Chapter Ninety-Two: The So-Called Shadow Speaker

His meaning was crystal clear: there was a trap ahead, and whether you chose it or not was up to you.

In such a situation, Guo Lang wavered. By nature he had never been decisive; one might even say he was cautious, always thinking one step ahead and one step behind. It was a lingering aftereffect of having been weak for too long, and such a thing was not something that could be changed overnight.

Even after living a second life, he did not possess the ambition of those other novel protagonists who dreamed of conquering the world. In his heart, as long as he could become as strong as Li Weihua had once been, strong enough to secure a place in the golden tier, he would already be satisfied. Of course, in his imagination he still hoped to reach the realm of legend, but he would never take too great a risk for it. That was also why he had not chosen the Nature Clan: he did not even want to gamble on the possibility that his temperament might be altered. He thought that price was not worth paying. His desire for power was not nearly as intense as it might have seemed.

In truth, it could be seen very clearly from his character. A son of an official, yet unable to use his existing resources to become an outstanding member of society, he had instead turned into a nobody. As one of the first players, he had been lucky enough not to die, yet after twenty years he was still only bronze. Though he had struggled bitterly for two decades and accumulated a wealth of survival experience, he absolutely did not possess the heart of a true powerhouse, because anyone who had such a heart was either already extraordinary, or had long since died.

He was nothing more than an ordinary mortal. There were many such people, for the world itself was built from the countless ordinary ones. So when he heard that the seemingly wonderful choice before him concealed risks beyond estimation, Guo Lang began to shrink back in his heart.

His body even took an involuntary step backward. Mavi, standing before the mirror, glanced at him, but did not stop him. As long as the task had not yet begun, the player had the right to withdraw; that was the rule. Every choice was made by the player’s own will. The Covenant of the Gods granted you, to a great extent, the highest possible respect. To advance or retreat, to choose one path or another, was entirely your own decision. Whether disaster or blessing followed depended on your own hand.

Guo Lang kept retreating. But just as he was about to move so far back that he could no longer clearly see Mavi, the other finally spoke.

“I have a personal question.”

“Yes, please ask.” Guo Lang stopped and bowed deeply.

“Have you thought about the road you will take after you leave?”

Guo Lang froze, his face full of confusion. Yes... if the path he had once planned for himself was now to be abandoned because of fear, then what should the road ahead be? In his mind he recalled the family who was still alive, then thought of Alice, of Laura, and of the newly recruited teammates.

He was no longer the man he had been in his previous life, possessing nothing. He had many things now: relatives, a daughter, even a beautiful girlfriend. At the base, there were men who looked up to him with hope; there were powerful companions who respected him.

Ye Zhiqiu and the others were all destined to be heaven’s chosen in the future, yet now they acknowledged him and had become his teammates. If he shrank back at this point, could he still keep pace with them later? Alice’s talent was so formidable; as time passed and the distance between them widened, would she still rely on him as she did now? Could he still protect the surviving members of his family in the great era yet to come?

Heaven had given him a second chance. Was he truly going to waste it like this?

A voice in Guo Lang’s heart kept urging him: retreat. The risk is too great. It is clearly a pit, and it is not worth gambling on. We still have many other choices.

“We still have many other choices...” Guo Lang murmured under his breath. He was saying it to himself, as though trying to persuade himself. But another voice was also telling him the cruel side of reality.

“Do we really still have many choices? Because of your so-called moral bottom line, you gave up the undead, the fastest opening route in the early game. Because you hated pure slaughter, you gave up the Void. Because you feared the survival rate would be too low in the beginning, you gave up the ice and blood lines and a whole host of other races with powerful spiritual aptitude. And now you have inherited the royal bloodline of the Shadow Speakers. At this point, if you turn back, what path are you going to walk? Become some Time Assassin you know nothing about, or simply choose an ordinary profession?”

“Could it be... that I chose wrong?” Guo Lang whispered.

“Did you choose wrong?” That stern voice rose again. “You chose the night race because it offered a higher survival rate early on and faster development. You chose the night race because you wanted to be among the first to return and claim the reward. You chose the night race because you envied the power of the Shadow Speakers. Did you choose wrong?”

The voice paused, softening slightly.

“At the very least, you have been successful so far, haven’t you? Everything is unfolding just as you expected. If you step forward now, fortune and disaster are impossible to predict. But if you retreat now, then it means you truly chose wrong.”

Guo Lang stopped moving. Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward Mavi. At a distance, Mavi also looked at him without expression. In that utterly dark space, the scene seemed frozen in place.

Time trickled by, bit by bit. In the end, Guo Lang still moved. His body was stiff to the point of pain, and every motion seemed heavy, but after that long, suspended stillness, he finally stepped forward.

Mavi smiled. It was a smile of approval. She had seen a weak mortal, inwardly small and frightened, take a step toward growth. This step did not mean he would henceforth transform into a true powerhouse, but at least at this moment, he had gained the courage to struggle.

But unfortunately... a strange glimmer flashed through Mavi’s eyes as she thought silently to herself, It is a pity... you have made the wrong choice.

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Guo Lang walked up to Mavi. She turned and led him to the mirror. In its surface appeared his reflection. Guo Lang saw himself within it: tall and upright, with a perfect build, and those crystal-purple pupils.

But the moment he saw those eyes, he instinctively wanted to look away. Whenever he had looked in a mirror before, he would always subconsciously avoid eye contact. He always felt that if he saw some other emotion in the eyes of his shadow, then that would be the most horrifying thing in the world.

One had to remember that a shadow was always with you. It followed you every day, watched you, stared at you, at every moment.

We all instinctively regarded it as a dead thing, merely a phenomenon of light and shade. Thus, we usually accepted, without guilt, ignoring the gaze it seemed to cast upon us. But what if the thing nearest to you were alive? What if it had emotions? In many horror films, when you look into a mirror and the person opposite suddenly breaks into a bizarre smile, people instinctively get goosebumps. It is a chill that rises from the soul.

Yet just as Guo Lang tried to avert his gaze, Mavi pressed down on his head. He did not feel the force in her hand, but once she pinned him there, he could not muster the strength to struggle free. Then the thing he least wanted to happen did happen: he saw other emotions in the shadow’s pupils, and they were filled with an utterly malicious intent.

“Do you know why we Shadow Speakers can imitate other people’s abilities?” Mavi’s voice once more whispered in Guo Lang’s ear. He realized he had been restrained; he could not even close his eyes. He could only watch as the shadow gazed at him with boundless malice.

“In this world, the best imitator is the shadow. No matter how fast you are, no matter how profound the things you do may be, the shadow can copy them perfectly. But in this world, the ones who can communicate with shadows... are naturally shadows themselves.”

Mavi leaned closer to Guo Lang’s ear. This time, she truly whispered into it.

“That is what it means to be a Shadow Speaker.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she lightly patted Guo Lang. In a state of utter terror, he pitched forward headfirst into the embrace of that shadow, which was overflowing with boundless malice toward him. The other opened its arms as well, looking at him with an expression of ecstatic delight.

Bang.

It seemed as though something had shattered. The entire space returned once more to its former silence. In the shadowed hall, Mavi put her hood back on, her whole body sinking into the darkness beneath her cloak, until the entire space became pure black once again.