The Small Mirror led the team to pass the level

Xing Ye looked at Lu Mingze and suddenly remembered something his younger brother had said behind the door: ‘people can't win on their own.’

All this time, Xing Ye had placed Lu Mingze in the position of someone to be protected and never considered letting the small mirror take the lead. But in reality, the small mirror was also capable of clearing levels on his own.

After some careful thought, Xing Ye said to Lu Mingze, "You lead the team this time. We'll follow you through the level."

"What?" It wasn't just the small mirror who was surprised—Guan Ling and Cao Qian were also incredulous.

They knew the small mirror was a special prop tied to fate and that he had a close relationship with Xing Ye. They were willing to help the mirror keep secrets and protect him, but they never considered that the mirror, like them, was a player—one with even more experience in the game than they had.

While they saw the mirror as a companion, it was always under the assumption that he was Xing Ye’s accessory, not an independent partner.

Xing Ye thought to himself that the small mirror needed a chance to showcase his abilities.

At first, Lu Mingze was surprised, but after some thought, he found it reasonable. The longer Xing Ye and the others stayed in this world, the more severely they would be affected by it. In contrast, since the mirror was an object, his emotions were not controlled by this spiritual world, allowing him to think calmly and rationally. Moreover, he had the ability of the Eye of Truth, which allowed him to see through everything—be it humans, ghosts, snakes or gods.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot," Lu Mingze said, rubbing his hands together. It had been a long time since he had led a level on his own.

Cao Qian and Guan Ling had their doubts, but seeing Xing Ye's determination, they stayed silent. After all, if the small mirror messed up, Xing Ye would clean up the mess.

Lu Mingze tilted his head and thought for a moment: "If Xing Ye’s guess is entirely correct, then Xiao Hei himself should be in this world."

"Why?" Guan Ling asked.

"Just intuition," Lu Mingze replied. "But if I had to give a reason, it would be that people perceive the world through their own eyes. Whether dreaming or imagining, the main character is always themselves, right? If this is a world after his death, he’s probably wandering around like a ghost, watching how people react to his death—whether his family, colleagues, or friends are grieving."

His reasoning was emotional and lacked theoretical support, but it was strangely convincing.

Cao Qian found herself agreeing with him and asked, "If Xiao Hei is a wandering soul, how do we find him?"

Lu Mingze thought for a moment and said, "First, we need to figure out who Xiao Hei really is, and then find his company. The people he either loves or hates most are where he will be after death. Actually, I suspect that Xiao Hei’s original company is on or near the 17th floor."

"Why? Another intuition?" Xing Ye asked, curious about Lu Mingze's reasoning.

"Because there are the most people on the 17th floor and the two floors above and below it," Lu Mingze explained. "If I were dreaming, the place with the most people would be the place I’m most familiar with. Except for familiar faces, everyone else’s faces would likely be blurry."

"A completely unfounded guess based on personal analogies, with no evidence or theoretical foundation," Xing Ye noted.

Lu Mingze puffed up his cheeks, about to get angry, but before he could, Xing Ye continued, "But oddly convincing. Let’s go check it out."

Lu Mingze's puffed-up cheeks returned to normal, and he quickly said, "But let’s not rush! We should keep searching for QR codes. There are no other players here, and no one is competing with us for the codes. It’s best to find as many as possible. Even if we don’t get ten or twenty, we should at least find three or four. How else are we going to help Xiao Hei? You Fate-defying players always give up on searching for QR codes because you think you won’t find any, so you never put effort into it. Whenever I used to clear a level, I would race against time to find as many QR codes as possible. With a handful of QR codes, I didn’t have to worry about anyone else."

His reasoning was once again solid.

However, Cao Qian raised her hand and asked, "Wait, you mentioned ten or twenty? What’s the most QR codes you’ve found in a single world?"

"At least five or six, and at most fifteen or sixteen. My record is 21, but that was in a particularly long world—I stayed there for a whole month before clearing it. I almost found a QR code every day," Lu Mingze replied.

