Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Mirror World 11

Zhou Zhou didn’t think too much about it and pulled Little Al to turn and run. He didn’t know the way, he only turned at every intersection he saw, until he eventually lost track of where they were.

Little Al obediently let himself be led by Zhou Zhou, following him as they ran together. His aquamarine eyes regained their calm, occasionally glancing up at Zhou Zhou, but not saying a word the entire way.

Before they knew it, they had run quite far. Zhou Zhou looked back at the empty path behind them and finally stopped. He didn’t know who that man from before was, but for him to speak to a child like that, there was no need to judge, he was definitely a bad person. So even if Zhou Zhou had hit him, he didn’t feel there was anything wrong with that.

Little Al was still being held by Zhou Zhou, his expression calm and unlike that of a child.

Zhou Zhou crouched down: “Al, do you still remember me?”

Little Al was dressed in pure white clothes, the baggy cotton fabric making the small child look even more slender. He looked at Zhou Zhou without speaking, his eyes revealing the coldness when meeting a stranger.

It seems he really doesn’t remember. Zhou Zhou examined Little Al, the Al he saw in the pure white space seemed taller, could it be that he was seeing Al at different ages? But then why were they both wearing white clothes?

“Are you…sick?” Zhou Zhou asked hesitantly, since only patients would wear clothes like that.

Originally thinking that the Al who didn’t recognize him would ignore his question, he unexpectedly opened his mouth to speak: “No.”

“Then you…”

“I’m not sick.”

Zhou Zhou wanted to continue asking, but was interrupted by the other party. Little Al stared at Zhou Zhou with a cold expression and said he wasn’t sick, as if he didn’t want him to keep asking.

“Al, the world you’re in now is just an illusion, come out with me.” Zhou Zhou didn’t forget his ultimate goal, he had come to take Al out.

Little Al stared at Zhou Zhou’s outstretched hand. Zhou Zhou’s palm was clean and fair, without even a callus, looking like it didn’t have much strength and hadn’t gone through any training. So how did he get in here? And why did he want to save him? What was his purpose? Was it for his spiritual power too?

Zhou Zhou didn’t know what Little Al, who seemed to be in a daze, was thinking. He just kept waiting with his hand outstretched.

Little Al slowly stretched out his hand. On the back of his tiny hand were scattered purple-blue needle marks, made even more striking against his exceptionally fair skin elsewhere, making those marks look horrifically unsightly.

Zhou Zhou frowned, just about to ask what had happened, when he saw the hand with the purple-blue marks raise up high and strike down onto his palm.

“I don’t believe you, you’re a liar!”

Then, before Zhou Zhou’s shocked gaze, Little Al darted into the bushes and disappeared.

He was extremely familiar with this place. Even though Zhou Zhou reacted quickly to give chase, he was still shaken off through the twists and turns.

Zhou Zhou stood in the deserted garden, looking around unable to find any trace of Little Al, his face filled with bewilderment and confusion. He looked at his palm, the delicate skin now slightly reddened. Little Al hadn’t actually hit that hard, but why did he say Zhou Zhou was a liar?

Zhou Zhou continued wandering aimlessly through the garden searching. Soon, he saw the mirror that had followed Little Al appear in the garden as well. Since the mirror had appeared here, could it be that Little Al had gone into the mirror again?

With this thought, Zhou Zhou immediately entered the mirror. After going through, the scene changed to a luxurious room, with Zhou Zhou standing at the entrance. Just then, a person dressed in white clothing was walking straight towards him.

Zhou Zhou instinctively made way, but the other person passed straight through him as if he were just a layer of air, not even seeming to notice him at all.

Curiously looking down at his own body and then back at the person in white who had passed through him, Zhou Zhou still could not make out their face clearly.

Lost in thought for a moment before snapping out of it, Zhou Zhou noticed there were several other blurred figures in white clothing in the room, moving busily in and out.

This scene also overlapped with what he had previously seen in the mirror.

Zhou Zhou headed straight for the innermost part of the room. The decor was extremely luxurious, especially a large bed that could probably fit five adults lying side by side, which only made the small figure on the bed look even more tiny in contrast.

Little Al was sitting on the bed, his large eyes opened wide and filled with obvious curiosity as he stared at Zhou Zhou.

He had become smaller again, now appearing around four or five years old. He seemed somewhat malnourished, with barely any baby fat on his cheeks. Those blue eyes looked to take up nearly a third of his whole face.

Little Al sat on the edge of the bed, with various machines Zhou Zhou didn’t recognize placed beside him. Then a blurred white-clothed figure drew blood from Little Al’s slender arm, constantly adjusting the machines before finally placing a helmet-like device on his head.

When the lights on the machine lit up, the previously curious look on Little Al’s face turned to one of pain. His fingers tightly gripped the sheets, but he didn’t utter a word, silently enduring it all as if he were already used to this treatment.

Zhou Zhou didn’t know what they were doing. Was Al sick? But the previous Al had said he wasn’t sick.

Taking a few steps forward to the bedside, Zhou Zhou anxiously paced back and forth, wanting to remove the thing causing Little Al pain but afraid he might make it worse through improper operation.

