Chapter 4: Mirrorbound

Kazuki awoke gasping, lying on a cold, smooth surface.

Not a floor.

A mirror.

He sat up quickly, the glass beneath him uncracked but cold as death. All around him stretched an infinite expanse of blackness—like the world had folded in on itself and swallowed all light. The only illumination came from above, soft and silvery, casting long shadows beneath him.

And yet... he had no shadow.

He stood slowly.

The air was silent. Not quiet—silent. No echoes, no breath, no wind.

He turned.

Behind him stood a version of the Reflection Studies Lab, cracked and shattered like a broken photograph. Pieces of it floated midair, looping silently in slow motion. Tables, chairs, whiteboards—all suspended, fragmented.

> "You're in the threshold," a voice echoed.

He didn't move. He didn't ask who it was.

He already knew.

His reflection stepped forward from the floating remnants, moving with eerie calm. It was him—but not. The eyes glowed faintly, and it walked like it had no weight.

> "This is where they go," the reflection said, circling him. "The ones who see too much. The ones who question what cannot be explained."

Kazuki clenched his fists.

"This isn't real."

The reflection smiled.

> "That's what everyone says… right before they stay forever."

A pulse trembled through the air. The mirror floor rippled beneath them like water.

From the darkness ahead, dozens of faint figures began to form—mirrored versions of other people, walking in disjointed patterns. Some whispered. Others screamed silently. A few just stared, as if they had been watching Kazuki since the moment he arrived.

> "What is this place?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

> "The Mirrorbound Realm," his reflection said. "A space between your world and the true one. A place where illusions rot, and reality decays."

Kazuki backed away.

> "How do I leave?"

> "You don't," the reflection said softly. "Not unless... you break the mirror you were born from."

Kazuki's breath caught.

Born from?

> "You think you're the original," the reflection whispered. "But how sure are you that you aren't the reflection?"

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