Cao Qian's expression gradually turned blank as she turned away, trying to restrain the urge to punch this Emperor Ou. (NT: Ōu Huáng (欧皇,). Humorous and colloquial term used in Chinese internet culture to refer to someone who is incredibly lucky)

Guan Ling, also feeling jealous, said, "In one world, I usually only find two or three codes, and the most I’ve ever found is five. And now you tell me you’ve found 21? Why do I feel like compared to you, I’m a Fate-defying player?"

Lu Mingze just chuckled, accepting it as a compliment. He was never afraid of people being jealous of him—jealousy only meant he was outstanding. It was practically praise!

"So, in the past, you would just find a bunch of QR codes, activate them all, and breeze through the game. And because you have the Eye of Truth and a strong sense of intuition, no one could deceive you, making it easy for you to find clues and clear levels, right?" Xing Ye guessed.

"That’s basically how it’s always been. Sometimes I’d even give QR codes to NPCs who needed them. When I cleared the level that way, the points were much higher. It wasn’t until I met you that I learned about the true and false endings," Lu Mingze said simply.

What he didn’t realize was that the three players were now on the verge of wanting to beat him up for his words.

Cao Qian and Guan Ling were both incredibly curious about the mirror’s initial skills, and Xing Ye explained them briefly, leaving the two even more envious. Guan Ling started scratching at the wall in frustration, while Cao Qian smashed the desk in the CEO's office.

Given that they were deep in negative emotions, with their rationality gradually slipping away, it was only natural for them to lose control now and then.

Xing Ye took a deep breath, telling himself to stay calm and not to be jealous, as he handed over the leadership to Lu Mingze, letting him take the lead in searching for QR codes.

Between 1 a.m. and dawn, Lu Mingze found four QR codes in total, giving two to Guan Ling and two to Cao Qian.

"In the next world, you'll be on your own," Lu Mingze told them. "Without the Repainting Brush to help, you should conserve the QR codes. When you enter a world, don’t rush around looking for clues like Xing Ye. Start by finding QR codes and strengthening yourself first—it’ll make clearing levels easier."

He made a valid point. Xing Ye's way of clearing levels wasn’t something that regular players could easily imitate.

After much consideration, Lu Mingze finally decided which two QR codes to give Cao Qian.

Pointing to one of the QR codes, he said, "I think this one is probably the key QR code. After work starts later, we should go to the 20th floor and see the psychologist you saw in the mental world yesterday. I believe she can help us save Xiao Hei."

"Why?" Guan Ling asked, now too numb to react. He no longer felt like a 'fate-following' player. How exactly was his fate being followed?

"Because in Xiao Hei’s mental world, the psychologist was the only human—everyone else was an animal. She’s likely the only person Xiao Hei believes is human in this building, or perhaps in this world. She’s probably the only one who can help him!" Lu Mingze explained, blinking as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Xing Ye had also thought that the psychologist must hold clues, though his reasoning was different. He believed that since the psychologist had treated Xiao Hei, she must have some information. By chatting with her, they could figure out her emotions and intentions, then analyse her behaviour to determine if she harboured goodwill and could assist Xiao Hei.

Though their reasoning processes were different, Xing Ye’s method was more precise but also more complicated.

"Why wait until daytime?" Cao Qian asked, once again turning into a question machine when dealing with Lu Mingze.

She was already familiar with Xing Ye's analytical style. She had noted down everything he said, and his process of pointing out clues allowed others to analyse them on their own—there was always logic behind it. But Lu Mingze’s reasoning had no process, only the final answer, which left Cao Qian puzzled.

Xing Ye responded, "The date on the newspaper clipping was June 2nd in the morning, meaning the event would unfold the next day in the morning, so new clues would only appear during the day."

Lu Mingze, however, said, "Because work starts during the day."

Guan Ling and Cao Qian: "..."

Both explanations were strangely convincing!

Regardless of their different approaches, they reached the same conclusion. If this were an exam, both would have the correct answer. But while Xing Ye derived it step by step using formulas, Lu Mingze seemed to just casually pick option C.

At dawn, the three went to the first floor and saw a group of people with sparrow faces surrounding the air, chirping about something, with crows watching from a distance. The scene was quite similar to what Xing Ye had seen the night before.

The difference was that after a short while, the police arrived to take away the body.

The police had no visible faces; they wore uniforms and hats, but their faces were blurred.

