WTNL Chapter 98

Fantasy Amusement Park 
Chapter 98: “You don’t seem very willing to see me.”

Darkness, dense and heavy, soundless and formless, quietly draped down.

Like some sort of gelatinous substance, it seeped through the cracks in the train windows, encroaching upon and swallowing the light, occupying every single corner of the entire space.

The sudden burst of light from flares and other items could only drive the darkness back for a few short seconds, barely illuminating a narrow patch of space.

And in the moment the items were extinguished, the darkness would once again besiege and conquer, silently and densely closing in.

Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, his chest heaving violently.

Bad.

Bad bad bad.

The sensation coming from his neck was so familiar.

The darkness extended terrifying tentacles, cold and soft, like fingers nonchalantly stroking the skin, and also like a rope tightly binding the throat.

Wrapping around the innocent prey’s neck, mercilessly tightening.

Wen Jianyan’s scalp tingled.

He opened the virtual live broadcast interface at top speed, frantically tapping the keys in the void.

Useless.

The item’s usage duration remained fixed at ****, unable to end, and unable to be retracted.

Damn it…

How could this happen?

Wen Jianyan was having a slight breakdown.

He truly hadn’t expected that using mirror-related items would actually bring about this kind of result! There obviously wasn’t this problem in the Thrill Zone or the North Square—

That mirror house, hidden among the dense branches, reflecting brilliant light under the sun, flashed through his mind.

Wen Jianyan froze slightly.

Or was it because of the zone he was currently in?

In the few seconds he was stunned, the area of contact between the darkness and his skin expanded bit by bit. The cold, semi-fluid sensation pressed against his throat, bringing a suffocating feeling of restricted breathing.

“…!!!”

Wen Jianyan’s pupils shrank.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to be being dragged backward, and that the mirror was right behind him.

He was; he was going to be dragged in!

He struggled violently.

Seeming to feel the intense resistance and reluctance from the prey, almost overflowing, more solid entities formed from the darkness reached out from the depths of the mirror, wrapping around the teenager’s slightly concave, slender waist.

Shoulders and arms, calves, ankles.

Under that irresistible force, the teenager’s tiptoes uncontrollably lifted slightly into the air. His entire person hung in mid-air like an oversized doll.

Wen Jianyan could feel his calves bump into something hard.

It seemed to be the frame of the mirror.

However, within the frame, where he should have touched the cold, hard mirror surface, there was only a void, like shallow water, carrying a terrifying suction force, seemingly pulling him inward.

Fuck!!!!

He really was going to be yanked in this time!

In his desperation, Wen Jianyan used his calves and joints to firmly wedge himself against the two sides of the mirror, preventing himself from being dragged directly in.

“Help mph mph—!”

The next second, the darkness solidified and sealed Wen Jianyan’s mouth, wrapping around his cheeks circle by circle. All muffled sounds were blocked in his throat, and the broken, guttural noises squeezed out were drowned out by the wails of zombies and the intense gunfire all around.

Gagging again!

Gagging again!

Wen Jianyan was so angry his vision went black.

…Damn it!

If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have said he was fine just because he was worried his teammates would be distracted during the zombie tide!

More than half of his body had already sunk into the mirror.

Under the restraint of the darkness, Wen Jianyan struggled to move his fingers, pulled something out of his pocket, and dropped it onto the floor.

The sharp edge cut the soft pad of his finger, and scarlet blood dripped down.

Then, he relaxed his body.

The youthful body that had been constantly tense, struggling, and resisting abruptly slacked. The taut bowstring suddenly turned into soft vines, and the slender legs firmly wedged on both sides of the mirror let go.

The teenager ceased his fierce resistance, as if accepting his fate, obediently being dragged into the darkness.

Mid-air seemed to ripple with a shallow wave.

The translucent ripples swallowed his figure entirely, and then he disappeared, as if he had never been there from the start, leaving absolutely no trace behind.

“Woo woo—”

The train whistle hummed. Accompanied by the rhythmic clattering and swaying, the long train finally emerged from the pitch-black tunnel.

Bright light poured in from outside the windows, dispelling the dense darkness that had seemed impenetrable.

Whether it was the scratching sounds or the wailing sounds, everything vanished without a trace the moment the train exited the tunnel.

This time, the tunnel was far longer than the first time, and the number of attacking “zombies” was absurdly high. They could only be killed using specific “guns”; other things could only restrict their movements.

Some streamers had run out of ammunition and could only repeatedly activate items to barely hold on, forcibly enduring until the train left the tunnel and the zombies stopped attacking.

The air was filled with a strong, fishy, damp smell.

Everyone involuntarily let out a long breath, relaxing as if having survived a disaster.

“Finally survived this wave, there should only be the last—”

As Wen Ya spoke, she turned her head to look behind her.

The next second, she froze, and the rest of her words were subconsciously swallowed back into her throat.

Behind her, there was only a heavily panting Lilith. Wen Jianyan, who had been staying beside them all along, had vanished without a trace, as if he had disappeared into thin air.

Not far away, Huang Mao panted heavily as if drained of strength, subconsciously turning his head to look in the direction of the target.

The moment he looked over, he also froze in place.

That teenager was gone.

Only his two teammates remained in place.

“…”

How could this happen?

The scene from just now flashed through his mind. In the brief moment illuminated by the flare, two identical teenagers looked over with astonishing synchronization, gave a short laugh, and were then swallowed by the darkness again.

That’s right.

He absolutely used a mirror image.

But… why, after the train exited the tunnel, had the target, who should have been unharmed, disappeared?

