I was woken up by the knocking on the door. Rubbing my eyes, I took small steps towards the door and unlocked it.
A huge figure appeared before me and I was taken into a hug before I could even utter a word.
“Congratulations sweetie! Dad is so proud of you. I am sorry for coming home late. How about we order something for tonight and I will cook you a nice meal on Sunday?”
Looking up, I found the familiar looking face of my dad, which showed subtle signs of aging, and yet was full of enthusiasm and vigor.
“Thanks dad, was there too much work in the office? You shouldn’t have rushed over since I was planning to stay over the weekend anyway.”
I replied after being released from the hug.
“Nonsense, how can I not come home when you have come after so long. I missed you so much. You don’t even pick up the calls.” he complained.
“Alright, is mom back with you? I am going to freshen up and meet you in the lobby, You can order whatever you like, just make sure to get me a dessert.”
“I will leave you to it.” He turned around and walked off shouting in the distance “Honey, we are having chicken tonight, should we also order some ice-cream.”
A voice came from the lobby scolding my dad “Shut up, Why are you still dreaming about ice creams when you are diabetic. No ice-creams in my house.”
“But it’s a special occasion, it’s going to be worth it” he replied, not willing to lose.
I shook my head and decided to leave these quarreling lovebirds in their world.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I applied some body-lotion, picked up my phone, slid my glasses back on, and headed over to the lobby.
I found my sister lying on the couch, teasing Ruby, our cat. She was wearing a face mask and wearing a light blue tank top and small pink shorts, the kind of shorts that have a small cut up on the sides.
“Hey, join me on the daily skincare routine” She said in an inviting tone.
“No thanks, I just finished my skincare.” I bluntly replied.
Startled, she asked “What kind of skincare is so quick? Is this magic?” obviously, talking to my sister is a chore because of her exaggerated expressions.
“Body-lotion” I struck out a tongue and took a seat on the other couch next to my father, clearly not bothering to reply to any of her pleas.
It was about 23:00, My dad was busy watching football. His grumpy expression a clear indicator that my mom had won today’s battle and there would be no ice-cream today.
He looked at me and took my hands into his and whispered in my ears, “Since your mother will be busy with your sister in the beauty regimen, Let’s sneak out later after dinner for ice-cream.” His eyes glistened with mischief as he planned the whole incognito operation behind mom’s back.
Tak tak tak.
Before I could reply, I heard the rhythmic sound of heels hitting the floor, followed up with the appearance of my mother. A middle-aged woman wearing a knee-length figure-hugging office dress. If my sister was beautiful, then my mother was graceful. Her facial features were pretty similar to ours. It would not be wrong to say that my sister and I took after our mother. She was approaching fifty and the wheel of time made her look more mature and graceful as the years passed.
She had straight long blonde hair, her makeup looks professional, her attire is matched perfectly to any occasion, and she still has time left on her hands to excel at her job. In short, she is perfect.
She believes that women should be beautiful and the men should be chivalrous. My family was blessed with the genes of my mom.
Throwing the phone on the table lightly, She sat down opposite to me, near my sister.
She elegantly crossed her legs and kneaded her forehead.
“If we were going to order food, Why did we not just order food before reaching home? We could even have picked food up before coming home. You said you were going to cook for Leysan today.
It’s okay if we dine late, But at least think about the drivers and the housemaids.”
My father conceded. “My bad, give them some money and tell them to eat out or order some food, whatever they like.”
“I already did that, they left just now. So you are going to pick up the food when the delivery comes over. Don’t bother us girls.”
My dad raised his hands in defeat as he decided not to speak anymore and focus on the football match on the T.V.
I turned to my mom, watching her bask in the glory of victory over my dad.
“Mom! Mom!” My sister used her feet to poke my mom and instantly got a slap back on the leg.
“Ouch. Mom!” She pretended to be in pain as she rolled on the couch.
I could not find any difference between my sister and the football player rolling on the ground. My sister has truly mastered the arts of overacting.
“Stop screaming and go wash your face. Food will be here soon.”
My mother ordered.
“Yes, yes. Mom, by the way, are you free tomorrow? We are going shopping, do you want to join us?” asked my sister with sparkling eyes.
“We?”
