### Chapter 142 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Perfect Life’ (33)
—
Han Kain
Class. Again, class, and more class.
Even with the world turned upside down several times, here I am, stuck in school.
Sighing heavily, I managed to half-heartedly get through the new school lessons before we gathered in a vacant classroom.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Eventually, Ahri broke the silence first.
“We’ve gotten quite cute, haven’t we?”
“Isn’t it that you look younger than me now?”
“Whether it’s you or me. But seriously, how did we end up like this?”
“…”
“…”
Of course, Ahri spoke up again.
“We’ve missed a crucial fact. Elena is much deeper into her dreams than we thought.”
“Why is Elena so persistent? The three of us woke up faster than expected.”
“Well, considering this is the final trial, things have been too easy.”
An idea struck me.
“Elena seems to have a stronger wish for something unfulfilled compared to Songi and me. Perhaps that’s why her psychological mechanism to fulfill that wish is more pronounced? Compared to Ari, at least….”
“She hasn’t trained as much as I have. I was raised by the Administration Bureau, so my mental fortitude is quite strong.”
In short, it seemed like Elena’s mental state was weaker than Ari’s and she harbored more regrets about life.
After a heavy sigh, Songi started chatting with Ahri.
“What should we do? After all, our method was to stimulate ‘discomfort’ to trigger forgotten hotel memories, right? But it feels like Elena has recalled those memories only to slip back into the dream.”
“It’s a cliché situation. It’s like choosing to drown in a happy dream rather than face unhappy reality. Our initial plan turned her not just awake but into a new dream.”
“At this rate, reminding Elena of the past probably won’t help. I feel like no matter what we say, she’ll just shift the content of her dream without waking up.”
“If we keep pushing, she might find us ‘uncomfortable’ and end up locking us away somewhere.”
While the two were talking, my thoughts drifted back to the past.
The process of those who had already awakened, the methods we used on Elena.
There was a significant element missing from our chosen approach.
*
It wasn’t hard to grasp what Elena wished for in at least the second dream created.
As revealed in our previous chat, it was to create a happy childhood.
Elena was attending a peaceful school, surrounded by friends.
Even Songi, Ahri, and I were her close friends in this space.
As the first dream drew to a close, the awkwardly regained memories Elena had seemed to vanish once more.
Perhaps erasing those memories was even part of that wish.
…
“Ugh!”
— Thud!
Lost in thought, a tennis ball, flying like a beam of light due to a powerful smash, hit me right in the head.
“Oof!”
“Uh? Oh no! Kain! Are you okay?”
During gym class, as Elena rushed over, flustered after hitting me with the tennis ball, she helped me up.
After sharing a chuckle, I got to my feet, and Elena beamed with joy.
We resumed tossing the tennis ball back and forth, enjoying ourselves.
… Not bad at all.
Honestly, Elena seemed ridiculously cute and genuinely happy right now.
*
It was lunchtime.
“Elena.”
“Yep?”
“Are you having fun?”
“Hmm? Why do you ask all of a sudden? Of course, I’m enjoying myself! Oh, by the way, do you know there’s a performance at the Bach Tango Theater tonight?”
“First I’m hearing of it.”
Elena shyly offered me a ticket.
“My dad told me to invite my friends! Let’s go together!”
I took the ticket and asked.
“Is this just for me?”
“What? I’ve given them to other friends before! Don’t think weird thoughts.”
I was seated next to Elena.
*
As evening approached, we had some time to walk our pets.
Once again, the kids around us were casting out strange-looking white Samoyeds and Norwegian Forest cats that seemed out of nowhere for a stroll.
Fortunately, unlike music class, we had Perro with us, so we could fit in just fine.
Perro’s flamboyance rivaled any of the other pets.
Of course, Perro’s wild antics far surpassed all other animals there combined.
“Ah! Perro! You can’t pull the fur out of the Samoyed!”
“Just let him be. Perro needs to gather nesting materials too.”
“Ari! The Samoyed’s owner is crying!”
“So what? The animal world operates on survival of the fittest. It’s not the Samoyed’s fault it’s weaker than Perro.”
I chuckled at the absurdness of it all.
I ultimately had to step in to yank Perro away from the swirling fluff of the Samoyed.
*
In school, Elena was truly a happy kid.
In every class, she was the first to raise her hand and answer questions, earning ample praise, and all the kids adored her.
She had warm, loving parents at home, and her life was filled with joyful performances, happy trips, and kind people.
It was, without a doubt, a “perfect life.”
There wasn’t a trace of darkness from the moment I saw Elena half-awake in that coffee shop.
It felt like the ‘genre’ of the world had subtly flipped.
A beautiful girl, a radiant world. A life constantly vibrant and joyful.
…
No.
It was just a meaningless illusion.
On the first night in the hotel, the genre of the world we were in became clear.
Elena, I’m sorry, but no matter how you slice it, the hotel genre is definitely not a romantic comedy.
*
“Hey, Han Kain! What was that about earlier? I thought this was Elena’s dream, but it turned out to be yours.”
“What?”
“You seemed so happy playing tennis with Elena!”
