"So, Lucian, do you know how a Mirror Dimension actually works?" Raphael asked, glancing at me as we navigated through the thick fog.
I shook my head. "I don't know much. The only dimension I've ever entered was during my nineteenth birthday trial."
"Ah, you mean the Crucible," Raphael smiled nostalgically. "Yes, I remember those days. I went through one as well. It was hell."
"It was," I agreed without lying. "I was dropped alone into a freezing snow biome. It was a harsh world, and the System alone decided if you were worthy to survive or not."
For some reason, thinking about the Crucible made a strange feeling tug at the back of my mind—a faint sense of connection I couldn't quite explain.
"Crucibles are brutal, yes, but Mirror Dimensions are entirely different," Raphael explained, his tone shifting into that of a seasoned instructor. "A Crucible is a solo trial tailored for one person. A Mirror Dimension, however, can be entered by any number of people. But here is the catch: everyone inside will share the same 'story' or scenario that needs to be solved."
He held up a finger. "According to my reports, King Charles is entering a Tier 4 Mirror Dimension. There are two Rifts near Bransy Town—a Tier 4 and a Tier 5. Our destination is the Tier 4."
"So, we will share a story," I mused, my curiosity getting the better of me. "But what type of story? And what about the monsters?"
"It's completely random," Raphael replied. "And the difficulty scales. The more people who enter, the more complex and dangerous the dimension becomes. This time, we are entering as a duo. The King and his two Awakened Royal Guards make three. That means there will be exactly five people inside this specific scenario."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Also, don't worry about the time. The temporal flow is completely disjointed from the real world. Roughly speaking, one day inside the dimension equals only one hour out here."
"Well, that is convenient," I replied, feeling a bit of relief.
As we walked further toward the edge of town, near the rocky seacoast, the air grew incredibly heavy. The Ether density spiked to suffocating levels. My lungs burned slightly, but because I was Tier 2 and possessed the physical anchor of a Cenotaph, I managed to withstand the pressure.
I glanced at Raphael. He was completely unaffected, breathing the toxic, mana-rich air as if it were a gentle spring breeze. Makes sense, I thought. If he plans to kill a Tier 5 King, this level of Ether shouldn't bother him.
Then, I saw it.
The Mirror Dimension didn't look like a portal or a magical gate. It looked as if reality itself had been fractured. It was a jagged, glowing tear hovering over the rocky beach, looking exactly like torn paper revealing a void behind the fabric of the world.
Standing near the tear were three figures in heavy gear. I recognized the man in the center instantly: King Charles IV.
One of his Royal Guards presented a badge to the local Awakened stationed to guard the Rift. The guards immediately bowed their heads in deep reverence, realizing the King of London was standing before them.
Without a word, the King and his escorts stepped into the jagged crack. They didn't just walk through; they were violently sucked inward, their bodies twisting like smoke before vanishing entirely, as if they had never existed.
Raphael watched them disappear, then looked at me and nodded. "Shall we?"
We walked up to the guards, flashed our Guild IDs, and moved toward the tear in reality.
As we stepped closer, everything started to distort. Time felt like it was slowing down to a crawl. The distant sound of the ocean waves stretched into a low, echoing groan. I could see the local guards moving in slow motion.
Then, the spatial pull grabbed us.
I looked at Raphael, and my stomach churned. He wasn't moving normally. His body looked like it was being physically stretched toward the tear, elongated like taffy. I looked down at my own hands and saw the same thing happening to me.
Just before we were completely sucked into the void, Raphael turned his head. His voice came through the distortion, muffled and echoing as if spoken underwater.
"...reunite using our names..."
I strained to hear him over the roaring sound of tearing space.
"...and whatever you do, Lucian... never forget who you are."
What does that mean?
Before I could process his warning, the void swallowed us.
[BLANK]
Everything went completely dark. There was no sound, no feeling, no time. Just an absolute, crushing nothingness.
Slowly, agonizingly, my eyes started to make sense of the light again.