Huang Mao stared blankly in that direction, almost unable to believe his eyes.

Hui Cheng withdrew his gaze.

He patted Huang Mao’s shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief: “Good job, wrap it up.”

Huang Mao opened his mouth.

But, but—

At that time… he clearly didn’t fall for the trick!

For some unknown reason, a strong feeling fermented in his heart.

The target was not dead.

Just like the previous two times, he had found a way to easily escape from the vision he relied on for survival and was so proud of, deceiving his five senses and evading his gaze.

“H-how could this happen? Could it be he was bitten by a zombie? Or dragged away?”

Lilith spun around anxiously, even wanting to go rummage through that pile of swollen corpses.

Fortunately, Wen Ya pulled her back in time:

“Calm down!”

Not far away, Yun Bilan and her companion, who had separated from them before entering the tunnel, rushed over at this moment. Upon realizing someone was missing, both were also taken aback: “Where is he?”

Wen Ya shook her head, her voice strained:

“Gone, he’s gone.”

“…”

The blue-haired girl narrowed her eyes slightly. She turned her head, her gaze burning with raging fury, searching for the traces of that group of people:

“Where are those guys?”

Wen Ya, having just talked Lilith down, hurried forward to grab Yun Bilan, feeling overwhelmed: “Wait, don’t be impulsive! Whether he was bitten by a zombie or ambushed by the other side, it’s impossible to have this kind of situation where we can’t find him alive or dead. There must be a hidden reason behind this—”

“Hey…”

Right at this moment, Elise suddenly spoke up: “Look, what’s that?”

The group froze and subconsciously looked in the direction Elise pointed.

On a patch of floor soaked with dripping water, they could faintly see something pressed beneath a pale, swollen corpse.

Wen Ya activated an item and quickly stepped forward.

Before the corpse exploded, she rescued the thing pressed beneath it.

The group moved to a safe, empty space.

“What is it?” Lilith asked somewhat eagerly.

The others also looked towards Wen Ya’s palm one by one.

There were two items.

One was a tortoiseshell cat doll, and the other was a simply folded piece of paper, its edges stained with a bit of fresh blood.

The group exchanged glances.

Wen Ya unfolded the paper.

Handwriting, somewhat blurred from being soaked in water, appeared before everyone.

[Fantasy Amusement Park Employee Rules]

Wen Jianyan crashed heavily onto the floor.

“…Hiss!”

He inhaled sharply.

The bones all over his body felt like they had been shattered, his joints aching dully from the impact just now, especially that small patch of skin that had firmly wedged against the outer edge of the mirror; right now, it burned with pain.

Wen Jianyan caught his breath, waiting for his somewhat blackened vision to return to normal.

He realized he was lying on a massive mirror.

The floor was cold and smooth. The flat surface was shiny enough to reflect people, clearly mirroring his slightly contorted, pale face.

“…”

That solid entity formed from darkness also seemed to have disappeared, vanishing to parts unknown.

Wen Jianyan stared at his face reflected in the mirror, steadied himself, and then slowly crawled up from the floor.

The moment he stood up, he was dazzled and felt dizzy.

The floor, the ceiling, around him…

He saw that in all directions, as far as the eye could see, there were entirely brand new, shiny mirrors.

Mirror Maze.

Wen Jianyan’s heart sank, as if something cold and heavy was pressing in his stomach, making it a bit hard to breathe.

“You seem not very willing to see me.”

The man’s low, cold voice rang right next to his ear.

Wen Jianyan shivered and abruptly jumped to the side.

There was nothing behind him.

Every mirror reflected a version of himself, reflecting the same calm face feigning composure, pale, taut, chest heaving unevenly, with nowhere to hide under the light coming from an unknown source, moving synchronously with his real body.

In this space of indeterminate size, there was only him, and his countless shadows lingering among the mirror surfaces.

“I didn’t, absolutely not!”

Wen Jianyan hastily shook his head, denying it flatly.

His brain raced, frantically searching his mind for the vocabulary he should use. He said in a respectful, terrified, almost humble tone:

“It’s just… just that I didn’t expect to actually have the honor of meeting you again. It was truly too unexpected; I just lost my composure for a moment—”

“Is that so.”

The other party’s voice carried a noncommittal indifference; it was impossible to tell if he believed the human’s words before him.

“Y-yes.”

Wen Jianyan’s heart was almost in his throat, pounding frantically in his chest. His entire being’s nerves were stretched to the limit, almost ready to swear an oath: “Absolutely true!”

In the mirror opposite him, darkness gathered bit by bit.

A tall man draped in black robes slowly appeared in the mirror surface.

Pitch-black, talisman-like patterns snaked across his exposed pale skin. A pair of purely beast-like golden eyes were hidden beneath long eyelashes, an emotionless, icy gaze falling on Wen Jianyan.

Under the gaze of those eyes, everything he had encountered before flooded vividly into his mind, causing Wen Jianyan’s hair to stand on end involuntarily.

He reflexively took a step back.

His back bumped against a mirror surface, making a soft “thud”.

“Since that’s the case…”

The next second, the man’s voice rang right behind his ear, making Wen Jianyan’s scalp tingle and a chill climb up the back of his neck.

He stiffly turned his head, frame by frame.

He saw that in the mirror pressed tightly behind him, Wu Zhu’s figure clearly emerged.

He lowered his head. Using those icy, desolate golden eyes, he stared fixedly at the teenager who was almost pressed into his chest, and said in a low voice:

“Then what are you hiding from?”

__

Author’s Note:

Do you not have any self-awareness at all? (pointing fingers)