance, a very different feeling from complete stillness and silence.

Seeing that Zhou Zhou had noticed, Alvia looked up at the mountain. His guess was right, when they had fallen off the cliff, they hadn’t landed directly at the bottom, but entered another world, a mirror world. If they couldn’t find the exit, they might wander in these mountains forever.

“So if we go down the mountain now, can’t we just walk back to Xuan Le Street and complete the mission?” Zhou Zhou’s eyes lit up. After all, in previous instances, the exits and entrances were generally similar. They had entered from Xuan Le Street, so if they left now, wouldn’t they clear it?

Alvia: “It probably won’t be that simple, but we can try.”

Zhou Zhou knew it wouldn’t be so easy. If this was where their accident had occurred, the clue to the exit was most likely still with the driver.

The two decided to try both methods. They went to the accident site first and did find traces of the vehicle’s movement, but there was no sign of the car or the driver anywhere nearby.

Since they couldn’t find any clues here, they could only try their luck at the foot of the mountain.

However, when they reached the foot of the mountain, they found they couldn’t leave. They could see the scenery further away, but at the base of the mountain, they kept going in circles, unable to exit the area around this mountain no matter which direction they went.

“What do we do now?” Zhou Zhou had circled around several times. He seemed to find this “hitting the wall” approach quite amusing. They could clearly see the paths not far away, just a few steps across, but no matter which way they went, they couldn’t reach them, as if they were just walking in place.

Alvia had stopped walking, watching Zhou Zhou amusing himself by circling around. “Let’s look for clues in the mountain instead. Didn’t you want to know what happened to that mirror person who rolled down from the top?” They might be here.”

Ah yes! The mirror person who had rolled down the slope because he let go, they might be here. Zhou Zhou stopped circling and quickly called for Alvia to go to where he had found the mirror.

Zhou Zhou was eager to see what had happened to that mirror person. But when they reached the spot, they found six full-length mirrors, all identical and reflecting their images, just like the one Zhou Zhou had shattered before. Unlike that broken one which didn’t reflect Zhou Zhou at all.

There was no sign of the mirror person down the slope though. It had been a night already, and Alvia thought those mirror people might be in other mirror worlds.

However, Zhou Zhou was certain, as the spot covered by grass and wood was indeed missing a part, exactly as he had seen in the mirror last night.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou reached out and tapped the nearest mirror. Ripples appeared on its surface, and Zhou continued tapping with his fingers.

Alvia stood beside Zhou Zhou, observing the mirrors.

The ripples grew larger, from slight undulations to constant surges. Finally, Zhou Zhou felt like he had pierced through something, his whole hand going into the mirror.

“Al, Al, we can go in now, let’s hurry.” Zhou Zhou had wanted to enter before but kept missing the chance. Now that he finally had the opportunity, he couldn’t miss it. He called out to Alvia while walking into the mirror.

After passing through a film-like layer, he found himself in a dark passage, and the mirror behind him gradually shrank and disappeared.

Zhou Zhou realized Al didn’t come in.

Al had been right behind him. After Zhou Zhou’s upper body entered the mirror, he clearly felt Al holding his other hand, about to follow him in. But after entering, Al was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Zhou stared at where the mirror had vanished for a long while, but there was no movement, no mirror, no Al.

Had Al not made it in time? Or had he been transported elsewhere after entering?

With this thought, Zhou Zhou could only continue down the right side of the passage.

This dark passage was filled with mirrors, full wall-length mirrors, palm-sized ones in corners, all shapes and sizes. Passing by each mirror reflected his figure. Zhou Zhou walked on, observing the mirrors on both sides.

Light gradually became visible ahead. Zhou Zhou continued forward and emerged from the passage into a very familiar scenery.

He was still on the mountain, right at the foot where he had been circling before.

Except this should be the mirror world.

Because Zhou Zhou saw a very flat area at the foot of the mountain with a few chairs and a barbecue grill.

Several identical drivers were sitting there, chatting and eating barbecue, having a picnic in this scenic setting.

The passage had two directions, but Zhou Zhou unhesitatingly chose the right without a second thought, having smelled the barbecue aroma.

The six identical drivers hadn’t finished their meat skewers when Zhou Zhou emerged from the passage, staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

One driver who had been lounging leisurely on a chair was so shocked to see Zhou Zhou that he tumbled off sideways. “Holy shit!”

He scrambled up from the ground, pointing at Zhou Zhou with a trembling finger. “How are you here!”

Zhou Zhou looked at the six drivers. Not only were their clothes identical, even their shocked expressions were very similar. He couldn’t tell them apart, but the one pointing at him seemed to be reacting the most strongly. Maybe he was the driver who had picked them up on Xuan Le Street? Though after observing closely, it didn’t seem to be him either.

“I came in through the mirror.”

The other drivers looked complicated. It was just the second day, and a player had reached here already, that was clearing it way too fast.

“Alright, since you’ve made it here, you just need to pass the final level to successfully clear it,” one of the drivers said with a wave of his hand.

Zhou Zhou turned to look back, then faced the drivers again. “Actually, I came in here to apologize. Last night, I accidentally made a mirror person fall down, and I also shattered that mirror. I don’t know what happened to him.”

The other five drivers simultaneously looked at their companion who had fallen off the chair. No wonder he had come back limping last night and refused to say what happened when asked, he had been wrecked by the player.

The driver flushed with anger. “…No need to look, I’m not dead yet.”

Zhou Zhou stared at his face in astonishment. Could this be the mirror person from last night? But the appearance, physique, voice, everything was completely different from himself.

Seeing his disbelief, the driver stepped closer and transformed into Zhou Zhou’s appearance right in front of him, then said irritatedly, “Believe it now?”

It was Zhou Zhou’s delicate, obedient face, but the driver now looked like a delinquent version, with a hint of roguishness like a mischievous bad boy in his youth.

Zhou Zhou nodded. “I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to let go, I just thought you didn’t want to come out.”

The other shrugged. “It’s fine, not a big deal. I forgive you.” Then he changed back to his driver form.

“Since you’ve found this place on the second day, go ahead and take the final level now,” another driver kindly reminded.

Zhou Zhou glanced back at the passage behind, biting his lip with a troubled look.

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Zhou: “My companion should have come in too, but he’s not with me.”

“What happened?”

Zhou Zhou told the drivers about the earlier events, how he had felt Al enter with him, but then only he was alone.

After hearing this, the drivers’ expressions didn’t change much, as if it was normal. “Don’t wait for him, someone like that will probably get eliminated soon. After you clear it, go find him at the resurrection point.”