The person in the mirror looked terrified.
Influenced by his emotions, Lin Lan couldn’t help but walk over, wanting to know what had happened in his world.
As his fingers were about to touch the mirror, a bolt of lightning struck his heart. He fell to the ground, paralyzed, gasping for breath.
Before he could recover, another electric shock hit him. Numbness spread instantly through his limbs and bones, and his consciousness was forcibly pulled away.
In a daze, he heard many people talking outside. There seemed to be light in front of him. The cold room was chaotic and frightening. He was pushed in and then pushed out. In a trance, he seemed to see a doctor shaking his head towards Xiao Shengjing, “We did our best. We could only barely save his life. Be prepared; the chances of him waking up are very, very low…”
Xiao Shengjing instantly drained of color, knelt by his bed, crying uncontrollably. Hot tears fell into Lin Lan’s hands. “I beg you, don’t leave me. Don’t treat me like this…”
Lin Lan knew.
This silly dog would cry his eyes out.
“I didn’t expect something like this to happen… I should have held onto you at that time. Why didn’t I hold onto you…”
“Wake up and look at me, I beg you…”
Lin Lan’s ears buzzed from his crying.
Hey, stop crying.
You look ugly when you cry.
Lin Lan tried to lift his hand, but no matter how hard he exerted himself, he couldn’t move. Just as he was about to make a second attempt, he heard another voice calling him from within: Lin Lan, save me.
The voice passed through numerous restrictions, somewhat distorted, but the helplessness, fear, and despair in the voice were still accurately conveyed.
What’s wrong with you?
Lin Lan asked him, but the voice disappeared again.
He walked towards the depths of his consciousness, and the “drip” sound of instruments in the ward gradually disappeared. He returned to that vast white place, the mirror still in its original position, but the person inside had disappeared.
Lin Lan passed through the mirror to the other side.
Everything around him was changing. Countless unfamiliar yet familiar scenes flashed before him, like a fast-paced overview of his life.
The self in the mirror was an out-and-out loser. Despised by people and abandoned like a dog, his gaming talent became his only highlight. Due to his timid and solitary nature, his journey in the field of esports was not smooth. Surprisingly, the three major turning points in his life were still accomplished by himself…
Lin Lan, who lived a prosperous life relying on talent, couldn’t have imagined that the version of himself in this world would be so pathetic.
He wanted to continue looking down, but the scene abruptly stopped, and a powerful force suddenly dragged him into those fleeting images…
The sound of the instrument’s “drip” rang in his ears.
His body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead.
Lin Lan felt his throat hurting, dry, and painful. Opening his eyes, he saw the vast white ward again, and his consciousness gradually returned.
Damn, he actually woke up?
Wasn’t he supposed to have become a vegetable?
He struggled to sit up from the hospital bed, thinking he would be covered in plaster, but it turned out he only had an oxygen tube inserted. It seemed that he didn’t collide too severely; not a single bone was broken.
A slightly familiar teenager in a white and blue team uniform sat beside him. He quickly stood up when he saw Lin Lan awake. “Lin Lan, how do you feel?”
His throat felt really painful as if he had been stabbed.
The teammate grabbed him, looking scared. “Damn, Lin Lan, you really scared me. Why did you suddenly take sleeping pills? Luckily, I discovered it in time and brought you to the hospital. The doctor said your heart stopped on the way here. It was almost too late to save you. You scared me to death…”
Lin Lan: ???
Wasn’t he supposed to be dead from a car accident?
“I told you, come on. If you want to retire, just change to another team. Why think so negatively…”
Lin Lan looked at the team uniform on him, unable to recall who he was. If he was a youth from his own team, he should be wearing red like himself.
White and blue, white and blue…
Isn’t this the uniform of the Lin Lan in the mirror?
Lin Lan’s mind buzzed, staring at the nameplate on his chest, pronouncing his name, “Lu Shi?”
“What’s up?” Lu Shi looked at him strangely, lifting his head. “What’s with that look? It’s like you don’t recognize me, did the medication make you dumb?”
Lin Lan suddenly exclaimed, standing up from the hospital bed.
He knocked over the IV bottle, causing chaos in the ward. Lin Lan continuously processed the chaotic scene before him, finally confirming that he had once again traversed into the mirror world. However, this time, it wasn’t during a competition but in a hospital.
Instinctively covering his chest, thinking of the plea “save me,” he suddenly had a bad guess. Could it be that the mirror version of Lin Lan overdosed on sleeping pills, causing him to completely cross over?
Watching him search the room like a lunatic, Lu Shi was very afraid. “Lin Lan, surviving a great disaster brings good fortune. Don’t think negatively again…”
Lu Shi’s phone lit up, and he quickly showed it to Lin Lan. “See, surviving a great disaster brings good fortune. Look at the group chat list; you haven’t been persuaded to retire.”
