WTNL Chapter 12

Decai Middle School
Chapter 12: Beautiful Offering

The two rushed up to the fourth floor as fast as they could, stumbling along the way.

Whether it was psychological or not, this floor was far dimmer than the other three. The darkness acted like a sponge, completely absorbing all sounds, leaving only an unsettling, boundless dead silence.

Wen Jianyan paused, no longer rushing forward.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Su Cheng panted heavily, turning his head to look at him.

Wen Jianyan shook his head. He took two steps towards the stairwell, pressed one hand on the railing, and cautiously poked his head out to look down.

“…”

The stairwell was completely silent.

Whether it was the clicking sound of the utility knife being pushed out or the bizarre humming of the old witch, all of it had vanished, as if isolated in another dimension.

“They didn’t chase after us.” Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze, frowning.

Su Cheng stood blankly to the side, his chest still heaving rapidly, looking at the young man before him with some confusion.

Isn’t this a good thing?

But why… was there not a shred of relief on the other party’s face? Instead, he seemed even more grave?

Seeing that Wen Jianyan didn’t seem prepared to keep moving forward, Su Cheng said, horrified:

“Wait, you, you aren’t thinking of going back, are you?”

Looking at the pitch-black stairwell and recalling those two relentlessly pursuing NPCs just now, Su Cheng couldn’t help but shiver, proposing:

“How about we look around on the fourth floor? Maybe we’ll find some clues.”

Setting aside whether they could even go down right now, even if they could, they might just fall into the same predicament as before.

Right now, there was only one path left in front of him.

—To keep moving forward.

“…Okay.”

Wen Jianyan sighed and nodded weakly: “Let’s go.”

A stale smell of dust floated in the air. The temperature was very low, several degrees colder than downstairs. A bone-piercing chill seeped through their thin clothing, gradually invading their flesh.

There was no light source in the entire corridor, and everything was shrouded in increasingly dense darkness.

Tightly closed doors brushed past them one by one.

It was terrifyingly quiet, with only the faint friction of their shoe soles against the floor as they walked.

Groping forward in the darkness, the concept of time seemed to warp. Every second felt stretched into a century, and space itself seemed to elongate infinitely, almost giving one a strange sense of dissociation.

“Dong—”

A muffled bell rang from downstairs, vibrating the dust-filled air, making one’s mind subconsciously jolt.

“Dong— Dong—”

The bell continued to ring, striking exactly twelve times.

It was twelve o’clock.

Just then, a familiar mechanical voice sounded in both their ears simultaneously:

[Ding, detecting that the streamer’s live broadcast has reached three hours. Would you like to initiate point settlement?]

This sudden voice gave Su Cheng a fright, his shoulders trembling.

He stole a glance at Wen Jianyan and, seeing that the other party seemingly hadn’t noticed his slip-up, felt relieved and secretly replied in his mind:

“Initiate.”

At the same time, Wen Jianyan was doing the exact same thing.

His face was calm, staring straight ahead, and as he walked forward, he replied in his mind: “Initiate.”

[In E-rank live broadcast room 789326qwk, the average hourly viewership is 7000, redeemable for 700 points.

Detecting that the streamer is a novice, the points earned from this live broadcast will be doubled. 1400 points have been settled into your account.

You are 3200 points away from upgrading your live broadcast room. Please keep up the good work and achieve greater glory!]

[During your live broadcast, you received tips from 226 people, totaling 4150 tipping points.

Detecting that the streamer is a novice, the system will not take a cut from this live broadcast. 4150 points have been settled into your account.]

[Your remaining account balance is: 28450 points]

[Next point settlement time: 3:00]

Immediately after, Wen Jianyan exchanged for another two hours of survival time to ensure he lived until the next settlement.

After the purchase was complete, that voice sounded again:

[Your remaining account balance is: 10450 points]

Wen Jianyan’s footsteps abruptly stopped.

The moment the voice in his ear faded, his peripheral vision caught the existence of a door not far away.

The yellow paint on the door panel was peeling, the hinges were rusted, and the room number plate hung crookedly on it.

[408]

In the surrounding darkness, those three half-rusted numbers seemed glaringly abrupt, as if an invisible force had drawn his gaze towards it.

“…”

Fuck.

The corner of Wen Jianyan’s mouth twitched slightly.

He kept his face expressionless and walked straight ahead, eyes fixed firmly forward.

A few seconds later.

Room [408] appeared beside him again.

