### Chapter 435 – Party Time (6) – Final Meeting
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[User: Han Kain (Former Wisdom)
Date: Day 379
Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 2]
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[Han Kain]
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I showed up for the lunch meeting in less-than-stellar condition, thanks to that bizarre picture keeping me up all night.
The atmosphere was pretty gloomy, to be honest.
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“Let’s go over the agenda!”
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Despite everything, my noona shouted energetically and checked the topics written on the whiteboard.
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– Meeting Agenda for Room 206
1. Han Kain’s new inheritance
2. Miro’s enhanced blessing
3. The artist’s reward
4. The soul’s vessel and Yumi
5. Progress on Room 206
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Looking at the items on the board made me feel like I was part of some corporate office.
Am I going to have to report to Manager Eunsol soon?
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Funny enough, none of us here have any experience in a typical office job.
After all, Eunsol noona is the second daughter of a chaebol family, so “normal” isn’t exactly her vibe either.
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“If there are no objections, we’ll go in this order.”
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Since the first item was my story, everyone’s eyes naturally shifted toward me.
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“Kain, you don’t have anything to say about the Holy Sun? Like, some new way to use it?”
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“Nothing to say.”
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I had just gotten mixed up with the artist and experienced a weird event—what could I possibly realize?
Eunsol noona looked slightly disappointed for some reason.
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“Well, you’ve been preoccupied with thoughts of your countryside house.”
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“Even if I was awake, it probably wouldn’t be much different. Like I said before, the Holy Sun is rechargeable, and right now, it’s running on empty.”
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“Really?”
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At that moment, Ari shot me a question.
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“Rechargeable, huh… You said it requires the faith or souls of the followers, right?”
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“Yep.”
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“So, are you thinking of recharging it in Room 206?”
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“Maybe?”
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“Will that even work? As you know, Room 206 suppresses supernatural powers as soon as you step in.”
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“…”
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The first problem related to item number one popped out of Ari’s mouth.
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The Holy Sun needs to be charged through the faith or souls of the followers.
In other words, I’d have to establish some kind of cult in Room 206.
Up to this point, I thought about how the setting of Room 206 might work out, but here comes the real issue.
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Even if I establish it, will it be possible to charge it?
Charging itself is undoubtedly a supernatural event.
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“Maybe we could hold a religious event outside Paradise or something.”
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“Think about it carefully.”
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That about wraps up our discussion on this topic.
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“Next! Miro, how’s that shiny new power of yours?”
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Receiving Eunsol noona’s gaze, Miro flashed a smile and brandished a dagger to showcase her newfound psychic ability once more.
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“Hey everyone! Check this out!”
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The dagger plunged into her skin, then popped back out without a single drop of blood.
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Even after seeing it again, Miro’s power gained from the sanctuary of blessings was indeed quite fascinating.
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“Take it easy. We’re going to Room of Curses tomorrow, so don’t go running out your invulnerability so quickly.”
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“Got it.”
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After Ari’s warning, Miro stopped boasting about her powers.
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Level 2 Invulnerability lets attacks aimed at her be absorbed by this mysterious ‘invulnerability’ force, meaning she stays unharmed while the invulnerability lasts.
Think of it as a shield commonly seen in games.
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Once Miro’s show-off time ended, Eunsol noona asked.
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“It’s similar to what you showed us last time, but you didn’t figure out any additional uses?”
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“Huh? Additional what?”
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“Let’s move on to item number three. The artist’s reward, the two pictures. Kain, did you discover anything?”
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In front of my teammates, I pulled out the two paintings.
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“I discovered a secret after asking if there’s advice hidden in the paintings.”
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“You used it already?”
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“Yep. The drawing of the purple door had a separate title. Look here.”
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I flipped the picture over and vigorously rubbed the bottom right corner with my finger.
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Soon, mysterious strings appeared in response to the friction.
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‘Somnium regnum’
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“Doesn’t look like English—anyone know?”
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Eunsol noona shook her head with a bewildered expression.
While she was well-versed in English and could speak French or Spanish, it clearly wasn’t any of those.
