Mirror World: Destined Return

The door opened, revealing an old 80s American bar with hardwood floors, wooden tables, and chairs. A black man played melancholy jazz music on his saxophone in a corner. People were grouped in twos or threes, playing games like blackjack or baccarat. The eyes of people staring at a roulette wheel at the center of the tables were spinning in unison with the wheel. This was a gambling house.

Seong-Hwi slowly walked around the gambling house, the old hardwood floors creaking underneath his shoes. He could smell the smoke of cigars, hear the bartender’s shaker, and the sentimental music from the saxophone.

“Blackjack.”

“Banker.”

“I’ll be the dealer.”

Seong-Hwi walked past the people who were aiming for a jackpot like moths to a flame and placed his hand on the shoulder of a man sitting at a bar table.

“Hm? Who are you?” asked a middle-aged white man in a brown raincoat and cowboy boots.

“William.”

“You know me?” I’ve never met an Asian in Las Vegas—much less in Binion’s Horseshoe Casino.”

“I need your help,” Seong-Hwi said as he sat beside William.

On the bar table was an empty cocktail glass and two dice William used when playing craps.

“You need my help? I see... you’re the one who created this space.”

“That’s right. I called you here to borrow your destiny.”

“Hah! Destiny, huh?” William said as he raised his empty cocktail glass.

Seong-Hwi raised his hand to call the bartender and said, “One gimlet.”

“Oh! Do you like gimlet?”

“No, I don’t drink alcohol. I just ordered one for you.”

William tilted his head and stared intently at Seong-Hwi, saying, “You know a lot about me.”

“I do, very well. The legendary gambler of Las Vegas, also known as the Suitcase Man. But in the end, you killed yourself with a shotgun blast to the head[1].”

“Kekek. A legendary gambler, huh? To tell you the truth, I have no idea how to gamble. I put my life savings into a suitcase and went to a casino only because I wanted to die after my wife and children died in an accident. That’s why I bet it all on a game of craps, but you know what? I didn’t lose a single game that day until the casino doors closed.”

William grabbed the two dice and continued, “Each game was all or nothing. I won every game and became rich, but what was the point? I had no one to return home to.”

He drank the gimlet the bartender made like water and said, “That’s why I did as I originally planned. I ate enchiladas my children loved, made a gimlet my wife and I loved, and loaded two slugs into a shotgun and positioned it to fire if I leaned forward.”

“And then you drank the gimlet,” Seong-Hwi said.

“I did. It was so instant that I didn’t feel a thing.” William looked into Seong-Hwi’s eyes and asked, “And you want to borrow a destiny like mine?”

“I want to borrow the extraordinary luck you manifested through your dice that day.”

William looked down at his two dice and said, “I didn’t even look at the dice when the dealer rolled them because I honestly couldn’t care less. I had nothing to gain or lose.”

He closed his eyes and rolled the dice. Both rolled six, a total of twelve—it was craps.

“You want to borrow this shitty destiny of mine, huh?”

“All you have to do is give me your permission,” Seong-Hwi said.

This was the condition of Borrowing Destiny. Seong-Hwi could only borrow a figure’s destiny through betting, negotiation, or permission.

William isn’t evil. Even in my past life, he had never once largely corrupted my psyche.

It was low-risk, high-return. William was not dangerous, and Seong-Hwi needed his destiny.

“Very well, but I have a condition,” William remarked.

“A condition?” Seong-Hwi asked.

He just let me borrow it without conditions in my past life.

“Let’s play a dice game. I’ll throw the dice with my eyes closed. If it’s between one and six, you win. If it’s between seven and twelve, I win.”

William placed the dice into the half-full gimlet glass. He drank the rest and flipped the glass with his eyes closed. The dice rolled on the table and stopped. They both rolled six—it was craps again.

Seong-Hwi stared at the dice in silence.

“What is it?” William asked.

Seong-Hwi stared at William, whose eyes were still closed. He quickly changed the die numbers to two and one and said, “It’s three. I won.”

“Oh, is that right? Okay. Take whatever you like, whether it be my destiny or anything else,” William said as if he couldn’t care less about the result, and ordered another glass of gimlet.

Seong-Hwi stood up in silence after receiving William’s permission. The condition of Borrowing Destiny had been fulfilled.

But... Seong-Hwi pondered.

He asked, “You know I messed with the dice, right?”

“Hm? Did you?”

“Why are you so disinterested in the result when you’re the one who suggested the game?”

“Look, my friend. Dice are always born anew when they’re thrown. They roll naively and stop like fools. That’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter which number they stop at.” William received the gimlet glass from the bartender and continued, “I only suggested we play a game. I never said the result of the game would determine my choice. My only condition was that we play a game.”

“Hah! For fuck’s sake,” Seong-Hwi cursed.

It meant William would have let Seong-Hwi borrow his destiny even if Seong-Hwi had been honest about the result.

“Kekek. Don’t blame yourself that much. It’s natural for anyone to want to win. It’s hard to let go of that desire.”

“I... tricked you. Let’s play again. I’ll be honest this time.”

William shook his head and remarked, “No need. If it pains you so much, then have a glass of gimlet with me now and then.”

***

For a divine table is the earth, and trembling with new creative dictums and dice-casts of the gods.

Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

***

Seong-Hwi opened his eyes. He was back at the hotel, sitting in the chair. The game between him and William had been but a moment in his head.

He summoned the Tarot Deck of Destiny, and a card which had never been seen before flew out of it. It showed a middle-aged white man in a brown raincoat and cowboy boots, drinking a gimlet with two dice in the glass. Seong-Hwi stared at the card in silence.

