Back in the capital, Con had been missing for two days.
His friends realized it first.
At the festival, Daren waited with the others near the dumpling stall.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then thirty.
Tomas finally scratched his head.
"…where did Con go?"
Mikel frowned.
"He ran after that girl."
Jorin looked down the street Con had disappeared into.
"He should have come back by now."
They searched the nearby streets for hours.
The market.
The alleys.
The plaza.
Nothing.
By the time night fell, the festival had ended and Con was still gone.
The academy instructors were notified.
A few guards were sent to search.
But the capital was enormous.
And a blind boy who disappeared during a crowded festival was nearly impossible to track.
By the second day—
Rumors had already begun spreading in the academy dorms.
Some whispered that Con had been kidnapped.
Others claimed he had been attacked by thieves.
Daren slammed his fist against the table in frustration.
"He's not weak!"
Mikel nodded firmly.
"If someone tried something, they'd regret it."
But even he sounded uneasy.
Because the truth was simple.
None of them understood where Con had gone.
Meanwhile—
Con had no idea that two days had passed.
Inside the Mirror Realm, time felt strange.
There was no sun.
No moon.
No sense of morning or night.
Only endless reflections stretching into infinity.
And for two days—
Con had been trying to figure out how to leave.
He paced across the mirrored ground again.
And again.
And again.
"…this is ridiculous."
The system hovered nearby quietly.
Earlier, it had explained how he had entered the Mirror Realm.
[Mirror Gate Activation Condition: Emotional Resonance]
Con had stared at that message for a long time.
"…what does that even mean?"
The system had not elaborated.
Which meant he had spent the last two days attempting to recreate the feeling that opened the gate earlier.
He tried anger.
Nothing happened.
He tried concentrating.
Still nothing.
He even tried yelling.
"OPEN!"
The mirrors remained stubbornly silent.
Con eventually sighed and sat down on the reflective floor.
"This is stupid."
His reflection looked equally annoyed.
He rested his chin in his hand.
"…emotional resonance."
What emotion had he felt earlier?
He thought carefully.
The alley.
The fight.
The hooded girl.
And then—
His chest tightened slightly again.
That strange pain.
The desperate feeling he had experienced when chasing her.
Like something precious was slipping away.
Con closed his eyes.
Trying to recall that moment.
Her footsteps.
The rhythm of her running.
The faint sound of her breathing as she hid somewhere nearby.
And suddenly—
That familiar ache returned.
A quiet sadness.
A longing he couldn't explain.
Something deep in his chest trembled.
The mirrors around him rippled instantly.
Con's eyes snapped open.
"…oh."
The glass surfaces shimmered like disturbed water.
One mirror near him slowly brightened.
Its surface glowing softly.
Con stood up quickly.
"…that worked."
He approached the mirror carefully.
Its surface now reflected something different.
Not the endless Mirror Realm.
But a street in the capital.
Lanterns.
Stone roads.
People walking.
Con blinked.
"That's… the city."
He reached forward slowly.
His hand touched the mirror.
Just like before—
His fingers slipped through the surface.
But before stepping through, he paused.
Because something else caught his attention.
The other mirrors around him were changing too.
Dozens of them.
Hundreds.
Each mirror now displayed a different location.
A quiet forest path.
A noble's bedroom.
A blacksmith's workshop.
A palace hallway.
A distant village street.
Every mirror showed somewhere else.
Con's mouth slowly opened.
"…wait."
He turned slowly, looking around.
More reflections appeared.
More places.
A riverbank.
A temple courtyard.
A merchant shop.
Every reflective surface in the Mirror Realm had become a window.
A doorway.
Con's heart began beating faster.
He whispered softly,
"…these are gates."
The system flickered beside him.
[Mirror Gates Activated]
Con stared at the endless mirrors again.
Understanding slowly dawned on him.
Any place.
Anywhere.
As long as that place had a mirror—
He could go there.
His mind spun with the realization.
"…that's insane."
He laughed quietly.
The sound echoed across the endless glass world.
"For two days I couldn't even leave."
He glanced at the glowing mirrors surrounding him.
"And now…"
He pointed casually at one reflecting a distant mountain village.
"…I could go there."
Then another showing a noble ballroom.
"…or there."
Then another showing the capital streets again.
"…or back home."
His smile faded slightly.
His friends.
The academy.
Daren would probably be panicking by now.
Tomas might be crying.
Mikel would be worried.
Jorin would pretend not to be.
Con sighed softly.
"…I should probably go back."
But before stepping through the mirror—
He looked around the Mirror Realm one more time.
Endless glass.
Endless doors.
Endless possibilities.
And a strange thought crossed his mind.
If I can go anywhere…
What else can I do here?
The system flickered quietly beside him.
As if listening.
Con smiled slightly.
"…I guess I'll find out later."
Then he stepped toward the mirror leading back to the capital.