Chapter 183 Mirrors and Secret Realms

The moonlight was heavy.

Deep within the Slums, in an abandoned clearing.

It remained as deathly still as it had been moments ago.

The ripples echoing through the space quietly subsided, and the frozen, black-haired figure vanished along with the smoothed-out folds.

"Drip, drop."

Crimson blood sprayed uncontrollably from the wound on his throat, pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

Yet the Elf with the messy blond hair seemed completely numb to the pain. He maintained that bizarre, twisted stance, his face as cold and rigid as a corpse.

He tilted his head up slightly.

His vacant, unfocused eyes reflected the full silver moon hanging at the center of the sky.

He stared at the bright moonlight drifting gently like a thin veil over the clearing.

There was no communication.

Or perhaps it was simply imperceptible to ordinary people.

It was like a faint, fleeting breeze.

When the Elf retracted his gaze, that gentle, veil-like moonlight quietly dissolved into the depths of the night.

Tap—

It was the soft rustle of shifting footsteps.

With the same swaying, unsteady gait as when he had arrived, the blond Elf turned around, seemingly ready to leave.

But the moment he took a single step, his long, slender legs shattered completely, bursting into splinters of bone and a mush of flesh.

Like a malfunctioning machine, the Elf's body collapsed to the ground in a terrifyingly stiff posture.

That viscous language, which sounded like a command from another world, was not something an adventurer—especially one not known for physical fortitude—could endure.

The blond Elf lay paralyzed on the ground as magma-like streaks of bloody light surfaced on his skin at a visible rate.

It wouldn't take long. In a matter of seconds, this completely overdrawn, collapsing corpse would turn into an unrecognizable puddle of bloody mud.

He just lay there quietly.

Face turned toward the sky, his eyes dim and lifeless, he didn't make a single movement.

But in the next second.

On the other side of the clearing, the flesh and blood of Buck, the Lycanthropy patient who had been dismembered by an invisible force...

...were silently swept up. They converged into a bloody stream that meandered and flowed through the air.

They swirled around and merged into the Elf's body.

The cracks on the surface of his skin rapidly faded, his shattered legs slowly regenerated, and his burst neck, which had exposed his vertebrae, healed along with them...

He didn't care about the curse of "Lycanthropy" hidden within the flesh, nor did he mind the faint moonlight that entered his body alongside the blood and gore.

From beginning to end, his stiff expression showed absolutely no emotional fluctuation.

With golden strands of blood-soaked hair clinging to his cheeks, the Elf rose stiffly to his feet, as if nothing had happened.

He walked toward the shadows of a dilapidated bungalow nearby.

Staggering, he disappeared into the night.

The cold night wind howled past.

In the clearing, all that remained were a few claw marks left from the battle, two or three brown bristles wedged into the cracks of the stone, and a pale bear skeleton.

...

...

It was difficult to describe Xia Nan's feelings at this moment with words.

Normally, whether it was the so-called "transmigration" or the "time travel" from various works in his previous life, there was always some sort of transitional process.

It might be star trails rapidly receding behind him, or a sudden bout of dizziness leading to a loss of consciousness.

Even for himself, before transmigrating to this world, he had at least heard a few honks and the sound of tires skidding across the pavement.

But right now, what was happening to him...

...was like waking from a dream. In a physically literal "blink of an eye," the surrounding scenery instantly shifted.

The terrifyingly bizarre and powerful blond Elf, the bright and gentle moonlight, the fur and bones of the brown bear, and even the blurry outlines of the sprawling ruined houses in the distance...

They all vanished into thin air in an instant.

In their place was a suddenly bright and spacious environment with neat shelves pressed against the wooden walls. Even the faint stench of rot that had hung in the air was replaced by a familiar incense.

The sudden shift in space made Xia Nan subconsciously take a step back.

"Creak."

His thick leather boots landed on the wooden floorboards, producing a crisp sound.

Realizing he had regained control of his body, Xia Nan suddenly bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he gasped heavily for breath.

The veins on his neck bulged, and his forehead was already slick with sweat.

The terrifying pressure he had endured during those brief few minutes erupted all at once.

"What... what the hell was that!?"

The exaggerated and bizarre performance the other party displayed was completely unlike the abilities a normal adventurer who had yet to reach the Transcendent Tier should possess.

Recalling the image of the Elf seemingly unused to his own body, looking particularly awkward even when just walking, Xia Nan suspected whether the person standing before him just now was still the same Elf he had met at the Association dozens of days ago.

But regardless, one thing was certain.

Everything that had happened in this short half of the night was highly connected to that [Sheep-Deer Figurine].

