Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 192. Studio
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It wasn't like I had some reliable backup plan when I put the gun to my temple.
The opportunity from Aestheticism had already been used up against the Regressor, so it was gone.
Even so, the reason I did it was simple.
I just didn't want to make anyone else do it.
I don't want to die, so why would I expect anyone else to?
With a hazy mind, I opened my eyes.
It wasn't hot anymore.
"...Ugh."
As soon as I did, I realized my head was resting on something soft and plush.
Looking up, my eyes met Jang Chaeyeon's. Half her face was hidden, but she was gazing down at me with worry.
"...Y-You're awake."
Jang Chaeyeon murmured in a trembling voice,
"You lunatic!"
Song Arin stared at me, her eyes brimming with tears,
"J-Jaeheon... You're really alive, right?"
Yoo Daon ran her hands all over my body, checking me over.
"...So you made it after all."
"We were all holding our breath, and the first thing you say when you wake up is that?"
Song Arin snapped at me, glaring.
"Sorry. Let me explain the whole thing properly this time. I just didn't want to die, so I didn't want anyone else to have to do it instead. I could've said that outright!"
"The first two parts are fair—I couldn't say them—but that last bit? Come on."
Human garbage, right?
"Anyway! We have Black Hair, White Hair, and—and me too! You didn't have to do it!"
"Daon seemed wide awake in her dream from where I was standing. What if the two of you ended up dying?"
"You're not backing down an inch, are you?!"
Song Arin yelled in frustration,
"A-Are you hurt anywhere? Your temple... there's no hole, right...?"
Yoo Daon muttered, touching the spot on my temple.
"I'm fine."
"...J-Jaeheon..."
Yoo Daon looked up at me, her eyes welling up.
"Did I seem unreliable...? Are you disappointed because I couldn't even die properly...?"
She was on the verge of tears, so I hurriedly cut in to stop her.
"That's not it."
"...I-I get it. You don't trust me—"
"No."
I cut Yoo Daon off firmly.
"I thought you weren't dreaming like the rest of us. That's why nothing happened no matter how many times you died."
"..."
"Anyway, trust me."
"...If you're asking me to believe you, Jaeheon, then I have to."
Yoo Daon nodded slowly.
Finally, things were settling down.
As I started to lift myself off Jang Chaeyeon's lap,
"...Good."
*Plop.*
A soft hand rested on my head.
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon stroked my hair endlessly.
"...Don't disappear on me again."
"...Chaeyeon."
"I said I wouldn't lose you twice."
Her hand paused as it brushed my hair aside.
"Got it?"
"...Got it."
"...Yeah. Don't worry me like that."
Jang Chaeyeon gave a small smile.
"...Okay."
My head was a little dizzy, but I could manage to sit up.
This time, I got off her lap and looked straight at the painting I'd seen before.
[Name: Self-Portrait]
[Age: Created 17 years ago]
[Specialty: Awe]
[Talent: Awe]
[Background: By the time she decided to paint her own image, a long time had already passed. This painting is proof that she exists, so even though her skills were crude compared to now, she still loves it. Enough to pour her true feelings into it.]
[Weakness: Burn the painting. But I don't recommend it.]
My eyes were finally working right.
"..."
But it doesn't recommend it.
Have my eyes ever told me not to do something before?
Even if it leads to ruin, my eyes have always given the straight truth about weaknesses.
If even they say not to...
The weakness line stuck in my craw, but there were more important things first.
"Everyone, come here."
At my words, Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin approached.
I held up the pistol, and they both nodded.
"Ready?"
"I'm ready."
"...Me too."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded, and Song Arin nodded right back, refusing to be outdone.
"Then... fire."
*
I laid the two fallen bodies neatly side by side and opened the manual.
"Want a white cloth over their faces?"
"You're not actually hoping they die, are you?"
As I checked the manual in response to Yoo Daon,
[Office Manual for Desk Workers]
[PLZ - Conserve the Manual]
1. The manual is delicate. Handle with care.
2. No matter how sturdy it seems, don't use it as a shield.
3. Treat it like an old friend.
4. Don't flick the manual on the head.
5. Playing dead is terrible for my heart. Please consult thoroughly with others beforehand, then do it in a safe place with everyone watching and professional help on hand.
