Chapter 18: Purchasing a Mirror Clone

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Inside the mirrored space, there were five originals and twenty-one duplicates, creating a lively scene. As the number of duplicates increased, so did the space’s area, so it did not feel cramped. At this moment, the other four all turned their gaze toward Summer Sky, their looks cold and filled with resentment. Summer Sky noticed Luo Ying scrutinizing him and felt a surge of unease—if his true self were chosen, he was as good as dead.

“Wait a moment, I have something to say!”

“Hmph, now you’re scared, huh? Say whatever you need to say quickly!”

Liu Wangcai glared at Summer Sky with a hostile expression.

“I’m not talking to you; I’m talking to it.”

Summer Sky turned to the nearest mirror duplicate beside him. “I want to buy a duplicate mirror!”

He had been holding several small gold ingots all along; now he picked them up and presented them to the duplicate. Suddenly, all the mirror duplicates present revealed greedy glints in their eyes. This was the eerie allure of spirit money, especially the rare gold variety, which was even more tempting.

Four characters flashed suddenly on the mirror: [Game Paused!]

The mirror duplicate beside Summer Sky stopped mimicking him, instead smiling broadly and speaking.

“I’ll sell them—one gold tael per duplicate mirror.”

“That’s all the gold I have.”

Summer Sky handed over all the gold ingots. The duplicate weighed them in its hand. “Sixteen taels, I’ll give you sixteen duplicate mirrors.”

For these eerie mirror beings, a duplicate mirror was merely a small concentration of their own netherworldly energy, worth far less than a gold tael. They never expected a human to agree without bargaining—a real sucker!

Hurriedly, it condensed sixteen duplicate mirrors and handed them to Summer Sky, fearing he might change his mind.

Summer Sky took the mirrors and used them all at once. Instantly, sixteen mirror duplicates appeared around him, forming a tight circle. But he was not done—he moved back and forth with the duplicates, circling around, creating a dazzling spectacle that made it impossible to tell which was the real self.

Once again, four characters appeared on the mirror: [Game Resumed!]

Summer Sky looked at Luo Ying. “Are you sure you want to choose me? The chance is only one in twenty—far lower than the others. Remember, if you pick wrong, it’s death!”

His words shocked everyone. So the game could be played this way!

“This isn’t fair! Why can he buy items?”

Liu Wangcai loudly protested to his own duplicates, “I don’t have gold, but I have money—I’ll buy items too!”

He always carried some cash when going out, and now it came in handy. He pulled out his wallet and took out a thick stack of red bills.

But his duplicates ignored him completely.

“What’s going on? Won’t you accept paper money?”

Liu Wangcai looked at Summer Sky, hoping for an answer.

Summer Sky ignored him and instead reminded Luo Ying, “The longer you delay, the more duplicates appear, and the lower your chances of selecting the real self. Friendly tip: choosing someone familiar makes it easier to find the true self.”

Luo Ying and Liu Wangcai exchanged a glance.

“What the hell do you mean? Trying to sow discord?” Liu Wangcai shouted angrily.

Zhang Zhihu thought for a moment and then asked the hotel cleaning staff, “How did you identify the cleaner’s true self so accurately?”

This was the question Luo Ying and Liu Wangcai also wanted to ask.

The female staff’s eyes darted nervously as she hesitated. “I’m quite familiar with her. When we made eye contact, I just felt one of them was familiar, and the other two a bit strange.”

Her words confirmed Summer Sky’s hint: choosing someone familiar makes it easier to identify the real self.

“Familiar! Eye contact!”

Zhang Zhihu silently noted these two keywords.

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Another minute passed, and each person gained another mirror duplicate. Luo Ying was startled and suddenly made a decision, turning to Liu Wangcai and studying him carefully.

Liu Wangcai’s face instantly darkened. “What the hell are you doing? Trying to get me killed?”

“You said you loved me, that you’d divorce for me, that you’d die for me. Now’s the time to keep your promise!”

“Screw that! I was just talking nonsense. You trash, who’d want to die for you? Don’t pick me!”

As the saying goes, when disaster strikes, everyone flees; besides, they weren’t even married—just a wild pair of lovers.

Luo Ying’s face darkened at his insults but grew even more determined to pick Liu Wangcai.

She fixed her gaze on his six images, relying on years of intimacy to sense that one in the middle felt familiar.

Suddenly, her face brightened, and she was about to point when Liu Wangcai sensed danger and abruptly lunged forward.

“You bastard! If you dare pick me, I’ll kill you!”

Unable to distinguish Luo Ying’s true self, he grabbed one at random and clutched its neck tightly.

His six duplicates also charged forward, each grabbing one of Luo Ying’s images, with an extra one left over.

Luo Ying fought back fiercely, and chaos erupted.

Zhang Zhihu wanted to intervene but suddenly noticed Summer Sky wasn’t watching the fight but staring at the mirror.

