Upside-Down City…
Stepping through the mirror gate, entering another world.
The ghost/demon who constructed this game must be very unusual, this world gave Mu Anqi a "dreamlike" feeling, yet everything truly existed.
Mu Anqi even felt as if she were playing a role-playing story-driven game.
The moment she stepped into the Upside-Down City, Mu Anqi was immediately drawn to the "floor." The floor here was more like mirror tiles, clearly reflecting the sky and houses. When Mu Anqi lowered her head, she saw herself. Stepping on such a mirror gave a truly strange sense of "inversion."
Arriving in the Upside-Down City for the first time, Mu Anqi naturally needed to get a clear understanding of the situation. In this game she hadn't even encountered other players, which made her somewhat puzzled, but it might just be that she hadn't come across them yet.
The residents within the Upside-Down City… were various upright-walking animals. Mu Anqi actually couldn't tell if these were animals or members of the demon race, only that in her eyes, the residents here looked very similar to the three animals she had just killed.
Mu Anqi did not act rashly. She stood in place for a while and suddenly thought of the deadly pollution of the Black Mirror Vortex in that world—were those marine creatures merely imagined by the Plastic Man, or were they another kind of existence? A special life form created by weaving together spiritual power and imagination? …When the Black Mirror Vortex disappeared, they all vanished as well. But if the Plastic Man was strong enough, could he also create such a world on the Shattered Mirror Continent? Moreover, the games in cooperation with Nirvana Space seemed to also receive support and assistance from Nirvana Space.
Mu Anqi thought about it, then used the seven-day residence permit for Upside-Down City to stop a lady with red feathers, and politely asked: "Excuse me, do you know where I can find a place to stay?"
The red bird lady tugged at the scarf around her neck, carefully examined Mu Anqi's residence permit, and then pointed her in a direction: "Over there, that special rest house is specifically for temporary residents like you. If there's anything you don't understand, the staff at the rest house will also answer your questions."
The red bird lady pointed to a building with walls entirely painted white, and that white was an extremely pure white, without a trace of stain or dust. The white house was about five stories tall, and on the roof was a sculpture of "a hand pressing down on a mask."
Mu Anqi gave her thanks sincerely, then walked toward that special rest house. On the way, she also observed the other buildings in the Upside-Down City. She noticed that apart from that special rest house, whether shops or residential buildings, none seemed to be painted in "white" or "black," as if these two colors held special meaning.
"Hello, may I stay here temporarily?" Upon entering the rest house, Mu Anqi went straight to the service desk, where she was greeted by a Mr. White Dove. He had a strong cartoonish look, wearing a black tie and a small black top hat on his head.
"Please show your documents." From the white dove came, indeed, a deep male voice. Mu Anqi stepped forward and handed over her temporary residence permit. The white dove took the permit and operated on a device resembling a "computer" for a while, registering Mu Anqi. "Thank you for your cooperation."
"On the first day of temporary residence, the rest house will provide your needs for food, clothing, housing, and transportation free of charge. Starting from the second day, you will need to provide us with energy crystals from polluted residents in exchange for services." The white dove at the front desk returned the temporary residence permit to Mu Anqi as he spoke.
So this is the seven-day survival task? Just needing to deal with the polluted residents? Mu Anqi nodded in thanks, put the temporary residence permit into her storage ring. The white dove at the front desk took a room card from the drawer and handed it to Mu Anqi: "Temporary room card. You may choose any room you like. After you open it, within 24 hours, the right to use the room belongs to you. If you leave and come back, you can still use it to open the room."
"Alright, thank you." Mu Anqi accepted the room card. It felt very light in her hand, and she couldn't figure out what kind of technology it was. She glanced at the sign nearby: the staircase here led to the lodging area, and as for food… during the service period it would be delivered regularly to the door of her room.
Better go up and take a look first.
A white corridor, white floor tiles, white walls, and… mirror doors.
When approaching a mirror, the room number would appear on it, such as 201, 202, and so on.
Mu Anqi wasn't picky about these numbers. After passing by all the rooms on the floors, she directly chose room 201. She placed the room card against the mirror surface, and the black number "201" appeared on the card. Mu Anqi pushed open the mirror door and stepped into room 201.
A wardrobe, a two-meter-long bed, clean white sheets, quilt, and pillows—the space under the bed was spotless, without even a speck of dust. Mu Anqi opened the wardrobe; inside hung a row of white towels and several empty hangers. On the open shelf of the wardrobe was a small card, with the words: "If you have any needs, you may ask at the front desk."
