Chapter 27: The Mirror's Abilities
TL's Note: I probably should've mentioned it earlier, but here's a link to the nursery rhyme 'Who Killed Cock Robin'. I only remembered bc the author did a Chinese translation of it on the next chapter and I was dying before I realised I could just provide a link
Chapter 27:
The second Xing Ye finished speaking, the door behind Ms. Li was kicked open.
At that moment, Ms. Li was leaning on the door and Xing Ye was standing in front of her, close to losing consciousness. The force of Cao Qian’s kick was very strong, directly sending the door, Ms. Li, and Xing Ye flying out all at once before she heaved her gun, planting a bullet right in Ms. Li’s forehead.
She was too fast, giving Ms. Li no time at all to react. She died just like that, silently, with a bullet pierced through her skull.
Cao Qian put away her gun and checked her phone with a satisfied smile. “Not bad, I got a thousand points. I just need to kill another 50 and I’ll be a high level player.”
Xing Ye: “...”
He started to understand how she got those 200,000 points even with her rotten luck and temperament.
She was even more decisive than Xing Ye in her actions. Even when Ms. Li was already kicked to the floor, helpless, Cao Qian didn’t even consider trying to get information from her. She just directly killed her without the slightest hesitation.
“Aren’t you worried that she might have some critical information?” Xing Ye slowly crawled up. After Ms. Li died, the effects of her special QR code immediately disappeared. He could finally think properly now that he wasn’t agitated or dizzy.
“Finding clues and solving the riddles is your job, I’m just in charge of firepower.”
“That’s true.” Xing Ye stood up, his waist aching a little.
Cao Qian’s kick was too strong and sent them flying with the door. Xing Ye was standing the farthest away from the door so he should’ve gotten the least damage, but his waist still hurt
terribly.
When he pulled out his phone to add Ms. Li’s Wechat, Xing Ye took the opportunity to quickly send Cao Qian a text, telling her to attack the English teacher’s office door in a few minutes. After sending the message, he used threats and intimidation to force Ms. Li’s back against the door while also taking the chance to make her use up all her special QR codes and starting abilities. That way, Ms. Li would have no way to guard against Cao Qian’s attack.
Now he knew QR codes were divided into two categories: prop types, such as Cao Qian’s gun, and special ability types.
Once transformed, prop type special QR codes could not be reverted and before it’s depleted, but it wouldn’t influence the use of other special QR codes. In comparison, ability type special QR codes could only be used one at a time. For example, the prolonged mood influencing ability Ms. Li used on Xing Ye was very strong, allowing Xing Ye to gradually fall under her control. However, its shortcoming was that she couldn’t use other ability type QR codes in that timeframe.
That means that if a player used a prop type QR code first, they could use an ability type QR code as well. However, if they used an ability type QR code first, then before the effect disappears, they could not use another special QR code, including prop type QR codes.
Starting skills, however, could be used in conjunction with special QR codes.
Xing Ye sniffed the perfume which had fallen onto the ground and found that it no longer did anything. Although prop type QR codes could be superimposed with ability types and lasted for a long time, it had one shortcoming- it could be stolen. After changing into a prop, anybody who got it could use it, whereas ability type QR codes could only be used by its holder.
The perfume was Ms. Li’s starting ability, not a prop. Could turning perfume into an incapacitating agent count as a medicinal skill? Her starting skill couldn’t just be that. She probably also had the ability to use it for both healing and poison. Cao Qian was right- this person’s ability was too dangerous. Letting her live would be too risky.
Xing Ye looked at Ms. Li, thinking about how to dispose of her corpse, when Cao Qian tapped the QR code scanner on her phone and sweeped the camera over Ms. Li’s corpse. Just like that, the body and even the bloodstains on the floor disappeared without a trace.
Cao Qian saw the doubtful expression on Xing Ye’s face and let him see her phone. “The melee world is different from the novice world. The novice world has a newbie protection policy so killing other players won’t grant you any points. The consequences of killing yourself also wouldn’t be as bad as if you did it in the melee world. Here, after killing a player, a victory screen will appear on your phone and you will have the choice to see their profile. Of course, you can’t do it without the whole body, so it’s much better to keep the corpse than destroy it.”
“Loser’s Information” appeared on the screen.
Player Name: Li Hong
Camp: Following Fate Camp
Points: 7850 (Already deducted from loss)
Starting Ability: Perfume can be both poisonous and useful (every 10 seconds of use costs 50 points)
Number of Special QR Codes: 4 (The victor cannot see the details)
Number of Worlds Experienced: 6
Number of Players Defeated: 23
Ms. Li’s starting ability was truly powerful. She could use perfume to both attack and assist, making her a good fit in a team. With her teammates helping her gain points, she would be able to become a remarkable support.
“Didn’t you say the majority of starting abilities were related to physical capabilities?” Xing Ye asked.
Cao Qian was expressionless. “Most of the opposing fate camp’s are.”
Xing Ye: “...”
Alright then, it’s better to not compare luck with the following fate camp, or you’d end up doubting life.
Cao Qian continued, “Although starting abilities are useful, they also cost a lot of points. With a cost of 50 pts for 10 seconds, the ability’s only useful if you have a large reserve of points. In comparison, my starting ability only costs 50 points for the whole day. With the 1000 points I just got, I can use it for a long time.”
It looks like starting abilities all had a base price of 50 points and the duration would depend on the ability type.
Cao Qian’s starting ability was extraordinary strength and agility. Combined with her Hundred Shot Gun, she could be classified as a powerful attack-type teammate.
