After hearing Xing Yeâs order, Guan Ling sobbed as he charged over, using his tattered body to tear about Randyâs wooden body. He tore out Randyâs nucleus from his chest and took out a dagger from somewhere, ruthlessly stabbing it into Randyâs nucleus.
They werenât like Randy, who could use special props to kill players in the real world. Right now, even though they had defeated him, all it did was make Randy lose a perfect ending in this world.
But tearing out his nucleus still brought tremendous pain to Randy.
Just linking his arm made Xing Ye feel like his soul was being burned by an iron. He couldnât imagine the pain Randy felt with Guan Ling stabbing his nucleus threads like that. It must be a severe psychological blow for Randy.
But Xing Ye didnât sympathize with Randy at all and let Guan Ling vent.
After stabbing madly for a while, Guan Ling finally dropped his dagger powerlessly. He sobbed, âHe died. I got 1000 points. Heâs dead, but what do I do, what do I doâŠâ
His voice was crying, but no tears flowed from his eyes. Puppets had no tears.
Cao Qian limped towards the swan crystal and stopwatch. The stopwatch disappeared with Randyâs death, but the swan crystal was still there. Cao Qianâs boxing gloves had already lost their effectiveness and most of the iron plating on her body had fallen off from Words Stng. She used her withered matchstick fingers to pick up the swan crystal Linda had turned into.
They won the battle, but it was a terrible, painful victory.
Guan Ling howled, âThe game wants me to invite somebody after I become a high level player and let them be my owner, but apart from my family, who else can I trust! Who else do I dare invite! However⊠the people I trust are all the people I love and care about most. How could I invite them to such a dangerous game, where you might die at any moment? My wife and children left me because I gambled away all our savings and my parents even sold their house to help pay my debts. I canât burden them again!
âWhy did I have to gamble, why!â
He grabbed a rock from the riverbank and smashed it against his right hand like he couldnât feel any pain. He mumbled to himself, âIâll cut this hand off, I wonât ever bet again, never againâŠâ
Xing Ye had managed to keep standing, but when he heard Guan Lingâs words, he could no longer support himself. His little puppet body crumpled to the floor.
Did Xing Shuo say the same things Guan Ling said now?
Xing Ye finally understood why that day he left, Xing Shuo called out to him holding his phone but didnât say anything.
Back then, the words Xing Shuo had left unsaid were: Brother, save me.
But he didnât want to implicate the people he cared about most after discovering the systemâs malice against following fate players. When he wanted to invite Xing Ye to the game, Xing Shuo hesitated and ultimately set his phone down, telling his brother with a faint smile, âItâs nothing, Iâll tell you when you come back.â
And just like that, they parted forever.
A big body reflecting the moonlight moved in front of Xing Ye. Without lifting his head, Xing Ye knew it was the mirror. The mirror spread his arms, pulling him into a hug.
The mirror was the most tragic one out of them all. Guan Ling hadnât become a prop yet and Cao Qian and Xing Ye were opposing fate players, but the mirror had already been turned into a prop. His life and death were in Xing Yeâs hands and his consciousness could be erased at any moment.
But between them four, only the mirror was left unharmed by Words Sting. His body was in the best condition out of everybody. He hugged the tattered little puppet in his embrace tightly.
Again, Xing Ye was comforted by the mirror.
He didnât wail like Guan Ling. Even when his parents passed, Xing Ye just cried silently when he was alone. He couldnât let himself appear weak in front of others.
But the mirror could see through him. No matter if it was happiness or sadness, the mirror could see through all of it.
The mirror hugged Xing Ye for a while. When he felt Xing Ye was a little better, he released him and clattered towards Guan Ling. When he left the mirrorâs embrace, Xing Ye actually felt lonely for a moment.
The mirror stood in front of Guan Ling. âRaise your head and look at me.â
Guan Ling looked at his tattered and ragged self in the mirror.
The mirror said gently, âIâve already become a prop, but I believe Xing Ye wonât abandon me and I also believe in my own foresight. Heâs not that kind of person.â
âThatâs because you met somebody as good as Boss.â Guan Ling buried his face in his hands, not daring to look at himself in the mirror.
âUgly, right?â The mirror said bluntly, âThe way you look right now is seriously ugly. If it was any other time, thereâs no way Iâd let your face reflect on my body, but right now, youâd better look at yourself closely. The end isnât even here yet and you already canât go on. If you donât like the way you look right now, then use your starting ability. Canât you use it 3 times in 24-hours? Itâs been a day since you restored the wall and there just so happens to be three people here you can help.â
âIâŠâ Guan Ling opened his mouth. It felt like his whole world was collapsing- why should he care about a little thing like that?
But the mirror said earnestly, âYou can rage at Xing Ye and bawl in front of Cao Qian because you think youâre more miserable than them, but in front of me, you donât have the right to because Iâm more miserable than you. Youâll turn into a prop, but with your points and capabilities, who knows how long itâll take you to get to the final level. You donât know what the future has in store for you.â
His words were very reasonable, stumping Guan Ling for a moment.
The mirror looked at the threeâs ragged appearances and stood up, putting a hand on his waist, âYou guys ask yourselves, whoâs worse off than me? Iâve already spent three worlds as a prop and my bodyâs been in a vegetative state for a month. I might be killed off by the conscienceless Xing Ye at any moment, but Iâm not crying, so what are you guys crying about?â
When he saw the mirror jumping with vigor, Xing Ye really did feel better.
