**Chapter 12: The Reflection of Zero**
The Hall of Mirrors was infinite.
There were no walls, only endless panes of glass stretching into the dark horizon, reflecting Zayne's silhouette a billion times over.
[Floor 3 Challenge: The Mirror Self.]
[Difficulty: Mythic (Adjusted for User 'Zayne').]
[Objective: Defeat your Reflection.]
Zayne stood in the center of the glass floor. He didn't move. He didn't breathe.
Ten meters away, the air rippled.
A figure stepped out of the glass.
It wore the same *Night-Walker* armor. It held the same *Fang of the Alpha*. It had the same messy black hair.
But its eyes weren't violet. They were white—pure, glowing static.
[Enemy: Mirror Zayne]
[Level: 18]
[Stats: 120% of Original.]
[Bloodline: Emulated.]
"120%," Zayne noted calmly. "The System admits it can't beat me fairly, so it cheats."
The Reflection didn't speak. It tilted its head, a mockery of curiosity.
Then, it vanished.
*Boom.*
The glass floor shattered where Zayne had been standing a millisecond ago.
Zayne was already mid-air, backflipping away. But the Reflection was faster. It appeared *above* him, gravity seemingly optional, and swung its sword in a downward arc.
*Clang!*
Zayne blocked with his dagger. The impact shuddered through his bones.
[Warning: Strength differece detected.]
[HP: 95%]
Zayne was smashed into the floor, sliding back twenty meters. He rolled to his feet instantly, but the Reflection was already there, pressing the assault.
Slash. Stab. Kick. Slash.
It was a perfect mirror of Zayne's own fighting style—ruthless, efficient, aiming only for vitals. But it was stronger. Faster.
"Phase Shift!" Zayne commanded.
His body turned intangible, becoming a grey ghost. The Reflection's sword passed harmlessly through his neck.
Zayne smirked. He had 2 seconds of invulnerability. He stepped forward to deliver a counter-attack as the phase ended.
But the Reflection's eyes flashed white.
It didn't attack. It *blurred*.
[Enemy used: Phase Shift.]
The Reflection turned intangible too.
For two seconds, two ghosts passed through each other, unable to touch, locked in a silent dance.
As the timer hit zero, both materialized instantly.
*SHING.*
Two blades flashed.
Zayne felt a stinging burn on his cheek.
The Reflection took a shallow cut to its shoulder.
They leaped apart.
Zayne touched the blood on his face. "It copies my skills in real-time. And with higher agility, it executes them faster."
It was a losing equation. If he used *Dimensional Cut*, the Reflection would use a faster *Dimensional Cut*. He would die first.
The Reflection raised its hand. Violet energy—an emulation of the Void—gathered in its palm.
It was preparing the *Gravity Press* move Zayne had used on the Minotaur.
Zayne narrowed his eyes. "You have my stats. You have my skills. But you lack one thing."
The Reflection fired. A ball of crushed gravity shot toward Zayne.
Zayne didn't dodge. He didn't use a skill.
He dropped his sword.
It was an action so illogical, so counter-intuitive, that the System-controlled Reflection hesitated for one microsecond. *Why disarm? Is it a trap?*
In that microsecond, Zayne sprinted forward, diving *under* the gravity ball.
He tackled the Reflection.
Without a weapon, Zayne slammed his forehead into the Reflection's nose.
*Crack.*
It wasn't a skill. It was a street brawl.
The Reflection stumbled back, its logic processors trying to recalculate the threat level of an unarmed opponent.
Zayne didn't let up. He grabbed the Reflection's collar with his left hand.
"Void Pocket," Zayne hissed.
He didn't open the pocket in the air. He opened it *on his palm*, pressing it directly against the Reflection's chest.
[Error. Target is "Living Construct". Cannot be stored.]
The System blocked the absorption.
"I know," Zayne grinned, his teeth stained with blood. "I'm not trying to store you."
He flared his Void Energy.
"I'm trying to **starve** you."
The *Void Pocket* was a vacuum. It sucked in matter. But pressed against a being made of pure energy, it acted like a drain.
The Reflection's white eyes widened. It tried to stab Zayne, but Zayne caught the blade with his bare right hand.
*Squelch.*
The sword pierced his palm, sticking out the back of his hand. Zayne didn't flinch. He clamped his fingers around the blade, locking it in his flesh/bone.
"Gotcha."
He pulled the Reflection closer, chest to chest.
The Void Pocket roared.
*WOOOOSH.*
The emulated Void Energy inside the Reflection began to leak. It swirled out of its chest and into Zayne's palm.
[Absorbing Foreign Energy...]
[Void Energy +5...]
[Void Energy +10...]
The Reflection shrieked—a sound of digital static. It thrashed, trying to break free, but Zayne held on, sacrificing his hand to keep the connection.
"You are just code," Zayne whispered into its ear. "I am the Hunger."
The Reflection began to flicker. Its 120% stats meant nothing without the fuel to power them. Its form wavered, turning from solid to translucent.
Zayne's eyes glowed a violent, hungry purple.
"Consume."
He triggered the *Eye of the Void* merged with his soul.
A massive pulse of suction erupted from Zayne.
The Reflection shattered.
It didn't break into glass; it broke into motes of white light, which were instantly sucked into Zayne's chest.
[Target Eliminated.]
[Floor 3 Cleared.]
Zayne fell to his knees, panting. He ripped the sword out of his right hand.
[HP: 40/100]
[Status: Bleeding.]
He grabbed a potion from his belt and poured it over the wound. The flesh knit together slowly.
"Messy," he muttered. "But effective."
[Calculating Rewards...]
[Special Clear Bonus: Mirror Breaker.]
[You have absorbed the 'Emulated Potential' of the Mirror.]
*Ding!*
[Stat Update:]
[All Stats +5.]
[Void Energy Cap Increased: 100 -> 150.]
Zayne stood up, testing his grip. His hand was stiff, but healed. He retrieved his own sword from where he dropped it.
The exit portal opened, revealing the staircase to Floor 4.
But Zayne didn't move toward it. He looked at the shattered glass on the floor.
"Floor 4 is a time-waster," he recalled. "A wave defense mission."
He needed to speed up. He needed to skip floors.
He looked at the ceiling of the infinite mirror room. In the reflection, he saw the sky.
"The Tower is a structure," Zayne said. "And structures have ventilation."
He activated *Dimensional Cut*.
He didn't slash the air. He slashed the *ceiling*.
*ZZZT.*
A black rift tore open in the sky of the mirror world. Through the tear, he could see the gears of the Tower's internal mechanism.
"Going up," Zayne grinned.
He leaped into the rift, bypassing the portal entirely.