One day, a man arrived home after enduring a grueling day.
Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he posed a question born of his wretched heart.
‘If you were me, how would you have spent today?’
As expected, the mirror offered no reply, merely mimicking him with an eerie exactness.
The man chastised himself for such a foolish act and, as on many other nights, retired to bed early.
The following morning, his mirror lay shattered.
An entity identical to him was casually eating breakfast in his kitchen.
With an unsettling familiarity, the entity waved at him.
It was a bright, cheerful wave, accompanied by a radiant smile.
The man, caught off guard, waved back, and a conversation began, almost as if he were pulled into it by the entity.
He was utterly bewildered.
The entity knew his thoughts with unnerving perfection.
An identical being, a bizarre situation.
Yet, the man, burdened by countless agonizing days, on the verge of collapsing from loneliness and exhaustion, found himself befriending this peculiar entity.
Days turned into months, seasons transitioned into others.
Despite their identical appearances, the two became the closest of friends.
The man’s once miserable days gradually regained their vitality.
Thanks to a series of fortunate coincidences, his life slowly began to fill with happiness.
Then, one day.
‘Care for a wager?’
The entity, who had become the man’s dearest companion, proposed to him.
‘The winner takes what is most precious to them.’
The man, treating it as a jest, accepted the bet.
He thought, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’
After all, what was most precious to the man now was the entity identical to himself.
The wager proved challenging.
Regrettably, the man inadvertently lost the bet.
The entity smiled brilliantly.
The man also smiled, assuming it was merely a frivolous bet made out of boredom.
However, after a brief passage of time.
The man could no longer smile.
As he watched with his own eyes the entity living as him from within the mirror, utterly silent and unresponsive.
He found it impossible to laugh.
****
{Resisting a colossal threat.}
{Mental fortitude rapidly depleting.}
I drew a ragged breath.
Damn it, my mind still reeled erratically.
Even after gasping for breath several more times, nothing changed.
Yet, a clear rationality pulsed within me, desperately seeking a solution to this predicament.
The information available to my sight was starkly limited.
I rummaged through my memories for any usable data, but nothing concrete came to mind.
For now, I had two pieces of information.
1. Eldras was unresponsive, as if unaware of the situation.
2. Turning around meant death.
Both were visceral, felt deep within my body.
The second point was terrifyingly vivid.
Quietly, I regulated my breathing, striving to regain some semblance of calm.
– Kozmo) You didn’t panic and turn around, did you? Please tell me you didn’t.
Panicking and thrashing wildly out of fear was a habit I’d shed back in elementary school.
Instead, I had spent my entire life honing the ability to calmly compose myself.
Slowly, I concentrated on my hearing.
My sight was useless for seeing what lay behind me, so I disregarded it.
My nose wasn’t functioning properly either.
Thump, thud, thump, thud…
My heart hammered like a drum, but through my heightened senses, I tried my best to define the unseen presence behind me.
I didn’t think I could close my eyes; it was too damn terrifying.
Thus, I meticulously focused on every sound that reached me.
‘A breath?’
Faintly, I heard a breath.
Though it seemed frail, its cold, steady rhythm confirmed it was a living creature.
I refrained from immediately labeling it a ghost because a distinct ‘heaviness’ permeated its presence.
It was clearly standing on its feet.
Knowing it possessed mass, I concluded it wasn’t a ghost.
And then, a faint, almost imperceptible rustling sound reached my ears.
Shhhk, shhk.
Even concentrating to my utmost, I couldn’t properly discern it.
Nevertheless, I managed to identify it as the sound of clothes brushing against long hair.
Two things I now knew.
This entity had long hair.
That was my best guess, at least.
… Damn it, if that’s the case, only a ghost comes to mind.
The image of a long-haired ghost immediately flashed into my mind.
What business could a ghost possibly have with me?
After all, none of the cannibals I’d just killed were female.
‘That damn elf isn’t even paying attention to me.’
Was this fear transmitted only to me?
Eldras, oblivious to my plight, was simply pummeling the cannibal leader.
She even seemed to be interrogating them.
Consequently, she was paying absolutely no attention to my side.
‘If we fought together… no, if I asked for help after being caught from behind, I’d probably die instantly.’
In situations like this, one must always assume the worst.
Eldras could shoot arrows from a distance.
However, her long preparation time meant she wouldn’t be able to prevent me from being attacked.
So, if that elf were to notice my situation.
And take any action, my chances of dying would only increase.
In that regard, perhaps it was better this way.
Moreover, I wasn’t even sure we could win if we fought together.
I cleanly gave up on Eldras’s assistance.
All that remained for me now was… my own body.
‘Caught from behind like this, could I survive an immediate attack?’
