Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Reversed Mirror World
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73
4
“Yawn…….”
My eyelids still felt heavy.
The Esterro Academy at dawn, shrouded in thick morning mist, was deathly quiet.
Even though it was still summer, the early morning chill was considerable.
My body shivered involuntarily.
I should’ve at least grabbed an outer coat.
Coming out in short sleeves was a bad idea.
What the hell is up with this temperature swing?
“I went to bed way too late last night….”
Yawn. The yawns wouldn’t stop.
This was all Louis’s fault.
He’d been even more savage than usual, stressed about job hunting, so it took until nearly dawn to calm him down.
Vacation was still ongoing, so I wanted to sleep until noon, but… if I didn’t go now, the Easter egg would be pushed back to tomorrow.
I’d forced myself up, and now my head was foggy.
My thoughts weren’t turning properly, like an unoiled bicycle chain.
Next time, I’ll buy something tasty to soothe Louis……
I trudged through the mist toward the main building.
The summer vacation Easter egg only triggered at dawn.
No idea why they set it for this hour.
As if I could read the minds of the Broken World devs.
What mattered wasn’t the intent.
What mattered was that I couldn’t rest until I confirmed if this Easter egg was real.
And rightly so—this one led to a completely isolated special space.
How on earth was it implemented?
I’d finally get the most detailed look at the Easter egg’s implementation that had always puzzled me.
My heart pounded with excitement.
The sleepiness faded a bit.
“Hey, who’s there?”
A raspy voice suddenly stopped me.
Turning my head, Jin’s face popped out from the mist.
His unshaven beard was as unkempt as ever, and his eyes were still bloodshot with fatigue and annoyance.
He fiddled with the tie of his standard guard uniform, twitched his eyebrows, then slumped his shoulders.
“What, it’s you… Didn’t go home?”
“I did. Came back yesterday.”
“Why come back early instead of rolling around at home until classes start? Such a hassle.”
“Aren’t there a few other students who didn’t leave?”
“Their routines are all mapped out, no issues. They don’t cause trouble. But you’re different.”
Jin stared at me with dead-fish eyes.
What a total mess of a guy.
“That’s unfair. When have I ever caused trouble?”
“Even if you haven’t, wandering around at this godforsaken hour is trouble enough.”
“Fair point.”
“So, where you headed?”
Jin asked, cigarette dangling from his mouth.
I stared pointedly, but he didn’t light it.
Guess he’s just gonna chew on it.
“Got business in the main building.”
“No stealing, no breaking into locked areas, no messing with grad students or TAs—just do your business and go.”
“You’re not asking what the business is.”
“Too much hassle.”
He waved me off and vanished into the mist.
How does a guy that lazy even breathe……
Curious, but not enough to care.
I hurried into the main building to make up for lost time.
I didn’t want to wake up at dawn again tomorrow.
Thud, thud. I stood before the massive mirror fixed to the central wall of the main building lobby.
“This is the spot.”
This mirror was the gateway to the isolated space known as the mirror world.
But you couldn’t just hop through—you needed to meet specific conditions.
I took a deep breath and thrust out my fist toward the mirror.
The me in the mirror thrust out a fist too.
Then scissors.
Mirror me did scissors as well.
I went rock again, unyielding.
Mirror me stubbornly did rock too.
I repeated the sequence.
No point hiding it—I was playing rock-paper-scissors with my mirror self.
One of the countless rumors floating around Esterro Academy.
Play rock-paper-scissors with your reflection in the main building lobby mirror at dawn, and if you win, a path to another world opens.
It had crossed into urban legend territory, but repeatedly playing would trigger the Easter egg with a certain probability upon victory.
Some academy rumors tied into Easter eggs, so it made sense.
Back when I played the game, I mashed the interaction button in front of that mirror for over 30 minutes.
It was pure luck.
But this was a game world that wasn’t quite a game.
Beyond rock, paper, scissors, other options existed.
I extended my fist toward the mirror.
Mirror me did the same.
Confirming that, I extended only my ring and pinky fingers.
I angled it just right so it looked like a fist from my view, but like two fingers in the mirror.
This was how to beat your mirror self at rock-paper-scissors.
Proudly showing off a cheat possible only in this non-game reality, my mirror self’s expression twisted.
A look of utter defeat, plain as day.
Condition met.
Before I could cheer, the mirror me vanished.
I placed my hand on the mirror that now reflected only me.
Nothing happened.
I glanced around slowly and muttered,
“Did I get here right?? ”
Good, success.
5
“AbCdEfGhIjK.”
I’d clearly said “A B C D E F G.”
But it came out my voice distorted, like a tape played in reverse.
