Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 190. Dream within a Dream
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I thought crossing over from the art gallery would make it a bit less hot.
...
I wipe away the unpleasant sweat trickling down my forehead with my sleeve.
"Everyone, it's hot, right?"
"Hot."
"Yeah."
"I'm... the same as before."
As expected, Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin complain about the heat, while Yoo Daon still seems oblivious to it.
We wander aimlessly through the dark art gallery.
Of course, we're not just wandering around.
As we pass by, I tap people's shoulders.
"Excuse me."
...
A man staring ecstatically at a sculpture.
"Please wake up."
...
A woman giggling while gazing at a painting covered in thick black paint.
"Can you hear me?"
...
An elderly person kneeling in prayer, tears streaming down their face.
No one even tries to listen to me.
It feels like they don't even register that I'm there.
"It's no use."
Song Arin shakes her head, cutting me off.
"The words aren't getting through at all."
"That's how it seems."
In that case, maybe burn the paintings—
No.
A translucent window pops up in front of me.
[Name: Landscape]
[Oil painting, colored with sorrow and darkness.]
[100×100 cm]
I check the golden letters engraved next to the painting.
['Darkness' is a painting admired by many.]
[This painting hints at the viewer's beautiful future.]
[As they gaze at it, countless people dream of a rosy future coming their way and harbor hope.]
Even my eyes have gone strange.
More precisely, it's like they've forgotten how to function properly.
Even flipping through the manual doesn't offer much help.
"Hey, do you know where we are?"
In the end, I have no choice but to ask the manual directly.
-Flutter!
The manual flips open.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[KM - When You Don't Know Where You Are]
1. While working at the Management Bureau, there will naturally be times when you have no idea where you are.
2. In such cases, calmly look around and decide where you need to go.
3. This might sound irresponsible, but in times like these, trust your instincts.
4. Instincts are one of the legacies from our ancestors that allowed us to survive this far without going extinct. They'll betray you sometimes, of course, but they've saved your life before too.
5. Please wait just a moment. It just takes time; I'm not failing to find an answer.
No need for excuses like that.
Instincts, huh.
If I had to pick the person here with the best instincts...
"Chaeyeon."
"Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon, who had been scanning our surroundings beside me, turns to look at me.
"What's up?"
"Find us a way."
A flash of bewilderment crosses Jang Chaeyeon's face.
"I don't know the way."
"I know."
Even greater bewilderment flickers across her expression.
"But...?"
"Just pick based on your gut feeling."
Jang Chaeyeon stares at me blankly,
"I'll give it a try."
then lets out a small sigh, nods, and starts walking ahead.
"...Can we really trust her?"
Song Arin asks worriedly, watching me follow behind,
"Chaeyeon does have good instincts, but..."
Yoo Daon trails off too.
"Let's go."
If I had to pick the person among us with the best instincts, it'd be me or Jang Chaeyeon.
More importantly, what bothers me is...
...
I look around.
This painting depicts countless people screaming and clutching their own throats before a faceless bride.
[Name: Proof of God]
[Watercolor, colored with fanaticism in faith.]
[100×90 cm]
['Absence' is proof for many...]
I examine the gold-leaf text written here too.
What I'm seeing and the description still don't match.
The painting in front of people bowing and shedding tears had explanations like that attached.
In contrast, other writings—like the landscape or these—depict far more grotesque expressions than I imagined.
...
Jang Chaeyeon, who had been leading us, turns back and meets my eyes.
"By my feeling, it's here."
Here?
I look up and scan the surroundings.
This corridor didn't feel crowded to begin with, but this spot even less so.
Like where we first arrived, there are no signs of people.
"This painting, it's really... um,
I gaze at the painting in front of me.
Countless people are clustered together like a whirlpool.
Clumped into one swirling mass, they all wear blind expressions, focused solely on forming the vortex.
A translucent window appears over the painting.
[Name: Whirlpool]
[Pastel painting, tears used to emphasize points on leather canvas]
[200 x 80 cm]
I start reading the gold-leaf text.
['Whirlpool' is a work expressing a vortex of anxiety and loneliness.]
[Within this piece, figures falling into darkness or trapped in the whirlwind appear close to each other, yet evoke a sense of isolation where they can't reach one another, each locked in solitude.]
