Chapter 602
The hand that shot out of the mirror pulled Carlos’s body in, as if trying to drown him by dragging him into the depths of the reflection.
And so, Carlos was slowly pulled closer.
Towards the wall.
Towards the mirror.
Finally, his body touched the mirror.
The surface shimmered as if it were a clear lake, rippling around Carlos, and he began sinking further into the mirror’s depths.
The mirror flowed like a lake of mercury, starting to engulf Carlos. As he flailed to escape, the waves barely reacted.
The mirror consumed him slowly and heavily, like a swamp.
“….”
“….”
“….”
And there stood his companions.
No, those who imitated companions.
Their once warm and familiar expressions were gone, replaced by an emotionless, mechanical gaze fixed on Carlos. Their eyes lacked focus or shine, and their expressions were reminiscent of well-crafted masks, invoking an eerie sense of the uncanny valley.
Stiff like mannequins, they observed him with mouths tightly shut, oozing an artificial quality.
“….”
“….”
“….”
They wished for him.
For Carlos to plunge into that mirror.
And for that mirror to spit out a ‘Carlos’ just like them.
“Ugh! Uh-ugh!”
Splash.
Waves of mercury.
The waves of a scream that wouldn’t escape.
Eyes wide in desperation, the drowning man fought fiercely as he could.
Veins bulged in his eyes, pressure built on his forehead.
His eyeballs seemed ready to pop out, his face reddening as if it would burst.
Yet still, he could not resist.
The swamp was terrifyingly so.
Once you began to sink, no matter how desperately you struggled, escape was not so simple.
And with countless hands pulling him down to the bottom of the swamp, how could he fight back?
“Ugh… ugh… ack….”
Thus, Carlos was swallowed by the mirror.
Leaving behind rippling waves.
After a brief moment, those waves quickly calmed down into gentle ripples, which soon disappeared, returning the mirror to its ordinary form.
The mirror now reflected the scene of a bathroom as it always did, yet curiously, the image in the mirror differed from reality.
In reality, his companions were all present.
So, the reflection should have mirrored that very scene.
Curiously, within the mirror, countless agents were trapped.
Unlike those who existed outside, the vibrant agents radiated a sense of authenticity, confidently claiming that the ones outside were fake while their spirits shrouded in a smothering atmosphere felt trapped in the broken, isolated space, their endless screams unheard.
Were they begging for help?
Were they shouting to be set free?
One could guess by reading their lips…
Unfortunately, no one was left to make such guesses anymore.
The last agent had also been dragged into the mirror.
Now caught in this shattered, confining prison.
Gurgle.
At last, a verdict was rendered.
The despair witnessed by agents caught in captivity.
A phenomenon that instilled shock and fear just by being seen.
The surface of the mirror rippled.
Along the boundary between reality and illusion, the separation wavered, creating a gap. It was a heavy, viscous liquid, flowing neither freely nor splashing, transforming the standing wall into a morass, creating waves.
And those waves took the shape of a person.
Splash.
With a single surge, an arm emerged.
Splash.
Once more, with a surge, a leg emerged.
Splash.
The sound of splashing waves.
With that sound, parts of a body gradually began surfacing, as if reversing the drowning of a person, starting to emerge from the mirror. Thus, half a body slipped out, then most of the body did…
At long last, a person fully emerged from the mirror and stood straight.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Carlos.
The one who had been swallowed by the mirror had re-appeared in reality.
Yet his expression was so blank it felt almost alien.
As if witnessing a wax figure possessed by a ghost.
Thus, that which burst forth from the mirror could hardly be called human.
“…Hmm.”
But even if it didn’t look quite human, it knew how to mimic one.
Crackle—
“William(W) speaks from the hotel(H). William(W) speaks from the hotel(H). Able Baker(AB) with Skinwalker K-B has been reported absent. I will continue drinking whiskey(W).”
Thus, he sends a transmission stating that despite monitoring ‘Skinwalker K-B,’ he found nothing strange.
There are no issues and the mission is proceeding smoothly.
So, this is how he sends his transmission….
Crackle—
[ Roger. ]
* * *
Infection is truly insidious.
And when it infects many, it becomes even more virulent, occurring as a part of everyday life.
Parasites, diseases, poisons…
All of these begin to spread around the host, and as the host increases, so too does the rate of proliferation.
Just like now.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Gurgle.
This vile act occurs every time another agent enters the room.
The agents naturally succumb to the swamp disguised as a mirror.
That swamp is in the bathroom, and anyone who visits it alone must fall prey.
Due to Jinseong’s magic, an urge to relieve oneself compels agents to the bathroom, leading them to be ‘replaced.’
With light encouragement from their companions, an agent who went to the bathroom is ‘replaced.’
The last remaining agent was either pranked by ‘companions’ or forcibly seized and taken to the bathroom to be ‘replaced.’
Replaced.
Replaced.
Replaced.
A person gets swapped out.
Sinking into the mirror, they emerge from it.
The real person is trapped inside the mirror, and an imitation replaces them outside.
As if the inside and outside of the mirror have been switched.
As if the reflections in the mirror are trading places with the actual people.
Thus, one by one, people change, and the numbers steadily increase.
And finally, when that number surpasses a critical point.
“….”
“….”
“….”
They begin to act more proactively to capitalize on their numerical advantage.
They feign friendliness, imitate humans, pretend to be the hosts whose identities they replaced as they approach representatives of the organization. They forcibly subdue the targets using the power of overwhelming numbers, dragging them to the bathroom, starting to push them into the mirror attached to the wall.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Hands emerge from the mirror, covering mouths.
Countless arms slip out like tentacles, wrapping around and restraining them.
The fakes push the person inside the mirror.
Gurgle.
Thus, one goes.
Gurgle.
And another goes.
Gurgle.
And yet another…
Gradually increasing.
Gradually.
Gradually…
…
…
…
As the last remaining individuals are counted down, one, two, three, four…
Three, two, one.
One.
Two.
…One.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Countless silences.
Countless expressionless faces.
Countless gazes.
When only one person remains, ‘they’ no longer hide.
They simply approached the last remaining one with expressionless faces.
Filling the hallway, crowding the doorway, blocking the windows.
Creating a pen of humans, crafting a prison, preventing any escape.
“Oh, God.”
The sight of those once being comrades surrounding him was enough to invoke the name of the divine.
So despairing and terrifying was the scene.
Caught in a sudden catastrophe, the last survivor could only scream out the name of God.
But this lament was brief.
Thrust.
They drew closer.
They stretched countless hands to grab him.
Restraining his arms and legs, silencing his mouth.
Crowding him so tightly that he couldn’t resist, they dragged him to the bathroom just like that and pressed his head against the sink reflecting the mirror.
Gurgle.
They pushed him in.
Gurgle.
Just like welcoming the last victim, hands reached out.
Numerous pieces of seaweed shaped like hands swayed and danced, revealing themselves outside, wrapping around the limbs of the unwitting intruder, wrapping tightly around him with malicious intent, pulling him in.
It was as if witnessing an enormous entity swallowing prey whole or like a snake disguised as a mirror devouring a person.
Thus, the last survivor disappears.
Gurgle.
And after a brief moment, the last survivor shows up outside.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Thus everything returns to normal.
All outside are the same.
They were companions, the same beings.
There was a bond among them.
“Hmm.”
This place was peaceful.
The hotel was safe.
“Let’s go to the Temporary Command Center.”
“Sure.”
Perhaps elsewhere too.