“Leysan and I”
My mother turned to me and looked at me with pity, “Are you sure you want to make that horrible decision? I thought you were the smart one.”
“Moommmmm!!” screamed Katya, unwilling to accept the remark.
“I have nothing better to do, and I thought it would be nice to have some fun once in a while. Although, now that you have said it, I am regretting my decision” I smirked.
“A promise is a promise. You can’t back out now. WE. ARE. GOING!”
She said in a coaxing tone as she came over and linked her arms into mine.
“You girls have fun, I have to go back to the office early morning tomorrow. I won’t be able to join you. Here, take my card and buy what you want.” she opened her shiny wallet and handed me her card.
“Thanks.” I smiled.
“What is the job in the university about, I am sure no one at your age makes professor in the University. What is going on?” my mother asked curiously.
“It is a little different, Since I am still doing my residency, I cannot be a professor in the real terms. However, my university is starting to accept foreign students. These people speak in English and most of our senior professors only speak Russian, the dean made interim professors out of those who knew how to speak English properly.
My job involves non-traditional ways of teaching the students. It means that I will act like a home-room teacher to the group of undergrad students and teach them everything.”
I tried to explain the specifics of my job.
“I see… I know you are smart, But is it really okay for a resident to teach undergrad students? I mean you still only have a limited practical experience.”
“Obviously, I am not allowed to teach them practical skills. I am only going to be teaching them the preclinical subjects such as physiology, pharmacology, anatomy, microbiology, history etcetera. I am also going to teach them the theoretical parts of clinical subjects and then take them to the practical classes where they will work under the professors with me assisting them.”
“Sounds like a tough job. Make sure you do your job properly. Teaching others is a very difficult job, and also a very important one. Since those future doctors will be in your care. Don’t mess it up.”
“Yes, I will try my best.”
I do have to mention that in my family, My older sister, Katya took after my father. Both of them are mischievous and super energetic individuals who are equally good when it comes to their work.
I take after my mother, we are both very serious, goal-oriented people. We don’t joke around and can maintain a poker face even in the comedy club.
However, I am different from my mother in the sense that my mother is a model woman. She believes in beauty, propriety, values and wants her children to look beautiful and pristine like her.
My sister has fulfilled her dreams, and I know that I have been a disappointment to her. Nothing can be done though, after all, I don’t care, or at least I have not cared so far.
The bell rang and my father got up to pick the food.
He came back with bags of packed food which he served in the bowls and plates and set them on the dining table.
We got up from the couch and followed him for the family dinner.
“It’s so nice to have dinner like this. We should totally do this all the time.” my sister said grabbing a spoon and digging into the pie.
“We can do that on weekends since my job is a lot easier now,” I replied and took a piece of roasted chicken.
“Leysan, your father and I prepared a gift for you. It is a fascinating object.”
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I glanced up and met his eyes, “What is it?”
Who doesn’t love gifts in this world?
“Well, it came in from the archaeological department and was supposed to be auctioned off to private museums. I thought that since you like collecting things, you might be interested. I just asked them about it, and they said it was a two-way hand mirror excavated from the ruins in Egypt. Since it was not something unique, they agreed to give it to me. Here, it’s in this.” he stretched his hands and handed me a parcel.
I was excited and was about to open the parcel when my mother coughed and asked us to eat dinner before we start making a mess on the table. We could only reluctantly agree.
At this point, I was not interested in the food anymore. We finished eating and since it was almost midnight, everyone decided to head to bed.
I picked up the parcel and happily entered my room, making sure that I had closed the door behind me. I turned on the dim orange lights and closed the curtains. Since I had already slept, I decided to stay up for a while.
I undressed completely and put on the pajamas. Nothing better than letting your girls let loose at night.
Finally, it was time to open the parcel. I put the package on the bed and decided to wash my hands again before opening it.
I went into the bathroom and was acutely reminded of the events that took place here earlier in the afternoon. Since it had been a few hours, I had plenty of time to make up my mind. I had decided that there was a need to bring change into my life as I was enjoying thinking about myself more. The only thing was how? I was too shy to do anything about it.
Still thinking about the things that happened and the things that might happen in the future, I subconsciously opened the parcel.
