Chapter 55 The same face is reflected in different mirrors of the old campus…
"【Pu Fengchun】???"
"【Pu Fengchun】???"
Why did Pu Fengchun suddenly change people? Where's Jiang Ming? Did he clear the level and leave the room?
"【Pu Fengchun】I have a bold guess. Initially, only one player was put in to complete the kindergarten process. Now, with the second player, the process has changed again..."
"【Pu Fengchun】Understood, five players, five processes in succession."
"【Pu Fengchun】is equivalent to five episode stories themed around 'campus'? And the tag unlocks '1v1 mode,' meaning that in the current episode story, the current player is the protagonist, and the host is only bound to the episode protagonist, so there is only one camera position from beginning to end?"
"【Pu Fengchun】Goodness, I've never seen this kind of mode before. There are no predictable camera positions, and no need to fight for camera positions and compete for rankings... Will players never see each other again by the end of the dungeon? The content isn't enough to support the dungeon, so they've pieced together five stories into one? It's like a variety show, haha."
"【Pu Fengchun】No, didn't any of you notice the player count is hidden?? Did Jiang Ming really leave? Who still remembers the name of the starting dungeon, 'Shore Reversal'? With your game's reverse highlighting and hiding technique, I bet the players will definitely interact! If I lose, I'll give my brother's abs a big kiss!"
"【Pu Fengchun】Upstairs, are you betting? You just want my body!"
Xue Chao was still looking down from the window of the broadcasting room. Pu Fengchun had turned into a little girl as soon as she pushed open the door to enter the courtyard. Unlike the kindergarten children, she was a primary school age whose body was already starting to grow. She had a high ponytail tied behind her head, revealing a full forehead. She was the "neat and tidy" look that parents liked the most.
A woman dressed fairly well led her through the door. Her head was a white display board much wider than her shoulders, blank and without any words or stickers. She was looking down, holding the girl's hand tightly, shaking it occasionally to make sure she was listening, and talking to the girl.
She should be the mother of the character "Pu Fengchun".
The girl nodded occasionally, her obedient demeanor hiding a few bright, expectant stars, while her hands moved silently up and down, as if searching for something.
It must be her white rose earrings. They disappeared after she shrank.
Between the art building and the sports building of the training institution is a semi-open-air rest area, like an art gallery. There are many paintings, pottery, models and other works by teachers and students, as well as photos and objects of various courses, activities and competitions. One wall is made into a simulated physical exhibition of the periodic table of elements in metal. There is also a ping-pong table next to it. While providing a resting environment, it also shows the children's palace to parents in all aspects.
The woman ran into a familiar teacher, pulled the teacher, who had been holding a triangular ruler, to the rest area to talk. Before leaving, the teacher patted the girl and told her to go inside for class.
In the second unit story, Xue Chao is also a supporting character, a teaching assistant. He leaves the broadcasting room, walks through half a corridor, and the center of the building is completely open, like a circular tube building crammed into an art building. He looks down from the railing on the top floor and makes eye contact with Pu Fengchun, who is looking up on the first floor.
Pu Fengchun was taken aback, then made a peace sign out of thin air, which, combined with the little girl's well-behaved and innocent face, looked like he was trying to be cute without any expression. Xue Chao paused for a moment before realizing that this meant he was being told to go to the second floor.
They met on the second floor without encountering anyone else. In the empty art building, they could hear each other's footsteps. Xue Chao asked first, "Did you use props?"
"Quick reaction." Pu Fengchun gripped the strap of his pink backpack, and you had to look up to see him. "The guild's S-rank item, 'Resonator,' is specifically designed for role-playing dungeons. After use, the resonance level instantly reaches 80%."
No wonder she gave him a slightly different feeling than last time. Xue Chao glanced at her: "Restrictions?"
“It’s a one-time use prop, and the resonance level will never be lower than 80% throughout the entire process. This also means that I will be greatly influenced by the character setting, and I may do things that are in line with the character setting but endanger myself.” Pu Fengchun said with a calm face, “Misfortune and fortune are always intertwined.”
Xue Chao understood. He didn't need to worry about the role-playing task; what he needed to do was keep an eye on her to prevent the character from "possessing" him and causing trouble.
...Was he really here to host the game? Or was he here to see the kids? Xue Chao sighed dejectedly.
According to the class schedule in the second-floor lobby, they headed to the dance studio. The corridor for extracurricular classes was not so dreamy; the clean and tidy off-white walls were bathed in a soft, nostalgic light, as if covered by a layer of millennium-era nostalgia, and even the corridor lights were lukewarm.
Xue Chao had prepared himself mentally. There was bound to be a full mirror in the practice room. Mirrors and stairwells were practically the breeding ground for strange things. He could make a mess of things no matter what. He wouldn't be surprised if he saw that the classroom was empty but the mirror was full of people.
But when he pushed open the door, he found that none of the classroom walls were mirrors; instead, they were all solid walls. One of the walls had curtains drawn, and through the gaps, he could see that the twilight outside was intense and almost demonic. There was a piano in one corner and a speaker in another, playing dance music.
A group of girls in ballet tutus are stretching their limbs and dancing gracefully and dynamically in a classroom without mirrors.
