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Chapter – 13
“Where… is this?”
What entered their sight was a vast, unfamiliar space.
There was barely any light—only enough to make out the path directly ahead—and the ceiling stretched so high it couldn’t even be seen.
It was a grotesque place.
The three of them held their breath, exchanging wary glances.
“This feeling… am I the only one sensing it?” Pedro whispered. “This place feels really close to reality.”
“Does it?” Jain tilted his head. “I’m not sure I can tell.”
Taewoon felt the same.
It was definitely different from the previous areas—but measuring how close it was to the real world was impossible.
“No, I’m sure of it. We’re close. I think we can escape soon!”
“Perhaps your long stay here sharpened your senses,” Jain said calmly. “Let’s move and examine the area.”
Since it wasn’t a bad sign, they advanced carefully down the passage.
Then—
They saw it.
“This is… what in the world…?”
A massive chamber stretched in all directions.
Hundreds of people—no, possibly more—were fixed to the walls by strange mechanical devices.
They were alive.
But their faces were empty, stripped of emotion.
As if their minds had been shattered while their bodies were kept breathing.
“H-How is this possible…?”
“I don’t know… but something terrible happened here.”
Instinctively, they understood.
These were probably people who had once tried to escape the mirror world—and failed.
“Y-You there… are you human…?”
A cracked, ragged voice echoed.
A middle-aged man was attached to the wall, barely breathing.
“Are you okay?”
“Forget me… run… they’re coming…”
Bzzzzzz—
Before his words even finished, a chilling presence swept over them.
They turned.
Silence.
Something inhuman stood there.
Long limbs like a primate, twisted in unnatural angles.
Where a face should be was only a strange carved symbol.
Clay-like bodies emerged one by one from the darkness, slowly approaching.
Taewoon’s instincts screamed.
These weren’t like the shadow spiders.
They were on an entirely different level—maybe even worse than the forest giant.
Jain slashed with his clawed weapon, but it barely slowed them.
Realizing the danger, Jain shouted while charging forward.
“Taewoon! Whatever you do, don’t let them capture you! If it comes to it—trigger a reset immediately!”
Taewoon snapped back to reality.
If they were caught, they’d end up like those people—alive, but stripped of will.
But if he could return to the start point…
He’d get another chance.
A violent shudder ran through him.
Fear resisted.
Even knowing he would return, the sensation of “ending” was terrifying.
But—
Jain was buying him time.
Someone who had been forced into this world was now risking everything for him.
“I have to move!”
Taewoon activated the red wax mask, forcing every ounce of strength into his body.
The world blurred.
A violent pull of light tore through him—
And everything shattered.
When Taewoon regained awareness, he was back in the bustling city streets—the starting point of the theater.
Voices overlapped.
Life moved normally.
The first run was over.
The second had begun.
“That was close,” Jain said calmly, now summoned again.
“I worried you might hesitate.”
“Yeah… let’s not do that again if we can help it.”
They quickly realized something important.
A companion who fell in one run couldn’t be resummoned until the next began.
“So we can’t just recycle you as bait?” Taewoon asked.
“Unfortunate,” Jain replied seriously. “That would’ve been efficient.”
Taewoon sighed.
There really was something missing in Jain’s humanity.
“So what’s the plan?”
“No need to overthink it. We know the routes now—and we still have the blessing. Let’s return and activate it immediately.”
“That makes sense.”
Fighting those creatures wasn’t an option.
“But can the blessing pull Pedro too?”
“It should. And frankly, survival matters more than uncertainty.”
They reunited with Pedro, retraced the paths, defeated the spider and forest giant once more—
And returned to the horrific chamber.
“W-What is this place?!”
“Pedro, give me your hand!”
“No time!”
Taewoon grabbed both of them.
Ding!
▶ A Handful of Blessing has activated! Emergency Escape Protocol initiated!
Light burst outward.
Space裂—like glass splitting.
“Yes! It’s working!”
All three began getting pulled toward reality.
Then—
Something looked back at Taewoon.
A massive eye.
A mirror and a gaze at the same time.
Pure awareness.
His breath stopped.
That thing was on a level far beyond anything before.
The true monster of the theater.
As it began to focus on him—
The red wax mask flared with blinding light.
【Condition fulfilled! Red Wax Mask activates a Level 3 Miracle!】
A brilliant beam struck the eye.
It flinched—just barely.
And in that instant—
Taewoon, Jain, and Pedro vanished.
The presence lost interest and returned to its endless watch.
Observing.
Waiting.
Guarding the mirror world.
That was its purpose.