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Even Ari and the grandfather, usually up to date with such knowledge, had blank expressions, but surprisingly, someone recognized it.
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“It’s Latin. The first word means dream, and the second means kingdom, so it’s ‘Kingdom of Dreams.’”
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That was the teacher.
The title of the second painting given by the artist is ‘Kingdom of Dreams.’
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“Latin? Wait… Why on Earth would an artist use such confusing words when it’s not the Vatican?”
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Eunsol noona looked utterly baffled, and I nod along in agreement.
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“What’s the Vatican, noona?”
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Songyi didn’t even seem to understand the term Vatican, which was a bit odd.
Isn’t that something that comes up often on the news?
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“You don’t know the Vatican? The head of the Catholic Church, the Pope? It’s a city-state where the Pope and cardinals reside—”
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“Didn’t they wipe out the Pope and cardinals in the Catholic Church?”
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“…”
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At that point, the surroundings went silent.
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It was the realization that we were all living in completely different worlds.
While everyone was aware of it by now, it still felt like a surreal moment.
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“Ahem! Let’s leave the Vatican talk for now. The important thing is that we figured out the title of the drawing. Kain, do you have anything more to say about the Kingdom of Dreams?”
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“Oh, the Kingdom of Dreams is a living painting.”
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To my surprise, none of my teammates looked shocked.
We are in a hotel after all; it wouldn’t be out of place for a person to leap out of a painting.
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“While I was asleep, suddenly the door opened and… a monster-like eye popped out. It stared at me curiously.”
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“Did it do anything weird?”
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“Out of curiosity, I glared back at it, and then it suddenly slammed the door shut and vanished.”
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“Looks like it has a habit of being shy.”
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I didn’t really have much more to add regarding the Kingdom of Dreams.
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Eunsol noona then turned to me and asked.
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“What about your portrait? Anything unusual?”
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“The artist said it’s just a regular painting. Can’t say he was lying.”
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“True. Let’s move on to the next topic.”
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Item 4: The Soul’s Vessel and Yumi.
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“Seungyub, summarize what we’ve been discussing over the past few days.”
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Clearly, while I was wrapped up in nightmares, the others gathered their thoughts regarding Yumi.
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“Ahem! So, everyone felt, after talking with Yumi, that she’s really nice—”
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Everyone reacted as if they had all talked about it?
I couldn’t help but jump in.
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“I don’t have any clear memories of talking with her.”
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“Wait, wait. Oh, tongue, you spent time with the artist….”
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“The main point of item three is whether we should allow Yumi to create a body, right?”
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“Yep.”
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“Have all of you given her the green light?”
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As Seungyub hesitated, Eunsol noona quickly summarized.
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“In the end, everyone agreed. She’s been wanting it really bad.”
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“Hmmm.”
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Just then, Ari casually pulled out a thermos.
Since she’d been near Ari all this time, the blood, flesh, and hair inside the thermos were still pretty fresh.
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“Yuck!”
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Miro immediately reacted in disgust, and Songyi scrunched her face in distaste as well.
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“Seungyub, take it.”
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“Oh! Oh!”
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Seungyub gleefully grabbed Ari’s thermos.
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“Since there could be physical issues, make sure to tell Yumi to create the body once we get to Room 105.”
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“Yep!”
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“You realize that the moment the thermos touches me, the freshness guarantee disappears, right? So you need to rush.”
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“Thanks!”
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Seungyub, practically celebrating like it was a personal victory, left the meeting room, leaving a somewhat strange feeling behind.
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The response of my teammates was predictably mixed.
Of course, people like Eunsol noona and Ari, who think deeply, weren’t alone—Song and Eleanor, who usually snack during meetings, also had slightly uneasy expressions.
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I cautiously opened my mouth.
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“Uh… It feels like, something unexpected happened while I was gone.”
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Everyone went quiet.
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“I just want to ask, just in case?”
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Eunsol noona smirked slightly.
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“Just say it. You’re wondering if Seungyub likes Yumi, right?”
