Vorn hadn't moved for hours, although his body could move his mind was in a total mess .
The countdown hung above his vision, just faint enough to ignore if he looked away, but it never disappeared. It pulsed, slow, steady. 11:39:06... 11:39:05... It was more patient than him, more patient than anything he'd ever known.
He sat on the edge of the hospital bed, arms on his knees, staring at the floor like it might answer him. The thin white tiles had cracks in them, like veins, he followed one with his eyes until it hit the leg of a metal tray.
His card was still there, there was nothing unusual that happened again but he hadn't touched it since last night, not after what happened not after that laugh.
His sister was somewhere in this building, and she might not even be herself anymore. That wasn't just a bad dream. It was real but he still couldn't process what happened, guilt of not even being able to protect his sister and of course he knew that this world was real, and those beings that brought him here just wanted to have fun with his life tape playing in front of them, anger and helplessness took over
He rubbed his arms, trying to wipe off the cold. It didn't work. The chill wasn't outside.
Footsteps.
He looked up.
The door opened with a metallic click, and a man walked in. Not the woman from before. This one was taller, messy hair, too young to be trusted with anything important.
"Yo," the guy said, chewing on a gum stick, flipping through a small datapad. "Still alive, huh?"
Vorn didn't answer.
The guy shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Didn't expect you to be awake. Most guys who go through what you did stay out for at least a week, some even had to be moved to a different hospital to help them overcome their trauma. You sure are weird."
Still no answer.
The man clicked his tongue. "They told me not to ask you anything too deep. But I had to see the guy myself. Seren's brother."
Vorn's fingers tightened.
The man glanced at him. "She's fine. Kind of. I mean, she's stable. But her vitals are... off. Mana readings go from zero to something that fries our machines. Never seen that before."
Vorn swallowed.
"And then there's you. No aura. No signature. Yet you walk out of a dungeon alone. Not even awakened. You're a damn mystery, dude."
Vorn slowly turned to him, voice dry. "Do you think this is a game?"
The guy blinked. "Huh?"
"She was possessed, something took her, I watched it and I couldn't do anything !"
Silence.
Vorn's voice shook. "So yeah. You want a mystery? Here it is, I was weak, I still am, and now someone else paid for it."
The agent backed off a little, clearly out of his depth.
Vorn stood slowly, his legs were steady now, he looked at the card on the tray, it moved slightly just a small tremble, like it was feeling his pain, then a thin line of red extended from its center, a thread, no thicker than a hair, it reached for him, and attached itself to his palm.
Vorn flinched, grabbing his hand, but it was already inside.
The system blinked.
[Blood Mirror Trial: Synchronization Increasing] [Touch-Based Matter Sensitivity: Unlocked – 0.01%] [Drop of Blood Reacting...]
His fingers brushed the edge of the tray, it bent like tofu or soft clay, he pulled his hand back instantly, heart thudding. "What the hell..."
He stared at his own hand, nothing looked different but something was he just couldn't feel it. Then the humming started, not real humming, in his head, he could hear the a girls voice but couldn't trace it, he looked up and there was someone sitting on the other bed, a girl his age that was bruised and swinging her legs,
She looked at him, he opened his mouth to speak but the girl raised her hand
Shhh.
Then she mouthed a single word:
Run.
And vanished, just like that.
Gone.
The system blinked rapidly, glasses glitching, Vorn gasped clearly breathing fast,
[Warning: Memory Overlap Expanding]
[Blood Mirror Trial Stage 1 Begins in: 10:48:00]
The mirror behind him flickered, he turned, red light, dim kind of light,
"How many people signed that paper?"
The card pulsed in his mind then a voice clearly not his came
"More than you'll ever meet."
A pause.
"Fewer than you'll survive."
He didn't move, the countdown continued followed by the slow opening of the blood mirror
---
Hours passed.
The nurse who came in said nothing, gave him food. He didn't touch it.
He tried to sleep, couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, that girl's face appeared, not Seren. The other one, the one who warned him.
Run.
Run from what?
From himself?
What followed next didn't ask for his permission, he blinked once, the lights dimmed, the bed turned to rust, the walls dripped something black.
He stood in a room not his own, a classroom.
Desks overturned, windows broken, blood on the board writing in a language he didn't know, a figure stood near the front, a tall boy with thin body and hollow eyes
"Why are we here?" Vorn asked.
The boy turned.
"No one cared when I vanished."
His face cracked.
Literally cracked, like dry paint peeling.
"You will."
Vorn stepped back, the Blood Mirror pulsed again.
[Fragment Replay: Second Victim – L-Class Contracted]
L-Class?
What the hell was that?
[Warning: Integrity Dropping]
The ground split, vorn screamed but only in his head.
---
He came to shaking, sheets tangled around his arms, the nurse was back, she looked scared.
"Are you... okay?"
He couldn't answer, his voice was gone, he just nodded and backed out slowly.
The system responded.
[Drop of Blood – Rank: Minor – Stabilized] [Veiled Noir Path Integrity: 64%] [Warning: Further Exposure May Trigger Collapse]
Collapse of what?
His mind?
His soul?
He didn't ask, he just stared.
[10:12:09]
The mirror waited.
The game had only just begun.
And now, so had his descent.