Chapter 14
But it all happened so quickly that no one seemed to have seen it properly.
Sian, who had been wandering near me, looked up in puzzlement.
“Didn’t the mirror just flicker and shake?”
“Did it?”
The reflection in the mirror had already returned to its normal state. Yeniel tilted her head in confusion.
Ah, this wasn’t the time to be distracted by the mirror. If my memory was right, the mid-boss was about to appear.
I had to move things forward.
“Ah, something’s sparkling up there!”
I pointed into the mirror as if I had just noticed it.
There was a key hanging at a height that could barely be reached on tiptoe.
“In the mirror…? You’re right. There’s a key inside.”
Yeniel finally spotted the glittering key inside the mirror and looked shocked.
At that moment, the mirror warped and twisted, revealing the doppelgängers’ true forms.
Twisted, ghastly versions of the five of us appeared in the mirror, grinning menacingly.
“Uwaaaah!”
Max, meeting their gaze, screamed and fell over.
The five figures in the mirror simultaneously drew their swords. And then, slowly, slowly, they approached.
Clang.
The key suddenly popped out of the mirror and fell to the floor with a clear ringing sound.
‘Pick it up right in front of the mirror? Are you insane?’
Still, I forced myself to act innocent and reached toward it. If anyone else picked up that key, the outcome was obvious.
Whoosh—!
At the sound of something slicing through the air, the Crown Prince shouted.
“Lady April! Watch out!”
A sharp blade brushed past just above my head. Exactly where I expected.
I pretended to be completely focused on the key.
Then, with extreme concentration, I timed the dodges—appearing as though it was just luck.
Finally, I picked up the key and stood up, looking puzzled.
“…Huh?”
The attack pattern was faster and less predictable than in the game; no one else could have avoided it.
“Why April?”
“No time to explain! Get away from the mirror!” Sian yelled.
I tilted my head as if confused and slowly backed away.
Yeniel grabbed my sleeve and yanked me further from the mirror.
The doppelgängers began to emerge from beyond the surface, their blades crossing the threshold as the lights flickered blood-red.
They grinned with grotesque mouths that promised they’d be here soon.
‘You won’t make it this far.’
Because they weren’t the mid-boss.
No—the mid-boss was about to appear.
A heavy thud resounded within the mirror.
A massive greatsword suddenly came flying, shredding the doppelgängers apart before embedding itself into the mirror’s surface.
It felt disturbingly like I had just been murdered inside the mirror.
And then it appeared.
A monstrous figure—three meters tall, with the head of a goat, muscles rippling, and a blood-red eye embedded in its chest.
‘That’s not a cultist… that’s the demon itself.’
Even more horrifying, the creature tore off its own head—black blood dripping—and replaced it with the faceless head of Max’s doppelgänger.
“Th-that’s my head!” Max shrieked.
The demon swung its greatsword, smashing everything, until its faceless head turned, guided only by the crimson eye on its chest, toward us.
“Run! Everyone!” Yeniel shouted.
We bolted.
Behind us, a thunderous crash—mirror shards exploding—marked the monster’s pursuit.
“Lady April! Show me the key you picked up!”
I held it out.
“Room 3! 203! This way!” Yeniel shouted.
We sprinted down the corridor, the demon’s grotesque body unnaturally stitched with mirror fractures lumbering after us.
At Room 203, I shoved the key into the lock.
Sian guarded the Crown Prince with spirits, while Yeniel hurriedly twisted the key.
But the lock resisted, clattering stubbornly under her trembling hands.
I covered her hand with mine.
“Lady Yeniel. It’s okay.”
She glanced down at our overlapping hands, then back at the door. Together, we turned the key.
Click.
The door opened.
[Yeniel’s suspicion has increased. Suspicion Level has risen.]
[Total Suspicion: 12%.]
‘Why…?’
Until now, it was always 5% at most, maybe 10%. Suspicion was supposed to rise collectively, when multiple people doubted me.
But this time, it spiked straight to 15%—from Yeniel alone.
And I had no idea what mistake I made.
‘What did I do wrong?’
