My sister was waiting for me in the lobby.

"Did you choose the dresses?" She asked shifting glances between Enzo and me.

I nodded, and took a seat on the couch. My mind was preoccupied with a lot of things and the dresses were the least of my concerns.

"I am going to pay for it, it's my congratulatory gift."

"Thanks," I replied without thinking much.

We left the shop and decided to return home. The shopping trip was aborted halfway because of the incident earlier and my obvious bad mood which cannot be hidden from my very perceptive sister.

The ride home was uneventful, we talked a little about random things in our daily lives and the future.

I am not sure if she noticed my lack of bra or not. But, it was not mentioned once, and I was content with that outcome.

There were a lot of things that needed to be done, but now that I was sure of the fact that I was not hallucinating and this system was as the real deal. Everything else took a backseat. The first order of priority was to learn and understand about whatever case scenario was I was part of and how to make sure that it does not affect my life any longer.

Elena was waiting for us and offered to cook anything of my liking. I politely declined her gracious offer and took an apple and a bottle of juice to my room.

Securing the locks on the door and closing the curtains, I made sure that everything was in place and I would not be interrupted.

I took out an old notebook and a pen and made myself comfortable on the bed. It took me a while to understand how to record voice on the phone but eventually I got there- the recording was on.

It was time to get to the crux of the matter.

I took the mirror covered in the cloth and set it in front of me.

'System' let's talk, one on one.

My heart was about to come out of my throat as I waited in anticipation. Sweat trickled down the sides of my temple as a notification came up.

<>

[This decision is irreversible. Please think carefully.]

Thinking about the pros and cons for a while, I decided that uncovering the secrets of the Mirror was far more important than anything that might happen because of abandoning the tutorial. That being said, I had prepared well enough for unforeseen events.

Yes.

I rubbed my hands in anxiety waiting for something to happen.

A few seconds passed and the mirror in front of me started to shake vigorously. I jumped in fright and for reasons unknown decided to just stop it for shaking anymore by pressing down on it.

The temperature in the room dropped, or maybe it was my fright, but my hairs stood on the end as mist engulfed the room.

The mirror started shining brightly again like it did last night. However, it did not stop but continued shining for a few seconds. I closed my eyes because of the blinding light.

After a while, the lights stopped and I opened my eyes to see a person sitting in front of me.

It took me a moment for my eyes to adjust. When I saw the person in front of me, I almost got a heart attack.

The person in front of me was, me!

The face, the clothes, the body, everything was just as same as me. It was like I was looking into a mirror. Multiple questions flooded my mind as I sat there looking at a person who was just a mirror image of me.

"Who...Who are you?" I asked fearfully.

"Me? I am you." came a cold piercing voice. However, it sounded exactly like me.

"What is going on here? Stop playing jokes and go back to your original form." I thought that it was some sort of supernatural thing playing tricks on me.

"I am you, and you are me. We are the same people. If you are real, then so am I."

Flabbergasted, I tried to touch the other me. Just as I was about to touch the skin, my hands went through it. It was like air, cold, but non-existent.

The shadow laughed and looked at me with an amused expression.

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"I am the you in the mirror oh fool! I am what you tried to repress. I am what you wanted but you never achieved. I am a part of you, and without me, you would not exist, just like without you, I won't."

She said as a matter of fact.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Everything felt something straight out of a horror science fiction movie. I took a peek at my mobile making sure that it was still recording everything.

"Go ahead, check if it is still recording. We can take selfies too if you want."

I was terrified oh how confident of things this other me was.

"Shall we talk or are you going to keep being a scared little girl?"

she asked seriously.

I gulped and nodded. I wanted answers, and If this thing in front of me can give them, then so be it.

The shadow smiled and continued, "You should remember this well since this is the only time we are separated. I don't know when we will get this chance again or what will become of me, after all, I am a physical form of your desires. If your desires change, so will I."

Looking at my confused expression, she continued, "This mirror, I don't know where you got it from, or what it is. What I know, is that I am a part of you, so I won't harm you. I am just a representation of your desires and needs. From what I understand, I was separated from you last night for a moment and I learned about some things.

This place is a mirror copy of our real world. This world exists inside this mirror and there is a fundamental rule governing this world."

She gave me a moment to take all of that information and process it.

"Please continue." I requested of her.

"The Mirror world is governed by the rule that whoever enters this place must realize their deepest rooted desires. These desires might be anything, from getting rich, to getting married. From becoming a celebrity to turning into a detective. Anything is possible because the rules inside the mirror force upon you to achieve them."

