**The Reflection in the Mirror**

Drip, drip, drip... Water droplets fell from the stalactites and pooled on the ground. The puddle slowly spread until it met a red liquid, turning the once-clear water crimson. The air inside the cave was damp and carried a foul stench. Blood was oozing from the piled-up corpses of monsters in one corner.

Cha Uijae sat hunched over on a wide rock, a cigarette dangling from his lips, unlit. He listened quietly to the sounds outside. Whoosh…

"It seems to follow a cycle, doesn’t it?"

Mingi, who stood like a shadow in the farthest corner …