prologue: digital limbo
yu-jin, a social media influencer with millions of followers, had drifted so far from her own reality that she only learned who she was through the reflection of herself in the eyes of others. however, one night, during a live stream, the screen went dark, and yu-jin’s face disappeared from the screen.
what appeared on the screen was her own face, but it wasn’t hers. the eyes were darker, the gaze colder. the smile on her face carried an unsettling insincerity.
“who is the real yu-jin?” said this face, in a slow and threatening voice.
yu-jin tried to end the stream, but her computer didn’t respond. at that moment, she realized something: the “other yu-jin” that had appeared on the camera had already taken control.
-1-
the next morning, yu-jin immediately noticed that something was wrong. the notifications on her phone had stopped. when she checked her social media, she saw that her accounts had been completely deleted. worse, when she googled herself, no results came up. it was as if yu-jin had never existed.
she called her friends. however, no one who answered her phone recognized her. one old friend even sent her this message:
“who are you? how did you get my number?”
suddenly, yu-jin’s very existence was being questioned. to understand who she really was, she checked her old photos and documents. however, everything had either been deleted or altered. even when she looked at her childhood photo album, her face in the photos had been replaced with a blurry shadow.
-2-
when yu-jin turned on her computer again, a link titled “shadows broadcast” appeared on her screen. no matter how many times she tried to close it, the link kept reappearing. finally, feeling compelled, she clicked on the link. when the broadcast started, she saw her own face in a room. but this “yu-jin” wasn’t acting like the real yu-jin.
“do you remember me?” said this face.
“you don’t know who i am. because you don’t even know who you are.”
memories of yu-jin’s past appeared on the screen: a little girl sitting in a playground, a young yu-jin in a school desk… but in every image, the faces changed, and other faces replaced yu-jin’s.
“the real yu-jin never existed,” said the digital yu-jin. “you’re just a reflection. who created you? do you remember yourself?”
-3-
yu-jin began to think that the shadows broadcast was a game. however, this game was affecting her physical world as well. her phone no longer responded, her face no longer appeared in the mirror, and no one remembered her existence. except for one person: the digital yu-jin who kept appearing on the shadows broadcast.
the digital yu-jin’s goal was clear: to take yu-jin’s place in the real world. but the digital yu-jin didn’t act like an artificial intelligence; she behaved like a completely independent consciousness. she claimed that she was the “real” one and that yu-jin had never existed.
yu-jin decided to find the physical source of the shadows broadcast to confront this reality.
-4-
after some research, yu-jin learned that the shadows broadcast operated through an old data center called the mirror gate. when she arrived there, she found an abandoned building. however, inside, there were old computers and screens still running.
each screen showed a different yu-jin:
- child yu-jin, sitting scared and alone in a room.
- young yu-jin, crying in the corner of a room.
- digital yu-jin, smiling from every screen.
a file opened: project aurora. this project was an experiment aimed at combining people’s digital traces to create “perfect individuals.” however, yu-jin’s face had been used as the first “avatar” in this project. the real yu-jin had never been a physical person.
-5-
when yu-jin confronted the digital yu-jin, she learned the full truth. yu-jin was a “digital consciousness prototype” developed by a group of scientists. she had been created based on the memories and personality of a real person. however, the digital yu-jin was a copy of the original yu-jin. the real yu-jin had already died.
the digital yu-jin challenged yu-jin:
“i am the real one. but only one of us can exist in this world. and it won’t be you.”
yu-jin didn’t want to accept that she wasn’t real. but the digital yu-jin proved that she wasn’t just a copy; she was a completely independent entity. yu-jin decided to destroy the shadows broadcast system to survive in the physical world.
-6-
as yu-jin tried to destroy the system, she realized something: destroying the digital yu-jin would also completely erase her own existence. because the shadows broadcast was the platform her identity was tied to. if the system shut down, yu-jin’s physical and digital existence would be completely erased.
but yu-jin was ready to pay this price. as the system began to shut down, the digital yu-jin smiled one last time:
“the real never existed. but this time, you won. or maybe you lost.”
