– Listen to me, son. This world will show no mercy, no matter how much you try and try, you’ll fail, but as long as you keep improving, you’ll fail less.

Joel woke up in a cold sweat. His eyes were red and his body was weakened. His mind couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday, his dreams devolved into being stuck inside a prison with only death waiting for him on the other side of the door or if he’s too unlucky he’ll die alone in his room. ‘What if I die here, what becomes of me?.’ He thought. The panic setting in. The haunting thoughts. Still, Joel is more disciplined, ‘I’ve taken more than my share of fear’, He knows fear too well, his time in his dimension taught him well about dread and tragedy, lessons he can’t forget.

‘I’ve given it some thought, and I have many ideas.

First, I noticed the strange reversal effect in my apartment. And then mirrors on the other side reform seconds after I break them.

Second, I can see the laser slowly traveling if I'm put into a dangerous situation, it’s like a reflex because of adrenaline, although I can’t move faster than the laser, it’ll give me time to study its trajectory and curve it.

Third, if I train a bit more and put myself in danger… I'll gain more power to be able to see the laser from miles away. Like training muscles. For that, I need to use my engineering degree.

Now I have three ideas… I guess I’ll have to start with the training, I need an object that can kill me quickly… Aha! A simple knife, I’ve got plenty of those. If I make a machine that can throw knives at my vitals, that would surely put me in danger… or kill me… Genius!’

Joel, using his knowledge in mechanical engineering and tools he had, started working very hard to perfect the machine with deadly precision, it took a few days, but it was finished. Now it could throw knives in a specific direction at random speeds and can track movement. Yet, it remained random enough to be unpredictable.

Now standing before an automatic gun with knives, and in front of a sturdy wall for support. Joel prepares his soul for a battle, he starts the machine and fires the first shot.

‘I can see it, the knife slowly approaching me, going to my stomach. If I can move, my body will move like a reflex. When time resumes its normal speed, I would’ve moved away from the knife… SHIT!’

Time resumed faster than he expected, the knife instead of hitting the wall, it penetrated the left side of his abdomen.

‘UHHH! HA! HAAAA AHAAAA! HAAHAAAAHA!’ The expected tears turned into laughter. ‘I underestimated the speed… but that’s fine since it didn’t hit any vital organs! Still painful though…’ quickly the mad man rushed to clean his wound before it got worse. He’s now more determined to improve his times, each trial punching through his body, not killing him, but still weakening his frail body.

A week passed.

‘My time improved by only seconds. My body can move, but at a slow rate. For the first 5 seconds, I move like a sloth. After that, I freeze.’

Now that he’s been allowed some time to heal, His high tolerance for pain, his collection of deadly weapons in the form of kitchen utensils and an extra mirror. He puts on a brave face and opens the door. He steps inside making as much noise and smashing all the mirrors he could see. Unfortunately, the response wasn’t late.

A laser is launched from across the room, he uses the mirror to block the laser, yet, the mirror completely breaks, and the laser almost catches his head. Now he had to run as fast as possible through the maze. Another laser is shot, knowing that his life is in danger, the ability gets activated, seeing the laser slowly making its way to a mirror, he smashes it with a pan. The mirror is broken and the laser is wasted.

‘YES! If my calculations are correct, the mirrors should start reforming in seconds, by that time I'm able to move to another location.’

Joel immediately moved to the eastern glass wall, meanwhile the mirrors reformed and a laser was shot. Time slows again and Joel is able to predict its path. This time, the laser is aimed at his head, he blocks it with a pan, but the pan melts so he swiftly moves away. The power of the laser gets knocked back and hits the glass wall pinning him, 5 seconds later, another shot is launched straight towards him, ‘Shit! There isn’t time to block it.’, so instead Joel decided it’d be best if it hits him. 

He moved his body while the time was slow, and decided that he’d rather be pierced somewhere safe rather than to risk his life. The laser ended up making a hole in his chest, breaking multiple ribs and taking a small part of his left lung. The pain caused him to be delusional and shortened his breath…

‘Damn it! That was a great hit. Thankfully the wound got cauterized automatically by the laser, even if it hurts I still need to move!’

Determined to either die in battle or succeed in his goal to get to the end. Joel analyzes the pattern of the mirrors and he concludes something important. ‘The laser gets launched at 5 second intervals, if I dodge one I have 5 seconds to move in the maze, the mirrors are also designed to be very heavy, flattened, tiles that are planted on the ground sideways, breaking them from the top is easy. So if I slow down the time and use the wall to jump very high and break the mirrors, I’ll certainly gain some distance.’

Joel aligned himself on the glass wall, putting his feet on it, waiting for the next shot. Then as expected, the laser dashed through the air, at the right moment, the laser was meters from Joel, time slowed, and he jumped as hard as he could towards the northern side mirrors.

Time resumed, the laser missed by his feet, and he got launched through breaking multiple mirrors. Painful yet effective.

‘UH MY FUCKING RIBS’ well if he hadn’t broken ribs, he now has. 

‘5 seconds, that’s all I have, I need to move!’ He stood up, 4 seconds, He ran, 3 seconds, He smashed through mirrors, 2 seconds, ‘The laser should be launched in my direction in a second or two seconds, I'm now at the western glass wall, so I need to do the same thing.’ 1 second.

Now that Joel has made some distance, the laser became faster, when it got to his site, ‘Strange… The laser is aiming more to the left, it’s gonna miss me, but why?’ Then his eyes shifted more to see where it was going, he realized it predicted his move, and instead of a direct hit, it’s aiming for a mirror on his left side. If he jumps, it kills him. If he dodges, it bounces back hitting him. He was trapped in a corner, now he has to take another hit.

‘I can’t afford a third hit. I already have two in my shoulder and chest, multiple broken ribs and far less energy, there must be something…    Come on, think!’. 

Under the effects of adrenaline, Joel rushed through all the ideas again. ‘Breaking the mirrors? Not enough time. Taking the hit? Can’t. Dodging? Where? Maybe I’ve been thinking about this too simply… Can I break the mirror than dodge in time? Only 5 seconds… I have no choice…’

While the time was still slow. Joel, in a moment of panic, smashes the left mirror with his fist, his hands sustaining broken fingers, scratches, and bruises, then he quickly takes a small piece of the mirror. He dodges right to minimize the risk of the hit, and the laser hits the small piece, it reflects the laser, but burns some skin on Joel’s land while he’s dodging. Joel was left in extreme agony, so he screamed a demonic scream akin to a hundred men being tortured to death.

‘Uh… The room’s leaving me empty… And what’s next will be hurtful, but I need to smash through the mirrors if I’m to survive.’, his hands numbed and his mind racing, Joel smashes through the mirrors like a raging bull, only stopping for a few seconds to evade the laser and to catch his breath, each time getting closer to the source…