Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
I was chatting with Brother Zhao in the car, but at the same time, I was also observing the two people behind us.
Was this the benefit of multitasking?
While conversing with Brother Zhao, I could also spare attention to the movement behind us.
Of course, I couldn’t actually look.
In order to avoid Brother Zhao getting involved in this mess, I had subtly hinted during our conversation that he wasn’t part of this.
As a result, the two in the back didn’t say much in the car, basically staying very quiet the whole time.
But it was obvious that they were very curious about me.
Because from the rearview mirror, I occasionally saw Jiang Yulong’s gaze sweeping over me from time to time.
This made me curious, and also wary.
Not to mention anything else, just the two strange things on them were enough to raise my alert.
Jiang Yulong’s sachet was hanging from his waist just like that.
To be honest, such things were already rare these days, let alone someone wearing it on their waist.
So when getting in the car, Brother Zhao even specially asked about it.
Jiang Yulong responded smoothly, without the slightest pause, simply saying,
“It’s my grandma’s relic.”
Brother Zhao couldn’t keep asking after that.
In fact, a question like that—if someone didn’t know the inside story—they wouldn’t be able to pursue it either.
When the car arrived at Atrium Park, about twenty minutes had passed.
Actually, from here to the villa area wasn’t that far.
And since this area was mostly inhabited by the wealthy, the nearby shops were mostly places that only middle-class people with money could afford.
“We’re here~ There it is~ ‘Delicious’ Hearth Barbecue. The name might not sound classy, but the taste is quite good. That’s a shop opened by a comrade of mine.”
Comrade?
As soon as I heard that word, I immediately understood why Zhao Wengang had such a fearless attitude toward ghosts and gods.
Originally, I found it strange.
According to him, that place was so sinister, yet he could park outside for twenty minutes without leaving.
At first, I thought either Zhao Wengang had a lot of guts, or he was someone familiar with the situation here.
Maybe even someone from the area.
But once he said that, I understood.
“Thanks, Brother Zhao. Can’t return the favor this time, but next time I’ll treat you, alright?”
“Haha~ You treating me? The moment I walk in, I bet you’ll get a free meal.”
Zhao Wengang had a very rough personality, and he was also pretty humorous.
He was quite an interesting guy.
In the end, even though Zhao Wengang declined several times, I still left him two hundred yuan.
Honestly… if I hadn’t been worried about raising his suspicion, I could’ve easily booked his whole car.
After all, he worked night shifts driving a taxi, and his monthly net income was only three to four thousand.
A few thousand yuan meant nothing to someone like me, who got five hundred thousand a month just as pocket money.
But I still chose not to do that.
Right now, I really want to become an adult soon.
That way, I could get myself a motorcycle.
Of course, Gong Lianyu and Liu Wanqian absolutely couldn’t find out.
Otherwise, Liu Wanqian would probably air-drop himself in and smash the bike on the spot.
While I was still playing the back-and-forth game with Zhao Wengang, Jiang Yulong and Xu Han had already gotten out of the car.
By the time I got off, said goodbye to Zhao Wengang, and turned around, I was surprised to see… Xu Han’s eyes had already recovered.
As if she sensed my puzzled gaze, Xu Han gave me a slight smile.
“This is the price, but the blindness only lasts for a limited time.”
Seeing their expressions, I didn’t say anything, just nodded slightly.
Then I glanced at the barbecue shop.
It wasn’t big—only about a dozen tables on the first floor.
The second floor looked like it had private rooms.
From the windows, we could still hear people shouting and laughing inside, and there was a strong smell of alcohol.
“This is the place. Let’s head in first. I have a membership card, so we’ll just open a private room.”
Xu Han chuckled and walked in first.
They didn’t say anything about the cab fare, seemingly intending to make up for it with this meal as a gesture of reciprocity.
To me, that amount of money really meant nothing.
But for now… it was better not to say anything.
At least this way, my background wouldn’t be exposed.
And they wouldn’t be able to figure out the specifics either.
I followed them inside, glancing around.
The shop was small, but the decor was fairly clean.
The two of them greeted the bartender, then requested a more secluded private room.
The bartender called over a server, who led us upstairs to a private room at the end of the hallway.
The second floor was quite a bit larger than the first.
This barbecue shop’s second floor didn’t completely overlap with the first floor.
Part of the second floor was right above a supermarket downstairs.
In other words, the shop owner had rented part of the first floor and all of the second floor.
The remaining part of the first floor wasn’t part of the restaurant—it was a supermarket.