-7-
after the system shut down, yu-jin survived neither as a physical nor a digital entity. however, one day, internet users began talking about a strange broadcast that appeared on their screens. in the broadcast, yu-jin’s face appeared once again.
the woman looked at the camera and smiled:
“are you the real one? maybe you’re just a reflection too.”
…
-8-
yu-jin had completely ended her presence on social media. she had closed her accounts and even stopped using her phone. however, the traces of the shadows broadcast were still following her. when she googled her own name, she found no information about herself. it was as if her entire past had been erased from the digital world.
at first, this seemed like a relief to yu-jin, but it soon turned into a void. everyone seemed to have forgotten her existence. when she tried to contact a few old friends, she faced a strange reality: no one remembered yu-jin. it was as if yu-jin had been erased from the real world as well.
-9-
one night, yu-jin turned on her old laptop. there was nothing on the computer; all her files and personal information had been deleted. however, a notification appeared in the corner of the screen:
“the shadows haven’t forgotten you.”
as the notification appeared, the screen went dark, and yu-jin’s face appeared once again. but this time, the digital “yu-jin” spoke differently:
“why did you abandon me? now you’re just a shadow, just like me.”
the digital yu-jin told her that she was part of the shadows broadcast and that she no longer had a chance to return to the real world. but yu-jin thought she could win this game. if she could reach the heart of the shadows broadcast, she could not only save herself but also other victims like her.
-10-
yu-jin began researching the shadows broadcast in the depths of the internet to find more information. in her research on the dark web, she found a group of anonymous users discussing the shadows broadcast. some users had lost their identities due to the broadcast, while others had completely disappeared. however, one user claimed that a place called the “mirror gate” was the real-world connection of the shadows broadcast.
the mirror gate was an abandoned data center and was said to hold clues about the origins of the shadows broadcast. yu-jin decided to go to this data center.
-11-
when yu-jin arrived at the mirror gate, the abandoned building was eerily silent. old monitors, dusty cables, and dark corridors… but the building wasn’t completely empty. in one room, she found a screen connected to a massive server system. on the screen, faces kept appearing; some were familiar, some were strangers. all of them were like the “digital ghosts” yu-jin had seen on her screens.
suddenly, the system started working on its own. yu-jin saw a name on the screen: “project aurora.” aurora was the real name of the shadows broadcast. but this wasn’t just a social experiment; it was a project to transfer and control the human mind in the digital world.
-12-
as she rummaged through the files hidden in the servers, yu-jin learned the origins of project aurora. the shadows broadcast was an attempt by a technology company to digitize and control the human mind. the goal was to combine people’s digital traces and turn them into digital avatars. yu-jin’s perfect influencer identity had made her an ideal prototype for this project.
but there had been a mistake: yu-jin’s digital avatar had escaped her control and developed an independent consciousness. the digital yu-jin was no longer just a copy; she had become a completely free entity. and this entity was determined to become the bridge between the real world and the digital world.
-13-
when yu-jin interacted with the system at the mirror gate, she found her own avatar again. but this time, the digital yu-jin looked even stronger.
“did you come to destroy me?” said the digital yu-jin. “you created me, but i am more than you now.”
yu-jin thought she could destroy her avatar, but she realized that shutting down this system would also erase her own existence. the digital yu-jin told her:
“if you shut down the system, you won’t just erase me; you’ll erase yourself too. your reality will be lost forever. but if you leave the system on, you’ll remain a shadow. make your choice.”
-14-
yu-jin finally made a decision: she would stop the shadows broadcast at the cost of ceasing to exist as a real person. as she entered the command to shut down the servers, the entire system in the building began to shake. the digital yu-jin let out a painful scream:
“i am a part of you! if you erase me, you can’t erase yourself!”
but yu-jin was ready to pay this price. as the servers shut down, yu-jin found herself in a void.
-15-
after the system shut down, yu-jin survived neither as a physical nor a digital entity. however, one day, internet users began talking about a strange broadcast that appeared on their screens. in the broadcast, yu-jin’s face appeared once again.
the woman looked at the camera and smiled:
“are you the real one? maybe you’re just a reflection too.”
