The Mirror Room

I tugged on Kkomangi's stretchy jelly cheeks, which extended left and right like taffy.

"Kkomangi, spit it out right now—!!!! No holy relics, you idiot!!!!!"

"Hek hek…."

I knew it already. This little guy had swallowed the Mirror of Fate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole, and it was gone for good.

"Ahh… this can't be happening…."

My dog hadn't just damaged a holy relic—he'd erased it from existence entirely.

Not a replica, but the real deal from the Goddess Church…

If the faithful found out, they'd have every right to tie me to a cross and pelt me with stones.

"…I shouldn't have taken the mirror when she offered it so readily…."

But what could I do? Who could resist a priceless item that even money couldn't buy?

The woman I suspected was a saint had fully transferred ownership to me, but that didn't justify making it vanish.

She probably saw it as entrusting me with something like a sponsorship.

"…What now? Think she'll forgive me if I apologize?"

…No, spreading the word would be the worst move.

Better to reframe it this way.

This wasn't the holy relic being destroyed.

It had returned to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goddess's embrace.

A miracle from the divine, vanishing without a trace.

That thought eased my mind considerably.

Fortunately, LunaJjangGirl hadn't contacted me since handing it over. No check-ins on the mirror's condition either, so as long as I stayed quiet, she wouldn't grill me.

"Phew… still, who knew you'd eat the mirror too…"

"Hek hek…."

I should've realized when he kept licking it…

This guy wasn't just tasting it—he was appraising if it was swallowable.

Now he's openly chowing down on inorganic stuff…

"Anyway, swallowing a mirror—especially one infused with divine power—must've changed something in the dungeon…."

A normal mirror would've been one thing, but this was divine. No change would be weirder.

I lay on the bed and checked the dungeon status window, scrutinizing every accessible menu.

"Hm…?"

But it was odd.

Nothing unusual showed up in the status window at all.

"What…?"

There had to be a change… maybe something the window couldn't detect?

At least nothing appeared in the functions I could control.

That left only one possibility: the shift was buried in Kkomangi's black box, beyond my grasp….

This was a headache.

"Kkomangi, what happened after you ate the mirror?"

"Hek hek…?"

He just tilted his head.

"…Yeah, you don't know either."

Tsk… All I could do was monitor the gallery for any weird dungeon phenomena, like always.

*

A few days later.

On a shop holiday, I visited the newly released park dungeon with Luna.

Entry required a Golden Ticket reward from clearing the Jajas raid—one of the ones I'd announced earlier.

It was a new dungeon following Starlight Lake Park, modeled after Han River Park from my hometown Seoul.

The other new park drew inspiration from the Crystal Cave in the Elixir Hot Springs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dungeon, turning it into a full Crystal Cave Park glittering with crystals, complete with shops and a performance hall.

For reference, the new bosses' Golden Ticket rewards were set like this:

Jajas = Soul Han River Park Golden Ticket

Giant Mud Crab = Crystal Cave Park Golden Ticket

Giant Rock Lizard = Elixir Hot Springs Golden Ticket

All three had similar clear difficulties, but since Rock Lizard had an evolution body, I just assigned the hot springs ticket to the base version.

Anyway, I came with Luna to check out the new park vibes.

She was hiding her burns with the magic tool she'd gotten from StickyThingLover.

"Oppa, I saw you on that raid experience stream before."

"…Luna, you don't browse the gallery?"

"I… don't do the gallery, but I watch Goseongji's streams…."

Luna was a Goseongji viewer.

The guy's complexion had improved lately; he was streaming dungeon tours for nearly 12 hours a day.

As Luna and I strolled the park, having fun…

I spotted weird people everywhere.

Holding picket signs, promoting something. And the content…

"Ah, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠see those around a lot lately. First time for you, oppa? They hand out flyers near the shop sometimes…."

"……There were things like that?"

I knew explorers were booming, but not that they'd be hawking like academy flyers.

"So many weird things popping up… Next they'll be grabbing people for recruitment."

"Oh, yeah—someone stopped me the other day too. Said he was an elder from the Heavenly Demon Church? Insisted I had Heavenly… Martial Body? and needed to learn martial arts, follow him for support… Be careful, oppa."

"…Isekai 'Do you know the way?' vibes… Gotta watch out."

We hung out in the park a bit, then parted ways.

Back home, it hit me late.

Among all those endless pickets today, not one was recruiting warriors.

*

I monitored the gallery as usual today.

As time passed, warriors' raid viability shrank.

Warriors could only shine as DPS in upper layers typically.

There, they could expand attack range massively with auras. Martial artists needed this stage for easy AoE.

But reaching upper layers meant breaking mid-layer walls to mid-upper, then advancing again.

Elixir hot springs eased talent barriers from mid to mid-upper layers, but…

Upper-layer explorers still needed exceptional talent.

"No matter how I look, we need another mid-stage growth booster…."

That'd smooth the curve: Elixir hot springs → mid-stage → evolution raids.

But…

No ideas came.

Overcoming personal talent limits was arrogant to begin with.

The one way I could help warrior raid discrimination… was making bosses they could shine on.

But none I could create fit.

Prayer it was.

"Goddess, if you pity the warriors, please save them…."

*

*

*

In a shelter restaurant.

Two men who looked like explorers conversed seriously.

About raids.

"Jerard, sorry, but I gotta give your ticket slot to someone else."

"Owen, what's that sudden? Joke?"

Raid leader Owen had authority to fixed-slot up to 3 people.

He'd used it for longtime friend Jerard.

"…A mid-upper mage wants in but no ticket… Super skilled, gotta bring him."

"I… see… Thanks, Owen… Owe you a lot."

"Sorry, man."

Jerard, a warrior, joined raids steadily thanks to Owen's favor.

No point complaining—he quietly dropped from fixed slots.

It was inevitable.

Leaders now filled all 3 fixed slots with mages.

*

Jerard left the restaurant, walking the street.

"Phew… what now…?"

Losing fixed raid spot hit like thunder.

Missing the sweet raids sucked, but worse: he had zero edge over other warriors.

Average mid-layer explorer. No special skills… Just high raid count warrior.

Even that didn't help resumes—strategies varied, fixed raids ignored.

Situation: dire.

No competitiveness. Killer raid competition.

Warriors needed standout traits for apps.

Jerard's brag: steady raids, 4-piece Red Giant.

But raids banned listing boss gear like Red Giant to curb gear bias.

"Hopeless…."

Couldn't lead his own—harder now than early days.

Needed command experience, which he lacked entirely.

"Can't raid, but survival's fine…."

Warrior sucks only in raids.

Mid-layer minos/cockatrices paid bills fine.

But…

Seeing others thrive made him doubt his path, depressing him.

"Sigh… time to hunt."

*

Jerard hunted minotaur pastures as usual.

Red bulls too strong—stuck to normals for an hour.

He noticed a weird structure in his regular dungeon.

"Why's there a well here?"

Scanned surroundings, deemed safe, approached.

Someone built a well? In monster central?

Up close, water crystal-clear, mirror-like reflection.

Showed his gloomy face.

"Haha… Total loser warrior."

Unnaturally pure light pulled his mind in.

Focusing, he stepped closer unwittingly…

"Wha…?"

Suddenly, an arm shot from the well, grabbed his collar, yanked him in.

"Gah!!!"

Splash—

Dunked, then rapid ascent.

Surfacing, Jerard righted himself, scanned warily.

"Kuhak!! Ambush!!!"

No foes.

He was in a stark white room with three mirrors.

"…What is this place?"