There were a total of four items in Will’s inventory: his dagger, the spiked chain, a set of six paralyzing throwing knives—all stacked in one slot—and a mirror fragment. From what he had managed to establish in the previous loop, it hadn’t made him a keyholder. Looking closely at it, it didn’t have the same information Helen’s did, either. There was no mention of the tutorial and only a partially explored map.
Tapping on the other mirrors in the bathroom in order, Will pressed the fragment against their surfaces. All the hints were instantly copied within.
At least that functionality was the same. It also seemed to have a number of additional options, most of which were locked with the explanation that completing the tutorial was required. Of those that were enabled, Will found what he could describe as a character section. There, he could see his name, current class, and obtained skills, including the permanent one. It was also of note that the inventory provided a slightly more detailed description of the items in his possession.
Taking a deep breath, the boy put the fragment away, then stared at the rogue mirror.
“Danny, I challenge you,” he whispered.
CLASS DUPLICATION!
Only one rogue can be present.
Freezing eternity.
Time froze still as the pair of red messages emerged in the mirror. Soon they were gone, replaced by Daniel. The boy looked identical to last time, all the way to the wrinkles on his clothes.
“You actually did it,” he said with a mixture of surprise and appreciation.
“I didn’t get to keep your knives,” Will said.
“It’s too early for you to be greedy. I helped, isn’t that enough?”
“You didn’t tell me about the mirrors trying to kill me. I could have died.”
“You’d have been fine. The fragment would still have gone to you. Probably the loot drops as well.” Daniel didn’t appear in the least concerned. “You have it. That’s all that’s important.”
Arguably it was. The mirror fragment was the most powerful item eternity let someone keep by far. That made Will all the more suspicious that Daniel had let him have it.
“What is it exactly?” he asked.
“Starting with the questions already?” the other smirked. “Fair enough. It’s…” he paused for a moment, searching for the right words to phrase it. “Think of it as a mobile phone. Contains lots of useful apps and lets you photo mirrors.”
“Photo mirrors?”
“The thing you did just now. Pro tip. It’ll be a lot faster if you copy everything from Helen’s fragment.”
The explanation could have been better, though it still conveyed the necessary information. Asking how to unlock all of its functionality was the logical question, but not the most pertinent one. There was a far more important topic Will needed answers on.
“How did you die?”
All the cocky amusement on Daniel’s face abruptly vanished.
“Things happen.” He looked away. “And it’s not exactly death. I’m still part of eternity.”
Just not for the rest of the world, Will wanted to add.
“Let’s focus on things moving forward. One more room and you get to face the tutorial boss. As long as Jace doesn’t mess things up, you should be fine.”
“So much for answering questions.” Will shook his head.
“Fuck you,” a glint of anger emerged on the former rogue’s face. “You think you know how things work? You’ve seen nothing.”
“How do you know?” Will clenched his fists. “It takes four to start the tutorial. Either you’re lying and you had a full group before, or you don’t know anything about it. Which is it?”
Mentally, Will prepared himself. Although things had been amicable so far, this remained a challenge, and he had seen the speed and precision with which Danny could throw daggers at things he didn’t like. To his surprise, no such thing happened. His dead classmate looked him over from head to toe, then leaned on the right side of the mirror, as if there were an invisible wall there.
“You really don’t get it,” he said in a low voice. “I’m trying to help you. You’re right, though.” He looked Will straight in the eyes. “I didn’t know what happened in the tutorial until your party started. Still, I know what follows.” He paused. “It can be skipped. I made that mistake and plunged into a world I wasn’t prepared for. That’s how I died.”
Chills went down Will’s spine.
“Helen told me you took her to the subway. What were you searching for?”
“A way out. What else? I was too lucky too soon. We’d leveled up to the max, only to see it was not enough. You are making progress.” The boy let out a sad laugh. “That’s what eternity says when you reach a waypoint. But it’s not a single path. I can’t even remember when I joined eternity, and in all that time, I never knew you got to loot weapons.”
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“Come on. I saw you.”
“Random rewards. You usually get a permanent every few hundred goes. The really good ones occur once in ten thousand.” He reached into his back pocket, revealing a throwing knife. “Knives of affliction. I thought it was the most overpowered item in existence back then. Now, it’s only slightly better than what you got.” His eyes narrowed into a frown. “From the tutorial.”
The resentment was understandable. No wonder the boy had trouble. The phrase bringing a knife to a gunfight came to mind. There was no telling whether there were actual projectile weapons, but even if that wasn’t the case, a single set of knives wouldn’t cut it against enemies in full gear.
“I’ll tell you this much. The only reason the four of you are alive is because you’re still under eternity’s protection. Soon, you won’t be. If you don’t want to go through an endless cycle of deaths, you need to finish the tutorial fast and gear up as quickly as possible.”
Memories of the archer flashed through Will’s mind. After everything said so far, facing such an enemy was outright suicide. The person must have already completed the tutorial, obtained his class weapons, and more.
“What do you need me to do?” Will asked.
“You’ve already done it.” The other put the knife away. “You have the fragment. Just place it onto the mirror and get me out of here.”
“That’ll work?”
“It won’t bring me back to life, but at least I won't be stuck here.”
Will didn’t like the sound of that.
“Think of me as your own AI guide, just better. I get to move about through you and you get to use my smarts. Win win.”
It was a universal certainty that whenever someone used the phrase “win win”, only one of the sides got to reap the benefits. There was no telling what Danny’s game actually was. The first thing that came to mind was a place swap. Will, like most boys his age, had seen enough horror movies to be familiar with the trope. Eternity had already stated that there couldn’t be two rogues at once, although that posed the question: why did it still consider Daniel to be a rogue?