...Indeed, they didn't need mirrors, because all of their heads were mirrors.
Square mirrors, round mirrors, dressing mirrors, decorative mirrors, concave mirrors, and so on. Hearing the sound, the girls stopped what they were doing, and all the mirror heads looked at Xue Chao. The same face was reflected in the different mirrors, which was Xue Chao opening the door.
Although it's all him, the expressions in the mirror are different, showing various yet similar expressions of surprise. Some are exaggerated like a child, and some are playful like a young girl. Using his face to portray these expressions is particularly incongruous, as if he, a grown man, is pretending to be a little girl, which is quite disgusting.
But he knew he could never do it so naturally, so it was as if he were possessed by the ghost of some little girl. No matter what kind of skin the little girl was in, every move she made was her true soul.
Since they don't have human heads, they express their emotions by using the heads and facial features of others in the mirror.
Xue Chao stared at a group of reflections of himself in the mirror, all looking at each other. In this innocent campus setting, he didn't want to curse, but he couldn't help asking... Why the hell is this considered mental abuse?
Pu Fengchun, who had changed into the same ballet dress, ran up behind him after his clothes were tugged. She looked timidly into the room, her eyes filled with a shy anticipation.
According to the setting, these girls are Pu Fengchun's classmates.
Xue Chao remembered Pu Fengchun's S-level props and casually abandoned them. He then shooed Pu Fengchun away to practice, picked up the sheet music from the speaker, and sat down next to the piano to study it.
The sheet music was called "Flowers in the Blazing Fire," which was probably the piece the speaker was playing. Most of the sheet music was smudged with ink, but Xue Chao felt it was unnecessary; even if it wasn't smudged, he wouldn't be able to read it anyway.
He leaned lazily against the piano chair, lifted the curtain and glanced out. The sunset was different from the midday sun; even though it was about to fall into night, it seemed even more dazzling.
The midday sun is bright and blazing, like a giant incandescent light shining into the sky, while dusk is like a quiet burning, as if the night is not a natural law of the alternation of day and night, but rather as if the flames have burned out the sky, leaving only darkness.
Not only the stairwell and mirrors, but he also doesn't like curtains and sunlight much now. He scoffed and pulled down the curtains, but the sound was too short and too soft, sounding like a "humph," which made Pu Fengchun, who happened to be in the back row, look at him in surprise.
Xue Chao's hand stiffened for a moment. He turned around, still with a cold and stern expression on his face, and raised his chin at Pu Fengchun with an air of official authority, indicating that she should dance properly.
Pu Fengchun, like a student caught doing something wrong by the teacher, immediately avoided eye contact and continued to dance with her partner. With the help of her special ability, she kept up quite well, neither standing out nor falling behind.
For a moment, only the soft strains of dance music filled the classroom as the girls' toes skimmed the water like dragonflies, leaving no sound or trace.
The last movement involved all the girls arranging themselves into the shape of a flower before scattering downwards, causing the flower to wither. Because of the backbend, the mirror's top folded down, perfectly reflecting the girls' calves and dance shoes. Xue Chao's gaze passed through them and suddenly froze—why was there an extra pair of feet in the mirror?
In front of a girl's head, there is only one girl making a movement, but in the mirror there are two pairs of feet intertwined, wearing the same ballet shoes. As if realizing that they have been discovered, they move their dance steps, and the extra pair of feet disappears.
Xue Chao then looked at the heads of the other girls. In some of the mirrors, there was an extra pair of feet. The next second, the girls stopped moving, and the extra feet disappeared, like a peacock retracting its tail.
The music stopped abruptly, and the dance teacher pushed open the door and entered. Her head was a bright pink prop fan, with cloth covering the bamboo fan ribs and extending out in a large section, like a flowing sleeve of an arm, hanging down to cover the fan itself, a unique "veil" for the fan head.
She gently lifted the veil, revealing a scoring board on the fan that read "60 points".
The teacher left after grading the students, and the girls immediately became dejected. Xue Chao chased after them, but the door was locked, and they couldn't get out at all.
"What score does she require you to achieve?" The spineless Xue Chao clicked his tongue. "Isn't 60 points pretty good?"
The "he" in the mirror head of a girl spoke, uttering a childish voice: "100 points."
Xue Chao's face tightened under the numbness, ignoring the strange feeling of watching himself act up, and he asked incomprehensibly, "Then what's your maximum score?"
In unison, all the girls' reflections in the mirrors spoke: "100 points."
"..." Xue Chao said coldly, "Your teacher is sick."
Do you understand what it means to be content with what you have?
The girls huddled together, discussing what was imperfect, but couldn't come to a conclusion after a long time. They had no choice but to return to their positions, dancing and looking for problems as they went. Xue Chao followed their lead and played the song for them again. He still leaned against the piano like a skeleton, but his eyes were focused as he carefully observed their movements.
They seemed to have intentionally adjusted their movements and positions. He didn't understand dance, but he felt that the girls danced very well. Every movement, every contraction and extension was just right, agile and free, like birds circling in the wind, living in the poetry of nature.
From his layman's perspective, who has absolutely no aesthetic sense, he would give it 200 points.
