The mirror inside the elevator showed countless reflections of me getting smaller, but one anomaly stood out - my reflection that won at rock-paper-scissors against me.

The "thing" in the mirror stretched its neck, turned to look at me, and smiled.

Clunk. 

I barely regained my senses at the elevator's noise.

My hand was in a fist.

Whatever was in the mirror had its hand open.

'...I lost.'

Well, since I lost, I have to try again. 

Until I win.

[5F]

The elevator is going up.

※Note: According to most testimonies of those who performed this ritual, the "mirror self" has an unnaturally high win rate in rock-paper-scissors against oneself.

With trembling hands, I raised my fist towards the mirror again.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

My reflection with its head turned backwards changes its hand at will.

I choose scissors.

The mirror chooses rock.

...I lost again.

Clunk.

...The ascending elevator briefly stopped, then continued up as if nothing happened.

That was all in reality.

But in the elevator reflected in the mirror...

The door was now slightly ajar.

Abruptly.

Through that gap, a white hand was sticking out.

"..."

[7F]

The elevator is going up.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

It's a tie.

[7F]

'Just once.'

I just need to win once. Before reaching the 12th floor, the top floor of this building...!

"Rock, paper, scissors."

I choose scissors, the ghost chooses rock.

'I lo-'

Clunk.

The elevator shook for a moment.

That's all. Nothing changed in reality.

But in the elevator reflected in the mirror... the door was open wider now.

Through the gap, someone's arm and leg were visible.

"..."

Half of the body seemed to be inside this elevator, almost close enough to touch me...

But it's still not visible in reality. Only the mirror shows that strange scene, so I can't take my eyes off it.

'Please, just once!'

If I could just win once, it would all be over.

3. Congratulations. You have now moved on to the question phase.

That means you can go to this instruction.

'I have to go there.'

That's the least scary and quickest way. Please, please...

"Rock, paper, scissors."

It's a tie.

[10F]

"...Rock, paper, scissors."

...

I looked up.

My hand is in a fist.

And in the mirror, I see my face smiling with its palm wide open.

[12F]

I lost.

13. You never won once.

You can't get off at the top floor. How pitiful.

Clunk.

The elevator stopped.

All the red lights on the buttons went out, plunging the interior into darkness. I barely held back a scream.

'Crazy, crazy...'

I barely lifted my head.

In the huge mirror illuminating this pitch-black elevator...

"..."

The elevator doors were completely open.

1930819F, a strange floor number was displayed. And through the wide open doors in the mirror, only emptiness could be seen.

And...

The ghost is standing next to me.

"..."

I'm breathing heavily.

The ghost that was playing rock-paper-scissors with me far in the mirror has now opened the elevator doors and entered, now right in front of me in the mirror.

I rolled my eyes to look to the side.

I saw the old, dark interior with no one there, the elevator doors firmly closed.

But looking in the mirror,

Another me that came in through the darkness of the wide open elevator doors stands beside me, smiling so widely its mouth is torn, staring intently at me...

...

You have failed the ritual.

From now on, be careful whenever you ride an elevator. The thing in the mirror will try to find you and meet you.

Fortunately, you still have a chance to ask questions.

However...

: Go to 6.

The smiling something in the mirror lowered its hand.

6. From now on, the being in the mirror will conduct the ritual.

Soundless lip movements.

Rock, paper, scissors.

And it extends its fist.

"...!"

I broke out in a cold sweat as I saw my own hand thrust out a fist in response just in time.

If you don't respond to the rock-paper-scissors with the 'mirror me', it will gladly accept a win by default.

In this case: There is no separate number guidance. May you rest in peace.

I have to match it.

Rock, paper, scissors.

Once more, I extended my hand.

The opponent chose rock. And I...

Scissors.

"..."

I lost.

Now I must pay the price for defeat.

I looked up, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Not you.

The being in the mirror will ask questions.

The ghost in the mirror, taking my form, moves its finger to leave a mark on the mirror.

What's your name?

Damn it.

With trembling hands, I left letters on the mirror.

