Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: No Liability Experiment Time
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"Let's settle on how to address each other first. Calling each other 'me' all the time is just going to complicate the conversation."
"That's a good idea. Alright, from now on, I'll call you 'Clone.'"
"And I've got mine: 'Original.'"
I conversed with the Clone. I wanted to exchange opinions on various topics and have a debate, but given the situation, our discussion boiled down to one thing.
"How can the Original escape this space?"
"And you?"
"Well, we'll know once you get out, right? Escaping alone right now would be like a shadow wandering by itself. When you escape, either I'll come with you, or as your clone, I'll vanish when the Original disappears. We'll find out then."
I thought the same. Fittingly clone-like, our minds were in sync.
"We need to search this place. I was too fixated on the mirror to bother before."
"Good idea."
We searched the entire room, but found nothing.
"Unlike how it looked from outside, the walls seem thicker."
"Maybe something's hidden inside?"
"Then we're out of luck. I pounded on them hard, but no cracks."
"Considering our strength, if full-power attacks don't even scratch them, it means normal force can't destroy them."
"Probably. And I still think the mirror is key to escaping."
"You can leave after passing the trial, but right now, the only trial-like thing is me?"
The Clone voiced exactly what I wanted to say.
"But the mirror's trial and the escape method are probably separate issues."
"If they were the same, we'd have seen an escape route by now, since I'm not hostile to you."
"So how do we get out? Let's experiment."
First experiment: Attack the mirror.
"It won't break."
"Not even a scratch."
Second experiment: Recall the meaning and symbolism of the mirror and try blocking it.
"A mirror reflects images and shows a symmetrical world identical to reality—a passageway. What if we block that passage?"
"Let's try."
"We need something to paint it with. I'll search outside for stuff."
Searching the outer building's interior, I found several cans of paint and coated the mirror with them.
"It wipes off right away."
"Absorbed? No, evaporated—or it just erased any trace of being painted."
"Conclusion: Anything we put on the mirror disappears."
Third: If painting won't block it, physically seal the mirror.
"I wrapped cloth around it, but it falls off the moment I look away."
"What if you don't look away?"
"It vanishes in the instant I blink."
In the end, the Clone and I reached one conclusion.
"There's something in the mirror."
"There's something in the mirror."
"We just don't know what."
"Ah, hold on—a great idea just hit me."
The Clone rummaged in his pocket and pulled something out.
"The thought I had when I took out 'Human' earlier: Not just me, but my possessions got cloned too? Sure enough, this is here."
It was the golden ticket. The Clone took out the pen he carried and wrote something on it, then showed it to me.
[Please safely get my original out of this place.]
But unlike previous tickets, the golden ticket caused no change.
"See? The ticket changed."
The Clone showed it again. The blank space for wishes now bore new text that hadn't been there before.
[Illegal clone detected! This ticket has detected it was created via illegal cloning. All functions of this ticket are immediately suspended. If this ticket was not created illegally, it may be a simple error—please call 000-2345-4-4489-1000 in that case.]
"Illegal clone, huh."
"Amazing. So even the golden ticket was made by someone?"
"I'd love to say tickets don't just exist on their own, but with entities, who knows."
"Then I need to use my ticket..."
I pulled out the golden ticket and the pen I always carried. But I didn't write right away.
"Hmm, hey Original, what's up?"
The Clone asked. He'd noticed my hesitation.
"Got something you want to try?"
"Yeah. A sudden curiosity popped up."
"Curiosity is the root of humanity and the drive for growth. What is it?"
With the pen, I drew an elevator on the floor.
"You know elevators? They're usually surrounded by mirrors on three sides. If you look into the facing mirrors, they reflect each other infinitely, creating endless mirrors inside."
"I get what you want to do."
"If we make this cloning mirror face another full-length mirror, and stand between them, will the infinite reflections inside the cloning mirror keep producing copies of me?"
Of course, it wouldn't truly be infinite. The Clone pointed that out.
"Normally, reflectivity means images fade eventually, but this is an entity—who knows."
"So as long as the facing mirror has 100% reflectivity?"
"Think the golden ticket can make one? But why hesitate over that?"