"Xiao Hei thinks the police are trustworthy, that they’re humans, but he doesn’t personally know any police officers, so in his dream, they appear faceless," Lu Mingze explained.

Hearing this, the trio’s fear of the faceless police lessened, and they even felt a sense of familiarity.

Guan Ling and Cao Qian gradually realized the fundamental difference between Lu Mingze and Xing Ye. Xing Ye's world seemed to be composed of formulas and letters, while Lu Mingze's world was full of flowers and love. What appeared to be a terrifying world would likely become a heartwarming story in Lu Mingze’s eyes.

The most peaceful ending they had experienced was probably the harmonious puppet town, with a fairy-tale-like conclusion.

That ending had been orchestrated by Lu Mingze.

Back then, Xing Ye had been under control, and many things were handled by the mirror person. Of course, Xing Ye did most of the heavy lifting, but it was the mirror person who softened the story in the end.

After the police took away Xiao Hei's transparent body, a few people ran to the 17th floor and began loudly accusing Ren Tingman of bullying, saying that their child had been doing well during his internship and that his death was the company’s fault.

To their surprise, Ren Tingman, who had been defeated by Xing Ye and the others the previous night, was alive again. She now appeared as a cold-blooded lizard, glaring at Xiao Hei’s family with vertical pupils, indifferently stating that Xiao Hei couldn't handle the pressure and that the company had nothing to do with it.

Xiao Hei’s family didn’t have animal faces; instead, their heads were like coins. They kept demanding justice for Xiao Hei, but in reality, they were just after compensation. To Xiao Hei, it was clear that they didn’t care about him.

Lu hyena stood in front of Ren Tingman, barking wildly at Xiao Hei’s family, creating chaos on the 17th floor as tensions escalated to the point where a fight was about to break out.

"Should we stop them?" Cao Qian asked.

Normally, this would be the point to intervene—beat both sides into submission, take on the hyena and the lizard, and then get Xiao Hei’s family to help them find him.

"No need," Lu Mingze shook his head. "I’ve already found Xiao Hei."

He led them to the office aquarium, where in the midst of the colourful fish, a small, dark loach was swimming. "This is Xiao Hei. Let’s just grab a small fish tank and take him out of here, then head up to the 20th floor. No need to bother with all this fighting—it’s such a waste of time."

"How did you know he was here?" This time it was Xing Ye who asked.

If Xing Ye had stayed in the office longer, he would have figured it out too. Ren Tingman was a lizard, and she would occasionally eat one of the fish in the aquarium. This would have made Xing Ye notice the loach, as its presence in the fish tank was clearly out of place. While he might not have immediately realized the loach was Xiao Hei, he would have taken the loach away, and over time, he would have noticed its peculiarities and eventually deduced that the loach was the true master of the mental world.

Lu Mingze replied, "With the family and company people arguing like this, he must be watching silently nearby. The best spot to watch the drama unfold would be the aquarium, wouldn’t it? From there, he’d have a perfect, unobstructed view. It’s the ideal place to enjoy the show.

"Once I confirmed the location, I just had to observe the fish carefully. The most inconspicuous one would definitely be Xiao Hei."

Xing Ye, who had never experienced such idle gossip before: "..."

Having a bit more life experience might not be such a bad thing.

While Xiao Hei’s family and Ren Tingman, along with the company supervisor, were busy fighting, they grabbed a teacup and scooped out the little loach, taking him away.

It seemed that Ren Tingman noticed them, but Guan Ling immediately stepped in to block Xing Ye. As an employee of the company, he hadn’t complied with Ren Tingman’s demand for overtime and didn’t want to show his face in front of her just yet.

Standing imposingly by the aquarium, Guan Ling said to Ren Tingman, "Your company’s intern specifically chose my office to jump from, so I’m involved too. I want to know why he did it."

As the CEO of a company on the 34th floor, Ren Tingman didn’t dare stop him. Moreover, she couldn’t reprimand another intern, Xing Ye, in front of Xiao Hei’s family and Guan Ling, so she gave an awkward laugh and let Xing Ye off the hook.

Seeing her turn back to deal with Xiao Hei’s family, the three of them carefully carried the teacup and slipped out of the office with Xiao Hei.

 

Translator : DarNan