LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 197
I didn’t dream very often, but when I did have nightmares, they usually followed a similar pattern.
And every time I woke up, I did so in a similar way. It was when I recognized that I was dreaming.
The moment I realized, “Ah, this is a dream,” I could no longer enjoy it.
People want to live in their dreams, but as soon as they become aware it’s a dream, reality dissipates.
– Swish!
The manual unfolds and lands in my hands.
[Containment Object – Dream Within a Dream – Isolation Team Kim Heon Young Revised Edition]
[This object was first discovered when the Isolation Team encountered Aestheticism, and subsequent information is fragmented, so it should be interpreted accordingly.]
1. While contained in this object, one must clearly judge their surroundings.
2. Paradoxically, to wake from a dream, one must delve deeper into it and fully realize they are dreaming.
3. It’s an extreme prescription, but the fastest way to wake from a dream is through death.
4. However, confusing dreams with reality can lead to suicide, so caution is advised.
5. Dream Within a Dream is like a game played by everyone. If even one person escapes, all who are trapped within the dream will awaken.
The phrase that caught my attention was this:
[Paradoxically, to wake from a dream, one must delve deeper into it and fully realize they are dreaming.]
Everyone becomes the master of their own dream.
Waking from a terrible death is also one’s dream, and enjoying a happy dream is likewise one’s dream.
But what if it’s someone else’s dream?
[Dream Within a Dream is like a game played by everyone. If even one person escapes, all who are trapped will awaken.]
If just one person wakes up, it’s a dream where everyone awakens.
The person who wrote this was literally describing a phenomenon where if one person wakes, everyone wakes. But thinking in reverse, that’s odd.
The only one who can wake me from my dream is me.
Others within my dream cannot awaken me; they are merely illusions created in my mind.
“From now on, I will begin the update of the containment object.”
– Swish!
The pages of the manual unfold, revealing new text.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[Containment Object – Dream Within a Dream – Human Resources Team Kim Jae Heon Revised Edition]
“Even if one commits suicide to wake from Dream Within a Dream, they don’t completely wake up.”
[6. Even if one commits suicide to wake from Dream Within a Dream, they don’t completely wake up.]
“To completely wake from a dream, at least one person must be recognized by the dream owner.”
[7. To completely wake from a dream, at least one person must be recognized by the dream owner.]
Suicide is not a trigger for complete awakening.
It merely serves to provide a slight escape.
– Bang!
Before I knew it, Aestheticism was ruthlessly taking down the mannequin charging at them.
Each time it swung its hand, it was as if magic happened, and the mannequin rolled on the floor.
Aestheticism did not rage.
He methodically broke the mannequins as if he were working.
Soon, when the mannequins littered the floor no longer had any use, Aestheticism sighed and looked at me.
There was no sign of ease on his face.
“How did you know?”
“It struck me as odd when I first saw that mannequin.”
I recalled the moment I entered the workshop.
When I assigned annoying names to the mannequins, what I saw was indeed correct information.
Then when Yu Da On turned into a picture, it was as if my eyes lost their function.
Also, the phrase visible from the recently burned picture was the same.
When my eyes spoke of weaknesses, they always spoke only of weaknesses.
How did I know?
If my eyes could read the atmosphere, I wouldn’t have suggested troubling Song Ah Rin even more. I wouldn’t have told Yu Da On her home was terrible.
But suddenly telling me not to? That doesn’t make sense.
“I thought it was strange then.”
– Click!
I drew a pistol and aimed it at Aestheticism.
“Of course, that’s not all.”
The demeanor could be similar.
But what was different was that his actions were visible.
“I never made a direct attack before.”
I recalled the first time I saw Aestheticism.
Upon sight, Jang Chae Yeon had fainted, and Yu Da On and Song Ah Rin were too busy harming themselves.
I turned my gaze to the three of them.
Yu Da On looked at me with a perplexed expression.
Song Ah Rin watched me with curiosity.
And Jang Chae Yeon was fixated on the scattered mannequins.
“If I’m at this distance, at least the other three can’t be safe.”
They were probably preoccupied with self-harm after being attacked mentally.
“Lastly.”
With my words, Aestheticism, no, the thing disguised as Aestheticism looked at me.
“The Aestheticism I know wouldn’t be one to hastily reach out when their painting was on fire.”
“…”
A translucent window arose.
