Thus the strangest scenario appeared inside Room 1074. In the grim room, a young man smiled and laughed at his reflection in the mirror. It looked like he was giving himself the greatest pep talk in the world. The man’s reflection in the mirror appeared to enjoy putting on these unusual expressions as well. It wanted to experience the range of emotions humanity had to offer, only then would it become more real and humane. With a great foundation in acting, Han Fei emoted many different expressions. They included joy, happiness, dream, anticipation and so on. His reflection in the mirror kept up the mimicry.
However, when Han Fei expressed that he was emotionally touched, his reflection’s expression became awkward. As a monster, it had true difficulty in expressing the feeling of having one’s heart touched. After all, it was supposed to be heartless. It was unclear what kind of torment it had been through but in its heart, there was nothing left but fury and resentment.
The reflection attempted for a long time before it managed to force out a broken smile that was relatively affected by gratitude.
‘My plan is working!’ Now that Han Fei knew what to do, he threw his whole energy into it. The man was a professional actor and he had been applying all his skill points into acting. Normal humans might find problems expressing themselves but Han Fei’s face was essentially a living emoji. From anxiety and pain, to despair and resignation, these were the emotions familiar to the reflection. However, the challenge was just starting. Han Fei’s face then brightened with hope as if he saw the light at the end of a long tunnel. After a difficult struggle, he finally found salvation. His reflection was unable to mimic the sense of redemption evoked by Han Fei. The mirror might have consumed many ‘people’ but before Han Fei arrived, none of the citizens in this world had experienced true redemption and salvation.
The face of his reflection in the mirror contorted as it tried to copy Han Fei’s facial expression. ‘Have I gone too far?’ Han Fei thought worriedly as he watched his other self try to assume this positive human emotion. For those without formal training, expressing one kind of emotion was hard enough, much less trying to imitate Han Fei who went through a whole emotional roller-coaster in one go.
Expression was the manifestation of one’s soul. The reflection in the mirror could easily replicate one’s actions but its expressions were always tinged with pain and hatred. Han Fei’s reflection took a long time to master Han Fei’s expression but as it continued to put in the work, the figure inside the mirror gradually coalesced. Under Han Fei’s tutelage, it became more and more like an actual human. Han Fei had no idea whether this was a good thing or not. He had no time to think about that. He just wanted to finish the mission and then escape from this room. The time ticked by. The reflection eventually emoted something akin to salvation and at the same time, Han Fei received the notification in his mind that the hidden mission had been completed.
“Notification for Player 0000! Grade G Hidden Mission—Mirror God’s Game has been completed! Obtained basic reward—1 free skill point! Obtained a unique reward from completing the hidden mission—Mirror God’s Blessing.
“Mirror God’s Blessing (Unique Passive Skill, cannot be upgraded): User possesses extra 30 points resistance to mirror-type cursed objects!
“Warning! The new unique passive skill has been activated. This skill is only obtainable by players under level 10!”
When he heard the notification, Han Fei’s gaze changed, it sharpened immediately. ‘An extra 30 points resistance to mirror-type cursed objects?’ Han Fei knew there were many cursed objects in this world, for example the table knife at Xu Qin’s home. These objects were the only weapons that could be used to injure a ghost but utilizing them would drain the user as well. ‘If I gain maximum resistance against a cursed object, does that mean I can use it without taking damage myself? Unfortunately, Mirror God’s blessing is only usable on mirror-type objects… If only it was meant for blade-type objects…’
Despite the small internal jab, Han Fei was quite thankful. Then he narrowed his eyes at the mirror before him. Well, wasn’t there a mirror-type cursed object sitting right before him? ‘But how am I supposed to use it in a battle? Carry it on my back?’ Han Fei studied the mirror silently and his reflection did the same. Their eyes met and the greed was reflected in each other’s gaze. ‘Currently, I’m still too weak to wield this mirror. I should come back when I’m a lot more powerful.’
Han Fei resumed the game. He did not hurry to leave, instead he continued to play with the mirror while moving little by little towards the anti-theft door. When his reflection was stumped by the emotion of compassion, Han Fei responded with a smile. “I’ll return one day to teach you the true meaning of salvation.” With that, Han Fei charged out from Room 1074. Before the grey arms appeared, he clicked the quit button. Blood froze before his eyes and Han Fei yanked the helmet off. “That was too close! You really can’t be too careful in that game!”
Han Fei assumed as his relationship with his neighbours continued to grow, his life inside the apartment would slowly ease into normalcy. The ambush by the non-locals was a real wake-up call. There was not a moment of reprieve inside the game, once he let his guard down, his life would be gone. “The NPC in this game has to be the most cunning and cruel characters I’ve ever encountered. I mustn’t underestimate them.”
After the close brush with death, Han Fei collapsed in his bed, fully exhausted. “After I have enough money, I should consider purchasing the gaming hub. A good one costs about 300000 RMB, well, after I help the police with another 5 more cases, I should have enough…” Thinking about the comfort of a future gaming hub, Han Fei drifted off to sleep.
…
Sunlight filtered into his room. Han Fei felt like he had not slept for that long when he was awakened by his ringing phone.
“Director Jiang?”
“Can you come to the set? I have something important to tell you.”
“Okay.”
Hearing the serious tone in Director Jiang’s voice, Han Fei did not dare to waste time. After a simple morning ritual, he rushed towards Northern Street. Munching on an egg sandwich he bought from a roadside stall, Han Fei walked into the set. Many crew members greeted him affectionately when they saw him. Han Fei nodded shyly back. He was still not used to being under the spotlight.
“Han Fei, this way!” The floor manager jogged to meet up with Han Fei. He led Han Fei to a room on the second floor. “Why are you dressed so casually today?!”
“But this is how I’m dressed every day!”
“Give me the sandwich and hurry in.” Without explaining further, the floor manager snatched away his sandwich and sent Han Fei into the room. 5 people were seated inside the small room. Director Jiang was one of them.
“Han Fei, let me make some introduction, this is Sister Long from You Long Culture, she is our producer and the CEO of our main sponsor. The lady next to her is the main female actor for our movie—Mian Nian…” Han Fei was confused as Director Jiang went through the introduction.
“Actually the reason we called you here today is because we wish to offer you a different role in this movie.” Sister Long did not look down on Han Fei due to his casual dressing, if anything, she was quietly impressed that the man did not seem to be the kind who’d be hard to please.
“A different role?” Han Fei was startled, “What role?”
“We want you to play the male main character for the Flower of Sin.”
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