2 The Space Between Mirrors

Now that she could see the screen before her more clearly, Su Yi saw the various moving images and the people's actions that were taking place at this very moment. Even though the places they were in looked different and were definitely from different eras, but the people were each acting in the same manner; breaking down and weeping over a person who had seemed to have collapsed. Their bodies laid motionless, whether it was on the ground, in a hospital bed or their own homes.

Su Yi didn't know what was happening within the screen, or even where she was now, but there was a niggling feeling at the back of her mind that kept telling her that she had experienced all of this before. Yet, why didn't she have any memories of this? The more she tried to recall something the more pain would strike her, and her eyebrows furrowed in anguish. Perhaps it would be better to leave this matter alone for now until she was more clearer of the situation she was in at the moment.

On the side, the unidentified man clenched his fists by his sides and fought the urge to step forward and comfort her. But if he did so, it would mean putting her in danger, and could lead to the both of them being erased from existence. He wasn't concerned about himself, but Su Yi - he couldn't let anything bad happen to her. Not after all the things she had been through, and it was also his forbidden feelings towards her that made him want to protect her.

Reigning in his emotions, he waved his hand, and a chair appeared before the table, and he sat beside the confused young woman.

With a reassuring tone, he spoke. "Let me start by welcoming you to the Space Between Mirrors. Here is where hosts can relax before proceeding onto the next task world."

The explanation he was supposed to give to her was one he had told her before when she went to the first world. However, something had occurred which ended in her being forcefully expelled from the said world, and she had lost all memories of what had transpired during that time. What made it worse was that she had also lost memories from before she had been chosen to become a 'host.' That also meant she lost ones that included himself.

Although it made him sad to think about, and he wanted to remove her from this way of life, as a system he couldn't go against his duties or the Lord System. He was stuck and could only do his utmost to ensure she completed her tasks with no incidents.

"Host? Tasks? I don't understand..." Su Yi wrenched her eyes away from the screen and instead looked at the man beside her.

"Lord System will choose hosts from their original worlds and give them tasks to complete in the other worlds before the hosts can return to their own." The man explained. "Lord System rules over the worlds and ensures that they continue to work as they should. However, a few years ago something happened, and the Lord disappeared."

"The Lord is a being that can never die and has to remain in this space and can't leave even if he wanted to." A hint of sorrow darkened the man's face, and he continued, "so as you can probably tell, it shocked all the systems and we scoured all the worlds for his presence, only to come up short. There were no traces of him anywhere until we detected something peculiar happening in different worlds."

The man paused and gave Su Yi a moment to let what he had said sink in. He waved his hand again, and a teapot appeared on the table, and he poured her a cup of tea to soothe her nerves. And it was also to give him something to distract him from reaching out and taking her hands in his own.

"In each of these worlds, a part of the Lord System's soul could be felt. It was like the Lord's soul had been split and had become embedded in one of the beings of that world." The man took a sip of tea, then said, "with the Space Between Mirrors being on the verge of collapsing without the Lord being here, us systems couldn't leave. We had to stay to keep things running as smoothly as we could, and then we came up with the idea to find someone who could travel to the worlds and capture the soul fragment for us."

"And that person is me?" Su Yi pointed to herself and stared incredulously at him. "But why? There are probably people out there who are more capable than me."

The man shook his head at her words, and consoled her, "you are the only one who can do this. You have a certain constitution that makes it easier to extract the soul fragments. It can't be anyone else but you."

Su Yi contemplated it for a moment longer and slowly nodded her head. "If... if it'll help you, then I can do it."

Although she still wasn't certain what was going on, there was something about the man that made her want to do everything in her power to help him. And after hearing about the current situation, she couldn't just let these systems down. To her, it wouldn't be right to just turn around and leave when they were in trouble; even if they were strangers.

"If you are willing, then I will start the transmission to the first world." With another wave of his hand, everything disappeared before them, and now they were both standing in an empty space.

Su Yi closed her eyes when she felt the world spinning. Her stomach performed somersaults as she moved wildly through nothing, then she felt her body hit a soft mattress.

Opening her eyes, she discovered that she was in a bedroom. From her memories, she knew it was her own.

Back in the Space Between Mirrors, the man had just received this world's memories, and his face darkened.

What was the meaning of this?