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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/LiseEclaire on 2025-08-11 15:00:48+00:00.

Will was aware of the greater part of the requirements to start a bonus challenge. The presence of a class mirror changed things slightly. It wasn’t an outright deal-breaker. Lucia had already obtained the skill to move her class mirror from place to place. Apparently, that had been a gift from her older brother. As for the rest, all that was needed were time and participants.

The following seven loops passed slowly. As each one passed, the pain in Will’s stomach grew. It wasn’t about the fact that he’d see Danny in action. Rather, it was the contest phase itself. Last time he had been thrust into it, and his mind had just adjusted to survive. Now, when he knew what would happen, he was experiencing constant low-grade fear.

[It’s always hardest the second time.]

Messages covered the floor of the mirror realm.

“Didn’t know you were a philosopher,” Will laughed it off.

It was true, though. A second contest phase would likely make him incensed, just like all other participants before him. That also scared the boy a bit.

“What are my odds?” he asked. “Does the paradox always happen?”

[Your presence has already created a paradox. The outcome is not certain.]

Leave it to the guide to be vague at a time such as this. All that Will managed to gather was that his success wasn’t predetermined. Danny might have gathered the same companions he had in the future-past, but that didn’t mean he’d end up dying. That was the entire point—to eject him out of eternity so he couldn’t do any further damage. With luck, maybe he wouldn’t have to die, just remain loopless, potentially with no memory of anything that had occurred.

CONTEST PHASE HAS BEGUN

A new set of messages filled the realm. Just to be sure, Will took out his mirror fragment. The same message was visible on the reflective surface. Not bothering to read the hints, Will put it away.

“It’s finally here,” he said out loud.

The boy would have preferred to have gained another class token, but those weren’t as easy to come by as he thought they were. His only consolation was that Lucia had insisted that he take all the coins they had found in Gabriel’s room. For some reason, she didn’t trust Luke with any of it.

“Ready, Shadow?” Will asked. “Shall we get the ball rolling?”

The shadow wolf leaped out of the floor. Being a wolf, it liked to hunt, and strong opponents seemed to make it happy.

“Of course you are,” Will muttered.

PREDICTION LOOP

Will went to the arcade mirror. As he left the mirror realm, Will felt the subtle change of the real world. Everything seemed electrified, as if there was a faint smell of ozone in the air. Events themselves were just as they had always been. Luke lost the game he was playing yet again, giving the spoils of war to his friend. There was some discussion about whether he didn’t have to throw the game, but the enchanter just muttered that he wasn’t feeling it and wanted to be alone.

Walking along the rows of arcade machines, he made his way to the class mirror and tapped it.

“No need to feel scared,” Will said preemptively. “Nothing happens on the first day.”

“I’m not,” Luke replied, and from what Will could tell, he wasn’t lying. “Sis told me what to expect.”

“We’ll just be going on a normal challenge. It’s going to be a bit more difficult, but nothing you can’t handle.”

Will didn’t add the part that he and Lucia were going to make sure it didn’t. A contest challenge was very different from most of what they had gone through up to now. It was also a good way to get the three of them to work together in a harsh environment.

It took eight prediction loops for the trio to get things right. The hidden challenge closest to them turned out to be an elf challenge. The goal was clear, just like in the previous elf challenge Will had taken part in. The execution, though, was an entirely different matter. Thankfully, Will had gotten an appropriate unique reward as a result: a genuine elf bow. There was no telling if it had occurred at random or eternity was rooting for him. Either way, it was useful.

The following loop, the challenge began. Precisely at noon, mirrors filled the city, allowing participants from other realities to flood in. Will’s plan was simple. Since it was next to impossible for them to drag a group of enemies to the archer’s mirror, they were going to do the opposite; and thanks to his clairvoyant ability, they had a way to determine the exact spot.

Goblins were the preferred target. One couldn’t call them weak, but they were the beings that everyone had the most experience fighting. Also, they generally travelled in groups. Finding several trios wasn’t difficult, though anything more than that didn’t seem to exist. For several prediction loops Will played around with the idea of trying to get two groups to merge, but that proved useless.

