Mr. Death in the Steam World

Moen walked over quickly and greeted Phils.

She was carrying a small lamp that emitted a pale blue light. When she heard Moen's voice, she turned her head and her lips curled into a smirk.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be so punctual."

"Of course, punctuality is a basic quality of a detective."

Although he had only been a detective for less than a week.

Moen walked up to her and glanced at the lamp.

"What is this?"

Phils shook the light, a hint of smugness in her voice.

"Magic Lighting, there's no light in this maze at night, we can't possibly wander around in the dark."

She paused, then added,

"I'm a top student, I need to be fully prepared!"

Moen glanced at the bulging little bag around her waist, and then remembered that she had mentioned she was short of credits, and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

With some time still before the mirror world opened, he briefly mentioned the events of that morning to Phils.

What do you think?

"That boy... he was probably influenced by that mirror."

"Well, the problem is how to remove this effect."

"Let me think... Theoretically, there are two methods: one is to destroy the mirror itself, and the other is to sever the connection between it and the victim."

"How do I cut it?"

"If I get my hands on that mirror, perhaps I can undo it through a reverse ritual."

When the topic turned to her field of expertise, Phils immediately launched into a long and detailed explanation, making her seem like a professor from some college.

Before they knew it, time was up, and the two entered the maze one after the other.

The maze is complicated enough during the day, but it's even more eerie at night.

The dim chandelier had been turned off at some point, leaving only the magic lamp in Phils's hand as the sole source of light.

Moen's footsteps were very light; "Meow Swiftness" kept his body highly agile.

Phils walked ahead of him, but her steps were somewhat unsteady, and she would occasionally stop to tug at her hair ribbon, as if to confirm the direction.

"You can sense the fluctuations of magic?" Moen asked.

"Mmm." Phils's voice echoed through the maze, carrying a slight resonance.

"The mirror's location... is at the deepest part of the maze; I can sense it."

Moen followed behind her, his gaze sweeping over the mirrors on either side.

The mirror on the left didn't reflect their figures, but rather a colorful world.

There were mushrooms taller than a person, their caps glistening with dewdrops in some unknown light.

In the distance, a figure wearing a top hat was gesturing wildly around a long table.

In the distance, on a tree, a grinning cat face loomed in and out of sight, its eyes gleaming golden in the darkness.

Moen stopped and stared at the mirror.

"That's... the world in the mirror? It really is exactly the same as described in the book."

Phils also stopped, glanced to the side, and said in a low voice:

"It should be called 'Wonderland'—the space created by that contained object."

The image in the mirror lasted only a few seconds before suddenly rippled and quickly returned to its normal reflection.

The two continued walking forward.

The deeper you go into the maze, the more frequently the strange phenomena appear in the mirror.

Some mirrors show a rose garden, with red and white roses swaying in the wind.

Some mirrors show a castle made of playing cards, with a red heart flag flying atop it.

Phils quickened her pace noticeably, and her breathing became rapid.

"Don't be scared!"

Her voice trembled slightly.

"It's all an illusion, it's all fake, it's all fake..."

Out of a gentleman's self-discipline, Moen did not expose her.

The two wandered through the maze, the blue light from the magic lamp casting long trails on the mirrors.

Finally, at two minutes to nine, Phils stopped walking.

"arrive."

The mirror stood at the deepest corner of the maze, just as it had yesterday. It looked ordinary, no different from any other mirror.

Fils stared nervously at the mirror, then looked down and pulled a palm-sized pocket watch from her pocket.

The dial features a rabbit design, exactly like the one Tommy has.

Her voice was very low.

"Almost there, it should be right there—"

Before he could finish speaking, Moen suddenly felt something moving in his pocket.

He instinctively reached out and touched a playing card—the Ace of Hearts that Martha had given him.

The playing cards are getting hot.

He pulled it out of his pocket, looked down, and saw that the small characters on the back were emitting a deep red light, each stroke resembling a burning ember.

"It's almost time; I should go keep my appointment."

Fils exclaimed in surprise, her pocket watch glowing and illuminating her astonished face.

The pocket watch and the card flew up on their own, intertwining in the air, and two beams of deep red light shot out simultaneously, twisting into a beam that shone on the mirror.

The mirror began to vibrate violently.

Swirling ripples spread wildly outwards from the center of the mirror, and the frame creaked under the strain.

An unprecedentedly powerful suction force surged out from the mirror.

Phils screamed.

Her body was pulled toward the mirror by the suction force, and her feet slid a trail on the ground.

She instinctively reached out to grab the glasses frame beside her, but her fingertips were bounced away by a force the moment they touched the edge of the mirror.

Moen took a step forward, activating "Meow Swiftness" to its fullest extent, and suddenly stretched out his right hand, grabbing Phils's wrist tightly.

Hold on tight—

Before he could finish speaking, his feet had already left two deep marks on the ground, and his body was uncontrollably pulled toward the mirror.

The combined weight of Phils and his own was not enough to withstand the suction force.

"Mr. Marcus!" Fils' voice was already trembling with tears, "Let go! You'll be—"

"Shut up! Hold on to me!"

The mirror drew closer, and the center of the vortex resembled a gaping maw of an abyss. Crimson light shone through the mirror, illuminating the faces of the two people.

The last thing Moen saw was the maze of the real world twisting, shattering, and disappearing before his eyes.

Then the world began to spin.

My body felt like it had been thrown into a rolling drum, and I couldn't tell up from down or left from right at all.

What's even more distressing is that Phils's intermittent screams can still be heard in my ears.

Moen closed his eyes, gripping her wrist tightly, not daring to let go.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe a few seconds, maybe a few minutes, but then everything became quiet.

His body crashed heavily onto something soft, and he rolled several times before stopping.

He lay on the ground, panting heavily.

"Well……"

A muffled groan came from beside me.

Moen propped himself up and saw Phils lying on the grass two steps away from him, her long silver hair scattered all over the ground, covered with grass clippings and dirt.

She struggled to sit up, rubbed her arm which had ached from the fall, and then looked up, stunned.

"This...this is..."