Chapter 106: Fusion Skill

Chapter 106: Fusion Skills

Xing Ye's eyes scanned the description on his phone over and over again, confirming the mirror could truly return with him to the real world. However, he could only do so as a mirror, and couldn't return to his real body.

Xing Ye had always believed that if an opposing fate player consistently dedicated their rewards to their following fate player prop, there would eventually be a point where the following fate prop could regain their human bodies. He wasn't completely sure before, but after seeing this QR code, he was certain.

Lu Mingze could return to the real world. As long as they kept breaking through these challenges, he would one day recover his body.

At the beginning, Xing Ye had thought The Game of Challenging Fate was completely hopeless. It didn't matter if you were a following fate or opposing fate player- only despair awaited at the end. But now, it was different. The system always seemed to leave a glimmer of hope for the players. Even if it was difficult to find, it always existed for the player to find.

The little mirror was especially happy. "I can return to the real world! I can see my parents again! Even if I can't talk to them, it'll be so nice just to see them again. I'll also be able to see my body. Even though you showed me photos, it still feels better being able to see for myself."

Xing Ye felt his heart warm as he watched the mirror be so happy.

"Yeah, I'll take you to visit your parents." Xing Ye promised.

The black and white rubix cube interrupted, "Player, please draw your second QR code. I'm getting tired of spinning."

The black and white rubix cube would usually keep spinning during the QR code draw until Xing Ye told it to stop, drawing out a QR code. Xing Ye had been so focused on the first QR code's effects that he hadn't drawn the second. The black and white rubix cube had already spun for more than ten minutes now.

Xing Ye drew the second QR code. As usual, it was a QR code the mirror could equip.

Description: Prop Equipment QR code. After equipping, the mirror can freely switch its body within a range of 500 meters in the game world.

"This is also a great QR code." The mirror said happily, "If I had this ability in the previous world, it wouldn't have taken ten hours for you to find me on the first day. I could've just moved into the mirror to remind you. If I can explore within a radius of 500 meters, I can also help you scout ahead. If there's a room in front of you that might be dangerous, I can sneak in so long as there's a mirror and report back what I find! I'll be overpowered!"

Furthermore, this ability was the same as giving the mirror legs- with this, he was much more free.

By continuously increasing the strength and agency of following fate props, the system gradually made opposing fate players feel a sense of crisis.

But the mirror becoming stronger was a good thing. Before, Xing Ye was always worried that if the mirror shattered, Lu Mingze would get injured or even die. Now, there was no need to worry. Even if the mirror broke, it would break into countless smaller mirror fragments that Lu Mingze could transfer to. With this ability, it was very difficult for anybody to threaten the mirror.

"I'm looking forward to the third QR code now. What if it directly lets me return to my body?" The mirror jumped with excitement.

Xing Ye shook his head, "That's unlikely. I don't think the game will let you off that easily. At the very least, I'll have to have reached the final level first."

The mirror's mood suddenly fell, "Then good luck and work hard to clear the game! I'll use all my strength to help you."

The two QR codes gave the mirror hope of recovering his body, so he eagerly anticipated what the third had in store.

But Xing Ye had a bad feeling. The first two QR codes gave the mirror hope, so the last one would likely bring despair. Generally speaking, only opposing fate players could erase a prop's consciousness, so the next QR code has to be a bomb to instigate conflict between the two.

But what kind of QR code could disturb a relationship with a favorability level of 90?

Xing Ye was very curious.

Xing Ye drew the third QR code and read the description. It wasn't an equipment type QR code, but a fusion QR code. He sighed, "I didn't think the system would do this."

"Do what? Let me see." The little cosmetic mirror next to Xing Ye jumped, curious about the third QR code.

Usually, after two good QR codes, the following fate prop would be especially excited about what the third QR code would give them. However, this QR's ability was something no opposing fate player would want a following fate prop to see.

However, Xing Ye didn't share that fear. He showed his phone to the mirror, "It's a QR code to make us fight."

