I didn't mean to scare you

Chapter 2

"Chen Yan." Lin Han finally called out, turning his head sharply. Chen Yan stopped as he did, a look of horror flashing in her eyes. "In the mirror...you're in the mirror."

Five pairs of eyes turned to the mirror. The large classroom reflected in the mirror appeared normal, without any fog, still dimly lit. The five people in the mirror, except for Chen Yan, all wore complex expressions. Chen Yan was still Chen Yan; the strange phenomenon deep within the mirror had vanished without a trace.

"You broke the rules of the game." In the silence, Chen Yan's cold voice rang out, "The consequences are unpredictable."

Chen Yan's words were like a thunderclap in the middle of the night. The other three's expressions changed drastically, and they turned to the bewildered Lin Han. If looks could kill, he would already be dead beyond recognition.

"Haozi, what should we do? What should we do?" Li Leyu wrapped his arms around Lu Hao's waist, pressed his body tightly against him, and his face was as pale as paper.

"Let's go. This idiot will take responsibility for all the consequences." Lu Hao glared at Lin Han, then pulled Li Leyu and Ye Chang out.

“The rules of the game have been broken, and no one can get out now,” Chen Yan said calmly. She turned and slowly walked to the window, raising her slender arm to brush her long hair against the night breeze.

"Impossible, you little vixen, don't scare people like this." A woman's jealousy seemed to dispel everything. At this moment, Li Leyu no longer seemed afraid. She angrily pushed Lu Hao, who was looking at Chen Yan, and said, "Go away, you lecher, or you'll lose your eyes."

Watching the three walk out of the large classroom and disappear into the darkness, Lin Han coughed lightly and took a hesitant step forward: "Chen Yan, I...I..."

"Aren't you going with them?" Chen Yan's tone remained unchanged, devoid of any emotion.

"I..." Lin Han took a deep breath, finally mustering his courage, "No matter what happens, I... I'll be here with you." Chen Yan's back seemed to stiffen for a moment, then she slowly turned around, looking into Lin Han's eyes, her gaze softening slightly. Lin Han lowered his eyelids to avoid her gaze, then suddenly straightened his chest and raised his head, "What I said is true, I... I truly mean it..."

A soft sigh escaped Chen Yan's throat: "We can't get out. Whether it's true or not, we can't get out tonight."

Lin Han was horrified: "No...it's not that scary, is it? This is just a game to fool ghosts."

"Damn it! Why are we still on the third floor after all this walking around?" Lu Hao's voice came from the corridor outside the door, muffled and filled with immense fear. The voice echoed in the long corridor, interspersed with the indistinct whispers of two girls. Hearing Lu Hao's words, Lin Han's heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Chen Yan by the window in a panic.

6

Lin Han was utterly astonished at that glance. Chen Yan was nowhere to be seen; not only Chen Yan, but even the window had vanished without a trace, leaving only a wall. The mottled wall was a dull gray, with most of the plaster bubbling and peeling off.

"Chen Yan? Chen Yan, where are you?" Lin Han looked around in panic. He was horrified to find that everything was different. Everything was reversed. The entire classroom was upside down. What used to be a door had become a window, and the window where he was standing had become the door he had just entered through.

The distorted shout echoed against the classroom walls. Lin Han was now the only one left in the classroom; he couldn't find Chen Yan anywhere. Lin Han's fear intensified, and he was even more worried about Chen Yan's safety. He didn't know what was happening; his only thought was to find Chen Yan.

"Chen Yan, come out! Can you hear me? Answer me!" Lin Han continued to shout at the top of his lungs as he rushed toward the wide-open classroom door. With a "thud," his body slammed into something hard and cold, and he was thrown back violently. A dizzying pain spread from his forehead throughout his body, making him tremble.

"Ugh! What happened?" Lin Han gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and rolled over to sit up, rubbing his forehead, staring blankly at the dark door. Perhaps because of the impact, his brain felt like it was filled with mush. After a long while, he cautiously stretched out his right arm and walked step by step towards the door. The glass was cold to the touch, smooth but hard—just like the feeling of touching glass.

Fear grew wildly in his heart. Lin Han immediately realized something, but dared not admit it. Trembling, he tapped the cold, transparent glass in front of him with his knuckles, producing a sound like striking glass. He froze, then suddenly kicked it wildly, countless kicks only bringing excruciating pain; the glass in front of him, which he was certain was solid, remained unmoved. He tried the three windows too, with the same result as the door. He slumped onto the wooden floor, the dust he kicked up choking him, causing him to cough incessantly, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Only then did Lin Han finally accept the reality before him, utterly despondent—he was trapped in the world of mirrors, which was why everything seemed upside down. He couldn't get out. He remembered Chen Yan's words, and a despair more painful than death gradually grew, permeating every cell of his body.

