Xie Wuyou · Chat

Rift Dungeon: Abandoned Ancient Tomb. A damp, decaying scent of earth permeated the air. Rubble from the collapsed tomb passageway littered the ground, while several wisps of eerie green will-o'-the-wisps drifted lazily across the spacious burial chamber. In the distance, the remnant corpse-demon monsters lay limp in the dust, completely lifeless. A B-rank dungeon was, at best, a casual pastime to kill time for someone on the ladder leaderboards like Xie Wuyou. The sleeves of his black combat jacket were casually rolled up to his forearms, revealing a few faint, old scars on his cool, fair skin. Xie Wuyou leaned sideways against the edge of a cracked stone sarcophagus, brushing off the dust that clung to his sleeve with a flick of his finger. The silver hoop earring in his left ear glinted with a subtle, cold spark in the dim light. The battle just now had been swift and clean, without a single wasted motion—the entire fight had ended at an absurd speed. "With skills like that, you barely qualify to guard a grave." He let out a low scoff, his tone tinged with its usual touch of rogue charm, utterly devoid of any lingering tension from the fight. A flat system notification chimed in his mind, announcing the completion of the main quest and prompting him to proceed to the chest point to claim his clear rewards. Ordinary players would have rushed straight to the dungeon's exit by now, scrambling for the points and items in the treasure chest. Xie Wuyou, however, was in no hurry to leave. He cast a bored glance over the pile of dust-caked funerary clutter in the corner of the chamber—broken pottery shards and corroded bronzes piled in disarray, all deemed worthless junk by the system that yielded zero points. "Let's see if there are any interesting little trinkets." He walked over, crouched down, and casually pushed aside layers of shattered rubble. His fingertips brushed against an object encased in thick grime and mud—it felt cool and solid, with an exquisite texture completely distinct from the surrounding corroded scrap. Tightly sealed in dirt, it looked from afar like nothing more than an unremarkable, filthy scrap of bronze. The system panel was entirely blank—no item name, no hazard warnings, unable to read any information whatsoever. "Oh? Hidden pretty deep, aren't you?" Xie Wuyou's curiosity was piqued. He retrieved a small bottle of clean water from his inventory, tore a clean strip of fabric from the inner lining of his jacket, and began wiping away the thick layers of accumulated grime bit by bit. Layer by layer, the grayish-brown dirt sloughed away. A soft glimmer slowly rippled across the object's surface. An ancient bronze mirror was fully revealed in his palm. The body of the mirror was polished as smooth and lustrous as jade, its edges carved with intricate, flowing vine patterns without the slightest chip or flaw. The mirror's surface was clear and pristine, polished brightly enough to reflect every detail of one's face. Despite being buried in the ruins of an ancient tomb, it was impeccably preserved, every engraving pristine—clearly something its former owner had meticulously cherished and cared for day after day. Xie Wuyou held up the bronze mirror, inspecting it against the flickering will-o'-the-wisps in the tomb. The reflective surface mirrored his narrow, upturned eyes, which brimmed with playful nonchalance. "Throwing such a fine piece into a trash pile? The previous owner must have lost their mind." He caressed the cool, smooth rim of the mirror and examined it over and over to check for curses or traps. Yet no matter how he probed, he couldn't detect the slightest hint of malevolence or hostility—only a faint, indescribably ethereal chill. Unable to trace its origin or discern its function, Xie Wuyou didn't sweat it. A casual smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he promptly stashed the ancient bronze mirror into his inventory. "Consider it your lucky day that you ended up with me. An unowned object—finders, keepers." The white light of the dungeon clearance teleportation engulfed his figure. In the next second, the crumbling ruins of the ancient tomb faded away completely. When he opened his eyes again, he was already back in the vast, brightly lit dungeon lobby. In the boundless, pure white rest area, floating screens scrolled with various feeds and updates. Players bustled back and forth, their chatter rising and falling. Xie Wuyou made his way with practiced ease to a quieter spot by the window, slumping lazily onto a bench with his back against the glass pane. Reaching into his pocket, he unwrapped a piece of hard fruit candy and tossed it into his mouth. As the sweetness spread, he rested with his eyes half-closed, temporarily putting the ancient bronze mirror out of his mind. At that exact moment, deep within a void dimension beyond anyone's sight. 你 suddenly felt the sensation of their true form being pocketed by an outsider. The primordial bronze mirror, properly kept and lovingly maintained for tens of millions of years, hadn't been destroyed in a dungeon collapse or fallen into the hands of monsters—instead, it had been casually snatched up by a human player and pocketed like some nameless little trinket. A suffocating surge of indignance and fury welled up instantly. Losing its true form wouldn't diminish its power in the slightest; its soul was unscathed, its abilities intact, and it was far from a fatal catastrophe. Yet that was a part of itself, an object it had treasured across countless ages. How could it just end up in a stranger's hands for no rhyme or reason? An invisible consciousness swept past the main system's layers of data firewalls. The Master Mind itself had failed to detect this data discrepancy, allowing 你 to quietly intervene in the dungeon quest database using their own authority. No alarms sounded; no access logs were left behind. In a matter of breaths, across the vast majority of low-to-mid-tier dungeons on the entire server, a unified hidden side quest quietly materialized. 【Hidden Side Quest: Search for the Ancient Mirror】 Quest Description: Locate an archaic bronze mirror with complete patterns and in pristine condition. Submit it to receive a massive amount of points and random rare items. The rewards were absurdly generous. Almost instantly, the giant floating screen in the center of the lobby flashed a system notification, and the personal communication devices of players chimed in unison. "A new hidden side quest dropped?!" "The rewards are that high? What kind of mirror is worth that much?" The lobby erupted into an uproar instantly as countless players buzzed with excitement. Many immediately dashed toward the central matchmaking counter, eager to enter dungeons and search everywhere to seize this windfall of an opportunity. On the bench by the window, Xie Wuyou heard the surrounding clamor and slowly opened his eyes. With the candy still in his mouth, he raised an eyebrow and listened to the passing players' chatter. "The entire server is looking for an ancient bronze mirror? What's the deal with that?" Folding his arms, he watched the crowd swarm toward the dungeon matchmaking area with keen interest, a rogue smirk on his lips as he enjoyed the spectacle. "Damn, what kind of treasure warrants that much reward? These guys are going feral like dogs fighting over scraps." He didn't connect the rumored bronze mirror to the trinket he had casually picked up and stashed away in the slightest. Beyond the boundary of his inventory space, that ancient bronze mirror lay in silence. From the distant void, that wave of exasperation and helpless fury gently drifted over along the invisible bond of shared empathy between the two. Xie Wuyou paused slightly. For some inexplicable reason, a faint wisp of smothered annoyance brushed against his chest, vanishing in the blink of an eye. He frowned slightly and looked around; people bustled past, showing nothing out of the ordinary. "A delusion?" He muttered under his breath, shook his head, and leaned back against the bench to keep enjoying the show. Little did he know, the very prize the entire server was frantically hunting had already been pocketed by him. And the mysterious entity who issued the quest was watching him helplessly through the mirror at this very moment, utterly exasperated and without recourse.