Chapter 188: Extra - : The Marriage-Urging United Front Alliance (4)

Chapter 188: Extra Chapter: The Marriage-Urging United Front Alliance (4)

"WHIMPER, WHIMPER, WHIMPER... Mommy..."

Even though he knew she was just an NPC, the eerie crying still gave Yu Xian goosebumps.

Wen Xiao pressed up tightly behind Yu Xian. After a long moment of hesitation, she finally worked up the courage to ask in a soft voice:

"Little one, what’s wrong?"

The little girl slowly turned around. The light was dim, but Yu Xian could still make out that she was likely a petite adult actress. Her face was painted with a sickly makeup, and her eyes were hollow and terrified.

"Miss, I’m so scared..." the girl’s voice was thin, tinged with a heart-wrenching despair.

"I think... Mommy changed... Mommy isn’t my real mommy anymore..."

Yu Xian’s mind went blank with a BUZZ. In an instant, a chill shot up his spine and straight to the top of his head.

’She changed?’

’She isn’t the same person anymore?’

He was all too familiar with those two phrases.

He thought of the descriptions from the families of the "smiley suicide case" victims, of the "Capgras syndrome" Wen Yu had mentioned, and of the word "impostor" that had flashed through his mind on the way back to school.

Even though his rational mind told him it was just a line from an escape room script, in that instant, the boundary between reality and fiction seemed to blur.

A deep-seated fear relentlessly assaulted him.

Wen Xiao had clearly made the same connection. She shuddered violently, and her hands, which were clutching Yu Xian’s arm, tightened instantly. Her nails nearly dug into his flesh as she pressed her entire body against him.

The "little girl" paid no attention to their reactions, continuing her tearful rant as her voice grew sharper and sharper:

"Mommy came out of the Mirror World... Mommy turned into one of the people from the mirror... The people in the mirror are so scary..."

Yu Xian’s scalp tingled with dread. The little girl’s sobs grew more and more hysterical.

"She looks just like Mommy, she talks just like Mommy, and she even smiles just like Mommy... But I know she’s not Mommy at all! She’s a fake! She’s a monster from the mirror!"

Her desperate shrieks echoed through the small hospital room.

Yu Xian could feel Wen Xiao’s trembling grow more intense beside him. The girl was so scared she was almost in a daze, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.

Yu Xian took a deep breath and turned to grasp Wen Xiao’s small, cold hand. Her palm was slick with cold sweat, soft and damp. He gave it a firm squeeze, trying to transfer some warmth and strength to her, to pull her back to reality from her fearful thoughts.

"Don’t be afraid. It’s fake, just a game," he whispered in her ear.

Then, he took another deep breath and looked at the little girl, who was now somewhat exhausted from crying.

"Little sister, what do you mean by that? What do you mean, ’people from the mirror’?"

The little girl abruptly stopped crying. She lunged forward and seized Yu Xian’s other hand, her large, hollow eyes staring fixedly at him as she spoke in a voice full of panic and pleading:

"Please... I’m begging you, you must not believe the people from the Mirror World!"

Her voice became sharp and urgent.

"The people who come out of the Mirror World... even if they look exactly like the real person, even if their voice is the same, even if their memories are identical, don’t believe them! They must be—they have to be fakes!"

She clung to Yu Xian’s hand for dear life, as if it were her last lifeline.

"Mister, Miss, you have to promise me, okay? Promise me you won’t believe the people from the mirror!"

Seeing the stubborn look in her eyes, Yu Xian felt a little creeped out, but he had no choice but to nod.

"Okay, I promise you. We won’t believe them."

"No... No!" The little girl, however, seemed possessed, shaking her head frantically.

"You have to repeat after me! You have to promise me! Promise that you will absolutely not believe anyone who comes out of the Mirror World! The people from in there are definitely fakes! They are definitely not the people you once knew! Even if it’s your closest family, or your best friends, they’re all fakes!"

Yu Xian found it all a bit strange, but for the sake of progressing the story—and to get Wen Xiao out of this oppressive room as quickly as possible—he nodded.

"Fine. We promise. We absolutely will not believe anyone who comes out of the Mirror World."

At the little girl’s urging, Wen Xiao also repeated the somewhat awkward phrase, her voice trembling.

Only after they finished did the little girl finally seem to breathe a sigh of relief. She let go of his hand, a strange smile appearing on her face.

"That’s good... That’s good... I’m going to sleep now. I won’t disturb your work anymore..."

With that, she turned, climbed back onto her chair, and became as still as a puppet with its strings cut.

Yu Xian and Wen Xiao exchanged a glance, both seeing the lingering terror in the other’s eyes. They fled Room 201 as if escaping for their lives.

The two of them left the room and continued down the hallway.

The second room was Room 202. A large, full-length mirror hung on the wall by the door.

Yu Xian glanced at it subconsciously and suddenly froze.

In the mirror, the door number, which should have read "202," was instead a stark "505."

He turned his head back to look at the actual "202" on the door. It was written in a blocky, digital-clock-like font. In this font, the numbers 2 and 5 were perfect central symmetries of each other. 𝐟𝑟ⅇ

A "2," when flipped in a mirror, becomes a "5," while a "0" remains a "0."

"202 became 505..." Wen Xiao muttered, having clearly noticed the detail as well.

Room 202 was empty, containing only a few messy hospital beds.

They moved on to Room 203. The patient inside had a face as pale as paper. He paid them no mind, simply repeating the same sentence over and over mechanically: