### Chapter 204 – Party Time – The Power of Incarnation (2)
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[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 96
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 – Room of Rest
Sage’s Advice: X]
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I woke up on the bed. Just before losing consciousness after vaguely realizing the power of incarnation, my comrades had approached, right?
I guess they must have moved me to Room 105 after I fainted. It’s already evening now, and I’ve wasted an entire day. But my eyesight has fully recovered. I should check on my comrades. As soon as I stepped outside, I spotted Elena.
“Ah! Kain? Are you alright? Everyone was worried because blood was flowing from your eyes.”
“I’m fine. The hotel doctor seems to have treated me well. It’s just that it’s no longer Mr. Kim Sanghyun.”
“Don’t just stand there; go to the refreshment table.”
Following Elena to the refreshment table, I saw my comrades chatting over coffee. The moment they spotted me, Jinchul responded.
“Hey, Kain! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“I was worried since you didn’t come out from last night until now. So, did you gain any major realizations?”
Realizations, huh? Hearing that word tangled my thoughts again.
What realization did I achieve? I summoned the grimoire and everyone flinched and stepped back.
My consciousness, trapped inside, began to float somewhere. Simultaneously, I felt a bizarre sensation of my consciousness shattering into pieces. Should I insert those broken pieces into another body?
…
After a brief operation, a severe headache hit me, and I quickly returned to my original body.
“I feel like I’m able to do something vaguely.”
I briefly explained the new power I obtained. How should I express this ability?
Elena, listening intently, spoke up. “It sounds like a puppet mastery kind of ability.”
“That’s an accurate description. When using this ability, it’s as if I can control two or more bodies like a puppeteer.”
Ahri tilted her head. “It feels incredibly powerful, yet it seems a bit off?”
“What seems off?”
“First of all, is it a capability that can be possessed by a human mind? Humans typically struggle to draw a square with their right hand while drawing a triangle with their left. Their multitasking ability is pretty low. But controlling two bodies should require a brain three times as powerful.”
“It sounds strange, but it does feel like my consciousness splits, so it’s possible. Comparing it to your analogy, it’s like my consciousness is divided between the right hand and left.”
“But?”
“But I don’t think I can use this ability for long. Right now, I feel it’s hard to last even 10 minutes.”
“10 minutes? That’s far too short!”
“Maybe it’ll last longer as I use it more?”
Songee agreed. “It definitely will. The duration of my abilities related to my bracelet has extended significantly since I first obtained it. At first, I thought it was simply due to skill development, but thinking back to what I heard recently, maybe my soul’s power has strengthened as well?”
“That could make sense. Anything else that seems odd?”
“Oh, the second thing isn’t a big deal. It just feels like the ability differs from what was predicted by its name.”
In response, Grandpa nodded. “Wasn’t it called ‘Power of Incarnation’? I thought it might be a technique where you create clones like using shadow clones.”
“That might actually be the case.”
“What do you mean?”
I paused to recall the memory of reading the grimoire. During that torturous moment when my head and eyes melted with pain, those strange characters seeped endlessly into my consciousness. The evil knowledge concocted by the child of the alien god.
“Three sentences.”
“Huh?”
“There were three sentences. The first one was ‘Accept that the unchanging self does not exist.’ Of course, it wasn’t written in Korean like that; I interpreted it that way.”
“And the second and third sentences?”
“I don’t know. The only sentence I vaguely understood was the first. The second…”
Amid the bizarre knowledge making my head spin, I drew out an unknown power.
— Fizzle!
A dazzling light appeared at my fingertips. My comrades watched in fascination, but the light vanished in an instant like a match going out.
Elena asked with a curious expression, “What was that?”
“I don’t know. I genuinely have no idea. Anyway, there were three sentences, but it seems like only the first one has manifested so far. It’s more like a state of puppet mastery than the Power of Incarnation, with a significantly short duration as well.”
Just then, my sister, who had been quiet, murmured. “The unchanging self does not exist.”
“What?”
“Could it be the concept of ‘no-self’? If so, then the second would be the impermanence of all phenomena? What would the third be?”
“What are you talking about?”
Unlike me, who didn’t understand, Ahri seemed to grasp something and answered. “The third could be ‘All is suffering’ or ‘Nirvana is peace’?”
“I’m not familiar with Buddhism, so I have no clue what you two are talking about, but do you have any guesses about the next sentence?”
My sister looked at me and simply replied. “It’s just a meaningless string of thoughts. Initially, it may closely resemble Buddhist knowledge, but it’s not the same concept. The creator of the grimoire wasn’t Buddha, but rather ‘the Unborn.’ There’s no need to try to understand Buddhist enlightenment.”
