When the plot-skips players into the game world

Before reaching the Mirror Hall, Aiwass already knew he would definitely encounter wild Phantom Demons.

After all, this place almost covered the entire domain of the Path of Beauty. It was directly influenced by a whole Pillar God and two Celestial Marshals and connected to the thoughts and subconscious of all art creators in the Material Realm... It's impossible to say there isn't something eerie here.

Artists, you know, are somewhat mad by nature.

If the mind is too normal and stable, it's actually not conducive to continuous creation—hence the saying that writing envies a successful life, which is generally true.

"—But even so, these things are way too uncanny!"

Aiwass blurted out as he walked briskly forward. Arsene nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing.

The first few rooms were paths Aiwass was familiar with. He knew them so well that he was aware of the hidden spots even while rushing through the maps. If necessary, Aiwass was confident he could easily shake off Arsene, the Phantom Thief, even though his movement speed was undoubtedly slower.

However, after running through four rooms following the "audience watching this painting are also watching" recommendations, they finally entered a room Aiwass had never been to before. Aiwass's "map-running speed" noticeably slowed down.

Because analyzing the relevance of a painting requires more than just looking at the image; you also need to analyze its hidden meanings.

For instance, a burning Holy Candle Cathedral certainly isn't just as simple as a fire occurring there; if you see people sitting in a small boat, it might not be an outing—it could be that they've just escaped from a sinking ship.

Seeing the clash of two armies might depict the brutality of war; but if you recognize that both armies belong to the same country, then the painting may contain elements of misunderstanding or rebellion, sprinkled with satire and criticism.

——If only Isabel were here, everything might be a lot better.

But Aiwass really lacked artistic talent.

Even though he could give an eloquent account upon first encountering a camera spirit, that was actually the right answer Yanis from the future had given. Aiwass was just copying the answer, as he hadn't really seen many paintings himself, let alone analyzed and sought relatedness in them.

Fortunately, these are not purely "paintings"—they are videos or even games, where every part of this painted world can be explored. The "NPCs" that came and went, ignoring them, were also available for conversation.

In this way, even if you don't understand the meanings here, you can roughly grasp them and the rules here.

Just one thing...

If you stay too long in the same space, the "NPCs" inside will turn into monsters.

Because when a painting isn't observed or appreciated, it's just a painting. But if it's being observed, researched, or studied... then it becomes an information aggregation, flowing and decompressing in meaning.

——This is what is meant by "the author is dead." This is also the core philosophy that constitutes the Mirror Hall.

When a work is fully created, the author loses the right to interpret it. A modern art piece can't be entirely original; it must be built upon certain existing, mature cultures, drawing nourishment from them.

Like the painting "Holy Candle Cathedral Reduced to Ruins," to understand its meaning, you must understand the Nine Pillars Divine Church, understand the Candle Master, understand the relationship between Iris and the Theocratic States, understand the political status of the Cathedral, understand the existence of the Son of the Moon, and understand how the Irisflower People view the relationship between the Theocratic States and the Son of the Moon... Only then can you fully understand. And these various "preconditions" are the cultural foundation from which this painting was born.

Conversely, because different interpreters come from varying cultural backgrounds, life experiences, races, ages, and stances... their interpretations of the same artwork are naturally, and indeed necessarily, different. So who is the "absolutely correct interpreter" then?

The author undoubtedly has the most qualifications, but the least possibility—because even for the author, after creating the artwork, they have changed significantly compared to before creation, as one cannot step into the same river twice.

Likewise, it can't belong to anyone. Therefore, from another perspective, it can belong to everyone.

Thus, all art interpreters actually reconstruct this work using their lives, culture, knowledge, understanding, emotions, and interests, creating a new copy independent of the subject.

In this process, the interpreter in beauty becomes the mirror!

Some mirrors are perfect, some are flawed; some mirrors are clean, some are filthy. Some mirrors have a misty haze, some are merely polished metal, some are distorted funhouse mirrors. They reflect different scenes of the same real object... just as interpreters give different understandings of the same artwork.

When any "outsiders" to this painting stay in this space too long, aberrations will start to occur here.

But though some "monsters" appeared, it's not that these "NPCs" turned into Phantom Demons—precisely speaking, these spaces themselves are a kind of Phantom Demon. And each of these individuals is merely a part of this artwork. They are not independent souls but the hands and feet, eyes and mouths of the painting.

Now, "this painting" has put on another expression to look at you, giving birth to a fantasy monster called "Art Spirit."

——The first Phantom Demons Aiwass and his group encountered were the quarrelsome guests at a court funeral.

They were already at odds, and after Aiwass and his party lingered too long, they couldn't hold back anymore and started a fight—

Perhaps it was due to Aiwass and Arsene's understanding that these noble and ministers of the Irisflower suddenly started fighting at the funeral scene, even directly implicating them.

But luckily, these early-stage Phantom Demons were still quite manageable. They didn't even need the help of Aiwass and Vinesse, as Arsene easily took care of them.

And the second wave of Phantom Demons transformed into a fairy-tale-style court. The soldiers clad in playing card armor began chasing them after they'd investigated too long. At this stage, Arsene's strength was clearly insufficient, forcing Aiwass to take action.

In the third wave, they found themselves in a manor mansion.

Here, guests entertained themselves with ulterior motives, eating and drinking, while outside a storm raged. But before Aiwass could investigate, they suddenly turned into a group of Sons of the Moon, overturning the dining table and launching an attack on them—undoubtedly influenced by Vinesse's subconscious.

When she believed things would unfold this way, the situation became just that.

Thoughts come true!

The strength of these Sons of the Moon increased compared to before, each nearly as strong as the First Red Prime Minister—of course, that was impossible. If they were really that strong, the Irisflower would have long been conquered. However, in Vinesse's memory, the strongest Sons of the Moon were about this level. When she doubted, they drew power from the Mirror Hall and manifested.

——From the fourth wave onwards, the situation became bizarre.

Aside from the Phantom Demons the art itself transformed into due to this uncontrolled "thoughts come true," there were also outside Phantom Demons that slipped in out of curiosity.

Giant man-eating beasts formed from candy houses, phantoms emerging from decrepit castles, a pianist playing a flesh-and-blood piano, a swordsman playing a traditional flute with a sword at his waist, a one-man chorus with one man and two women sharing three heads singing high notes, a skeleton drummer with four arms, a focused Lizardfolk playing a fire-spewing guitar, a fairy singer no bigger than a butterfly, a mad painter using a sword for brush and bodies for canvas, a headless conductor, a rock band that looked totally ordinary but stood out from their surroundings...

The more they ran, the more people there were.

Aiwass even suspected that half the Phantom Demons of the Path of Beauty had all gathered here!