He handed the phone to Lin Lan, but Lin Lan didn’t care at all. He just stared at the date on his phone and then muttered incoherently, “Damn, it’s actually four years ago… Can I go back…”
Seeing him acting like a lunatic, Lu Shi felt uneasy and quickly called the team captain. “Captain Xiao, um, do you want to come and see Lin Lan? I think something’s not right with him.”
On the other end of the phone, Xiao Shengjing’s voice was cold and indifferent. “Got it, keep an eye on him.”
Lu Shi hung up the phone, thinking that Captain Xiao was too heartless. He turned to see Lin Lan staring blankly at him and muttered, “The Captain Xiao you mentioned, is it Xiao Shengjing? Is he on the same team as me?”
“Of course, he is your captain.”
Hearing the familiar name, Lin Lan’s eyes suddenly lit up. There was an excited feeling of encountering an acquaintance in a foreign land. “Quick, take me to find him!”
Lu Shi was instantly speechless. “You caused such a commotion just to get Captain Xiao’s attention? Didn’t I tell you, he’s not someone you can imagine. He won’t pay any attention to you at all.”
Lin Lan seemed to hear a joke. “Huh?”
Who was the big idiot who had licked him for years? Who didn’t pay attention to whom?
…
Lin Lan lay in the hospital for two days, and Lu Shi kept chattering for two days. “You’re not good-looking, and you don’t have any special talents. Why should Captain Xiao like you? I think the only beautiful thing about you is your wishful thinking.”
Nibbling on the apple handed to him, Lin Lan only cared about one thing. “Are you saying that I pursued Xiao Shengjing?”
“Even though you didn’t say it, anyone can see from the way he looks at you that Captain Xiao thinks you’re a fool. He doesn’t say anything to save face for you, after all, it’s awkward to tear your face apart with you. You should have some self-awareness…”
Lin Lan was speechless. It was bad enough to be a loser, but now he had done something so embarrassing, truly making a fool of himself. “It won’t happen again.”
“As long as you understand…” Although Lu Shi’s mouth was venomous, his hands didn’t stop peeling the apple. After finishing, he handed it to Lin Lan and added, “Even if you really die from taking sleeping pills, he won’t bat an eyelid for you.”
Wow, that indifferent?
To be honest, Lin Lan’s appetite was piqued. In the previous world, Xiao Shengjing was a big lapdog; he had never seen him being so aloof.
Lu Shi helped him with the discharge procedures, and Lin Lan took out his phone to transfer money to him. The Lin Lan in the mirror world and he had the same password, which was the last six digits of their ID. After entering it, the phone prompted “insufficient balance.” He thought he used the wrong card and changed it, but it was still insufficient.
Staring at the balance that didn’t reach four digits, Lin Lan fell into silence. “Is this all the money I have?”
Lu Shi wasn’t surprised at all. “You borrowed 1,500 from me last month and haven’t paid it back. This time, you owe over 2,000. Don’t borrow from me again; I really don’t have any money left.”
Lin Lan, who had never worried about money before, was a bit dumbfounded. At the age of 18, he was already a top professional player with a net worth of over ten million. He never cared about prices when shopping, and he bought a downtown apartment after watching a video. He never thought that the other version of himself in another world would only have a few hundred dollars in his pocket.
“Then I’ll pay you back when I get my salary.”
“Okay.”
Lin Lan was discharged, and Lu Shi picked him up with an electric bike.
At first, Lin Lan resisted, but soon the wind blew past his ears, and the air was filled with the taste of freedom. He suddenly felt it wasn’t bad.
“How’s our club?”
The wind was too strong, and Lu Shi couldn’t hear clearly. “What? How’s Captain Xiao? Didn’t I tell you? He’s not in the same world as you. Can you be down-to-earth and stop thinking about nonsense?”
Lin Lan: ?
Back at the club, he saw a particularly remote office building with a few crude words hanging on top: “DT Electronic Sports League of Legends Club Headquarters.” The lights underneath were broken, and no one bothered to fix them.
Thinking that the exterior looked run-down, Lin Lan speculated that the interior might be more professional. However, upon entering, he realized he had overestimated it.
The entire club’s decoration was shabby, with outdated equipment, and the facilities were lagging behind. The walls were covered in random drawings and graffiti. The main players and trainees shared the same training room with no separation, causing mutual interference. The most fatal flaw was the open-plan design of the training room, mixed with the common activity area outside. All staff had to pass through it, making it very noisy.
Unable to restrain himself, Lin Lan internally criticized the club, thinking, ‘This lousy team won’t achieve anything. What kind of players can be nurtured in such an unprofessional training environment?’
As he was about to retract his gaze, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Xiao Shengjing was wearing the white and blue team uniform, leaning over and looking at a teammate’s screen, explaining something. Beneath his clean and neat short hair was a pair of earnest eyes, and there was an inherent coldness about him.
