### Chapter 431 – Clan with Structure (7)
—
[Han Kain]
—
“Ugh! Cough! Ugh!”
Though Han Minsang, who had hijacked the child’s body, was writhing under the pressure on his neck, he was frantically squirming around.
I considered pulling the thread with all my might multiple times, but what if the child’s body died in the process? That would be a big problem.
It was a tiring situation, but facing a shapeless ghost was better than combating whatever dwelled in that child’s body.
—
Eventually, after about ten minutes, Han Minsang drooled and went limp, and Elena and I rushed over.
—
“Name tag, name tag! Here it is!”
On the chest of the body’s owner, Minseok, there was a name tag that naturally appeared reading ‘Han Minsang.’
—
“Where’s Minseok’s name tag?”
“Here! It’s on the ground!”
—
After removing Han Minsang’s name tag, I put Minseok’s name tag back on.
—
“Now let’s head to the jar!”
—
To end the Name Tag Stealing Game, we had to place the victim’s name tag back in the jar and close the lid.
I ran to the location of the jar with Han Minsang’s name tag in hand.
—
As a wealthy heir worth over 100 billion, my great-grandfather’s hanok was no ordinary place; there were rooms upon rooms.
—
“There’s the jar!”
“This time, it’s in Grandpa’s room again!”
“Every time I dream about Kain, it’s always in that room. Was that Grandpa’s room?”
—
The jar always appeared in the largest room of the hanok, which belonged to my great-grandfather.
Upon entering the room, I saw the open jar in the center and the old man’s body sprawled out like a dead mouse.
—
“Kain, Han Jin-seong is….”
“…”
—
Let’s remember the nightmare that ended with Han Minsang’s victory.
At that time, Han Minsang had dragged me to the jar like a dog after stealing his brother’s body.
He mocked the grandfather, who was next to the jar, and shoved Grandpa’s soul inside.
In other words, if left alone, Han Minsang would lock up his most hated person, his great-grandfather’s soul, in the jar.
—
By this time, Grandpa’s soul was already trapped in the jar.
—
“Should we take Grandpa’s soul out of the jar?”
“…”
“If we put our hand in and take out the name tag—”
“That’s too dangerous.”
—
Elena lowered her head with a gloomy expression.
To pull out the soul of Grandpa, which had already entered the jar? To rummage around in there?
That was far too risky.
Our own souls were inside our bodies, so how could we guarantee another soul wouldn’t be consumed by the jar?
There was no assurance that the jar could only contain one person’s soul.
—
— Thud!
—
So, I tossed in Han Minsang’s name tag and closed the jar’s lid.
The jar didn’t hesitate to consume two souls.
—
…
…
…
—
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 378
Current Location: Basement Level, Art Gallery
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
[Han Kain]
—
Suddenly, I came to my senses.
As soon as I woke up, I checked my status window and realized two days had passed.
—
Was that why? I felt an intense hunger and thirst.
“Kaain!”
“Wahhh!”
—
The moment I shook my head awake, Miro beamed, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Beside me, Elena had a shocked expression, and Ahri, munching on a potato chip, stiffened her face slightly before lifting Miro up by the scruff of her neck.
—
“Miro, take it easy. Kain, how are you feeling?”
“I’m hungry and thirsty.”
—
No sooner had I finished that sentence than Jinchul handed me a water bottle.
“Here’s some water.”
“Thanks.”
“Good job. It feels a bit sketchy, but the painter says this should resolve things?”
“…”
—
After quenching my thirst, I looked around.
We were in the center of the art gallery, with Elena and I lying on a pile of blankets.
Our teammates had somehow brought in chairs, and even sofas to sit and lie down on.
It seemed they had been watching my dreams like a movie for several days.
—
Next to the giant canvas that was acting as a screen, the painter was yawning.
“Is this a resolution?”
“Kind of.”
“…There’s something else hadn’t you noticed? It feels like you cut it off in the middle—”
“What’s the point of watching more? The Name Tag Stealing Game is over, and Han Minsang and Han Jin-seong are happily trapped in the jar together.”
“…”
—
“That’s the vibe.”
“What about the terrified kids and Han Jin-seong’s body, which has lost its soul?”
—
Sounds like we should let the kids go home on their own, right? Han Jin-seong is an old man who could kick the bucket any day now, so they’d just take care of that. The secrets of the jar are buried in the darkness of the warehouse, and your family can enjoy the inheritance while living well. What else is there?
—
There’s nothing more.
Even I think that’s a suitable ending.
—
“Thanks for looking for me. If you had come to the gallery even once, you would’ve found me sooner. Now aren’t you curious about the reward?”
—
The moment my teammates displayed expressions of interest, I shouted stubbornly.
“Wait a minute!”
“What? Do you have something else to say?”
“I heard from Elena. She said there are still two chances, right? So since I already used one with Elena, there’s one remaining, right?”
