Chapter 11

‘Companion of Memories, activate.’

【Viewing Privilege, ‘Companion of Memories’ has been activated.】

【Please select a recorded companion.】

▶The Red Man – Dawn Assembly Third-Class Solver, Jain

As soon as the selection was complete, mysterious clusters of light swirled around, and a young man with bronze curly hair appeared as if he had existed in that spot all along.

“This place is…”

“It’s been a while, Jain. Do you remember me?”

“Are you not Baron Werik? But, what on earth is this?”

It was a relief that he retained memories of the Red Man Theater, but even so, he was quite at a loss as to how to explain the current situation.

However, a moment later, Jain flinched as if sensing something, his eyes widening as he let out a low, short exclamation.

“…I see, so that’s how it happened.”

“Jain?”

“I understand the situation. It seems I have been summoned here to be of assistance to you.”

Those words meant that Jain had realized the existence of the Theater and its series of processes.

Startled, Taewoon asked him with worried eyes.

“Are you alright? You must be very confused…”

“I was surprised, of course. It seems that both the ‘me’ from the Red Man Theater and the ‘me’ of now are beings that cannot be defined as the original Jain.”

Because he spoke the fact that he was a fake so nonchalantly, Taewoon briefly wondered if he had been brainwashed by the Theater.

However, noticing that gaze, Jain dismissed the concern and calmly explained his perspective.

“I am a member of the Dawn Assembly. The original Jain would have lived while fulfilling those duties, and that does not change even if he were caught up in an unforeseen situation like this. Rather, since I’ve gone from being a half-finished doll to being in an environment where I can help the Baron, why would there be any regrets?”

“…If you feel that way, it’s not a bad thing for me.”

“At any rate, it seems we need to put in significant effort together to resolve this Theater. And Mr. Taewoon, there is no longer any need for you to go through the trouble of acting as Baron Werik.”

Taewoon wondered if he had chosen the path of becoming a Solver for the Dawn Assembly instead of a normal life for nothing; in fact, the current Jain seemed to be purely enjoying the situation.

Since the man himself was fine, there was no problem, so Taewoon also stepped away from his thoughts and began to seriously contemplate ‘The Mirror’ Theater.

‘The name itself is related to mirrors, so I vaguely thought the plot would be like a horror movie, but…’

The sight unfolding before his eyes was quite different from that.

First of all, regardless of what it was, it seemed necessary to move around the surroundings and collect minimal information.

“So, what do you think? I think it would be best to split up first and examine the surrounding situation.”

“Understood. But what are that steel carriage and that colorful lighthouse?”

“…Good grief. I’ll explain everything slowly, so let’s just move together.”

Since the Theater’s information-injection function wasn’t that kind, Taewoon had no choice but to teach Jain the basic common sense by explaining the necessary details one by one.

“I think I get the gist of it. First, it would be best to fix my attire.”

Twenty minutes later. Jain appeared wearing an Aloha shirt and wide shorts, sporting black sunglasses.

Faced with this sight—which left him neither laughing nor crying—Taewoon had to struggle to suppress the strange emotions welling up inside him.

About four hours had passed since Taewoon entered The Mirror Theater.

During that time, he and Jain had exchanged names in a true sense, and strictly speaking, there were no other gains. However, there was one thing that bothered him.

“Did you feel it too, Mr. Taewoon?”

“Yeah. The people here are strangely odd.”

The people were each devoted to their own daily lives and seemed to possess sufficient free will. However, rather than seeing real people, it felt as if he were watching a well-crafted play.

“It’s like… they’re living inside a dream.”

Jain nodded as if agreeing with those words.

Then, he suddenly pulled out the now-familiar mysterious dagger from his coat.

“Sacred Bird’s Claw? What are you planning to do with that?”

“I understand your caution, Mr. Taewoon. However, in my limited experience, there are times when one must be bold in a space like this Theater.”

Saying so, Jain suddenly dashed forward and swung the Sacred Bird’s Claw across the back of a passing pedestrian.

“Aaaagh!”

An act truly like that of a crazed madman!

It was so completely different from the intellectual image he had shown in the Red Man Theater that Taewoon was momentarily dumbfounded.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?!”

“It’s only natural to be flustered, but please look over there first.”

“That is…”

On the back of the pedestrian Jain had cut, there was neither a characteristic wound nor a bloodstain. Only a faint, mist-like residue remained, creating an eerie feeling.

“He just stopped moving, like a broken machine.”

“Exactly. Also, did you notice?”

“You said the Sacred Bird’s Claw drives away all sorts of wicked energy. But…”

There was no reaction at all.

It was clear that the space and the pedestrians on the street were very strange, but paradoxically, no action of suspicious energy could be felt.

‘The genres of The Mirror are Mystery, Horror, and Creature.’

Seeing that it had come out with such a bizarre concept, he understood why the Mystery tag was attached.

And through this series of events, Taewoon could finally be certain of one fact he had been unsure about.

‘When I first entered the Theater, for some reason, I felt a sense of dissonance as if I had leaped through space once more.’

At the same time, the ticket incineration process, which should have definitely occurred, did not take place.

At the time, Taewoon had brushed it off, thinking he might have missed it, but as expected, his intuition had not been wrong.

‘Decisively, the ability of this Handful of Blessing is to escape the world inside the mirror at a desired moment once per Cycle!’

