The girl in the mirror tilted her head. A strand of blood-stained hair fell over her glowing eye. She didn't move like a normal person. Her movements were too smooth, almost like a character in a video game cutscene.
"Who am I?" the reflection laughed. The sound didn't come from the mirror. It echoed inside Crystal's head. "I'm the version of you who didn't die at that rainy bus stop. And where are you? You're in the only place that matters now. Kallidus City. The playground of the forgotten."
"Kallidus…" Crystal whispered. "That's the game. I was playing… The Snatcher… the knife…"
She looked down at her stomach. The stab wound was gone. Instead, she was wearing a clean white dress but it was quickly soaking up blood from somewhere else.
"Correct!" the reflection said with a cruel smile. "You tried to save someone and got stabbed for it. But the System doesn't like wasting people. It saw that you really wanted to live, so it pulled you into the game."
[WARNING: ENEMY NEARBY]
The blue screen suddenly flashed red.
"Oops. Looks like something wants to meet you," the reflection said, her grin growing wider and more dangerous.
Creeeeak.
A stall door slowly opened at the end of the restroom.
Crystal froze.
Under the door, she saw two swollen gray feet with long black nails. Then she heard it, a wet scraping sound. A meat cleaver dragging across the floor.
"That's the Restroom Slasher," the reflection whispered. "Level 1. He's slow and ugly. And he wants to kill you. You have two choices: die here… or grab that pipe on the floor and fight."
Crystal looked at the rusted iron pipe near the sink. Her hands were shaking.
"I can't… I've never hurt anyone…"
"Then you'll die," the reflection said coldly as she began to fade. "But remember—I'm watching. And you're not alone."
Crystal suddenly felt something else.
A cold presence.
The Slasher stepped out fully now. His face looked like it was made of stitched skin. He lifted the huge cleaver above his head.
[BATTLE START: KILL OR BE DELETED]
The Slasher lunged, his massive cleaver whistling through the air with a weight that promised to split the tile floor. Crystal dove, her knees scraping painfully against the grit as she reached for the only weapon she had.
"Do it!" the reflection screamed, her voice breaking into static. "Kill it!"
"No!" Crystal cried, covering her face. "I've never killed anyone!"
"If you don't, you'll die," her own voice answered from the mirror, cold and harsh. "And this time, you won't come back. There's no 'Continue' button in this world."
Crystal's eyes searched wildly for something, an exit, a menu, a miracle. "System! Please! Help me!"
The reflection laughed. It wasn't kind. It wasn't human.
"You're asking the System for help? It doesn't care about you. And neither do I."
"Why?!" Crystal slipped on the wet tiles as the Slasher stepped closer. He smelled like dirty water and old blood. "This is your body, not mine!"
The girl in the mirror leaned closer. Her glowing eyes were calm now.
"Because in this world, the body belongs to whoever survives," she whispered.
Then her image shattered into glowing pieces of light.
"I am just the memory. You are the weapon."
The Slasher roared and swung his cleaver down.
Crystal didn't think.
Her hand grabbed the rusted iron pipe on the floor. It felt heavy and solid—real. As the blade came down, she rolled to the side. The cleaver smashed into the sink, breaking it apart. Pieces of white ceramic exploded into the air.
[HP 95/100 — You took minor damage.]
A sharp sting hit her cheek. She touched it.
Blood.
It was real.
Something inside her changed. The scared student waiting at the bus stop was gone.
Now she was a Player.
With a scream, Crystal rushed forward. She swung the pipe as hard as she could at the monster's knee.
CRACK.
The Slasher's leg bent the wrong way. It made a wet, choking sound and stumbled. Before it could turn, Crystal moved behind it. She climbed onto its back, her white dress turning dark with blood.
She pressed the pipe against its stitched throat.
"You want to see me kill?" she said, breathing hard, her eyes glowing in the dim light. "Then watch."
She braced the pipe against the broken sink for support.
And pulled with all her strength.