Surviving Among the Entities

Chapter 42 - Experiment Time Without Liability



[“Let’s define how we address each other first. Continuing to call each other ‘me’ will only complicate the conversation flow.”]
“Good point. Alright, from now on I’ll call you ‘Replication’.”
[“And I shall call you ‘Original’.”]

I conversed with the Replication. While I wanted to exchange opinions and discuss various topics, the situation being what it was led our topic to converge on one matter.

[“How can the Original escape from this space?”]
“What about you?”
[“Well, I suppose I’ll have to try helping you escape first? Me escaping alone in this situation would be like a shadow wandering by itself. When you escape, I’ll find out then if I can also escape, or if as a replication I’ll simply vanish once the original is gone.”]

I feel the same way. As expected of a replication, our thoughts aligned.

“We should search this place. Being absorbed into the mirror, I didn’t get a chance to search earlier.”
[“Good idea.”]

We searched the entire room but found nothing.

“The walls do seem thicker compared to how they looked from outside though.”
[“Maybe there’s something hidden inside?”]
“Then there’s no hope. I pounded on them heavily but didn’t leave a scratch.”
[“Oh dear, considering our strength, if our full force attacks couldn’t leave a mark, then conventional methods would be impossible to destroy it with.”]
“I suppose so. And my thought is that the mirror is likely closely related to escaping.”
[“Since passing a trial allows escape from here, and currently the only thing that could constitute a trial is me?”]

The Replication voiced what I was about to say.

“But the mirror’s trial and the method of escape may well be separate issues.”
[“If they were the same, then at this point where I’m not antagonizing you, the means of escape should have become apparent.”]
“Then how can we get out? Let’s experiment.”

First experiment, we attacked the mirror.

“It won’t break.”
[“Not even a scratch.”]

Second experiment, we contemplated the mirror’s meaning and symbolism, then tried blocking it.

“A mirror is an existence that reflects images, a passage showing a symmetrical world identical to reality – if we block this passage?”
[“Let’s try it.”]
“But we need something to coat it with, so I’ll search outside and be right back.”

Searching the building’s interior, I found some paint cans and coated the mirror with them.

“They’re disappearing right away.”
[“Absorbed? No, more like evaporated or it completely nullified the result of having coated something.”]
“So the conclusion is that anything applied to the mirror disappears.”

Third experiment, if coating the mirror didn’t work then physically seal it.

“I tried covering it with cloth but if I look away for even a moment it has already fallen off.”
[“What if you don’t look away?”]
“It vanishes in the instant I blink.”

In the end, the Replication and I reached the same conclusion.

“There’s something about this mirror.”
[“There’s something about this mirror.”]
“We just don’t know what it is.”
[“Ah, wait, I just had a good idea.”]

The Replication rummaged through his pocket and retrieved something.

[“The thought I had when taking out 「Human」earlier – not just me but my belongings were replicated too, right? So I wondered if this was replicated too, and indeed it was here.”]

It was the Golden Ticket. Using the pen he had been carrying, the Replication wrote something on the ticket and showed it to me.

[Please safely evacuate my Original from this place.]

But unlike the previous tickets I had used, the Golden Ticket did not produce any change.

[“Look at this. The ticket changed.”]

The Replication showed me the ticket again. On the previously blank space to write wishes, text I had not seen before was now engraved.

[Warning! Illegal Replication Detected!: This ticket has been detected as an illegal replication. This ticket’s functions will be immediately terminated. If this ticket was not illegally replicated and this is simply an error, please call 000-2345-4-4489-1000.]

[“Illegal replication?”]
“Surprising, was the Golden Ticket also something created by someone?”
[“It couldn’t exist by itself, could it? Well, as an entity I suppose it’s possible.”]
“Then I should use the ticket I have……”

I retrieved the Golden Ticket and pen I always carried, but didn’t immediately write on it.

[“Hmm, hey, Original, what’s wrong?”]

The Replication asked. It seemed he had noticed my inner thoughts.

