An Unusual Life Beginning with Evil Spirits-Chapter 126.1 : So That's How It Is!

Volume 3: High School Arc - Mirror Game
This shadow had a human shape, but it wasn’t in my likeness.
It looked... like a man?
If a shadow could behave differently from a normal shadow without harming me, the only person I could think of was Lu Haochen.
Now... he was the only one with the ability to reach me through the mirror space.
Thinking of this, I hesitated for a moment.
After all, in this unknown space, how could I tell if this guy was the parasite controlled by Lu Haochen?
“Lu Haochen?”
I probed with a question, and the answer surprised me—it nodded?
Damn, the parasite could be controlled like this?
“You want me to walk in that direction?”
The shadow nodded again and pointed in that direction.
I took a deep breath and nodded, then walked forward in the direction the shadow pointed.
The flashlight lit the front, the phone lit the back, ensuring my whole body stayed illuminated, and I moved forward step by step.
As I walked... the angle of the shadow gradually changed.
Originally, it pointed forward, but now it tilted and pointed toward a room.
Standing in front of the door, I took a deep breath to steady my emotions.
I didn’t look back.
Instead, I reached out and grabbed the doorknob.
At the same time, I had the substitute doll ready.
Although the shadow could understand me, I wasn’t sure if it was really under Lu Haochen’s control.
Treating a dead horse like a living one, I had come this far, but that didn’t mean I fully trusted the shadow.
I gripped the substitute doll tightly in my hand.
‘Click!’
With the sound of the doorknob turning, I slowly... pushed open the door.
What I saw stunned me, because... it was water?
The room was completely filled with water.
No... this wasn’t a room?
While I was stunned, hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind me.
Instinctively, I dove into the water before me, then turned and slammed the door shut behind me with a bang.
No matter what was on the other side, I had no intention of confronting it.
But as soon as I entered the room, I regretted it...
I could swim, sure, but where was this?
Was the entire room filled with water?
Did I have to swim to a window, break it, and escape?
The flashlight in my hand was still on.
I had turned off the phone’s light.
After all, the phone had more functions than a flashlight—it made sense to save its battery!
That made sense... but then what was this reflection on the phone?
Suddenly, in the black screen of the phone, a blurry figure appeared behind me?
Behind me!?
Instinctively, I looked up.
Above... there was nothing.
I quickly turned back to the phone screen, and that one glance... completely stunned me.
A hand—at some unknown moment—had reached out from the phone screen and grabbed my collar.
‘Glug glug glug!!!’
I tried to struggle, but the strength of the arm was overwhelming.
It twisted suddenly, gripped my collar tightly, and yanked hard.
I stumbled forward involuntarily and plunged... headfirst into the phone.
The moment my head passed through the phone, everything went black.
Then, the temperature of the surrounding water suddenly dropped.
And I heard someone’s voice by my ear.
“Grab my hand!!!”
Then, I saw a source of light shining from above.
At that moment... the light shone down at me from underwater?
Through the clear water, I saw a man on the riverbank.
He had stepped halfway into the water, his hand extended into it.
Lu... Haochen?
Why was it him?
I froze, then before I could react, my wrist was grabbed.
He yanked me out of the water in one pull.
Air rushed into my nose, and I gasped aloud.
Looking up, I saw... Lu Haochen turning his head away.
“Lu Haochen? Why are you here... wait, isn’t this the mirror world!?”
Above, the sky was still shrouded in dark clouds, but the environment around me had completely changed.
My clothes were soaking wet, carrying the salty scent of water—only living things smelled like this.
There were reeds on the surface of the water.
I looked at his back, then down at my feet... stepping on the muddy bank.
“Of course not.”
Lu Haochen didn’t even look at me.
He turned and shouted toward two figures on the riverbank.
“Found her!”
Then, I saw Lu Haochen spread his arms and take off his top.
Without looking back, he threw it to me.
“Put it on. Stay warm.”
Then he climbed ashore.
I caught the clothes almost reflexively.
Looking down at the shirt in my hand, then at Lu Haochen, my mind was full of questions.
But I knew now wasn’t the time to ask.
I should get out of the water first.
Thinking this, I didn’t hesitate.
I quickly put the clothes on and zipped it up.
Warmth instantly wrapped around me—it felt much better than before.
I rubbed my heavy-feeling head and followed Lu Haochen.
Just as I was about to go ashore, a hand reached out in front of me.
“Thanks.”
Surprised, I looked up to see Lu Haochen offering his hand.
Suppressing my doubts, I nodded and thanked him.
Then I grabbed his hand, stepped onto the bank, and jumped out of the water.
“Yunyan!”
“Sister Liu!!”
The two figures in the distance became clear.
No doubt—it was Xu Han and Jiang Yulong.
They ran over, full of concern.
Xu Han even ran straight up and hugged me.
“As long as you're okay. That’s what matters...”
“Ah... I’m fine, but... I still have some questions.”
I looked around suspiciously.
Even now, I wasn’t sure if I had really left the mirror world.
Was this the real world?
Or still the mirror world?
Jiang Yulong smiled beside me.
“No worries. I know you’ve got questions.”
“Honestly, Xu Han and I were both full of confusion too... but that guy’s pretty impressive.”
“He ran twenty kilometers to the river, then suddenly jumped in. We couldn’t stop him...”
“Ah...”
I blinked and looked at Lu Haochen, who was now sitting on a rock by the shore, breathing steadily.
I tugged at the shirt I was wearing.
“Sister Xu Han, stop hugging me. I can’t move~”
Standing there, being hugged by such a beauty, my heart was stirred.
But I’d been through too much to be swayed by this little bit of charm (≧ω≦)