He sighed inwardly, tilting his head to the side on the piano bench. His long, curly hair rolled across the flat surface of the bench, obscuring his forehead and one eye. A ray of sunlight streamed in, illuminating him with a captivating, almost transparent quality, giving him a rare air of holiness. Yet, this only amplified the cruel beauty of his body hidden in the shadows, as if he himself were a comedy and a tragedy.
The other eye, which was not covered, watched as they transformed into the shape of a flower once more—this time, the feet in the mirror head became three pairs.
With another movement, the overlapping feet stood in the mirror, instantly making the once spacious dance studio feel "crowded," their toes turning towards him, the onlooker.
Xue Chao: "..." He slid down another step as if he had no bones.
The teacher reappeared, and the extra foot disappeared again. This time, the score was still 60 points; they still hadn't found the key.
Pu Fengchun blended in quite well. Although he was shy, the character seemed to really enjoy dancing, so he showed some enthusiasm beyond what was usually expected. Xue Chao just lay there, not caring about anything, treating it as a free performance, and even got a little sleepy towards the end.
“【Pu Fengchun】I always feel like I’m going to fall asleep any second now.”
"【Pu Fengchun】I was really efficient when I was with Jiang Ming, flying the whole time. But when it comes to Pu Fengchun, I just retire."
"【Pu Fengchun】Pu has a resonator, and he is also a normal person."
"【Pu Fengchun】Hahaha, don't think I didn't hear you cursing that Jiang girl who's always acting cute!"
"【Pu Fengchun】More like a jerk. If it weren't for that face, I'd punch him too. How can anyone be more pathetic than Zhu Wen? My handsome brother has become a nanny..."
"【Pu Fengchun】So he drained my energy, and I'm out of the game now (doge).
Xue Chao glanced at the words "Jiang Ming" in the comments section, his eyes flashed coldly for a moment, and then he seemed not to have seen it. When he looked up again, the girls had already surrounded Pu Fengchun.
The mirror reflected Pu Fengchun's image, staring at her with an empty and strange gaze, and they all spoke in unison: "You came last, it must be because of you."
Pu Fengchun was stunned and stood there dumbfounded. Her limbs, which could move nimbly, seemed like misfit parts, and she didn't know where to put them. She lowered her head awkwardly, not seeing that the "she" in the mirror had disappeared one after another.
—Those extra feet in the mirror are people they pulled into the mirror to hide; that's how they did it.
Xue Chao figured out the last question and chuckled, "I said... if you're going to pick a fight, then pick a fight. But making up such a ridiculous excuse makes it seem like your IQ needs improvement."
The phrase "the last to arrive" has a double meaning. They were the last to arrive at the classroom today, and according to the list, "Pu Fengchun" was also the last member to join this performance team. They had already been practicing for a while, so there were two ways to move around: with her and without her. Even if she didn't participate, it wouldn't make a difference.
He got up, casually turned on the speaker, and the melodious music started playing again.
He drew back the curtains, letting the setting sun stream in. He then directed them to adjust their positions, especially the direction their heads were facing. The girls, who were still somewhat skeptical, began to move. The sunlight refracted between the mirrors, eventually converging on the skirt of the girl in the center. Soon after, a wisp of smoke rose.
“Girls, pay attention to the title,” Xue Chao waved the sheet music, “This dance is called ‘Flowers in the Fiery Blaze’.”
As the sparks of light appeared, the girl instinctively looked down. The instant the light was reflected in the mirror, she was ignited. The flames circled her fluffy skirt and, with each dance step, spread to the other girls, igniting the entire dance troupe like dominoes, as if a flame had been unleashed.
The teacher's footsteps suddenly sounded; he had arrived early this time.
It seems there's no problem. Just as Xue Chao was thinking this, the music from the speaker suddenly stopped. He quickly went over to check it, patting and tapping it like he was repairing an old appliance, but he couldn't wake up the speaker that had failed him at this crucial moment.
The fire is real, so it can only be lit once. If you don't get 100 points this time, there won't be a next time. This speaker is deliberately messing with him!
He frowned, gripped the sheet music, and looked at the piano in the corner. How could he sell his music if he didn't have any? Could he just play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with one finger?
He had just shifted his gaze to the window, intending to carry out another window-breaking operation with the child, when he saw Pu Fengchun smoothly break away from the group, jump onto the piano bench, and as soon as her ten fingers touched the ground, she calmed down completely, like a layer of cool rainwater gathering in a burning forest. The melody was perfectly in tune, even more beautiful than the recorded piece, as if she were telling a poignant and dramatic story.
The teacher, fanning his head with props, eagerly opened the door, only to see the final, perfect "flower in the flames" frozen in time.
She was quite disappointed that she couldn't find fault with him, so she could only reluctantly give him 100 points.
Xue Chao grabbed Pu Fengchun and ran. He looked back one last time and saw that all four walls of the classroom had become mirrors. There were several times more girls than before standing in them, like they were standing in a Rubik's Cube cage made of mirrors.
In the pitch-black, smooth cage, only the flames formed by the ballet tutus filled the space, like a vibrant sunset spread out.
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