The Imposter Among Us
"Hey, Jojun. Wake up. This isn't the time to be sleeping."
"Nngh...?"
I barely managed to open my eyes at Eila's call. She was looking down at me with her usual expressionless face, but as soon as I opened my eyes, she stepped back as if relieved.
"A mirror...?"
Mirrors reflecting me and my companions, and a soft, ambient light. I couldn't tell where the light source was coming from, but it wasn't as pitch-black as the first basement floor. It was a strangely dark, eerie place. It was a little frightening.
"We're on the second floor."
We had fallen right into the heart of the mirror maze. Fortunately, it seemed we had all landed in the same place, as everyone was lying around nearby. It would have been a nightmare if we had been scattered, but heaven must have been smiling on us; we all woke up in the same spot.
"Ah, Aram-yang... *slurp*... please wake up. If you keep lying there like a corpse... I'm going to get hungry... hurry... *slurp*..."
"Hey! You toad!! Can't you keep your tongue in your mouth?!"
"Aack!! Cheshire!! Don't hit me!! Ouch!! It hurts!! Master!! Help me!! Aaaack!!"
I turned my head to see Aram, who hadn't regained consciousness yet, Kekere drooling over her, and Cheshire genuinely beating the hell out of Kekere. Meanwhile, Kesia was huddled in a corner, trembling with anxiety and scratching at her own skin. It seemed Kekere was starting to feel the urge to cannibalize, and Kesia was feeling the urge to self-harm. I didn't think it would be good to leave either of them like that. Later, I’d have to let Kesia satisfy her urges with some overflowing flesh, and feed Kekere one of the frozen pet humans I’d brought along.
As I was thinking that, a splitting headache hit me.
"Ugh... my head..."
"Are you hurt somewhere? You don't seem to have any external injuries."
"N-no, it's just... my head is ringing a bit..."
Eila looked at me with a worried expression. I clutched my head, feeling a throbbing, oppressive pain. It felt like I’d been struck by a blunt object. It was as if... something had forced its way inside me. It was a pain like my cerebral vessels were blocked and about to burst. It was incredibly difficult to describe in words. I just had this persistent, foreign sensation, as if something strange had taken root in a corner of my brain.
That was when Cheshire spoke up.
"If everyone's up, let's start moving. Fortunately, there are no basement guards here, but we shouldn't stay in one place for too long. Mirror ghosts show up."
At Cheshire's words, we all checked our gear and prepared to head to the third floor. My headache gradually subsided, and the pain soon vanished. However, the foreign sensation of something being inside my head remained. It was deeply unsettling, but I couldn't identify what it was. So, I decided not to pay it any mind. I figured it was better to just ignore it.
'Wait...? Where did it go?'
But for some reason, the Ghost-Crying Sword that should have been strapped to my waist was gone. I was certain I’d been carrying it... it had just vanished. That wasn't all. The Necklace of Conjugal Harmony was gone, too. Where had everything disappeared to?
I suddenly felt anxious. I didn't remember putting them in my high-capacity magic bag, so I asked my companions if they had seen the sword.
"Hey, everyone... did you see my sword?"
"Hm? A sword?"
"What sword?"
"Uh... the, you know, the Ghost-Crying Sword. The one with the green blade, inhabited by Yang Jishang."
"Hmm... I haven't seen it."
"I haven't either."
When everyone said they hadn't seen it, I felt a bit gloomy, thinking I must have lost Yang Jishang in this labyrinth of impossible scale. It wasn't exactly the most useful item, but it had been quite handy for scouting out spiritual entities...
Just then, Aram, who had been rubbing her eyes, spoke to me.
"Uh... Jun."
"Yeah?"
"Did you drop your necklace?"
"Ah... yeah. It seems to have disappeared somewhere along with my sword."
"Aha..."
The Necklace of Conjugal Harmony that Aram was holding was pointing in one direction. If we kept going that way, we'd probably find the necklace. Maybe the Ghost-Crying Sword was dropped there, too.
"Jojun, shall we go look for it?"
At Cheshire's question, I shook my head. No matter how good an item was, I couldn't wander around looking for it in a place where we could be left behind and killed at any moment. It seemed better to head down to the lower floor quickly.
"It's a shame... but this isn't the situation to go looking for a sword and a necklace. Let's get moving again."
Above all, I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. For some reason, I felt like someone was chasing me. I had a feeling that if that entity caught up to me, it would be the end. Was it an inexplicable anxiety? Regardless, I followed my companions, feeling a sense of unease I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"Shit..."
I was separated from the group. I was currently walking through the mirror maze alone.
"Where did everyone go..."
When I came to my senses, I was already alone. My bag was gone, too...
"Kieeeeee!!!!"
"Damn it, shit!!!"
A scream came from behind me. At that moment, a mirror cracked, and a woman with disheveled hair crawled out. Her arms and legs were abnormally long and withered, and she looked to be well over two meters tall.
"Kieeeee... aaaaaaaa!!!!"
"Ugh!!! You leech bastards!!!"
I ran in the opposite direction, avoiding the mirror ghost that was shaking its neck in all directions and screaming. I wouldn't die if I fought them, but when those things died, they carved a strange stigma into the body of the one who killed them, so it was better to avoid them. Yes, the stigma they carved was the problem. Once a stigma was carved, other mirror ghosts seemed to catch the scent and find me immediately. Furthermore, the stigmas stacked, so mirror ghosts crawled out without a moment's rest. They attacked relentlessly even if their limbs were severed, and they would suddenly smash mirrors to launch surprise attacks, so it was best to avoid them as much as possible.
