A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

This statement was so absurd that Fang Xu almost burst out laughing. But he held back, because the atmosphere simply wouldn't allow it.

The soul remained silent for a long time.

She finally nodded. The thick fog dissipated, revealing a road.

[Dungeon cleared.]

[Grade: A.]

#Chapter Twenty-Nine Fragments of Memory

After leaving the Bone Village, the five people were teleported back to their respective real-world locations.

When Han Ying opened her eyes, she was still lying in her own bed. It was already daylight outside the window.

She sat up and grabbed her phone—the date showed only one night had passed. Seven days in the game had been compressed into a few hours in reality.

There was a message in the message list from Zhou Lang: [Let's meet before the next dungeon run, I need to talk to you.]

Han Ying replied with "okay," then leaned against the headboard in a daze.

Zhou Lang's words kept replaying in her mind. The difficulty level was fluctuating abnormally. The rules didn't match. A bug.

She pulled out her game log. First dungeon, Horror Manor, rating A. Second, Abandoned Hospital, rating A. Third, Bone Village, rating A.

All three times were A.

On the forum, the success rate for an A-level rating is less than five percent. She thought it was due to good luck and Zhou Lang's excellent guidance, but what if the dungeon itself was abnormally difficult?

She clicked on the newbie guide post on the forum, which stated: The first dungeon is usually of D or C difficulty, increasing with the number of times you clear it.

Her first time was at the Horror Manor. That instance was categorized on the forums as—

Grade B.

I got into a B-level dungeon on my first try.

Han Yingying put down her phone and stared at the ceiling. Something stirred deep within her memory, like silt being stirred up from the bottom of a river, murky and unclear.

This unease lasted for three days.

On the third night, she had a dream. In the dream, she was standing in a white space with a screen in front of her. On the screen was the back of a person, slender and with crisp, clean movements, soloing a boss in a dungeon.

The scene was too fast for her to see the details, but the techniques... those movements and judgments, were all too familiar.

She reached out to touch the screen, and the image shattered the moment her fingers touched it. A face was reflected in the shards—her own face, but the expression was cold, colder than she seemed.

The alarm clock rang.

Han Yingying sat up abruptly, her back covered in sweat.

Before she could even savor the dream, her phone screen lit up.

[A strange phenomenon occurs.]

"Here we go again?" Han Yingying cursed, grabbing her phone to check the rules.

[Instance: Mirror Academy]

[Difficulty: A.]

[Team: Matched.]

The view went black.

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in front of a teaching building. Zhou Lang was standing next to her, looking down at the system panel with a calm expression.

"You're here too," Han Yingying said.

"Hmm." Zhou Lang put away the panel. "Rank A. Five-player mode."

Han Yingying looked around—Su Qing ran over from the corner, followed by Lin Yuan and Fang Xu.

"What a coincidence," Fang Xu said, clasping his hands together. "We've run into each other again."

Lin Yuan adjusted his glasses: "It's highly likely that the system prioritized matchmaking based on the team relationships from the last dungeon run."

All five of them are here.

The rules are simple: The Academy of Mirrors has seven cursed mirrors. Find and destroy all the mirrors to clear the level. The time limit is 48 hours.

"Are there any special restrictions?" Lin Yuan asked.

Zhou Lang scrolled down to the very bottom of the rules: "You can't look in the mirror. If you do, you'll be replaced by your reflection."

Su Qing instinctively covered her eyes: "Then how do we destroy it? Smash it with our eyes closed?"

"More or less," Zhou Lang said casually, "or cover the reflective surface before you start."

The five entered the teaching building. The interior structure was bizarre—going up the stairs would lead back to the starting point, the door numbers in the corridors were random, some classrooms contained coffins, and some classrooms had desks but mannequins sitting on them.

Han Ying found the first mirror at the end of the second-floor corridor. It was set in the wall, with a black metal frame and an unnatural, eerie blue sheen.

Without looking at the mirror, she took a cloth from her inventory, covered it with it, and then smashed it with the hilt of her dagger.

Amidst the cracking sound, the system notification appeared: [1/7 destroyed.]

simple.

But simple things can't last forever.

The third mirror was in the fourth-floor restroom. When Han Ying went in, there was already someone inside—a "she" who looked exactly like her, standing in front of the sink with her back to the door.

I turned around and smiled.

Han Yingying reacted faster than she thought. The dagger flew from her hand and embedded itself in "her" shoulder. The thing screamed and shattered into pieces.

The third mirror shattered.

But Han Yingying felt as if something had stabbed her in the head.

A scene flashed before her eyes—she saw herself standing in a dark space, holding something in her hand, with a group of ghosts kneeling before her. She spoke a few words to the ghosts.

What did you say?

The screen disappeared.

She leaned against the wall, her temples suddenly throbbing.

"Han Yingying!" Zhou Lang's voice came from the corridor. He ran over, saw her expression, and reached out to support her arm. "What's wrong?"

"My head hurts." Han Yingying rubbed her temples. "It's probably from when I broke the mirror. It's nothing serious."

Zhou Lang looked at her for two seconds, then released his grip without saying anything more.

But after that, the distance between him and Han Yingying noticeably shortened. It wasn't intentional; it was more like an unconscious approach—walking half a step behind her, his gaze frequently sweeping over her.

Fang Xu was the first to notice. He leaned close to Lin Yuan's ear and whispered two words: "Protect your own."

Lin Yuan glanced at him.

The fifth mirror has a big problem.

The mirror was hanging in a locked classroom. When Zhou Lang broke down the door, he discovered that the mirror had no physical form—it was a projection on the entire wall.

It can't be covered by cloth, and it can't be torn apart.

"We'll need skill-based items," Lin Yuan said. "Are there any destructive skills?"

Han Yingying hesitated for a moment.

She has a skill. It was a reward after clearing the last dungeon, called [Suppression] – it can exert a suppressive force on non-natural beings, causing them to temporarily lose their ability to act.

But she rarely uses this skill. Because every time she uses it, the familiarity becomes so intense that it makes her uncomfortable.

"I'll do it," she said.

Facing the mirror on the wall, Han Yingying raised her right hand, and the power within her surged forth.

A dark golden light spread from her palm, like a net sweeping across the entire wall. The mirror trembled violently, cracks appeared on its surface, and a piercing roar came from within.

Three seconds later, the entire wall crumbled into powder.

[5/7 destroyed.]

Han Yingying withdrew her hand, her fingertips slightly numb.

No one spoke behind him.

She turned around and found Fang Xu's mouth open, unable to close it for a long time.

"You..." Fang Xu pointed at her, his hand trembling, "This skill—this release method—I've seen it in the replay video!"

Lin Yuan pulled him back: "Shut up."

"No, Lao Lin, didn't you see?" Fang Xu lowered his voice, but it was no use. "That big shot used this move against the S-rank boss in the sixth dungeon! Exactly the same! A dark golden suppressive field that shattered in three seconds, even the way it spread was the same—"