"How is making me go on a run, and asking me to take off my bra completing my desires?" I asked.

"I know it and so do you. You wanted to be like your sister. Pretty and confident. Did you not know that you wanted to remove the bra when you first wore the dress? I know that you wanted to remove it, but you decided to hide that desire and that is why the system did it for you."

"Nonsense!" I said, trying to retort to that shameless statement.

"There is no point in pretending because I am also you. I know exactly what you want. Did you not want to be fit and beautiful like your sister? Were you not excited and on the edge the whole time you were braless? We were enjoying every moment of it.

The rules of the system are not evil. If you got a quest, it probably means that deep down, you wanted it."

I stayed silent this time. I was shy, but not dumb. I knew very well the effect those dresses had on me.

"We enjoyed it, didn't we? It was fun when Enzo was measuring us with the tape." The shadow said in a teasing voice.

"Enough!, It's my turn to ask questions," I said trying to stop this embarrassing talk.

"Go, on... Although it won't matter since I only know what you already know. And the things I learned about the mirror just now, will become a part of you too when I return to you."

"If you say that we are the same thing, then why do you know all this, and I don't?" I tried to connect the dots.

"Because I am the mirror. Or in better terms, I am being used by the mirror to explain to you the rules. Ask away all you want."

The first and the most important question in my mind since the morning.

"How do I end all of this?"

"You already know this. Embrace your inner self. Let go of yourself and your inhibitions and enjoy the life to your heart's content without any restrictions. That is what this world is made for. Finishing the main quest-line means that you have embraced yourself completely. At that point, you will have a decision to make."

"A decision?"

"Yes, since this mirror is broken, the spirit inside of it is gone. This world is still being governed by the rules established, but it has no owner. When you do complete the main quest-line, you can either return to the other world or you can choose to become the owner of this one."

This was a lot of information to take in, but I decided to explore the options more. "What happens when I return to the real world?"

"Since I am the spirit of the mirror, and I am using your desires as a body to talk to you, as soon as you leave the mirror world without an owner, it will collapse and cease to exist.

If you choose to become the owner, you will be able to move between the worlds anytime you feel like.

It is too soon to think about these things because not many people can complete the main quest-line. If I was not about to perish, you could have moved to and fro too. Sadly, I won't be able to last long and you are stuck here until you reach the end." said the shadow in front of me.

"I see. So what happens to the spirit of the mirror? I am just on my last legs, and I am using my last bits of energy to convey all this information to you since you are the only one here, I don't have much choice in the department of choosing successors."

"What about the system?"

"The world will exist even without me, the only thing that will be sacrificed will be the gate that connects the worlds; The Mirror.

Anyways, My time is up. Hold on to that mirror, it was your way in, and is also your only way out."

The mist in the room receded and the room returned to the normal stillness.

The only things that were not normal were my rapidly beating heart and the poor confused brain.

<>

[Since the tutorial was ended halfway, the player has been given a rest period till the start of the next weekly quest.]

[The next quest reset happens at 06:00 on Monday.]

[No new quests found.]

I lied down in the bed and covered myself up with the quilt and cried for a while. I never asked for this and being forced to do all this was scary. What was worse that I did not have anyone to share this trauma with.

This world was not a parallel world, but the same world. My family was still the same, and everything looked right. But was it really fine?

Hours passed, and I was finally woken up by my dad who came early and prepared dinner for us. I went to sleep early that night.

The next day was also uneventful. I got a mission to go for a run, which I did. I dare not go against the system. What was even more baffling was the fact that every single quest by the system made me uncomfortable or shy, but I never hated any of it.

I had the whole night to think about it and I did come to terms with myself that I enjoyed every single moment of it. I wanted to look better, I wanted to wear those nice clothes, and I enjoyed the attention I got.

I never knew I would like all those things, since I was just someone whose world belong inside the books, but here we are, at the crossroads. The road I take in the future might lead to a different destination than I had planned, But I was hoping for it to be worth it.

I spent the rest of the day with my family and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner before taking my car and heading back to my apartment in the city.

The university started tomorrow. Also, a new week which meant that the system would be giving out a new quest. I did not know what was waiting for me in the future. But I had decided to take a leap of faith and go along it because If I could not change the scenery, then I might as well enjoy the view in front of me.

*****END OF ARC ONE*****