Chapter 103 - 83: Mirror Challenge
Chapter 103: Chapter 83: Mirror Challenge
"My Lord, I’ll go challenge the mirror!" The others stood before the information desk, having finished reading the information on the large screen, and Yuan Xiaobo was the first to speak.
Lin Yu thought about the rules of the mirror challenge and compared them to Yuan Xiaobo’s advantages. He immediately understood.
"Alright. The rules of this mirror challenge are pretty favorable for you. Go give it a try and get us off to a good start!"
"You got it! Just watch me!"
Yuan Xiaobo extended a hand, and a long, black-gold rod appeared in his grasp. A purple light swirled around it. Both ends were engraved with dragon markings, and mysterious patterns covered its shaft.
This rod was the Purple Copper Black Gold Rod. Lin Yu had placed it in the armory, and Yuan Xiaobo, having earned a chance to enter the armory the previous night, had claimed it.
After taking out the Purple Copper Black Gold Rod, Yuan Xiaobo handed it to a companion. He then proceeded to strip off his full-body armor, leaving only a few scraps of cloth covering the essential areas. The rest of his body was completely bare.
Lin Yu reached out, put an arm around Lin Chenxi, and turned her head away. Then, he smiled at Yuan Xiaobo and said, "Not planning on giving your mirror image any chance of survival, huh?"
"Hehe, better to be cautious. With no equipment and weak skills, let’s see how my mirror image plans to fight me." With that, Yuan Xiaobo walked toward a Mirror Chamber.
From the outside, a Mirror Chamber was an unremarkable room of less than 100 square meters. Many had been built; a full circle of them surrounded the outer perimeter of the Tower of Slaughter.
People could be seen entering the Mirror Chambers from time to time. When a chamber’s door was closed, it would light up. After the person inside emerged, the door would dim. This glowing and dimming was used to distinguish whether a challenge was in progress.
The Mirror Chamber Yuan Xiaobo intended to enter was also on the outer edge of the Tower of Slaughter. After the previous challenger had emerged, no one else had gone in. (Lin Yu and his large group were standing right outside, so any other heroes looking for a challenge simply walked around them and chose other chambers.)
So, he simply pushed the door open, walked in, and closed it behind him.
The door lit up.
[Please set whether to share the challenge!]
[1. Do not share.]
[2. Share with territory members.]
[3. Share with everyone.]
A system prompt sounded.
’Pick number two!’ Lin Yu thought.
A massive projection materialized out of thin air above the Mirror Chamber Yuan Xiaobo had entered. On it, two completely bare Monkey Demons could be seen facing off.
Lin Yu cautiously glanced around and, upon discovering that only the heroes from his territory could see the projection, he relaxed and began to watch with peace of mind.
After Yuan Xiaobo entered the Mirror Chamber and closed the door, a Monkey Demon that looked exactly like him appeared on the opposite side of the room.
He circled it cautiously, and his opponent mirrored his movements, circling in the exact same way, revealing no openings whatsoever.
After a few laps, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He raised his fists and charged at the mirror image across from him.
The mirror image leaped nimbly into the air, dodging the attack. It then did a somersault and punched Yuan Xiaobo in the back, simultaneously coiling its tail around his neck.
Yuan Xiaobo’s body was just about to be sent flying when an intense feeling of suffocation constricted his neck.
With a SLAM, he was thrown viciously to the ground.
Yuan Xiaobo rubbed the white welt on his neck and climbed back to his feet.
"No way... The Monkey Demon getting thrashed isn’t Yuan Xiaobo, is it?" Lin Yu stared at the projection in surprise.
"Master, Yuan Xiaobo is indeed the one being beaten!"
"Hiss... Why does it feel like the mirror image is stronger? I thought I was going to see him go in and instantly kill the thing, a total speedrun."
Lin Yu scratched his head, feeling that he had underestimated the images within these Mirror Chambers.
In the projection, Yuan Xiaobo had also shed his contemptuous attitude.
It was a good thing he had activated his innate ability the moment he entered. Otherwise, that last hit from the mirror image would have taken half his life.
Now, his Defense Power was greatly enhanced, and his attack power was equal to his Defense Power. He only needed to land a single blow on the mirror image to defeat it.
The second standoff didn’t last long before the mirror image attacked. Its movements were incredibly fluid; it was always able to land a blow on Yuan Xiaobo while simultaneously dodging his own attacks.
Yuan Xiaobo was having a miserable time. Their attributes were supposed to be identical—in fact, his own defense and attack were even higher than the image’s thanks to his innate ability—but he just couldn’t land a hit.
As far as Yuan Xiaobo was concerned, the mirror image was using his own attributes to their absolute fullest. Attacks and dodges that he could normally only pull off in a rare flash of inspiration were executed effortlessly by the image.
THUD! Yuan Xiaobo was sent flying once again.
This time, he lay on the ground and didn’t get back up.
’Going by my own habits, when an enemy is on the ground and looks dead, I always go in for the finishing blow. The image doesn’t have a weapon, so if it wants to finish me, it’ll have to come use its hands or feet. This is my only chance to grab it.’
Yuan Xiaobo lay motionless on the ground, calculating silently.
He focused all his effort on sensing the energy around him and vaguely perceived an Energy Source not far away.
