Chapter 66
“….”
When I opened my eyes, I saw the ceiling.
I was lying on the bed.
‘Have I returned?’
For a moment, I entertained the thought that this might be a dream.
But it was unlikely.
In my dream, I vividly remembered annihilating the old man on the Starlight Road.
My imagination was so detailed that I even got entangled in it, causing my memory to lapse midway, but defeating him was certain.
This world is not a dream but reality.
I rose from the bed.
“Oh, my body…”
Was it because I hadn’t slept well?
My neck was stiff, my shoulders were tense.
My limbs felt numb.
I lightly stretched on the bed, looking around.
“I must have passed the test with this, right? I don’t really understand since no one explained anything.”
The room remained unchanged.
That’s what I thought.
Thump!
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, a noise came from the bathroom.
It sounded like someone slipping and falling on the floor.
Locking the door and with vague memories, I became alert to the fact that there was someone else besides me here.
“Is it him?”
My mind sharpened.
Come to think of it, I had placed the portrait that hung on the wall across from the bed in the bathtub before going to sleep.
There was no doubt that the old man hidden in the portrait was in the bathroom.
“I thought I had completely killed him, but was he still alive? Come to think of it, I never saw him drop the marble.”
From Noble mtl dot com
I reached for the military sword.
Quietly drawing the sword from its sheath, I cautiously moved my feet to muffle any sound.
Quickly, I opened the bathroom door.
“Grr…!”
“As expected, it’s you.”
[Encountered a monster.]
[Dream of the Sweet Room (Rank. 03) x 1]
As expected, he was in the bathroom.
His Baroque-era musician-like hair was soaked in water, falling like seaweed almost covering his face.
Connected as if one with the portrait, the old man with a legless body was propped up on the floor.
His trembling arms trying to stand up.
It seemed like he was doing a plank.
“You should support your body with your feet. You can’t hold that posture for long. It won’t even have any exercise effect.”
“Groan…!”
“See? You should have brought your feet out together.”
Contrary to the appearance in the dream, the old man looked frail, just like when I first saw him in the portrait.
Even when wrestling with a child, his arms were so skinny that there was no muscle on them to lose.
With those arms, there was no way he could even lift his body.
Not to mention.
“It seems like the injuries suffered in a dream are affecting reality as well.”
He didn’t look well at all, as if he could die any moment.
Underneath his stomach spread on the bathroom floor, blue blood mixed with water was flowing down the drain, and every time he coughed, thick blood came out of his mouth.
There was no sense of danger from the Rank 3 monster at all.
It must have been due to the attack I suffered in the dream.
“Anyway, I have to completely kill this guy to pass the test.”
Since this place is reality, not a dream, he couldn’t exhibit the power he showed in the dream.
Originally, he couldn’t even match the level of a Rank 1 monster.
So, without any hesitation, I decided to kill him.
I raised my military sword.
“Wait a minute!”
At that moment, feeling his life in danger, he urgently tried to stop me.
Desperation filled his face.
“P-Please, spare me just this once… I won’t do this kind of thing again. I’ll beg like this… Please…”
“…”
“I was once a person like you before becoming a nightmare. So, can’t you see my circumstances as a former human?”
“A person?”
“Yes! I was also originally a person! But then… Please, spare this old man just once…”
“But now you’re a monster.”
It’s not funny that a monster is begging for its life from me.
Humans and monsters cannot coexist.
Monsters that covet the mana of existence are enemies of humanity.
And hunters are beings who kill the enemies of humanity to protect humanity.
If one truly wants to become a hunter, they must not forget this principle.
“P-Please show mercy… *cough*!”
“Fine, I’ll show mercy. Die.”
Gyaaahhh! You!
“Now you’re making sounds like a real monster.”
You, too, will someday die like this…!
“A loser only knows how to talk. I will never die, but even if I do die, you won’t live to see it.”
You! Youuu… *gasp*!
Even if he may look like an old man, even if he was once a human, a monster is a monster.
I stabbed him repeatedly with the military sword until he died.
And at one moment, his body turned into particles of mana and vanished.
“He’s really dead now.”
In the spot where he disappeared, a large mana stone fell.
I picked up the mana stone, closed the faucet that had been running, and locked it.
The portrait locked in the bathtub was empty, devoid of anything.
He had completely vanished.
* * *
What should I do with this marble?
I pondered as I left the bathroom.
“Should I submit it to the evaluators?”