“Yet you ignored me and Songi, playing the violin all by yourself. Made it seem like we were the odd people out.”
“How old are you, and you still can’t play a single instrument?”
“I can play the recorder, thank you very much.”
“Even Perro could play the recorder.”
“…”
“Ah! Let’s wrap up the jokes here. What do we do now? I have no idea how to wake Elena up. I’m sure even killing her would be pointless. She’d just jump to the next dream.”
“I think I’m starting to get it. And what we messed up.”
Songi and Ahri looked at me in unison.
“Sorry, but we’ve been catering too much to Elena. Think back to our experiences. Ari got confused and only woke up after attempting to jump out of a building, right? Songi almost had a full-blown fight with Ari, didn’t you? I summoned myself but nearly fried in boiling oil before waking up.”
“So?”
“The others didn’t exactly wake up peacefully either. Just stimulating ‘discomfort’ isn’t cutting it. If we only stimulate discomfort, it’s strange, but still just a happy dream, isn’t it? Awakening isn’t going to seem like an option.”
Songi wore a look of uncertainty.
“Hyung? What do you mean by…?”
“She has to feel that this dream isn’t happy. Only then will she wake up on her own.”
Ahri, who had been confused, nodded after hearing my words, her expression firm.
“You’re right. After all, we got awakened that way too. We need her to realize it’s not just strange but that ‘I need to wake up from this dream.’ Now, I understand what has been missing in our plan. We left out the ‘spicy’ flavor.”
‘Spicy.’
Songi caught the ominous meaning from that word, her expression turning a bit gloomy.
“I get the intention, but how about we consider a softer approach? Maybe make Elena feel a bit more relaxed…”
“The more we do that, the deeper Elena will sink into this dream.”
“Fine. But if we accidentally push too hard, she might launch us out of here.”
“What’s there to worry about? You’ve already tried it on me, right? We’ll need to be sneaky about it. We followed Songi’s ‘peaceful’ guidance, but it didn’t work out well. This time, let’s go my way.”
One essential element had been missing from our initial strategy.
‘Spicy’
It was time to turn on the alarm clock for Elena’s sweet dreams.
*
— Elena
I waited beneath the clock tower in Cohoit Square, trying to calm my racing heart.
When will they arrive? When will they arrive?
Has about 20 minutes passed? I saw someone approaching from afar.
As soon as Kain arrived, he seemed startled and shouted.
“Elena! You look like you just fell from the sky!”
“Eep! Don’t say that. Do you have the theater tickets?”
“Yep. But where are your parents?”
“We’re not kids anymore! We don’t need parents to go see a play!”
Feeling joyful, I turned away.
Kain mumbled something vague behind me, like ‘I guess we are kids after all.’
I always felt that Kain was fascinating yet strange, intelligent yet clumsy, kind yet ruthless.
?
Was there ever a moment I had such complicated thoughts about Kain?
I tilted my head slightly, then headed into the theater.
—
The performance was delightful.
Listening to the songs sung by people dressed as cats, I found myself humming along unexpectedly, and a happy hour passed by.
As the show neared its end, Kain, who had been silent in the seat next to me, spoke up.
“Elena.”
“Yep?”
“Are you having fun?”
“Yep! This is so much fun.”
“Good… If Elena is happy, then I’m happy too.”
That was an unusually cheesy tone for him. His expression, however, remained cool.
Strangely enough, Kain felt different from usual.
Oh! Is it possible… that being in the theater together made Kain feel strange too?
That thought made my heart race without me even realizing it.
— Thrum! Thrum!
What’s going on! What’s so special about watching a play that—
— Thrum! Thrum!
…
— Thrum! Thrum!
What is this? It’s not just my heart racing; the ground is actually shaking!
I panicked and slightly lifted my head as the crowd began murmuring.
Suddenly, Kain grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
“Ka-Kain?”
“Let’s get out of here. There’s a weird smell.”
“Weird smell? I don’t smell anything…”
Ignoring my words, Kain stood up and dragged me away.
Not even ten seconds passed before a loud voice filled the theater.
“Fire!!! Fire!!!”
In seconds, the theater was filled with chaos!
The entrance was narrow, and with everyone trying to get up at once, we were stuck, unable to move a step.
What’s happening? Why today of all days?
— Thrum! Thrum…! Bang!
Suddenly, the floor of the theater burst open!
“Ahhhh!”
“Eeeeek! It’s a monster!”
In the blink of an eye, a dinosaur-like bird draped in black cloth appeared right in the middle of the now chaotic theater.
I stood there, spaced out, watching the scene of the monster bird smashing everything around.
What should I do? Why on earth did such a monster show up in the theater?
Why today!
A wave of resentment filled my heart. I needed to punish that bird—
“Ah!”
“Elena, what are you doing standing there? Let’s hurry and get out!”
Something felt like it was about to happen! Before I could even react, Kain firmly grasped my hand, pulling me to escape the theater.
I rushed to follow Kain as smoke filled my vision, and the stench of smoke filled the air.
Somehow, it felt like tonight would be a very long night.
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