A Mirror for One's Bearing

The toilet was very quiet, with water dripping slowly from the faucet. Because of the spaciousness and silence, the sound of the water dripping into the sink could be heard from a distance.

The five people who had gathered at the restroom for various reasons had different expressions. They had just passed by the homeroom teacher's office, which was dark and dark, with no lights on and no sound of any living person.

Just like the teachers those students mentioned never actually existed during evening self-study sessions.

Upon reaching the entrance to the men's and women's restrooms, the five had to separate. Qu Xuanqing Xianqing and Yu Xing exchanged a knowing glance, both aware of each other's purpose. Qu Xuanqing was responsible for following up on the incident involving the short girl, Lian En, hoping to glean some information about ghosts through this student. Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu, on the other hand, would take this opportunity to investigate the men's restroom alone for a while, even if they found nothing, it wouldn't be a loss.

But Lisha was a special variable for them. Qu Xuanqing didn't expect Lisha to follow her when she stood up. Due to insufficient information, she couldn't guess why Lisha came out. It couldn't be to get revenge on her, could it?

Isn't that just asking for trouble?

Judging from Lisha's expression, she was indeed somewhat unwilling, and she shared the same fear as Lian En. The three strategists quickly deduced that Lisha must be trying to escape something or someone, and had no choice but to take this opportunity to come out with them. This being's appearance was quite abrupt; otherwise, Lisha wouldn't have come at such a time.

As Yu Xing and Qu Xuanqing's eyes met, the tacit understanding they had developed over the years made Qu Xuanqing realize that Yu Xing was reminding her to pay attention to Lisha's movements. Whether Lisha wanted to protect herself or cause trouble, she couldn't let her interfere with their goals.

They nodded almost imperceptibly, and in a strange sync, they silently separated into pairs and groups of three, pushed open the bathroom door, and walked into the dark space.

A thick wall separates the men's and women's restrooms. Once inside, their line of sight is completely cut off. Yu Xing reached out and groped around the door for a while before finding the light switch cord.

The school's time and space feel equally chaotic. The overall style of the campus belongs to the last century, while the class division system is closer to modern times. The toilet lights are also incongruously installed with pull cord lights. Pulling down the hanging light cord will quietly turn on the dim light installed on the wall, which just barely covers the entire toilet area.

It gets darker the closer you get to the edge. You can't really see the urinals, but the stalls are more noticeable. The last stall is almost completely dark, with only one corner illuminated. It's unsettling.

Zhao Yijiu said in a low voice, "The temperature here isn't right."

The weather wasn't hot to begin with, but the temperature difference between the classroom and the restroom gave them a very noticeable sensory experience. If long-sleeved shirts and suit pants were just right in the classroom, then the temperature in the restroom made them want to wear a sweater.

His voice echoed in the empty toilet, the deliberately lowered volume being amplified, creating a chilling atmosphere where everything about him was laid bare.

Yu Xing nodded in agreement. "It is very cold and a bit eerie. I think if you imagine it this way, this isn't an empty toilet; there's an unseen person in front of each urinal and in each stall. That would make more sense."

Zhao Yijiu was already tired of criticizing his logic, because upon closer examination, Yu Xing's assumption wasn't necessarily impossible. Who could know whether the ghosts here had a physical form or not, whether they were visible or invisible?

"What are we looking for?" he asked directly.

Yu Xing was still standing near the door. He looked around the small restroom and said, "Starting from the sinks, check the urinals and stalls, the floor, and the corners. We're not looking for anything; we're just trying our luck, aren't we?"

In horror Yugi, the favorite pastime is hiding keys in the toilet.

Horror movies often feature murders in toilets.

Regardless of which one it is, they've already gained something from it. The potential dangers aren't unavoidable. Just from the intense fear those students showed in the classroom, Yu Xing knew that there must have been students who survived being approached by that thing during evening self-study. That's how word of mouth spread and everyone became convinced.

Otherwise, mere unfounded rumors and indirect evidence of missing persons would not be enough to instill such a level of tacit understanding and fear in the entire school.

If there's a way to survive, those former students could find it, and so can he.

These thoughts flashed through his mind for only a moment, and soon he rolled up his sleeves and began to explore the men's restroom with Zhao Yijiu.