My reason for holding back was simple.
"What if infinite copies of me cause problems in the world?"
"Original, don't worry. You're trapped here due to the Foundation's screw-up. Your intellectual curiosity might overload the mirror and get us out."
"I think so too."
"Then that's settled."
The Clone said exactly what I wanted to hear.
"To put it bluntly, you bear no liability for anything from now on. It's all the Foundation's fault."
Hearing that, I wrote my wish on the golden ticket.
[Summon a 100% reflectivity mirror next to me, indestructible, including a stand.]
Empty air warped like a violent vortex and, in a blink, a massive full-length mirror appeared.
"Isn't the golden ticket's wish like a miracle from God? More like lucky coincidences happening naturally?"
"Probably this too. A dimensional warp happened to produce a 100% reflectivity mirror, and it luckily dropped right here."
"So convenient. Too bad this is the last golden ticket."
We positioned the mirrors facing each other.
"Alright, then..."
"Exciting."
I squeezed between them.
"Oh."
Countless images formed in the cloning mirror.
An endless row of mirrors, near-infinite—maybe truly infinite.
"It's working."
More 'Lee Seung-hoons' appeared within.
"Ah."
The world beyond the mirror began to distort.
"Overload, maybe."
The Clone gave a wry smile.
"It's gonna blow."
＊＊＊
'Ugh, thought I was gonna shit myself.'
Kim Dong-wook washed his hands at the sink after using the bathroom.
'More importantly, we need to rescue Lee Seung-hoon ASAP.'
He meticulously cleaned between his fingers, lathering soap.
'With the last remaining Monkey's Paw, we can fully restore the Sephirot. Only then can we predict and counter world-class, dimensional, cosmic extinction entities.'
The image of the scorched, hideous Sephirot came to mind.
'We invited that guy to revive you all, so why shove him into the defense system dimension?'
Recalling the Foundation scientists' warnings that Sephirot's damage could cause errors, Kim Dong-wook finished washing and looked up.
"!?"
Lee Seung-hoon's face in the mirror.
True to his Foundation agent training, in 0.2 seconds, Kim Dong-wook drew and fired from his holster.
The mirror shattered into scattering shards.
Amid them, Kim Dong-wook saw.
A Lee Seung-hoon in each broken shard.
"!?"
And this wasn't just in the bathroom.
"What, what is it!? A person in the window!?"
It happened simultaneously everywhere mirrors existed in the Foundation.
"What is it!? An entity!"
Even on someone's smartphone screen.
"Can't see ahead!"
On someone's car windshield.
"Emergency! Entity intrusion!"
On countless monitor screens too.
Wherever reflections could appear, human figures manifested, startling the Foundation into activating emergency protocols—until Sung Yu-ra stopped them.
"Hold on! That's the guy we've been looking for! The one kidnapped into the defense system dimension!"
"What!? That's not an entity!?"
"Probably not..."
She looked around.
Situation room monitors, glasses lenses on staff, smartphones—even shiny nails.
Too many Lee Seung-hoons chattering gave headaches.
-Manager! Anomaly in the emergency passage to the defense system dimension!
"What!? On my way!"
Sung Yu-ra bolted somewhere in the Foundation upon hearing via radio.
Pushing through Lee Seung-hoons, she reached a room where special forces aimed rifles at a full-length mirror.
Another mirror paired with the malice mirror in the defense system dimension.
Lee Seung-hoon reflected inside, and another beyond.
The world beyond warped turbidly.
Simultaneously, the mirror shattered, fully connecting to the defense system dimension.
"Ah! Can I come out?"
"Everyone, lower weapons... and stand by."
Sung Yu-ra nodded.
"Hands up, come out slowly."
"Yes, ma'am."
Lee Seung-hoon stepped through the aerial passage framed by the mirror's edge.
"..."
Countless questions flooded Sung Yu-ra's mind.
How did you survive there?
How'd you shake the other entities?
How'd you break the malice mirror—what even is this phenomenon!?
One question rose above all.
"Who are you? An entity?"
He answered.
"I'm Lee Seung-hoon."
With a soft smile, devoid of hostility.
"And just an ordinary human."