He turned his gaze and saw a line of blood-red characters appearing one by one.

[Attack mirror duplicates, die!]

As soon as the exclamation mark finished, all of Liu Wangcai and Luo Ying’s mirror duplicates froze, grinning strangely, then swarmed them.

They tore the souls from their bodies, shredded and devoured them, then all the duplicates vanished.

The restroom suddenly fell silent.

The female staff and Zhang Zhihu nervously stared at the two newly added corpses, speechless for a long time.

So there were rules like this!

Were there other rules where a slight mistake meant death?

Zhang Zhihu suddenly glared at Summer Sky. “Did you know these rules all along? Why didn’t you say anything? You just watched them die?”

“Whether told or not, the end result doesn’t change—they’ll all die eventually.”

Summer Sky said coldly and calmly.

This game resembled the Ghost Mother’s baby-seeking game—only one person could survive and leave. If he told others, it would only bring trouble upon himself.

Once again, the mirror displayed images of three people, cycling through before finally selecting Zhang Zhihu.

He looked at Summer Sky, then at the female staff—who should he pick?

The female staff had five duplicates; Summer Sky had twenty-one. No need to hesitate—choosing the female staff made it easier to find the real self.

“Don’t pick me! I don’t want to die!” the female staff pleaded tearfully.

“No one wants to die!” Zhang Zhihu sighed and looked away, toward Summer Sky.

“Thank you! Thank you!” the female staff rushed to thank him, thinking he was kind and would spare her for now.

Little did she know, Zhang Zhihu didn’t pick her because of the game’s rules.

The rules stated that the person picked as the true self would survive until the next round. What defined a round? Presumably, everyone choosing once constituted a round.

The first round was not over yet. If he picked the female staff’s true self and she died, it would conflict with rule one.

Judging by the nature of this mysterious game, there was likely a hidden rule: the person who successfully selects a true self cannot be chosen by others in the same round, or they might be killed for breaking the rules.

As an experienced policeman, he was alert to this possibility.

He scanned each of Summer Sky’s mirror duplicates, closely examining their eyes, while pondering the two keywords the female staff mentioned: “familiar” and “eye contact.”

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Mirror duplicates were like copies; they could mimic actions and expressions simultaneously, but there had to be differences. Otherwise, the female staff couldn’t have identified the cleaner’s true self just by eye contact.

So the key probably lay in the eyes.

Eyes were a remarkable organ; even without blinking, they could convey different emotions depending on one’s mood.

Time ticked by; the three remaining each gained another duplicate.

Zhang Zhihu analyzed carefully, observing over twenty pairs of Summer Sky’s eyes.

They all appeared calm and indifferent, seemingly identical.

After a moment, he suddenly sensed one pair’s gaze was colder, as if looking at a corpse.

Startled, he realized he had seen such a look before.

It was the look of ruthless killers or battle-hardened veterans—an utter disregard for life.

“Got you!” Zhang Zhihu snorted coldly. “Tell me everything you know, or I’ll point out your true self right now.”

Summer Sky met his direct gaze, somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected the old policeman to find his true self by observation alone and couldn’t help but admire him.

If his true self were chosen, it meant certain death.

“Knowing or not won’t change the outcome; only the last survivor escapes.”

“Is there really no other way? Why are you so calm? Are you sure you’ll be the last one standing?”

“Of course I am.”

“Hmph! I’ve already found your true self—the second row, fourth from the left. If I point to it now, how can you survive according to the game rules?”

“Are you so sure?”

Summer Sky suddenly smiled. “Talking doesn’t count—you have to point with your hand. You can try.”

Zhang Zhihu had been certain but now hesitated after hearing this.

This guy knew the rules and was so calm; he must not fear being found.

But why?

As he pondered, another minute passed, and the number of duplicates increased again.

With less than a minute left, Zhang Zhihu suddenly looked up and glared furiously at Summer Sky.

“This has to be psychological warfare. I’m absolutely certain which is your true self.”

He raised his hand to point.

And indeed, he was correct.

Just as his arm extended and was about to point at the target, his vision blurred, and the person vanished from that spot.

His hand was still pointing, but now at a duplicate behind the original position.

“What’s going on? Where did the person go?” Zhang Zhihu’s eyes widened, fear creeping onto his face.

“I’m right here.”

Suddenly, a head popped out from behind one of the mirror duplicates nearby.

At the last moment, Summer Sky had used shadow teleportation, hiding within a duplicate’s shadow.

Since mirror duplicates couldn’t replicate other eerie techniques, they stood frozen in place, not moving with him.

“You... you’re not human?”

That was Zhang Zhihu’s last sentence.

He never waited for an answer, as the mirror duplicate beside him killed him.

Now, only Summer Sky and the hotel female staff remained.

The mirror displayed images once more, this time without cycling, since Summer Sky was the only one left to choose in this round.