The mirror leaned over and read the description off Xing Ye's phone: Fusion QR code. Requires the cooperation of both the following fate prop and opposing fate player to activate. The player and prop each contribute an initial skill to merge into a more powerful ability, controlled by the following fate prop. To use this QR code, the player and prop's favorability must exceed 90 and the opposing fate player must voluntarily contribute an initial skill.

"That's so evil!" The mirror said angrily, "It's clearly trying to anger you. The opposing fate player has to continuously help the following fate prop, protecting them, caring for them, and think of ways to keep them alive. Their relationship will get better and better under such circumstances, but now, the opposing fate player has to sacrifice one of their biggest chances of beating the game... isn't this basically forcing the opposing fate player to erase the following fate prop's consciousness?"

Xing Ye said, "Exactly. No matter how close their relationship is, when the average opposing fate player sees this QR code, they wouldn't help but think, if the system's pushing me to merge my initial skill with the following fate prop, will it later let the the prop take over my body and turn me into a prop?"

"Most opposing fate players won't be willing to give up their initial skill and refuse to let the following fate prop see the QR code. The originally good relationship between the two players will turn more and more hostile with time. The opposing fate player will eventually think, is the only way a following fate prop can return to being human by replacing me?"

"Just like that, their killing intent will grow stronger and stronger until one day, the following fate prop's consciousness is erased."

The mirror listened to Xing Ye in fear and said, "I don't want your initial skill and I don't want to take over your body either! Your brain is way more useful. You might be able to think of a way for both of us to escape this game, but I can't. I've already failed once."

Xing Ye couldn't help but smile. How could the mirror be so pure? When an ordinary person hears of this, they would either harbor ill intentions to seize the other's body or go on guard against the opposing fate player, causing a sudden drop in favorability. Basically, this wasn't a topic any pair would openly discuss."

Yet the mirror laid it all out in the open. Whether it was his own narcissism or Xing Ye's IQ, he clearly identified the strengths and weaknesses between them, and accurately made the right choice.

He glanced at his phone. Their favorability was still at 90. Neither of them had their feelings affected by this.

"No," Xing Ye said, "I think we actually can each contribute an initial skill for fusion. Your Truth Eye and my Impression Eye."

The mirror was startled and asked, "That skill is very useful to you. Won't losing it make you weaker?"

"Not necessarily," Xing Ye said, "Right now, you can freely transfer between different mirrors. In some circumstances, you'd be even more mobile than me. You also have the ability to use my points. With these conditions, if I get trapped somewhere in a game, you can take action. We've had good luck in the first few worlds, with only our strength and memory restricted. But in the next world, what if they restrict my intelligence? How would I be able to beat the game then?"

In the mirror, Lu Mingze shook his head frantically, "No, no! You can lose anything but your intelligence!"

"No, I think it'll be fine." Xing Ye said, "Because with loss, comes gain. If the system makes me intellectually disabled, the key to beating the game might be right in front of us. Then, with your freedom and skills, you can seize that opportunity. In the hospital world, the measles patient was the first to be parasitized, but he was also the closest to the truth. Have you thought about what could've happened if you had the ability to freely transfer between mirrors back then? Even if I fell into a coma, you could've helped me find QR codes. You could've also used the mirrors in the hospital to team up with Cao Qian and Guan Ling. We might've cleared it on the first day."

"True, but you had amnesia. Without a favorability of 80, I can't use my skills." The mirror said.

"No." Xing Ye said, "Your power to transfer between mirrors doesn't need favorability. It's your own ability. You could keep appearing in front of me and raise our intimacy points before I lose consciousness."

The mirror suddenly understood, "Yeah, I could've done that! You're amazing, I never thought of that."

Xing Ye patted the mirror, "I'm not anything special. I just know the game will never give us complete despair. Even in hard mode, the system left a chance to win. This QR code is the same. If two people's favorability reached 90, there should already have mutual trust with no guard between them. If the QR code can make us stronger, what the difference between it going to the player or the prop?

"It's like how property is shared between a married couple. We are one, so why does it matter who becomes stronger? That is what the game wants to test props and players. If we can pass this, we'll be invincible.

"I'm willing to give you half of me. Are you willing to give me half of you?"

Lu Mingze blushed inside the mirror. He grumbled, "This damn game, why is it making it sound like we're getting married?"

Xing Ye picked up his phone and asked again, "Are you willing?"

"I'm willing." Lu Mingze said slowly.

After getting his consent, Xing Ye activated the QR code. Three question prompts appeared on Xing Ye's phone:

"Are you willing to give up your initial skill, Impression Eye?"

"Are you sure?"

"Reminder: by activating this QR code, you will lose an initial skill."

The prompts tried to shake Xing Ye's determination, but Xing Ye was undaunted. He clicked agree firmly.

A beam of light flew out from Xing Ye's head and entered the mirror.

After a few moments, the surface of the mirror displayed a description of the new skill.

Magic Truth Mirror: An upgraded fusion skill of Impression Eye and Truth Eye. This skill can record everything occurred in front of a mirror and reconstruct things to their original forms. The skill is unaffected by illusions and deception. If the following fate prop's consciousness transfers to a mirror, the following fate prop can read all of the mirror's memories and reproduce it on the mirror's surface for the player to see. This skill inherits Truth Eye's passive trait and does not require points to be activated. However, both parties' favorability must remain above 90 for the skill to be used.

"Isn't it just an upgraded and free version of the projector skill?" The mirror asked after reading the description, "Isn't this kind of a waste of your Impression Eye?"

Xing Ye said, "It's not as simple as you think. Do you remember how in the first world, every time I chanted 'Magic mirror, magic mirror,' you would gain a special power but be controlled by the system?"

The mirror nodded, "Yeah, I used to be pretty envious of that ability. It basically made you omniscient."

"I think this ability, when combined with the ability to freely move between mirrors, is almost identical to that. Moreover, unlike the projector, I don't need to touch the player or use points to activate it. There aren't any conditions to see everything as they originally were. Suppose a following fate player finds a QR code and there's a mirror in front of him. If you enter that mirror, you can reflect the QR code to me." Xing Ye said.

The mirror was astonished, "Am I really that powerful?"

Xing Ye nodded, "There's more. Suppose the true ending of a story happens in front of a mirror. You can directly enter the mirror, read the mirror's memory, and we can clear the world, just like that. With this ability, you would be entirely deserving of being called a magic mirror."

"That's right!" In the mirror, Lu Mingze put his hands on his waist proudly, "Now, ask me a question."

Xing Ye thought for a moment and asked, "Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful person in the world?"

The mirror said without hesitation, "Lu Mingze!"

The two looked at each other and smiled. After this world, they seemed even closer than before.

The mirror said, "You're not allowed to dislike me. You have to maintain favorability above 90."

"Of course," Xing Ye tapped the mirror.

The black and white magic cube probably couldn't stand watching the two's interactions. After extracting the third QR code, it disappeared.

After receiving the rewards, Xing Ye contacted Cao Qian and Guan Ling and tallied up their points.

Cao Qian:

Props: Swan Crystal

QR Codes: 3. The original copies of Surgeon's Scapel, Teaching Plan, and Wrongly-Used Projector had never been consumed.

Starting points: 7200. Over the three days, she consumed 300 points to keep her initial skills active. She gained 3000 points for completing the game, totaling at 9900 points. She chose to draw a QR code for her reward. The QR code she drew gave the swan crystal, Linda, the ability to transform into an actual swan once per world.

Guan Ling:

Props: 100 Shot Gun. It still had 4 bullets left.

QR Codes: 0.

Guan Ling chose a prop as his reward for completing the mission and obtained "Alien Cell", which gave him the ability to instantly transform into a powerful octopus like the department head.

Starting points: 11950. He consumed 250 points for his initial skills throughout the game and received 3000 points for completing the mission, totaling at 14700 points.

Xing Ye:

Props: Mirror

QR Codes: Test Cabin

Starting points: 16,950. He consumed many points in the game- the scalpels alone were 40 QR codes. He spent a total of 7050 points and gained 39,000 points from this game, totaling at 48,900. He was only 1100 points away from entering high-level worlds.

After tallying up the points, Xing Ye turned to the mirror, "Let's go. I'll take you back to the real world."

TL's Note: Thank you Calamity for the kofi~ and sorry translations are so slow ;-;