“Shit!”
Lin Yan’s expression tightened. Without a second thought, he sprang backward.
Bang!
An invisible blade slashed through the spot where he’d been standing just a heartbeat ago, carving a deep gash into the floor.
Ripples spread across the mirror’s surface.
The director stepped through the glass as though passing through a curtain of water, emerging into the specimen room.
He still looked every bit the doctor, his pristine white lab coat immaculate, a surgical mask concealing most of his face. But now that he had stepped into the real world, Lin Yan could finally feel the full weight of his presence.
The overwhelming malice emanating from him was dozens—no, hundreds—of times more terrifying than the security guard’s. It pressed down on Lin Yan like a physical force, making every breath a struggle.
The director spoke. His voice was no longer hoarse. Instead, it grated like steel scraping against steel, cold and emotionless, as though he were simply stating a fact.
“You trespassed into my collection room… and pried into my secrets.”
He slowly raised the bloodstained scalpel in his hand and pointed it at Lin Yan. “You’ll make an excellent addition to my collection.”
No dramatic flourish.
No needless threats.
Just that single motion.
A crushing sense of mortal danger engulfed Lin Yan. His entire body tensed as every instinct screamed danger.
Run!
That was the only thought left in his mind.
He spun around without hesitation and sprinted for the specimen room’s iron door.
“Trying to run?”
The director let out a quiet chuckle, his voice carrying the lazy amusement of a cat toying with a cornered mouse.
Instead of pursuing him, he simply flicked a hand.
Crack… crack…
One after another, the massive glass specimen tanks split apart.
Murky formaldehyde came cascading out like a waterfall, flooding the room within seconds. The grotesque stitched-together monstrosities preserved inside twitched violently the instant they touched the open air.
Then…
Slowly…
They stood.
“GRAAAAH!”
“Aaaaargh!”
Bone-chilling roars erupted throughout the specimen room.
A torso with three arms scrambled toward him, its mismatched limbs clawing frantically across the floor.
A severed head split into a grotesque grin, revealing rows upon rows of needle-like teeth before launching itself straight at him.
A writhing mass of eyeballs rolled through the formaldehyde, every pupil swiveling toward Lin Yan in perfect unison. A blast of psychic force slammed into his mind, making the world spin.
The director blocked the only exit, and behind him, an army of monsters closed in.
There was nowhere left to run.
“Damn it!”
Lin Yan gritted his teeth, a flicker of madness flashing in his eyes. There was no escaping this. Fine, then he’d fight to the bitter end. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
He skidded to a halt and spun to face the oncoming tide of monsters, both hands tightening around his short staff.
“Come on, you freaks!”
With a furious roar, he charged straight at the nearest three-armed torso instead of retreating.
The staff whistled through the air before slamming into the creature’s skull.
SPLAT!
Its head burst apart like an overripe melon, spraying black blood and chunks of brain matter in every direction.
But there were more.
Always more.
A hooked claw slashed toward his back.
Without even looking, Lin Yan dropped low, sweeping the staff behind him in one fluid motion.
Crack!
The claw snapped clean off.
Then a fleshy eyeball slammed into his calf.
A wave of psychic force exploded inside his mind, sending a sharp stab of pain through his skull. His movements faltered for the briefest instant.
That was all the opening the monsters needed.
Rip!
The stitched abomination’s arm raked across his shoulder, tearing away flesh in a spray of blood.
Lin Yan grunted through the pain but never slowed.
He carved a relentless path through the horde like a tireless killing machine, weaving between grasping limbs as his staff rose and fell again and again. Every swing crushed another monster.
[The effect, Corruptive Blight, has been activated.]
The struck monsters slowed, their movements growing sluggish.
[The effect, Pierce the Veil, has been activated.]
Some incorporeal creatures were forced into physical form, finally leaving them vulnerable to his attacks.
But there were simply too many.
Fresh horrors kept crawling out of the shattered specimen tanks.
More wounds opened across Lin Yan’s body. Blood soaked through his clothes.
His strength drained away with every swing.
His breathing turned ragged.
His vision blurred around the edges.
At this rate… he was going to die.
Not because they were stronger.
Because they would wear him down until there was nothing left.
From a distance, the director watched the battle with amused interest, as though he were enjoying a particularly entertaining performance.
“Impressive resilience,” he remarked, genuine admiration threading through his voice. “Your body would make an excellent combat puppet.”
Lin Yan ignored him. His mind raced, desperately searching for a way out.
The mirror! The source of this chapter is g.com.
Su Wan had told him before: the mirror was both the director’s weakness… and a key.
Even as he fought, his gaze flicked around the specimen room.
Where’s the mirror? Besides the massive one the director emerged from, are there any others?
His gaze swept over the shattered specimen jars, the surgical instruments strewn across overturned carts, and the puddles of formalin spreading across the floor.
The puddles…?
His eyes suddenly locked onto them.
The spilled formalin had pooled into a thin, murky layer across the floor. Its surface reflected the ceiling of the specimen room, the grotesque monsters surrounding him… and his own image.
Water reflects images too. Not as clearly as a mirror, but clearly enough.
Just then, Su Wan’s warning echoed in his mind. “What you see in it isn’t always your reflection. Sometimes… it’s the doorway to another world.”
If he could enter the mirror world, could he avoid the monsters… and maybe even strike directly at the director himself?
The problem was, he had no idea how.
If he forced his way in, he might be assimilated into the mirror world… or become lost inside it forever.
He’d have to gamble.
Determination flashed across Lin Yan’s eyes.
Ignoring the monsters closing in around him, he drove his short staff into the floor and spread both hands.
He poured every ounce of his mental energy into his talent: Omnicrafting.
This time, he wasn’t crafting an item.
He was crafting himself. If everything in existence could be crafted, then he was no exception.
He would forge his very existence into the hidden world within the mirror.
“What’s he doing?” The director frowned, a flicker of suspicion crossing his face.
“Open!”
Lin Yan roared. A torrent of mental energy poured into the puddle beneath his feet, like floodwaters unleashed. An invisible ripple spread outward from him.
The murky water abruptly stopped reflecting the ceiling.
Instead, its surface became a boundless darkness, as deep as a star-filled void.
“W-What?!” The director’s expression changed for the first time. Shock and unmistakable fear crossed his face. “You can actually… That’s impossible!”
He thrust out a hand. A black beam crackling with destructive power shot toward Lin Yan.
But it was already too late.
Like a stone sinking beneath dark water, Lin Yan’s body slipped soundlessly into the dark puddle and vanished without a trace.
Splash!
The blast slammed into the floor, gouging out a deep crater. All it struck was murky water.
Lin Yan was gone. The only things left were the bewildered monsters, along with the director, whose expression had darkened into something terrifying.
“The mirror world…” He stared at the puddle as it rapidly returned to normal, his eyes cold with malice. “You insignificant insect… Do you really think it’s safe there?”
A cruel smile spread across his face. “That place is far more terrifying than this one. Now that you’ve gone in, don’t expect to ever come back out.”
With a cold laugh, he turned and stepped into the massive wall mirror once more, his body melting seamlessly into its surface before disappearing.
Silence settled over the specimen room again.
Only the wreckage scattered across the floor and the mangled corpses of the monsters remained as proof of the brutal battle that had just taken place.