Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Birth
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I don't dream much, but whenever I had nightmares, they always followed a similar pattern.
And every time I woke from them, it was in the same way—when I realized it was a dream.
Ah, this is a dream. The moment you realize that, you can no longer enjoy the dream.
People want to live inside their dreams, but the instant they become aware it's a dream, all sense of reality vanishes.
-Shhh!
The manual unfurls and materializes in my hand.
[Containment Object - Dream within a Dream - Containment Team Kim Heonyeong Revised Edition]
[This object is where the Containment Team first encountered the Aesthete, and subsequent information is fragmentary, so it should be viewed with some allowance.]
1. While inside this object, you must clearly judge your location.
2. Paradoxically, to wake from the dream, you must plunge even deeper into it and fully realize that you are 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 caution is advised.
5. The Dream within a Dream is like a game everyone plays together. If even one person escapes, all those trapped in the Dream within a Dream will awaken.
The phrase that caught my eye was this one.
[Paradoxically, to wake from the dream, you must plunge even deeper into it and fully realize that you are dreaming.]
In everyone's dream, they are the master.
Waking from a horrific death is your own dream, and reveling in a happy one is yours too.
But what if it's someone else's dream?
[The Dream within a Dream is like a game everyone plays together. If even one person escapes, all those trapped in the Dream within a Dream will awaken.]
A dream where one person's awakening wakes them all.
The writer was describing the phenomenon where one rising wakes everyone, but if you think about it in reverse, that's the strange part.
Only I can wake myself in my dream.
No one else inside my dream can wake me. After all, they're just illusions conjured in my mind.
"Commencing Containment Object update now."
-Shhh!
The manual's pages unfurl, revealing new text.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[Containment Object - Dream within a Dream - HR Team Kim Jaeheon Revised Edition]
"Even suicide to escape the Dream within a Dream won't fully wake you."
[6. Even suicide to escape the Dream within a Dream won't fully wake you.]
"To fully wake from the dream, at least one person must be recognized by the dream's master."
[7. To fully wake from the dream, at least one person must be recognized by the dream's master.]
Suicide wasn't the trigger to fully escape the dream.
It merely nudged you slightly toward freedom.
-Bam!
By now, the Aesthete was mercilessly hurling the attacking mannequins aside.
With every swing of its hand, the mannequins tumbled across the floor as if struck by magic.
The Aesthete wasn't angry.
It simply demolished them one by one, expressionless, like performing routine maintenance.
Only when the scattered mannequins lay broken and useless did the Aesthete sigh and turn to me.
There was no trace of leisure on its face.
"How did you know?"
"I first found it odd when I saw that mannequin."
I recall entering the studio.
After assigning those tedious names and spotting the mannequin, my eyes had shown proper information.
Then Yoo Daon turned into a painting, and as if on cue, my vision failed me again.
The text on the painting I just burned was the same.
My eyes always reveal weaknesses with perfect precision.
How did I know?
If my eyes could read the mood, I wouldn't have told them to torment a struggling Song Arin even more, or advised Yoo Daon to mention her shabby home.
But suddenly, don't do it? That doesn't add up.
"I thought it was strange back then."
-Click!
I draw my pistol and aim it at the Aesthete.
"Of course, that's not the only reason."
The attitude might be similar.
But its actions were off.
"Surprisingly, it never launched any direct attacks on its own."
I recall first laying eyes on the Aesthete.
Jang Chaeyeon passed out on sight, while Yoo Daon and Song Arin were lost in self-harm.
I turn my gaze to the three of them.
Yoo Daon stares at me, bewildered.
Song Arin watches me with curiosity.
Jang Chaeyeon eyes the scattered mannequins.
"At this range, at least the other three would never have survived unscathed."
They'd already be caught in mental attacks, busy harming themselves.
"Finally."
At my words, the Aesthete—no, the thing masquerading as the Aesthete—turns to me.
"The Aesthete I know wouldn't desperately lunge like that just because fire hit its painting."
...
A translucent window pops up.
[Critical: 0->1]
The Aesthete looks at me.
"Chaeyeon-ssi."
