Your entire existence was engineered for this.
Jin-ho's words pounded in Ji-hoon's skull.
Open the mirror world.
The prototype doorway whirred faster, mirrors distorting, vibrating with desperate hunger.
Ji-hoon staggered, the third presence inside him surging toward the portal. Not by force. By nature.
"You belong with us." Jin-ho's voice cut like a blade.
No. I choose.
Pain tore through Ji-hoon's mind. Three aspects of him fought to hold balance against the pull.
"I won't be your doorway," Ji-hoon gasped.
Jin-ho smiled. "You already are."
The portal shuddered, mirrors cracked. Figures pressed against the thinning barrier—distorted, eager.
Ji-hoon closed his eyes. He didn't fight the third presence. He spoke to it.
We're not theirs. We're ours.
A moment of stillness. Then—agreement.
A countercurrent of energy flowed outward from Ji-hoon. Not destruction. Dissonance.
The prototype doorway flickered. Patterns unraveled.
Jin-ho screamed, throwing bolts of dark energy—
But Ji-hoon stood firm. The three parts of him in perfect convergence.
The portal collapsed inward, dragging the mirror world's hands back through.
And Jin-ho—along with it.
→ [To be continued in Episode 46]
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