“Trying to make sense of superficially similar philosophies could actually hinder understanding of the grimoire?”
“Exactly. It might be best to wait. Eventually, the Owl will tell you to read the grimoire again.”
As the discussion about the newly acquired power wrapped up, I began to feel my eyes growing tired and my head heavy. One person noticed this before I could even mention it.
“Kain.”
“Oh, Teacher. Please feel free to speak.”
“I’m comfortable right now. I think it’s best for you to rest, Kain. Isn’t your eyes feeling heavy?”
“Can you really tell just by looking at me? Every doctor in the world would envy you.”
“I, too, find myself wondrous at times.”
Lee Eunsol then spoke, somewhat astonished. “Are you still having aftereffects? You should really rest today.”
“Aren’t we supposed to have a meeting about Room 104 in the evening? I’ll participate until then.”
“That’s all the more reason to skip those mentally exhausting discussions. We need to make sure your body is in top shape since we’re heading to the cursed room tomorrow. Let’s have the meeting among ourselves and just share the conclusions with you in the morning.”
Elena chimed in with a similar opinion. “Today’s meeting won’t have much to discuss anyway. We’ve decided which room to go to at this point, and I think we’ll only ponder the meaning of the hints.”
Hearing this, the intense headache began to squeeze my head like it was in a vice. Ultimately, I returned to Room 105 and fell asleep almost instantly.
—
– Lee Eunsol
—
As Kain returned to Room 105 to rest, the remaining folks started discussing things they had been holding back.
“Honestly, that’s a pretty scary ability. What do you think?”
Songee nodded in agreement. “It felt a bit eerie. Kain could already take over our bodies if necessary, but now he can move multiple bodies at the same time.”
Jinchul tried to reassure everyone. “Kain isn’t going to misuse that power. Plus, he said he couldn’t use that ‘puppet mastery’ for even ten minutes, right?”
“‘For now,’ that is. The time will just keep getting longer, I’m sure. And besides, that’s not the end of it, right? He mentioned understanding only the first of three sentences. What kind of being will he become if he comprehends the other two?”
It was a vague statement, but it seemed that Kain would resemble something closer to an angel or a devil rather than just a human. Perhaps even now.
Was it because this was a somewhat uncomfortable conversation that everyone lapsed into silence?
“Speaking of this topic, don’t you think there’s a bit of difference in the potential of our inheritances?”
Ahri asked, intrigued. “Potential? You’re suggesting that the growth limits of our inheritances differ?”
“Yeah. It feels like Kain’s grimoire isn’t merely a means to possess but that he still has more to strengthen within the Power of Incarnation and the three sentences after that.”
“That story might not only apply to the grimoire, you know?”
At those words, everyone turned their gazes toward Ahri.
“What’s with that reaction? Isn’t it already established that inheritances have significant potential? When I first started handling ‘Old Blood,’ the best I could do was hypnosis, but now I can do all sorts of neat tricks.”
Ahri smiled as she summoned ‘Chilly Breeze’ with a flick of her fingertips.
Songee, who watched in wonder, had a look that seemed to comprehend something. “Now that I think about it, talking about how I’ve also changed since I first obtained it, I can now run and use my powers, and the time limit feels hazy compared to before.”
Elena chimed in with similar remarks. “Now that I think about it, ‘Ominous Imagination’ is quite similar. Beatrix showed remarkable capability transforming herself into a supernatural being, right? Maybe I’ll be able to do that someday.”
Jinchul seemed unsure. “I’m not noticing much difference yet.”
Ahri countered with a different opinion. “Jinchul, although you may not have noticed with your inheritance, you’ve certainly become much stronger regarding blessings.”
As I listened more, I started to understand the broader context a bit.
“Looks like everyone’s developing at their own pace. It seems that the powers we use often are getting stronger. Songee tends to depend heavily on her inheritance, so her strength in handling it is advancing, while Jinchul relies on strength typically but is developing his blessings.”
“It seems that way. However…”
At Ahri’s somewhat ambiguous statement, everyone’s eyes turned to her.
“Even considering all of this, Kain’s growth rate regarding his ability to handle the ‘grimoire’ seems excessively fast. Maybe he has some innate talent for being a genius magician that he himself didn’t even know about?”
A genius magician. It feels so bizarre to hear that word in the 21st century. Is that really the reason?
I thought it would be best to wrap up the topic at that point.
“Okay, let’s leave the topic here. We’re entering Room 104 tomorrow.”
—
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