[“Is there something you want to try?”]
“Yes. I suddenly became curious about something.”
[“Curiosity is the root of humanity and the driving force of growth. What is it?”]

I drew an elevator with my pen on the floor.

“You know elevators? Elevators are generally surrounded by mirrors on three sides, right? If you look into the mirrors facing each other, the mirrors reflect each other creating an endless series of mirrors within.”
[“I see what you want to do.”]
“If a mirror that replicates reflections was placed facing another full-length mirror, and I stood between them, would my reflection within the replicating mirror’s infinite reflections also continually replicate?”

Of course it wouldn’t be truly infinite, a point the Replication pointed out.

[“Usually there’s something called the reflection coefficient, so the reflections eventually end rather than going on infinitely, but this is an entity so who knows.”]
“Then as long as the facing mirrors have 100% reflection, it should work?”
[“You could probably ask the Golden Ticket to create that. But why are you concerned about this?”]

The reason I hesitated over this curiosity was simple.

“I’m worried that infinitely replicating myself might cause problems in the world.”
[“Original, don’t worry. You’re trapped here due to the Foundation’s mistake. Your intellectual curiosity might even overload the mirror and allow you to escape from here.”]
“I was thinking the same.”
[“Then it’s settled.”]

The Replication said exactly what I wanted to hear.

[“In other words, from this point on you are not liable for anything that occurs. It’s all the Foundation’s fault.”]

Hearing those words, I wrote my wish on the Golden Ticket.

[Please summon a mirror with 100% reflection coefficient next to me, including a stand, without it breaking.]

Then the empty space distorted as if a violent vortex had formed, and in the blink of an eye a large full-length mirror appeared.

[“The wishes granted by the Golden Ticket don’t manifest like a god performing miracles, but rather as coincidental phenomena occurring like strokes of luck, don’t they?”]
“This must be the same. A dimensional distortion happened to occur in a world capable of producing 100% reflection mirrors, and this mirror happened to luckily fall before me, sort of like that.”
[“Really convenient. It’s a shame this is the last Golden Ticket though.”]

We positioned the mirrors facing each other.

“Well then……”
[“How intriguing.”]

I inserted myself between them.

[“Oh.”]

And countless reflections formed in the replicating mirror.
An endless array of mirrors bordering on infinite, perhaps truly infinite.

[“It’s working.”]

Within that, more ‘Seung-hoon Lees’ appeared.

[“Ah.”]

The world beyond the mirror began distorting.

[“Seems like an overload occurred.”]

The Replication wore a wry smile.

[“Is it going to explode?”]

‘Ugh, I thought it was going to be runny.’

After using the restroom, Kim Dong-ook washed his hands at the sink.

‘More importantly, I need to rescue Seung-hoon Lee quickly.’

He thoroughly cleaned between his fingers, lathering up with soap.

‘We need the Remaining Monkey’s Paw to fully restore Sephiroth. Only once it’s restored can we foresee and respond to the emergence of world, dimensional, and universal extinction-grade entities.’

The scorched and grotesque appearance of Sephiroth came to mind.

‘I invited that person to revive you, so why did the defense system dimension treat them as a threat?’

Recalling the Foundation scientists’ words that Sephiroth’s damage could be causing errors, Kim Dong-ook finished washing his hands and looked up.

[“Hello there.”]
“!?”
[“Dong-ook, you wash your hands quite thoroughly. An excellent habit. Modern people all neglect the importance of handwashing, but….”]

Seung-hoon Lee’s appearance visible in the mirror.
Like a well-trained Foundation agent, in the short 0.2 seconds Kim Dong-ook drew his gun from the holster and fired.

[“In the modern concept of hygiene, handwashing was a groundbreaking concept that improved human survival rates, so it is a desirable practice.”]

The shattered mirror fragments scattered in all directions.
Through them, Kim Dong-ook witnessed:

[“You think so too? I do as well.”]
[“Haha, of course you’d think that. You are me after all.”]
[“Speaking of which, I never imagined producing so many instances of myself. Is this experiment a great success?”]