The situation with other participants was even worse. At this time, alliances didn’t exist as such. Lucia claimed that cluster parties used to participate together, but that had changed with Danny’s string of betrayals. No one trusted anyone else, ensuring that the strong solo participants would reach the reward stage while everyone else focused on getting better rewards and trades with the contest merchant.

“It has to be goblins,” Will said at the start of another prediction loop. His temples were throbbing in pain, though the archer’s concentration helped him ignore it.

“What if you snatch one and take him there through the mirror realm?” Luke suggested. “You can bind things, right?”

“Too risky.” Bringing goblins into the realm was the last thing Will wanted. “There’s someone else I can bring, though.” He glanced at Lucia. “Alex owes me a favor. If I call it in, he’ll be there.” There was a short pause. “Are you okay with that?”

“It’s fine,” the girl said. It didn’t take much to tell she was lying.

“That’s still four,” Luke noted. “One of us can—”

“No.” Immediately Will cut him short. “All of us must be there.”

“Well, then it’s back to snatching a goblin… or someone else. You’re the only one who could do it, so…”

“I can bring someone,” Lucia said.

“Someone owes you a favor?” Luke crossed his arms, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

“No, he owes my brother.”

The connection seemed a bit flimsy, but at this point it was the best they could hope for.

“Okay,” Will broke the uncomfortable silence. “Let’s do it. Luke, fight some wolves. Lucia, call in your favor.” He stepped away, making his way towards a mirror. “I’ll talk to Alex.”

A voice in the back of his mind screamed that getting the goofball involved was a terrible idea. No one in eternity thought that he could be trusted in the best of times, and right now his missing memories made him as unstable as a final-stage Jenga tower. Sadly, it wasn’t like there were any other options.

“Merchant,” Will said as he made his way through the mirror realm. “I want a mirror eye.”

The merchant appeared, offering the requested skill. Even with all the funds at Will’s disposal, he could still only afford the temporary version. Thankfully, it was going to be enough.

MIRROR EYE (temporary)

1000000 Coins

Allows looking and listening through all mirror fragments.

According to what Alex had told him in the future-past, it was the goofball who had initially found the mirror fragment. If so, there was a fifty-fifty chance that it was on him.

Circles and rectangles surrounded the boy. Nearly all of them were opaque. Possibly, rumors of his existence had spread among participants. Luke and Lucia had also protected theirs, effectively leaving just one.

Will held his breath. The fragment was in a pocket, so there was no telling whose it was. It stood to reason that Danny would have shielded it, if he were the owner, but nothing could be taken for granted.

Need to talk.

Will send a message using his mirror fragment.

There was movement. Fingers came into view, grabbing the mirror fragment and taking it out of the pocket. Soon Alex’s face became visible. Never before had Will been so relieved to be staring at the goofball’s nostrils.

“Hey,” he said.

Alex quickly turned off the lights wherever he was. Since this was the real him, it had to be the place from where he directed his mirror copies.

“Not cool, bro,” he complained.

“I’m calling in that favor,” Will said directly. “I want you to be somewhere at noon.”

“For real, bro? Timing is sus.”

“You owe me, remember?”

The goofball’s expression visibly changed even in the dark.

“You sure you want to call it just for that?” Alex asked. “I can get you a lot of useful things in the future.”

“Just be there.”

“If that’s how you want it. What will I be doing?”

“Dying,” Will said. “I need to kill you there.”

The goofball whistled, almost intrigued by the notion.

“That’s a pretty big favor, bro.”

“It’s just one loop. You’ve died more times hunting wolves.”

“I never get killed by wolves, bro,” Alex said with absolute certainty. “But fine. After this, all debts are paid.”

“That’s the idea.”

The conversation ended there. With that, all the pieces were set.

Will put his mirror fragment away and sighed.

“I’m really turning into him,” he said. The shadow wolf kept looking at him, just as calm and bored as before. “Once this is over, I’ll get back to what I was. I promise.”

The wolf tilted its head.

“You’ll still have opponents to fight, don’t worry.”

The minutes crept by. Finally, five minutes to noon, Will went to the agr…

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