Without even looking, Wen Jianyan silently quickened his pace—

Soon, the sign for Room [408] hauntingly appeared before his eyes once more.

Wen Jianyan: “…………”

His feet flew, quickly leaving door after door behind him, but [408] still appeared in his line of sight again.

Su Cheng panted heavily from exhaustion, barely keeping up with Wen Jianyan’s pace: “B-brother Xiao Wen, don’t you think… we’ve been walking for a bit too long?”

The corridor stretched endlessly into the darkness ahead, feeling like a bottomless freefall.

Given the size of this building, no matter what, this corridor shouldn’t still be going on.

At some unknown point, the lights in the stairwell had long been swallowed by the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

Only pitch black remained behind them.

The dorm rooms on both sides of the corridor were all unnumbered. Every door was tightly shut as if welded together, and the dark, hollow windows stared at them lifelessly.

It was as if this endless corridor, and the two lonely people inside it, were the only things left in the entire world.

…Ghost wall?

Su Cheng involuntarily shivered.

Wen Jianyan: “…”

You think I don’t know that!

I just don’t want to know!

He finally gave up struggling, slowly came to a halt, and said weakly:

“Ah, it seems so…”

Su Cheng stopped, finally managing to catch his breath.

He seemingly didn’t notice Wen Jianyan’s strange reaction. Instead, he very cautiously began to inspect their surroundings. Suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something:

“Hey! Speaking of which, Room 408… didn’t we pass by it earlier?”

Wen Jianyan said dryly, “Did we? I didn’t notice.”

Not expecting that he would actually be the first to discover a clue this time, Su Cheng was instantly filled with energy, feeling like he was finally of some use:

“This room is definitely not ordinary!”

He stated with certainty.

Su Cheng approached cautiously, gently pushing the door with his fingertips. With a creak, 408 opened to a small crack.

He said excitedly: “This door can be pushed open!”

All the other doors they passed by were locked tight. This was the only door that could be moved.

What did this mean?!

It meant that the clues they had been searching for were right here!

Su Cheng turned his head, his eyes sparkling: “Brother Xiao Wen, let’s go, let’s go inside.”

Wen Jianyan: “…”

…Save me.

“Don’t worry, if any accident really happens,” Su Cheng puffed out his chest and said firmly, “I will definitely protect you!”

The corner of Wen Jianyan’s mouth twitched: “…Thanks.”

Although he was absolutely certain there was danger inside the door, even Wen Jianyan had to admit that in this current ghost-wall situation, bumping around the corridor like a headless fly would only pointlessly drain his stamina, doing nothing to improve their current predicament.

No matter how reluctant he was, judging from the current situation…

Walking into Room [408] had become his only option.

Su Cheng was the first to push the door open and walk inside.

Wen Jianyan raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, let out a long sigh, and had no choice but to brace himself and follow.

He raised his hand and slowly pushed open the half-open door before him.

Darkness, boundless darkness enveloped his vision.

“…Hey.”

Wen Jianyan frowned, calling out in a low voice.

No one answered.

“Where are you?”

Still, no one answered.

The room before him was pitch-black and dead silent. The only response he got was the endless, hollow sound of the wind. The person who had entered the room barely ten seconds before him had now vanished without a trace, as if swallowed whole.

Stale, chilling air rushed into his nasal cavity, causing his body temperature to slowly drop.

A bizarre tremor slowly crawled up his spine.

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. He opened the system shop and spent twenty points to buy a flashlight.

Click.

A beam of light appeared in the darkness, illuminating the scene before him.

…So many mirrors.

Wen Jianyan froze.

Before him stood several massive floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Each mirror reflected the light of the flashlight, as well as his own expressionless, tense face.

The mirrors were arranged in a staggered pattern, leaving a path in the middle that extended deep into the boundless maze.

As far as his eyes could see, there was no sign of a second person.

Wen Jianyan swallowed hard and turned to look behind him.

At some point, the door he came through had disappeared. Only countless mirrors stood silently behind him, quietly reflecting his own figure.

“…”

There was no retreat.

Wen Jianyan had no choice but to steady himself and walk into the mirror maze.

The flashlight in his hand was reflected into countless light sources by the mirrors.

Countless mirrors from all directions reflected the young man’s figure. When he moved, countless shadows moved with him simultaneously. It was as if he was surrounded and monitored by countless versions of himself within the mirrors—it was truly hair-raising.

Although every face in the mirrors was the same, staring at them for too long gave a strange sense of difference.

