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I’ve been through quite a lot doing this kind of thing.

I’ve been swallowed whole by the darkness, escaped from a hospital where people are seen as mere ingredients, and had unwanted fights with sea monsters.

The emotions I always felt were different.

Sometimes I felt anger, at other times I was filled with despair, and at times I felt utterly absurd.

Overwhelmed.

More than anything else, when I encountered Aestheticism, I was hit by this overwhelming thought: how on earth could I possibly win against this?

I ponder its words.

Is it real? What does it mean for something to be real?

I desperately continue my thoughts.

The acts themselves are art, and speaking in that way is like an art.

It means it’s hard to understand.

“…Me?”

Jang Chae Yeon muttered while pointing at herself, and Aestheticism nodded and smiled at her words.

“That’s right. You.”

“…”

Jang Chae Yeon raised her hand.

“Oh my. You really seem to dislike speaking.”

“…”

“But your sister wants to talk to you.”

At those words, Jang Chae Yeon’s body flinched, and she slowly lifted her head to look at another mannequin.

-Crackle… Crackle…

Noises flowed from the mannequin.

“I won’t forgive you.”

Jang Chae Yeon glared at Aestheticism with her fists tightly clenched. It was a long-awaited emotional expression from her.

“The more I see, the more I understand.”

Aestheticism smiled as she looked at Jang Chae Yeon.

“You were the more fitting material.”

“…”

“But someone has already claimed it.”

Aestheticism’s eyes turned toward me.

“You have an eye for appreciating art.”

“Ugh…!”

Every time Aestheticism approached, a terrible headache seized me.

“Oh my. A child has already become a wonderful picture?”

Her words echoed in my head, and I quickly hugged the frame with the painting of Yu Da On tightly in my arms, drawing my gun with one hand and pulling the trigger towards Aestheticism.

-Bam!

The bullet pierced through Aestheticism’s body, the sound echoing like a bullet lodged in hard wood.

Of course, Aestheticism didn’t flinch at all.

She smiled and continued to walk.

“You don’t need to be scared.”

She waved her hand.

“Aaah!”

At that moment, Song Ah Rin, who was swinging her arm, clutched her wrist, letting out a scream filled with pain as she knelt.

“Using thread is great, but you need to bring in a kid who can act as a theater company leader.”

Aestheticism smiled gently, and Song Ah Rin’s expression immediately became vacant.

At that moment, she hurriedly bit her shoulder, blood splattering.

“You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you?”

“I’ve fought with those damn things more than just once or twice.”

Aestheticism’s face remained unchanged with her smile as Song Ah Rin spat blood from her mouth.

“Right now, you’re smiling all high and mighty, but someday, your day of dying will come.”

“So many have said that I couldn’t even count who they are!”

Aestheticism grinned.

“But, I don’t like what you’re saying a bit.”

She waved her hand.

“Kugh…!”

Song Ah Rin clutched her neck and gasped as if she couldn’t breathe.

“Kerck!”

She coughed out black paint.

“Among these four, you’re the most useless.”

Aestheticism continued to speak with a grin.

-Bam!

I fired my gun, but the bullets only lodged into the wood as Aestheticism continued her speech.

“You know it too.”

“…Kerck!”

Song Ah Rin spat paint and glared at Aestheticism.

“So you copied my painting.”

“…”

Song Ah Rin gritted her teeth.

-Thud!

At the same time, Aestheticism’s body was pushed back and slammed against the wall.

“Talkative, aren’t we?”

Jang Chae Yeon muttered.

“A-Rin!”

While Jang Chae Yeon bought time, I hurried to Song Ah Rin, checking on her.

“Kerck! Kerck!”

She was cough-coughing up black paint from her mouth.

The smell of paint was emanating from her body.

“It’s okay, Ah…!”

She looked at me as she vomited paint.

“I’ve turned my body into paint.”

“…”

Is that even possible?

I’ve seen it only once, but at least in my memory, Aestheticism had no such abilities.

There’s no way she awakened a new ability without us knowing.

Could it be she’s been hiding her abilities all along?

“Anyway.”

She spat out paint and looked at me.

“To be honest, I don’t have confidence in winning.”

“Me neither.”

“…”

Song Ah Rin and I looked at each other, and Jang Chae Yeon remained silent.

-Thud… Thud…

I turned my gaze forward.

Something was emerging from the thick dust.

[Name: Aestheticism]

[Body made from XX, human head, sculpture]

[157cm]

“…”

Wait a minute.

When did my eyes start showing this kind of information?

I retraced my memory.

When Yu Da On became a painting, what words did I see when I picked it up?

I recalled the memory.

[Name: Reunion Not Far Off]

[Canvas, made human]

[50 X 50 cm]

“…It’s a dream.”

“What?”

I heard Song Ah Rin mutter in confusion momentarily, and I quickly took out my pistol and aimed it at my temple, pulling the trigger.

-Bam!

The bullet fired, and with the pain piercing through my head, I collapsed onto the floor.

*

“Gah!”

I suddenly sat up.

I could see countless people.

People who weren’t there before were still staring blankly at the paintings.

Song Ah Rin and Jang Chae Yeon stared at me in shock.

And then,

“You really have quick instincts, don’t you?”

A voice from Aestheticism echoed from far away.

It stood there in the dust, looking at me.

