Chapter 737 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 4

Chapter 737 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 4

After finishing the newspaper, Mo Lan truly had nothing left to do.

Glancing at the clock on the table, it was dinnertime.

Mo Lan thought it over and decided to follow the original host’s habits for the time being.

She picked up the garbage bag, took her room key, and walked into the Teleportation Room.

Next to the teleportation circle leading to the waste facility, there was another circle that went directly to the “Mirror Space – Waste Facility.” Once garbage was placed on it, it could be teleported straight into the waste facility’s mirror space, allowing one to throw out trash without ever leaving home.

However, this teleportation circle, much like the neighboring community restaurant’s dedicated meal-delivery teleportation circle, required separate fees for maintenance and use.

The teleportation circles to the community garbage room and restaurant were part of the community’s basic infrastructure, with usage costs included in the property management fees—no additional payment needed.

After losing her parents, the original host had consciously begun to economize. Naturally, there was no reason to keep using these non-essential teleportation circles. Once she stopped paying the fees, the circles had become unusable.

However, the community garbage room wasn’t open around the clock—it was only open for about one hour each in the morning, at midday, and in the evening.

The original host was in the habit of taking out the trash during this evening window, then stopping by the community restaurant for dinner on the way.

Stepping onto the teleportation circle bound for the garbage room, Mo Lan arrived in the blink of an eye outside a white cylindrical building—the garbage room.

She walked over, tossed the garbage bag through the window opening, and that was that.

During the garbage room’s open hours, the teleportation array inside was kept active at all times. The moment trash was thrown in, it was teleported to the waste facility’s mirror space, so the garbage room was spotlessly clean inside and out, with no unpleasant odors whatsoever.

Fifty meters from the garbage room stood the community’s internal restaurant.

Following the original host’s preferences from memory, Mo Lan went and bought a dinner set, and only after finishing her meal did she teleport home from the Teleportation Room outside the restaurant entrance.

During the meal, she even ran into a few faces she recognized from the original host’s memories. Whenever someone glanced her way, she turned her head and pretended not to notice.

When others took the initiative to greet her, she merely gave a hasty nod, then nervously buried her head in her food.

Mo Lan’s performance was flawless—this was exactly how the original host had acted when encountering people.

The original host was someone with a rich inner world but who disliked face-to-face interaction—a textbook case of social anxiety.

This was partly related to the fact that, ever since she was young, her parents were frequently away on missions for extended periods, leaving her in the care of a nanny.

The original host’s parents had provided her with abundant material comforts, but emotionally, they had given her next to nothing. The original host had grown accustomed to finding her own sources of emotional fulfillment—recording stones, newspapers, and books were her friends. Gradually, she became unaccustomed to enthusiastic conversation with others.

This personality was convenient for Mo Lan.

She didn’t need to worry at all about people familiar with the original host noticing something off about her, because nobody truly knew the original host.

Even the original host’s own parents didn’t have a particularly clear understanding of her true personality and preferences.

Mo Lan, having inherited the original host’s memories, had become the person who understood her best.

The identity that the Bosom Friend Invitation had selected was truly well-suited for Mo Lan.

She also planned to continue playing the original host’s personality, minimizing deep contact and communication with others as much as possible.

Less social interaction meant more time alone, less risk of exposure, and fewer emotional attachments.

Mo Lan didn’t want to form deep feelings or bonds with people from other worlds anymore.

Making good friends was certainly a happy thing, but leaving that world afterward would bring an unbearable sense of loss. Better not to start at all.

*

The next day, Mo Lan left home an hour early. When she arrived at the public teleportation hall outside the community and entered “Deer Cry Middle School Station” into the teleportation device, a message appeared: “Destination congested. Please queue for teleportation. Estimated queue time: ten minutes.” The teleportation circle beneath her feet also turned yellow, indicating it couldn’t be used immediately.

Today was the middle school talent testing day. Not only would students and parents be rushing to the various schools designated as testing sites, but people from all walks of life would also come to watch the excitement.

After all, the testing was completely open, fair, and transparent—all mirror citizens were welcome to observe and supervise. It was practically a mirror-wide event.

This world didn’t have anything like live television broadcasts, so the only option was to go in person.

Deer Cry Middle School, where the original host attended, was the best middle school in Deer Cry Mirror. It also had the most testing equipment, and naturally bore the heaviest testing workload.

Students from several other schools had been assigned to test at Deer Cry Middle School.

Even though the spectator seating fees at the Deer Cry Middle School testing site were the highest in the entire mirror, it remained the most popular testing site among mirror citizens.

Mo Lan had anticipated that the public teleportation hall outside Deer Cry Middle School would be quite congested today, but she hadn’t expected that even leaving an hour early would still get her stuck in the teleportation hall.

An hour might not seem like much, but in a world where travel relied on teleportation and arrival was always instantaneous, advance time was measured in minutes.

Leaving an hour early was already considered more than enough buffer time.

Fortunately, the estimated queue time was only ten minutes, and Mo Lan could afford to wait.

She quickly dropped in a one-dollar mirror coin, then stood on the teleportation circle to wait.

Ten minutes later, the teleportation circle turned green right on schedule, and Mo Lan appeared at the Deer Cry Middle School teleportation exit.

“Student! Move along quickly! The next wave of people is about to arrive!”

Before Mo Lan could even react, a teleportation hall worker wearing a green vest grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side. Immediately after, she was swept along by the crowd and carried out of the teleportation hall.

She couldn’t remember how many years it had been since she’d seen such a dense crowd. Encountering one so suddenly, she actually found it oddly heartwarming.

Fortunately, security in Deer Cry Mirror was quite good, and the talent testing was taken very seriously. She could see many imposing Mirror Explorers either standing at elevated positions or flying overhead.

Anyone causing trouble or accidentally falling down was immediately spotted and dealt with.

Crowded as it was, no incidents occurred.

After passing through the school gates, spectators and testing students were separated into different routes, and the student side was much more spacious.

The original host was a student at Deer Cry Middle School and was very familiar with the campus. In previous years, she had even helped upperclassmen set up the testing venue. She navigated her way with practiced ease to the sports field and found her class’s designated area inside.

Several classmates had already arrived, claiming spots with their personal belongings before gathering in small groups to chat.

The original host had been a wallflower in the class. Mo Lan glanced at those classmates, then lowered her head and found an empty seat to sit down.

She then casually pulled a book from her storage compact mirror and began reading to pass the time.

These books had all been read by the original host before, and since Mo Lan had inherited her memories, she already knew all the contents. There was really no need to read them again—reading now was purely to maintain her persona.

The original host didn’t know how to build close, friendly relationships with others. In crowded settings, she would habitually read to mask her own awkwardness.

In truth, much of the time she was only pretending to read while secretly listening to others talk.

She didn’t like talking to people, but she quite enjoyed listening to them.