In other words, Taewoon and Jain had fallen into the world inside the mirror from the moment they entered the Theater. Thinking of it that way, the entire situation made sense.

“A proper judgment. I was summoned later and didn’t notice at all, but it seems Mr. Taewoon’s thought is correct.”

The very idea of searching for information here was a wrong judgment.

Taewoon had to escape this place. As quickly as possible.

‘…Should I use the Blessing?’

It was the most certain escape method he could think of, but there was still a lingering concern.

As if reading Taewoon’s hesitation, Jain, who had been thinking deeply, spoke with a glint in his eyes.

“I think it wouldn’t be bad to try using it. And if my prediction is correct, a slightly different result might emerge.”

Jain was a veteran who had solved countless surreal incidents. Since there was no way he would speak nonsense, Taewoon nodded and began to concentrate.

‘I will use A Handful of Blessing!’

▶【A Handful of Blessing has been activated! Initiating emergency escape protocol!】

In an instant, clusters of light scattered, and before they knew it, Taewoon and Jain were no longer on a bustling street, but in an elegant ballroom.

Specifically, a so-called Masquerade Ball, where everyone wore masks while enjoying dancing and drinks.

After a moment of silence and an exchange of glances, a pot-bellied gentleman passing by glanced over Jain’s entire body and clicked his tongue.

“You there, your dress code is quite…”

“…….”

The people still possessed that characteristic sense of alienation and dissonance, allowing them to tell they were beings of the world inside the mirror, but it wasn’t as if there were no difference.

“It’s very subtle… but it feels like there’s a bit more vitality.”

“Compared to the pedestrians on the street earlier, they smell much more like actual humans.”

At the same time, Taewoon finally grasped the true identity of The Mirror Theater.

Aren’t there movies like that?

A dream within a dream, a maze within a maze. Stories about wandering endlessly through them to find the true exit.

The current situation was exactly like that. By using the Special Privilege’s Blessing, Taewoon and Jain had broken through one layer of the innermost dream and reached the next stage.

“In other words, if we find the correct escape method and continue to break through the layers…”

“We will get closer to reality and eventually reach a complete escape.”

He didn’t know what would happen after that, but that was the starting point.

Taewoon and Jain began to busily search the ballroom once more to find a passage out of the world inside the mirror.

While doing so, a masked man rushing somewhere bumped shoulders with Taewoon.

“Oh, my apologies.”

“…….”

Despite Taewoon offering an apology first, the man gave no reaction. An infinitely worthless emotion, as if dealing with something that wasn’t human.

However, Taewoon felt a sliver of dissonance in that very process.

“Stop for a moment.”

When Taewoon grabbed his shoulder, the man started and tried to pull away.

“Ugh!?”

But there was no way he could oppose the strength of Taewoon, a trained Hunter, and eventually, the man gave up and left a word of apology as if annoyed.

“Look, alright. Sorry, I said I’m sorry. Happy now?”

“That’s not it. Are you perhaps a bit different from the people here?”

“Wha—what? You’re a real human too?”

The man was startled and, with a look of joy, threw off his mask.

What was revealed was the face of a handsome young man with reddish-brown hair.

The young man, who introduced himself as Pedro, was so glad he looked as if he might cry, shaking Taewoon and Jain’s hands repeatedly.

“Damn it. I really thought I was the only one awake and sane in this crazy world…”

“I understand. How long has it been since you came here?”

“3 weeks? 4 weeks? I’m not sure. It’s been so chaotic. As you can see, food and water could be found here and there, but I’ve had a hard time being so lonely and desolate.”

As it turned out, Pedro was a senior who had survived in this world inside the mirror for quite some time.

Furthermore, it seemed he hadn’t seen any other sane humans until now.

“What, you woke up in the bustling district? Mine was a refugee camp. I guess it differs from person to person.”

Pedro said that he first realized the reality in a refugee camp, and only after finding passages and leaping through spaces several times did he reach the bustling district.

In other words, for some reason—perhaps the Theater’s consideration—Taewoon had woken up around the midpoint of the world inside the mirror.

“Then do you know what exists in the spaces beyond the ballroom?”

“Of course I do. I know the paths to the beach, the mansion in the woods, and the abandoned hospital perfectly. The problem is what comes after.”

Then, Pedro continued, trembling as if the mere thought was terrifying.

“There are strange monsters. The closer we get to reality by crossing passages, the more those things smell us and start chasing us.”

“Monsters… you say?”

“Yes! Compared to them, wolves or tigers feel absolutely cute! Once you encounter them, they keep following you even if you cross spaces, but for some reason, they can’t chase us into this ballroom. Well, that’s why I ended up settling here as a base.”

Pedro shrugged, concluding the story of his life.

To be honest, this was incredibly helpful information.

“In other words, doesn’t that mean we truly start getting closer to reality from beyond this ballroom?”

“I think so too. In the end, to escape, we have no choice but to cross that dangerous bridge.”

“Well, I’m in favor of the attempt, but you’d better be really careful about those things. They are brutally savage!”

Taking the warnings from a now-serious Pedro to heart, the three people, including Taewoon, vowed to aim for a complete escape from the world inside the mirror.

And after gathering sufficient food and water from the ballroom, the three finally set out on their determined journey.