Once inside the room, we sat down, although there was no real distinction of host or guest.
It was a small private room, probably enough for six or seven people.
The layout of the room was quite interesting—beds lined the sides, with a sunken area in the middle holding the barbecue table.
People sat on the beds, legs in the hollowed space below.
It was surprisingly comfortable.
“What would you like to order?”
The private rooms here required a minimum spend, probably around five hundred or so?
Xu Han didn’t order right away, but instead, like a host, took the lead and asked,
“Sister Liu, what would you like to eat?”
“I’m fine with anything, just order more meat if possible.”
I had just used the Evil Spirit Form, and even now, its intense devouring desire was still affecting my normal rationality, so ordering more meat was a good idea.
“Then… two portions of upper brain, two portions of marbled beef, three orders of black pepper ribs, a mixed vegetable platter, a mushroom platter, and a plate of pickled cabbage—should be about right?”
Xu Han didn’t say much else and started ordering immediately, but this amount… even doubling it would’ve been nothing to me.
Still, let’s leave it at that for today.
“Then please wait a moment. The charcoal fire will be brought over shortly.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Xu Han nodded, and the server responded with a polite, business-like smile before turning to leave.
In the room, only the three of us remained once more.
Although it was autumn and the night chill was already quite strong, the air conditioner in the room had been turned on in advance.
These hearth barbecue beds got very hot, and without AC, the temperature would soon become unbearable.
Tight clothing could help one move more freely, and because it pulled on the muscles, it could even allow a person to exert greater strength than usual.
But the downside was that sitting down felt a bit uncomfortable.
For that, I could only say thank goodness I wasn’t a guy… or else my balls would be crushed.
Eh?
Would this count as one of the advantages of being a girl?
At least I didn’t have to worry about squashing anything when I closed my legs?
Emmm… that really was a topic worth pondering.
But now wasn’t the time to think about that.
I didn’t take off my top—not because I didn’t want to, but because, up until now, I still didn’t quite trust these two.
“So… what do you want to know? I’m guessing you deliberately chose to scout the area before the Friday night player gathering to get a feel for the terrain and other key points, right?”
I thought about it, then spoke straightforwardly.
This kind of thing was easy enough to deduce, so there was no need to hide it.
“You two entered Factory Building No. 7? What was it like inside?”
“There was nothing unusual inside. We didn’t find any corpses or anything like cursed objects. Everything’s in the camera. You can take a look.”
Xu Han calmly looked at me, then casually pulled a digital camera from her bag.
Probably chosen for its portability and because it had better photo quality than a typical phone?
I took the digital camera and flipped through the photos one by one.
Perhaps due to confidentiality, there were no other pictures on the camera—just the factory ones.
I had hoped to see what kind of games these two had been through, but… that didn’t seem likely.
As I carefully examined the contents of the camera, Xu Han continued speaking.
“Sister Liu, you don’t seem like a newbie. At least in this game, a newbie wouldn’t have any chance of obtaining a parasitic type… but, Sister Liu, there’s something I’m curious about. Before this, you apparently didn’t know the difference between parasitic types and item types, or even the price one has to pay. Does that mean… your parasitic type comes without a cost?”
As I flipped through the photos on the camera, I saw that the mirror factory was quite large, with over a dozen factory buildings aligned across from each other.
From the photos, I could tell that Building No. 7 was located right at the edge of the factory yard.
These two had done a very thorough on-site investigation—even climbing the wall to check the other side.
Unfortunately, the other side of Factory Building No. 7’s outer wall bordered a river, likely a small branch of Xiu Lake.
Judging by the flow, it wasn’t flowing into Xiu Lake but rather out of it.
The river was about seven to eight meters wide; I couldn’t tell how deep it was.
There were many reeds along both banks, and lots of trash could be seen inside.
It seemed the factory’s wastewater had been discharged through this river.
There were thirteen factory buildings in total.
The others were arranged facing each other, but only Building No. 7 was not.
Across from Building No. 7 was a vacant lot, filled with trash and many rusted metal barrels.
It wasn’t clear what they were used for.
Inside the building was also a Santana, the oldest kind, abandoned for many years.
Weeds had even grown from the gaps in the stone bricks beneath the tires.
While I looked at the photos and observed the two of them, I naturally heard Xu Han’s question.
I had already thought of a reply to that back in the car.
“I’ve always acted solo and haven’t teamed up with others. The game players I’ve met before weren’t exactly friendly, so I never partnered up and didn’t know what you mentioned. But… from what you’ve said, I think I now know what the cost of my parasitic type is.”