Accidentally Became the Most Wanted Entity in the Multiverse

There were twenty of them.

But no one felt whole.

...

The day began with a sound.

Not a bell, not a siren but a low, harmonic hum that vibrated through the dorm walls like a living whisper. Dae sat up in bed instantly, wide awake, heart already racing before his mind caught up.

Across from him, Kio was upside down on the bed, one leg hanging off, drooling onto his pillow.

An was already dressed, sitting at his desk, scribbling something in his notebook in that eerie stillness he always carried like a second skin.

Dae stood, rubbing his eyes.

"What time is it?" he mumbled.

An didn't look up. "Time to meet yourself."

Kio groaned and sat up, rubbing his face. "If this is another mystical riddle, I swear I'm throwing you out the window."

....

They filed into the corridor along with the other students, all dressed in identical black cloaks. The hallway was unusually quiet. Even Zane, who usually cracked some ridiculous one-liner about how they were all going to die, was silent.

Sera met them at the fork again arms folded, eyes sharp as ever.

"Today," she said, "you learn what you are."

The floor beneath them shimmered. For a moment, Dae thought it was his vision until the entire corridor liquefied.

He barely had time to gasp.

They were standing on glass.

Above them was the dome. Below… nothing.

Just ocean. Black and deep.

And in the distance a shadow moved.

Dae's blood ran cold. He couldn't see what it was, but the entire ocean tilted when it passed.

"You'll each enter the Mirror Room alone," Sera continued. "What you see or what sees you will determine your affinity."

"What if we don't see anything?" Rea asked quietly, floating just an inch above the glass floor.

Sera looked at her for a long second. "Then you're already gone."

....

One by one, they were called.

Each name echoed through the hallway like a fate being read.

Some students returned quickly dazed, sweaty, or laughing in disbelief.

Some took longer.

Some didn't come back at all.

The instructors didn't explain.

"Pix," Zane whispered to Dae at one point, "I swear if this is a horror simulation and I get eaten by a ghost version of my mom, I'm suing the school."

Pix, hovering beside him in mini-hologram form, replied dryly,

"Emotional trauma builds character. Also: no refunds."

.....

Finally..

"Dae."

His legs moved before his mind caught up.

He walked alone into the chamber.

......

The Mirror Room was… empty.

No furniture. No lights. Just smooth mirrored walls, floor, and ceiling.

The silence was complete. Not peaceful. absolute.

He stepped to the center.

The door vanished behind him.

His own reflection stared back from every direction, hundreds of him, younger, older, terrified, furious.

Then… the lights dimmed.

One by one, the reflections started changing.

In the one behind him… he saw himself standing in the city, holding a phone, screaming into it.

In another, a younger him, holding hands with An, laughing in a rainstorm.

Another showed him curled in bed, sobbing, his old SIM card still clutched in his fist.

Then, the center mirror shattered.

Behind it. darkness.

A figure stepped out.

It wore his face. but wrong. Too calm. Too bright.

Golden eyes. Skin glowing faintly. Light pouring from the cracks in his chest.

"You're not ready," the figure said.

Dae's throat dried. "Ready for what?"

"To remember."

The figure held out its hand.

Something pulsed in Dae's palm. the ring. Kairoth.

The light inside it flared.

And everything changed.

The mirrors warped.

The room bent.

Symbols spiraled into the walls.

And Dae heard a voice, one he hadn't heard since childhood.

"Don't forget, Dae. Even light casts a shadow."

Then…

....

He collapsed outside the chamber, gasping, drenched in sweat.

Sera stood over him. "You survived. Interesting."

The panel beside her flickered.

Resonance: 93% → 96%

Affinity: Origin Light (Prime Creation Type)

Zane peeked over her shoulder.

"Okay… that's unfair."

"Shut up," muttered Vera, crossing her arms. "You lit a candle with your hand. He just broke physics."

Sera tapped the display. "Next."

…..

By the end of the day, the full roster had changed.

Each student now carried a glowing thread stitched into their cloak, a visual marker of their affinity:

• Rea: Pale silver (Air + gravity)

• Kio: Deep red (Body-based kinetic)

• An: Indigo (Mind + memory flux)

• Selene: Midnight black (Emotion-shadow)

• Varo: Bright blue (Fire variant)

• Isha: Aquamarine (Water-healing)

• Zane: Electric yellow

• Nira: Pale cyan (Cryo-focus)

• Aro: Forest green (Plant merge)

• Riven: Toxic green (Venom)

• Vera: Purple crystal

• Elio: Gray mist

• Lune: Violet (Sound echo)

• Kai: Coral pink (Sound-pressure)

• Drayk: Lava orange

• Noor: Prism-light

• Ash: Bone white (Decay)

• Syra: Mirror gray

• Jin: Chain black

And Dae?

His thread didn't glow.

It pulsed… alive, golden-white, shifting like it couldn't decide if it was light or fire or stardust.

...

That night, Dae sat on his bed, staring at his reflection in the dark glass.

Rea floated nearby, quietly sipping tea someone definitely didn't authorize.

Kio was snoring already.

An was… watching him.

"You saw something," An said, not a question.

Dae didn't answer for a long time.

Then….

"I saw… me."

An nodded, as if that confirmed everything.

"That's the worst one," he whispered.

Dae smiled faintly.

Then looked at the glowing thread on his sleeve.

And said what he hadn't dared since the day An died:

"I don't think you're supposed to be here."

An smirked.

"I'm not. But neither are you."

......

[To Be Continued in Chapter 9: "The Thingh beneath the glass."]