**[WELCOME TO SANCTUS MORTIS, SURVIVORS]**
**[HAVE A PLEASANT JOURNEY]**
The announcement slammed into my skull again. That same robotic voice, cold and emotionless, echoing inside my head like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
I was still on my knees, trying to wipe the tears from my face with my sleeve. The fabric came away damp. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Around me, people looked up at the ceiling—at the broken cathedral roof where red light filtered through holes in the stone. They tilted their heads like they were listening to something far away, faces confused and frightened.
The announcement wasn't just in my mind.
Everyone heard it.
"Did you—" someone started.
"Yeah," another voice answered. "In my head. Like it's speaking directly to me."
Relief crashed through me so hard I almost laughed. I wasn't going crazy. The voice was real. The system was real.
This nightmare was real.
I forced myself to stand. My legs wobbled, threatening to give out, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through it. The cold stone floor had left my knees aching. I could feel every bruise from the fight, every pulled muscle, every place where the Yeti's claws had gotten too close.
But I was alive.
I was *alive*.
The cathedral stretched around me—massive, ruined, ancient. Broken stone pillars rose toward a ceiling that barely existed anymore. Red light poured in from above, painting everything in shades of crimson and shadow. Dust hung in the air, visible in the light beams. The smell of old stone and stale air filled my lungs.
And scattered throughout the space were people.
Forty. Maybe fifty. All wearing the same thing I was—black coat, white shirt, red tie. The uniform. Our uniform.
They'd already formed groups. I could see it in the way they clustered together on broken pews, against walls, in corners. Small tribes of three or four, speaking in low voices, glancing around with wary eyes.
Everyone had chosen their sides.
Everyone except me.
I stood alone in the middle of the cathedral, blood-soaked and shaking, while the world went on around me as if I wasn't even there.
If those three people hadn't run outside at Annapurna Station... if they hadn't been grabbed by that thing... they'd be here too. I wouldn't be alone.
*Stop it,* I told myself. *Stop thinking about them. You have enough problems without adding guilt.*
But I couldn't help it. Their faces kept flashing in my mind. The old man. The two young guys. The sound of their screams.
"First time?"
I looked up.
A woman stood a few feet away. Early twenties, maybe. Silver-white hair fell past her shoulders, catching the red light and making it look like liquid metal. Her eyes were the most striking thing about her—red. Deep crimson red, the exact color of the sky I'd seen outside the Mirror World.
She was about my height. Her face had an otherworldly quality to it, beautiful in a way that didn't feel quite human. Sharp features. Calm expression. The kind of face that gave nothing away.
But what really caught my attention was her coat.
Red. Not black. Red.
Everyone else in the cathedral wore black coats. Everyone.
Except her.
"Don't be confused," she said, noticing my stare. Her voice was level, controlled. "Everyone starts here. Think of it as a starting zone. A safe zone, you could say."
"Safe zone," I repeated. My voice came out hoarse. "Right."
I realized I'd been staring without introducing myself. "Sidd," I managed, extending my hand for a handshake.
She just looked at my hand. Didn't move to take it.
After a long, awkward moment, she spoke. "Somi. You can call me Somi."
Her red eyes shifted, focusing on something near my chest. No—lower. My pocket.
Where I'd put the red essence.
"Oh," I said, touching my pocket instinctively. "I got it from the one I killed. The monster."
"You're one unlucky fellow, Sidd." She said it so calmly, like she was commenting on the weather.
"Unlucky? What does that mean?"
"You won't find Yetis normally in this zone." Her expression didn't change. "They don't spawn here."
"Yetis." The word felt strange in my mouth. "That's what they're called?"
She nodded. "Come with me. I'll introduce you to my party. We can explain your circumstances properly."
She pointed to her left, where a broken stone pillar lay half-collapsed against the wall. Two people sat near it—a woman and a man, both in the same black uniform.
I followed her, matching her pace as we walked through the cathedral. Our footsteps echoed on the stone floor, mixing with the murmur of conversations around us.
Voices drifted past as we walked.
"—killed two Yetis yesterday, got two red essences—" A man in his thirties was talking to his group, animated and proud. "Wish I hadn't already made my artifact, or I'd try for something better."