[The figures in the painting are linked by the label 'comrades,' but their expressions suggest experiencing personal descents into abyss in the same space, revealing the inescapable isolation of repetitive life.]
...
I scrutinize the painting.
Among the masses in the whirlpool, there's a familiar Yoo Daon, Jang Chaeyeon, Song Arin, and me, swept up with the same blind expressions as everyone else.
"...This is us, right?"
Yoo Daon mutters, and Song Arin wrinkles her nose in disgust.
"Gives me the creeps."
...
The painting Jang Chaeyeon chose. And us inside it along with the others.
What am I missing?
My eyes and the painting's description...
"...Ah."
This time, they match.
I look at the translucent window.
The painting's name floating above it is 'Whirlpool'.
The name written here is also 'Whirlpool'.
The names match.
Is it because we're in the painting?
-Flutter!
Up until now, the silent manual finally flips open automatically, revealing its pages.
[Containment Object - Dream within a Dream - Containment Team Kim Heonyeong Revised Edition]
[This object is where the Containment Team first encountered aestheticism, and subsequent information is fragmentary, so take it with a grain of salt.]
1. While inside this object, you must clearly judge where you are.
2. Paradoxically, to wake from the dream, you must delve deeper into it and fully realize that you're dreaming.
3. An extreme measure, but the fastest way to wake from the dream is death.
4. However, confusing dream and reality can lead to suicide, so be careful.
5. Dream within a Dream is like a game everyone plays together. If even one person escapes, everyone trapped in the Dream within a Dream will wake up.
...
I look at the manual, then at one person.
"Uh, what's up, Jaeheon?"
"Let's talk for a sec."
Yoo Daon tilts her head, looking at me.
*
I lead Yoo Daon to a corner.
"It's something you can't tell the other two, I guess?"
Yoo Daon smiles faintly, confirms Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin are out of sight, then looks at me.
"What's this about? Honestly, I've had a hunch since you called me aside."
"...Sorry."
"No! I like it."
"Huh?"
Like it? What?
"...I'm grateful to you, Jaeheon, for giving me something only I can do."
Yoo Daon smiles softly.
...
"Anyway! Tell me quick!"
"Ah, yeah. Thank you."
I bow my head slightly and explain the whole situation to Yoo Daon.
From start to finish, she just listens,
"Sure!"
then nods with a bright voice.
"Is that okay with you?"
"Like I said a bunch of times."
Yoo Daon raises her index finger and smiles.
"I can die for you hundreds of times, Jaeheon."
"...Thank you."
"Aw, no need."
Yoo Daon laughs and grips the pistol in my hand together with me.
"So, you shoot me now?"
"...Yes."
...
She smiles softly at me.
A radiant smile blooms on her face,
"Here goes?"
and Yoo Daon presses the gun to her temple.
-Bang!
She pulls the trigger.
Blood sprays, and she collapses.
...
Not long after, Yoo Daon rises as if nothing happened.
"...Daon?"
"I'm fine!"
She smiles faintly and brushes off her legs.
"For now, I don't feel anything different. Probably still...? Doesn't seem like we escaped yet."
Yoo Daon furrows her brow.
"Got it."
So, this still isn't reality?
As I'm pondering that,
[Critical: 0 -> 1]
A sudden translucent window leaves me even more confused.
Did I get it?
Get what?
I don't feel like I understand anything.
...
No, for now, let's make proper use of what's given.
I step out from the corner and approach Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin.
They look at me and Yoo Daon, then at the pistol in my hand, before averting their gazes.
"Chaeyeon."
"...Yeah."
'Paradoxically, to wake from the dream, you must delve deeper into it and fully realize that you're dreaming.'
I nod toward the painting, and Jang Chaeyeon nods back.
[Coordinate Rip: 2 uses remaining]
Once more, the world turns into graph paper.
The painting twists grotesquely again.
Jang Chaeyeon reaches out,
-Rip!
and with a crisp sound, the painting tears.
Beyond it, another art gallery comes into view.
The difference is, this time, we don't get sucked in.
The lukewarm heat feels even more stifling than before.
"...So hot..."
Song Arin mutters, and Jang Chaeyeon nods.
"It's really not hot at all..."
Yoo Daon mutters in confusion,
"Let's go."
and I step through the painting.