Alice's Hell (17) - The Terrified One in the Mirror

"You're out, but I'm still inside," the person in the mirror murmured with a smile, the scissors in their hand opening and closing unconsciously. "I want to get out too, can you help me?"

Upon hearing the ghost's question, Yu Xing resisted the urge to walk towards the mirror and took a moment to glance at the updated information in the ghost notification.

Goblin 5: Best Friend

[Corresponding tourist:???]

[Description/Source: 1. You in the mirror. 2. The familiar you. 3. The guilty you. 4. The resentful you.]

[Attack Method/Special Ability:???]

[Solution:???]

[Notification progress: 20%]

This was truly the strangest description Yu Xing had ever seen, which was enough to show that the ghostly [good friend] did indeed have some special characteristics.

He looked up at the mirror. The scissors were oddly shaped, resembling medical scissors, yet frighteningly large, gleaming with a cold light. Just looking at them gave him a stinging sensation, and suspicious dark red liquid was constantly dripping from the blade.

Seeing Yu Xing remain silent, the expression in the mirror changed from kind to ferocious. Staring at Yu Xing, who was stubbornly resisting against the table, it asked with extreme displeasure, "Why won't you come over? Aren't we good friends? Don't you want to hold my hand?"

Yu Xing shifted her gaze from the scissors to her [good friend's] face.

He had never seen such an ugly expression on his face before—irritable, with an indescribable restlessness, as if things were out of control. This was completely different from his usual personality, and Yu Xing clicked his tongue softly.

Now that a good friend has appeared and shown aggression, it won't just leave without doing anything like the time Huai saw it, right?

Yu Xing realized this and felt that his goal had been achieved. He no longer needed to pretend to be weak to trick his good friend into roasting him. He chuckled and said, "It's the first time we've met. I wouldn't call myself a friend."

"First time meeting?" The person in the mirror was furious. He seemed offended by the words, his face contorted, and he brandished the scissors, stabbing himself.

With a "poof," a bloody hole appeared on Yu Xing's forearm in the mirror. At the same time, Yu Xing felt a sharp pain in her arm outside the mirror, and bright red blood gushed out.

He squinted, rolled up his sleeves, and took a look. The blood hole was real, very deep, revealing the white bone deep inside.

So that's how it is. Is this how a good friend attacks? No, it should be one of the methods... Otherwise, a good friend wouldn't need to keep influencing him with the "walking close to the mirror" mental imagery; they could just stab him in the neck with scissors and be done with it.

Yu Xing thought of this, the ghost notification was updated in real time.

[Attack Method/Special Ability: Twin Life, Twin Death - When your friend in the mirror is injured, your own body outside the mirror will also suffer the same injury.???]

The person in the mirror winced in pain; clearly, they too felt pain. But then a look of pleasure spread across their face as they glared at Yu Xing with a vengeful gaze. "I am you. You say this is the first time we've met?"

"Does it hurt? Have you ever experienced this kind of pain?"

Yu Xing thought to herself, "It definitely hurts, but judging from your expression, my pain tolerance is probably a tiny bit better than yours."

Seeing that he didn't speak again, and didn't even groan when he was injured, the person in the mirror got even angrier, and slashed with scissors again, this time into his abdomen.

Its face contorted in pain, and it clutched its wound with the hand it used to greet someone, its voice trembling with a sob as it snapped, "I asked you, does it hurt!"

Yu Xing took a breath and smiled, "It's actually acceptable to ask that."

Good friend. "?"

Listen to this! Is this something a human being would say?

It was stunned for a moment, then a huge wave of resentment surged into its heart.

The evil it represents originated from another person, but now it reflects on Yu Xing, naturally drawing emotions towards Yu Xing.

Yu Xing's attitude was unacceptable to it; its face fell, and two streams of bloody tears flowed from its eyes. "You feel no remorse at all! You got out, only you got out! You stole everything from me! You deserve to die, you deserve to die, it's my turn to get out!"

It roared and cried, frantically pointing the scissors at itself and stabbing itself repeatedly.

"Ah!!" It looked like it was really in pain, so much so that it cried out pitifully while playing with self-harm, "Go to hell! Go to hell!"

In an instant, the muscles in Yu Xing's abdomen were torn open, and sharp objects pierced through the flesh and went straight into his internal organs, drawing out a large amount of blood.

He couldn't stop coughing and slammed his weight on the table, feeling that his best friend was incredibly noisy.

About ten seconds later, the person in the mirror finally stopped this self-destructive behavior, cried out with a hiccup, and looked at his rapidly healing wound with a bit of confusion.

Wait, how did it heal?

My best friend was suddenly stunned.

When its attack begins, it and its target become truly two-sided; if it gets hurt, the other party will get hurt, and vice versa. If Yu Xing were to hit himself on the head with something and bleed profusely, his [good friend] would also bleed profusely, experiencing the same pain.