“Well, that’s true, but this is enough, you know? You said there was going to be a reward.”
—
The emotions reflected in the painter’s expression were clear.
Boredom, disappointment, fatigue, and dissatisfaction.
Ending it like this didn’t feel quite right.
I’m not sure exactly why, but at least I knew this wasn’t it.
—
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
—
‘The painter looks disappointed; wonder why?’
—
[You couldn’t see what you were supposed to see.]
—
The hotel wanted to show me something, but I had ended the dream without seeing it.
It had to be valuable information.
Something I had experienced in the past but had somehow forgotten due to interference.
—
Why couldn’t I see it?
Because what had actually happened and the sequence were too different!
—
“Wait, wait a moment!”
—
The painter chuckled.
“Sure. Go ahead, put in some effort with the advice. That’s your strength, so I’ll give you a chance.”
—
The method Elena and I used to resolve things was far too different from the actual experience of middle schooler Han Kain.
The developments diverge so much that the ‘special event’ that happened back then wouldn’t occur this time.
—
I could understand that much…
—
“…”
—
From the middle, I had the feeling something was off.
More exactly, I started feeling uneasy when I tied the thread around my younger cousins’ necks.
—
No matter how clueless a middle schooler might be, would they suddenly wrap thread around their cousin’s neck?
That isn’t the kind of natural behavior that my past self would display.
—
Learning the rules of the game through repeated gameplay and taking preemptive action before the opponent does.
That’s the way of a time traveler.
It’s a typical move for a hotel participant.
That’s not how a human boy living a single life would think.
—
Though I vaguely sensed this fact, I had no idea what to do next.
—
Why?
Because I couldn’t find the correct answer whatsoever.
I couldn’t think of a way for an ‘ordinary middle school student’ to survive in a situation like this.
—
Let’s think about it from a step back.
As I’m not a reincarnator, I only get one chance.
I don’t know the rules of the Name Tag Stealing Game, nor do I know that such an event is occurring.
I’m completely unaware that there’s a vengeful spirit in the jar or that souls can be switched using name tags.
I’m in a position where a malevolent spirit assaulted me while I was sleeping in bed without knowing anything.
—
Does it make sense that a middle school student would triumph in such a ridiculous scenario?
—
With no superpowers, no information, and only one chance, the conditions are even harsher than that of a cursed room.
—
I’m playing an unwinnable game, and of course, I had to resort to abnormal measures to try and win.
—
“…”
—
[Advice: 2 -> 1]
—
‘What in the world should I do to naturally survive like a middle school student in that situation?’
—
[Think in reverse. You are the future being who has already survived. Reflect on your experiences to discern what the outcome was.]
—
Thinking in reverse.
Instead of analyzing the trials chronologically from the start, let’s conjure the already determined outcomes from the future.
—
First, our family never received a fortune of billions.
Second, I have no recollection of what happened back then.
—
“…”
—
As I focused on this information, I began to grasp the nature of ‘some outcome.’
The hundreds of billions worth of assets disappeared completely, as if by a will.
There were supernatural events involving a ghostly jar that had happened, yet not only I but also all my younger cousins had forgotten it.
—
An organization capable of such actions would be the Administration Bureau.
—
However, just because I knew the outcome didn’t mean anything changed.
Because the path leading to that outcome was still unknown.
—
There was a sense of blockage in the flow of my thoughts.
It felt like an enormous boulder had dammed the river, and I didn’t know how to clear it away.
—
[Advice: 1 -> 0]
—
‘While I know the outcome, I have no clue how to proceed. No matter what I come up with, I can’t figure out how a clueless past version of myself would win.’
—
It’s not that I didn’t have a solution.
I had already resolved it with Elena and thought of various other methods, too.
—
The problem was that the methods coming to mind were all viable only for a hotel participant who had received foresight into the future.
I couldn’t find possible methods for an ordinary middle schooler devoid of any information.
—
[If even a veteran on the 2nd floor of the hotel couldn’t recall, how could a middle school student come up with that?]
—
“…What do you mean?”
—
You’re telling me the answer, but this is what you say in response?
—
How would a middle schooler think of something that a veteran hotel participant couldn’t?
—
No, I survived back then, so—
—
…
—
“Ah.”
—
Don’t tell me.
Seriously, don’t tell me.
I thought it was absurd, but I couldn’t shake it off.
—
“Wait…”
—
When I unintentionally let my mouth wander open at the truly ridiculous possibility, the painter smiled.
“Participant Han Kain.”
—
“…”
—
“Do you want to try one last time?”
“…Yes.”
—
One last attempt.
I earnestly pleaded with my worrying teammates.
“This time, I’ll go in alone again.”
“Huh? Kain, without our help, it won’t be easy for you to create a variable! You should just let it happen like a middle schooler!”
“Exactly, I’m going in alone.”
—
While Elena was startled, Ahri tilted her head in confusion.
