### Chapter 463 – Day Off – The Second Sentence (2)
—
– Han Kain
— Crackle!
A bolt of lightning struck me.
I could feel the power of the second sentence pulling me into an unknown realm.
The avatar is an extension of myself—it’s a division!
The story I heard long ago slammed into my head like a hammer.
“What’s going on here—”
At that moment, a multitude of mirrors appeared all around me.
I, the one throwing witty jokes to make my comrades laugh.
I, ravenously swallowing a steak, feeling famished.
I, leading discussions and presenting opinions.
I, lethargically rolling around in bed, claiming to be tired.
I, playfully getting hit by Ahri.
I, nearly telling Elena how pretty she looks today but holding back.
To Miro—
“…”
All of this is a part of me.
It merely shows the actions I did, do, and can do!
As I resolved to suppress the indescribable anxiety rising within me, once again, the sentence radiated light.
「If what belongs to another can also belong to you, then couldn’t you also be another?」
Simultaneously, ‘they’ turned their gaze towards me.
So I’ve come this far.
Should I have sensed the uneasiness when I decided to charge the Holy Sun?
I felt an unpleasant sensation difficult to express in words.
No, saying ‘unpleasant’ doesn’t even cover the emotions I’m feeling right now.
This is a ‘different direction.’
A path separate from the one I wanted to follow!
“Shut up! Everything is a part of me, so you are just footprints I’ve left behind in my life! Don’t you realize you aren’t even my conversational partner?”
Isn’t there a contradiction in your words?
If you’re not a conversational partner, then what are we ‘doing’ right now?
“The heart of a person is deeper than the sea and broader than the sky. Therefore, there cannot be just one thought, but these are like temporary illusions.”
The being bubbling up like a bubble whispered softly.
Oh dear! We are temporary illusions, and you are the eternal self?
Isn’t that a bit too arrogant?
“Weaklings can never accept the truth.”
Even cold water has its upper and lower parts; by order, aren’t you behind me and I in front?
The truly arrogant don’t even recognize their own arrogance; today, I finally understood that saying.
“Foolish words! You are merely the mirror reflecting me; what significance does order hold—”
At that moment, all the mirrors burst into laughter simultaneously.
The ‘me’ trapped in an unknown delusion was too ridiculous to bear.
Hey, shouldn’t you reflect on yourself when you say such things?
Ah.
Ah.
Ah.
I realized it.
I accepted the uncomfortable truth I couldn’t recognize—the painful wisdom I had refused!
I too am a mirror.
The most foolish mirror that didn’t even know it was a mirror.
While I thought the mirror was reflecting me, the truth was, I myself was the mirror!
No words can describe this!
The overwhelming knowledge that I can’t articulate crashes down on me.
The reflection in the mirror reflects in another mirror, and yet another mirror reflects that image.
If countless versions of me have sprouted…
Who was the first ‘me’ to cast an image in the mirror? Does that first ‘me’ truly exist?
Or is all this belief merely an illusion of the finite being?
— Crackle!
I pondered as I witnessed the world’s strongest thing—myself—being split apart by lightning.
Thank goodness.
At least after today, I won’t have to feel this pain again.
Change is irreversible.
Today, I lost my uniqueness.
*
– Miro
Silence fell over the table left behind by Kain, who complained of a headache.
As if everyone had made a secret pact not to speak, I even pinched Ahri’s shoulder, suffering from an unknown anxiety—
“… Miro, please be quiet.”
“W-What’s with the sudden weird vibe?”
“…”
Finally, after scanning the area, Ahri cautiously opened her mouth.
“Earlier, did you all feel that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Miro, just shut it.”
“W-What do you mean!”
“… Seungyub, you too, be quiet.”
Isn’t this age discrimination?
Strangely, everyone except Seungyub and me slowly nodded their heads.
Then, Grandpa muttered under his breath.
“That Kain fella seems a bit more resolute today.”
Resolute?
Wasn’t he always like that?
Even grumpy Songi chimed in.
“Today felt… lacking in consideration?”
Elena also cautiously spoke up.
“Seems like he’s a bit irritated… specifically, um, towards Ahri and the teacher?”
He was angry at Ahri and the doctor?
Curiously, both of them nodded their heads in unison.
“Right. Every time I spoke, his expression crinkled a bit.”
“I didn’t notice at first, but after talking for over an hour, I realized it at some point.”
Listening to this, I found it hard to understand, so I said honestly.
“Um… well, couldn’t it just happen? Maybe he was feeling a bit prickly! He might have been annoyed with Ahri or the teacher for something trivial, like Ahri stealing his egg.”
“I didn’t think it was for you!”
“…”
“No. It wasn’t a mood swing; he was fundamentally a little different from usual. Moreover.”
“Moreover,” she said, and Ahri glanced around at her comrades.