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“…”
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Ari let out a light sigh.
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“It’s not a big issue.”
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“Not a big issue?”
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“He falls in love like he breathes.”
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“…”
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Hearing that, I realized it’s quite true.
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“From what I remember, at first… Ahem! That was me, wasn’t it?”
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That was back when we first entered Room 102.
Back then, Ari and the grandfather were still hiding their identities.
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Everyone nodded, acknowledging the memory, but one of our relatively recent members chimed in.
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“Wait, wait! Are you saying Seungyub… likes… Ari?”
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At Miro’s loud reaction, Ari sighed again.
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“Shut up. You’re making it weirder. And it’s changed since then.”
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“Changed?”
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“Room 202? There was something strange going on with the Sea God’s youngest daughter. What was her name again?”
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I answered.
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“Rilinganor.”
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“Right! Rilinganor! I think he liked her too; what do you think?”
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Several people, including Eleanor and Songyi, nodded knowingly, chuckling at the thought.
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They do say you can understand water to a certain depth, but the human heart? No one ever truly understands that.
That doesn’t apply to Seungyub, though; he’s such a straightforward teammate.
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At that moment, Miro tilted her head.
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“Is this about Room 202?”
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“Yep.”
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“Why don’t I know about this? Was the one who liked Rilinganor—”
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“It’s Rilinganor.”
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“Rillingan? Either way, I’ve never heard of anyone saying anything about that.”
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“People who fall in love easily forget easily.”
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“…”
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As I spoke up, it felt like we were throwing shade on Seungyub now that he wasn’t around.
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Maybe feeling the same vibe, Songyi cleared her throat and jumped in for Seungyub.
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“Seungyub is still young! When you’re young, feelings jump around, right? Putting that aside, regarding Yumi, I think we need to eventually let her create a body.”
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Ari nodded in agreement.
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“Exactly. If you keep doubting, you shouldn’t have even bothered to put her in the soul’s vessel in the first place. The last few days have shown her that she has the upper hand.”
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We can seize Yumi’s body anytime, and Yumi herself likely grasped that fact during these past few days.
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Now that she’s already contained in the vessel, we must offer some minimal trust.
If she starts behaving like a crazy witch, we can figure that out when it happens.
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As we were wrapping up our discussion on Yumi, Miro suddenly brought up an odd topic.
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“I feel kind of bad.”
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Ari looked at her, puzzled.
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“Why?”
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“Didn’t she like you at first?”
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“…”
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“Then there’s Rilinganor next?”
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“… Yeah.”
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“But why isn’t she reacting to me? I look totally like Ari!”
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For a second, I was speechless, caught between the absurdity of Miro’s reasoning and her unfiltered comments.
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Ari looked utterly despondent.
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“Please… don’t ruin my beautiful memories of Mom.”
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“What?”
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“Ugh!”
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“Stop making weird noises!”
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Ari couldn’t hold back and slapped Miro.
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I suddenly understood why Seungyub wouldn’t react to Miro.
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“Let’s quiet down. Now, let’s talk about Room 206.”
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…
…
…
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By the time the meeting wrapped up, the two remaining pieces of advice had also vanished.
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*
[User: Han Kain (Former Wisdom)
Date: Day 379
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 – ‘Room of Rest’
Sage’s Advice: 0]
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[Han Kain]
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After the meeting, I returned to my private room.
My teammates’ opinions on how to progress with Room 206 were swirling around in my head.
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Time to clear my mind.
Unlike others, my path seems pretty clear.
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“…”
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Sitting on the bed, I found myself gazing at my black-and-white portrait, which had already begun feeling strangely familiar.
The artist must have painted it in around five minutes, yet it turned out pretty well.
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Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind, and I flipped the painting.
Like the ‘Kingdom of Dreams’, the back of this black-and-white portrait was just rough, sturdy paper.
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— Scritch, scritch!
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I rubbed the surface.
Starting from the upper left to the lower right, I rubbed all over.
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And this time….
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Instead of Latin, words I could understand appeared.
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‘Save yourself from hell.’
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“…”
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