The Elf's sudden entrance, his own frozen body, the system note he was forced to read out loud, and the so-called "His True Name"...

'Since when did this start?'

'Was it the encounter at Jeff's house the day I first arrived in Nym, or...'

His train of thought abruptly halted.

Xia Nan stiffened in surprise.

His eyes stared straight ahead at the rows of familiar, empty shelves.

He subconsciously turned around, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

It wasn't a particularly spacious room, but the simple and clever interior layout made it feel exceptionally bright and clean.

The wooden cabinets placed against the wall, along with the small front counter pushed close to the back room, revealed the purpose of this space on some level:

—a small shop for selling goods.

If that were all, it naturally wouldn't have left Xia Nan so astonished.

However, the memories surging in his mind were clearly telling him something.

This was the very shop he had visited many times, where he had earned a three-digit sum of gold coins by relying on various small stones—

The general store known as Fey Wind!

And at the same time, this was the location of his very first contact with the [Sheep-Deer Figurine]!

"I'm back in Rivervale Town!?"

Xia Nan felt himself swallowed by a massive sense of absurdity.

If it weren't for the two pieces of armor on his body that had been melted into molten iron, and the wood carving missing from the shelf...

He might have even thought that his recent experiences, traveling from Rivervale Town to Nym, were nothing more than a hallucination caused by the statue.

He stared at his reflection in the window, called up his Attribute Panel, and carefully checked the proficiency of his combat techniques. Only after confirming they were no longer in the same state as before his departure did he breathe a slight sigh of relief.

At the same time, as reason returned to his brain after the extreme stress and his heart gradually settled following his temporary escape, he noticed the anomaly in his surroundings.

First of all, one thing was certain.

His current location was absolutely the Fey Wind general store in Rivervale Town.

The layout inside the shop, the decoration style, and even several details that ordinary people rarely paid attention to were exactly identical to what he had seen before.

But...

Farlio, the shopkeeper who wore gold-rimmed glasses and should have been sitting behind the counter, was nowhere to be seen.

Not a single sound could be heard from the back room either.

Even outside the door, the bustling street that was normally filled with coming and going adventurers day and night was left in a deathly, silent stillness.

Sensing something was wrong, Xia Nan tightly gripped his Decapitating Longsword. His body tensed as he kept his guard up against any potential danger.

Lightening his footsteps, he cautiously pushed open the general store's door.

"Ring, ring~"

The bell hung above the wooden door jingled lightly.

What entered his vision was a street he couldn't be any more familiar with.

The straight and spacious cobblestone avenue, the colorful signboards meant to attract passersby, the various shops lined up closely together...

From a distance, Xia Nan could even see the highly recognizable Adventurers' Association, styled after the Misty Forest and resembling a massive oak tree.

Except, on this historically bustling street...

...there was no one around.

Let alone adventurers or merchants, he couldn't even see a single sparrow.

A hint of caution flashed deep within his dark eyes as inexplicable thoughts flowed through his mind.

With the iron-gray tip of his sword angled upward, he slowly stepped forward.

He didn't rashly call out. He just walked down the road toward the Adventurers' Association.

He had originally assumed that after reciting that so-called "True Name," he had been teleported to Rivervale Town.

But the current situation seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined.

It was like a "mirror world" from the urban legends of his past life. The environment was entirely identical to reality, yet not a single person was here.

Not knowing how to get out, he planned to visit the Adventurers' Association first.

After all, in his impression, the Association was the safest place in the entire town.

If everything besides living beings had been copied in, then in a place where high-level Class Holders gathered in the real world, he might just find something useful to help him escape this predicament.

As he pondered this, Xia Nan's light footsteps suddenly halted.

Appearing before him was a tightly shut door.

Through the crack in the door, he could vaguely see the warm, orange glow of lights inside.

This was... the White Chickadee Tavern.

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind. As if to confirm something, he slowly stepped forward and carefully pushed the door open.

"Creak."

Accompanied by the stiff squeal of rubbing hinges, what appeared in his line of sight were the flickering flames in the fireplace, the glass cups refracting a transparent luster, the gently swaying colorful tapestries... and the completely empty tables, without a single soul to be seen.

Ever since transmigrating to this world, Xia Nan had never seen the White Chickadee Tavern in such a state.

Even on the busiest Hunting Days, the tavern hall would be filled with the boisterous clamor of adventurers and packed with the smells of alcohol and food.

Right now, however, it was so vast and silent.

The intense contrast sent a chill through his heart.

Taking a deep breath, Xia Nan walked straight in. Following his memory, he made his way to his long-term rented room on the second floor.

He observed the room carefully.

