Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Although Mother Juan in this dimension was also the kitchen lady at No. 60 High, she was much younger and prettier than the one in the real world… Gazing at her face, Wang Ling wasn’t used to it. It wasn’t because she wasn’t pretty enough, but that she was so pretty that he somehow felt it was all an act. Besides, Wang Ling felt that the real Mother Juan was more affable.

Though she was now going down the road of “black cuisine” in order to develop a new cooking style, she actually had very good intentions!

“It’s noon; all of you haven’t eaten yet, have you? How about following me to the canteen for a bite?” Miss Juan’er smiled.

“Will that be alright?” Wang Ming asked.

“You students are really strange. This is my first time seeing the weak students from the loser class being so polite. You’re clearly the elite of all the losers, which is why you have the word ‘Elite’ on the back of your school uniforms,” Miss Juan’er said.

Wang Ling: “…”

It turned out that the definition of the word “Elite” had been modified here…

This Palace of Mirrors was really a mystical world.

“Then let’s talk while we eat,” Wang Ming said.

“Then wait for me, I’m going to the washroom,” Mother Juan said.

“Alright…”

Miss Juan’er quickly ran to the female washroom, and walked out a dozen or so seconds later.

Wang Ming was baffled. “So quick?”

Miss Juan’er: “If you pee standing up, of course it’s quick.”

Everyone: “…”

Next to Wang Ling’s feet, Dog Two was thoroughly shocked by this world.

Girls peed standing up… Then didn’t that mean boys had to squat and use toilet paper? What kind of strange operation was this?!

…

Li Juan invited Wang Ling and the others to the canteen to eat.

Only then did Wang Ling realize that there was actually quite a number of teachers in the canteen, and Wang Ling and the others stood out. When the teachers saw Wang Ling, they all bowed obsequiously and weren’t irritable despite knowing that they were students from the loser class.

There was no lack of courteous and easy-going teachers, but the entire system in the Palace of Mirrors was chaotic. Wang Ling couldn’t help lamenting this difference.

This dimension, with all its confusion and disregard for rules and order, should never exist.

But Wang Ling had yet to determine who on earth was the person who ruled behind the scenes.

“Why are the teachers still at work?”

“The students rest from Monday to Friday. Naturally, some teachers have to work overtime to prepare lessons for Saturday and Sunday.”

Wang Ling’s heart couldn’t help feeling heavy when he heard this.

To be a teacher in this world was pretty miserable.

Although the 996-working hours system in the real world also wasn’t humane, it was nothing compared with this world!

…

As Wang Ling had thought, Mother Juan’s cooking was normal in the Palace of Mirrors. While the dishes didn’t look as good as in the real world, they were at the very least not poisonous.

Wang Ling took a sip of Mother Juan’s chicken soup and found it a little bland. Although it wasn’t poisonous, it tasted a lot worse… In the real world, it tasted and looked good, but could poison a person to death!

In No. 60 High, Mother Juan’s dishes, Super Chen’s mouth, Dopey Guo’s uncles… These were all secret weapons! Wang Ling even felt that these secret weapons on their own could rival Heavenly Dao.

“It’s tough being a teacher.” Wang Ming couldn’t help sighing as he ate.

Wang Ming had never gone to school; Old Qi had noticed him and taken him away when he was four years old. Since then, he had always grown up under Old Qi’s guidance. He completed all the cultivation school programs the year he turned five – all the diplomas and certificates he earned could be used to wallpaper a house.

It had to be said that learning wasn’t anything hard for the two brothers of the Wang family.

But there was a clear difference in their attitudes toward it.

Wang Ming was afraid that he wasn’t outstanding enough.

Wang Ling was afraid of being too outstanding and of getting full marks if he accidentally performed at his usual standard.

No one else could understand this sort of pain.

A person shouldering the weight of excellence at an age no one should.

Sigh.

The wine was bitter going down the throat, the heart ached.

The meal passed silently. The truth was that Wang Ling and the others still didn’t know how to discreetly ask Mother Juan about the Palace of Mirrors.

Half an hour later, after almost everyone else in the canteen had left, Mother Juan was the first to break the deadlock. “You’re actually not from this world, are you?” She was just probing, but hit the nail on the head. Wang Ling and the others froze on the spot at the question. They had thought that their disguise was flawless, and there was no reason for them to be caught.

“Don’t be nervous, I mean no harm. It’s just a kind of feeling that only native inhabitants of this world have.” Mother Juan explained, “I sense something different about you compared with the others. Perhaps you’ve also noticed that the people who live in this world are like puppets on strings, moving completely to someone else’s will. Even though they are departed spirits who floated over from elsewhere and were brought back to life, there is in fact no difference from when they were dead.”

“How did you know these people are the souls of the dead?” Wang Ming was very curious.

“It seems I guessed right. From the moment I was born into this world, I had the vague feeling that something wasn’t right. The people around me are like NPCS in a game: they say and do the same things every day. They come into this world, obtain new lives, enjoy the shared resources, and won’t die or grow old. That’s the scariest part. You’ve watched The Truman Show, right? It’s that sort of feeling…”

Mother Juan mused, “I was just guessing about the foundation of this world, and it wasn’t until I saw you today that I knew for sure. There’ve been times when I’ve wondered: if there was another ‘me’ in another world, what would I be like?”

“Then when did you first realize?” Guo Ping didn’t expect things to progress this quickly.

Since they were already talking about it, he hastily got to the heart of the matter.

“When I was very young, lots of strange buildings appeared in this world. You’ve probably already seen them; they’re called dream houses… These buildings for recruiting the souls of the dead popped up all over the place one day, like mushrooms after the rain. Since then, more and more shadow men appeared in this world, and the existence of the dream houses caused the local residents of this world to gradually forget their sense of self.”

Speaking up to this point, Mother Juan held out a hand. “This is the mark of the dream house. I spent a tremendous amount to get this fake mark made in order to survive in this world… As long as I have this, my memories won’t be assimilated.”

“So this Palace of Mirrors… was invaded by someone else?” Guo Ping was astonished and the rest were similarly horrified to hear that. No one expected this to be an elaborate plan for decades in the making.

“That’s right.” Mother Juan nodded. “But it was a dream which warned me of this at the very beginning. I seemed to dream of myself in another world, where I was older and had put on some weight.”

“…” Wang Ling looked up with a curious expression.

“It seems that you know me in that other world.” Mother Juan smiled. “It was a very unusual dream. She told me a lot of things, and a large part of the reason why we could connect in a dreamscape had to do with her courting death…”

“Courting death?”

“That’s right; I heard that she was inventing a lot of new dishes, and when she sampled them, she almost poisoned herself…”

“…”