The spotlights were concentrated on the front sinks, the frontmost stalls, and the tiled floor in the middle. These three places also seemed to be the safest. Zhang took the initiative to open the stall door, and Yu Xing went to the sink.

The sink is set a bit low; a normal high school student would probably have to bend down to reach the water tap. The faucets and sinks are in a row, taking up a long stretch, and above the sinks are separate oval mirrors.

Yu Xing stared at himself in the mirror with curiosity. Although he was wearing the St. Jonis's School uniform, his body looked no different from his real self. In fact, these few deducers must have felt out of place in the school. The youngest, Qu Xuanqing, was already college-graduating, and the high school seniors around them seemed a little immature compared to them.

But coincidentally, most of the students had European features, and the difference in appearance compensated for their age difference, which coincidentally dispelled much of the jarring effect.

In short, the school instance's character design is less refined than that of characters like Ye Qin and Yu Wan in the pre-event activities.

Yu Xing could guess the reason for this, because they all knew that there might be some connections between the various instances and buildings on this island. For example, the art gallery and the auction house, as well as the school, are also buildings on Dead Silent Island and are connected to the outside world. Therefore, they could not let their roles become different from their original roles, as this would violate the connection rules.

To others, this might just be a minor discovery in the background, but for Yu Xing, it stirred his mind and a new idea began to take shape.

Naturally, the most urgent task was to search the men's restroom. Yu Xing looked down and saw that the sink was completely empty. She didn't find anything special, only a thin layer of water at the bottom.

He reached out and touched it with his finger. The liquid, which he thought would be clear water, was a bit thicker than he had imagined. He raised an eyebrow, removed his finger, and smelled it. He then smelled a bloody odor.

If his eyes hadn't deceived his senses, he would have judged that the bottom of the sink was covered with a layer of blood that had already begun to congeal.

No, if sight and smell don't match, then one of the senses must be distorted. Yu Xing felt that the smell of blood was very real; he had smelled it many times, so he was more inclined to believe that the world he was seeing was wrong.

The man in the mirror and the man outside the mirror stared at each other, the same face, the same build, the same gaze. It was as if no ghost or anything like that was choosing to influence him at this moment.

He could see Zhao Yijiu, who was checking the first cubicle behind him, in the mirror. Zhao Yijiu looked perfectly normal. He could also catch a glimpse of his own gaze as he looked at Zhao Yijiu in the mirror. Yu Xing spoke up, "Brother Jiu, your shoelace is untied."

Zhao Yijiu in the mirror seemed to be stunned for a moment, then bent down to look at his shoes. Due to the lighting, his legs were hidden in darkness, and the shoes were not clearly visible. Two seconds later, the person in the mirror had already half-squatted down and started tying his shoelaces. Yu Xing curled the corners of his mouth.

He looked back and saw Zhao Yijiu behind him also tying her shoelaces. He couldn't tell the difference between the mirror and reality, but he could always hear a slightly messy, extremely faint sound.

"Oh, I forgot," Yu Xing laughed, "Our school uniform shoes don't have shoelaces."

Upon hearing this, everyone, including the people behind him and his Zhao Yijiu in the mirror, stopped what they were doing.

The person behind him fell silent, becoming like a statue, motionless, while Zhao Yijiu in the mirror stood up, staring at him with his uniquely gloomy eyes without restraint.

In the mirror, Yu Xing turned her head, then turned it back, her narrow eyes slightly narrowed, as if she were smiling, or perhaps scrutinizing someone. Every expression she made was exactly the same as Yu Xing's usual mannerisms.

The silence and scrutiny lasted a while, until Yu Xing couldn't help but chuckle, using the words the person in the mirror wanted to hear as her opening line. "Who are you?"

"I am..." Yu Xing smiled contentedly and calmly in the mirror, "Yu Xing."

The person in the mirror didn't say the character Roy Yu Xing from the dungeon, but instead said his real name. Then he placed his right hand on the mirror, pressing his fingertips into a smooth surface with the cold mirror.

"I am Yu Xing, and what about you?" the Yu Xing in the mirror asked. "I also have Brother Jiu behind me, and you also have Brother Jiu behind you, but yours is no longer moving. So, does that make any sense?"