Jang Chae Yeon’s attack had reached Aestheticism.

Is she not dreaming at all?

“Did you see that with your own eyes?”

“…”

“Yeah. You might not want to say it.”

Aestheticism waved her hand.

“Kerck!”

Song Ah Rin coughed out paint again and looked at me.

“A-Rin.”

“…Kerck! Kerck!”

Song Ah Rin looked at me while spitting out paint.

The paint flowing down below her lips made it seem as if she were melting away.

I drew my pistol and aimed it at Song Ah Rin.

“Do you trust me?”

“…”

She stained her clothes with paint as she looked at me.

“…”

“…What are you doing?”

Song Ah Rin looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Why aren’t you shooting already?”

“Thank you.”

-Bam!

The bullet pierced through Song Ah Rin’s temple, and she collapsed as well.

The paint on the floor vanished like smoke.

“…I feel really bad.”

She wiped her mouth and looked at me.

“Did you drool?”

“Shut up.”

Song Ah Rin mumbled as she stood up.

“…Me too?”

Jang Chae Yeon pointed at herself.

“Wait a second.”

Jang Chae Yeon still couldn’t shoot.

Her attack had already hit Aestheticism.

She certainly wouldn’t be dreaming.

There’s other evidence, but that’s not something I can think about right now.

What’s more important is:

When did I fall into the dream?

When I first saw the mannequin, my eyes were perfectly fine.

But after Yu Da On became a painting and I looked at it, my eyes started malfunctioning.

I turned my gaze back to the painting of Yu Da On.

[Name: Reunion Not Far Off]

[Age: Just Created]

[Specialty: X]

[Talent: X]

[Background: The future is constantly approaching her.]

[Weakness: Destroy the painting cleanly.]

“Destroy it cleanly, huh?”

How?

“Should we run for now?”

“I agree.”

Song Ah Rin nodded as she got to her feet.

“What’s the right way to escape?”

“I think it’s like waking from this dream within a dream.”

“Haven’t we already awakened from the dream twice?”

“That’s true.”

-Thud… Thud…

Footsteps approached, and Jang Chae Yeon reached out again, smashing Aestheticism against the wall as she turned to me.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

I started running with the frame of Yu Da On in hand.

Aestheticism did not chase us.

While running, I looked back.

Aestheticism placed her hand on another mannequin, grinning as if her mouth were splitting open.

“Don’t worry. You’re my best work.”

-Tremble…

The mannequin shook.

-Crackle!

At that moment, the noise intensified.

“You crazy woman.”

Song Ah Rin clicked her tongue.

Another mannequin started chasing us.

-Clack, clack, clack, clack!

Its footsteps pounded against the marble floor as it pursued us.

Jang Chae Yeon smashed walls and toppled pillars to block the mannequin, but every time she did, the mannequin grotesquely twisted its joints and charged blindly at us.

Eventually, stopping mid-run, I turned my hands toward the ceiling, fists clenched.

-Bang!

With a tremendous sound, the ceiling collapsed, and stones blocked our path.

I looked up.

Above the collapsed ceiling, golden light shimmered.

-Throb!

A headache hit me, and I quickly turned my gaze away.

“Heh… heh…”

Jang Chae Yeon knelt, trying to catch her breath.

Blood was dripping from her nose.

“…Hey.”

Song Ah Rin looked at Jang Chae Yeon.

“Now tell me. Why do you think that’s your sister?”

“…”

After a brief silence, Jang Chae Yeon lifted her head, looking at me and Song Ah Rin.

“Because I’m talking to you.”

“…What?”

Jang Chae Yeon looked at me.

“What did you say to her?”

“…I didn’t say anything.”

Just noise.

“You.”

“…I’m just a string of meaningless words.”

Song Ah Rin replied to Jang Chae Yeon’s words.

“I…”

Jang Chae Yeon closed her eyes.

“She keeps asking to end herself.”

“…Is that really the reason?”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“…”

Jang Chae Yeon looked at me and Song Ah Rin with gloomy eyes.

“She went missing here.”

“…”

Song Ah Rin averted her gaze to the floor.

“…I’ll adopt it as a plausible hypothesis for now.”

It might not be true.

“Thank you.”

Jang Chae Yeon nodded.

“Alright. Then let’s go again.”

To escape, we have no choice but to return the way we came.

I organized my thoughts while running.

What I have been given is a single Critical.

Who should I use this on?

Critical didn’t work in the first place, so where should I apply it?

“…”

[Weakness: Destroy the painting cleanly.]

“…Ah.”

I looked back.

From around the boulders, something was being dug up.

Carefully, I placed the frame against the wall.

“…What are you doing?”

Song Ah Rin looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“I’m trying to bring Da On back.”

“…How?”

“Like this.”

I drew my gun.

[Critical: 1→0]

The world turned black and white.

A bright red dot appeared in the painting.

-Bam!

Without a second thought, I pulled the trigger.

“You crazy bastard!”

Song Ah Rin screamed, and the painting melted away.

The frame melted, and the picture dissolved.

“…Wow!”

Yu Da On appeared in front of me, fully intact.

“…Kim Jae Heon!”

Yu Da On smiled brightly as she looked at me.

“I knew that Kim Jae Heon would always come for me!”

“…Of course.”

I nodded and looked at the others.

“Let’s go.”

Now we must escape from this dream.