Kim Sol-eum

Snicker snicker.

The ghost standing next to me in the mirror laughed.

...I have to endure.

If you give a false answer: There is no separate number guidance. May you rest in peace.

I feel like I'm going crazy.

'Why can't I win even once?'

Even searching through the wiki's exploration records in my head yields no answers.

That's because the focus wasn't on rock-paper-scissors with ghosts in the first place.

It focused more on what questions were asked afterwards. There were no solutions on how to win at rock-paper-scissors.

After all, isn't rock-paper-scissors a game of chance?

There's no surefire way to win. But...

I barely managed to stare at the ghost next to me in the mirror, looking at me intently.

'...Then, how has it never lost even once until now?'

Simple luck?

The cliché that it knows what I'll choose because it's the 'mirror me'?

'But if that's the case, how did other people win?'

And in my case right now.

'If it knows everything, shouldn't there be no ties either?'

If it could win, then why...

Rock, paper, scissors.

Damn it.

I hurriedly extended my hand.

I chose scissors, the ghost... rock.

"..."

When's your birthday?

My fingers trembled.

September 13

The ghost in the mirror jumps up and down like mad.

...Because only one chance remains.

"..."

Continue playing rock-paper-scissors led by the being in the mirror until the elevator moves again

If you win even once: Go to 3.

If you answer the opponent's questions three or more times: Go to 99.

I've already answered twice.

My name.

My birthday.

...Now I only have one more chance to lose.

'This is the end.'

...The text for 99 goes like this.

99.

If it's taken you long enough to scroll down here after 3 answers, you're probably not the same person who started reading this ritual guide.

I hope you live happily outside the mirror! Please don't come looking for me

You get swapped.

With something in the mirror.

'No.'

Cold sweat dripped down.

But there's no time to dwell on it. I no longer have the initiative...

Rock, paper, scissors.

I hurriedly extended my hand.

Paper versus paper. A tie.

'Phew...'

I barely caught my breath...

Rock-paper-scissors.

"...!"

I missed it.

I couldn't... respond.

'Damn it.'

As I prepared to face whatever came next, gritting my teeth and getting into position...

...

Huh?

Nothing happened.

'...Ah!'

I realized. It seems that because I hadn't lowered the hand I was holding out, it counted as a 'response' to the new round of rock-paper-scissors.

'Right. I was holding out paper...'

"..."

Wait a minute.

I recalled the results of the rock-paper-scissors I'd played with the ghost so far.

Could this be...

Rock, paper, scissors.

This time too, I didn't change my hand.

It was a tie.

Rock, paper, scissors.

This time too.

And the next...

I kept choosing paper and staying still.

The strange thing is, the ghost is doing the same.

We tied three times in a row like that.

'...I see.'

I swallowed.

It seems I've realized something crucial.

- The ghost in the mirror doesn't choose scissors.

So if I just choose paper, it always ends in a tie.

If I choose paper, the opponent should choose scissors to win. But since it can't do that, it has no choice but to choose paper as well to avoid losing.

'But why?'

Why can't it do it?

There must be some backstory... no, for now that's just speculation on bare ground, so let's focus on the phenomenon.

At any rate, I've found a way to defend...

Rock-paper-scissors.

I hurriedly opened my hand.

From now on, if I keep choosing paper like this, I could always tie.

'But I can't tie forever.'

The fact that there was no manual for such a case was even more despairing.

Right. The conditions haven't changed.

'I absolutely have to win once, just once.'

How can I win...

'...If that ghost knows what I'll choose because it's the 'mirror me','

The solution was surprisingly simple.

'I just need to choose randomly.'

That's probably how everyone else passed.

Whether it was civilians who were so terrified they just threw out their hands randomly without even knowing what they were choosing.

Or field exploration team employees with nerves of steel who already knew the manual and just chose carelessly whatever came to hand.

Even if they got predicted in between, they would've won at least once in five or six tries. There was no need to record what they chose and didn't choose.

But I missed both of those.

The reason is...

'...The silver ring!'