A private bathroom, complete with sink, mirror, shelf, towel rack, toilet, and further inside a separated shower-and-bath unit. Mu Anqi tested the hot water—no problem at all.
As far as lodging conditions went, this place was truly excellent. But Mu Anqi still had no clue about the "polluted residents," and the inexplicable sense of unease kept her from relaxing. After checking that everything in the room was normal, she put the 201 room card into her storage ring, quickly left the room, and went to the front desk.
"Sorry to bother you. Could you tell me what characteristics the polluted residents have?"
"They are different from ordinary residents." The white dove at the front desk explained in a rigid tone. The moment he opened his beak, Mu Anqi almost blacked out, but fortunately he only paused slightly and did not stop there, "They are irritable, easily angered, frenzied, bloodthirsty. Of course, the most obvious feature is their eyes."
Eyes? Right, those defective products' eyes were especially different, all covered with a layer of white film. Just as Mu Anqi was thinking this, the white dove at the front desk gave an answer Mu Anqi had never expected:
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"Their eyes will turn completely black."
Mu Anqi: "?!"
Almost instantly, Mu Anqi thought back to that maze choice earlier—white or black? She had chosen white, corresponding to Miss White. And the defective animals… no, the defective residents belonging to Miss White had eyes covered in white. But the white dove at the front desk said the polluted residents' eyes were covered in black. What did this mean?
White and black might be opposing sides. If she had chosen black, then perhaps the polluted residents' eyes she needed to deal with would have been white. Miss White…
In the Upside-Down City, could there also exist a "Miss Black"?
So, did this mean that when she cleaned up "polluted residents," she would be offending another existence similar to Miss White? And that this was the true danger of the seven-day survival.
Thinking even further—could it be that another player had also entered this world, but chose black instead, and thus served the other existence?
In that moment, Mu Anqi thought of many things, but until she actually saw a polluted resident and cleaned one up herself, all these guesses were just guesses. Mu Anqi composed her mood, left her clothing sizes and a series of menu selections at the front desk. Since the first day covered food, clothing, housing, and transportation, she certainly wouldn't hold back.
"For getting around, are there any means of transport?" After handing over the menu and clothing size requirements to the front desk, Mu Anqi asked.
The white dove at the front desk put away the list, then took a white box from the drawer and handed it to Mu Anqi: "Within today, blow this and a means of transport will appear to take you anywhere you wish to go."
Opening the box, inside lay a completely white whistle.
"Where will the polluted residents appear?"
"That is your task," the white dove at the front desk replied.
Alright then. Mu Anqi put the box into her storage ring, held her substitute paper figure, and walked out of the rest house.
She stood in front of the rest house, looking at the Upside-Down City. It stretched beyond sight, houses upon houses, roads without end. This was a very large city. Mu Anqi even faintly felt that at the far edge on the other side of the city, there would also be a special rest house.
First she would stroll around the nearby area, get familiar with the routes and facilities, draw a simple map… then carefully search deeper, looking for the polluted residents. As for those guesses of hers… during the coming game time, she would eventually find out.
…
In another special space, inside a room where all six sides were mirrors, Miss White was draped in a white robe that covered her entire body, her face hidden by a white mask. She lowered her head, eyes also closed: "This game should be very interesting."
At her feet, on the other side of each mirror, a tall, thin man clad in a black robe and wearing a black mask let out a soft laugh: "My dear, when has it ever not been interesting?"
A complete inversion—it could also be understood as Mr. Black standing inside this space, while Miss White appeared within each mirror.
"Playing a match is always interesting," said Miss White. "The player who chose me this time is very special."
"My dear, the player on my side isn't bad either." Mr. Black's tone was always flippant and laced with amusement. "I'm looking forward to their encounter."
…
"Very strange…" Mu Anqi had walked through quite a few districts—large restaurants, clothing shops, even a KTV—but still hadn't found any polluted ones. Not the kind of polluted ones Miss White wanted… she hadn't found any pollution at all!
Mu Anqi felt a bit of a headache. She thought again of the condition of those three defective products she had defeated… perhaps she should look for a laboratory or some large factory? But those should be very well hidden. Maybe she should try the hospital first?
Could she just ask the front desk directly? Mu Anqi wondered. Maybe she could try to find out from the front desk about "Miss White" and her opposing counterpart. If the front desk refused to say, then perhaps she could repeat her operation from the deadly pollution scenario—carefully picking a random lucky resident and pulling them into an alley for a friendly round of questioning.