C8 Puppet

Jing Zhe pivoted, aligning herself back to back with Xie Yu, their eyes reflecting a shared resolve. The Hell in the Mirror, a pervasive darkness that shrouded the world, was not an easy realm to break free from. Neither was certain if the girl before them was the ultimate adversary, but the situation was clear: they couldn't advance without confronting her.

Jing Zhe's hand rested on her slender sword, poised to strike at the slightest hint of aggression.

The little girl, clad in a white dress adorned with apple blossoms, bore a scornful expression too mature for her years. She regarded Xie Yu and Jing Zhe as if they were mere interlopers in her domain, the living disrupting her peace.

"You people just barge into my world, turning everything upside down. I've endured you for far too long," she seethed, clearly incensed.

With a swipe across her face, she erased the grime and ash, and with a lift of her hand, the drifting clouds above halted. A reflective sheen appeared overhead, and in an instant, the sky transformed into a vast mirror.

"This is my world. Now, I demand that you leave!" she declared.

Cracks spread across the girl's form, her skin peeling away as if shedding an old layer. Both figures underwent a transformation. Xie Yu's eyes narrowed; he remained skeptical that this challenge could be so easily overcome. No matter the strength of the boss before him, his presence alone significantly lowered the dungeon's difficulty. And with Jing Zhe, a high-level player at his side, defeating her—barring another ambush—seemed an improbable feat.

Xie Yu had pondered this earlier; if he fell, Jing Zhe could be ensnared in this cryptic narrative. If slaying this boss didn't guarantee passage, then perhaps the key to clearing the level lay elsewhere.

Seizing a brief moment, Xie Yu scanned the surroundings, his attention ultimately drawn towards Sun Square.

They were a mere hundred meters from Sun Square, a minute's journey at most—if only they could dispatch this obstacle.

The Ring Blade glinted subtly, unobtrusive yet bristling with lethal intent.

"I'll take care of these two. You look for an escape route." Jing Zhe's slender sword glinted as he stepped forward, ready for action.

The identical girls drew closer, eventually standing shoulder to shoulder.

In unison, the figures spoke, "The Mirror World is the true nature of this world. You outsiders simply don't get it."

A fissure tore through the sky, spreading rapidly like a shattered mirror, its darkness so convincing that if he weren't certain he was in a game, it would have felt real.

Since the world had been digitized, reality had skewed: pterodactyls soared through the skies, colossal sea serpents ruled the oceans, and a bewildering array of bizarre creatures emerged on land.

Extinct species had been resurrected, harmless to humans in their digital form, and had essentially become pets.

The organization behind the data system held all the power.

The one who had once manipulated the world might now be sitting there, commanding the entire world from a screen.

A group once resisted the world's transformation, covertly establishing labs and leaving behind people as seeds of flesh and blood and as a force of resistance, before the world was digitalized.

When the lab was destroyed and their data obliterated, those people were secretly executed. Xie Yu, one of the original group, had transformed himself into a semi-digital being to survive, becoming the most unique individual in this world.

He often mocked himself as a bug, potentially detectable and erasable by the ever-improving world system at any moment.

But, regardless, he was determined to fight on before any such tragedy could strike.

The crack in the sky grew larger, as did the fissures on the two identical girls. Their clothing disintegrated, falling to the ground in whispers, turning to white light upon touching the earth.

The girl's clothes vanished as if cracked away, her skin peeling off until only a red humanoid shape remained.

"What bizarre creature is this?"

Xie Yu couldn't help but comment on the spectacle before him.

Just moments ago, she was an adorable little girl, but in an instant, she had transformed into a grotesque, skinless being of flesh. Even Jing Zhe, usually stoic, couldn't help but furrow his brow.

The impact was overwhelming, and he found it hard to come to terms with it.

"You outsiders have no right to be reflected in my mirror."

The grotesque creature of flesh and blood slowly fused together, forming a being about two meters tall with four tentacles and a single massive eye set in a face crowned with long hair.

"Just as I thought, even combined, they're only two meters tall."

Xie Yu couldn't resist making another snarky remark.

Maybe his words struck a nerve, because the creature before him let out a thunderous roar and lashed out with its tentacles.

Xie Yu deftly stepped back as Jing Zhe surged forward, a blur of black and white, his rapier slicing through the air. The tentacle that had been barreling towards them recoiled as if in fear.

Jing Zhe's lips curled into a sneer, as though he was facing not a monster's limb but a pliable vine.

The rapier, designed for swift stabs, was in Jing Zhe's hand as he leapt from a boulder, propelling himself into the air.

Xie Yu had his Ring Blade at the ready, prepared to catch Jing Zhe if the unexpected occurred. Meanwhile, he scanned the area, searching for a way to fully break free from the hellish mirror world.

The space around them was fracturing, the fissures spreading downward from the sky. Xie Yu's attention snapped to a distant point with a sharp "ding." His eyes fixed on the direction of Sun Square, where the crack abruptly halted.

Fine threads materialized midair, quivering gently and influencing the battlefield.

"Jing Zhe, we need to get out of here fast! She's not the final boss, just a puppet!"

Jing Zhe had noticed the threads too. The appearance of the puppet meant the true boss was close.

If Xie Yu's hunch was right, the real showdown would be at Sun Square.