Yuying University
Chapter 489: [Hugo: Where are you?]
Looking at the figure not far away, everyone couldn’t help but be stunned.
They really hadn’t expected to encounter such a… normal figure in a place as abnormal as the “mirror world,” which made it all the more unbelievable.
While they were stunned, the short, plump middle-aged woman from not far away had already walked in with a broom, muttering as she walked:
“Look how you’ve dirtied the floor I just cleaned…”
Before she could finish, the group exchanged a look and then acted in tacit agreement.
“Hey! Hey! What are you doing!” The woman was both shocked and angry. “All of you, stop right there!”
However, her stamina was clearly no match for these anchors who had been through life and death in instances. In just over ten seconds, the group had already rushed out, leaving her voice far behind.
After confirming that they wouldn’t be caught, the group finally stopped.
Even though they had shaken off the only witness, it didn’t mean they had a better understanding of their current situation.
Water was still dripping from them as they stood there, looking at each other.
“So…”
Tian Ye spoke with some hesitation. “What’s the situation?”
If his memory served him right, they should have passed through the “mirror” surface of the swimming pool and entered the mirror world. But… this time, the mirror world was completely different from what they had expected.
Overhead, the sun was bright and brilliant, its warm rays filling the entire campus.
Not far away, the shrubs were green and lush.
The brick path under their feet was a clean, light red, and they could vaguely hear the sounds of laughter and play from the athletic field not far away.
“Could it be that the mirror here and the one in the administration building lead to different worlds?”
Wei Cheng guessed.
Wen Jianyan didn’t answer immediately.
He turned his head, looking thoughtfully at the gymnasium not far behind him, and suddenly asked, “Did you guys notice what that lady just said?”
The group paused and turned to him.
Wen Jianyan slowly repeated, “She said, ‘The swimming pool has just been built and isn’t open yet’.”
“Ah,” Yun Bilan was startled. “That’s right.”
She looked at Wen Jianyan. “Do you mean we’ve entered a time before the school became an instance?”
“Rather than saying we’ve returned,” Wen Jianyan chose his words carefully, “it’s more like a certain projection of the mirror world.”
Time travel was unscientific. Even in the [Prosperous Hotel] instance, which was most related to time, it was merely an unobserved garden box created by Nightmare. The countless efforts he made there at most only maintained the stability of the timeline, preventing it from being changed.
“Then…” Su Cheng frowned. “What do we do next?”
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, also falling into deep thought.
In fact, he hadn’t expected things to develop this way either.
Wen Jianyan had originally thought that by going through the surface of the swimming pool, they would enter the mirror world they had been to before. If that were the case, their next step would be to head to the administration building.
Not only because the vice principal’s office was on the third floor of the administration building, but also because Orange Candy, who had been replaced by her mirror image, was most likely there as well.
But now… they had entered a completely different scene from their memory.
This change was truly unexpected and had completely disrupted Wen Jianyan’s original plan.
After a long while, Wen Jianyan looked up.
He took a deep breath and made a decision:
“—Let’s go to the administration building.”
Although the situation had indeed changed slightly, the core idea for solving the problem remained the same.
Even if the third floor of the administration building here didn’t have what they wanted, it should have more and more critical clues than other places.
The group exchanged glances and nodded.
The group left the gymnasium and walked towards the administration building from memory.
Except for the overly bright sunlight and the overly new buildings, the layout here was completely identical to that in the instance.
They navigated the campus with ease, as if they had walked these paths a thousand times.
“…”
The students around them cast strange glances at them.
After all, they looked quite out of place.
It wasn’t just because they were soaking wet, but also because they carried an aura completely different from everyone else around them, an aura forged on the border of blood and fire, life and death. This temperament might not be obvious in an instance, but once placed in an overly peaceful environment, it became too prominent, even glaring.
The group ignored the surrounding stares.
“Oh, right.”
Wen Jianyan seemed to have suddenly thought of something. He paused slightly and took out his phone from his pocket. “There’s something I almost forgot.”
“?”