To prove that I passed the fourth practical exam, I needed to show them his marble.
The issue was when to show this marble to the evaluators.
The current time was approximately 3 a.m.
The restricted hours at the Dream Hotel were from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“Do I have to stay in the room for at least another 3 hours like this?”
I thought at that moment.
Someone knocked on the door from outside.
“Assistant here. Please open the door.”
Did they suspect me of taking him down?
The timing was too perfect.
Upon hearing the person knocking on the door, I opened it.
An assistant with a green stamp stood in front of the door.
“First, I apologize for conducting the exam without proper explanation. And congratulations on passing the fourth practical exam.”
“….”
The assistant apologized politely.
As the assistant was not the one in charge of the exam but rather one of the evaluators, and I had already caught on to the content of the exam beforehand, I didn’t voice any complaints.
Instead, I asked the question that came to mind.
“How come there’s no mention of me taking down the monster?”
“The signboard with the room number in front of the door turned black and then returned to its original state. Turning black indicates that the monster was active.”
It all made sense.
Satisfied with the assistant’s explanation, I nodded.
“We are recording the results of the fourth practical exam at the banquet hall. Test-taker 1532, with evidence of obtaining the marble by killing the monster and banishing the nightmare, should bring the portrait and report to the banquet hall. In case test-takers’ minds are contaminated, supporters are also operating mental clinics at the banquet hall. If you feel mentally unwell, please visit the clinic as well.”
“Is it okay to go there during the restricted hours?”
“The restricted hours do not apply to those who have passed. If you have no further questions, I will take my leave.”
The assistant lightly bowed and left.
I decided to head to the banquet hall to report my exam results.
“But first, I should clean this up.”
Water dripped from the portrait soaking in the bathtub.
I roughly wiped the portrait with a towel, got ready, and headed straight to the banquet hall.
The banquet hall was chaotic.
“I should have just said it was an exam!”
“The cockroaches are out, the cockroaches are out, the cockroaches are out, the cockroaches are out!”
“Really… this isn’t a dream, right? This is actually reality, right? Ugh….”
…….
Test takers who were furious about having to take the exam unexpectedly without hearing any explanation.
Test takers appealing to the psychological shock of not being able to forget what they experienced in their dreams.
Test takers who, even after waking up in reality, couldn’t shake off the doubt that they might still be in a dream.
They were running wild in the banquet hall.
“Well, it’s understandable to get excited after something like this happened so suddenly.”
There were also test takers who, without sympathizing with them, were barely holding onto their sanity.
But even they were not in such a good state.
…….
Their complexions were uniformly dark or pale, and their gazes seemed to avoid meeting eyes, pointing downwards as if afraid to make contact.
Occasionally, test takers were seen biting their lips hard until they bled or trembling uncontrollably.
And then, it happened.
“eeek!”
“It seems like they weren’t in a good state after all, maybe they had their bodies taken away.”
“They’re possessed by a nightmare! Quickly, subdue them!”
A test taker who had just entered the banquet hall suddenly wielded a sword.
It was someone whose body had been taken by a monster.
Fortunately, the commotion was brought under control by the attendants, with only minor injuries.
The test taker who was stabbed by the sword received treatment from the supporters present.
“I wonder if I would have ended up like that too if I hadn’t noticed the exam or had been attacked by that guy in the dream.”
I wished for the test takers’ swift recovery.
I walked towards the evaluator who was recording the exam scores.
I handed over my identification card and portrait.
The evaluator, after confirming my test number, informed me of the test results.
“Test taker number 1532, passed the 4th practical exam, Sweet Room grade. But… why is the picture wet?”
“I soaked it in the bathtub.”
“…Excuse me? What did you say?”
“I put it in the bathtub and soaked it in water. I thought it might help me easily find monsters in my dreams that way.”
“Is that so… Do you understand? About the exam content…”
“Vaguely.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
That was my final answer.
The evaluator looked at me, somewhat surprised.
I ignored that reaction.
“I’m tired from taking the test and not sleeping properly. Can I go back now?”
“Oh, yes, you can go back now. We’ll set up the gate for exiting from here starting at 11 a.m. The explanation for the 5th test will be held in Dimension Room 305, so please gather there by 2 p.m.”
“Is that so. Yes, understood.”
It seemed like I hadn’t slept due to battling with that guy in my dream, but it worked out well in the end.
If you had a schedule at 11 a.m., you had plenty of time to sleep well.