The whole process only lasted a few minutes, but to Zhou Zhou it felt unbearably long. As soon as the helmet was removed, he hurried over.

“Are you in pain? What was that thing?” Zhou Zhou’s concern was evident.

The sweat on Little Al’s forehead dampened his hair. His large eyes looked at Zhou Zhou, realizing that those people in white clothes seemed unable to see Zhou Zhou. Little Al suddenly grabbed Zhou Zhou’s hand.

His hand was ice-cold, without any warmth: “Save me.”

Zhou Zhou nodded without saying a word, immediately standing up to carry the four or five-year-old Little Al, then running out.

Although those blurred people couldn’t see Zhou Zhou, they could still see that Al had run away, chasing after them relentlessly.

Little Al clung tightly to Zhou Zhou’s neck, watching as he just kept running and running, until he had finally shaken off those pursuers before stopping.

The Little Al in his arms was extremely light. Despite being a four or five-year-old boy, Zhou Zhou could easily carry him with just one arm.

Having stayed in this illusion for so long, Zhou Zhou guessed that these might be events Al had experienced as a child. Because they were too painful, he was unable to let go. Although the grown-up Al seemed reliable and steady, he had never forgotten the experiences from his childhood.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hand you over to them.” Zhou Zhou felt a bit distressed for him.

Little Al clung to his neck, staring at Zhou Zhou’s earnest face without asking who he was, only nodding with a soft “mm”.

“Al, the world we’re in now is an illusion. Would you like to leave with me?” Zhou Zhou asked again. As long as Little Al agreed, they could leave this place.

Little Al nodded, quietly looking at Zhou Zhou, appearing obedient.

Zhou Zhou gripped the small mirror in his other hand. As long as he crushed the mirror, they could get out.

But in the next moment, this world collapsed. The surrounding scenery looked like a mural painting, the painted sections now peeling off one by one to reveal the dark walls behind. The Little Al in his arms also disappeared without a trace.

After the surrounding world collapsed, Zhou Zhou standing in that same spot realized he seemed to have arrived at another place. The environment was dark and gloomy, the ground charred black, littered with unrecognizable people lying motionless as if dead.

Where was Al?

Zhou Zhou’s first reaction was still to search for Al, and this time he spotted a figure in the distance at first glance.

He hurried over. Though the person had their back turned, Zhou Zhou knew it was Al from the very first glimpse.

Unlike the previous pattern, the Al he encountered this time was not younger but a young teenager around 12 or 13 years old.

“You’re here.” Even before Zhou Zhou approached, Al spoke in a familiar tone.

Zhou Zhou looked around, there was no one else here, so Al must be talking to him.

“Al, you remember me now?”

Zhou Zhou was originally a bit pleased, but after the other turned around, he could no longer smile.

Al’s face was covered in scars, his body also bearing many wounds, some already festering. Those calm, still eyes seemed to be staring at Zhou Zhou, yet were actually devoid of anything, utterly lifeless.

“What…happened to you?” For the first time, Zhou Zhou found he couldn’t bear to look at the injuries on someone else. Each one made him feel something he had never experienced, a single glance filling him with numbness and a tightness in his chest.

“I’m waiting for rescue.” Al tilted his head up to look at the gloomy, oppressive sky filled with nothing but dark clouds.

“But no one will probably come anymore. I’m the only one left here.”

“No, you’re not alone, I’m here too.” Zhou Zhou called out urgently.

Once again he stretched out his hand towards Al, his gaze determined: “This is all an illusion. Come with me, let’s leave this place together.”

Alvia stared silently at him: “Are you an illusion too?”

“I’m not an illusion, I came to take you out of here.”

His gaze shifted from Zhou Zhou’s outstretched hand to his face, and Alvia asked again: “I’ve seen you before.”

That was true, of course.

“We see each other every day.”

Alvia took a step forward, reaching his hand out towards Zhou Zhou while softly asking: “Will you suddenly disappear again?”

“No, I’ll leave with you.”

Ignoring the word “again”, Zhou Zhou’s sole focus was getting Al out quickly. Those wounds looked too painful, as long as they left the illusion, Al would return to normal and those wounds would naturally disappear.

Alvia gave a slight curl of his lips, as if trying to smile, but whether from the pain of his injuries or something else, that smile looked extremely stiff. Seeming to sense there was something strange about his smile, Alvia reverted to his expressionless face.

At twelve or thirteen years old, he was only a bit shorter than Zhou Zhou. He gripped Zhou Zhou’s hand tightly.

“Whatever happens, don’t let go.” Zhou Zhou reassured him. Fearing any other changes, he immediately shattered the small mirror in his other hand.

In the next moment, everything before their eyes collapsed again. The illusory world they were in seemed layered, one world shattering after another in a continuous collapse…

But this time, Al did not disappear. He clutched Zhou Zhou’s hand tightly, his grip so firm it was actually painful for Zhou Zhou, but he didn’t say anything. This pain was incomparable to the wounds covering Al’s body.

In the moment before all the illusions vanished, a strange light flickered in Alvia’s previously lifeless gaze. He leaned in close to Zhou Zhou’s ear and softly said:

“Don’t let go of me…”