### Chapter 138 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Perfect Life’ (29)
—
Kim Ahri
So, the thing left for me after passing through solo is to wake up my teammates who haven’t come to yet!
Leaning against the building’s outer wall while planning, I felt a heavy weight on my shoulder.
“After pushing me off earlier, you decided to sit on my shoulder?”
Pelo tilted his head, looking at me as if asking what’s up.
Honestly, it was kinda cute, so my previously sulky mood lifted.
“Hey Pelo, you’ve worked pretty hard to come to me, huh?”
Pelo looked a bit worse for wear. Did he pick at that bizarre restraint outfit piece by piece with his beak?
It seemed he lost quite a few feathers along the way; his body had several patchy spots.
Now I understood why he went through all that trouble to find me.
“Yeah. Our goals seem to align. I came to the hotel because I want to save my mom too. Let’s go save yours!”
Before diving into the task at hand, I needed to confirm something, so I spent a while roaming around the city.
Just as I expected.
There were no longer any traces of the Administration Bureau in the publishing house building—just a regular publishing house now.
This world was a perfect reflection of the dreams and fantasies of the four who reached the final trial.
Since I woke up from the dream, my stake in it had dwindled away.
Only places like the main headquarters of the Administration Bureau, which depended solely on me, had vanished.
By the same token, Miro, who grew up to be an adult, was nowhere to be found when I returned home.
After uncovering all of this, I wrapped up the lengthy night and fell asleep at home.
The house where my mom used to be was way too big and way too silent.
*
The next morning, I went to school. The situation in the school hadn’t changed much.
It was probably because the dream of maintaining the school wasn’t just mine.
Only three people were attending: myself, Songi, and Kain.
First off, I figured I should wake up those two and then wake Elena.
As soon as lunch rolled around, I called out to Pelo sitting on a tree outside the school window and headed to meet Songi.
Finding Songi was a piece of cake.
What on earth does Songi think a ‘perfect life’ is? A druid life?
Was her dream to bring animals to school?
I should have realized she was a bit off when she had to make up a backstory about getting permission to bring a parrot!
The moment I stepped onto the second-grade floor, the barking sounds were so loud I nearly lost my mind.
Thanks to Songi’s ‘setup’, the second grade had turned into a school for dogs rather than a place where humans learn.
In the midst of it all, finding the canine saint adored by animals—Songi—was easier than expected.
To blend in with the atmosphere, I perched Pelo back on my shoulder and approached her.
Songi spotted me from afar and dashed over.
“Pelooooo!”
Oh, she recognized him.
“I was so surprised when you suddenly disappeared! Where did you go? Did you mess with Ahri again?”
Songi’s gaze shifted to me as she continued speaking.
“If Pelo did something weird again, I’m sorry!”
“No, Pelo didn’t do anything weird. You’re the one doing something weird here!”
… I felt the atmosphere grow chilly.
Taking a glance around, I noticed numerous dogs and cats starting to glare at me.
“I can’t say for sure about the others, but I suspect you’re already half-awake… What do you think? Pela’s outfit was something you filled out too, right? While I was thinking about it on the way, Pelo probably tried waking you up before coming for me. You didn’t want to wake up so you….”
“SHUT UP!”
Before I could finish my sentence, Songi screamed like the school was burning down!
Just those words alone closed my mouth forcefully, leaving me completely silent.
“GET OUT OF HERE!”
Again, she shouted loudly.
And just like that, I was flung out of the school.
— BANG!
Wow! What is happening right now?
I tried to wake up Songi, and she got angry. That was expected, but…
She shouted while I was leaving! And then I actually got flung out of the school.
It was as if I glitched out of a game—my body soared through the air, phasing through walls, flying for a while, then landing in the schoolyard.
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even think about getting up.
Just lying there, dust from the ground covering me, I wondered if I’d activated some kind of reality manipulation ability?
I mean, it wouldn’t be that weird to think about.
This place was the stage of ‘Perfect Life’, built from our desires.
Creating a world based on people’s wishes isn’t an easy task.
People’s desires constantly change and grow stronger.
At first, someone might be satisfied with just a nice little house, but soon they’ll want a grand mansion, then end up craving a skyscraper.
What’s the method for endlessly fulfilling all these desires in a ‘Perfect Life’?
It’s giving all of us the power to make our wishes come true!
Come to think of it, I’ve already used that power, right?
When I jumped off the building, I wished the world would stop amidst my fear of dying.
And the world fulfilled that wish.
Compared to that miraculous moment, being sent flying out of the school isn’t a big deal at all.
Thinking about it, Kain’s situation is also quite unusual.
He was a total wreck, from his insides to his bones, during the fourth trial.
In reality, he’d probably be bedridden in a hospital for months, or even suffer lifelong consequences from those injuries.
Yet, just a week later, he appears with a cast on his leg, bouncing back and playing energetically with friends.
That abnormal recovery must also be a result of this world granting his wish to get better.
Thanks to that, waking them up became much more difficult.
Should I end up killing either Songi or Kain to wake them up? But now I’m not so sure.
With such incredible abilities like reality manipulation, could I actually go through with killing them?
