An Jin waited and waited for a long time, but the fish still hadn't returned.
There weren't even any bubbles on the calm surface of the water.
...
'Don't tell me the fish drowned?'
If she waited any longer, it would be completely dark. Wild beasts would come out to hunt, and dangers would lurk everywhere. Her small frame wouldn't even be a mouthful for those ravenous animals.
An Jin picked up her pace and ran back. Midway, her chest grew incredibly tight, and she couldn't stop coughing. There was still residual water in her lungs, which could easily lead to secondary drowning.
Just then, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out, startling An Jin.
"Host's body is showing signs of damage. It is recommended to enter the space for treatment."
Before she could react, a white light flashed. Her entire body was sucked away by a powerful force. When she opened her eyes again, she was in a different world.
This world was very flat, very primitive, and very... orderly.
It was like an undeveloped plain in a pixelated game like Minecraft.
An Jin hesitated for a moment before taking a few steps on the loose, dry, yellow earth, leaving behind a few shallow footprints.
A thin layer of yellowish-green, drought-resistant grass covered the ground. This type of grass usually grew in semi-arid regions, which was enough to prove just how barren the soil of this plain was.
She looked at the unfamiliar surroundings before her.
She took three seconds to force herself to remain calm.
'Since I only came to this world after hearing that mechanical voice in my head, its existence must be related to that voice.'
Confusion flooded her mind, turning her thoughts into a muddled mess.
She called out tentatively, "Is anyone here?"
The ethereal sound echoed for a moment before the wind carried it away, leaving no trace.
No one answered her. Even the mechanical voice from before seemed to have vanished.
An Jin was getting frantic. She spun around abruptly.
BANG—
Her nose slammed right into something flat and hard, and she staggered backward and fell.
'So painful...'
'Oh no! I think my nose is bleeding!'
An Jin quickly raised a hand to pinch her nose. Just then, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye—the culprit.
It was a strange object, two meters tall, with a metal outer frame and a glass-like inner surface. It looked like... a large mirror.
The mechanical voice rang out again. "Please confirm system activation, Host."
"??!"
"Please press your fingerprint on the circular frame in the lower-left corner to confirm activation."
...
An Jin lowered her gaze and saw a neat, circular frame in the lower-left corner of the mirror, which resembled a black screen. She hesitated for a moment, half-doubting, but still placed her finger on it.
"DING— Host has confirmed activation. Advanced intelligence is now booting up!"
The moment the voice faded, a blinding white light flashed before her, nearly searing her eyes.
An Jin hadn't even had a chance to open her eyes when a piercing voice suddenly shrieked—
"AHHHHH! SO UGLY!!!" a sharp voice roared itself hoarse.
"This ugly little dark thing can't be my master, can it?!" The voice was filled with a shame so deep it was like crying tears of blood.
"WAAAH... Master, you're so ugly, waah... No way, Mirror Mirror wants a new master!!!"
The sound of an unparalleled meltdown exploded on the spot, like tens of thousands of flies buzzing by her ears.
An Jin's scalp went numb. The 80-decibel screams forced her to open her eyes, only to find that the two-meter-tall mirror had changed from a black screen to a white LCD screen.
On the white screen hung a pair of incomparably shocked, huge, sparkly anime-style eyes, reminiscent of early 21st-century Japanese animation.
An Jin was speechless. 'I must be seeing things.'
'What's the deal with these moe anime girl eyes that crossed over from the 2D world?!'
The AI with the huge, sparkly anime eyes looked completely traumatized and resentful. It stared intently at her, its light pink pupils—like something out of an old-school shoujo manga—constricting violently in fear.
They stared at each other for a while, big eyes meeting small.
On the screen, a pair of cherry-pink lips suddenly appeared beneath the huge, sparkly anime eyes and immediately... coughed up blood.
"Waaah, so ugly! Master is so ugly! My... my eyes are going blind! I request a new master! Mirror Mirror requests a new master with fair skin, a beautiful face, and long legs..."
Before it could finish, An Jin slapped a palm against its main screen. "Be quiet! You're so loud!"
"SOB SOB SOB... You're being mean to me! I want a new master! You mean, ugly..."
An Jin frowned and raised her hand again.
Instantly, it was too scared to say another word.
"Cut the crap. What is going on here?" An Jin asked, looking at the unfamiliar space and the desolate land. A faint sense of foreboding grew in her heart.