Wen Jianyan’s intuition was already sharp. Surrounded by countless mirrors, every nerve was kept in a state of extreme vigilance. The slightest sound at the edge of his vision would make him instantly tense up. After walking for just a few short minutes, he felt physically and mentally exhausted.

Until—

Under the light of the flashlight, the figure of a little girl appeared not far away.

Wen Jianyan froze.

Xiao Jie?

He took a few steps forward, but stopped right before bumping into a mirror.

Wen Jianyan halted his steps.

He suddenly realized that what he was seeing was an image in the mirror.

In the image, the little girl held her newly lost baby tooth, offering it towards a massive, bizarre-looking mirror, making a wish in an innocent, childish voice—I want to be able to help Mommy.

The little girl’s figure vanished.

Wen Jianyan continued forward.

In the next mirror, the old witch wailed and knelt before a mirror, using a small knife to cut off her waist-length hair—Let my daughter return; I am willing to become your slave.

Wen Jianyan’s steps paused, then he continued forward.

In the mirror after that.

The soaking wet old witch stood before the mirror, her facial features twisted and ugly, like a ghost.

She used a small knife to gouge out her own eyeballs with her own hands—I offer my eyes in exchange for more eyes, so that the person who pretended to be an intern teacher, but stole my daughter away from me, will have nowhere to hide.

Her skin split open, and malicious, rolling eyeballs grew from beneath her flesh and blood.

Wen Jianyan: “…”

This part must have happened after he entered the instance.

In other words, [NPC Mutation].

He took another step forward.

This time, all the images disappeared.

Only that sharp knife lay quietly on the ground, reflecting a cold gleam.

Every mirror reflected his own face, looking exceptionally bizarre and strange under the pale light of the flashlight.

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, turning to leave—

But the next second, his movement abruptly halted.

He turned around, but his reflection in the mirror… did not.

Wen Jianyan slowly turned his head to look into that mirror.

The reflection of himself in the mirror was smiling back at him.

To be precise, Wen Jianyan in all the mirrors revealed the same expression and performed the same action—

“Wen Jianyan” smilingly reached out his hand.

Make a wish.

Wen Jianyan heard his own voice echo in his mind.

Countless phantoms gradually surrounded him.

Make a wish.

The voice grew louder and clearer, as if sounding from all directions, swirling in his mind.

Wen Jianyan saw his reflection in the mirror slowly bend down.

“…!”

Could it be—

Wen Jianyan gasped, watching helplessly as he picked up the knife the old witch had used to gouge out her eyes, and slowly placed it across his pinky finger.

A sharp pain came from the tip of his pinky.

Wen Jianyan looked down and found a fresh, bleeding cut on his fingertip.

The Wen Jianyan in the mirror smiled, the curve of his mouth stretching wider, looking almost malicious—

However, Wen Jianyan moved faster.

Almost without thinking, he violently pushed up with his thumb.

With a click, the flashlight turned off.

The light source vanished.

Only boundless darkness and silence remained before his eyes.

Wen Jianyan panted slightly, his stiff fingers still somewhat numb.

Without a light source, the mirrors lost their function.

Good, it seems the rules here are shared with Classroom 408 in the teaching building.

But… now the same problem arose. How was he supposed to leave this room?

While Wen Jianyan was racking his brains, a familiar sensation suddenly touched his ankle.

Wet and sticky, like a skinned cat affectionately rubbing against him.

This is… Little Orange!

Could it be that not only the rules, but the space between these two rooms was also connected!

When Wen Jianyan previously destroyed the altar based on the contents of the pamphlet and released this little creature, he truly hadn’t expected this cat to be of such great use.

He breathed a sigh of relief and followed Little Orange’s guidance forward.

In pitch-black darkness where he couldn’t see his own fingers, Wen Jianyan groped forward with difficulty, sometimes even bumping into the mirror walls from time to time.

After stumbling along for an unknown amount of time, the space around him suddenly widened.

“Meow.”

A faint cat’s meow sounded.

Following that, the sticky sensation that had been winding around his ankle disappeared.

…Arrived?

Wen Jianyan hesitated for a moment. He covered the front of the flashlight with one hand, leaving only a small slit between his fingers, and then turned the flashlight back on.

A faint sliver of light leaked through the gap, barely illuminating what was in front of him.

What appeared before him was not a door, not a corridor, but an endless expanse of darkness. In the darkness, a giant mirror stood silently before him.

This mirror looked heavy and bizarre, its edges carved with strange, intricate patterns that entwined the entire mirror surface like vines.