Tears began to flow uncontrollably. Lin Han had no choice but to cry like a coward. His only thought was of Chen Yan; he didn't know if she, like him, was trapped in the mirror, or if she had already escaped. Of course, he hoped for the latter. Exhausted from crying, he collapsed onto the filthy floor and drifted off to sleep.

He didn't know how long he had slept, but a hand was placed on Lin Han and he was shaken vigorously. Lin Han's eyes snapped open, and he jumped up abruptly, staring intently at the blurry figures in front of him.

"Shit! You scared me!" a male voice shouted, sounding quite frightened. As his vision cleared, Lin Han finally recognized the speaker as Lu Hao.

"You...you guys..." Lin Han's gaze swept back and forth between Lu Hao, Li Leyu, and Ye Chang, finally settling on Lu Hao's face, but he didn't know what to say.

"Lin Han, what's going on? Why can't we get out of the third floor? Why are you sleeping here?" Lu Hao asked a string of questions in one breath.

"It's simple, we've been locked inside a mirror," Lin Han replied lazily, then pointed to the large classroom. "You'll see for yourselves."

After looking around, the three returned to their faces, which were filled with fear. Ye Chang asked, trembling, "Why is this happening?"

"Why?" Lin Han shrugged, appearing much calmer than the other three. "Who are you asking me to ask?"

"Where is that little vixen?" Li Leyu asked, his face full of jealousy, his eyes still searching around as if trying to find Chen Yan's hiding place.

Lin Han glanced coldly at Li Leyu: "No need to look anymore, this place can't hide anyone at all."

"It must be that little vixen's doing. Once we find her, we can get out of here." Li Leyu gritted his teeth. "It must be her."

"Leyu, could it be that we've all been hypnotized by her? Maybe we're in the nightmare she's set up for us right now." Ye Chang clung to Li Leyu's arm, looking as bewildered as a rabbit caught in a wolf's den.

Lin Han, too lazy to listen to their guesses any longer, strolled to the door and began groping along the unseen pane of glass. After a moment, he straightened up and asked, "How did you get in here? Didn't you touch this pane of glass?"

"What glass?" The three of them were shocked and ran over together, groping around on the door.

“There really is a piece of glass. It wasn’t there when we came in. How come it’s here now…” Li Leyu’s groping movements became frantic, and he began to sob softly, “We can’t get out! We can’t get out! We can’t get out!”

"Ah!" Ye Chang let out a long howl, fell to the ground, and cried hysterically.

"Can't you guys just stop messing around?" Lu Hao roared, his fists clenched, his eyes bloodshot, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath.

7

The crying abruptly stopped, followed by an oppressive silence. A moment later, the two girls' soft sobs broke the silence, carrying an unbearable despair that tugged at everyone's fragile nerves.

Lin Han sighed, "Stop crying, save your energy to find a way out." No one answered him. The two girls helped each other to their feet and silently followed behind him. Lu Hao hesitated for a moment, then moved to follow the others. The low, heavy breathing, the messy footsteps, and the musty smell of wax mixed with the stale odor in the large classroom made the atmosphere unusually oppressive.

They couldn't find a way out; the empty classroom was laid out before them. The four of them had already circled the classroom twice, still finding nothing. They stopped simultaneously in front of the large mirror, staring intently at their reflections. Dejected bodies, pale faces, eyes filled with despair and fear—the four of them looked remarkably alike.

His gaze swept across everyone's faces, and Lin Han thought of Chen Yan again. He couldn't imagine what kind of situation a girl like Chen Yan would be in under such circumstances and in such an environment. His longing to see her again was so strong that even if they could never escape this strange world in the mirror, he would have no regrets as long as he could be with her. Of course, it would be best if the two of them could be alone together.

Lost in thought, Lin Han's gaze unconsciously darted between the faces reflected in the mirror. Suddenly, he sensed something amiss. It was just a fleeting feeling, gone in an instant. His mind snapped into focus, and his eyes moved more rapidly in their sockets.

Nothing seemed wrong. Was something wrong with my brain? Lin Han habitually looked down and put his hands in his jeans pockets. Something hard blocked his right hand; he immediately realized it was his phone. Overjoyed, he pulled out his phone, his right hand and voice trembling: "Where...where are your phones? Take them out, quick...take them out, maybe we can make a call."

