Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
Have you ever played throwing mud at the wall when you were a kid?
I did when I was little.
Back then, I was a pretty silly kid overall.
But I had a weak constitution and was often sick.
Out of the six years in elementary school, I spent nearly three years on medical leave.
While other kids were at school, I could only stay at home.
Sometimes, I would play at a mushroom pavilion not far from my house.
The so-called mushroom pavilion was actually just a structure with two cement chairs in the middle shaped like oversized mushrooms.
The surrounding area was all residential buildings, and I had nothing but mud to throw at the wall.
Watching the blobs of mud go from a ball to a pancake, then slowly slide down the wall—this was probably one of the few amusements I had as a child.
But ever since my parents died, I rarely played those games anymore.
Those distant memories and feelings, I buried deep in my heart.
I thought that maybe one day when I was old, watching my own kids play in front of me, I’d recall that kind of childish joy.
However... I never expected that what would actually bring back those memories would be the scene in front of me now.
A face, magnified hundreds of times, full of wrinkles, aged and decayed, suddenly slammed against the front windshield with a loud pia!
In an instant, it filled the entire car window!
And... that massive face actually began to melt and deform like mud, slowly sliding downward under the pull of gravity.
“Op~~en~~the~~doo~~~r.”
At that moment, the old voice began to blur.
It was both sharp and ancient, the sound stretched out, accompanied by a wavering tone.
Looking at the two huge eyes in front of me, occupying nearly the entire windshield and melting like mud, the terror in my heart made me swallow hard.
But I knew clearly at that moment, the mission hadn’t been triggered.
The phone hadn’t received any message.
Although darkness had already enveloped the surroundings, it hadn’t completely swallowed the car yet!
To dispel my fear, I didn’t hesitate and plugged the USB drive I had prepared over the past few days into the car player.
Then I turned the volume to maximum.
In the next second, the car was filled with the sound of a classic song that had accompanied nearly half of my childhood.
“White dragon horse~ hooves head west~”
In an instant, the feeling of fear was almost completely driven away.
Inside the car, a sense of absurdity rose up.
Even the melting old woman’s face in front of the windshield inexplicably took on a comical vibe.
“What’s going on? What is this?”
Just as the car began playing that classic White Dragon Horse song, Shao He, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, suddenly spoke in confusion.
I almost instinctively thought—had she seen the face on the windshield too?
I was about to say something when I suddenly froze...
Wait a minute.
If she had seen that grotesque, melting old face, she should’ve been terrified not confused.
“Shao He, what did you see on the front windshield??”
I turned my head and looked into Shao He’s eyes.
When she heard my voice, she slightly turned her head and glanced at me.
In that instant, I saw the reflection of the face on the front windshield in her eyes.
“Young Miss, what’s going on with you? Just now, you poked my leg, and why does it still feel... numb and tingly?”
Something that obvious in front of the car—how could you not see it?
Shao He’s face was full of doubt and surprise.
I no longer had the time to worry about the furrowed brows on her face or the suspicion in her heart.
Not good!!!
“Floor it!! Charge out of here!”
I didn’t have time to say anything more.
Completely ignoring Shao He’s confusion, I suddenly got up and stepped across the center console, slamming one foot down on the gas pedal!
‘VROOOOM!!!’
This customized BMW was equipped with a V12 twin-turbocharged engine, 585 peak horsepower, and could accelerate from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour in just 3.7 seconds.
The current speed had already reached eighty kilometers per hour.
With that one stomp on the gas, the entire car jolted forward, the massive torque creating a fierce impact that almost knocked me over.
Fortunately, I had a firm footing and my hand was gripping the back of Shao He’s seat.
Shao He was completely stunned at this point.
She probably never imagined I’d do something like this.
Even though she was here to be a bodyguard, she must not have expected the person she was supposed to protect to act so crazily, right?
In the back seat, Sha Ha had been flung flat against the seat, and Jiaoza (the white-faced scops owl) flailed its still featherless wings and fell off its perch!
But I didn’t have the time to worry about any of that now!
Because… what I saw in Shao He’s eyes…
The reflection on the windshield—was a lump of mud!
The game would forcibly twist every supernatural event into something that made logical sense.
And this time’s sudden incident wasn’t really about opening the door!
That was just a distraction!
The real game—was this lump of mud!
Where were we?
A tunnel!
Mud falling inside a tunnel!
What did that mean?
No need to explain…
Only one sentence!
The tunnel might collapse at any moment!
I couldn’t be bothered to explain anything to Shao He.
Half my body was already across into the driver’s seat.
By now, Shao He was beginning to react.
She might’ve felt this was dangerous.
Even if she didn’t try to stop me, I couldn’t wait for her to process anything.
The instant before she stretched out her hand to push me back to the passenger seat, I grabbed her elbow.
True to her role as a bodyguard, Shao He’s reflexes were incredibly fast—she instinctively tried to pull her arm back.
But I couldn’t waste time arguing with her.
Without a word, I clenched my left hand into a fist, curled my index finger, braced it with my thumb to pop out the second knuckle, and struck like lightning.
In the exact moment she retracted her arm, I followed its path down and precisely hit her underarm!
There was no sound.
Shao He let out a startled cry almost instinctively.
“Young Miss, you—”
The next second, her mouth clamped shut, her whole body suddenly stiffened.
Then both arms went limp.
I immediately grabbed the steering wheel and hit the seat adjustment button.
The driver’s seat slid backward instantly, giving me space.
“Sorry, Shao He, no time to explain!”
As I spoke, I was already half-squatting in the driver’s seat.
Straddling over the gear lever, there wasn’t even time to sit down.
I simply took a horse stance, floored the gas pedal, and didn’t care about saving the car anymore…
I instantly shifted gears upward!
In front of me, the windshield was almost entirely blocked by that massive face.
The song White Dragon Horse was still echoing in the car.
The moment I turned on the windshield wipers, I saw the melting eyeball get splattered into mush with a ‘splat’ by the wiper arm.
Then it turned into a glob of black sludge and slowly flowed down!