Wei Cheng turned his head and happened to catch a glimpse of Wen Jianyan opening a chat app and tapping on Hugo’s chat window.
“You’re going to contact Hugo?”
Wei Cheng was slightly startled as he watched Wen Jianyan quickly type in the chat box.
“Yeah.” Wen Jianyan nodded and sent the edited message.
Since they had separated two days ago, they had completely lost contact with Hugo. Hugo had not participated in their trip to the administration building for admission procedures, nor in their actions in the library and lecture hall. Even though they were used to Hugo’s style of doing things, they were still somewhat surprised—after all, before this, even though Hugo always acted alone, he would still not miss the key nodes in the instance.
“It would be best if we can contact Hugo, but unfortunately…”
Wei Cheng sighed.
He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he was going to say.
—The chances were slim.
After all, since entering this instance, Hugo had rarely acted with them.
The number of times they had successfully contacted Hugo was far less than the number of times they hadn’t.
“Buzz buzz.”
Wen Jianyan’s phone vibrated twice.
Hugo: [Where are you?]
Wei Cheng: “…”
???
In the “Integrity First” Livestream Room:
[Ahhh! The missing person!]
[He’s come back from the dead, he’s come back from the dead!]
[Hahahaha, the face-slap came too fast. Wei Cheng is probably questioning his life right now, lmao.]
Wen Jianyan paused and typed a reply:
“We’re on our way to the administration building.”
“Buzz buzz.”
The phone rang again.
This time, Hugo’s reply was again instantaneous: [Okay.]
Wen Jianyan put his phone back in his pocket, turned to look at the dumbfounded group, and said, “Hugo said he’ll wait for us at the administration building.”
“…”
The group was still a bit out of it.
Huh?
It was that easy to contact him??
Tian Ye couldn’t help but ask, “Wait, are you sure it’s the administration building here?”
After all, based on the currently known clues, there should be at least two mirror worlds.
Although the possibility was low, but… what if they and Hugo weren’t in the same world? Wouldn’t they miss each other?
Wen Jianyan shrugged. “Not sure.”
But surprisingly, he didn’t seem worried.
He started walking and said as he went, “Let’s go, we’ll know when we get there.”
The group exchanged a look and followed.
Perhaps because they had contacted Hugo, the group’s pace quickened significantly. They walked briskly and soon arrived at the entrance of the administration building.
Not far away, the semi-new, three-story building stood in the sunlight.
At the entrance of the administration building, a tall man stood leaning against the wall.
Half of his body was hidden in shadow, with only a faint red glow flickering at his lips.
Seeing people approaching, the man straightened up and walked out of the shadow.
—Who else could it be but Hugo?
Only after seeing Hugo in person did the group finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed that Tian Ye’s previous worries were unnecessary. Although they had entered here at different times, at least their destination was the same.
Soon, Hugo came to a stop in front of them.
His gaze swept over the group, and he suddenly frowned. “Where’s Orange Candy?”
The group was stunned.
Although Hugo hadn’t participated in the library operation, they had updated him on their progress and Orange Candy’s possible whereabouts after leaving the library. But now, Hugo seemed completely unaware…
Just then, as if he had already anticipated this, Wen Jianyan spoke up naturally:
“She was replaced by her mirror image and her whereabouts are temporarily unknown.”
Hugo frowned.
“Continue.”
Next, Wen Jianyan started from when they had previously separated and briefly told Hugo everything that had happened since.
Hugo’s frown deepened, eventually leaving a deep vertical line between his brows.
When he heard about the Mason, he clenched his teeth grimly, his jaw tightening into a hard line:
“That guy…”
His voice was calm, but the group could still hear a cold, gunpowder-tinged killing intent in it.
Soon, Wen Jianyan finished.
He looked at Hugo and asked, “What about you?”
Although Hugo’s killing intent towards the Mason had not dissipated, he glanced at Wen Jianyan and still took the cigarette from his lips, crushing the small remaining butt with his fingertips.
Then, in concise language, he summarized what had happened on his end.