Without the slightest hesitation, the others swiftly pulled out their phones, four eerie blue lights illuminating the dim light. A blank screen—completely blank. No signal, no numbers, not even a screensaver. Emotions plummeted from the peak of hope to the depths of despair. Lin Han sighed, Li Leyu and Ye Chang exchanged tearful glances, and Lu Hao, with a furious growl, slammed his phone against the mirror in front of him.

After a sharp, loud crash, the phone bounced back, fell to the ground, and shattered in two. The mirror, however, which should have been broken, remained completely unharmed. All four people stared at the mirror simultaneously, first in surprise, then in doubt, and finally, a sudden, overwhelming fear washed over them, engulfing their entire bodies.

In the mirror, the other three were acting as usual, except for Ye Chang. Unlike her reflection, who was holding her phone and slightly turned to the side, Ye Chang remained in the same position, staring blankly out of the mirror. A thought flashed through Lin Han's mind, and he finally understood what had been wrong. He had caught a glimpse of Ye Chang beside him out of the corner of his eye; she was expressionless. But in that brief moment, a chillingly pale smile had flickered across Ye Chang's lips in the mirror.

"Xiao Chang, you...you, you..." Li Leyu's face turned pale. He pointed at Ye Chang beside him, retreated hastily, bumped into Lu Hao behind him, and curled up in front of Lu Hao's chest.

"Le Yu, I... Lu Hao..." Seeing her friend looking at her with such fear, Ye Chang panicked and became incoherent. She turned around abruptly to face Lin Han, stretching out her hands for help, "Lin Han, Lin Han..."

Lin Han shook his head, looked at Ye Chang, who was pale and bloodless, and then at Ye Chang still standing there in the mirror. He also backed away. Seeing that everyone was looking at him as if he were a demon, Ye Chang cried in despair, stretched out his arms, and walked step by step toward the three people who had retreated to the center of the classroom.

As they moved, Ye Chang's body underwent a terrifying change. To the others, she resembled a burning candle slowly melting, except that the order in which she melted was the opposite of a candle—her feet melted first. However, this melting seemed to cause her no pain; she continued to approach the three with a sorrowful expression, leaving a puddle of black, tar-like slime on the ground with each step.

Controlled by fear, the three huddled together, their retreating steps becoming increasingly rapid and fragmented. The two boys stared in disbelief, drenched in cold sweat. Li Leyu was completely limp, practically clinging to Lu Hao, his teary eyes wide, four fingers stuffed in his mouth, desperately trying to suppress the overwhelming terror.

The melting was accelerating, leaving a long, black trail below her waist. Ye Chang's upper body was completely sprawled on the ground, her hand still clutching the phone tightly as she crawled forward with difficulty, using the strength of her arms. She opened her mouth, a strange gurgling sound coming from deep in her throat, her voice hoarse and barely audible: "Save me! Save me! Please, Le Yu..."

Li Leyu tripped over something and fell to the ground with a thud. At that moment, Lu Hao ignored her and quickly retreated. She tried to get up, but her body was weak and limp; she could only use her elbows to support herself, inching backward. Sharp screams escaped her lips, which were no longer blocked.

Ye Chang melted even faster, leaving only her chest and above. Her two thin arms continued to crawl forward, and she could no longer utter a complete sound. She looked like a bizarre, two-legged spider. Finally, she caught up with the terrified Li Leyu and grabbed his ankle tightly with one hand.

Glug glug… Ye Chang made strange noises, his eyes wide open, fixed on Li Leyu’s gaze. Li Leyu clearly saw something dark in Ye Chang’s eyes, rapidly spreading from the pupils outwards until it completely covered the whites of his eyes.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the night sky; Li Leyu was already too weak to retreat. This scene ignited Lin Han's inner potential. He rushed forward, pried open Ye Chang's tightly clenched fingers, and dragged Li Leyu to a corner.

The three watched helplessly as Ye Chang melted away completely. For a moment, apart from their rapid breathing, the large classroom was deathly silent. On the floor, piles and streaks of black slime left behind by Ye Chang's melting were scattered everywhere. Looking in the mirror, a thick, indistinguishable black mass replaced everything else.

Just as everyone was still reeling from the shock, a piercing bell rang out, accompanied by a burst of blue light. The three of them could no longer contain themselves and simultaneously let out a series of eerie howls.