[Critical: 0 -> 1]
Aestheticism looked at me.
“Chae Yeon.”
“…Yeah.”
Jang Chae Yeon looked at me.
Why did it say to her, “So it was you”?
How could there be a method to specify Jang Chae Yeon?
There was one time.
[Critical: 1 -> 0]
When I captured the truth inside the dream.
[I will use Gaze.]
Jang Chae Yeon’s eyes widened.
The only one still in the dream who tasted reality.
Only then did the translucent window, which had been unseen, emerge.
[Name: Dream Within a Dream (Aestheticism)]
[Age: Created 15 years ago]
[Specialty: Projection]
[Talent: Projection]
[Background: It dreams. That it is this. That it lived its life as this, and will continue to live this life, and that everyone will think so, causing others to believe so as well.]
[Weakness: If it wakes from the dream, it is when it realizes it is a dream.]
– Bang!
Jang Chae Yeon reached out, and a massive shockwave rattled the air.
The shockwave coming toward me was deflected as if by magic when it waved its hand.
“Go!”
She yelled, and impossibly, stones started to float above the ground.
“Da On!”
Yu Da On began bouncing on the rising stones.
Like a scene from a movie, she elegantly dashed towards Dream Within a Dream, dancing on the stones.
As it reached out its hand, Yu Da On’s body froze.
With a vacant expression, she stared somewhere else.
“…!”
– Bang!
At that same moment, Song Ah Rin waved her hand, and the bullet I fired pierced Yu Da On’s temple, bringing her back to her senses.
She swiftly drew the awl she’d used at the art museum, kicking and hitting walls as she ran.
Sometimes with Song Ah Rin’s help, she ran along the wall, stepping on the stairs created by Jang Chae Yeon, and when she collapsed, I shot my gun to wake her up from the dream.
She charged at Dream Within a Dream while holding the awl.
– Thwack!
The awl pierced the top of Dream Within a Dream’s head.
– Whoosh…
A sound of air escaping was heard, and
– Crack!
Cracks began to form on the wall.
The floor cracked, and the ceiling collapsed, causing stones to fall above my head.
– Thud!
But passing through me, the stones fell heavily to the ground.
Because dreams cannot harm a person.
“…”
Aestheticism, no. Dream Within a Dream looked at me.
I checked the manual.
[Manual for Office Staff]
[Containment Object – Dream Within a Dream – Human Resources Team Kim Jae Heon Revised Edition]
I should have realized from the beginning that it wasn’t referred to as an anomaly but a containment object.
“I heard about it, but it’s definitely something you’d like, huh?”
“…”
I gazed up at the collapsed ceiling.
Pitch-black darkness took hold.
“But there’s one mistake I made.”
“…”
I locked eyes with Dream Within a Dream.
It grinned with Aestheticism’s face.
“After all, what was present this time was a birth.”
– Twitch!
The scattered mannequin’s body twitched.
– Swish!
Then it staggered to its feet.
And at that moment,
– Thwack!
It began to devour Dream Within a Dream’s neck.
– Crunch… Crunch…
The horrible sound of human teeth forcibly tearing wood echoed.
No one could move.
We couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or if it had immobilized us, but we were all stuck in place, staring at it.
With a grotesque pose, it looked at me.
“…”
It was a woman with blue hair.
With a look full of benevolence, she gazed at Jang Chae Yeon.
Holding the body of a mannequin, she opened her mouth.
“…Now I am the masterpiece.”
“Sis!”
Jang Chae Yeon yelled loudly.
– Whoosh!
Darkness engulfed us.
*
“Haah…!”
I felt the cold marble floor against my back.
I hurriedly lifted my head to see around me.
Countless people were lying down.
All seemed asleep, their eyes closed.
“…Where, where are the others?”
I looked around in search of the others.
Yu Da On, Song Ah Rin, Jang Chae Yeon, and the Team Leader.
It took a long time to find them.
Waking everyone took a bit of time.
As always, I made calls to sort things out.
We made it somehow.
“…Short on personnel, so it’s taking longer, huh?”
I thought that until Song Ah Rin said it before she hung up.
*
“Hah… Hah…”
I walked along the long black hair.
Breath caught in my throat.
“Jae Heon, are you okay?”
The black hair shone in the sunlight.
“Shall we take a short break?”
Yu Da On smiled at me.