Chapter 109: Where is This?
Over the week he spent with the mirror, Xing Ye's work remained busy. However, he felt a sense of liberation, probably because his previous interactions with the mirror were always accompanied by dangerous missions and players with ulterior motives. In comparison, these leisurely days in the real world were to be treasured.
The mirror seed to have not experienced this feeling for a long ti. He was excited at first before gradually settling down. But whenever he spoke, his voice filled with content, sounding similar to a lazy cat
Despite being a pampered young master, Lu Mingze adapted to life within a mirror with ease.
"It's probably because I grew up listening to my mom's lectures and studying philosophy with her. I've studied it a ton." Lu Mingze pondered. "A comfortable life is certainly desirable, but hardships are trials we must face. Besides, I'm not really suffering much anyways. This mirror might be small, but your house is big. I can't adjust the computer video speed, but my mom is nice to watch and listen to; it's comfortable listening to her slowly."
Xing Ye admired his outlook on life. This was what attracted him most to Lu Mingze.
Anyone else in his situation might have been resentful and thought themselves to be miserable beyond compare. Lu Mingze was aware of his plight. He also found the razor kit inconvenient, wished for a better situation and didn't hesitate to complain when necessary. But most of the ti, he was grateful that Xing Ye hadn't used a rearview mirror and shared all his feelings, whether it was joy or sadness, with Xing Ye.
As the mirror said: "I may be in a prop, but my heart is free."
Even though he knew that Xing Ye had the power to erase his consciousness at any ti, the mirror didn't suppress his favorability to Xing Ye.
"If I let fears and what-ifs control my emotions, what's the difference between
and the man in the idiom who feared the sky might fall? Worrying about things that haven't happened is just unlucky. Every day in the real world, people fall ill or die. Should I stop living because of that?"TL's note: skeatschinese/china-culture-resources/the-man-of-the-qi-state-who-feared-that-the-sky-might-fall-down/
Lu Mingze was narcissistic but accepted all of himself. He didn't think there was anything wrong with narcissism. After all, with such good looks, wouldn't it be a disservice not to admire his own appearance?
The more Xing Ye interacted with Lu Mingze, the more he realized that he was soone beautiful both in body and soul.
It was sothing impossible for Xing Ye. At the start, he was guarded against the mirror, fearing it was a trap set by the system. It wasn't until he knew the mirror's true identity as Lu Mingze that he gradually opened up.
After eting Lu Mingze, Xing Ye did many things he never imagined he would. His frequent mirror-checking at the company, even during board etings, sparked sideways glances and private discussions among colleagues about their boss's vanity. Especially Assistant Qi- even though he never showed any odd expressions, Xing Ye could tell what he was thinking.
But what did it matter? As the mirror said, if it harms no one, affects no one, doesn't interfere with work, doesn't mislead public opinion, and doesn't set a bad example, what’s wrong with looking in the mirror?
There was nothing wrong at all.
So, before 1:30 AM on the seventh day, Xing Ye fitted his phone with the mirror case and showed it off to Lu Mingze. He wanted Lu Mingze to see his new ho and once they were done with the next world, he would let the mirror enjoy looking at the world freely.
"Not bad at all!" The mirror approved after examining it. "It's a bit small, but the lack of borders makes up for it. If possible, you should make so ti in the next world to make a case like this."
Xing Ye fell silent for a mont, "... I'll consider it."
The two chatted and laughed as they entered the ga world and once again faced the black and white rubix cube.
The black and white rubix cube spoke, "Player x8205, it's been seven days since we've last t. You look much better. You earned a lot of points and rewards by completing hard mode last ti. If you get another perfect ending, you'll be able to enter the high level worlds. However, a friendly reminder from the system: high level worlds function differently from chaos worlds, with greater focus on competition than problem-solving. Your usual wits might not work next ti. The system recomnds gathering more points before advancing to the high level worlds. You'd best choose hard mode for this world~"
Xing Ye responded, "That makes sense. The little mirror also told
points are like trading chips in high-level worlds. After all, points can be converted into real money."
"Exactly!" The black and white rubix cube confird. "I know you're not short of money, but rember, the ga's money and point exchange is one-way. Points can be converted into money, but money can't buy points. A player's own money is useless and can't be used for private transactions to clear levels. Such actions are prohibited by the ga and will be punished."
