Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
“It’s just like your parasitic body, Sister Liu. One day, if your body is completely taken over by the parasite, it will no longer need to follow the rules of the Surface and Inner Worlds, and it’ll directly interfere with the real world from the Inner World!”
I was completely stunned by that answer.
Masaka!!!
The moment that thought struck me, a chill ran down my spine.
Although I was denying it internally, no matter what… I couldn’t refute this speculation.
Combining what Xu Han said with my own deductions, the parasite's goal was to interfere with the real world through the human body.
And Xu Han’s current state also confirmed this, at least now, there was no trace of fear in her eyes.
In other words… what the Evil Spirit Form needed wasn’t some so-called “price.”
In fact, it was simply constantly eroding humans who belonged to the Surface World, ultimately seizing human bodies or organs to break free from the limitations of both the Inner and Surface Worlds.
Then… what about me?
Right now… I could interfere with the Surface World directly.
I didn’t need the body’s permission or conscious intention.
As long as I willed it, I could interfere with the Surface World instantly.
Looking at it from the perspective of parasites, this was clearly abnormal!
Countless theories surged through my mind, yet none of them held up.
Only one… only one…
Liu Yunyan had been completely eroded—she was a fully parasitized player.
And I… was the one who had eroded everything she had, devoured all she was, and obtained a body capable of affecting reality…
A parasite!!!
The only difference from other parasites who emerged from the Inner World was that I… under certain coincidences, had first devoured Liu Yunyan’s soul, then invaded her body…
And due to a series of coincidences, I had retained my sanity—a parasitic anomaly!
Just think about it—those anomalies in the Inner World could never possess rationality.
Because anomalies didn’t require logic or reason to survive.
In fact, their very existence rejected the need for rationality.
That was precisely why all anomalies were irrational, unable to communicate with humans—indescribable entities.
And I was supposed to be one of them.
Back in that bus incident, I… should’ve been taken by the Inner World.
But under that coincidental moment, I managed to complete the entire process of parasitizing, eroding, seizing, and occupying—a result that should’ve required countless repeated attempts to achieve.
This explained why my Evil Spirit Form could freely leave the body.
It also explained why the longer I was separated from my physical form, the stronger my primal urges became.
On one hand, the Evil Spirit Form didn’t require rationality, so the moment it manifested, my reason began to weaken.
If I couldn’t return to my body, I would eventually become a true anomaly.
On the other hand, this body gave me the best condition to preserve rationality.
As long as I remained within this body, the anomaly’s nature would be suppressed, and I could continue thinking normally.
By this logic, everything made sense.
But following this logic led me to a horrifying future.
Once I died, I would become a real anomaly.
Whether from old age or by accident, I would turn into a true anomaly.
In other words… the moment I died, I would only have five minutes left before completely losing my mind and becoming an instinct-driven creature.
I didn’t know if other anomalies could retain their reason after taking over human bodies.
But from what I could infer, those anomalies had long discarded their rationality in the Inner World.
So whether or not they occupied human bodies, they had already lost all reason.
This further suggested… the act of abandoning rationality was irreversible for anomalies!
That thought made my hair stand on end.
Previously, I had tested my limit for time outside the body several times.
It was practically like stretching a wire between two cliffs and me walking on it without a care—the so-called ‘challenge yourself’ of an utter fool.
Having arrived at this unbelievable yet undeniable conclusion, I was completely dumbfounded.
Because… this hypothesis proved one thing.
The current me was neither Zhang Yiwei, nor Liu Yunyan, and certainly not some fusion of the two.
I was—an anomaly.
The current me… was an anomaly.
An entity that had eroded the host, taken everything from the host… an anomaly.
The only difference between me and the others was… I still retained my reason.
No… I don’t believe it… I… I don’t believe this!!
But… what other answers are there?
No… there aren’t any.
I…
Slowly raised both my hands, staring at the now-familiar, yet unfamiliar slender fingers.
Looking at the strange palm lines, I wondered… am I still myself?
“Looks like it’s still hard for Sister Liu to accept this outcome… so from now on, you should rely less on the parasite. Now that you know the consequences, cherishing the present might be the better path…”
Perhaps mistaking my shock and stupor, Xu Han spoke gently to comfort me.
I slowly lifted my head and saw my reflection in her glasses.
That face… filled with fear and panic, confusion and helplessness.
And those eyes… completely devoid of focus.
I slowly stood up, casually picked up the notepad next to the table, and wrote down my backup phone number.
This number wasn’t being monitored by Liu Wanqian because it was a virtual number not tied to any ID—it was the one on my Android phone.