Ding-
Amidst this, I suddenly remembered an existence I had forgotten.
It was Kozmo, the one who had first warned me of the threat.
– Kozmo) Alright, I’ll assume you’re alive. It’s probably best not to reply.
Gulp.
Ding-
– Kozmo) The most important thing is, I didn’t put you in this danger.
Honestly, they were the first person I suspected.
How did they know my location, and how did they know what I was going through?
My suspicions toward this unique user, shrouded in an inexplicable strangeness, piled up like mountains.
Still, the fact that they warned me of the threat first weighed on my mind.
‘Normally, I wouldn’t trust them.’
However, after assessing the threat that had just approached me.
It was so utterly filled with unknowns that I concluded I had no other choice.
I needed this bastard’s help.
– Kozmo) You must be in a hurry, so just listen to me, even if it sounds absurd.
Just say something, anything.
Because I’m so terrified I feel like I’m going to die.
Ding-
– Kozmo) Get up right now and walk forward. Don’t look back.
……
Damn it, did I really read that correctly?
Even as I doubted my eyes, they conveyed nothing but the truth.
‘My legs are trembling so much, it’s hard to even stand up.’
A chilling aura had fully reached my back.
A cold sensation, a fierce and icy presence, threatened to engulf me.
My legs felt weak, as if they wouldn’t move properly.
My life was undeniably on the line.
Therefore, I had to consider every possible scenario before making a choice.
The thought of limited time made my head spin.
But I had to endure somehow.
{Mental fortitude rapidly depleting.}
Weighing reasons and evidence was one of my specialties.
I had survived by making better choices through it.
‘… No matter how much I think about it, I have no choice but to follow Kozmo’s words.’
After a brief internal debate, I reached a single conclusion.
If I didn’t follow Kozmo’s instructions here.
The risk would be even greater.
They seemed to know more than I did.
Besides, Kozmo was likely the only one who truly understood this situation.
‘f*ck it, whatever.’
Pushing up my trembling legs, I slowly rose to my feet.
Sweat streamed down my inner thighs.
As I gripped the floor to stand, the passing air sent goosebumps prickling over my skin.
Nevertheless, no matter what.
I stood up.
Without falling.
‘Hoo…’
And then, pouring all my senses into my back to detect the threat.
I decided to walk.
‘It’s just standing there, completely unresponsive.’
If I continued straight forward like this.
I would reach Eldras’s location within twenty steps.
Provided, of course, that I didn’t die halfway.
Thump, thump.
{Warning! Mental fortitude below 20%!}
I walked slowly, holding my breath, tense.
With each step, my senses played tricks on me, fluctuating as if gravity decreased then increased.
I couldn’t even tell if I was walking forward or backward.
The soles of my feet were almost numb, and merely moving my joints left me breathless.
‘Don’t be a coward, it’s just walking.’
Correcting my thoughts, I strode a little more confidently.
After a few more steps, I felt myself moving further away from the unknown entity.
‘Is it just standing still?’
– Kozmo) Are you walking well? I’ll explain everything once this is over.
Asking if I was walking well—it was like asking a baby just starting to toddle.
The remark, though slight, spurred me on.
After taking a deep breath, I quickened my pace.
Thump, thump, thump.
Soon enough, I reached Eldras’s location.
The chilling air gradually dissipated.
I arrived within a radius where the faint scent of blood lingered.
“Oh? What’s up? Weren’t you taking a break?”
Reaching a spot bathed in an indistinct warm light, my tension began to ease slightly.
Only then did my constricted vision feel as if it were expanding.
I looked at Eldras’s expression.
Having apparently killed the cannibal leader, she wore a somewhat relieved look.
Eldras looked at me for a moment, then tilted her head.
“What is it? Why are you covered in cold sweat?”
“……”
“What? Why? Is this some kind of game?”
She approached me, asking with an innocent expression.
“…….!”
But I couldn’t answer.
Just past her ear, in the distant background.
Something began to appear.
I briefly gazed at Eldras, who stood before me, looking at me.
White hair, pointed ears.
Pale sky-blue eyes, an elf clad in a black robe adorned with a red gem.
Her expression, at times playful.
Soon softened with a warm ’emotion’ as she spoke to me.
However, a high-pitched ringing—tinnitus—filled my ears.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Tearing my eyes from Eldras, I looked behind her.
The dark, gloomy landscape of the intermediate zone seeped into my vision.
“Is there something behind me?”
And then, my gaze fixed on a spot beyond the darkness.
Between two silent, desolate pillars…
An elf with white hair, pointed ears.
Pale sky-blue eyes, clad in armor inlaid with a ‘blue gem’.
An elf identical to Eldras.
Was staring at me.