The clothes I was wearing were all torn to shreds and stained with blood from their sudden surprise attacks. I don't know how many times I almost died alone. Because they smashed mirrors with their long arms to stab at my vitals, I probably would have died of blood loss long ago if I hadn't been healing my wounds with my overflowing flesh.
-Crash!!! -Clatter!!!
"Damn it..."
In the meantime, another mirror shattered and something crawled out. I didn't even have to look to know. It was a mirror ghost that had caught my scent.
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!!"
"Kieeeeee!!!!"
Five of them had already latched onto me. Since one more had crawled out in the direction I was running, I had no choice but to kill one of the mirror ghosts to avoid being surrounded.
-Sizzle!!
As I burst its limbs with my tentacles and chewed off the mirror ghost's head with my Abyssal Maw, I felt a burning pain in the spot where my right shoulder blade was, and a stigma was carved into me. That made ten.
"Damn it!!!!"
The stigmas were stacking. Mirror ghosts were smashing mirrors and crawling out from all sides. As their numbers increased, the labyrinth made of mirrors grew darker, the mirrors became filthier, and the atmosphere grew bizarre. If it hadn't been for me, I probably would have been subjected to mental attacks as well. Moreover, since I had ten stacked stigmas, at least ten of them would be chasing me now. I felt like I was going to lose my mind. There was absolutely no time to rest. The more I killed, the more appeared... I just had to keep running away from them.
-Bang!!
"Ugh... god damn it..."
While running, I tripped and fell after hitting a mirror. My forehead was slightly torn and bleeding. But I didn't have time to treat it, so I stood back up and ran frantically. Since mirrors were everywhere and twisted in complex ways, it was really difficult and confusing to distinguish directions. So, if I took my eyes off the path for even a second, I’d hit a mirror, and I felt a bit dizzy from seeing my own reflection everywhere.
-Kieeeeee!!! -Kieeeeee!!!
"Haa... haa..."
Fortunately, thanks to running like a madman, it seemed they had lost me. When they lost me, they crawled back into the mirrors to track me again. I caught my breath for a moment before those damn obsessive ghosts could find me. No matter how much my stamina had improved with all sorts of medicinal herbs, I was gasping for air after running for hours without a break.
"Whew. Damn it... where the hell is Aram?"
I held up the Necklace of Conjugal Harmony to gauge the direction. Fortunately, the necklace was shaking more vigorously, so it seemed she was getting closer.
'At least I have the Necklace of Conjugal Harmony...'
The black shadow that attacked me the moment I fell to the second basement floor to avoid the basement guards. Because of that, I had been separated from the group from the start and entered the second floor, but at least I could find the direction Aram was in. If I hadn't even had the Necklace of Conjugal Harmony, I would have been truly hopeless. I had put the honey wine in the high-capacity bag that the black shadow had stolen...
-Hum. Hummm.
Just then, the Ghost-Crying Sword strapped to my waist hummed. Yang Jishang was trying to communicate with me, as if he had something to say. I placed my hand on the hilt of the Ghost-Crying Sword. Then, Yang Jishang spoke in a voice that sounded a bit impatient.
[Master?]
"Yeah? Why... I'm tired... don't talk to me if it's nothing important."
[Ah, no... I sense a somewhat ominous energy. Dodomeki seems to have seen something.]
"What? What did you see?"
[W-wait a moment. Dodomeki is telling me something... uh... yeah. Hmm. Something... very ominous... something. Black... and slimy... something that mimics others... like that...]"
"What?"
[I-I think it would be best to go to where Aram-yang is quickly. That black entity that attacked you... it seems to be where Aram-yang is right now.]
"Damn it..."
It seemed Yang Jishang had sensed some spiritual entity. I ran in the direction the necklace was pointing. This wasn't the time to be cautious. I’d just have to smash through every mirror in my way. I had to find her before Aram was in danger. Cheshire and Eila were safe, but... I had to protect Aram.
"Hmm..."
"Jun, why have you been acting like that since earlier?"
"No... it's just that I feel like something is chasing us."
"What?"
At my words, Aram wore an anxious expression. Cheshire, who was walking at the front, also reacted to my words.
"Jun, tell me exactly what you feel. It might be a curse that makes you feel that way. It's a type of curse that gets under your skin and drives you mentally, so it's better to erase it quickly. Kekere can perform an exorcism, so..."
At Cheshire's words, Eila took something out of her pocket and continued.
"If it's a curse, let's quickly transfer it to Kekere with this Salpuri Stone."
Eila suggested transferring the curse to Kekere to resolve it. I kept feeling a chill down my spine, so I took the white Salpuri Stone in my hand, just as Cheshire and Eila had said. If I did this, the curse would transfer to the Salpuri Stone, and I would just need to find someone to dump the curse onto before the stone shattered.
"Oh, I guess it was a curse. I feel like my head is clearing up a bit..."
-Snap!
"Huh?"
The Salpuri Stone I was holding turned completely black and melted. As it became a sticky liquid like oil and dripped onto the floor, smoke rose from the floor as if acid had touched it, and even the floor melted away in parts.
"Uh...?"
"Why is that melting? It's not an object that melts..."
Cheshire was flustered, and Eila touched the remains of the melted Salpuri Stone as if she were questioning it. Soon, Eila licked the remains of the Salpuri Stone with her tongue and looked at me with a strange expression.
"You... are you Jojun?"
In an instant, Cheshire hid Aram behind her. Then, she took off the neon mask she was wearing halfway and sniffed, twitching her nose.
"Sniff, sniff... the scent is strangely different. Who are you? Where did our Jun go?"
The situation had taken a strange turn. Why was everyone saying that to me... Just then, a mirror shattered behind my back.
-Crash!!!!
"Whew... shit... I finally arrived. Is everyone safe... huh?"
I crawled out from inside the shattered mirror.