Chapter 21: The Assassin in The Mirror(2)
Joo Kihyun fought to shake off his groggy haze.
Where am I?
Glancing up, the classroom floor suggested school.
Am I still out of it?
‘I met someone in the bathroom…’
His thoughts cut off.
The figure he saw upon raising his head stopped them.
“…!”
This was Class 3’s room.
The classroom layout and slumped students were familiar.
But his eyes didn’t linger on them.
A blurry figure.
A woman—or something—in a white hanbok, like from the Joseon era… clearly not human.
Her faintly blue-tinged white hair reached her waist, her expression indistinct but unmistakably cold.
And crucially…
“No… no feet…!”
Her ankles, as if severed, were gone.
Facing this floating, otherworldly being, Kihyun hyperventilated.
Gasping, then—thud.
He passed out.
– What the…
The ghost, startled but confirming he was alive, waited calmly.
Kihyun jolted awake, scrambling up in a panic.
“Not… not a dream!”
Backing away, he hit the lockers with nowhere left to go as the ghost slowly approached.
“No, please… I don’t want to die…”
– …
“I… I’ll…” Sob, sniff “…huh?”
Trembling, he expected pain, but none came.
Cracking his eyes open, the ghost was inches away, harmless, pointing upward.
“…The classroom’s weird.”
Blinking and scanning around, he finally sensed it.
This wasn’t the classroom he knew.
The unease spread, amplified by the unmoving students.
– …
The ghost pointed to the back door, gliding toward it.
Kihyun realized.
“Follow you…?”
Clearly not human, with a chilling aura up close.
But it didn’t seem malicious.
A strange place, a female ghost.
If not a dream, sleep paralysis?
“Feels familiar…”
That shady website, maybe.
In a trance, Kihyun followed.
When he collapsed, I worried it was a heart attack, but things went as planned.
If I couldn’t show myself as Seol Haru, I’d just stay hidden.
This was closer to my true form.
Though I tweaked it to hide Haru’s traits.
‘The mysterious benevolent ghost vibe.’
I’d help him escape while gathering info.
The escape plan needed work, though.
Swish—
I’d ditched my feet for extra ghostliness.
The floaty sensation wasn’t bad.
“More kids here. Will they wake?”
Kihyun poked students in another classroom.
A dark aura tried to envelop him.
“Argh!”
I swiftly blocked it, dispersing the energy.
To his trembling lips, I made an X with my fingers.
X
“…Don’t touch?”
Nod, nod.
“Got it… I mean, understood. Thank you…”
Suddenly formal.
Stifling a laugh, I scanned the fallen students.
‘Am I fine because I’m a ghost?’
They were under an evil spirit’s influence—normal people shouldn’t touch them.
There were more victims than expected.
If all were replaced by fakes, the outside must be chaos.
‘Gotta resolve this fast.’
If it escalated, even the Association might struggle to cover it up.
I hoped the exorcists had noticed.
“Check elsewhere? Got it.”
Kihyun, now reading my signals well, explored the altered school with me.
Other classrooms had scattered unconscious students, mostly first-years.
Some second- and third-years, but far fewer.
“Whoa, what’s this?”
We stopped at a barricade of chairs and desks.
Kihyun struggled to move them.
“…Blocked? Let’s go around.”
I thought otherwise.
A blatant barrier meant this was off-limits—which meant it was the way.
I raised my hand, triggering a poltergeist.
Rumble—!
Objects flew chaotically.
Kihyun’s jaw dropped.
“So cool…!”
The path cleared, and he glanced at me before proceeding.
It led to the auditorium, but the layout was different.
A massive door loomed at the end.
“Beyond this is the auditorium. Looks suspicious.”
“Go in?”
Nod, nod.
“Got it. Hup—ugh.”
Kihyun strained, but the door wouldn’t budge.
Stepping back sheepishly, I grabbed the handle.
—!
I yanked hard, but unlike before, it didn’t give.
Not just strength—some alien force was at play.
‘Something important’s in there.’
Use that?
I shook my head.
Overusing power for a door was wasteful.
So…
Swish. Swoosh.
“Huh…? What?”
Swish. Swoosh.
“What do you mean…?”
Body language failed.
Frustrated, I blurted: – Stay. Here.
I phased through the door.
As a spirit, I didn’t need to open it.
“You can talk…?! Wait, leave me alone??”
Ignoring his protests, I entered the auditorium.
It was filled with mirrors.
Empty seats, but mirrors—unplaceable in the real world—exuded an eerie presence.
– That’s…
At the far end, under the largest mirror, a female student lay collapsed.
Yoo Kishin was among those shaken by Seol Haru’s disappearance.
As his only club member and a ghost-story enthusiast, her absence was a blow.
“I need to recruit more members in time.”
His whole reason for enrolling at Paradise High was to chase ghosts, making the Supernatural Phenomena Research Club vital.
A rare chance to study ghost stories legally.
Haru was a draw.
Her presence pulled people in, her absence did the opposite.
Kishin wasn’t blind to how people viewed the occult.
Recruiting seemed impossible now.
“…”
This would’ve been the end.
The old him would’ve coldly prioritized goals over people.
But this feeling?
He was genuinely worried about her.
The first such emotion since losing his smile.
“Everyone saw her at school. Vanishing suddenly… kidnapping? No, too conspicuous.”
Worrying wasted a day.
Reaching home, Kishin concluded it was supernatural.
He knew things beyond human deeds existed.
Creak.
Entering his dark house, heading to his room, he froze.
On the living room sofa…
His father sat, watching TV.
“…Rare.”
Always home late from work.
Fired, maybe?
“Watching in the dark?”
“…”
Even with the light on, his father stared silently at the TV.
Kishin glanced—nothing special.
Some random channel flickered, impossible to follow.
“Why’re you home early?”
They rarely talked, but passing this up felt wrong.
“…Just happened.”
“Eat yet?”
“…Yeah.”
“I’ll make mine then.”
Dropping his bag, Kishin rolled up his sleeves.
Not a chef, but he cooked decently.
Students would be shocked seeing him handle tools and veggies so deftly.
“Today…”
“Yeah?”
“Someone weird came by.”
“Weird?”
“Yeah.”
Cooking without turning, Kishin frowned when no more came.
Then, a voice right behind him.
“By the way, when’s Mom coming?”
“…”
He flinched but stayed calm, moving to the cutting board.
Grabbing a jar of white powder…
– Mom? Huh? When’s she coming?!
As something lunged with a screech, he flung salt.
Whoosh—
The thing, doused in white, writhed in pain.
Kishin shoved it and bolted.
“When did it…!”
Every lock was secured—when had it moved?
Suppressing panic, he opened the door as it charged.
Bang!
Slamming it shut, he sprinted wildly.