Got it. You're both nagging me plenty from both sides.
While I was flipping through the manual, the two woke up.
"Ugh..."
"..."
Song Arin groaned, clutching her head, and Jang Chaeyeon frowned deeply, grabbing hers the same way.
"You okay?"
"Feels like my head's splitting."
"...Same."
Jang Chaeyeon nodded in agreement with Song Arin's mutter.
"How about now?"
"...Not as hot..."
Song Arin stood and snapped her fingers. Yoo Daon suddenly started hopping in place.
"I-I'm-a-wake! A-Arin!"
"Feels like I have even better control than before. Like my senses are fully alive."
"P-Please-s-top-Arin-this-is!"
Good.
Ignoring the bickering pair, I opened the manual again and reread the Dream-within-a-Dream entry.
[Containment Object - Dream-within-a-Dream - Containment Team Kim Heonyeong Revised Edition]
[This object is where the Containment Team first encountered Aestheticism, so subsequent info is fragmentary—take it with a grain of salt.]
1. While inside, you must clearly judge where you are.
2. Paradoxically, to wake from the dream, dive deeper into it and fully realize it's a dream.
3. Extreme measure, but the fastest way to wake is death.
4. Careful, though—confusing dream and reality can lead to real suicide.
5. Dream-within-a-Dream is like a group game. If one person escapes, everyone trapped in it wakes up.
I recalled what the Team Leader said.
There's one more room after this.
The studio, right?
"..."
How do I get to the studio?
I stared at the painting.
What part held the clue?
Pushing through the others, I got right up to it and stared.
"...What're you doing?"
Jang Chaeyeon stood beside me.
"What do you think when you see this painting, Chaeyeon?"
"Me?"
Jang Chaeyeon followed my gaze to the painting.
"..."
She answered slowly.
"Hate."
"Hate?"
"I hate it."
Who wouldn't?
Jang Chaeyeon shook her head firmly.
"I hate playing games with people's lives, dismissing it as mere fun, acting without reason just because it amuses you."
Makes sense.
"And it took someone precious from me."
"..."
Someone precious to Jang Chaeyeon.
Probably the sister she mentioned back then.
"Now that I think about it, I never heard the full story about your sister."
"..."
Jang Chaeyeon turned from the painting to look at me.
"I never told it."
"True. You don't have to now either."
Jang Chaeyeon stared at me.
"...Kim Heonyeong."
"Huh?"
The name from the manual earlier.
"Not my blood sister, but the big-sis figure who helped me a ton in the Management Bureau."
"You mentioned her before."
"...Someone who helped me a lot."
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me.
"And hurt me a lot."
Her gaze was fixed on me.
It was so much like the way she'd looked at me when I collapsed earlier.
"I decided after that not to let anyone in..."
Jang Chaeyeon let out a small sigh.
"Your fault."
"Me?"
She shot me a quick side-eye, then looked back at the painting.
"Anyway, that's me."
"...Thanks."
Appreciation.
Not bad, but not my thing.
I have no eye for art.
The smiling face in the painting?
No clue.
Then...
I checked the translucent panel again.
Awe—no.
Name or age weren't big hints.
Background and weakness it was.
[Background: By the time she decided to paint her own image, a long time had already passed. This painting is proof that she exists, so even though her skills were crude compared to now, she still loves it. Enough to pour her true feelings into it.]
True feelings, proof of existence.
"..."
What was she trying to say with this painting?
Why seek art in humans, why see them as material.
"..."
Like she said, she couldn't survive without people.
Would someone like that hate humans?
No—she'd love them.
Mannequin topped with a human head.
Ultimately, no different from a person.
A crude attempt to mimic one.
"...Pitiful."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Jang Chaeyeon looked at me as I muttered,
[Critical: 1 -> 2]
-Rumble...
The frame swung open,
and the stench of blood hit my nose.
"..."
Before my eyes stretched a massive studio.