Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
In an instant, time in the entire classroom seemed to freeze.
His pupils slowly widened, and the shadow in the reflection grew larger and larger.
At first, there was still a trace of confusion in his eyes, but that confusion vanished in a flash.
The next second, he instinctively jumped backward!
But… he forgot that this was a classroom.
And he was sitting on a desk in the classroom.
‘Crash~Clang!’
Because he was sitting on the desk, when he instinctively jumped backward away from me, his foot was immediately tripped by the desk leg.
Then, instinctively again, he reached out to grab the desk.
The schoolbag hanging on the side of the desk instantly fell to the ground.
The pencil case inside scattered all over the floor with a rustling noise.
Following that was the desk being dragged over and knocked down with a loud crash.
His next move, however, slightly surprised me.
In that state of just waking up and being suddenly frightened, he actually managed to pull off a rather clean move on the tilting chair.
With one hand, he instantly stabilized the chair back, and at the same time let go of the hand pulling the desk.
He abruptly pulled his legs back.
Before the chair landed, his legs had already retracted.
His entire body looked like he had jumped up while holding onto the back of the chair.
Then, the chair fell.
He quickly extended his legs, but did not straighten them fully, instead landing in a crouched position.
His feet landed on the floor, and at the same time… his right hand, which had just let go of the desk, reached into his pants pocket.
His movement paused in that moment, and he squinted his eyes at me.
That series of actions made my heart momentarily flustered.
But on the surface, I didn’t show any sign of frowning.
I simply pretended to be startled and quickly covered my little mouth.
At the same time, the Evil Spirit Form was already prepared to leave my body at any time.
This guy’s reaction… was way too abnormal!!
Never mind that nimble landing.
Just the fact that after landing, his first reaction wasn’t to scream in fright but to reach into his pocket—that alone was abnormal!
He actually didn’t run away from the Evil Spirit Form’s gaze.
On the contrary, he even wanted to fight back?
Could it be… he’s a player?
At that moment, I dared not show any sign of being unusual.
I pretended to be frightened, covering my mouth with both hands and ‘apparently’ standing up from the shock.
In reality, I was already prepared to unleash the Evil Spirit Form at any time!
Who knew what kind of backup plan a player might have!
What if I lost here by accident!
The whole classroom suddenly fell silent.
Everyone’s eyes instinctively looked this way.
At the same time, the classroom door opened.
A female teacher stood at the door.
She had just walked in and saw the scene, and instantly froze there too.
The atmosphere in the classroom froze in an instant.
That boy squinted at me for a long while.
The muscles in his right hand were tense, clearly showing signs of nervousness.
Suddenly, his right hand moved.
At that very moment, I pretended to be frightened and placed my left hand on my chest.
While my right hand gripped my left hand, I released the Evil Spirit Form from the left.
At this point, it was like my right hand was holding my numbed left hand.
And the Evil Spirit Form’s left hand had already extended, ready to respond to any possible situation.
Then…
His right hand suddenly reached behind his head, revealing a cheerful smile.
“Ah~ I was still half-asleep~ Scared you, didn’t I? So sorry, so sorry…”
His right hand wasn’t hiding anything.
Relieved a little, I couldn’t help but let out a breath.
Looks like this ‘suspected player’ didn’t have any hostility toward me.
That was the best outcome.
I slowly withdrew my left hand.
Though the part above the wrist hadn’t fully returned and was still exposed to the air, I remained vigilant of any tricks he might pull.
But it seemed like he really didn’t mean any harm.
And when I looked into his eyes again, I found that the Evil Spirit Form was no longer reflected there.
The current shadow was clearly Liu Yunyan’s.
Could it be… the shadow he just saw was the result of a sudden burst of spiritual perception?
I had done some research on this kind of spiritual perception burst.
Though not entirely certain, I had a general theory.
According to my thinking, this burst of spiritual perception might be due to the individual’s unique physical condition, combined with the surrounding environment and time.
Only when the body was in a highly active yet calm state could it perceive anomalies.
As I had mentioned before, humans can see anomalies right before death.
Just like during the hospital incident, when I was near death, adrenaline surged wildly.
My brain was calm while my body’s functions mounted a final, desperate resistance.
At that moment, I saw the Goat-headed Monster with my physical eyes.
That was the first time I could see an anomaly with my physical body.
That is to say, for a person to see anomalies, their body might need to be in an extremely active internal state, while also maintaining clear consciousness and a sharp mind.
Of course, there may be other hidden reasons involved—such as contact with anomalies.
And since everyone’s physique is different, according to my calculations, each person’s body might reach a daily peak at a specific time, depending on the situation and environment.
That peak state could, under certain coincidences, allow them to vaguely perceive anomalies.
Just now, that boy might have been in a state of high physical energy and mental clarity, which is why he could see me.
So now, the reflection in his eyes was no longer the anomaly.
But… his earlier reaction had already exposed him.
Still, since he wanted to play dumb, I might as well play along with him.
“I’m fine. Are you okay? Did you fall anywhere? Do you need to go to the infirmary?”
“Haha~ I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, pretty lady~”
Then he quickly turned his head again, chuckling.
“Sorry, I played too much LoL last night~”
“Pfft!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Another legend!”
The male student didn’t mind the other students laughing at him and laughed along with everyone else.
“Heh~ People often say that about me, haha…”
Seeing the unrestrained smile on his face, I couldn’t help but instantly slap a label on him in my mind.
Old fox!
Street-smart old fox!
This guy was definitely a seasoned veteran of society!
To be able to defuse the situation so smoothly—this wasn’t something an ordinary person could do!
To be laughed at by others and still not even change expression!
That… even I, someone who had been navigating society for so many years, found difficult to manage.
Yet this guy handled it like it was nothing.
Damn it!
Was I overthinking things because of his earlier move?
Anyway, better to be cautious than careless… this guy is not to be messed with.
“Alright, since the misunderstanding is cleared up, everyone take your seats. I’m about to take attendance~ That student who got stomped all night using Garen last night, are you really okay? Need to visit the infirmary?”
The female teacher looked very young, probably only around twenty-two or twenty-three, not much older than Shao He.
She wore a natural smile on her face and didn’t act like a new teacher trying to assert authority.
She didn’t carry the typical attitude of a teacher at all.
Instead, she felt more like an ordinary friend, even picking up on the male student’s joke and teasing him with a game character.