THE WORLD DEPOSITS ME BACK at the Temple's entrance with all the gentleness of a kicked can.
Stone arches rise above me, slick with condensation. The black water that had pooled in the chamber is gone, leaving only dampness and the faint echo of my heartbeat. The mirror that once pulsed with menace now lies dulled and cracked, its surface fractured into hairline lines that spiderweb like frost on glass.
No reflection can be seen in it. Not even my splendid face as I peer down it.
Foras hovers at my side, arms crossed. He doesn't speak at first. His big, round eye studies me with something close to unease. Finally, he mutters, "You look like someone wrung you out and forgot to hang you to dry."
"So nothing out of the ordinary," I rasp. My throat still burns, as though I've swallowed shards of ice. My limbs feel leaden. My chest is a cage rattled by memories I'd rather not revisit.
I try to swat the discomfort out but put simply, I feel homesick. After the entire fiasco at the temple, I'd be surprised if I wasn't.
In fact, I'm seething now. With ice cold anger.
And right at the instant, The System decides to grace me with her untimely presence. The cold tendrils are back but I'm used to them and I'm angrier than ever. I don't wince as I wait. She invades like rolling fog, the usual shenanigans and I internally roll my eyes.
She will definitely be getting a piece of my mind once she is here.
The System hums inside my head as if to announce her presence.
"Listen here, you piece of shi—" I begin furiously when she interrupts me like a deaf person.
"Temple of the First Reflection cleared."
"Reward distribution in progress."
"Wonderful. Go ahead. Just do your stupid job and completely ignore me," I mutter.
She chooses to ignore this too.
Not giving a chance for us to have a lovely conversation, the cracked mirror begins to glow faintly, its fractures bleeding with silvery light. Foras darts back with a nervous squawk.
"Uh, hyung? Why does it look like it's about to explode?"
"Because that's my luck," I grumble.
The mirror shudders. A miniature version of itself rises out of the cracks, hovering in the damp air like a jewel forged of liquid glass. It's no taller than my forearm, yet it hums with weight that makes the air thrum in my lungs.
The System's voice sharpens as her icy voice bites the tips of my brain. "You faced yourself. You did not run. Four fragments remain."
The miniature mirror tilts, then shatters with a crystalline scream. Foras whimpers as he inches to me. For a second, I want to hug him like I would a pet. A second later, I slap away the thought. He and his long mouth can handle some breaking glass.
Shards shoot outward like stars, streaking through the air before curving sharply back toward me. I don't have time to move.
The first shard slams into my left wrist.
Pain blooms sharp and bright, like being pierced by molten glass. I cry out, clutching the spot, but there's no wound. It hurts so freaking much. How is this supposed to be a reward? Instead, a thin lattice of silver lines etches itself into my skin, sinking deeper before fading. The sensation lingers — not pain anymore, but awareness, as if that wrist no longer belongs only to me.
The System whispers, "Fragment of Self acquired. Resolve +15. Resistance to mental interference increased."
Resolve. Yeah, I'll need that.
The second shard strikes my right temple.
This one doesn't hurt so much as it burns with a strange clarity. My thoughts sharpen, focus narrowing like a lens snapping into place. For a heartbeat, the chamber is too bright with every sound too crisp.
Then it settles, leaving only a faint pressure pulsing beneath my skin.
"Mirror of Echoes acquired. Reflection skill unlocked. Intent revealed under strain."
Intent. I shiver. I can't figure out how I could use intent or howwell but the only thing I'm sure of is that… it could get messy.
The third shard coils low, slamming into my Achilles heel.
This one drops me to my knees with a hiss.
"I bet you're enjoying pushing me around like that," I grumble internally.
"Enjoyment is subjective, hero," The System replies in that frosty, deadpan voice but I'm pretty sure I hear her almost snigger.
The sensation in my heel feels like frost cutting tendon. Pain laces up my calf before vanishing. My leg tingles, half-numb and half-too alive. Then the sensation steadies and I realize I can feel the ground differently before disappearing, as though it remembers every step I've ever taken.
"Mirror Veil acquired. Passive camouflage active. Outsider markers blurred."
The fourth shard hovers longer than the others.
It drifts, deliberate, before embedding itself in the back of my neck. A chill races through me, sliding down my spine like ice water. My vision goes white for a moment, a thousand memories flashing in jagged shards: Shin Woo's laugh. My sister's scolding voice. The moment I first woke in this cursed world.
Then the System's voice deepens.
"Memory Anchor acquired. Select one memory to preserve. Immune to alteration or erasure."
I definitely don't see the need or understand the implication yet my lungs seize.
"Only one?" My voice comes out tight.
The System sighs like she has been through this a million times with a million others before me. But she doesn't necessarily sound cruel as her voice creeps in, cocooning me in what I presume is her version of a hug.
"If a thing is numerous, how can it be rare?"
Foras hovers close now, concern etched in every flap of his tiny wings. "Hyung? You okay? What's happening?"
I can't answer. Not yet. The System waits, for once patient.
Memories churn like a tide of Shin Woo's body lying still, my amma's silhouette at our kitchen doorway as my sister, dad and I wait for dinner at the table and the first time Foras called me hyung, a ridiculous honorific in a world that shouldn't know the word at all. In the back of my mind, I even remember the grandma and Nia but
I want to anchor them all. But the choice is singular, absolute.
My throat tightens. In the end, my lips form a name silently. The shard pulses once, then the storm of memories stills, settling around that single anchor like stone around a keystone.
The System hums.
"Memory anchored. Reward sequence complete."
The glow fades. My body is mine again, but not entirely. Something alien hums beneath my skin — not just power, but the echo of glass. I push back the urge to scratch where it itches like how I push back the scream threatening to spill at the knowledge of literal glass shards under my skin. What if it pierces a vein?
Foras edges closer, head tilted. "Well? Did you get, like, a prize sword? A box of chocolates? Is it something we can share? At least tell me it wasn't all junk."
I exhale shakily. "Something like that."
And because I can't explain, not yet, I push myself to my feet. The Temple's cracked mirror dims to lifeless stone. Whatever magic animated this place is gone.
It's time to go back.
t o b e c o n t i n u e d