Understanding her intent, Eunsol opened her mouth.
“If just one person had felt discomfort, it could’ve been a misconception, but if multiple people felt it simultaneously, it indicates something is really up.”
“…”
“If this place were the Curse Room, I’d assume some unidentified presence had possessed Kain.”
“Possession, huh.”
“Or it could be that the hotel triggered some strange event without our knowledge?”
“… So, you used the flute for that?”
“Yeah.”
Ahri said lightly, almost with a tease.
“Wasn’t that a bit too clumsy? Suddenly feeling a headache and saying you’d use the flute. Flutes don’t really help with headaches, do they?”
“Yikes! I was trying to come up with an excuse to pull out the flute when I couldn’t think of anything.”
“Well, since Kain didn’t seem to notice, it doesn’t matter.”
Grandpa looked at Eunsol and asked.
“Eunsol, I heard Kain appears strangely to you?”
“… Right. Most of the time, he looks normal, but sometimes a ghastly form flashes by, you know?”
“What about now?”
Upon that, Eunsol made a complicated expression.
“Honestly, right now looks more normal than before.”
“More normal than before?”
“I used to see a monster-like image flash by; right now, it’s not like that.”
“Hmmm…”
Once again, the atmosphere fell silent.
So, seriously, was that entire vibe just behind-the-back-talk about Kain?
As soon as Kain left the table, everyone was quick to label him as having a rotten personality or lacking consideration!
Even claiming he appeared as a monster?
That’s straight-up verbal jabs.
So I realized.
I must never leave the table first!
Then, Ahri stood up.
“Let’s wrap it up for today. Kain probably won’t be back soon, and tomorrow is a day off. Miro, let’s go for a moment.”
Without even looking at Ahri, who placed her hand on my shoulder, I answered reflexively.
“No.”
“… What’s this about now?”
“I’m not leaving this spot until someone else gets up!”
“…”
After a moment, Ahri sighed deeply.
“I always wonder when I see you, Miro. What kind of organization did the Administration Bureau train a heartless girl like you to become an agent?”
“What do you mean?”
“Training such a ridiculous girl to become a heartless agent, I wonder!”
And then Ahri lifted me with her strength!
“Eek! Eek! Aaah! Ah, Ahri’s abducting me!”
“Shut it!”
*
“Where am I?”
I found myself in a room somewhere in an underground hotel, having wriggled in while being dragged by Ahri and not even seeing which room it was.
“Eek!”
“Will you be quiet?”
“A log cabin?”
“‘Noon Peace.’ It’s a leisurely place with a lake and a lodge; you’re probably here for the first time.”
Soon, Ahri placed me onto the soft bed inside the log cabin.
“Go to sleep quickly.”
“…”
“Close your eyes and sleep.”
“…”
That’s a bit too blatant.
“Are you trying to draw that weird picture again and invade my dreams like last time?”
“You catch on quickly. The picture was taken by Kain, but I can still imitate it.”
“Absolutely not!”
“It’s happening.”
“Never—ugh!”
“Miro, please, just sleep. I need to ask ‘Lady Miro’ in my dream something.”
“Ugh!”
“…”
Ten minutes passed.
“I can’t sleep.”
“…”
“Uh, it’s because Ahri’s staring at me that I can’t sleep.”
“… I’ll turn around.”
“Don’t do that; um, sing me a song.”
“…”
“If you sing me a lullaby, I think I could fall asleep.”
“… Reminds me of the old days.”
Old days?
Speaking of which, I heard there was another, younger Miro who raised Ahri!
“Oh! Did I, um, another me sing a lullaby to you?”
“…”
“Uh-huh. So Ahri had times when she would fall asleep listening to mommy’s lullabies.”
My heart felt warm.
Even though I can’t remember now, isn’t it beautiful that we had such a lovely moment!
“… I used to sing to you.”
“Eh?”
“I sang you lullabies since you were three days old.”
“…”
Soon, a sweet song filled the log cabin, tickling my ears.
Sleep tight, my little one,
By the front yard and the back mount~
Thanks to that, I had a dream. A very long dream.
Strangely enough, it felt like I met someone other than Ahri in that dream.
*
“I didn’t expect to meet you here.”
“I should be the one saying that. Did you think Miro’s dream was some subway route? I told you not to come here.”
“… I had a question.”
“Do you know who’s on the other side?”
“Somehow, I think I know it.”
“…”
*
The next morning, everyone gathered as if nothing had happened.
Luckily, my comrades no longer talked behind Kain’s back.
“Alright! Shall we all discuss the method to resolve Room 206?”
“Um, um!”
“Seungyub?”
“I’ve got an amazing idea I thought of all night!”
—
Thanks to Jinwoolhyang, Flying Spaghetti, and Nephir for your support. I will repay you with sincere updates!
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.