"...Yeah."
Jang Chaeyeon looks at me.
Why had it singled out Jang Chaeyeon with 'So it was you'?
What method could it have used to identify her?
There was only one instance.
[Critical: 1->0]
When truth pierced through the dream.
[Using Observation.]
Jang Chaeyeon widens her eyes.
The sole moment something from the dream tasted reality.
Only then did the previously invisible translucent window appear.
[Name: Dream within a Dream (Aesthete)]
[Age: Created 15 years ago]
[Specialty: Projection]
[Talent: Projection]
[Background: It dreams of being that. Of having lived that life, of living it still, of everyone seeing it as such—and so others will believe it too.]
[Weakness: It wakes from the dream when it recognizes the dream for what it is.]
-Bam!
Jang Chaeyeon thrusts her hand out, sending a massive shockwave ripping through the air.
It waves its hand to block the incoming blast.
"Go!"
She shouts, and stones unrealistically lift from the floor.
"Daon-ssi!"
Yoo Daon hops onto the rising stones, bounding across them.
Like a scene from a movie, she leaps dazzlingly from stone to stone toward the Dream within a Dream.
It reaches out, and Yoo Daon's body freezes.
Yoo Daon stares blankly elsewhere.
"...!"
-Bang!
At the same instant, Song Arin flicks her hand, and my bullet pierces Yoo Daon's temple—snapping her back to her senses.
She draws the awl from her bosom—the same one from the gallery—and kicks off the walls, charging ahead.
Sometimes Song Arin propels her along the walls, sometimes she climbs stairs conjured by Jang Chaeyeon; whenever she loses her mind, I shoot to jolt her awake from the dream.
Gripping the awl, she hurtles straight at the Dream within a Dream.
-Krunch!
The awl impales its crown.
-Psssh...
Air hisses out,
-Crack!
Cracks spiderweb across the walls.
The floor splinters, the ceiling crumbles, and a boulder plummets toward my head.
-Thud!
But it passes right through me, slamming into the ground with a heavy boom.
Dreams can't harm people, after all.
...
The Aesthete—no, the Dream within a Dream—looks at me.
I glance at the manual.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[Containment Object - Dream within a Dream - HR Team Kim Jaeheon Revised Edition]
I should have realized it from the start, when it was labeled a Containment Object instead of an anomaly.
"I've heard about it, but it's definitely something you'd like."
...
I look up at the collapsed ceiling.
Pitch-black darkness has taken hold.
"But you got one thing wrong."
...
I lock eyes with the Dream within a Dream.
Wearing the Aesthete's face, it grins.
"This was a birth from the very beginning."
-Twitch!
One of the scattered mannequins jerks.
-Whirr!
It staggers to its feet.
And simultaneously,
-Krunch!
It tears into the Dream within a Dream's neck.
-Crunch... crunch...
The grotesque sound echoes, like human teeth gnawing relentlessly at wood.
No one could move.
Whether from terror or its influence pinning us down, we all stood frozen, staring.
In a bizarre pose, it turns to me.
...
A woman with blue hair.
Her face brimming with compassion, she gazes at Jang Chaeyeon.
With the mannequin's body, it speaks.
"...Now, I'm the masterpiece."
"Sister!"
Jang Chaeyeon cries out,
-Whoosh!
Darkness swallows us whole.
*
"Gasp...!"
The cold marble floor presses against my back.
I jerk my head up, scanning my surroundings.
Countless people lie sprawled about.
All seem asleep, eyes closed.
"...Th-the others."
I search around for the rest.
Yoo Daon, Song Arin, Jang Chaeyeon, and Team Leader.
It takes a long while to locate them.
Waking everyone takes even longer.
As always, I make contact for cleanup.
Somehow, we've resolved it.
"...Short on manpower, so it took time?"
That's what I thought—until Song Arin said it over the phone.
*
"Huff... huff..."
I follow the long black hair swaying ahead.
My breath catches in my throat.
"Jaeheon-ssi, you okay?"
The black hair gleams in the sunlight.
"Want to take a break?"
Yoo Daon turns to me with a smile.