Amazing how some hormones can take over your body in such a way that you forget to take pleasure in your favorite hobbies. I took the rusty, golden-colored mirror which was more like a big concave glass because you could see the other side. I closed one eye and tried to look through the dirty glass.
Suddenly, there was a bright light in the dimly lit room, the light which was almost blinding to the eyes flashed around for a few seconds and suddenly disappeared. I heard a cracking sound, as the mirror in my hand started to crack.
I suddenly screamed and threw the ancient-looking golden mirror to the edge of the bed.
Taking a few seconds to calm my thumping heart, I got off the bed and slowly crawled over to the edge. Taking a peek at the mirror astounded me because the mirror was no longer transparent and two-sided but a normal reflecting hand mirror with obvious cracks on the surface.
Before I could even fathom what was happening, I could feel the world spinning around me. I was falling on the floor as my body could not muster up any strength.
The only thing that I could hear with the piercing tinnitus were a few incoherent sentences.
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*Thud*
I fainted, as my body collapsed on the soft carpet floor.
After an unknown amount of time, I woke up with a throbbing headache. Unable to muster any energy to sit up, I kept lying on the floor rubbing my forehead and trying to remember what happened.
I could not specify how it happened because while I was opening the parcel, my mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. But, I did remember a few things, there was definitely a blinding light followed up with the mirror cracking.
Yes! The mirror cracked and changed!
But, that’s just dumb. Things like that do not happen in real life.
Anyways, I had to make sure, and the best way to do it was to check the evidences.
Propping myself up from the floor, I checked my body for any bruises or injuries.
There were none.
As usual, a doctor’s instincts kicked in and I called out my name, and the day. My memory was fine since I could recall the events before I fainted.
I sat on the edge of the bed and nervously picked up the ominous gold mirror again. I was shocked as a combination of fear and intrigue washed over me. Flipping the mirror back and forth I realized that it had indeed cracked and changed into a normal one-sided mirror.
What is going on? I was confused with the turn of events.
Unsure of what was going on, I decided to wrap the mirror in a cotton cloth and put it on the nightstand.
Since my head was still throbbing, I decided to wrap myself up in the quilt and go to sleep.
However, how can one sleep in such circumstances? I kept flipping open the cloth to check on the mirror infinite times before I eventually fell asleep.
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I woke up with a ringing sound in my ears. Looking around, I found myself alone in the room which was lit brightly with the early morning sunlight. The hands of the clock made a straight vertical line indicating it was exactly 06:00.
Probably some dream. Weird things are happening since yesterday. I mused.
Since the sun was already up, I decided to finish my morning routine and read a book before I head over for breakfast. Mom and Dad usually leave around 7 so there was plenty of time.
Before I could stand up and make my way into the bathroom, another string of sentences clouded my eyes followed by the ringing of bells.
Just like any normal human being, my first reaction was to rub my eyes and slowly opening them again hoping that what happened was just a misconception. But, reality seemed to disagree quite frequently with me today as I could still see the words.
At this point, my heart was already beating fast, and I was in a mode of panic. Closing my eyes and running towards the bathroom, I splashed my face with water and prayed for this nightmare to end.
Unfortunately, the string of words were still there. However, I noticed how they did not cloud my vision, It was just like a transparent notification box which was always at the same position no matter how I moved my eyes.
Perhaps some kind of lenses. I thought. My brain was running at full power and the sympathetic system in my body was fully activated.
I pulled my eyelids down and moved my face closer to the mirror. There was nothing. Absolutely NOTHING.
Frustrated, I decided to wave my right hand in front of my eyes.
**DING**
This time, I heard an ancient-sounding voice, followed up with some text in front of my eyes.
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(Text)
(Voice)
(Text and Voice)
What is going on? I wiped my face with a towel and headed back to the room. This was getting scary and I have never heard of anything like it before.
I felt my stomach churning as the fear of unknown took root in my heart, sending shivers down my spine.
Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm my galloping heart. Let’s approach this with a calm mind. I thought.
Not sure how it works, I decided to just choose text since I did not know if others could hear the voice or not. Ending up as a research subject at such a young age was not part of my plan.
Hesitating a bit on how things work, I said in a muffled voice, almost like a whisper, “Just text please.”
*DING*
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(Transparent)
(Solid)
(Opaque)
Should I go with transparent? Before I could even answer, I heard the ding again!
