Chapter 21: The Smiling Mask
The night was too quiet.
Not the comforting kind of quiet — but the kind that felt like the world was holding its breath.
Inside the dim dorm room, he sat by the window, staring at the cracked glass that mirrored the split in his reality. His eyes were open, but he wasn't truly there. Not anymore.
A faint tick... tick... tick echoed from the ceiling. Not the clock — that had stopped weeks ago. Something else was moving.
System Panel: Alert. A presence has broken the outer perimeter.
He didn't flinch. The system's voice had become familiar, like a whisper at the back of his mind. But this time, it wasn't warning him about the usual shadows. This was something new.
"Identify."
Scanning...
Seconds passed. The ticking grew louder. From the corner of the room, beneath the ceiling fan, a shape uncurled.
It was not human.
And yet—it smiled.
---
A memory struck him without warning.
"No matter what comes for you," his mother once said, "smiles can lie. But your heart won't."
He had laughed back then. Thought she was being poetic again. But now, he understood.
Because the thing in his room wore a face — his face — smiling like a mask.
---
Back to present.
The creature stepped forward, eyes like inverted moons — pure black, with a thin ring of crimson. Its lips stretched impossibly wide, still grinning.
"You've resisted longer than expected," it said, voice mirroring his own. "But everything breaks."
The system flared up.
Skill Unlocked: Heart Veil — When truth is disguised, perception sharpens. Duration: 3 minutes.
"Three minutes," he whispered. "That's all I need."
He stood.
For the first time, the creature's grin faltered.
---
He was tired of running. Tired of wondering why they chose him. Why the cult, the school, the parallel realm — why it all spiraled around him like some cruel celestial joke.
But now? He didn't care about the why.
Not anymore.
He just wanted to protect what little was left.
---
The battle wasn't loud. It was precise.
Three minutes felt like eternity and a blink.
He used the window's reflection to dodge the mimic's strikes. His third eye saw the creature's aura — flickering with confusion.
It couldn't read him anymore.
Then — a sudden snap.
He drove the charm his mother gave him directly into the mimic's chest.
It screamed, not in pain, but like a mask cracking open.
And then — silence.
---
The body vanished. Not disintegrated — just... erased, like a corrupted line of code.
The system chimed one last time that night.
New Skill Branch Unlocked: Mindshade — Path of Silent Rebellion
His hand trembled. Not from fear. Not anymore.
But from the cost.
He turned toward the bed.
A small paper note sat where the mimic had stood.
In his own handwriting.
"Trust no one — not even me."
---
His breath caught.
Did I write this... from the future? Or... is this someone else using my voice?
And outside the window, across the courtyard — the real smile waited.
Only this time, it belonged to a teacher.