Reborn as a short-lived loli who can only live for three years

Chapter 159 Inner Demon

Perhaps it was because everyone had done research in advance and had a certain level of mental preparation.

In this battle against the Mirror Talisman Spirit, only a few people were defeated.

However, what the companions did not expect was that among the losers was Ivy.

"I'm sorry... I'm still too weak." Ivy sincerely apologized to her companions.

"Don't say that." Wan Yexi immediately came up to check on her condition. "We believe you must have tried hard, but you just had bad luck."

"Avi, how do you feel? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?" Ying gave him a worried look again.

Ivy gently opened and closed his palms and shook his head: "I don't feel anything."

Seeing that she really seemed to be fine, the others breathed a sigh of relief.

……

The battle with the Mirror Talisman Spirit was over, which meant they could pass through the Hall of Mirrors.

Next to the archway corridor, there stood a huge Fu Ling statue, as if guarding the Hall of Mirrors. The statue's eyes were inlaid with two huge gems, and when they passed by the Fu Ling statue, the gems suddenly emitted a dazzling light.

The magical phantom light enveloped two people, one of whom was a high-level magician in the combat team, and the other was Ying Youyou.

"Huh? What?" Ying looked at the mysterious light slowly disappearing from her body in panic.

"Calm down, this is the blessing of the talisman spirit."

The blessing of the talisman spirit is a kind of reward for passing a level. In a high-difficulty secret realm full of dangers, "blessing" is more important than weapons and props.

However, the relevant adventure records only mentioned that those who defeated the Talisman Spirit would receive the Talisman Spirit’s blessing, but the actual situation was that the Talisman Spirit would randomly select a few people among the winners to bestow blessings on them.

"The content of the blessing is so strange..." Ying silently recited the runes that suddenly appeared in her mind again. After converting them into words, they became just a few words, "I am very strong...?"

Another person was given the same blessing.

"I am strong"

"This is a great blessing!" Shi Zhimeng suddenly became excited.

"Really?" Ying was skeptical again.

It was really weird and embarrassing to ask her, the lowest-ranking person in the audience, to say "I am strong".

"Do you remember the characteristics of this secret realm? The concept! Although the style of this secret realm is not to propose some strange rules, the concept it holds is also absolute!"

Tokieda Yume tried to make Hotaru understand how powerful this blessing was.

"That is to say, as long as you firmly believe that you are stronger than Wan Ye, no matter what your true strength is, you can definitely defeat her!"

"Really?" Ying seemed unable to imagine herself defeating Wan Yexi.

"Really? You'll know if you try it!"

"Try, try?" Ying glanced at Wan Yexi carefully again, then jumped back in fear, "No, no, it's impossible, I can never win!"

Ivy spoke silently at the side: "This is an ability that requires a lot of conviction. If we knew the true strength of both sides in advance, we wouldn't be able to succeed."

Shi Zhimeng thought about it and felt that what she said made sense, so she nodded: "Okay then, if some hostile creatures appear later, I'll let you try again."

Hotaru nodded frantically again, feeling like she had escaped a disaster.

……

……

On the way to the Moon Hall, they were still concentrating on avoiding traps and hostile creatures.

But the long period of mental tension made them feel extremely tired, especially since they had just fought a battle with the Mirror Talisman Spirit, and everyone was a little distracted.

So the exploration team found a safe reception room, and everyone stopped and went in to rest.

The large reception room was comfortable and quiet. Fake moonlight shone into the room through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, bringing a subtle chill.

During the break, Tokieda called Ivy away alone, and they stood behind the relief of the pillar, deliberately avoiding the other members of the exploration team.

Shi Zhimeng carefully examined Ivy's entire body and remained silent.

Ivy leaned against the pillar, raised his head and waited for a long time, and suddenly asked in a mysterious way: "Do you want to teach me a lesson?"

"No, why do you ask that?" Shi Zhimeng asked back somewhat unexpectedly.

"Because you have a fierce look in your eyes."

"I'm just checking the traces of 'time' on your body." Shizhi Meng said a very vague concept, but she did not explain it specifically. Instead, she asked mysteriously, "I think what we see should be the same."

"Same what?"

"Source, another source of myself."

Ivy fell silent.

Tokieda Yume continued, "That's not actually another self in the mirror, but one with a time deviation, right? If you ask Manno, she will definitely give a positive answer. But to be more precise... they mirrored us at the end of the world in the first round."

"I just didn't expect...the secret realm would also be affected by the world reset, but fortunately, apart from us, the people in the exploration team shouldn't be aware of this. So, I can imagine the reason for your failure. After all, your future self must be stronger than you are now."

Ivy did not deny it, but asked back: "Then how did you win?"

"As for me - I just firmly believed that the fake person on the other side could never compare to the real me, and then I won."

Shizhi Meng explained the reason simply, but in fact it is very difficult to achieve this kind of psychological suggestion.

Evie hung her head.

"But I think..." Shizhi Meng looked at her with complicated eyes, "You shouldn't lose for this reason."

"..."

"Can you tell me the reason?"

.

The reason is actually quite absurd.

When the future senior passed on information through Tokieda Yume, she accidentally learned of 'her' claims.

-

If the backlash becomes too great to resist...it's best to kill the person who shouldn't have existed.

-

Perhaps, it was from that day on...

She no longer considered 'her' a completely trustworthy companion.

And as the backlash gradually intensified, she took the initiative to... regard 'her' as an enemy.

"What I saw was an 'enemy' who was 'stronger than me'." Ivy spoke slowly, emphasizing the last two words.

When she realized that she had such a view, the outcome of the game was already determined.

She can't win.

"So, your inner demon... is yourself?" Shi Zhimeng already had the answer.

"Yeah." Ivy nodded and looked forward.

There was nothing in front of him, but in Ivy's eyes, another self was standing there.

'She' was like a neutral bystander, observing everything with indifference.

No action, no words, no claims...

But it really stands there and really exists.