Having finished my tasks, I decided to go back to my room to rest comfortably.
It was when I had taken a few steps.
Thud!
Suddenly, someone pushed through the test-takers and rushed towards me.
Rabbit ears, shining blue hair.
“…Yeonha?”
She made a face as if she was about to cry and spread her arms.
Caught off guard by her abrupt appearance, I instinctively caught her.
“…Yeonha?”
“Is it really you, Kyeongu?”
Yeonha hugged me tightly, burying herself in my arms.
As she pressed her face against my chest, her rabbit ears shook back and forth.
“Why is she acting like this? Did she have a bad dream?”
Yeonha, burying her face in my chest, even trembled slightly.
Realizing that something was not right, I gently stroked her head and back to calm her down.
“It’s okay, it’s really me. Did I come out in your dream too?”
“…Yeah.”
“What did I say? What kind of dream was it?”
“I… don’t want to talk about it.”
“Really? Even if you don’t want to talk about what the dream was, a dream is just a dream. Forget about it.”
“….”
“I’m here.”
Yeonha gripped my clothes tightly.
Deciding not to probe further and upset her, I chose not to ask any more questions.
“She doesn’t want to talk to me about it. She must have had a dream she really doesn’t want to talk about.”
Respecting Yeonha’s wishes, I continued to reassure her.
“Can you hear my heartbeat? Concentrate on the sound while listening. Don’t dwell on unnecessary dreams.”
“…Your voice sounds clearer in my ears. So, I’ll focus on your voice.”
“Okay, Yeonha, do what makes you comfortable. Is there something you want to hear?”
“There’s only you for Yeonha.”
“There’s only you for Yeonha.”
“It’s not ‘Yeonha,’ it’s ‘Yeonha is.'”
“There’s only you for Yeonha.”
“Keep going.”
“As much as you want. There’s only you for Yeonha.”
Somehow.
I felt like I knew what kind of dream she had.
I repeated my words several times.
Yeonha gradually showed signs of calming down, perhaps because of those efforts.
She raised her head from his embrace.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Yeah, I think I am getting a bit better.”
“Should I do more for you?”
“…Yes. Please, keep going, just keep going.”
Tears stained her face under the fading sky.
She forced a smile.
I smiled back at her.
“Before that, let’s go report the results. We might end up disqualified if we keep lingering here after the exam time.”
“Yeah. And there… Gyungu.”
“Why?”
“Could you… stay with me just for tonight?”
“….”
“After waking up, I had to fight monsters again and the room would become a mess… I feel like I might have bad dreams if I sleep in that room again. So, could you stay with me just for tonight?”
Blushing, she lowered her head and gently tugged at my sleeve.
As if embarrassed, she hesitantly swayed her body side to side.
‘…I guess it can’t be helped.’
Momentarily taken aback by her request, I decided to grant it.
“Alright, let’s sleep together tonight. Let’s also go ask for permission for that part.”
“Thank you, really.”
She felt relieved.
I took the relaxed her and headed towards the evaluator.
The evaluator, as if worried, spoke up.
“Test-taker 5784. You don’t seem to be in a good state. How about trying counseling at the mental health clinic?”
“Ah, well….”
“The supporters assisting with this exam are skilled in mental health. It might be helpful to talk about what’s on your mind…”
“No, it’s okay.”
“….”
“Now… I’m really feeling better. So, I think I don’t need counseling.”
The evaluator’s words made sense.
But Yeonhui seemed reluctant to receive counseling at the mental health clinic.
She abruptly cut off the evaluator and replied with a stern face.
I could only praise her decision.
“Haneul couldn’t sleep properly, so she’s tired. If she gets a good rest, she’ll feel better.”
“If that’s what the test-takers think… then I won’t insist anymore. Test-taker 5784, you have passed the 4th practical exam, Sweet Room level.”
“But I think Haneul would feel more at ease if I’m with her…. To help her relax, could we sleep in the same room, even just for tonight?”
“Are you suggesting to share a room?”
“She mentioned that her room was a mess from fighting monsters. She also said she might have bad dreams if she sleeps there…”
“…It could trigger memories. Understood. I’ll allow it.”
“Thank you.”
The judge was not entirely inflexible.
He considered Yeo-Haneul’s condition.
Yeo-Haneul and I decided to return to our room, exchanging thanks.
“Make sure to pack your things so we can leave right after waking up. Or should I go instead? You can just tell me where your stuff is…”
“No, I’ll go get them. I can’t rely on you for everything. Is there a pillow… there?”