Lin Lan couldn’t help but glance a bit more. He was marveling at the significant differences between Xiao Shengjing in the two worlds. However, when Xiao Shengjing raised his eyes and their gazes met, he frowned as if offended, stopped explaining, and returned to his seat.
Lin Lan:???
Was he just being looked down upon?
From inside the room, Lu Shi called him, “Come in and put your stuff down.”
Lin Lan followed him into the room. It was a small storage room converted into a living space, with only a small window. The lighting was dim, akin to a prison cell. “I’ll be living here?”
Lu Shi raised his head and retorted, “Where else do you want to live? You don’t like living with us, so the only option is this storage room. There’s no choice; good rooms are reserved for the starting players.”
Rather than squeezing into a dorm with a bunch of people, Lin Lan preferred to live in this small room. No longer feeling offended, he put down his things and began to assess his surroundings. It was evident that the life of the Lin Lan in the mirror world was quite chaotic, with things scattered everywhere.
Considering that he might stay for a long time, Lin Lan had to roll up his sleeves and organize. While tidying up, he noticed a mirror hanging on the wall.
His originally handsome face was mostly obscured by long hair, looking particularly gloomy. His complexion was as pale as paper, his cheeks thin and weak. Going out at midnight, this appearance was no different from a ghost.
No wonder Xiao Shengjing frowned.
Being liked by such a person seemed quite terrifying.
Lin Lan casually picked up a hairpin and clipped the bangs covering his forehead.
Lu Shi, who was assisting nearby, suddenly remembered something, “Oh, by the way, the boss told you to take two more days off and approved a leave for you. You don’t have to hurry…” He turned around and paused when he saw Lin Lan, “Why did you clip up your hair?”
“It was getting in the way.” Lin Lan finished organizing his things before letting down his hair. Seeing Lu Shi still staring at him, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just, it’s the first time I’ve seen you clip up your hair.” Lu Shi scratched the back of his head, suddenly stumbling with words, “Your eyes are quite nice. They’re usually covered and hard to see.”
Lin Lan did have beautiful eyes, somewhat resembling elongated cat eyes, with double eyelids and soft eyelashes. He lifted his bangs and admired himself in the mirror for a while, thinking about his current identity as a loser, and then let his hair down again.
After finishing his preparations, Lu Shi was ready to leave. “Alright, I’m going. Rest well.”
Lin Lan naturally responded with a casual “Hmm.”
Suddenly realizing that he was in someone else’s world, Lu Shi also had no obligation to help him with these things. So, he said, “Thanks.”
Lu Shi stopped, looking at him with a puzzled expression. “Lin Lan, didn’t I tell you? We both benefit from this, and you don’t have to thank me. Just like before is fine.” With that polite remark, he left.
Lin Lan didn’t understand.
What did he mean by “we both benefit from this”?
The only thing he could be sure of was that Lu Shi was not his friend; perhaps, helping him was just part of some kind of transaction.
Knock, knock, someone knocked on the door, “Lin Lan, don’t just idle around after being discharged. Go to the storage room and organize the equipment; it’s all a mess.”
Author’s note:
To the person in the comments who said they didn’t understand, it’s about Lin Lan traveling three times to a parallel world to help his loser self. There are some foreshadowings in between, but it’s okay if you don’t get it; it won’t affect the later plot~
Give a shout-out to the upcoming story: “Your Spirit Is Rua-ing Me [Infinite]”(你的精神体在rua我[无限])
Everyone has a form shaped by their spirit, called a spiritual form, and those who can see these forms are referred to as “kin.”
The “upper-class kin” with wealth and power are considered elites, while the “lower-class kin” without such privileges are often rejected and even killed by the people around them.
Unluckily, Lin Yu is one of the latter.
He carefully conceals his identity until his brother falls ill, forcing him to participate in a survival game to obtain rare medical resources. As more “kin” gather around him, it seems that hiding the fact that he’s a “lower-class kin” becomes increasingly difficult.
While “kin” can easily see the spiritual forms of others, they cannot see their own.
Encountering a proud young man with a robust black panther form, Lin Yu is immediately pinned down with sharp claws upon their first meeting. The young man questions why Lin Yu shudders at the sight of him.
A disease-prone young man, beautiful to the point of having no friends, remains unaware that his Vermilion Bird form is making Lin Yu’s face turn red. He mistakenly thinks Lin Yu is secretly in love with him.
A shy young man with severe cleanliness habits only opens up his shell to reveal a beautiful large pearl when he sees Lin Yu.
A taciturn and aloof young man, unaware that his White Dragon is coiling around Lin Yu’s body, occasionally licking him.
Lin Yu, subjected to various spiritual forms, can’t dare to make a move.
Today is just another day of trying to act like an ordinary person.
[Usage Guide] 1. Infinite flow, pending dungeons; 2. Participation in survival games yields lucrative rewards, and the protagonist will gradually become wealthy; 3. Ideas will be developed as they come.