Right now, this Energy Source was slowly and silently drawing closer.
’Good, a little closer... just a little closer!’
The Energy Source arrived next to Yuan Xiaobo, but he didn’t move. Just as he expected, in the next moment, the image’s Energy Source leaped far away to the other side.
’Excellent. Just as I thought. This image copied my fighting habits, too.’
Yuan Xiaobo waited quietly.
The image tested him a few more times. Finally, it stopped at a spot that was neither too far nor too close to Yuan Xiaobo.
’Alright, now’s the time!’
’Five... four... three... two... one!’
The image appeared above Yuan Xiaobo, bringing a foot down to stomp on him.
At that exact moment, Yuan Xiaobo’s eyes shot open, and he snatched the descending foot.
He then used the momentum to yank the image down, pulling it into a tight grapple.
The mirror image struggled desperately, but with his innate ability active, Yuan Xiaobo’s defense, attack, and strength were all superior, making it impossible for the image to break free.
Staring at the identical face before him, Yuan Xiaobo didn’t hesitate to slam his own head forward.
Yuan Xiaobo used a headbutt.
Once attacked, the mirror image began to struggle with all its might, but it was no use.
THUD, THUD, THUD—
The sound of continuous impacts echoed through the room. After just a few headbutts, the mirror image’s head was a bloody mess, and it soon fell silent.
Upon its death, the mirror image dissolved into a flash of white light.
Simultaneously, a white light entered Yuan Xiaobo’s body, while a golden light entered Lin Yu’s body outside the chamber.
The white light was the token for entering the second floor of the Cosmic Arena—the "Cosmic Arena Second Floor Teleportation Permit." It also healed Yuan Xiaobo’s injuries and replenished his energy, restoring him to the state he was in when he first entered the chamber.
The golden light, meanwhile, was a Golden Arena Treasure Chest and 10,000 Arena Points.
Yuan Xiaobo emerged from the Mirror Chamber, which lit up with brilliant colors, celebrating another challenger who had successfully defeated their mirror image.
"Congratulations!"
"That was awesome, Brother Yuan!"
...
As onlookers turned to stare in amazement at the brilliant lights, the group rushed forward to celebrate Yuan Xiaobo winning the territory’s first entry token.
"How was it?" Lin Yu asked curiously.
"Unbelievably tough!" Yuan Xiaobo exclaimed with feeling.
"That mirror image didn’t just copy my skills and equipment; it copied my fighting style and my habits, too. But it did everything better than I could."
"A lot of the moves it used are techniques that are really hard for me to pull off in practice or combat, but the image used them like they were nothing. Its reactions were incredibly fast, and it made zero mistakes. Aside from falling for my trap at the end, it was completely composed the entire time."
Yuan Xiaobo was deeply impressed by the image’s mastery of his own attack methods.
"We saw. That mirror image was definitely better than you!"
"You saw?" Yuan Xiaobo asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah, but only people from our territory could see it. The passersby couldn’t," Lin Yu said reassuringly.
"Oh, good!" Yuan Xiaobo relaxed. It wasn’t that he was afraid of people watching his fight, but that he had looked so pathetic and the battle hadn’t been pretty.
"I, on the other hand, think this is an excellent place to learn new techniques," Lin Chenxi spoke up from the side.
"Think about it. The image completely copies a challenger’s skills, equipment, fighting style, and habits. Its combat ability is stronger, and it can use our own skills and moves more proficiently than we can. Aside from not having our innate abilities, it’s basically an enhanced version of ourselves."
"What faster way is there to accumulate combat experience than sparring against a stronger version of yourself?"
"Exactly!" Lin Yu picked up where she left off. "Look at all those heroes constantly going in and out of the Mirror Chambers. Not a single one of them has successfully beaten their image, but they all come out looking pleased."
"It’s obvious that many people are using this place to hone their combat experience. How can we possibly miss out on such a great opportunity?"
"Everyone, go give it a try!"
After hearing Lin Yu’s words, the heroes scattered to find empty Mirror Chambers and begin their own challenges.
Lin Yu also found an unoccupied Mirror Chamber and went in for a challenge. As a mid-rank Druid, he was a hero too, just a low-grade one.
And then, without a shred of suspense, he was taken out by a full combo from his mirror image.
Outside, most of the territory’s heroes had barely taken a few steps before they saw their lord emerge from his chamber. They immediately quickened their pace to get away from the area, heading further out to find chambers of their own.
"@#$%...&&)@@¥!"
Lin Yu stomped out of the Mirror Chamber, cursing under his breath. Being slaughtered so helplessly was a terrible experience, and it didn’t feel like he’d gained any combat experience at all. Thankfully, he had set his challenge to "Do not share" before starting. Otherwise, it would have been a huge loss of face for their lord.
Lin Yu wanted to turn right back around and go in again, but he discovered there was a two-hour cooldown before he could re-enter.
With no other choice, he stood by the path with Yuan Xiaobo and started watching the challenges of his other heroes.
After a while, Lin Yu started to feel much better about himself.
One by one, the territory’s heroes were getting completely thrashed by their mirror images, sent fleeing in disarray. Even Lin Chenxi was forced onto the defensive by her image’s powerful Magic assault.