"Why can't we make more artifacts?" Another voice, younger. Curious. "Even if the voice says not to, what's actually stopping us?"
I glanced toward the second speaker.
Silver hair. Unremarkable face. But something caught my eye—a long blue earring dangling from his left ear. The only jewelry I'd seen on anyone here.
"There's obviously a reason, idiot," the older man snapped.
The silver-haired guy shrugged, unbothered. "I'm just asking. I heard when people first arrived, someone tried to make two artifacts. He just... disappeared. Vanished completely." He said it casually, like he was discussing a TV show. "No one knows what happened. Maybe teleported to a different Mirror World or something."
The way he spoke about someone's probable death—so matter-of-fact, so unconcerned—made my skin crawl.
Then his eyes found mine.
He smiled.
Not a warm smile. Not threatening either. Just... knowing. Like we were sharing a private joke.
I looked away quickly, focusing on following Somi.
"If you're thinking of making another artifact with that red essence," Somi said quietly without looking back, "don't worry. I'll explain everything."
"I already made one," I said, keeping my voice low. "An artifact. I already made it."
She glanced at me over her shoulder. Something flickered in her red eyes—approval, maybe. Or calculation.
"Good," was all she said.
We reached the broken pillar.
The woman stood up first. Brown hair pulled back. A scar cut across her right eye, healed but recent. Same black coat, white shirt, red tie. She had a playful energy about her, visible in the way she moved—light on her feet, always halfway to a smile.
She held up two fingers in a peace sign near her forehead and grinned. "You look handsome," she said, then winked.
My face went hot. "I—uh—"
"Just joking!" She laughed. "Hi. You can call me Lucy."
"Sidd," I managed.
The man stood up next, and *up*, and *up*. He had to be over six feet tall. Bald head. Thick beard. Brown eyes that matched his beard. Arms like tree trunks. When he looked down at me, his expression was serious, assessing.
"Gery," he said. His voice was deep, straightforward. "Nice to meet you, Sidd."
He extended his hand. It was huge—twice the size of mine. I shook it, expecting him to crush my bones, but his grip was controlled. Firm but careful.
"You just arrived, right?" Somi asked, looking at her teammates and then at me. "He's new to Sanctus Mortis."
"Yes," I said, nodding.
"Okay. Let me explain." Somi's red eyes locked onto mine. "This is the main region of this world. The deeper you go into it, the more dangerous it gets. You can find Yetis here normally on deeper levels, but it's not common in this area. That's why I said you're unlucky."
She paused, then added, "I arrived here three days ago. In this main region."
Wait.
"You arrived here?" I interrupted. "In the main region? Directly? You didn't see any... trains or anything?"
Somi stared at me for a long moment. Her expression suggested she thought I might be joking.
Lucy and Gery looked at me the same way.
"I arrived here two days ago," Gery said slowly. "Met Somi. We made a party after that. Everyone eventually comes to this cathedral—it's a safe zone where wounds heal. Not life-threatening ones, but most injuries."
Sweat built on my palms. My hands started shaking again. Everything around me felt unreal, like an illusion the world had created just to mess with me.
So the train was real? The red seats? The people dying? That was from Earth?
The Yeti I killed—
"Sidd?" Lucy's voice cut through my spiral. She'd moved closer, concern in her eyes. "Hey. Don't worry. Everything will be alright. Tell us about your situation." Her voice was gentle now, lacking its earlier playfulness. "Also, every kind of mental exhaustion heals here too. That's why everyone prefers to come here. If you have red essence, you can easily come to this part of the region."
I felt something loosen in my chest. The panic faded slightly, replaced by exhausted clarity. The cathedral's effect, maybe. The "safe zone" healing.
"I first woke up in a train," I said. My voice sounded distant, like someone else was speaking. "An unusual train with red seats everywhere. I saw people dying. Same people wearing our clothes."
I took a breath.
"And then I entered somewhere—some sort of door. It said 'Tier 7 Mirror World.' I killed that Ghost Rebound—"
"Yeti," Gery corrected gently. "That's what we call them here in the main region."
I nodded. "Right. Yeti. I killed it, got red essence, then entered another door that the red essence opened for me. That door brought me here. To this world. And I created an artifact." I touched my pocket. "Then I killed another Yeti and got another red essence."