“You, now, you’ve failed twice already!”
“When did I stop when I was doing it alone?”
“What?”
—
A hazy memory, I recalled my teammates’ past words.
—
‘Here it is again. It’s probably going to end here again, right?’
‘At this point, it’s already a defeat.’
‘It’s not easy to stay still and be a mere spectator, huh? So…”
—
During rounds where I executed things alone, my teammates paused the dream and restarted whenever my failure was certain.
—
“Just let me be this time.”
—
Songee muttered, looking uneasy.
“Kain oppa, you might not realize this, but if you leave things be, you’ll end up trying to commit suicide in the body of a 90-year-old man—”
“Then I’ll just let myself die until I drop dead.”
“…”
—
*
—
— Swish!
—
As a gentle breeze brushed my cheek, the rustling of leaves came from the nearby bamboo grove.
I caught a whiff of that familiar earthy scent for a second when a little child in front of me was fiddling with a wriggling bug in his hand—
—
“Eek!”
—
‘Let my past memories flow as they are. In this case, what did I and my teammates mess up during this incident?’
—
…
—
At lunchtime, when I returned to the countryside house with my siblings, the adults were having an uproarious fight.
—
“Jeong-ho! You’ve never once visited grandpa’s house—”
—
‘The winning conditions are outrageously harsh. With only one chance, while I’m just an ordinary middle schooler, I’m up against a supernatural evil spirit. What’s worse is the information imbalance.’
—
…
—
The next day, chaos started from the morning.
—
“G-Grandpa! What in the world is this? Suddenly a donation!”
—
“Joon-sook… If you keep shouting like that, my ears will hurt.”
—
“Grandpa!”
—
‘At night, the jar appears, and the evil spirit that emerges from it takes the body of the living through the Name Tag Stealing Game. All this information is known only to the spirit while I am caught by surprise as I sleep.’
—
…
—
“I can’t stand your lazy behavior anymore! Bring the tea right now!”
—
“B-but grandpa! The kids are all from the city! They wouldn’t know what to do—”
—
‘It’s unfair. There’s no way a middle schooler like me can win. In a set-up where I can’t win, I desperately tried to find a way, so it’s natural that the developments became unnatural. That’s the trap my teammates and I fell into.’
—
…
—
In my great-grandfather’s countryside house storage.
—
My dad once told me that this storage was filled with all sorts of expensive art pieces collected by my great-grandfather since he was young.
—
Because of that, I was scared to touch anything haphazardly and just stayed still.
—
“What are you doing?”
“…”
“Come here. Do you know what this is?”
—
‘We’ve been heading in the wrong direction from the start. We just kept digging in the wrong direction together. That’s why the painter was disappointed, and I couldn’t see what the hotel was trying to show me. So this time, I’ll turn the twisted dream back to the right direction.’
—
…
—
When I returned to the hanok, the phone was ringing loudly.
—
“Hello? You’ll be coming tomorrow?”
—
Due to my great-grandfather’s whims, the adults had gone to pick tea leaves together and were going to return a day later.
—
‘I accepted one incredibly ridiculous truth. This truth is something that one would consider ‘obvious’ when thinking normally. But it was something I and my teammates ‘couldn’t even imagine.’’
—
…
—
— Grasp!
—
I woke up in the midst of a violent pain gripping my throat!
—
‘My past self lost. I dropped into an unwinnable game and lost ordinarily. This is the truth my teammates and I excluded from the beginning.’
—
…
—
I, first year middle schooler Han Kain…
—
Had become trapped in the body of a nearly ninety-year-old man.
This was the most painful prison in the world.
—
“Wow~! A boy’s body is the best.”
—
‘My teammates always paused the dream at this juncture, thinking it was futile. They believed there was no opportunity for reversal.’
—
…
—
Now, the entity that had become a ‘boy’ was shuffling toward the open jar, giggling.
—
— Clink!
—
The lid of the jar closed.
The name tag disappeared into the darkness.
—
“Now it’s over~! Aha! Look at the eyes! Did you think you still had a chance?”
—
Despair, fear, agony, dread.
I fell into an abyss of negative emotions, so immense I couldn’t even articulate it, as I screamed silently to no one.
—
I wanted to beg to be killed rather than live the rest of my life as a 90-year-old man.
—
‘The remaining scene showed me in despair trapped within the body of a 90-year-old. My teammates, witnessing this in real time, could hardly endure it. I understand this. It’s evidence of how much they loved me.’
—
…
…
…
—
“…”
—
This unfolding was unavoidable up until now.
Didn’t the owl tell me?
How could a middle schooler, who was an ordinary participant in the hotel, think of answers that a veteran performing on the 2nd floor could not.
—
The past me couldn’t come up with the answer.
It’s not just about coming up with the answer; I didn’t even realize that the problem was imposed on me.
—
That’s why I lost, and Han Minsang stole my body.
—
It’s here that past me turned the tables.
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