Con stood frozen in the broken shop.
The mirror behind him rippled again.
Like water stirred by an unseen wind.
His heart beat loudly in his chest.
He could hear it.
Feel it.
The strange whisper he had felt a moment ago lingered in his mind.
Welcome back.
Back?
Back where?
He didn't understand.
Con slowly turned around again.
Facing the mirror.
The surface looked calm now.
Silent.
Just a smooth sheet standing against the wall.
But he knew better now.
This thing was not normal.
He took a slow breath.
"Alright…"
His voice was quiet.
He had two choices.
Walk away.
Pretend none of this happened.
Return to the festival and his friends.
Or—
Find out what this thing was.
Curiosity slowly pushed aside the fear.
Con had always been like that.
If something didn't make sense, he wanted to understand it.
Even if it was dangerous.
He stepped closer again.
His hand lifted.
This time he didn't hesitate.
His palm touched the mirror's surface.
Just like before—
His hand slipped through effortlessly.
Like dipping into still water.
Cold tingles ran up his arm.
Con swallowed.
"Well… here goes nothing."
He took one careful step forward.
Then another.
And walked straight into the mirror.
For a moment—
Everything disappeared.
There was no sound.
No ground.
No air.
Just silence.
Then—
Light exploded.
Blinding brightness flooded his senses.
Con gasped.
His body collapsed forward onto hard ground.
His mind screamed.
Because something impossible had just happened.
He could see.
For fifteen years, Con had lived in darkness.
He had understood the world through sound.
Through touch.
Through smell.
But now—
Color poured into his mind like a storm.
Light.
Shapes.
Movement.
Everything hit him at once.
The sky above him was enormous.
A vast endless expanse of shimmering silver clouds and floating glass fragments.
The ground beneath him reflected the sky like polished crystal.
Mirrors stretched in every direction.
Thousands.
Millions.
Different sizes.
Different shapes.
Floating in endless space.
Con's eyes widened in shock.
His brain struggled to process the flood of images.
It was too much.
Too sudden.
He tried to sit up.
But the world spun violently.
Colors blurred together.
His head throbbed painfully.
He gasped again.
"…what…"
But the words barely left his mouth.
His brain simply couldn't handle it.
Fifteen years of darkness suddenly replaced by overwhelming vision.
The pressure was too much.
Everything went black again.
Con collapsed unconscious on the mirrored floor.
Time passed.
Minutes.
Maybe hours.
It was impossible to tell in this strange place.
Eventually—
Con stirred.
His eyelids slowly opened.
The first thing he saw was light.
Soft silver light reflecting across endless mirrors.
But this time—
His mind didn't panic.
The images settled slowly.
His brain began adjusting.
Shapes became clearer.
Edges sharpened.
The world stopped spinning.
Con slowly pushed himself upright.
His breathing was unsteady.
He looked around in stunned silence.
Everywhere he turned—
Mirrors floated in the vast empty space.
The sky itself seemed made of shimmering glass.
It was beautiful.
And terrifying.
"…where am I?"
His voice echoed softly across the endless reflective world.
Then suddenly—
Something flickered in front of him.
Blue light.
Words formed in the air.
Floating.
Glowing.
Con stared at them in shock.
Because he could read them.
Even though he had never seen them before.
The letters blinked repeatedly.
Like a system trying to reboot.
[System Restarting…]
[Identity Recognition Failed]
[Memory Data Missing]
[Recalibrating Host…]
Con blinked.
"What… is that?"
The glowing words flickered again.
More messages appeared.
[Host Detected]
[Mirror Core Fragment Status: Stable]
[Human Form Active]
[Reconnecting Skill Database…]
Con's heart began racing again.
None of this made sense.
Floating words.
System messages.
Mirror worlds.
He looked down at his hands.
They were trembling slightly.
"…am I dreaming?"
The system flickered again.
As if responding to his voice.
One final line appeared.
Brighter than the others.
[Welcome back, Host.]
[Lee Eunwoo.]