Because I came in wearing the mental defense item, I couldn't panic, but I kept calculating and choosing while scared, ending up in this situation. Damn it...!

This is the worst result a coward can produce without getting a status effect.

'Should I take off the ring now?'

No, it's too late. There's only one chance.

'How on earth...'

I roughly wiped away the sweat trickling down my temples.

In the process, the button on my sleeve scratched my cheek, drawing blood. I wiped away that blood along with the sweat.

...At that moment.

A red line appeared on the ghost's cheek in the mirror as well.

"...!"

And red stained its sleeve.

...Just like the sweat mixed with blood I wiped away.

Wait.

'Does it... share my condition?'

Right. The mirror is reflecting me after all.

Even if it's a ghost that started moving on its own in the mirror, it's still affected by the 'me' outside the mirror...

...!

That's it.

'...If so!'

A flash of realization passed through my mind.

I gritted my teeth and searched my pockets.

The ghost in my form in the mirror mockingly searches its own pockets and takes out the same thing.

But what I took out wasn't some amazing item.

Just a pen and a rubber band.

'Quickly.'

I slipped the pen onto my finger and started wrapping the rubber band...

Rock-paper-scissors.

"...!"

I responded.

While responding to tie with the surprise rock-paper-scissors thrown by my mirror self. I vertically fixed one pen each to the thumb and index finger of my right hand.

And my left hand too.

'Qu-quickly.'

Rock-paper-scissors.

Rock-paper-scissors.

Rock-paper-scissors.

Rock-paper-scissors.

As if trying to interfere, the ghost in the mirror keeps extending its hand. I breathlessly respond to that while continuing my work.

The pen tip scratches my arms and hands several times as I fumble.

But...

Rock-paper-scissors.

'...I did it!'

I hurriedly extended my hand.

But this time it wasn't paper.

It was... 

Scissors, made with the index and thumb fingers that I had fixed so they couldn't bend.

...!

But the opponent in the mirror still had all fingers splayed open in paper.

To be precise...

'That's all it can choose!'

Due to the pens and rubber bands I used to prevent my index finger and thumb from bending, its fingers were constrained.

'This way it can't make a fist.'

But from its position of not being able to choose scissors either... all it can do is keep its hand open. In the end...

Scissors versus paper.

"...!!"

I won.

"I did-!"

Bang!

The ghost in the mirror smashed its head against the mirror.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I stood frozen in place.

BangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBangBang!!

The mirror shatters.

It cracks, ripples spread, pieces break off.

But, but...

What's inside the mirror, couldn't come out.

...

The vibrations stopped.

The thing that was smashing its head against the mirror from the inside lifted its head.

The thing that had been smiling with its mouth torn wide open until just now was expressionless.

It looked down at its own hands bound so the joints couldn't bend, then contorted its expression.

It contorted its expression!

With a strange expression no human could make, with this strange expression it glared at me and then...

Kekekekeke!!

Laughing madly, it leapt out through the open elevator doors in the mirror.

"..."

[Going down.]

"Whoooosh..."

I collapsed to the floor.

The elevator starts moving again.

The strange text disappears from the floor indicator, and normal numbers are displayed...

[12F]

Ding-dong-

[12th floor. The doors are opening.]

3. Congratulations. You have succeeded in the ritual!

Get off at the top floor and find the nearest window.

If there is no window: Go to 7.

I survived.

Staggering, I went out into the dark hallway.

Though I had entered during the day, the sun seemed to have already set, and the gloomy hallway windows were sporadically broken with tape patched over them or covered in graffiti.

If I had come in alone originally, I would have screamed and run out of this abandoned building, but now even that sense of fear gave me relief...

I moved towards the nearest window across from me.

The window was grimy with dust, but without hesitation I placed my finger on it.

If you write your desired question on the window, the being that was in the mirror will answer any question.

And this answer is always true.

The question I'm most curious about.

The wish I want to make.

- Can I return to where I originally lived through Daydream Inc.'s wish-granting potion?

I removed my finger from the window.

Then, at the bottom of the window, other letters began to appear...

"...!"

The answer to my question.