"Calm down." Hans hypnotizes himself into believing that everything should be fine and that he is not dead yet.
There is no use in panicking anymore after all. Hans calms his nerves and looks outside via the window. It is already dark, and it is the deep of the night already. Hans looks at his phone to check the time, and it seems to be already past 10:00 pm. This means he has 2 hours before midnight, or simply 2 hours before the 24 hours are up.
"How should I do it?"
Kiss a girl he must, but how? The thought of breaking and entering just to steal a kiss sound viable as it's better to be alive than dead, but Hans will only resort to this only if he has no choice. Tying his shoelaces, and wearing his hoodie and denim pants, he goes out of his apartment to search for a 'target', but sadly there is only peace and quiet.
It is almost eerie, and as if the world is in stasis, Hans realizes that there is something gravely wrong going on. He frowns at the thought of an accident as that is just too much. "Too much bad luck…"
Walking in circles, he realizes that he is inside some sort of maze. The 'world' he is currently in is not of the mortal realm. "I really have bad luck, don't I?" It is exasperating.
The Mirror Realm is a dimension that exists only in mirrors. It is an accident that he finds himself suddenly here. There must be a mage within the vicinity of his apartment who casts dimension-summoning magic. This means that there must be a fight going on somewhere.
"I desperately need to kiss a girl…"
Hans stands in the middle of the empty highway, looking around. To confirm his theory of whether this is really the mirror realm, he attacks the garbage bin idly standing a meter away from him. He kicks the trash causing it to fly everywhere.
After a second or so, the trash vanishes into ash and returns to where it should be. Even the dent from the garbage can that Hans causes fixes itself as if time is rewinding.
"This is indeed the mirror realm."
Hans falls into deep contemplation. Under pressure, he summons his utmost potential thinking of a way out of his current predicament. "Hmmm… I should find who is the summoner of this mirror realm…"
Normally, he will choose to hide, and let the storm pass, but he cannot all thanks to his Geass restrictions telling him to go kiss a girl. This is just terrible.
On a silver lining, he manages to discover this Geass restriction because he decides to not wait for the Magic Inspector to make a check-up on him. Come to think of it, the Magic Inspector will only be arriving tomorrow, which Hans luckily did not wait for.
Still, he is in a predicament.
"And here am I entertaining the thought of breaking and entering…"
Hans's plan B on the occasion that his plan A doesn't work ultimately fails. Leaving him no choice, Hans has to resort to more drastic measures. "Whoever is responsible for this, I will smooch you good~"
He runs with momentum, trying to discern where the focal point of the magic is. The truth is Hans is afraid for his dear life. Mages capable of summoning a dimension are not to trifle with as they should at least someone who has one foot on the Archmage status.
In the mazes of mirrors from the edge of the mirror realm, Hans finds himself zigzagging on the familiar streets just near his apartment. He is sweating hard and is suffering from dehydration already. For a newbie otherworlder, this level of intensity is just too much.
But if Hans really wants to live, he can only persevere. He has nothing to lose!
"Ugh~ so stupid! Why didn't I think of that!?"
Hans returns to his apartment and gets himself a basin of water, a candle, and a blindfold. The mirror realm has a set of rules of its own, and while it is impossible for Hans to damage the objects in this world, he can interact with what he owns. Besides the physical objects of the real world, the mirror realm also reflects the law of possession too which allows Hans to interact with his own properties.
With no time to waste, Hans fills his basin with water from the faucet, lights up his candle with a matchstick, and finally, he puts on his blindfold.
"Reveal~ reaveal~" He chants.
"Reveal~ reveal~" He repeats.
The divination ritual itself is overpowered especially in terms of its efficiency and accuracy. However, it only works for the self. The mage cannot divine information outside of the self through this ritual. Still, there is a loophole to exploit.
Hans visualizes the question in his heart trying to conjure a mental image of what he desires. The questions come out of his tongue, verbalizing the deep seethed urgency of the matter.
"Do I find the one responsible for summoning the Mirror World?"
Hans hears the ringing in his ears telling him that the ritual is finished. This means that the question's value alone is too much that his magic capacity cannot sustain it.
"I peer to thyself and learn of myself. Reveal to me which I wish to learn, oh fading mirror of clarity!"
Hans removes his blindfold after the necessary incantations. In the basin is a single word—yes— and this elates Hans's mood immediately. It is worrying though how the word 'Yes' seems to be almost in shambles barely legible. It is as if telling Hans that the future is uncertain.
Putting the blindfold back, Hans repeats the ritual.
"Where do I find the one?"
Immediately after, Hans horrendously starts wheezing. He is coughing blood, and his eyes are crying blood. The blindfold is drenched red and thick with blood and comes with it is the piercing pain as if someone is hammering nails into his eyes.
"I peer to thyself… and learn of myself…"
Hans barely finishes the incantations in an almost gibberish manner. The intense feedback of excruciating pain tells Hans how hefty the information is… As a newly awakened, the stimulation of the feedback from the backlash is just too much.
Hans removes the blindfold, and without a second to waste, he glances at the basin of water impatiently after... fearing that the 'answer' might suddenly disappear and disperse. The candle wax struggles to form as they just dance away in the cold calm water ignoring Hans entirely.
"Please… damn work!"
Finally, after a minute or two, something in a semblance of words arranges itself on the basin of water.
"Outside… of the apartment?" Hans questioningly reads, unsure of what it means.
Hans stands up and wipes the little bit of blood from his mouth and cheeks. He then puts tissue on his nose because of the persistent nosebleed.
"Ugh… It is safe to assume that this means outside of my apartment as in literally, right?" He still has his doubts, but there is no use in overthinking too much.
Hans grooms himself by combing his hair and wearing the only suit he has. He recalls, there is still some chocolate since Valentine's Day. He should prepare some as peace offerings. Hans smoothens his coat as he idly waits by the gate of his apartment waiting for the fateful encounter.
He is not doing this so that he will look cool and impressive. This is a necessity for him to survive. Hans has always had the impression of women being critiques. To put it nicely, they are expressive. To put it honestly, they are often bitchy.
If Hans wants to seduce, ahem*, kiss a girl, he should make the apt preparations to minimize the damage as much as possible. The women of this world are just too powerful for their own good. If Hans doesn't want to be suddenly under a bridge with a boulder on top of him, he should at least try his best to endear himself to them.
And so, from where he stands, Hans sees a cloud of dust rising up from the horizon. Not really as in the 'horizon', but the figure of a middle-aged man piggybacking someone is quite a marvel to behold. Especially with that clouds of dust while he runs...
The flickering of the lamposts this deep in the night doesn't do justice to the many horror movies that Hans use to watch. The way the clouds of dust follow the middle-aged man's trail just contributes to the comical spectacle.
But Hans cannot laugh as the man in question must be under the influence of strong magic.
Hans immediately and fearlessly places himself in the middle of the highway receiving the ridiculously running man… "Stop, stop, stop!" He yells at the top of his lungs. "What the fuck?" Suddenly, Hans cusses out involuntarily as he realizes that the 'someone' the middle-aged man is piggybacking is the main heroine of the novel.
"Get awa-away from me!" Hans yells and runs off in the opposite direction from the middle-aged man.
"Oi! Young man! Wait for me! Take my daughter, you bastard!"
"I don't wanna!"
Sometimes out of panic, a person might find themselves in the most ridiculous of circumstances. Sometimes, Hans thinks to himself how 'stupidity' can become an art. The out-of-context affair finally meets a conclusion as the middle-aged man grabs Hans by his collar.
"Oii! Bastard! Why did you run!? I said take my daughter, you bastard!"
"DON'T WAnna!"