Chapter 120: Monologue (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 120: Monologue (3)
The "Tower of Trials for State Exam Prep Students."
Although there was a legitimate study room on the fifth floor, that title was actually a sarcastic nickname for the floors below. From the first to the fourth floor, the building housed a billiards hall, an internet cafe, a comic book rental shop, and a karaoke room, respectively.
I could hear the frantic clacking of keyboards as people lost themselves in their games. Of course, they were all draped in shades of gray.
There’s nothing special here.
There wasn’t a single game I hadn’t seen before, and browsing the news revealed no noteworthy events. The real-time search trends were cluttered with the usual celebrity gossip and political scandals.
Even as the sky was literally falling, the world seemed to be spinning on as usual.
I tried typing ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ into the search bar. As expected, the screen dissolved into static and white noise; I couldn't even see the text I had typed. When I instinctively hit Enter, the entire monitor was swallowed by a blizzard of distortion.
It felt as though Providence itself was strictly censoring any information related to ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
“Ugh.”
So damn stingy…
It seemed the internet would be of no use to me here.
◆ ◆ ◆
As time bled away, nothing significant happened.
I didn’t feel hungry despite not eating, nor did I feel tired when night fell.
Before I knew it, the Descending Sky had dropped to a third of its original height. In terms of time, only two days had passed since this trial began.
I spent that time soberly testing various hypotheses. With my reinforced body, I tried getting clipped by a car, and I even conjured a massive pillar of ice to see if I could draw a reaction from the crowd.
But that was the extent of it. I hadn't found even the slightest hint regarding the conditions to clear this trial.
“…Ah.”
I wandered the streets, formulating theory after theory. As I pushed through the dense crowds on the sidewalk, my stomach suddenly lurched.
The life of a state exam prep student. The scenery made it feel as though this entire world existed solely to exclude me.
That feeling.
As the vivid memories of that time resurfaced, a wave of nausea overwhelmed me. It was uncontrollable. I scrambled into a public restroom at the train station and retched into the toilet.
“Haaa… phew…”
After finally calming my stomach and flushing the toilet, I washed my face at the sink and stepped back outside.
“…I’m screwed.”
It wasn't just the people anymore; it was the objects, too. Everything my eyes landed on was gradually being bled of color, dyed in that accursed black and white.
I knew the truth. This was merely the Trial of Sandstone—a fabricated world designed to devour my sanity. Yet, the sensations I had endured during that period of my life were so vivid that they were becoming agonizingly difficult to bear.
I hurried back to my cramped one-room apartment in Sinlim-dong.
The briquette-shaped keyring, the hourglass, the marimo, and the legal textbooks—these were the only things that remained untouched by the monochrome.
“Eden!”
I tried to summon my familiar, but there was no response. It was only then that I realized my own arms had begun to turn gray.
◆ ◆ ◆
More time passed.
Just as before, nothing happened. The only change was that the world I saw was now entirely monochromatic. It felt as if an old black-and-white television had replaced my vision.
At least the Descending Sky maintained its original, vibrant color.
Before I knew it, that sky had descended halfway. Yet, even now, I couldn't grasp a single clue about how to end this.
“…”
I walked the streets of Sinlim-dong. I could feel myself becoming more withdrawn, more isolated.
I wanted to at least visit the company that developed ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, but whenever I tried to search for their corporate address, the screen would fill with static. It was utterly maddening.
The only silver lining was that even though the world had turned monochromatic, I could still interact with it. The lack of detailed tactile sensation was a drawback, but I was grateful I hadn't been completely severed from reality yet.
◆ ◆ ◆
[Status]
Name: Isaac Lv: ??? Gender: ? Year: ? Title: ?????? Mana: 500 / 500 – ?? Recovery Speed (??)
The sky was getting dangerously close.
I estimated that within the next three days, this world would meet its end. My vision remained a colorless void, and I still had no idea what the clear conditions were.
I sat quietly in the corner of my cramped room, thinking. What should I do? What did I have to do to overcome this trial?
As I sat there, lost in thought, a black-and-white calendar on the desk caught my eye. When I realized what today’s date was, my eyes widened. I could do nothing but stare at the calendar, as if time itself had frozen.
September 23rd.
Today was the anniversary of my mother’s death.
*
There was one place I truly wanted to go.