The first half was not much different from Wen Jianyan’s speculation.
During the second-year physical education class, Hugo had taken Wen Jianyan’s place and entered the gymnasium, where he discovered the entrance in the swimming pool. He then entered the mirror world and found the door to the warehouse.
He was injured during this process.
In order to leave the warehouse, Hugo chose to explore another door.
Wen Jianyan pressed, “What was behind the door?”
Hugo glanced at him. “The library.”
Hearing this, the group exchanged glances, their expressions showing some anger.
It seemed Orange Candy’s guess was correct. There was indeed a path to the warehouse in the library.
If the Mason hadn’t jumped out and disrupted things, they might have succeeded.
“I originally wanted to leave through the library,” Hugo continued, “but there was a curse inside that I couldn’t resist in my state, so I was forced to retreat.”
Although Hugo didn’t go into detail, everyone present knew what this “unresistible terrifying curse” referred to.
To be honest…
It was already shocking that Hugo could avoid the lethal trap in the library without any prior information.
Hugo glanced at Wen Jianyan. “You already know the rest.”
Wen Jianyan nodded.
In the “Integrity First” Livestream Room:
[Yes, then he was led astray by the anchor and personally experienced what it’s like to have your luck plummet and the difficulty skyrocket.]
[Hahahahaha you’re so mean!]
“What about after we separated?” Wen Jianyan asked.
“After?” Hugo took out another cigarette, put it to his lips, and lit it. “I went back to the gymnasium, the same way I came.”
A few short words summed up all the thrilling events.
He frowned, lightly exhaling a puff of smoke, and said:
“But then, I ended up here.”
“Ended up?” Wen Jianyan noticed the key word. “How so? You weren’t here before?”
Hugo glanced at him. “No.”
Wen Jianyan: “Then where?”
Hugo recalled for a moment and described, “The sky outside the gymnasium was black and red, and the whole world was very dark.”
Wen Jianyan was startled.
Hugo’s description matched the world they had entered through the mirror on the first floor of the administration building.
Apparently, the world Hugo had entered through the swimming pool last time was indeed the same world they had also entered. It was just that when he entered the mirror world through the pool for the second time, the destination had changed.
“Then,” Wen Jianyan pondered for a moment and said, “did you lose contact with us from that time?”
Hugo: “Yes.”
Hearing this, the group’s gazes paused.
So that’s how it was.
The reason Hugo had disappeared for so long this time without any news, and had missed several important nodes in the instance, was because he had literally lost contact with them.
“…”
Thinking of this, Wei Cheng turned his head and glanced at Wen Jianyan next to him.
It was obvious that he had long guessed this possibility, which was why he had been so calm and not at all surprised by Hugo’s lack of knowledge.
“And.”
Hugo frowned and said.
“The path to the warehouse in the gymnasium has disappeared. I can no longer leave this place the same way I did last time.”
—What?
Hearing this, the group was stunned.
Wen Jianyan, however, fell into deep thought.
He understood what Hugo meant.
Apparently, when Hugo came in last time, the path to the warehouse was physically in the gymnasium—just like the one in the cafeteria kitchen. That’s why Hugo was able to find its location so clearly the first time. But after entering here for the second time, the surrounding environment changed to its current state…
It was as if time had reversed, restoring the school to its appearance before it became an instance. And because of this, the path to the underground in the gymnasium had also disappeared.
And since Hugo couldn’t leave by the original method, he was forced to be trapped in this seemingly “normal” mirror world.
“You want to go into the administration building, right?”
Hugo looked at Wen Jianyan and asked.
Wen Jianyan didn’t understand why, but he still nodded. “Yes.”
“Don’t waste your time,” Hugo said, biting his cigarette and casually blowing out a puff of smoke. “I explored it in the last cycle. There’s nothing.”
“Last cycle?”
Wen Jianyan repeated.
“Yeah,” Hugo said. “Six hours here is one cycle. Every six hours, everything resets. Even the dead will be resurrected.”