He found that the furnishings were exactly as they had been when he left.

Inside the drawer were a few silver coins he had temporarily stashed away and forgotten to take with him.

Near the doorway facing the outside corridor, there were even several bloody shoe prints left behind.

Xia Nan remembered it very clearly. That day, when he packed his luggage and planned to head out to the relay station to catch a ride to Nym...

...he had coincidentally bumped into a few adventurers returning to rest after a quest, completely covered in blood.

He recalled the tavern owner, Chapton, complaining at the time that the blood dripping onto the floor would be a hassle to clean.

But now...

Xia Nan frowned deeply, catching on to the discrepancy.

Based on his impression of the tavern's cleaners, stains located in such a conspicuous spot in the corridor would never be left there for the next day.

It was just a few bloody footprints. No matter how hard they were to clean, it had been almost a month since he left. Even if they only sprinkled a bit of water and gave it a casual wipe every day, it would have been dealt with long ago.

It was impossible for them to look exactly like what he was seeing now, as if they had just been left there.

'Could it be... the timeline of this mirror world isn't synchronized with the outside world?'

'Instead, it's frozen on the day I left Rivervale Town?'

Without any further clues, Xia Nan furrowed his brows in thought for a moment before deciding not to dwell on it.

He left the second floor of the tavern and returned to the main street outside.

He figured that no matter what, he should visit the Adventurers' Association first and assess the situation from there.

...

The Association was located right next door to the White Chickadee Tavern.

Barely two steps out the door, the unique, oak-tree-like building appeared before his eyes.

It was equally deserted and empty.

Only the crisp wind drifted through the bounty board, which used to be swarmed by adventurers, and the front desks that normally had long lines.

As his gaze swept across the vast hall, Xia Nan's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had thought of something.

He maintained a highly concentrated state of attention, ready for combat at any moment.

Yet, his body moved toward the alchemist's shop in the corner of the hall.

Regardless of whether he could eventually get out or not, if he truly was the only person in this world, and all the items had been perfectly copied over...

...wouldn't those expensive potions on the alchemist shop's shelves, easily priced at tens or hundreds of gold coins, all be ownerless?

His emotions surged wildly, reaching their peak when he actually pulled a Healing Potion priced at a whopping fifty gold coins straight off the shelf.

At this moment, Xia Nan wished he could clear out the entire shop and pack up every single potion to take with him.

But just as his heart wavered with excitement, a blurry, pitch-black shadow in the corner of the shelf caught his peripheral vision.

'What potion was originally placed there again?'

That was the first reaction in his mind.

He suddenly froze, realizing a certain possibility.

Clutching the Healing Potion in his palm, he quickly walked out of the shop and headed toward the stairs leading to the Association's second floor.

The journey was smooth, without the slightest obstruction.

But just as he followed the stairs up to the landing and looked toward the upper-floor area he had never once laid eyes on... all that entered his vision was a blurry expanse of black shadows.

Intangible, impossible to approach.

He casually popped the cork and downed the entire Healing Potion.

The taste was still sweet and refreshing, but the warm current meant to restore stamina and heal wounds never appeared.

It was as if it really were just a bottle of sweet water, utterly stripped of its healing effects.

Xia Nan walked out of the Association, his gaze scanning the empty street.

He randomly picked an alleyway he had never visited before—shrouded in shadows; stepped into a clothing store he had never patronized—filled with shadows; forcefully broke open a storage trunk with unknown contents—shadows...

It was only then that he finally realized.

Where he currently was wasn't a mirror world of reality like he had once thought.

Rather, it was Rivervale Town as seen through his own first-person perspective, driven entirely by his memories and cognition.

Countless chaotic thoughts intertwined in his mind.

Xia Nan stood on the main street, thinking, as his gaze swept over the familiar scenery around him.

He didn't know why, but even though the triggering method was entirely different and the resulting scene was fundamentally distinct, at this moment, his thoughts drifted back to his memories from over half a year ago, when he followed the half-elf squad deep into the Misty Forest and ultimately stumbled into the Snake Den Secret Realm by mistake.

To some degree, the two... seemed to share similarities.

Both featured creations bursting with strong otherworldly styles that appeared out of thin air—the classical Eastern architecture scattered throughout the forest, and the bizarre, inexplicably hot statue of unknown origin;

Both featured suddenly shifted environments—from the real world to some alternate dimension...

And if it really was as he suspected...

Then, just like the Gourd Vine Dewdrop in the deepest part of the Snake Den.

Within this area, there had to be some core object that could help him break free from it.

"Clack... clack..."

As he pondered, a faint yet distinct, eerie noise drifted to his ears from the end of the street.