"I think ghosts become much more mysterious and intimidating when they're quiet. Once they start talking, they seem no different from humans, except for reproductive isolation." Yu Xing returned the same smile to the person in the mirror, but her words were even more infuriating. "Why don't you know when you should talk less?"

"I've always been this talkative." Yu Xing in the mirror seemed to have heard a funny joke. "Indeed, the only thing I find amusing is myself."

The person inside gently tapped the mirror with their finger. "I just wanted to tease you, to see the look of self-deception on your face. Actually, I am you from five days later in your timeline; we are the same person."

As she spoke, Yu Xing in the mirror turned her head slightly. "Brother Jiu, would you like to say hello to the me from five days ago?"

Zhao Yijiu in the mirror shook her head, feeling quite bored, and withdrew her gaze from Yu Xing was staring at her outside the mirror.

It really does look like him; his every word and action seems like something he would do.

Unfortunately, Yu Xing still didn't believe it. He slightly raised his gaze and looked at the sink in the mirror. The sink in the mirror was just as clean as the one outside the mirror. There was no red in the mirror, and he couldn't find the source of the bloody smell.

"It's neither the world of appearances nor the world of good and evil. Do you think you're so clever?" Yu Xing stared at the person in the mirror who looked exactly like him and shook his head. "A mirror is a reflection of a person. As the old saying goes, 'Use others as a mirror to correct your appearance.'"

The person in the mirror gave a look of great interest.

"No matter what the inside story of St. Johnis Middle School may be, it's still a school. I guess the students here have heard similar arguments, haven't they? Things like using mirrors to groom oneself, reflecting on oneself three times a day, and so on," Yu Xing said. "I think I understand now. You, or rather the mirror, are the obsessions of students who once existed at this school, residing here during evening self-study?"

The person in the mirror had a blank expression, and seemed somewhat confused.

Yu Xing saw through the confusion in her eyes and said, "Although there's no need to tell you, since you're reflecting my face right now, I'll reluctantly let you understand. Villains die from talking too much; thankfully, I'm not a villain."

"What might happen during this special time of evening self-study? Although I don't have enough information to support it, I've already gone through countless irresponsible guesses in my mind. There are many things that students fear in the darkness during this time, including the Black Shadow that will punish them if they don't do their homework properly. Speaking loudly, walking alone, and being impolite may also lead them to encounter scary things."

"To put it bluntly, it's all just a kind of anxiety and pressure in their hearts. They're afraid of not doing their homework well, afraid of being caught by the teachers and volunteers for speaking loudly, afraid of living alone in the suffocating school with no one to help them, just like Oliver who was bullied."

Yu Xing shrugged at the image of her own face in the mirror. "You're also obsessed with this kind of thing. Of course, this wasn't something I expected. It's a conclusion I reached after discovering that my vision was being interfered with and distorted, combined with some previous thoughts."

"So confident?" The person in the mirror still used Yu Xing's tone.

"An unadorned reflection often reveals the most authentic details. People often can't distinguish between themselves in the mirror and themselves outside the mirror. Even if you take a camera and start recording the image in the mirror, very few people will be able to spot this discrepancy." Yu Xing didn't care at all.

"Isn't that what mirrors are all about? No matter how well you learn, you can only imitate a more realistic version of me when I look in the mirror. As for Zhao Yijiu, to the mirror that's currently applying its effects to me, he's only been reflected for a short time. Once I expose you, my Zhao Yijiu won't move anymore, because you can't control him to make a reasonable reaction."

"The Zhao Yijiu in the mirror is different. You just need to keep the way you interact with him, the way you saw him when I first went into the bathroom with Brother Jiu."

Having been exposed with no room for maneuver, Yu Xing's smile in the mirror vanished completely.

"You found out!" it said cheerfully. "See you next time, I'll be waiting for you in a less filthy place."

"Click."

Yu Xing heard the faint sound of the mirror shattering. His vision blurred for a moment, and then everything in the mirror disappeared, leaving only a reflection that looked perfectly normal.

The chaotic sounds around me were suddenly amplified; it was the sound of Zhao Yijiu checking and knocking in the cubicle.

He lowered his head again, and before he knew it, the sink was covered in blood, and a new crack had appeared at the bottom of the oval mirror in front of him.