[“It’s rather enjoyable. Indeed, experimentation is fun. It’s been a long time since I felt this level of intellectual pleasure.”]

Each shattered mirror shard housed an instance of Seung-hoon Lee.

“!?”

And this phenomenon was not confined to just the restroom.

“Wha, what the! There’s a person in the window!?”
[“Hello there? Wonderful weather today, isn’t it?”]

It was simultaneously occurring at every location in the Foundation with mirrors.

[“Ah, were you in the middle of a game? My apologies for the interruption.”]
“Wha, what is this!? An entity!”

Even on someone’s smartphone screen.

[“Are you driving? Your steering technique is quite impressive.”]
“I can’t see in front!”

On the front windshield of someone’s car.

[“Haha, there sure are a lot of monitors here? Is this the situation room?”]
“Emergency! An entity has breached!”

And on countless monitor screens.
At the sight of the human figures appearing wherever reflections could form without discrimination, the Foundation was taken aback and about to initiate emergency protocols when Sung Yoo-ra stopped them.

“Wait! That’s the person we’ve been searching for! The very one who was kidnapped into the defense system dimension!”
“Huh!? You’re saying this isn’t an entity!?”
“It might not be one…… maybe.”

She looked around.

[“Ah, there are many instances of me here.”] [“Hello everyone.”] [“With so many of me, I wonder if there are any mutants?”] [“The square root law, you see?”] [“Mutations are commonly viewed as negative, but they aren’t necessarily bad.”] [“Without mutations, it would be difficult to adapt to environmental changes.”] [“From a species perspective, mutations are essential to increase survival rates.”] [“Does our existence have any meaning?”] [“It doesn’t, but isn’t it still intriguing that other instances of me exist?”] [“It certainly is quite intriguing.”]

The countless monitors in the situation room, the lenses of the staff’s glasses, smartphones, even shiny fingernails.

[“Ah! Fascinating. My image is reflected even in nails! It seems any highly reflective material is possible!”]

With too many Seung-hoon Lees babbling, it became headache-inducing.

-Ma’am! There’s an anomaly with the emergency passage into the defense system dimension!
“What!? I’m heading there now!”

Receiving the news over radio, Sung Yoo-ra dashed toward somewhere in the Foundation.

[“Sung Yoo-ra, is the place I was trapped the Foundation’s defense system?”]
[“There were quite a few intriguing entities.”]
[“What was the nature of that mirror? Its characteristics?”]

Passing through the Seung-hoon Lees, in the room she arrived special forces had their guns trained on a full-length mirror.

[“It seems this is the exit, Original.”]
[“Is that so? I can see it now.”]

Another mirror forming a pair with the Mirror of Carnage in the defense system dimension.
Within it was the reflection of Seung-hoon Lee, and beyond that yet another Seung-hoon Lee.

[“It seems I will vanish in the end. I can feel it innately.”]
[“What a shame. Opportunities for conversing with oneself are quite rare.”]
[“It can’t be helped. Isn’t that just life?”]
[“I suppose so.”]

The world beyond the mirror became hazily distorted.

[“Farewell, me.”]
[“Goodbye, me.”]

Simultaneously, the mirror shattered and immediately fully connected to the defense system dimension.

“Oh! Can I go out now?”
“Everyone hold your guns…… and stand by.”

Sung Yoo-ra nodded.

“Raise your hands and exit slowly.”
“Yes, I will.”

From beyond the portal of mirror frames, Seung-hoon Lee emerged.

“……”

Countless questions muddied Sung Yoo-ra’s mind.

How did you survive there?
How did you drive off the other entities?
How did you neutralize the Mirror of Carnage, and what phenomenon is this!?

Piercing through the myriad questions, the final question that surfaced:

“Who are you? Could you be an entity?”

He answered.

“I am Seung-hoon Lee.”

With a soft, gentle smile devoid of any animosity.

“And simply an ordinary human.”


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