8

This time, it was Li Leyu who calmed down first. She recognized the familiar ringtone as coming from Ye Chang's phone—the sound of a phone receiving a text message. She pointed a trembling finger at the phone flickering in a pile of black slime, managing to stammer out a few disjointed words: "Haozi…phone…"

The two boys fell silent simultaneously, initially exchanging bewildered glances, then, as if suddenly realizing something, rushed forward together, lunging at the now-silent phone. In the instant they were side-by-side, Lu Hao shoved Lin Han aside, swiftly picked up the phone, ignoring the nauseating stench of the black, slimy liquid, and frantically opened the phone's text message inbox.

Lin Han and Li Leyu, who arrived shortly after, saw the text message almost simultaneously with Lu Hao. Lu Hao let out a short exclamation, and his phone flew out of his hand, tracing a graceful arc in the air before landing behind the mirror with a crisp sound.

Who will be next?

Every single word of the text message was clearly visible to the three of them. Each ordinary Chinese character was like a sharp silver needle, mercilessly piercing their hearts. A new fear surged through their veins.

"Who is it? Who is it? Who are you?" Li Leyu cried out to the sky, aimlessly.

As if in response to Li Leyu's question, a chilling wind suddenly swept through the large classroom, and a sickening laugh swirled above the three of them. Nearly collapsing, the three stumbled about aimlessly in the wind, their ultimate goal being the classroom door.

In an instant, just an instant, the chilling wind and laughter ceased abruptly. The three of them crashed into a hard surface almost simultaneously, groaning and rolling into a heap. Dazed, they scrambled to their feet, their minds filled with confusion. Clearly, each of them had felt their bodies pass through a layer of gel-like, transparent substance. Looking around, a surge of joy rose to their faces. Before them was no longer the scene of the large classroom, but a moonlit corridor stretching straight ahead.

"We... got out...?" Lin Han was still hesitant, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"We're out! We're really out!" Lu Hao grabbed Li Leyu's shoulders and jumped up and down in cheers.

"Let me go!" Li Leyu shrugged coldly and shook off Lu Hao's hands.

"What's wrong, Leyu?" Lu Hao was surprised and didn't know what was wrong with Li Leyu, who was usually gentle and considerate to him.

Li Leyu, his face full of hatred, retreated to Lin Han's side: "Where were you when I was in danger? If it weren't for Lin Han, I might have ended up like Xiao Chang."

Lu Hao was speechless for a long time. Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he roared, "How can you blame me? If you hadn't insisted on challenging Chen Yan and playing this stupid game, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Hmph! Are you blaming me?" Li Leyu was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes. She pointed at Lu Hao's nose excitedly, "If you hadn't been so distracted and bewitched by that little vixen, would I have had to do this?"

Lu Hao sneered repeatedly: "I'm afraid that's not right, is it? It's because after Chen Yan came, your status as the school beauty was in jeopardy, and all your loyal suitors turned to pursuing Chen Yan. That's why you became jealous and wanted to challenge her. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."

"Lu Hao, you..."

...

My god! I'm really exasperated by them. They still have the energy to argue at a time like this. Lin Han looked miserable and finally couldn't take it anymore: "Hey, can you guys stop arguing? We need to get out of here quickly. Even if you make a huge fuss when we get back, no one will care."

These words finally roused the two who had been arguing incessantly. They immediately shut up, but both stared at Lin Han, neither moving. Lin Han understood what they meant; they wanted him to lead the way. He shrugged, turned, and walked towards the end of the corridor. The two ignored each other, exchanged a glance, and quickly followed Lin Han.

As he walked, Lin Han made up his mind: he would send these two noisy fellows away in a while, and then come back alone to find Chen Yan. This decision did not mean that he was not afraid, but keeping these two useless and troublesome fellows around would only make things worse.

"Why haven't we reached the exit yet?" Li Leyu's voice came from behind, full of doubt, but even more so, fear.

"Hmm?" Lin Han looked up from his reverie. Ahead, the corridor continued to stretch on and on. Strange! The corridor didn't seem very long when he came up. He didn't stop walking, but frowned and habitually glanced at his watch. The luminous hands on the dial jumped rhythmically. Staring at his watch, he felt something was amiss and unconsciously stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Li Leyu leaned closer.

"Something seems off about this watch."

"Let me see." Li Leyu craned her neck. Being a girl after all, she was very observant and immediately noticed the problem. "Oh! Is your watch broken? The hands are going backwards."