Will distinctly remembered the first time he had made contact with the mirror. Back then, he was proclaimed to be the new rogue, and still…
“No,” he said firmly. “Not before we finish the tutorial.”
“Don’t play games with me,” a threatening note weaved its way into Danny’s one. “I won’t let you clear the second floor, so—”
Will knelt down on the floor, hiding from view. It was a childish thing to do, and yet the noises of reality had returned. Counting to three, he slowly stood up. The mirror was as it should be, containing his reflection. His hunch had proven correct. Challenges followed a similar logic to wolf mirrors. The difference was that once mirror and challenger lost sight of one another; the challenge was ended.
No time, the boy thought as he took out his mirror fragment. Danny was correct that the group had to gear up as quickly as possible. At the same time, there was one small detail he had overlooked: nowhere would eternity be as generous as in the tutorial.
By the time he returned to class, the majority of his schoolmates were present. There was no time to talk, so he calmly took his place and went on to do the usual loop extending activities until it was time.
“I need to talk to you,” he whispered to Helen while passing by.
“Oooh! Strategy meeting!” Alex butted in.
Of course, of all the people he’d be the one to hear. Whether on purpose or by accident, he had ruined things. Will’s intention had been to tell Helen about Daniel’s reflection and determine what to do. That was no longer possible.
“Yeah,” Will added. “We’ll take a new approach tonight.”
Unfortunately, Alex’s overreaction had caused a whole set of other issues. Several of Helen’s friends had quickly swooped by, dragging her from the undesirable elements in class. Jace also chose to stick to his team friends—he had to spend the rest of the day with them, and experience had shown the less he deviated from his usual self, the better things went. In the end, Will and Alex were left alone.
“Thanks.” Will sighed internally.
“Ooof, bro. Helen’s got some sus friends.”
“It’s not her… Anyway, get some normal clothes for tonight. I’ll text the others.”
“Normal clothes? What’s that?” the goofball asked, but Will was already on his way out of the room.
By evening, when the group gathered for their next school run, his intentions were more obvious. Will, along with Jace, had taken the time to pass by a sports store within their restricted area and buy four dark hoodies.
“For real?” Alex looked at the piece of clothing in disgust. “This is sus as heck, bro.”
“It’s less bright,” Will said. “We just need not to attract attention.”
“With this? Bro… I’d arrest me just for wearing it.”
“He does have a point,” Helen said. “Four people wearing the exact same black hoodies on school grounds after dark? All we’re missing are gang symbols sprayed on.”
“It’s better than what we had. The plan is to level up at school, then search the rest of the area before heading into the vice principal’s office. We know there’s at least one mirror out here. There probably are a few hidden ones as well.”
“Goblins in a parking lot is the opposite of hidden, Stoner.” Jace crossed his arms. “If we go for muffin boy’s mirror we might as well—”
“That’s why we start as usual. Just this time we also do the rooftop.”
Events proceeded as they usually did. Having gone through the experience so many times, the group wiped out everything on the first two floors in ten minutes, chatting amongst themselves in the process. Will was secretly hoping to get another permanent random skill, but none appeared.
By the time they reached the rooftop, the group—with the exception of Jace—had all reached the mid-level of their class, or more. It was with great enthusiasm that they came across their first flying opponent.
The creature resembled a vulture with a long, sharp beak and equally scary talons. A dozen loops ago, they would have frozen in their tracks for several seconds to assess the situation. Now, Will brought down the bird with his paralytic throwing knives moments after it had appeared. Alex had assisted just as fast, throwing a mirror trap right beneath the monster before it hit the floor. That only left Helen to kill it off with one strong slice.
“Lit!” Alex grinned. “Didn’t even smash the roof.”
“Very funny.” Helen reached for her phone, then texted Jace to come up before grabbing hold of the dead bird’s beak. The corpse instantly vanished, leaving a whip blade in its place.
“Woah! Now that’s OP,” the goofball said.
Will had to agree with him. He didn’t have a clue how to use such a weapon, but already he knew that he wanted it. Realistically, he was the only one who could handle it properly. Helen had her hands full with her massive sword, and it didn’t seem Alex’s style at all.
“What crap did you get?” Jace asked, emerging onto the roof. “Holy fuck! That’s actually cool.” He went to the weapon and picked it up. “Causes bleeding.”
“Does it extend?” Alex asked in hope.
“No. Just causes bleeding. Not enough for you, muffin boy?”
“Nah, I’m good, bro. Would have been cool if it could extend and attach to things, though.”
“Yeah.” Jace let out a laugh in an agreement. “Maybe I’ll enhance it when you fuckers finally let me level up. So, who gets it?”
Everyone looked at each other.
“I think I should,” Will said. “Fast reflexes and targeting. Would be safest for me and everyone else.”
“So glad you’re thinking of us,” Jace grumbled and tossed him the weapon.
True to his word, Will reached out and grabbed the hilt in a single action so as not to get hurt. A sense of power surged through him. Holding it felt even better than the poison dagger. Apparently, it was a rogue weapon, after all.
“That makes nine hidden mirrors,” Helen said. “Think there are more left?”
“I don’t know.” Will looked around.
From here, he could see almost the entire city. Even with everyone asleep, rivers of light crisscrossed between islands amid clusters of white and yellow dots. The cluster of skyscrapers in the city center grabbed most of the attention, like the center of a galaxy outshining the sky above. The boy redirected his attention to the schoolyard. At one point, it could have been described as adequately lit, but at some point, it had been decided bythe governing body of Enigma high to reduce costs by cutting the number of working lights to nearly none.
“But it’ll be fun to find out,” Will smiled.