The infirmary corridor was eerily quiet in the dead of night.
A breeze blew in through a half-open window, causing the emergency curtain by the door to rustle with a soft, eerie scraping sound.
Due to recent paranormal activity, the entire building had been sealed off by the Night Squad, leaving only the bare minimum of lighting, which was so dim that it seemed about to go out.
Rei Kazama had been called in to patrol.
Someone else had reported—
'There are reflections in the mirrors that aren't your own.'
He stood at the infirmary doorway, feeling a strange unease creep into his heart.
Mio had wanted to come along, but the student council president had forced her to stay and organise information.
So tonight, he was alone.
This wasn't a coincidence.
He knew whatever was here was after him.
The door creaked softly as Rei pushed it open.
Only a single nightlight illuminated the infirmary, casting a blurry, waterlogged glow.
The wall behind the medicine cabinets boasted the largest row of mirrored cabinets in the entire academy. Just enough to 'illuminate the entire room'.
Li's footsteps echoed clearly in the empty room.
One step.
Two steps.
Then—
Deep within the mirror, a shadow moved a fraction of a second slower than him.
Li stopped.
He didn't move.
But the figure in the mirror slowly raised his head.
That wasn't his own movement.
The Li in the mirror — Kazama Rei — had no light in his eyes; his pupils were as black as ink.
The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, as if he were smiling.
He was 'looking' at Li.
Li's entire body tensed instantly and the mark of sin began to throb as if igniting.
The figure in the mirror raised a hand and pointed at him.
Then his lips slowly parted.
'You... are not me.'
The tone wasn't accusatory,
but judgement.
The next second, a deep, rumbling sound rose from the ground and came from the mirror.
Thump.
The mirror trembled.
Ripples spread across its surface as if it had been struck.
Li took a step back and the black markings on his forehead appeared instantly.
'Are you an afterimage? Or malice?'
The figure in the mirror slowly turned his head, revealing a smile that seemed to split his face open.
'I am your "sin".'
The words trailed off as if in mockery.
The air pressure around them plummeted.
The curtains in the infirmary were whipped upwards by an invisible wind and the wheels of the trolley began to move of their own accord.
The shadow of 'Li' in the mirror began to twist and elongate as if trying to crawl out.
Li instinctively raised his hand, ready to use his spiritual power to seal the mirror.
But in that instant—
— his sin mark erupted.
The black markings snaked up his arm and the pain was like being burned alive.
'Hiss!'
The figure in the mirror seemed even more excited, laughing maniacally.
'You think you can control me?'
The voice echoed throughout the entire infirmary.
The medicine bottles in the glass cabinet shattered and the glass shards flew everywhere, but then stopped in mid-air as if controlled by some force.
Li gritted his teeth, forcing the Mark of Sin down.
'You are not me. You are just—"
The shadow in the mirror suddenly roared:
"Who are you denying!?"
All the mirrors in the infirmary simultaneously exploded.
They did not shatter, but spilled outwards like water.
A pair of black hands reached out from the mirrors and grabbed Li by the shoulders.
The temperature was so cold it seemed unnatural.
The Sin in the mirror whispered:
'Sooner or later... you will become me.'
The moment Li was dragged into the mirror, the Mark of Sin felt as though it was under attack.
The black markings exploded in his right eye, causing excruciating pain.
His vision seemed to be torn apart.
Then—
The entire mirror cabinet suddenly recoiled violently.
It was as if a more powerful force had intervened to suppress the malevolent thoughts reflected in the mirror.
The hands instantly vaporised, turning into black mist.
The mirror's surface returned to its original smooth state.
The infirmary was completely silent, as if nothing had happened.
Li collapsed to the floor, his chest aching from his heavy breathing.
A faint dark line lingered at the corner of his right eye.
But he had heard it clearly.
The last words from the voice in the mirror —
were not mocking.
It was a tone like a lament.
'He will take you away.'
Suddenly, fast footsteps sounded in the corridor.
It was Mio.
She pushed open the door, her face turning deathly pale. 'Li! What happened to you?"
Li looked up, his breathing unsteady.
'Mio...' he whispered.
'What I saw wasn't just a shadow.'
Mio knelt down and took his hand, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry.
'Tell me... what did you see?'
Li closed his eyes.
The whisper of the Sin in the Mirror still echoed in his mind.
'He will take you away.'
Li opened his eyes, and a fear unlike any he had ever felt before surfaced within them.
'What I saw was my future self.'