Millet jumped up—gasping.
His body flinched like it had been pulled from the jaws of death.
His breath came in sharp, panicked gulps.
The world was spinning. But it wasn't snow. It wasn't cold. It wasn't that mountain range.
It was… his room.
Familiar walls.
Dim light.
The sound of the city humming faintly in the background.
For a moment, he thought it was a dream.
But the moment he looked down—he knew.
It wasn't.
The sheets at the foot of his bed were soaked.
Soaked in snow. Now melting into a puddle around his legs.
And his clothes—
Blood.
Dried, rust-colored blood, crusted across his torn shirt and stained into his skin.
Millet's heart sank.
It had been real.
All of it.
The creature.
The mountain.
The tunnel.
The avalanche.
Real.
He tried to move.
His legs gave out immediately.
Pain shot through his body, white-hot and unforgiving. Like knives slicing through his muscles.
His knees hit the floor.
Hard.
He lay there, chest rising and falling, face against the cold tiles.
His body was broken. Or close enough.
But that wasn't what made him tremble.
It was the questions.
Where was that place?
What was that creature — the Kang?
And then—
What happened to me?
His mind flashed back.
The runes.
The screen.
The words etched in a language he had never seen — but somehow understood.
He had tried to forget about it in the chaos.
But now…
There was no more running.
"System," he muttered.
Nothing.
"Status."
Ping.
The screen appeared.
Same as before.
Hovering in the air in front of him, glowing with that soft, unnatural light.
[NAME: MILLET / ???]
[ATTRIBUTE: MIRRORSPAWN / ???]
[AFFINITY: MIRROR / TIME]
[RANK: AWAKENED (BLACK CORE: 100 / 1000)]
His eyes narrowed.
It was the same.
But something had changed.
The number.
100/1000.
"…What is that?" he whispered.
Points?
A level bar?
Was it… experience?
He stared at the number.
Did killing that thing give me 100 points?
His hands trembled.
Is this like a game?
Do I have to kill to grow?
It didn't make sense.
But it also made too much sense.
And that terrified him.
He turned his attention to the name.
Millet / ???
The question mark burned in his mind.
Why was it there?
Was it hiding something?
Or did it mean something was missing?
"…Is it because I don't know my past?" he whispered.
Does this system… know I'm not from this world?
The thought made him shiver.
Not from cold.
From something deeper.
Like being watched.
He looked back at the attributes.
MirrorSpawn.
The word meant nothing.
But maybe…
Maybe there was something beneath it.
He reached out.
Focused on it.
Another screen appeared.
[MIRRORSPAWN: Born of reflections. The reflections are your helpers.]
That was it.
No numbers.
No explanation.
Just that.
"…Reflections?"
He looked around the room.
There was a mirror on the wall.
Just a cheap one.
He stared at it.
The face staring back at him looked… tired. Hollow. Eyes sunken. Skin pale.
That was him now.
Was that the reflection it meant?
Helpers?
He didn't feel helped.
Not up on that mountain.
Not when the creature was tearing through ice and stone to kill him.
Not when he was throwing rocks and running for his life.
Still—
The screen didn't lie.
Or maybe it did.
He didn't know.
He had more questions than answers.
And there was still one more attribute.
The second one.
The one with ???
He stared at it.
Focused.
Another screen opened.
But this time—
Nothing.
[???]
No information available.
Just that.
A dead end.
Millet exhaled.
Long.
Frustrated.
But not surprised.
Whatever this system was… it was giving him crumbs.
Nothing more.
But the fact that it existed?
That he could summon it?
That he had a core now?
Awakened.
He touched his chest.
No change.
No energy. No glow.
But his body…
His strength back on that mountain.
His speed.
Even the way he'd lifted that boulder…
That wasn't normal.
That wasn't him.
Not before.
So something had changed.
Whether he liked it or not — he had stepped into something real.
And if he was right…
If that number really meant what he thought it did…
Then this was just the beginning.
He closed his eyes.
Exhaustion took over.