Even if this was a fake world, I didn't want to go there in my sweats, so I dressed up. A white shirt, a blue jacket, and black pants. Of course, in my eyes, it all just looked like different shades of gray. Fortunately, the clothes fit well enough.
The wind wasn't too chilly, nor was it too hot. I took the subway and arrived at the columbarium.
Inside a glass cabinet sat a small urn, a bouquet of flowers, and a framed photograph. In the photo, a woman more lovely than anyone else smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed by the camera.
“It’s been a while.”
Mom.
Looking back at my memories, I really was a stupid bastard.
I had turned off my phone and buried my head in books, all for the sake of my "oh-so-important" studies. Because of that, I didn't find out about my mother’s passing until much later.
In the dull, uninteresting play I was forced to act in, my life as a prep student was a lonely monologue. I felt completely isolated from the rest of the world. Buried in books, I wasted my life on useless bullshit, running aimlessly toward an uncertain future.
Although that hollow passage of time eventually helped me regain the strength to move forward… the emotions I felt when I heard the news of her death never faded, not even when I finally passed the state exam.
After the induction ceremony at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, I had visited this columbarium with my certificate of appointment in hand. I wanted to share the news with a smile, to say, “Isn’t your son incredible, Mom?”
But the moment I saw her picture, it felt like my heart was being ripped out. I ended up crouching there for a long time, sobbing silently.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, I burned the image of my mother into my mind.
Then, I began to walk.
Leaving the columbarium, I took the rattling subway back to Sinlim-dong. I looked out the window at the sky. It had come much closer now—two-thirds of the way down.
The beautiful colors radiated by the rock mana were incredibly vivid against the monochromatic world. Death was approaching rapidly. This wretched scenery was pressing down on me like a physical weight.
The effects of [Frozen Soul] helped keep me calm, but that alone wouldn't solve anything.
◆ ◆ ◆
When I arrived back in Sinlim-dong, I headed toward the pedestrian overpass. I leaned against the railing, silently watching the colorless cars roar past below.
A world without color. Looking back, it wasn't even that strange. After all, during my actual time as a student, the world had always looked this dull.
“…”
I couldn't afford to lose myself.
I ignited [Frostfire] in my right hand. For some reason, my mana had significantly depleted, but I could still barely maintain the flame. The chilly mana, blazing like a frozen fire, also appeared black and white.
Though I couldn't feel the sensation of it, just looking at those frigid flames made me feel like I was still alive.
Time passed… and as my mana ran dry, the [Frostfire] flickered out like a spent match.
I had been thinking deeply the entire time I stood there, but I still had no idea how to clear this trial. In the Trial of Frost, the Evil God’s resurrection signaled the end. If it were something like that, how could I not know the conditions?
But here, I was simply isolated.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Even so, I had no intention of giving up. I didn't despair. On the contrary, I was more determined than ever. If I were a flower, I would bloom even in a mire of filth.
I closed my eyes, took a moment to hone my resolve, and prepared to move forward. I fired up my will.
Then, in that moment…
A dull thud echoed as something collided with the railing of the overpass. Simultaneously, a sound—elegant, pure, and entirely out of place in this muted world—chimed in the air.
“…?”
I stopped and turned toward the sound. My jaw dropped.
In a world dyed in black and white, a single girl sparkled, trailing a wake of starlight in every color imaginable.
She looked as though she had fallen from the sky, landing precariously on the railing. Her light purple hair, tied only at the ends, fluttered momentarily in the breeze.
“Gosh.”
She pressed down on her witch hat to keep it from flying away, then hopped off the railing to face me. Her cheeks flushed a rosy pink as she gave me a wide, beaming smile.
“I finally found you.”
In an instant, my composure shattered. My chest tightened so much that my face crumpled. I took a sharp breath and exhaled, barely managing to keep my expression from distorting completely.
“Senior…”
The person who had always shone so brightly in my eyes was standing right in front of me.
“President! Do you have any idea what I went through to find you? I’m exhausted! So, I’ll give you a chance. Come on, why don't you come and comfort your Big Sis?”
Dorothy gave me a playful smile, resting a hand against her chest. I had no idea how she had appeared here.
However…
[Dorothy Heartnova]
Lv: 183 Race: Human Elements: Rock, Starlight Danger: X Psychology: [★☆★☆With☆★☆★☆★]
It wasn't difficult at all to realize that she was real.