The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World

"Hey, you alright there? You look pale enough to drop dead," Griffer said, leaning sideways to peer at Corwin.

"W-what? No, it’s nothing," Corwin replied quickly, straightening his back. "I... I just don’t feel like I’m fully prepared yet."

Griffer shrugged. "It’s just a trial. You’re basically fighting yourself, right? That means it can’t be that bad. Same skills, same level. Not so much of a big deal if you ask me."

Noelle nodded gently beside them. "He’s right. Think of it as a controlled environment. There’s no reason to panic. We’ve already done the preparation to the best we can... so, you just need to trust yourself."

"But still... our opponent will have one thing that we won’t," Melia added from the side, she sounded thoughtful as she rested her chin lightly on her knuckles, eyes fixed on the stage.

As a matter of fact, she wasn’t wrong.

That detail was, in fact, the very core of this trial’s design.

They would be facing their own clones. But the true challenge resided in the unknown variable, since each copy would possess something its original lacked.

What that difference was, no one would be told.

It was a test of perception as much as power.

A moment where a scholar had to confront themselves... and deduce, in real time, what their reflection could do that they could not.

The five of them were seated along the observation tier—a curved row of stone benches overlooking the platform below, giving them a clear, unobstructed view of the trial stage.

Instructor Airin stood at the center of it, currently occupied with several academy staff members as they adjusted something technical near the platform’s core apparatus.

Five tall mirrors had been erected there, arranged in a circular formation. Their surfaces were unnaturally still, not reflecting light so much as holding it, and faint threads of mana wiring trailed from their frames into a massive white-cerulean crystal embedded near the stage.

From there, the energy lines extended toward a sealed chamber at the rear wall. The entire structure radiated a quiet, ominous presence.

Corwin quietly swallowed.

Ruvian reached over and gave Corwin’s back a firm, steady pat.

"Relax."

His hand gave Corwin’s shoulder one last firm squeeze before withdrawing.

"Stop imagining failure before the trial even begins. You need to save that energy for when it actually matters."

Griffer glanced between them, raising his eyebrows slightly. "...You know, for someone giving encouragement, you sound like you’re scolding him."

"Do you want a scolding too?" Melia joked.

"What!? Of course, no!"

A few chuckles escaped from them.

"Thanks, I’ll do my best." Corwin said as he looked down towards the stage.

Later, they noticed Airin below, raising one hand and calling them down.

Without another word, they began descending the steps toward the platform.

*****

At the foot of the towering mirror, its obsidian frame drinking in the light like a well without a bottom, the 5 scholars of Polaris held their stations where its twin had been placed to complete the circle.

Instructor Airin paced around them as she delivered her final briefing.

"So, the trial format is quite straightforward," she began briskly.

"Your minimum objective is survival. Last longer than five minutes, and you’ll already be considered to have performed well. The longer you endure, the higher your evaluation."

She stopped between them with a smile.

"And if you somehow manage to defeat your own reflection..."

She gave a small, delighted laugh.

"Well, that would be very remarkable. Victories in this trial are extraordinarily rare. In fact, calling them rare might be too generous. Every year, only 7 to 13 people manage to defeat their reflections."

Her gaze swept across the five of them.

"So don’t pressure yourselves to win. Focus on surviving, and observing. Do that, and you’ll already be exceeding expectations."

"That sounds easy," Griffer said, rolling his shoulders like he was about to step into a friendly spar.

"All the best, everyone," Noelle added softly, offering a small, sincere smile.

"Same here," Melia said, her eyes still fixed on the mirror before her.

"W-we can do this!" Corwin added, clenching his fists.

"Yeah. See you all when it’s over."

Then, with a low, resonant hum, the academy staff activated the mechanism.

Lines of pale cerulean light surged through the wiring beneath the platform. The massive crystal below flared, and in response, the obsidian frames of the mirrors ignited with a dim glow.

A staff member’s voice echoed across the platform.

"Place your hands on the mirror."

One by one, the scholars raised their arms, palms inching forward toward the dark glass as though approaching the surface of still water whose depth could not be measured.

Ruvian did the same.

His reflection mirrored him perfectly, reproducing the shift of his muscles flawlessly, its eyes watching him with the exact same angle, the exact same calm.

As his own hand slowly closed the final distance and met the surface; the instant skin touched glass, the mirror moved.

The surface softened beneath his palm like liquid, ripples spreading outward in slow, silent rings as if his touch had disturbed something.

Then, he could feel that he was firmly being pulled.

A pressure closed around his hand from the other side, fingers aligning with his own, interlocking with a strong grip.

He could feel that someone was holding him.

’How impatient.’

Ruvian lifted his gaze.

His reflection was still there, standing exactly where it should be...

But its expression had changed.

It was grinning at him.

If this had been the old Yuzuki, the version of him from years ago, small and irrationally afraid of things he couldn’t explain, then perhaps the sight would have terrified him.

Back then, mirrors had always bothered him. He’d never known why. Something about them had felt disturbingly wrong.

But that was a child’s fear.

Now he was older. Wiser. Tempered by experience and sharpened by reality. A mirror, no matter how strange, didn’t frighten him anymore.

Then, without hesitation, Ruvian responded with a gentle smile.

Gradually, he allowed his body to pass through the glassy surface until he was completely gone.

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[Chapter 59: Trials of Confrontation (2)]