Shattering the Mirror Sun
The jangseung bent down to peer at us.
It wasn't a particularly pleasant experience.
Jangseung are auspicious guardian spirits.
They're spiritually significant objects—village markers and protector deities that ward off profane intruders.
But here... it was different.
'A tale tied to the legends of Dangsan Dowon.'
Dangsan Dowon is a T-class anomaly.
Unlike E-class anomalies, which are mere urban legends, T-class ones come with detailed myths and narratives.
That means they have settings.
In Dangsan Dowon's case, it's the creation myth of the underworld.
Long ago, there was a sage of immense virtue.
Back then, there was no place for the dead to go, and the whole world mourned in the souls' despair.
The sage grieved at this and sought to create a resting place for the departed...
'That place became Dangsan Dowon.'
Like any legend, there were ambiguities here.
Specifically, how the sage created Dangsan Dowon.
'One thing's clear.'
The sage shattered the sun.
He brought eternal night to the world and, amid the chaos of darkness, forged his ideal realm: Dangsan Dowon.
"...We've arrived."
Go Joo-im turned to look at me.
Before I knew it, we'd passed through the forest of peering jangseung and reached Rally Point 2: the shaman's house.
The five directional flags fluttered in the wind, emblazoned with the characters for Dangsan.
This was where the sage had performed the ritual to summon the night.
And where we would perform the ritual to shatter the sun.
This new recruit exam wasn't just a simple race.
The company doesn't select talent that way. We'd already suffered through Sisyphus for proof of that.
The company demands more liberal arts knowledge than any other firm.
It values context.
It encourages leaps of logic.
And so... it wants its people to grasp the flow and pierce the core.
The core of this new recruit exam?
Retracing the footsteps of the sage who created Dangsan Dowon—and his adversary—in a ritual ascent.
We entered the shaman's house. It was desolate. Decayed. Just like that "watch three times and die" video.
And... there was the mirror. The one on the altar was as hazy as before.
"Let's prepare the ritual. Who'll perform it? Me? Or Kyung-min-ssi?"
Kyung-min-ssi silently held up his sword sheath. He meant he'd shatter the sun.
...Come to think of it, that made sense. All official Mirae hires excel at hanja.
And Kyung-min-ssi hadn't gone the official route.
Which meant I had to lead the ritual.
"Very well. Then..."
I picked up the hanji scroll of incantations placed before the altar's mirror.
This incantation recorded and praised the sage's deeds.
Or so the company anomaly database stated.
'Religion's always awkward...'
In other words, that was the setting.
'Right. It's just a setting. No reason we can't pull it off.'
I checked the sun's position. A hole in the roof made it easy. Kyung-min-ssi stood precisely in the center, assuming a clean battojutsu stance.
"Beginning now."
I unrolled the scroll.
"In ancient times, the sage walked the earth, when neither the underworld nor the flower-shaded paradise existed, and wandering souls and white ghosts had no place to rest..."
Click— Kyung-min-ssi gripped his sword hilt tightly.
But not yet. I continued reciting the incantation.
"The sage's heart ached with sorrow, so he went to the Star King and pleaded thus."
The Star King was the sage's adversary.
Ruler of the heavens—or so they said. To me, he seemed petty, vile, always scheming.
"O Star King, O Star King, the souls of the earth wander without their places, filling all directions with lamentation—this is the law and will gone astray."
Well, Korean myths are like that, aren't they? Even Indra, the Supreme Deity, or Sakyamuni appear as sleazy characters sometimes.
"—And the Star King replied: 'Sage, do as you will. But grant one request of mine thereafter: when you speak the law, let it be done according to the law.'"
...Whatever.
It was almost time.
"Thus the sage climbed a vast hill, offered sacrifices, and moved heaven itself, which bestowed a sacred object."
The sky was unusually bright.
"It was a mirror, which the sage named the Mirror of All Phenomena."
The sun hung at its zenith.
"This is the origin of Dangsan Dowon."
It peered down at us through the roof's gap.
"The sage reflected all things in the Mirror of All Phenomena, gaining great wisdom."
The Star King's eye.
"He shattered the sun itself, drawing forth Dangsan's light."
It whispered.
Sage, you have returned once more.
Sage, you shatter again.
Sage, once more by your will...
"This is the law of the underworld, the law of the flower-shaded paradise; thus the sage proclaimed:"
It steals my eyes.
...I signaled Kyung-min-ssi with my eyes. Click— The blade sliced through the sunlight, advancing.
The midday sun cast its shadow on the mirror, and the sharp strike pierced its center—a profoundly eerie sight.
Bright light rained down; the Star King's eye reached us, stirring profoundly eerie feelings.
Finally, the blade's tip touched the pupil and sank in...
Night would fall, and the sun would plummet.
"Shatter the sun in the mirror (破鏡日)."
