Light fractured, and the Fear System dropped Alex again.
This time, it was like falling face-first into cold water—shocking, sharp, and disorienting. He gasped and slammed into a solid surface. It wasn't the floor. It was glass.
And he wasn't alone.
The first thing he saw was his reflection.
But it wasn't him.
It was her.
[Fear System Arc Initiation: Arc 3 – The Mirror]
Host Body Sync: 87%… Complete
Identity: Sarah Kim – Age 18
Role: Protagonist / Primary Host
Fear Type: Distorted Identity | Reflection Trauma
Objective: Resist Subsumption. Uncover the Mirror's Origin.
Time Limit: 6 Hours
Alex—now Sarah—stumbled backward, breath catching in her throat. The mirror before her showed a girl with long black hair, perfect makeup, flawless skin. A teenage girl's dream version of herself.
Too perfect.
And it was smiling, even though she wasn't.
Sarah's actual face—his face—remained motionless.
But the reflection raised a hand.
Waved.
Then mouthed something:
"Make the wish."
Alex swallowed hard, feeling the emotional residue of Sarah's host memories rise like a tidal wave: longing, shame, insecurity. She wanted to be beautiful, wanted to be someone different, someone adored.
And the mirror… knew it.
He heard the memory playing faintly behind his ears.
Her mother: "You'll never get anywhere looking like that."
A classmate: "You should try smiling more—people like that."
The boy she loved: "You're cute… in a weird way."
Alex's gut twisted. These hosts weren't random vessels—they were wounds the System wanted to rip open.
Sarah's bedroom looked modest. Neat. Too neat. The kind of neatness that said don't touch anything, don't let anyone in.
He approached the mirror again.
Now it showed words, written in frost along the glass:
"One wish. One reflection. Everything changes."
A hairbrush sat beneath the mirror, next to an open compact of lipstick. The shade was too red for Sarah's complexion—but the kind of red she'd seen on the girls who always got attention.
Alex's hand moved almost on its own.
He picked up the lipstick.
And whispered: "I wish I looked like her."
The mirror flashed.
Pain lanced across his skin. A tightening sensation raced down his spine, around his jaw, his cheeks. Every nerve twisted and pulled, shaping him to match the reflection's vision of perfection.
When he opened his eyes again, his face was flawless. Sarah's voice was different now—softer, smoother.
And in the mirror?
The reflection beamed.
But its eyes no longer matched hers.
[Fear System Update: Wish Accepted]
Mirror Entity Status: Engaged
Time Until Full Subsumption: 3 Hours
Warning: Identity Drain Accelerating
Break the Mirror Before It Replaces You
Optional: Discover Mirror's True Origin to Sever Loop
Alex backed away. He didn't feel taken, not yet—but there was a pull, a constant whisper in his mind like a tug at his thoughts.
"Let go. You're better like this."
"Isn't it easier to be adored?"
"No one loved the real you."
He clenched his fists. "Shut up."
The mirror rippled.
Downstairs, a door slammed.
Voices.
His—Sarah's—parents. They were fighting again. Sharp accusations mixed with apathy. It was familiar noise to her. She never went down when they did this.
But today… the mirror wanted her to.
The reflection turned its head, staring down through the floor as if it could see through dimensions.
And then it whispered:
"Show them the new you."
Alex left the room, descending the stairs.
The air in the house felt different—off-kilter. As if walking through a dream on the verge of becoming a nightmare.
Her mother sat on the couch, arms crossed. Her father stood near the kitchen, pacing. Both froze when they saw her.
Or rather, the new her.
Her mother's eyes narrowed.
"Sarah?"
Alex nodded slowly.
"You look… different."
Her father stepped forward, frowning. "That makeup's too much."
The reflection's whisper returned:
"Say nothing. Just smile. They'll learn."
Alex said nothing.
He smiled.
And both parents screamed.
Their eyes bulged. Their faces turned gray. Her mother dropped her coffee mug—it shattered like a gunshot. Her father stumbled back into a chair, clutching his chest.
But they weren't screaming at her.
They were screaming at the reflection behind her.
Alex turned toward the mirror mounted on the far wall.
And saw Sarah, the original, grinning from behind the glass.
Bleeding from her mouth.
Eyes black.
[System Alert: Mirror Possession Escalated]
Role Split: Host / Replacement
Time Remaining: 2 Hours, 17 Minutes
Warning: Host Identity Will Be Consumed if Not Reinforced
Sarah—the reflection—pressed her hands to the glass.
It began to crack.
Alex moved without thinking. He sprinted across the room and tore the mirror from the wall just as the hands reached through.
It hit the floor with a loud crash, but didn't break.
He grabbed it, flipped it over—
On the back was a name:
Dr. H. Connelly
Belgrave Institute for Experimental Psychiatry
Inventory No. 13 – The Vainglass
Alex narrowed his eyes.
The System always left clues.
The mirror wasn't just a cursed object—it was part of something bigger. A project.
A test.
[New Objective Unlocked: Travel to Belgrave Institute]
Location: 22 km North – Mirror Will Guide the Path
Purpose: Destroy Vainglass Core. Sever Entity Link.
The reflection inside the mirror was no longer passive.
Now it pounded from inside, mouth open in a silent scream.
Cracks spidered across the surface. But not from Alex's grip—from the other side.
And Sarah's voice came again, this time pleading:
"You wanted to be better… I can be better."
"Let me live. You're just passing through."
Alex closed his eyes.
"This isn't your life anymore," he whispered.
He wrapped the mirror in a blanket, grabbed the house keys, and stepped outside into the night.
The wind howled.
The mirror laughed.