Monarch of Luminescence || Solo-Leveling

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟶

Two beams of violet and gold appeared, each for one of us. 

Jinwoo turned towards me, smiling. "So, I'll see you later."

"Ah, wait. Shouldn't I at least give you some healing? Like, my doll can-"

"No, hyung. Please save your mana. I'll be fine, so I'll see you soon as always. I want to complete this with my own power."

"...Okay. Come back safely." I hugged him tightly and quickly ran into the portal, pink tinting my face.

"Haha. So he can show faces like that too..." He lingered a bit at my response and entered the gate.

I entered the domain, which was at first so bright that I had to cover and squint my eyes. When I had gotten used to the light, I saw an endless horizon of water. Nothing was stopping the stagnant water and the clear blue sky from merging, with the sea dotted with thin white clouds reflected from above. It was peaceful, yet also a bit miserable. It felt lonely. There was nothing except for myself. I couldn't feel anything exist in this empty world. 

I stared down at my reflection, rippling from my feet. But it started to weirdly protrude. My reflection started taking shape beneath the waters. I immediately jumped back in surprise, afraid of the unknown.

I truthfully had an irrational fear of mirrors, or more likely, reflections. This is the worst...

A young child, around the age of 4, manifests.

"Wow. Is this what I look like when I grow up? You look guilty. Did you do something bad?"

Three mirrors arise to form a triangle around me, a barrier that creates more images of myself. 

"You keep feigning ignorance."

"You're just like him."

"No matter how much you try, you'll never be different."

"That's how he raised us, after all."

"Did you not want to see how hideous you truly are?"

The mirrors started speaking, mocking me for my past actions. I was fairly startled, but I was used to this sort of thing.

[You have used the skill 'Self Rationalisation' Lvl. ???]

'A domain of mental attacks? I see. Do I have to remove the mirrors?' 

I was somehow certain that magic wouldn't work since it was most likely a special kind of magic-reflecting mirror. I dashed at the mirror, the source of all this, with the weapon I was most proficient at, the sword. I hit it with all my might, but it didn't seem to be working. Not a scratch was made.

"We were right, weren't we?"

"You immediately attacked the mirror."

"No matter how much you use that skill, you cannot hide what you are truly feeling."

"Your flaws are showing."

My heart skipped a beat. It was like his voice appeared from behind me. I froze in shock. ...No, it wasn't shock. It was something more accurately described as dread. 

"You do not want to turn back."

"You do not want to meet him again"

"You do not want to confront him again"

"You're still so hopeless." 

The child pounced on me when I was still paralyzed, his small hands gripping my neck. 

"Urk!" I coughed out, shoving the child off of me. I stabbed him, and blood gushed out as it became one with the water again. "It seems like it knows how to read memories and pinpoint that. If I can't destroy the mirrors, then I'll kill these reflections of mine."

I stabbed, slashed, and struck. I don't know how long it has been, but the numbers don't seem to be decreasing, and my energy and mana were. In fact, there were more mirrors now. Seven mirrors surrounded me, each producing an image of me at a certain time of my life. 

"You do not have a place in this world."

"You try to create excuses to negate your guilt."

"You're in constant denial."

"You try not to think about it."

"But it haunts the back of your mind."

These 'me's were getting irritating. "Why do you try to act as if you understand me?"

"We do understand you." The mirrors said in unison. "We are you."

"Shut up. You're just another mob I have to murder." I lunged forward indifferently with my sword, stabbing them in the hearts in swift moves. But, in the glimmer of the light above I notice a string attached to the body. Something more accurately to be described as a marionette string. 'That's why. There's a puppeteer...'

Following the strings, I look up. I see a large white platform above, and a strange, fathomless figure looking below.


-


Jinwoo stares at the rewards he obtained from killing 'Blood-red Igris'. "If a hearthstone* was dropped... Does that mean the quest is not over yet?" His contemplation was startled by a grey swirl in the air, crackling with purple lightning.

*hearthstone is used to teleport one out of a domain.

[The job change quest will begin.]

"Ah, I knew it! There's no way that was the end!"

[The longer you last, the more points you can collect that will place you into a higher-tier job.]

[ Good luck.]
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