Wen Jianyan was thoughtful. “A never-ending day?”
Interesting.
However, he quickly came back to his senses. “But I have an item that’s very suitable for this kind of scene.”
Wen Jianyan took out the dead man’s eyeballs from his pocket:
“Maybe the result will be different?”
“You can try.” Hugo didn’t object.
He just stepped aside, clearing the path to the administration building.
The group exchanged glances and walked towards the administration building.
Just as they walked in, the gatekeeper old man called out, “Ahem, students, what are you doing—”
Hugo glanced over. He did something, and the other person was controlled by some invisible force, immediately losing his expression and falling silent.
Watching his overly skilled movements, Wen Jianyan paused, a bad premonition rising in his heart. “So… you said you explored it last time. How did you explore it?”
“Thoroughly.”
Hugo’s answer was concise.
Wen Jianyan asked tactfully, “How thorough?”
Hugo paused, turned to glance at him, and said, “I cleared out the school.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
No wonder he had specifically added “even the dead will be resurrected”… so he had slaughtered the entire school. No wonder he knew this information so clearly!
As if seeing Wen Jianyan’s concern, Hugo added, “So I won’t do it this time.”
Unlike the innately cruel and combative Orange Candy, Hugo was not actually bloodthirsty.
Since the last cycle proved that this method was ineffective, Hugo would not use it again this time.
For him, killing was just a means, not an end.
After subduing the gatekeeper, Hugo used the same trick again, controlling the passing student council members and the approaching teachers one after another with great skill.
And the NPCs in this mirror world were clearly not supernatural-level monsters. Controlling them was a piece of cake for a anchor of Hugo’s level.
Wen Jianyan was numb by the end.
He expressionlessly held the two dead man’s eyeballs, walking past one human puppet after another, all the way into the administration building.
Unfortunately, it turned out that what Hugo meant by “thorough” was literally “thorough.”
From the first floor to the third, Wen Jianyan used the item a total of three times.
Although the side effects of using the dead man’s eyeballs were still there, the red human face that had previously guided him never appeared again. Even his SAN value had become the in-instance value of five, not the mirror world’s 20.
In short, he found nothing.
Third floor of the administration building.
Wen Jianyan lowered the eyeballs from his face, let out a breath, and then, under the hopeful gazes of the others, slowly shook his head.
Still nothing.
Seeing Wen Jianyan shake his head, everyone’s heart sank.
…This was not a good sign.
They could no longer return the way they came through the swimming pool. Not being able to find the path to the warehouse meant that they, like Hugo, were trapped here.
Hugo stood aside with his arms crossed, clearly having anticipated this.
Wen Jianyan looked at Hugo. “You’ve checked the principal’s and vice principal’s offices too?”
Hugo: “Yes.”
Wen Jianyan glanced at the principal’s office, clearly still a bit shaken:
“Uh, no danger, right?”
Hugo: “No.”
Wen Jianyan went to the door of the principal’s office. He paused, then placed his hand on the doorknob and applied a little force—creak, the door hinge made a faint sound and was slowly opened.
Then, a room with a layout similar to the vice principal’s office appeared before him.
A heavy solid wood desk, shelves full of books, honorary certificates hanging on the wall.
Everything looked very normal, no different from a principal’s office in a regular university.
Wen Jianyan walked forward and stood in front of the desk.
The desk was very tidy. On it were a few neatly arranged books, a pen holder with pens, and a photo frame—in the frame were several smiling men and women, with the gate of Yuying Comprehensive University in the background.
Apparently, one of them was the principal of this school, the very “Zhang Yunsheng” on their admission notices.
Even though he had a name, he seemed to be an invisible person in the instance.
Wen Jianyan turned the photo frame over. On the back were two words.
[Ideal]
Wen Jianyan couldn’t make anything of it, so he put the photo frame back in its original place.
Next, he lowered his eyes, his gaze slowly moving down to the second drawer of the desk.
The surface of the solid wood drawer was shiny and quietly closed.
