Chapter 1

I opened my eyes. All white... WTF is that? Where am I? Adriana thought as she tried to move her limbs. The white substance around her completely stopped her movements, sticking to her body and trapping her.

Ugh, who would've thought I'd end up trapped inside some white sticky thing? The last thing she remembered was having a quarrel with her class's top beauty, Ariana. Like always, she was making comments about Adriana being weird. Honestly, not my fault if I don't enjoy being surrounded by idiots.

Everyone is an idiot. My parents, for working so many different jobs and selling our old house just to live in a small, crammed-up place—all to support my sister's hospital bills. I never liked her. They stopped giving me attention as soon as she came. Isn't that what an idiot would do? They could've just abandoned her.

Ugh, what's the point of thinking about this when I don't even know if I'm alive? Adriana tried once more to break free from whatever substance she was in while recalling how she had ended up here.

Was it that little black eye mask I bought from an old store during my school trip?

She clearly remembered Ariana trying to snatch it from her, calling her a freak for liking such things. Well, she's the boring one. Who doesn't like a female pirate with an eye patch?

Wait, wait, Adri! No thinking about random things—control!!! She forced herself to focus. What was the last thing I remember?

Was it when she was trying to snatch back her mask from that smirking know-it-all, Ariana? Throwing hands at her? Then—some red light flashed, and... she woke up here.

A loose strand of hair fell near her eyes, and as she instinctively moved her hands to brush it away—wait. I can move my hands?!

The white cocoon-like substance around her loosened slightly, giving her some room to breathe.

"Ahahaha!" she let out a shaky laugh. It feels like forever since I last moved my arms. Though the place was still cramped, it was better than before. She nearly cried in relief.

Is this silk? Some kind of web?

Did China succeed in making some monster spider that wraps pretty girls like me up for a feast? she joked to herself. But as she struggled to make sense of the situation, a thought struck her—

"People vanishing after a sudden flash of light…"

She had skimmed an article about it a few days ago. That was real? Not just some clickbait story?

And now, staring at the white cocoon around her—the very thing I mocked in that article… Reality sank in.

The cocoon—or silk?—seemed to be loosening further. Adriana felt something shift. A crack appeared, and blinding light flooded her vision.

Uh… am I about to enter heaven? Or hell?

She dug her nails into the cocoon, desperate to tear it open and escape the sticky prison.

After a struggle—throwing her arms and legs wildly—Adriana finally emerged, collapsing onto the ground, exhausted from being trapped in that cramped space.

"Ah, it feels so good to finally kick my legs in the air!" she gasped, still tangled in strands of the sticky web.

Shivering slightly, she sat up, inspecting herself. The web clung stubbornly to her body, giving her a cold, damp feeling that sent chills down her spine.

Ugh, why won't this stuff come off? she thought, trying to pull the silk away. Some of it stretched from her waist to her legs, wrapping tightly around her right leg like a white, sticky chain.

Jerking her leg and shaking off the web, she grimaced in disgust. Little by little, it peeled away, though remnants still clung to her clothes.

"Hmm, I'm still in my school uniform…" she muttered, glancing around. But the only thing she could see was a vast expanse of gray fog, blocking everything from view.

A creeping sense of panic settled in her chest.

What the hell is this? Am I about to cross the River Styx? A journey to the afterlife?

She chuckled dryly, trying to calm herself.

"Well, I'm alive as far as I know..."

Turning back, she saw the broken cocoon she had come from. Beyond it, four more cocoons hung in the air, all broken—just like hers.

Damn… should I be glad I'm not the only one here?

Well… 'here' being the middle of nowhere…

Adriana concluded that everyone who had mysteriously disappeared must have ended up in this gray fog.

Standing still felt wrong, so she began moving forward.

"Well, it's better to wander than stay put. Not like food is going to magically appear for me," she muttered, stepping deeper into the fog.

"Uh… is this ever going to end? Stuck here alone and dying—that's not really a good plan...*"

Her voice echoed around her as she spoke out loud—partly to hear something, partly to keep herself from losing her mind.

She kept walking, wandering aimlessly until she even forgot where she had come from.

"Should I have just stayed near the cocoon…?"

Then—

THUMP!

A loud boom echoed through the fog, like something heavy falling.

Okay, I really hope I'm not imagining things now.

The gray fog started to shift, swirling around her legs before thinning. It didn't fully disappear, but enough cleared to reveal something ahead.

Adriana's eyes widened.

A majestic hall loomed before her. The ground beneath her feet was smooth, polished black stone.

A grand ceiling towered high above, supported by four massive pillars at each end. Woven lines and mysterious symbols were etched onto their surfaces.

A long, ancient table stood at the center—surrounded by twenty-two seats.

Each chair looked similar, except for one.

At the far end of the table sat a high, majestic black seat. Its presence alone exuded an aura of authority, as if the one who sat there was the master of this place.

The other seats were arranged symmetrically along the table's length. The air carried a strange, heavy emptiness.

Is this… a meeting of gods or something?

"Why is there a meeting hall here?" Adriana murmured suspiciously.

Either I wander again and lose my mind in the fog, or I take a risk and go inside.

She figured it was better to enter and take a look rather than aimlessly wander again.

As she stepped inside, her attention was instantly drawn to something behind the high-backed chair.

An intricate pupil-less eye was engraved above it.

Beneath the carving stood a mirror.

"Huh… is this place ruled by some 'Mirror Master' or something?"

As the thought crossed her mind—

A loud voice boomed.

"How could you have such thoughts?"