Left-right reversal—the hallmark of the mirror world.
The Easter egg had activated properly.
Experiencing it firsthand was pretty weird……
Glancing around the lobby, everything was flipped left-right.
Text, building structure, layout—all mirrored.
You had to view it through a mirror to see it right.
“Good, time to explore.”
Yeah, better not talk for now.
I clamped my mouth shut and stepped outside the main building.
The academy interior felt especially silent at dawn.
Ah, that’s it.
No sounds reached me at all.
Not a hint of human activity, not even the chirp of insects seeping through the mist.
It was like an intricate, massive set that was somehow warped.
I strolled slowly through the mist.
Numbers were upside down on signs, clock hands spun counterclockwise.
Everything was reversed, and wherever I went, I was alone.
Nothing else unusual.
Even in the original Broken World, the mirror world was just an Easter egg that existed.
Fully reversed, sure, but that was it.
No hidden clues, no content whatsoever.
I’d poured days into exploring this Easter egg, so I knew.
What I was curious about was something else.
In this world, were Easter eggs seen as mysterious phenomena that just popped up?
Or was there a separate entity creating them?
In other words, how did this world perceive and accept Easter egg content?
They were game elements, hidden purely as dev pranks.
Well, couldn’t figure that out right now.
I’d need to investigate calmly over time, so first, let’s get out.
Back to the lobby mirror.
Exiting was straightforward.
Like platform 9 and 3/4, just dive into the mirror.
The one thing in the reversed world that didn’t scream “reversed” was the mirror—I dove toward it.
And slammed my head, a sharp pain spreading.
Wait—slammed my head?
I looked around.
The world was still reversed.
The mirror didn’t budge.
Tried diving again—no reaction.
The implication was simple.
I was trapped in the mirror world.
6
I was screwed.
No matter what I tried, the mirror wouldn’t respond.
I’d wandered the mirror world for nearly half a day, but no hints.
Wasn’t expecting any.
No sudden new exit or timely anomaly clues would appear.
“……Ah.”
Damn, my voice was still reversed.
Even sighing grated on my nerves.
Broken World—did it glitch?
Could bugs happen like in the game?
Absurd. I flopped down in front of the mirror.
Cooling my head like that finally sparked the last method I hadn’t tried.
Break the mirror.
My final resort.
No clue what would happen if it failed, but lying there wouldn’t magically free me.
Deliberation was long; the decision instant.
I drew Deathwise right away.
-Hmm… So noisy from dawn……
Dawn? Half a day’s already passed?
-What nonsense? It’s dawn… This blade only awakens at night—think I’d err on that……?
His voice dripped with sleepiness.
This guy, casually sleeping through this?
I’m trapped in the mirror world—we’re both screwed?
-If thy words be true, no great issue. This space seems fully isolated from outside. Even time’s flow severed. Thus, any time spent here means not a second passes out there.
What a convenient setup.
A room of time and spirit?
Problem remains the same.
Can’t stay here forever.
With normal exit gone, if this last resort fails……
-What hast thou prattled on about? No way out? Use dimensional magic.
……Dimensional magic?
-’Tis but a space in the end. A severed dimension in the mirror—room for dimensional magic, fool. Thou’d clean forgot.
No retort.
I’d completely overlooked using dimensional magic.
As expected of the noble, majestic demon sword—even what I missed, you spot instantly.
I’m thrilled! In awe!
-Praise feels good, but thy attitude’s poor. There’s a limit to groveling. Quiet now—let me sleep, so get thee out.
Tch, complain even when helped.
But grateful for the solution.
Instead of slashing the mirror, I closed my eyes and spread mana around.
First, comprehend the dimension.
Accept the space itself as part of me.
That much was easy.
The mirror world was fully severed from outside.
The mirror passage that should connect was sealed.
Twist that open a crack, and I’d return.
I’d experienced dimensional rifts before.
Recalled the magic circle in Agrit County.
As I twisted the mirror passage to pry it open—
Something alien touched my spread mana.
Moving mana slowly to probe, it was smooth and round.
Not visible to the eye.
Hidden behind the mirror’s dimension.
Twisting it open should reveal it.
I carefully reversed the mirror dimension.
A rift spread in the air, and from beyond the mirror emerged a massive egg reaching my knees.
An egg I’d never seen in the game days.
But instinct told me—this egg was the root of it all.
Heavier than it looked, I pulled the egg from the rift.
Carefully set it before my feet to avoid cracking.
That instant, the reversed dimension’s rift began spreading.
Crack, crack—the world split and crumbled.
“…What?”
Before I could process, I was back in reality.
Along with the massive, unidentified egg far larger than an ostrich egg.