Even though he knew this wasn’t the principal’s office from the mission, and the drawer wasn’t the drawer from the mission, Wen Jianyan’s heart still couldn’t help but pound wildly.
He leaned down and slowly pulled open the drawer.
As expected, the drawer was empty.
“…”
Wen Jianyan let out a breath, not sure if he was relieved or disappointed.
However…
His gaze paused, landing on a mark inside the drawer—on the far left side of the drawer, there was a round imprint.
The somewhat familiar shape and size made Wen Jianyan slightly startled.
He paused, leaned down, and gently touched the edge of the imprint with his fingertip.
Just then, Hugo’s voice came from the side: “Three minutes left.”
What?
Wen Jianyan was startled and looked up.
Hugo looked at him and pointed at his watch. “Three minutes until the end of this cycle.”
He walked to the window and motioned for the others to come over:
“Look outside.”
Wen Jianyan stood up and walked over curiously.
Through the window, he could see the campus bathed in sunlight. Some students were hurrying, others were laughing and playing. Everything looked so peaceful, giving one the illusion of being in reality rather than an instance.
However… he didn’t know if it was an illusion, but in a corner of the distant sky, a faint red seemed to be spreading.
No, it wasn’t an illusion.
The red was growing at a visible rate, expanding, devouring, and finally turning into a terrifying scarlet, encroaching on the entire world from a corner of the sky—
The next second, Wen Jianyan’s vision went black.
“Splash!”
He lost his footing, and cold water rushed into his mouth and nose.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough!” Wen Jianyan surfaced, coughing his lungs out.
Through his water-blurred vision, he saw a familiar scene.
Blue ripples, a clean swimming pool, bright sunlight.
This was the gymnasium.
The place where they had first entered this cycle.
Wen Jianyan swam to the handrail at the edge of the pool and pulled himself up.
Water dripped from his body, quickly forming a puddle on the ground.
Wen Jianyan glanced down.
The clothes that had gotten wet last time hadn’t dried, and now they were soaked through again.
He sighed and bent down to wring out the edge of his shirt. But as soon as he lowered his head, a familiar wave of dizziness hit him again.
Damn it!
Wen Jianyan’s breath hitched.
He knew the side effect of the badge had appeared again.
Wen Jianyan struggled forward a few steps, stumbled against the wall, and slowly slid down.
Fortunately, the others were still in the pool and didn’t notice his current state.
After about two minutes, the feeling finally slowly dissipated.
The first thing Wen Jianyan felt was the cold, soft touch on his hand.
He lifted his eyelids with some difficulty and looked.
The black tentacle that had been obediently wrapped around his wrist as an ornament was now active again. It moved on Wen Jianyan’s palm, winding languidly around the base of his fingers, like some kind of silent comfort.
Wen Jianyan remembered how its owner had loved to hold his hand like this in the Prosperous Hotel.
Wen Jianyan flicked his fingers and shook it off his hand.
The tentacle fell to the ground, disoriented from the rough treatment it had just received.
It swayed, then quickly reoriented itself to Wen Jianyan’s position and stealthily slithered over.
Although he had only just recovered for a few seconds, Wen Jianyan was still filled with malice.
He slapped it.
“Squeak.”
The small thing let out a pitiful sound and was flattened without any resistance.
Haha.
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s eyes curved into a smile.
Just then, the others finally climbed out of the pool.
Hugo shook the water from his hair and walked over.
Wen Jianyan quickly covered his hand to hide the strange thing.
Thanks to these few seconds of brief relaxation, his brain had finally recovered from the recent torment and started working again.
Wen Jianyan frowned and looked at Hugo, his voice a bit hoarse:
“By the way, so the red just now was…”
“Fire,” Hugo said, wiping his wet face. “It appears at the end of every cycle.”
A shiver ran down Wen Jianyan’s back. As if realizing something, he asked slowly, “Where does it ignite?”
Hugo pointed downwards. “Here.”
__
Author’s note:
Wu Zhu’s tentacle has fallen on hard times. It used to play with its wife, now it can only be played with by its wife (?
