Location: Classroom 5-A
The classroom buzzed with the usual end-of-semester excitement. Kids passed notes, whispered secrets, and counted down to graduation.
But Daehyun felt it again—that unsettling chill.
Areum sat at her desk. Silent. Unmoving.
Too perfect.
Too quiet.
He'd spent enough time with her to notice the differences now.
This wasn't the same girl he helped during the library incident.
Her gaze wasn't soft—it was calculating. Unblinking.
---
Location: Back Playground
A new girl stood alone near the jungle gym.
Same face. Same eyes.
But different name: Rael.
She didn't introduce herself in class. No one asked. She simply… appeared. And the teachers didn't question it either.
Daehyun watched from the distance. His instincts screamed.
Areum glanced out the window at the same moment.
Their eyes met—hers and Rael's.
Like a mirror reflecting something twisted.
---
Later: After School – Walking Home
"Areum," Daehyun called out.
She turned, slowly.
"…Yes?"
"Who's that new girl?"
"I don't know."
"You look like her."
"Do I?" she asked, voice light—but cold.
Daehyun didn't press further. But as she walked away, he noticed something—
A slight glitch in her step.
As if her body remembered how to limp, but her mind didn't.
---
Final Panel: Rael's Perspective
Rael sat alone in a dim room, playing with a small recorder.
It played back:
> "You are not real. You are perfect. The original must break."
She smiled, calm and mechanical.
Then clicked it off.
"I'll see you at the tournament, Sister."
---