Pulled by some strange attraction, Wen Jianyan took a step, walking toward the mirror.

Strangely, this mirror did not reflect his face.

Instead…

Wen Jianyan frowned, slowly leaning in a little closer.

The phantom of a man lay within the mirror, submerged amongst flickering shadows. Soft, pitch-black long hair spread out beneath him. On his pale skin, bizarre, sinister black patterns meandered across his pale flesh, like tattoos, or perhaps like incantations.

So tranquil, so peaceful.

And so terrifying.

Wen Jianyan’s back instantly broke out in a layer of cold sweat.

—This was a terror on a biological level.

It was like staring into an abyss he was about to fall into, able only to watch in horror as the endless darkness swallowed him.

The animal instinct to sense danger trembled madly, every cell screaming to flee, his limbs almost unable to control the urge to run—

It was hard to describe this feeling in precise words, but there was one thing Wen Jianyan was very clear about.

Although that phantom perfectly fit the standard of “looking like a human,” wasn’t ugly, and didn’t even have the slightest mutation or distortion, for some reason, the pressure he brought far exceeded any ghost or monster he had encountered in the entire instance. It was even more terrifying than this mirror itself, completely surpassing his cognition as a human being.

The aura radiating from the other party—that inhuman, almost god-and-ghost-like primal terror—made Wen Jianyan instinctively shudder.

Run!

While there’s still time!

Wen Jianyan made a prompt decision, turning to run!

However, in the instant before he could move, that strange force drawing him here suddenly strengthened!

“Wh…?!”

Wen Jianyan was shocked to discover that his limbs had lost the power to move. His entire being was uncontrollably being drawn into the mirror, and the man in the phantom was getting closer and closer to him—

Wen Jianyan abruptly widened his eyes.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Ahhhh, I’m being dragged in!

Don’t come over here, ahhhhhh!

The mirror surface rippled slightly, like a stretched-open film, embracing the young man in front of it, murmuring softly.

Come.

Beautiful sacrifice, offer your body and soul.

Come.

Bow to the Father God, become the nourishment for his awakening.

From his toes, to his calves, then to his knees, and thighs—

Wen Jianyan felt his body being pulled and rapidly sinking. It was exactly like being swallowed bit by bit into the maw of a giant beast. That bizarre and terrifying sensation made his hairs stand on end.

Watching the phantom of the man getting closer and closer to him, Wen Jianyan gasped.

“Backpack! Open backpack!”

Although he cherished his hard-earned points, and every life-saving item was absurdly expensive, if this continued, he was really going to be finished!

However, for some reason, the system seemed to have malfunctioned. No matter how Wen Jianyan called for it, it wouldn’t open.

It was exactly as if it had gone offline.

Wen Jianyan: “…”

Trash!

The man in the phantom was getting closer. Wen Jianyan could almost see his pale, sharp chin and the beautiful curve of his lower lip. As the distance closed, that hair-raising, terrifying aura radiating from him became increasingly distinct, slowly closing in on him.

Wen Jianyan: “.”

No way, no way?

He wasn’t really going to be finished just like this, right?

He gritted his teeth, steeled his heart, and violently brought the back of his hand to his mouth.

His upper and lower teeth clamped down hard!

The next second, fresh blood splattered, and scalding, crimson liquid dripped down.

Slap.

A bloody chunk of tissue, skin and flesh attached, tumbled to the ground.

Wen Jianyan spat the excess blood in his mouth onto the floor and shouted in an extremely calm voice:

“I want to make a wish!”

The sinking stopped.

Wen Jianyan saw that his own face had finally appeared on the mirror’s surface.

The “Wen Jianyan” in the mirror smiled and asked: “Then, for your wish, what sacrifice are you willing to make?”

Wen Jianyan curled the corners of his blood-stained mouth, revealing a bloody smile that looked three points more terrifying than the person in the mirror, and said categorically:

“My soul.”

“…Offer it willingly?”

The “Wen Jianyan” in the mirror paused slightly, a flash of greed quickly passing through his eyes. The next second, the curve of his lips widened, and he evaluated in an admiring tone:

“Ah, excellent quality.”

“What wish do you want to make?”

The person in the mirror became three points more solid, his tone even turning somewhat urgent.

Wen Jianyan calmly pointed at the slumbering phantom in the mirror:

“I want him.”

__

Author’s Note:

Gong (leans close): Wife, let’s cuddle.

Wen Jianyan (face full of horror): Let go of me, goddammit!

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