Silence.
Somi looked at me with something I hadn't seen from her yet—sympathy. Her red eyes softened slightly.
"So you probably woke up in the Tier 7 Mirror World," she said slowly. "That's unusual. Very unusual. No one I've met has had a case of waking up in a Mirror World."
She raised her hand, placed it on her chin, thinking.
"Should I call you lucky that you got your artifact so quickly? Or unlucky that you almost died?"
Before I could answer, she continued. "Let me tell you the rules of this world that I've figured out. With red essence, we can either come to this main region if we think about safety hard enough, or we can enter a Mirror World of the same tier. If you don't want to do either, you can just hunt the Yetis roaming in the darker regions here."
She held up one finger. "Only one red essence is consumed to make an artifact of the same tier. But if we combine eight red essences, we can make white essence—that's Tier 6. And with white essence..." She paused. "We can enter Tier 5 Mirror Worlds."
"It'll be harder, right?" I asked before she could continue. The information was piling up fast, but I was trying to keep up.
"Yes. Much harder for us to enter Tier 5."
Something didn't add up.
"Wait," I said, speaking faster. "Why can't we enter Tier 6 Mirror Worlds using white essence? Why do we enter Tier 5 directly?"
Somi's expression turned thoughtful. "It's unknown to us as well. But a lot of people have seen it and survived Tier 5 Mirror Worlds. We know for certain that creating white essence doesn't let you enter Tier 6 Mirrors—it opens Tier 5 ones." She gestured vaguely. "That's why we're here. To figure out this world's mystery. The Mirror Worlds. The essence. All of it."
She touched her red coat. "For example, this is my artifact. Crimson Jacket."
*That's terrible naming,* I thought, but kept my face neutral.
"It's a defensive artifact," Somi explained. "It blocks any hit—any hit—for one time. Then the defensive power decreases over time as I keep getting hit. When it gets to the point where I can't take another hit, it releases its full power, throwing the opponent to the side. Just defensive abilities."
She looked at her party. "Gery, Lucy. Show him your artifacts."
Lucy had been quiet during the whole conversation, just watching. Now she stepped closer—too close—and leaned near my ear.
"I'll show you something you'll love," she whispered, her breath warm against my skin.
My face exploded with heat.
"Stop teasing, Lucy," Somi said flatly. "Just show him."
I couldn't form words. My brain had short-circuited.
Lucy pulled back, laughing. She lifted her hand and closed her eyes for a moment.
The air around her hand shimmered. Heat radiated outward. And then, with a soft sound like a match being lit, a long crimson wand appeared in her grip.
She opened her eyes. "This is my Magical Wand. It gives me access to fire magic, but I can't use it for a long time—it becomes a burden on my body." She spun it once. "I can release a large blast all at once, but I'll get unconscious after that attack. So I don't prefer that. I just use it for normal fire attacks."
She looked at Gery with a flirty smile. "Your turn."
Gery's voice came out deep and straightforward. "Alright."
He lifted his hand. Red light coalesced in his palm, solidifying into a long red sword. The blade was massive—had to be five feet long—but he held it easily, like it weighed nothing.
"This sword doesn't have much attack power by itself," he said. "But it can create a force that shakes the ground. And I can use it to tank attacks, block damage."
As I listened to everyone's descriptions, I realized they were all looking at me now.
Waiting.
My turn.
Nervously, I lifted my hand and thought about my dagger. The black handle. The crimson veins. The weight of it in my palm.
It appeared.
"This dagger," I said, my voice shaking slightly, "makes enemies panic for three to five seconds. That's it."
Everyone stared at my dagger like they'd never seen anything like it.
Then they nodded in appreciation.
"Good control effect," Gery said.
"Also," Somi added, "you can hide that red essence. It can create problems for us later."
"Oh. We can do that?"
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crimson hexagon. It glowed brightly red in my palm, pulsing with inner light. Warm to the touch.
I thought about it disappearing.
It did.
The weight vanished from my hand. The light blinked out. Gone—but still there, somehow. I could feel it in my mind, waiting.
"So," I said, looking at Somi. "What now?"
She met my eyes. Her red gaze was steady, determined.
"We find answers."