I placed the note on the table.
Xu Han looked puzzled, then casually took the note and glanced at it.
“Sister Liu…”
“Tomorrow at five in the afternoon, here.”
I turned my head dully.
I didn’t look at Xu Han or Jiang Yulong’s shocked expressions.
I mechanically put on my shoes and stepped out the front door.
Xu Han seemed worried and hurried after me, grabbing my hand…
But at that moment, I felt completely numb.
I simply felt that I couldn’t move my legs anymore.
I mechanically turned my head and looked at Xu Han before me.
I saw the worry in her eyes.
And in those lenses… I saw the reflection of Liu Yunyan.
“Sister Liu, are you okay? You don’t need to worry so much, actually…”
I didn’t speak.
I just stared at her with my unfocused eyes.
Suddenly, a pale hand landed on her shoulder.
“Let her go. She needs to let it out…”
At times like this, men tend to be more rational and calm than women.
Women… are just more emotional.
But… I didn’t have the energy to care about that anymore.
Xu Han slowly let go of my hand, her face still full of concern, yet she didn’t try to stop me again.
Jiang Yulong, on the other hand, simply nodded at me.
“Five o’clock tomorrow afternoon, don’t be late. We still have a lot to talk to you about…”
As he spoke, Jiang Yulong seemed about to turn away but suddenly appeared to remember something.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo, handing it to me.
My mind was blank.
I took it purely on instinct and glanced at it.
“Remember this skull tattoo. The skull’s teeth are replaced with English letters—it spells out ‘death coffin’ in English. Be careful of people with this tattoo. They’re all lunatics.
If you encounter one, call us immediately.”
As he spoke, Jiang Yulong handed me a business card.
Without thinking, I stuffed both the photo and the card into my shirt pocket.
Then I nodded mechanically and walked out of the room.
After taking a dozen or so steps outside, the heightened senses granted by the Evil Spirit Form allowed me to still hear the voices inside the room.
“Sister Liu… is she okay? The look in her eyes really worries me…”
“She’ll be fine. Just from the fact that she dared to explore the seventh warehouse alone, we know she’s not someone who’s easily defeated. If fear really takes her down… there’s nothing we can do to help her. It’s all up to her now…”
Their voices gradually faded.
I didn’t pay attention to their conversation.
I turned and went downstairs, and then—
I walked forward aimlessly.
Just walking…
My mind was completely blank.
This clever brain of mine seemed to have gone on strike in that moment.
I couldn’t think of anything, and didn’t want to think at all…
I didn’t know how long I had been walking.
Unknowingly, the bright moon had drifted to the western sky.
The soles of my feet were beginning to ache…
“Wasn’t I… Zhang Yiwei?”
I stopped and tried to look at my shoes.
But all I could see… was the bulge of my chest.
I raised my hand and looked at the palm lines of this hand.
I had thought…
I had started a new life for myself.
But now that I was no longer Zhang Yiwei…
what meaning did it all have?
“I’m neither Liu Yunyan, nor Zhang Yiwei… At that moment, Zhang Yiwei died, Liu Yunyan also died. They… both died. So then what am I?”
Zhang Yiwei died.
He should’ve vanished completely.
But he devoured Liu Yunyan’s soul and became an anomaly…
This anomaly, through sheer coincidence, took over Liu Yunyan’s body,
And in doing so, violated the rules and achieved what anomalies sought:
“Seizing” reality.
The result… was me—an incomplete anomaly.
Everything follows its own set of rules.
The rules of anomalies are: irrational, unreasonable, and unprovable.
And I… am the strangest anomaly of them all, because… I have reason.
I believed that my soul was Zhang Yiwei’s.
That although I had taken Liu Yunyan’s body, my primary consciousness was still Zhang Yiwei.
I was still me…
But when every deduction logically led to this perfect, terrifying conclusion…
I… was no longer me?
Who… am I really?
“Yo? Little girl, what are you doing here all alone?”
“Damn, look at what she’s wearing! Tight pants and everything? Tsk tsk~ That figure’s insane.”
“Wanna play with us?”
Voices came from beside me.
With them came a stench of alcohol and something else—
a strange smell that instantly made me nauseous.
I knew that smell well.
In the past, I knew plenty of gangsters, so I could clearly identify what it was.
Junkies, huh?
I slowly raised my head.
Three young men had surrounded me.
A smile curled up at the corner of my lips without me realizing it.
“Let’s go over there and play, shall we?”
Heh…
Hehehehe.