The only difference is that, as a mirror image, it doesn't die. Once the target dies, it breaks free from its dual-image state and can move on to the next target.

However... it never anticipated that it could stab someone in the mirror, and the target outside the mirror would simply... simply... simply recover from the injury?

While the good friend was in a daze, both the human and the ghost's wounds were healing rapidly, both inside and outside the mirror, until they were completely healed without leaving a trace.

What an incredible self-healing ability!

The ghost was startled, looking at Yu Xing with a terrified expression. Yu Xing. Yu Xing looked back at it, and they remained silent.

Apart from the bloodstains on their clothes, it was as if nothing had happened between them, as if the injuries they had just suffered were an illusion.

Yu Xing chuckled softly.

He touched his unharmed belly and asked with a hint of teasing, "Surprised? Unexpected?"

Surprise, unexpected.

I still feel like running away.

The person in the mirror couldn't understand what was happening, but clearly realized one thing—the human in front of them seemed to possess limitless healing abilities, a perfect counter to its "two-sided" attacks!

What should we do? Can we just pretend nothing happened?

Yu Xing felt the force that had drawn him closer had vanished. The person in the mirror slowly retreated, but he called out to them, "Are you leaving?"

Best friend. "..." What else?

"Self-harm only leads to killing, and you probably want more than that," Yu Xing raised an eyebrow. "Don't you want to try pulling me into the mirror and switching places with me?"

He stretched out one hand, his fingertips almost touching the mirror.

Best friend. "..." You've already said it, you're obviously prepared, why would I do this?! Are you stupid or something?!

But that finger is so close... so close that it could be switched with just a pull.

Even though a living person has strong self-healing abilities, they still can't resist an attack that doesn't cause injury, right? Besides, if this person is pulled into the mirror, it can simply leave; whether the person lives or dies is no longer its concern, is it?

Hesitating, [the good friend] stopped backing away and stepped forward, reaching out to touch Yu Xing's fingers.

Just as they were about to touch, Yu Xing said "Oh," and nonchalantly withdrew her hand under her best friend's resentful gaze. "I understand. It seems I wasn't wrong. Your ultimate goal is indeed to drag people into the shot. This must be one of your attack methods."

[Attack Methods/Special Abilities: 1. Twin Life and Death: When the friend in the mirror is harmed, the user's body outside the mirror will also suffer the same harm. 2. Soul Substitution: The friend will eventually find someone to replace them, thus freeing the friend forever, and allowing them to live on as the living person.]

[Notification progress: 60%]

A feint.

This shot allowed Yu Xing to complete [Good Friend's] attack pattern, and also caused [Good Friend] to completely break down, letting out a howl before fading out of the mirror.

The mirror blurred for a moment, then after two or three seconds, Yu Xing's figure reappeared.

However, this time it has returned to a normal mirror image.

At the same time, Yu Xing felt the surrounding air vibrate, as if invisible ripples were spreading. In a daze, the place where he was located connected with other spaces, restoring the atmosphere that should have been there.

"No wonder Zeng Lai didn't come even though my good friend called so loudly. So it turns out that good friends can create a barrier when they appear?" He didn't feel like he was being unreasonable at all. After thinking for two seconds, he was very satisfied with his findings.

He left the room in a good mood, just as Zeng Lai came out of the second room.

The two exchanged a glance. Zeng Lai was still holding up the gleaming tinderbox. He had intended to continue searching the third room, but when he looked down, he saw large patches of blood on Yu Xing's clothes.

He was immediately startled. "What's wrong with you!"

Yu Xing succinctly stated. "I ran into [a good friend], but it's okay, it's gone, and the blood isn't mine."

Although the blood was his, he couldn't say that, otherwise he couldn't explain where the wound was.

He believed that an experienced gambler would surely conjure up a sacrifice for him that could withstand damage and bleed automatically.

Sure enough, Zeng Lai felt relieved upon hearing this, glanced at the mirror behind Yu Xing, and asked again, "It's gone? Will it come back?"

Yu Xing gave a harmless smile, "I guess it won't want to get close to us anytime soon."

Zeng Lai found his smile a little strange and couldn't help but think of some unpleasant things. He cautiously took two steps back. "You really are Xing, not a ghost?"

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow. Did Zeng Lai think he had been replaced by his best friend?

He had no choice but to briefly recount what happened after meeting his good friend, making significant changes and completely omitting any mention of his injury.

"That's how it is. It can harm the living by self-mutilation, but seeing that I had offerings to protect it and that it wouldn't die for the time being, it left on its own."

Zeng Lai looked at him with suspicion. "What color are Qu Xuanqing's underwear? Don't think, just answer quickly!"

"..." Yu Xing said, "If she hears this question, you're dead."

Zeng Lai finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew, looks like I really wasn't replaced."