“In any case, now we can ascertain Li Hong, Wu Yu, and Di Kuang are in a group…” Xing Ye suddenly thought of something, “People from the same camp can team up and enter the same world, so how about people from different camps?”
“They can’t.” Cao Qian shook her head, “Unless you use special QR codes.”
That also meant Di Kuang’s camp was unknown.
Xing Ye had Cao Qian hurry back to class while there were no people. He could take all the responsibility for breaking the door- in any case, a second time didn’t matter.
Without Ms. Li’s corpse, Xing Ye was just called to the office for breaking school property again. Seeing him twice in one day made the headmaster so angry that his stomach hurt. He called Xing Ye’s father again, but since his father was abroad and couldn’t come in to talk, the issue was just settled by paying for damages again.
By the time the headmaster finished lecturing him, the sky was already dark and there was no food left in the dining hall. However, this was a private school and with money, you could buy everything. Xing Ye ordered a portion of food and ate till he was full before returning to the dormitory. On the way back, he felt somebody staring behind him.
There wasn’t really somebody staring behind him, but it was a spine-chilling feeling. Together with the hand that kept randomly patting his shoulder, Xing Ye was certain there was somebody behind him that he couldn’t see.
The more Xing Ye walked, the heavier his back felt. He hadn’t reached the dormitory when it felt like an incredibly heavy person was pressing down on his back to the point where he almost couldn’t breathe or take another step.
Xing Ye staunchly refused to look back. Even if he had to crawl at the speed of a tortoise, he kept walking straight to the dormitories. He acted like he didn’t feel anything, just taking it as an illusion.
The spirit behind him finally couldn’t help it and crawled off his back, tightly grabbing Xing Ye’s legs so he couldn’t move.
A chilly feeling encased his ankles. The fingers were thin, with sharp nails, seeming to belong to a young girl’s. However, there was still a chance that they could be a man.
The pair of hands seemed to be using all their strength to stop Xing Ye from continuing. The campus was usually filled with students, but right now, everyone seemed to have suddenly disappeared. The road in front of Xing Ye disappeared, making it impossible for him to take another step.
He stood there, pondering for a few moments before asking, “Are you the robin or sparrow?”
Were they somebody killed without a trial, or a sinner who was about to be tried?
Cool air sprayed at Xing Ye’s ear as a voice echoed in his mind. “Who killed Robin, who killed Robin?”
It was Sparrow, and Sparrow had surrendered themselves very quickly. At the start of the nursery rhyme, Sparrow had admitted it outright, but their words never had a trace of regret. From start to finish, they never thought their action was wrong.
Why was Sparrow like that?
“The real or fake Sparrow?” Xing Ye asked again.
The pair of hands suddenly disappeared. The road was normal again and the students’ noisy clamours filled the air again.
The three legends- the piano, the person patting your shoulder, and the person staring behind you- were all linked together. It was hard to see how it was connected to Miss Human Head, but they all wanted somebody dead and pushed them to solve their problem as quickly as possible.
There were still seven days before college exams… could that be the time limit on the mission? If they don’t find the mission task and designated NPC before then, the clues would disappear forever and they’d be trapped on the campus.
Xing Ye had arranged to meet with Cao Qian at 11 in the office building and it was currently 8. He needed to rest a little so he pushed back thinking about the spirit until after his nap.
His bedroom was fantastic: big, for one person, and had a stand alone bathroom, and a comfortable bed.
Xing Ye laid on the bed and finally had a chance to take out somebody who had performed amazingly today- the mirror.
“I was about to suffocate,” The mirror shouted as soon as he came out, panting, “You’re so dense sometimes, how could you not see that Ms. Li was a player?”
“I was a little suspicious at first, but that play Wu Yu and the others put on was too stimulating so I relaxed my guard against Ms. Li.” Xing Ye faced his mistakes calmly, “Good thing you reminded me. If I said ‘yes’, it’d be equivalent to my last psychological barriers being broken and I would have completely fallen under her control.”
Seeing how candid Xing Ye was, the mirror couldn’t say any more and answered with an ambiguous “Hmpth!”
Xing Ye understood the mirror a little more now and knew what he wanted to hear: “I underestimated you before and just thought you were a useless mirror without any real skills. I was wrong and I’ll reflect on my wrongs. I also need to thank you for helping me earlier.”
The mirror was satisfied: “Hmpth! At least you’re tactful.”
“You’re amazing. Even though you were in my pocket the whole time, you still found something was off.” Xing Ye continued his praise, making sure he got everything.
“Of course I’m amazing!” If the mirror had a body, he definitely would’ve had his hands on his hips and chest puffed out. “Although I’m trapped in this mirror and can’t use my QR codes, I have experience! It was clear from your voice that something was wrong! Besides, don’t underestimate me- I still have my starting ability! I just have no points, or I also would’ve been able to eliminate somebody.”
“What’s your starting ability?” Xing Ye was very curious.
Luck should’ve been 90% of the reason how the little mirror became a high level player, but he himself… should probably be at least 10%, right? Xing Ye thought without any real expectations.
“I’ll just show you.”
After saying that, a row of text flashed on the mirror’s surface.
Starting Abilities: Otherworldly Beauty, Truth Eye.
Otherworldly Beauty: Every hour costs 50 points. Your beauty bewitches every player and NPC with your eyes, making them unable to attack you.
Truth Eye: No cost. You are an expert in seeing through all guises and can see through all disguise-type special abilities. As long as the user’s eyesight is intact, this ability is passively used.
The author has something to say:
Xing Ye: This is the first time I heard beauty could be a special ability.
Kiki: LOL SAME, I was literally choking when I saw that the Mirror's ability was fricking beauty!