…
Such pointless worries. Let’s head back to Songi.
At least, waking her up shouldn’t be too hard.
Unlike the others, it felt like Songi was already half-awake thanks to Pelo.
“So this time, you’ve gotta step up. It’s your job to save your mom, so give it your all.”
After I gently tapped Pelo sitting on my lap, I headed back into the school.
Was it because Songi’s chaotic mindset reflected onto the environment?
The second-grade floor was an absolute pandemonium.
Animals were running wild, while students shuffled around like zombies.
I pushed through the madness for a while, finally closing in on Songi, who was curled up alone in a corner of a classroom.
What if I talk to her and she flings me out again? That’s a bit risky, but I have to give it a shot.
“Hey, Songi?”
Songi whipped her head up to gaze at me.
I’m actually totally a competent agent of the Administration Bureau! If anyone can respond quickly and accurately, it’s me.
I grabbed Pelo with both hands and held him up in front of me.
“Bird Shield!”
“…”
“…”
— SQUAWK! SQUAWK!
Everyone went silent, and the parrot started trying to bite me in anger.
“Ow! Hey! Don’t pull my hair!”
Songi sighed as she took Pelo away.
“What was that? Did jokes from the ‘70s still work back in the day?”
“You’ve woken up too, huh?”
“…”
“So, when you wake up, don’t holographic screens usually pop up?”
“Do they? I still haven’t seen one. Maybe it’s because I just wanted to stick around a little longer?”
Wanting to stick around just a bit longer.
Sure, the allure of this ‘perfect world’ is immense.
I sat down beside Songi, who quietly apologized.
“I’m sorry for flinging you earlier. I didn’t realize I was using my power like that.”
“It’s alright. Getting tossed around is just an everyday occurrence.”
“Whose everyday is that anyway?”
“Think you’ll just gloss over it? Once you step outside the hotel, that’ll be your everyday life.”
“… Speaking of which, Grandpa Mookseong kept saying things about Kain being an agent. Does that mean I’ll have to live through those moments once I go out?”
“I was just saying that. You won’t know until you actually go out.”
A moment of silence stretched between us.
“Maybe it’s about time we start waking up?”
After a bit of waiting, Songi slowly began sharing her life story.
A once happy family went downhill for reasons unknown as time passed, and little by little, her parents began openly seeing other people.
There was a limit to how long they could avoid divorce for her sake. By the time she entered the hotel, both had consulted lawyers.
Tears began rolling down her cheeks.
“I knew even before Pelo woke me up, but I really didn’t want to leave. Every time I saw my parents getting along happily at home, it made me so happy.”
Not knowing what else to say, I grabbed Songi’s hand.
“Do I seem childish? You’ve… you’ve seen such horrific misfortunes working for the Bureau compared to just my parents’ divorce, right? Am I being foolish?”
“Not at all. Trying to compare miseries doesn’t make sense, does it? It’s like saying the misfortunes of people starving in Africa are just childish whining compared to the problems faced by people here in Korea.”
“….”
“Everyone has their own struggles. Just because someone else’s hardships seem worse doesn’t lessen yours, so that kind of comparison is pointless. I just hope you can overcome that sadness.”
“Will… will it solve itself once we leave the hotel? Could my parents maybe rekindle their relationship?”
… I didn’t want to lie, so I decided to be honest.
“No, it’s not just a simple disagreement between your parents—it’s conflicts that built up over the years. It’d be hard to turn back once that happens. Even if you leave with countless treasures and powers from the hotel, it won’t change the situation. But there can be growth.”
“Growth?”
“When you leave the hotel, your world will definitely be much larger than it was before you came in. It’s not about powers or treasures, but rather about what’s in your heart. Children grow up, creating their worlds, and at some point, they naturally separate from their parents’ lives. When that happens, they start to realize their parents have their own lives too.”
“….”
“Just because you leave the hotel doesn’t mean your parents’ relationship will improve, but you’ll at least be able to understand and accept them.”
Wow! Just then, didn’t I sound like some kind of psychological counselor?
“… Huh!”
“Huh?”
“It’s just that when you say things like that, with your appearance, it’s so weird! You look so childlike yourself!”
Songi laughed and playfully poked my head.
After all that advice I gave, this was the response?
But it didn’t feel bad.
Now I had solved the first teammate’s issue!
Once our conversation wrapped up, Songi’s gaze drifted off into space.
“Did a holographic screen appear?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Well, just like you left the screen up while waking everyone, I want to do the same.”
As Songi woke up, all the animals in the school, except for Pelo, vanished like mirages.
Songi was curious about how I’d awakened, and we chatted for a bit about that.
Next, we started to pick who to wake up next.
“It has to be Kain, right?”
“Since Elena’s the toughest case, we should probably go for her first. Unlike us, she doesn’t go to school, and from what I see in movies and dramas, it feels like she’s immersed in this world more than anyone.”
“How do you think we should wake Kain? He seems to be in a deeper sleep than the rest, making the persuasion process quite challenging.”
After a while of deep thought, Songi offered a suggestion.
“Why don’t we just push Kain off the building too?”
Pelo perked up at the suggestion, obviously thrilled.
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