He then said the words William always said out of habit, “All or nothing.”

[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]

[William the Foolish Gambler]

[The destiny of the adventurer of Las Vegas indwells you.]

[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]

[Dice Gimlet]

A feeling of aloofness welled from within as soon as Seong-Hwi activated Borrowing Destiny. He would be happy if he succeeded and just as happy even if he failed. He felt infinite positivity and mockery for teleology. He was like dice born anew each time they were thrown, naively rolling and stopping like a fool.

A gimlet cocktail glass containing two dice appeared in Seong-Hwi’s hand. He drank the gimlet without hesitation, the refreshing dry gin and lime juice mourning William’s death.

[Activating Exclusive Skill: Craps Game.]

Seong-Hwi flipped the cocktail glass and let the dice roll on the floor. He didn’t even look at the result because he didn’t care.

[You who hold the destiny of the adventurer of Las Vegas will receive all or nothing.]

The destiny of William the Foolish Gambler is a double-edged sword.

However, it was exactly because it was all or nothing that Seong-Hwi needed his destiny.

[Skill Cube

Rank: S

Description: An 8x8 diamond cube made up of 512 small cubes. The user will obtain a skill with minimum S-rank potential.]

A cube appeared before Seong-Hwi. It was roughly one meter in all dimensions, like other cubes. The beautiful cube looked like 512 small diamond cubes stuck together to make one cube. Everyone in the Mirror World longed for this treasure. The diamond cube, shuffling like a Rubik’s cube, sounded like music. The reflection of light as the cubes were shuffled made it look like a wavy silver sea.

Seong-Hwi was sure this would be the biggest gamble of his life. All skills from an S-rank cube were indeed good, but there were better and worse ones among them. Any normal person would have prayed to the gods, the Devil, or any figure from mythology as they anxiously waited for the result. But Seong-Hwi, who borrowed William’s destiny, couldn’t be more at ease.

I don’t care what I get. I’ve already rolled the dice, he thought.

The musical sounds stopped, and the 512 small diamond cubes flew in all directions. The white light at the center of the diamond cube went into Seong-Hwi’s abdomen and set it alight—it was the mana pattern engraving process. The mana pattern took a while to engrave because patterns of S-rank skills were highly complex. The Akasha Message at last let Seong-Hwi know which skill he had obtained.

[Skill: Rust of Ruin, obtained.]

...

[Rust of Ruin (Skill)

Rank: F(0)

Description: The power of rust that ruined a ferrous civilization. It can be applied to all skills and actions to boost attack. The debuff Corrosion can be applied if the struck area contains even the slightest amount of iron (Fe).]

Seong-Hwi read the Akasha Message but felt only infinite positivity—one could even say it was infinite nihilism. Seong-Hwi’s survival instincts screamed at him.

This is dangerous, Seong-Hwi thought.

He thought life or death was pointless; he even wanted to kill himself for a moment.

“Kurgh!”

He realized his psyche was in danger. Although William was not evil, borrowing one’s destiny naturally came with risks. This was the psyche corruption he had placed as part of the restriction of Borrowing Destiny. Such a powerful skill also came with immense risks.

[Canceling Borrowing Destiny.]

[Canceling Symbol Embodiment.]

Seong-Hwi fell to the ground after immediately canceling the skills.

“Huff. Kurgh, hurgh!” he panted heavily.

Dammit! I was too relaxed because it’s been a while since I’ve used Borrowing Destiny.

Seong-hwi caught his breath and stared at the Akasha Message again. This time, his heart pounded intensely.

“Rust... of Ruin!”

He knew the skill very well because it had been famous throughout the Mirror World.

“I did it!”

Seong-Hwi’s gamble had paid off.

***

Rust of Ruin was famous for its destructive capabilities, but it was mainly because of its user: the Progenitor, Haema Sanguis, first on the vampire ranking and the leader of the vampires. On top of that, he was the Ninth Fiend.

Haema became infamous throughout the Mirror World as he waged war against the other races from around Seong-Hwi’s third year in the Mirror World. He defeated the Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth Fiends. He also defeated the Fifth Fiend after a long war and took their place.

The Fifth Fiend, whose liver was taken by Haema, was a dragon. The fact that a vampire, an intermediate race, defeated a dragon, a superior race, shocked all Mirror World residents. There were rumors that he was also aiming for the Fourth Fiend, which caused rumors that it had been Haema who revealed the Fourth Fiend possessed the human Race Stone.

Haema Sanguis started to become stronger after obtaining Rust of Ruin from a diamond skill cube.

As one would expect from a vampire, Haema’s attacks were mainly those using blood. Hence, it had good synergy with Rust of Ruin because blood contained iron. The human body had roughly four grams of iron, sixty percent of it as hemoglobin in the red blood cells.

Haema was also well-versed in wide-area attacks by scattering his blood. His attacks made all weapons containing iron obsolete. It was quite difficult to find weapons that did not contain iron in the Mirror World. Hence, there was no question how versatile this skill was. On top of that, no race with blood in their bodies could be free from the debuff Corrosion.

Now, the skill is mine!

Seong-Hwi clenched his fists. The best part about Rust of Ruin was that it did not require him to adjust his fighting style. The skill effect could be applied to other skills and attacks, meaning it could meld perfectly into his usual fighting style and boost his attack.

Not only that, but there are no duplicate S-rank skills and items!

In other words, Haema Sanguis could no longer obtain Rust of Ruin. This was arguably the biggest accomplishment since vampires and humans had a hostile relationship.

1. William Lee Bergstrom officially died from a drug overdose, but it appears the author is taking slight liberties. ☜