I Like You, Girl in the Mirror

Shen Yu called the number back.

"The number you have dialed is not in service."

Not in service?

It seemed this ghost really was connected to Song Xiaojie. At the very least, she knew something about what was going on.

Had she suddenly contacted him because she'd been targeted by a ghost and didn't want to drag him into it, so she wanted to explain what was happening?

Or... was she trying to redirect the danger toward him?

Ever since he'd taken in Bai Zuo's dark, twisted malice, Shen Yu had found himself always thinking the worst whenever he pondered something.

After all, human nature was evil!

Shen Yu muttered to himself, "When I'm role-playing a Character Card, does the more complete the character becomes, the more their emotions and thoughts affect me?"

Still, someone like Bai Zuo—a naturally evil person overflowing with malice—had a stronger negative influence. Even if he was affected while playing Flying Bird A, whose personality was like that, it shouldn't be too serious.

"I should draw more upright Character Cards to balance out these overly negative emotions."

Shen Yu wasn't too worried. He could feel that although the malice he'd absorbed after playing Bai Zuo sometimes made his thoughts more extreme, it hadn't become uncontrollable.

Shen Yu glanced at the time. "It's already past eight?"

With nimble movements, Shen Yu climbed out of the hospital bed. He looked nothing like someone who'd been diagnosed with a fracture in his right leg.

If a doctor saw him, they'd probably sign off on his discharge on the spot.

Shen Yu took a clean set of hospital clothes. After showering, he stood in front of the bathroom mirror and pinched his bangs between his fingers to gauge their length.

"They seem a little long."

Still, he'd always liked keeping his bangs long, as long as they didn't block his vision.

Bzzzt!

The light on the ceiling flickered.

It seemed to be broken; its brightness had noticeably dimmed.

Splash!

The showerhead, which he'd already turned off, suddenly sprayed hot water. Shen Yu hurried forward and leaned against the cold sink to keep the spray from soaking his freshly changed hospital clothes.

Shen Yu turned around to look, a faint premonition stirring in his mind.

Bzzzt!

The light overhead flickered on and off, leaving the bathroom dim.

An ordinary person would probably have been so frightened by the eerie atmosphere that they'd either tremble, scream, or go weak in the knees and try to flee.

But Shen Yu wasn't afraid at all. In fact, he felt a surge of curiosity and wanted to see what else this ghost could do.

At the same time, he judged its performance. "First, it damaged the lights to reduce visibility. Humans are afraid of the dark, so that'll make them feel scared and uneasy. This part was well done."

"But what's with turning on the shower?"

"If blood that reeked of rot had flowed from the showerhead, or if a mass of long hair had burst out of it, that might've scared someone."

Shen Yu reached out and tested the water. "It's just warm, not hot. That was unnecessary."

"You there, ghost, you've still got a lot to learn about scaring people!"

Bzzzt!

As if Shen Yu's words had angered it, the ghost destroyed the light above him. With a pop, the entire bathroom plunged into darkness.

Only a little light filtered in from outside the door.

Countless black strands of hair, smooth as ribbons, spilled out of the mirror and wrapped around Shen Yu's wrists, ankles, neck, and waist.

Then they pulled taut, trying to drag Shen Yu into the mirror.

The hair yanked him backward, lifting his legs off the ground until his back was pressed against the cold mirror.

Shen Yu broke into a crazed grin. "That's more like it!"

He reached out and grabbed the black hair. "Got you!"

White spider silk was about to wind from his arm onto the hair. Anything caught in the web wouldn't be able to escape.

The black hair shuddered as soon as Shen Yu touched it, then abruptly let go, as if it had been hurt.

"Huh?" Shen Yu grabbed at the hair, but it was too slippery. It quickly slipped through his fingers, leaving only a few strands in his palm.

The black hair receded like a tide, all of it retreating into the mirror.

Soon, the bathroom returned to normal.

If Shen Yu hadn't still been holding a few strands of hair, everything that had just happened would have seemed like an illusion.

"So timid? Hey! Come out!"

Shen Yu knocked on the mirror to no avail. Naturally, he got no response.

His Construction Points! They'd just slipped away!

The mirror was smooth and still, reflecting Shen Yu's figure. He stared at it, and just as he was about to give up and leave—

A pair of hands suddenly appeared on the glass, pressing against the mirror as if someone were standing inside with both palms against it, looking out.

The fleeting figure of a black-haired girl appeared and vanished.

A familiar voice came from the mirror again and again. "Like... I like you... I like you!"

"Shen Yu!"

Shen Yu said with a headache, "If you're going to say something like that, at least come out and say it to my face!"

"Making me talk to myself in front of a mirror? I'm not Narcissus, in love with my own reflection."

There was no further movement inside the mirror.

The ghost hiding in there didn't seem willing to come out.

"If you're not coming out, I'm leaving."

A love letter fell out of the mirror.

The moment it appeared, it seemed to radiate a strange, powerful allure. An intense desire drove him.

Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up!

Countless coaxing, urging voices swirled in his mind, trying to control him and tempt him into picking up the letter.

Shen Yu lowered his eyes slightly. Deep in his mind, a white spider opened its eyes. Its red pupils, like a demon's, stared without blinking at the ghost that dared to intrude on its territory.

It let out a silent roar.

Thick malice stabbed into the ghost's mind like poisonous needles.

When it came to the realm of mental power, Heart Gu was the undisputed ruler over ghosts that toyed with people's minds.

The ghost hadn't expected Shen Yu to have such a powerful entity guarding his mind. It was injured in an instant and let out a shrill scream before fleeing in disarray.

The strange allure vanished at once.

The love letter lay quietly in the sink.

Shen Yu didn't touch it.

The letter was probably a kind of mark. If he accepted it, the ghost would mark him, creating a connection that would be difficult to sever.

Besides, he had no interest in accepting a love letter from a ghost whose appearance he didn't know and whose species wasn't even the same as his.

Since he was the only one who used the bathroom, he'd just leave the letter here for now.

Shen Yu turned and left without a second glance.

So he didn't see the girl who appeared in the mirror after he was gone. She gazed longingly at his retreating figure, her eyes full of tenderness, and didn't look away for a long time.

Suddenly, blood appeared all over her body, soaking her clothes.

Goodbye, and I'm sorry!