*DING*
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(Voice)
(Thought)
(Voice and Thought) [Currently active]
Since I did not plan to be labeled as a mentally ill person yet, I choose ‘Thought’. Obviously, ‘yet’ because considering my current situation, going to a psychiatrist would be the best course of action.
*DING*
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<3…>
<2…>
<1...>
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<< Profile>>
[Name: Leysan Petrovna]
[Age: 24yrs]
[Height: 175 cm]
[Weight: 55 kg]
[Physique: Slim]
[BWH: 90-65-88]
[Hair: Long, waist-length]
[Hair color: Blonde]
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[Confidence: 21]
[Inhibition: 95]
[Attractiveness: 18]
[Exposure: 4]
[Intelligence: 91]
(Remaining parameters locked)
(You can choose a parameter to learn more about it.)
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[Welcome to Tutorial]
[Week: 0]
[Weekly quest locked. Initiating daily quest]
[Daily Quest]
[Mission description: To learn and understand the system]
1. Finish the system configuration: Done
2. Generate player profile: Done
3. Read and understand the system manual: X
Returning to my senses after the massive influx of information inside my head, I gulped down a glass of water.
Multiple incoherent and absurd ideas ran through my mind. What is the system, When did I ever sign up for this? Am I still hallucinating or is this some supernatural effect? Am I really that unattractive, what is up with that evaluation of 18 points?
Anyways, It showed some missions, and I am pretty sure I could understand what it was talking about since I did configure the settings and could see my profile. The next thing remaining on the checklist was to read some kind of manual.
Not sure about how it works, I decided to think about it. After all, it was me who set the settings to ‘thought’.
Open manual
*DING*
I am pretty sure that I had found a newfound hatred towards this ding sound.
[Welcome to the Mirror World. This world as the name says, is a mirror world. However, it does not mean that this is a false world. Everything here exists like it does in the other world. This world exists for the whims and fantasies of the player. As such, whatever the player chooses to do in this world will not affect the other world.
There are different methods to switch back and forth between the two worlds. But, the main criterion is to finish the main quest-line. The quest-line is personalized for every player based on their wishes and deep-rooted desires. A resonating desire with the system is also the primary requirement to enter the mirror world.
If the main quest-line is finished, the player is given the access to freely move between the worlds.
The rules of the system are not explicitly explained and are left for the player to explore and understand on their own.
Some points to remember are.
1. Weekly quests are given to each player. The completion of these quests gives major rewards and progresses the main quest-line.
2. Daily quests are sub-part of the weekly quest and are given every day. Completing the daily quests leads to the completion of a weekly quest.
3. There may be special quests occasionally. They may be mandatory, or optional, however, the rewards are unique.
4. Failing mandatory special quests and daily quests will lead to punishment. Failing weekly quest will lead to punishment, and a significantly harder upcoming week.
5. The player can increase their rewards and playing experience with side quests. These quests do not affect the quest-line, however, rewards might be given out if the side-quest is related to the main quest.
6. A single quest can have multiple missions. A quest can be marked completed if 75% of the missions are completed. There are better rewards for a higher degree of completion.
*DING*
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*DING*
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The following rewards have been deposited.
[Rewards]
1. 500 coins
[Player has unlocked Virtual purse]
[Player has unlocked the Shop]
I was feeling dizzy after all the DINGS inside my head.
As a citizen of modern society, I was very open to new experiences. I was not hit as hard as someone from the ancient era would have, but still, everything felt surreal.
It is hard for an educated person to accept the current circumstances… There were chances that there was something wrong with my brain.
However, I threw the idea that I was delusional and hallucinating because I was still able to make sound judgment. Hallucinating and delusional people are very firm in their belief, so I was in the clear.
That leaves me with a very perplexing and unsettling answer.
What if all of this is real?
*knock knock*
I gasped and covered my mouth in surprise.
“Are you okay Leysan?” same my sister’s concerned voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Come on in”
“Nah, I am going for a run. I just came to say that we will go to the mall in the morning to avoid crowds. Let’s leave around 11:00.” she said and ran off without waiting for my reply.
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[Description: Run 2 km to get a better physique]
[Rewards: Gold +10, unlock stat ‘physique’]
Wait, What!!??