“I have plenty of pillows in my room. Or you can just use my arm as one.”
“Chii, stop teasing. I’ll use a pillow.”
We took the elevator up.
The shadow that had been on Yeo-Haneul’s face had significantly faded.
Then, she abruptly changed the topic.
“Hey, you know…”
“What now?”
“Gyeonwoo, how do you feel about a public confession?”
“A public confession?”
“You know, confessing in front of others. With candles on the floor, rose petals, balloons…”
“…”
“What do you think of that kind of confession?”
Why is she suddenly talking about this?
I cautiously observed Yeo-Haneul, lost in thought.
Her gaze didn’t waver.
‘A public confession…’
In my past life, I would have welcomed it.
I thought I could show my sincerity to the other person.
It was quite eventful and would leave a lasting impression in memory.
‘After leaving the orphanage and working just to make money, I never had the courage to like someone. Playing games in my spare time was my solace.’
But now, I was different.
Thinking back on my past life, living as Dogyeonwoo, I had a lot on my mind.
I spoke up.
“Everyone may have their own thoughts, but I consider a confession as a formal procedure to confirm feelings when both sides have some affection. You should be confident that the other person likes you before confessing.”
“I agree with that.”
“So, if someone suddenly confesses to me when I don’t like them, wouldn’t it feel burdensome and uncomfortable? Especially if it’s in front of others.”
“Yeah, yeah, I think the same way.”
Yeo-Haneul strongly agreed.
Empowered by her response, I continued confidently.
“So, if you’re sure the other person likes you, a public confession might not be so bad.”
“…What?”
“It’s not like you’re scolding them with a confession. You’re going to date anyway. So, if you’re going to receive a confession, a public one that can leave a lasting impression and earn recognition from others might not be a bad idea. It’s romantic, too.”
“…”
But why did Yeo-Haneul bring up this topic?
I inwardly chuckled.
“Does he prefer a public confession?”
First, that question arose in my mind.
“…Could it be that he received a public confession in his dream? From whom?”
Secondly, that question came to mind.
It won’t work.
Even if the heavens don’t want to talk about it, I still must ask this one thing.
I tried to speak to her.
Just then, she cut me off.
“Haneul, in the dream….”
“Gyeonwoo.”
“Huh? Why?”
Yeonhae…
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“Don’t even think about things like public confessions in dreams. Never, ever, ever.”
With a firm gaze, she stared at me, emphasizing repeatedly.
“…you don’t like it?”
“N-n-no, I really hate it!”
“….”
“I don’t want to receive it.”
“Even under the assumption that we like each other?”
“I feel like my affection would diminish the moment I receive it.”
“Is it that serious? No, why?”
“No, it’s just… cough! It’s just that, I really dislike public confessions to that extent.”
“Anyway, you dislike it.”
“Mood-setting, romantic gestures are enough for just the two of us… No need for public declarations, right?”
“Okay, okay, got it. I’ll remember.”
“Yes, remember it well.”
Yeonhae expresses her thoughts as if teaching a lesson.
I nodded in agreement with what she said.
Soon, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.
We stepped out onto the floor with the suite rooms.
“So, from whom did you receive it?”
Yeonhae didn’t reveal it until the end.
—
The patrol officer, who was patrolling the hallway with the suite rooms, stopped in front of a certain room.
Checking the room’s occupant on the layout, it was the room of test-taker number 5784.
The door was halfway open.
“This is just…”
Through that gap, a part of the interior was revealed.
Feeling a strange sensation, the assistant who peeked inside couldn’t hide his surprise.
Items in the room were strewn about as if a burglar had been there.
“Could this be the work of a nightmare?”
The assistant had a duty to check on the examinee’s condition.
He quietly stepped inside.
“…”
The state of the room was much worse than what he had seen from the entrance.
The window leading to the balcony was shattered, and everything inside the room was in shambles.
As if struck down with a hammer.
Meanwhile, blood trickled in the bathroom, where water was running.
Judging from the bluish hue of the blood, it seemed to be that of a monster, not a human.
“It seems the nightmare has been dealt with, so it doesn’t appear to be a nightmare-induced mess…”
The aide speculated based on the traces.
Soon, he muttered with a stiff face.
“Then, did they create this mess fighting the nightmare?”
It seemed too extreme for that.
The assistant felt a sense of unease.