"Only out, not in. Won't your money exchange here break the market? Does the system have the ability to earn money in the real world?" Xing Ye inquired.
He was a businessman- such questions imdiately popped into his head.
"The player should not pry into the system." The black and white rubix cube warned. "You can ask these questions if you complete the final world. But rest assured, the money the system exchanges for players is completely legitimate and can be used in the real world without affecting the market. There's always a give and take, understand?"
"So you an the system has a way to get money from players to give to other players."
Was it through death? After death, could the system take control of the player's money? No, Xing Shuo's assets hadn't changed. But cash... If it was just a few million less, Xing Ye wouldn't have noticed. After all, Xing Shuo's monthly expenses ran into the millions. Xing Ye cared about Xing Shuo's achievents but didn't scrutinize where every penny went.
He could investigate this when he returned.
The black and white Rubix cube asked, "So, will the player choose hard mode?"
Xing Ye said, "I already know how important points are. I choose normal mode."
The black and white Rubix cube:"..."
"I only need 1100 more points to enter the high-level worlds. It's easy to get enough points if I get a true ending. However, if I choose hard mode and fail, I'll lose over 20,000 points- how would that be worth it? Furthermore, the last world showed
you can tamper with my brain. If you can erase my mories, what happens if you limit my intelligence in the next world? I don't want to take that risk when I could beat normal mode comfortably." Xing Ye said.
After the Puppet City world, he had only 16,000 points. Even if he failed, he'd lose only 8,000. In the hospital world, he spent over 7,000 points on skills alone. That amount of points was trivial, so risking 8,000 points on hard mode was worth it.
But right now, Xing Ye saw no need to.
"As always, the player is committed to 'opposing fate' and fighting the system to the very end. Fine, such attitude deserves praise, but I hope the player can keep it that way." the black and white rubix cube said. "Now, let's draw the world. This could be your last challenge before advancing to the high level worlds."
Xing Ye watched the rapidly spinning Rubik's cube as a peculiar feeling started to grow.
He asked the mirror, "Did you encounter anything special in your last world before advancing to a high-level world?"
"Yes, I have a vivid mory of it!" The mirror responded furiously. "It was disgusting. I was thrown into a zerg world, where humans in combat suits fought against alien insectoids called zergs. The key clue was to enter the body of the queen insect and retrieve an item. The queen's digestive acids could dissolve our suits. I ended up soaked in the insect's body, searching for the consciousness crystal that controlled them. I was covered in stench and took over thirty baths back in the real world. My skin wrinkled from the water, and I still felt disgusted. I've been terrified of insects ever since! I'll never be able to forget that world!"
Lu Mingze's voice was filled with disgust and anger. He rarely expressed such genuine hatred for sothing- it likely traumatized him for real. No wonder he was so scared of bugs in the first world that he even preferred crawling into Claire's chest to falling on a potentially bug infested bed.
"Now that I think of it," Xing Ye said, "The last world was Yan Hebi's last ga before moving onto high level worlds."
Lu Mingze had been with Xing Ye for a while now and understood him well. He knew Xing Ye wouldn't focus on irrelevant things and asked, "Did Yan Hebi encounter anything bad in that world?"
"Haha..." Xing Ye laughed weakly, "He probably has a trauma of won and maybe even won's clothing now."
Lu Mingze: "..."
That actually did seem plausible.
"Then will every player close to entering a high level world develop so sort of trauma?" The mirror asked.
Xing Ye said, "Not necessarily. I think it's more about facing one's weaknesses. Yan Hebi is a decent young man. He has good values, won't harm others for no reason, but isn't excessively kind either. His only flaw is probably being weak to beautiful won. I'm not talking about lust. He just treats won better by habit, whether they're teammates, enemies, or NPCs.
"In the last world, he encountered , who cross-dresses. He might develop a shadow over won from now on."
The mirror understood what he ant, "Are you saying the promotion world challenges you to face your weaknesses? So people overco them, while others develop trauma?"
For Yan Hebi, it was unknown whether he could date normally again.
"It's just a guess." Xing Ye said, "Besides, I don't think I have any weaknesses. Or at least, I don't think I have any too difficult to overco."
The mirror thought Xing Ye's words were a bit arrogant but then considered his own confidence in his appearance. Thinking that way, it only seed right for Xing Ye to be confident in his IQ and EQ. In this regard, they were quite similar.