⟨ Shatter the Mirror Sun ⟩
Crash!
...
I looked around.
Dark. As if every particle of air had vanished.
But not total darkness. It was more like black light.
I could see ahead. Distinguish objects. Yes—it wasn't the absence of light. No need to fear, then.
I looked up. The sun had closed its eyes.
Yes. It was an eye. The eye of the Star King, the sage's foe from the legend.
"Success."
Click— In the black light, Go Joo-im sheathed his blade with a dry tone.
After completing the ritual, we headed straight back to Rally Point 1.
It was still a mess. But amid the chaos, there was order—like a neat pile in the disorder.
That was Team Leader Jo and Manager Ham. Assistant Manager Song and Deputy Choi Soo-jung were off on their assignments.
"Oh, you're back? Looks like you succeeded."
Team Leader Jo welcomed us.
Beneath his casual mutter lay maggots.
The exam proctors, bound with cable ties.
"Is it okay to handle them this sloppily?"
"Huh? What? Oh, this? It's fine. These aren't ordinary cable ties."
"...Gudam Technology?"
"...Gudam Technology? What's that?"
Manager Ham grinned.
Gudam Technology or whatever—it seemed to be Manager Ham's pet term.
"You know, tech found in anomalies."
"Ah, uh? Yeah, got it. Something like that. Unconsciousness cables—for capturing hostile groups. The training team's got 'em."
I see.
So that's how it is...
Meaning we'd done to colleagues what we'd do to enemies...
'...This is straight-up industrial espionage stuff.'
Yet somehow, my mind stayed calm even as I thought it.
'I'm getting used to fratricide. I hate this about myself.'
Self-loathing aside.
"Anyway, good work. Once Assistant Manager Song and Deputy Choi wrap up, we're done."
I was trembling with self-loathing when Team Leader Jo pulled out a cigarette pack and spoke.
"Report's coming soon. Time to see some faces. Oh Sung-jin, those 'nameless anomalous group' guys from the three-views video."
Team Leader Jo winked, cigarette between his lips. His expression said, 'That's our story, right? Got it?'
...My specialty.
'...Religion's awkward enough. And this lie.'
I'd never actually witnessed that 'nameless anomalous group.'
I'd just taken the previous loop's 'Oh Sung-jin's' report at face value.
'And Team Leader Jo knows it's a lie.'
Thinking that made my back itch...
'Unsettling.'
But there was nothing I could do.
Not now, with disaster looming.
> [All tails per exam plan subdued. From current situation, all personnel comply with Dream Tiger protocols.]
"Finally."
Team Leader Jo smiled.
My stomach churned, my gut screamed in spasms, but I forced an awkward grin.
In the raucous darkness, the cozy rest.
The beast opened its eyes.
Dark.
All senses dulled.
The timing was off.
It snorted. Blinked. Raked slanted claws against a tree.
Sound.
Sound.
Sound.
None.
No sound across the mountains. Nothing heard. Nothing seen. No scent. Nothing at all.
Petty tricks.
The beast laughed.
That instant, light rose in the pitch black.
Sound—there was sound.
"O Mountain Lord of the Spirit Mountains—!"
Talisman-wearers. Followers. Soul-wraiths.
"The new millennium has dawned—awaken and sing of the end times!"
Ah, it's you.
You've returned to fulfill our ancient pact.
"Thus—call it forth—reveal the apocalypse—!"
Amusing.
Ignorant souls are so sweetly blind.
"Devour the dream and awaken—!"
Thus the sweet dream shattered, and at the flickering end of the fading reverie...
Rooaaar!
The Mountain Lord has arrived.
"This... what... the story... it's all... different!"
Sulfur fires blazed in that crimson maw.
Follower lost in reverie, let your tongue slip.
Come—to where you truly belong.
> [Point 3 here. Confirmed presence of nameless anomalous group. Keywords: new millennium, end times, apocalypse.]
The radio crackled at last.
"...What? New millennium?"
Team Leader Jo's face twisted. Manager Ham exuded an ominous aura.
"Damn it, so that's it? Shit, this is worth the fuss."
Go Joo-im and I exchanged baffled glances.
> [Point 3, isolate all personnel at that point with capture frames immediately. Repeat: Point 3, isolate all personnel at that point with capture frames immediately.]
This wasn't how it went.
My anomaly—the Dream Tiger—had a clear counter: render everyone unconscious, filling the area with silence.
The capture frame was backup. A portable prison for when silence couldn't hold.
Simple trigger: when the op neared failure.
> [Broadcast to all Follow-up Special Duty personnel. Operation now considered failed. Final objective: escape anomaly T-21. Maintain radio silence hereafter.]
Out of nowhere, the op failed before it even started.
And the cause? Clearly the nameless anomalous group's keyword: 'new millennium'.