: The Floor of Infinite Mirrors
Kai Ren stepped through the jagged remains of the first floor's shattered battlefield, his boots cracking over the glassy terrain left behind by vanquished system echoes. The air shimmered, heavy with static and the residue of digital souls long erased. He tightened his grip on his spectral blade—a fading echo of the Infinite Sword Burial—as he approached the next threshold.
> [Realm Tower: Floor Two - Trial of Identity Initiated]
A pulse of pressure slammed against him. A deep hum filled the atmosphere, like the groaning of ancient machinery waking from sleep. The skies, once inverted, now spun like a wheel above his head, threads of data spiraling into a central eye. He stepped forward.
And the world turned to mirrors.
Glass stretched in every direction—walls, floors, sky. His own reflection greeted him a thousand times, walking in step. Some smiled. Some wept. Some bled. And others... grinned with murder in their eyes.
> Warning: Floor Two trials are psychological in origin. Strength is irrelevant. Intent will be dissected.
Kai took a breath.
Then the mirrors came to life.
His reflections stepped out, one by one. Twelve figures in total. Each a different version of himself, each wearing different armor, bearing strange auras. One wore black flames and bone armor. Another carried a crown of writhing thorns. One bled from every pore but smiled with madness. All of them shared his face.
"Who are you to ascend?" the first asked—a Kai Ren who failed his awakening and died in the slums, reborn as a parasite.
"You stole power. You are a mistake," spat the crowned Kai, his throne of skulls hovering behind him.
"You gave up our family," whispered the crying Kai.
"You enjoy killing," said the one drenched in monster blood, dragging a twisted sword made of spine and fang.
Kai's heart pounded. Each voice was his own.
The real battle had begun.
> System Notification: Trial Condition – You must silence all alternate selves. No physical combat permitted. Emotional resonance only.
He could not fight.
He had to confront.
He stepped forward. "I never asked for this power. But I will use it to change everything. Not just for me—but for all of us."
The parasite Kai laughed. "Spoken like a tyrant."
Kai faced him. "Maybe. But at least I'm not hiding under someone else's skin."
The figure shrieked, fragmented, and dissolved into light.
Next came the mad Kai, the one who smiled at death.
"Do you regret it? Killing? Even now?"
Kai didn't flinch. "Every kill stays with me. But I keep walking. Because if I stop... everyone I protect dies."
Another flash. Another mirror broken.
On and on it went. Each confrontation peeling away another fear, another doubt, another distorted identity. Until only two figures remained:
The one wearing the thorned crown—the "Kai Who Became a God" by sacrificing all morality. And the crying child Kai—the one who never stood up, never tried, and watched his parents die.
The God-Kai hissed. "You're no god. Just a boy playing with stolen rules."
Kai looked at him. And for the first time, smiled.
"I don't want to be a god. I want to be a son who saves his mother. A hunter who rewrites the fate of the weak. A mistake who becomes hope."
Light consumed the crowned version. Then Kai turned to the crying child.
He walked forward.
Knelt.
And embraced him.
The boy sobbed in his arms.
"It's okay," Kai whispered. "We never had to be perfect. We just had to keep going."
> Trial Complete. Identity Reconciled. Reward: Emotional Core Synchronization – All Parallel Hack abilities now carry full memory resonance. New Skill Unlocked: "Echo Merge" – Fuse with one alternate self for 5 minutes. Once per day.
The mirrors shattered.
The world went white.
And Kai Ren stood alone in a hallway of light, his soul heavier, but clearer.
> Realm Tower: Floor Three Approaches…
> WARNING: Detected Interference from External System.
> Alert: Intruder from another Ascended Hack detected.
> Name: Yurei Ren – The Mirror Eater Rank: Unclassified
Kai's eyes widened. That name...
His brother.
A brother who vanished ten years ago.
And now, was waiting for him on the next floor.
[To be continued in Episode 104...]