While they conversed, the Rubik's cube generated the world's QR code. Xing Ye scanned it to view the information—
Ga Type: Where am I?
Player Role: Ordinary Person
Number of Players: 3 from the following fate camp, 4 from the opposing fate camp.
Victory Condition: In this world, you might be in a bustling tropolis, wake up in deep forests, or be floating around in the galaxy. You find yourself everywhere and nowhere. To win, identify where you are and successfully exit. Players who cannot discover where they are or leave will fail.
Reward and Penalties: The victors will receive points based on their discoveries. Losers will have 50% of their points deducted. The victors will also get 100 points and the opportunity to draw a random special QR code.
Difficulty Option: Normal, Hard, Very Hard
Although he said he would pick normal mode, the black and white rubix cube still listed all the options.
There were seven players taking part in this world. According to his past experiences, the true ending might yield 14,000 points, while the surface ending only gave 100. This was another world where there were more opposing fate than following fate players, indicating a higher level of difficulty.
The system had indeed made it harder for him.
Xing Ye clicked on general mode and imdiately felt a familiar dizziness overtake him as he entered the ga world.
When he opened his eyes, he saw sobody pile a stack of handwritten docunts on his desk. "Please input this data into the computer and send it to
by tomorrow morning. I need them for a eting in the afternoon."
Xing Ye didn't know the current situation. He avoided imdiately checking his phone and raised his head to see a competent, intelligent-looking woman in a suit standing in front him. She pointed at the giant stack of docunts. "You just have to tell
whether you can do it or not. Intern?"
Intern? Was he an intern at a company? Interns were usually one of two things; unessential, and would toil hard for the supervisor to fill out their internship report, or graduates on a probationary period, striving to perform well to get a full-ti offer. In either case, they wouldn't refuse work.
Xing Ye nodded, "Yes, I'll get it done."
He decided to maintain this role for now. Apart from Guan Ling and Cao Qian, there were still four other players: 2 following fate and 2 opposing fate players.
His nod might've been too big, causing sothing to slip off his nose. Suddenly, the world in front of him turned blurry and the competent looking woman turned into a sar.
Xing Ye saw a pair of red lips moving on a beige mass. He could hear a voice, but it sounded muffled. Did he sohow go deaf too?
He closed his eyes and realized what the office lady was saying: "You'd better change your glasses. This is the third ti they've fallen off today."
He has glasses. Was he near-sighted?
Xing Ye's self discipline had always been good. Since childhood, he had managed his ti well, never indulged in computer gas, the internet, and didn't even read in dim light. Every 40-60 minutes, he would take a break and look at sothing far away to relax his eyes.
As a result, Xing Ye's vision has always been perfect, with both eyes at 20/20.
Xing Shuo was different. He started wearing glasses after high school and would often stay up for days in university. He quickly developed nearsightedness, astigmatism, and eye floaters.
Xing Ye thought about arranging eye surgery for Xing Shuo, but changed his mind after learning more about the surgery. It was more for costic purposes than actually corrective for the eyes, and even had the risk of permanently injuring the eye. Instead, he arranged annual vision checkups for Xing Shuo, ensuring his eye prescription was always accurate to prevent his nearsightedness from getting worse.
He even tried hiring a lifestyle assistant for Xing Shuo to help him manage his eye health, but Xing Shuo fired him and told Xing Ye he could protect his own eyes.
For the first ti, Xing Ye experienced how it felt to be nearsighted. He picked up the glasses and internally sighed- his brother really had it tough.
Without his glasses, the world was a blur. He couldn't even tell n from won five ters away or animals from people ten ters away.
The glasses this body wore were old. Its arms were already loose, causing it to constantly skip down.
Why didn't the original body get better glasses? Xing Ye wondered in the sa fashion Emperor Hui said Why don't they eat at? He might've landed in a poor body again.
Well strictly speaking, he couldn't be called poor. He was able to intern at an office and wear classes instead of sweeping the streets. He was just an ordinary person.
Xing Ye put on his glasses. Instead of imdiately checking his phone, he used the mont of putting on his classes to surreptitiously scan the room.
It was a large company. Every employee had their own desk separated by partitions so they could work interrupted, but still communicate easily if need be.
His desk didn't have any mirrors. Instead, there were a few ani figurines, a computer, and the just-delivered pile of docunts.
Xing Ye listened to the chatter in the office and heard comnts like "She's bullying the intern again.
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