Location: Kingdom of Korea – Secret Passage Under the Palace
The air beneath the palace was damp and chilled. The hidden tunnel stretched endlessly forward, dimly lit by flickering torches. Dephnie and Lee Gon walked side by side, the old parchment gripped tightly in her hands.
"What is this place?" she asked, her voice echoing slightly.
Lee Gon glanced at the engraved walls around them. "Only the kings of Corea and their destined companions were allowed to walk this path. It leads to the Chamber of Whispers—where the Mirror of Beginnings was once guarded."
Dephnie stopped. "Was?"
He nodded grimly. "It was stolen. Thirty years ago. By a woman who looked exactly like you."
She turned to face him, heart thudding. "My alternate self?"
"No," he said. "Your mother."
Location: Jeju Island – Abandoned Observatory
Woo-jin arrived at the isolated observatory, where an elder monk awaited him with folded hands. On a pedestal in the centre was a small orb of light swirling with memories.
"The Eye of the Past," the monk said. "Only the bloodline of the Mirror Seers can activate it."
Woo-jin pulled out a ring from his pocket—his mother's—and placed it on his finger. As he touched the orb, images flashed rapidly:
Three women, identical in face, standing under a fractured sky.
The Sword of Echoes being shattered.
The alternate Dephnie sealing a gate with blood.
A child torn from her world.
Lee Gon bleeding on a white-tiled floor.
Dephnie screaming his name.
He gasped, yanked back by the vision's violence.
"Time is unravelling," the monk warned. "If they don't unite the seal and sword before the eclipse… all versions will perish."
Location: Republic of Korea – Intelligence Headquarters, Seoul
Alternately, Dephnie stood in front of the tactical map, flanked by agents.
"The Seal of Balance has resurfaced," she stated. "My Kingdom counterpart has it."
One of her lieutenants frowned. "Why not let her use it?"
She turned cold eyes toward him.
"Because she was never meant to exist. None of them were. The multiverse broke the moment I was replaced."
Agent Ryu Da-bin stepped forward. "We have the Sword fragment. If we use it first—?"
She cut him off. "We don't use it. We destroy it."
The agents looked stunned.
"Destroying the sword breaks the loop," she continued. "No sword. No sealing. No balance. No versions of me to compete."
"But the collapse—"
"I'll rebuild my world from the ashes," she whispered. "Alone."
Location: Busan – Train Station, Night
Lee Gon and Dephnie boarded a nearly empty bullet train headed to the port city, where the Seal's activation altar was said to lie, hidden beneath the old temple ruins.
"I never knew my mother," Dephnie said softly, watching lights pass outside the window. "She vanished when I was three. Everyone said she went mad."
Lee Gon looked at her. "Maybe she was protecting you. Maybe she knew the truth."
Dephnie reached into her bag and unfolded the old parchment again. Ancient writing shimmered faintly.
"There's a name written here… 'Hana'."
Lee Gon's eyes widened. "That's your mother's true name. Hana Choi. She was once the King's chosen."
Dephnie's voice trembled. "Then… why did she run?"
The train shook slightly. For a moment, the cabin flickered—like a frame skipping.
Lee Gon stood. "Something's wrong with time again."
They rushed to the window.
The moon—split in two—hovered above Busan's skyline.
Location: Mirror Caverns – Cracked Realm
The scarred Dephnie stood alone before a shimmering wall of glass.
She touched her reflection.
"Everything ends… or begins… with me."
Behind her, the shadows moved. A figure stepped forward.
It was her—again. A fourth version. One no one had seen yet.
Dephnie looked at her in shock. "You're… not supposed to exist."
The new figure smirked, cloaked in obsidian armour, eyes glowing violet.
"No," she whispered. "I'm the version who chose the chaos."
And she plunged a knife into the wall of mirrors.
It shattered.
Location: Busan Port – Temple of Balance
The train came to a halt. Lee Gon and Dephnie ran toward the old temple on the cliffs, lit by the dual eclipse hanging over both worlds.
Inside the temple, an altar pulsed with white light.
Dephnie stepped forward, parchment in one hand, the Seal in the other. She placed both on the stone.
The temple trembled.
From the light, a sword began to form—a completed version of the Sword of Echoes.
Lee Gon stepped beside her.
But behind them, gunfire rang out.
The alternate Dephnie had arrived, surrounded by her agents.
"Step away from the altar!" she shouted.
Dephnie turned. "We can fix this! We can save all of us!"
The alternate self raised a weapon. "There's only one Dephnie who belongs."
She fired.
🌀 To be continued