Under the mirrorâs admonishment, Guan Ling slowly climbed up and fixed himself first before healing Cao Qian and Xing Ye.
The three perfectly restored puppets sat on the riverbank, finally seeming a little better.
Cao Qianâs iron grafted body was recovered. She held the swan crystal, âLinda didnât disappear with Randy, but the stopwatch did, so that means Linda doesnât belong to Randy. Randy said earlier that she hasnât died yet, so I want to take the swan crystal with me. Do you think she can return to the system space with me?â
Xing Ye thought and said, âI met the mirror as a game prop in the first world. After I got a perfect ending in the novice world, the system allowed me to pick a prop from the game world and I chose the mirror. If we can get a perfect ending for this world, you might be able to choose Linda as a reward prop.â
âBefore, Iâve always thought that this was just a game. It didnât matter if I lost, but now⊠can we get a perfect ending?â Cao Qian asked.
The swan crystal trembled in her hands.
Xing Ye said, âIâm not sure. After all, Guan Lingâs QR code has already been used. Furthermore, even if you save her in the game, her body in the real world wouldâve already entered a vegetative state. If nobody takes care of her body, itâll wither away very soon. The mirrorâs parents have been taking very good care of his body, but does Linda have somebody to take care of her?â
The swan crystal shook again, as if saying no.
âWhy canât she speak?â Cao Qian asked, âCanât the mirror speak?â
âWhen I first met the mirror, he also couldnât talk and could only write. He could only talk after becoming my prop.â Xing Ye answered.
The mirror could talk when the system took over and turned him into a magic mirror, but that wasnât his voice and didnât count. After following Xing Ye, he got the ability to talk and now, he could even switch bodies. Randy said after opposing fate players get a following fate prop, the reward QR codes they draw after every world can only be used to help the following fate prop upgrade. While the following fate prop gets stronger and stronger, the opposing fate player loses his chance to get QR codes and can only rely on their starting abilities.
The game seemed to be seeking a balance between the two extremely unbalanced camps, but why?
Cao Qian listened to Xing Ye describe what a vegetative state was like before nodding, âAfter she can talk, if sheâs willing to tell me where her real body is, Iâll hire people to look after her. I donât have money right now, but after I become a high level player, I can exchange points from every world for money. At that time, I should have enough to send someone to take care of her.â
Xing Ye looked at Cao Qian in surprise. He didnât expect Cao Qian to be so selfless.
âItâs not selfless, I just donât want to see somebody die in front of me without trying to save them.â Cao Qian said, âI feel like that stopwatch was very pitiful. First his consciousness was erased, and now heâs being forced to kill people. If he was alive, thereâs no way he would be willing to do that. I donât want to become somebody like Randy.â
A tear slipped out of the swan crystal. It turned into a crystal, shattering on the ground.
Guan Ling picked up the crystal shard, dazed for a moment before suddenly hugging Cao Qianâs thigh, âQianqian, why donât you keep me!?â
Cao Qian: â...â
Guan Ling then looked at the mirror and hugged Xing Yeâs thigh once he was done hugging Cao Qianâs. âBoss, you can keep me too! Iâll definitely have at least 100 intimacy points with you! Iâm useful and competent, just use me!â
Xing Yeâs sad mood was completely destroyed by Guan Ling. He tore Guan Ling away from his leg and said impatiently, âHow many points do you have right now?â
Guan Ling rubbed the dirt off his nose, â9300. 6000 was from this world, 1000 from killing Randy and 5000 from the side quest. Boss, you gave me these points.â
Xing Ye: â... Following fate players that fight to clear worlds only become props at the final level. Why are you worried about that little amount of points? Think, how long would it take you to reach the final level relying on yourself?â
Guan Ling pondered, âTen years⊠twenty years? If I didnât have you, itâd probably take me 3-5 years to get through the chaos worlds and high level worlds are definitely even harder. I wonât dare to slack off, but with my IQ, no matter how I try, I still wonât be able to get a perfect ending. Plus, just losing once will take away half my pointsâŠâ
âThen what are you crying for?â The mirror glared at him, âYou can just live your whole life with the game.â
âThatâs, thatâs trueâŠâ Guan Ling dared to act miserable in front of everybody but the mirror. The mirror was even worse off than him.
Xing Ye ignored Guan Ling and turned to Cao Qian, âLindaâs lucky she should meet you. I hope she can treasure that. In the future, donât slack off. At the very least, you should help Cao Qian clear the worlds as quickly as possible.â
Xing Ye pushed everyoneâs spirits, âThereâs only hope for Linda if we get the perfect ending and let her become Cao Qianâs prop. Weâve already used the crucial QR code, so it wonât be easy. We need to plan well.â
Guan Ling wiped away his non-existent tears and patted his chest. âFor Linda and to collect good karma for myself, Iâll do all that I can.â
Cao Qian also clenched her fists, her fighting spirit even stronger than before.
The mirror looked at the three and smiled.
Xing Ye held the mirrorâs hand naturally. He didnât have any other thoughts; he just purely wanted to touch the mirror.
The three of them were all in despair, but with just a few short minutes, they were all burning with hope again.
Lu Mingze was truly a magical person and Xing Ye was truly grateful he met him again. Xing Ye looked at the mirrorâs ugly, dirty copper mirror face and couldnât move his gaze away for a long time.
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