198 – 39. Again, in a dream.
How far did I walk?
Hook. Phew.
Did you walk for a long time? Or a little?
Pupuk. Deep.
I don’t know where I am because everything is rainbow colored. Is black getting closer? Is it still the same?
Hook.
“……………….”
It stopped.
I walked, walked, and walked again until I finally stopped.
But the principal’s sneer was never heard.
“……Ah.”
Before I knew it, black had grown bigger in my field of vision.
Almost everything has arrived.
But since he stopped right in front of him, he must have condemned me due to his nasty personality.
Why?
“…f*ck.”
“……You……?”
“Principal…Isn’t this okay?”
“…Yes, they play well together.”
What I heard from behind me was a familiar voice.
A voice that is infinitely similar to mine, yet different in some respects.
It was another voice of mine.
I tried to turn my body reflexively, but…… I couldn’t do that because of the five friends who were somehow carrying me.
‘Damn, if we get ambushed here…’ … !’
My limbs are shaking from the pain caused by the principal’s manipulation.
In this situation, if you take your friends hostage…… !
“…What are you doing?”
“What…?”
“You said it back then. Let’s just do it between you and me. I don’t care about the people behind your back.”
With those words, the other me clicked my tongue harshly and took Lucas and Kim Seong-il out.
Then he carefully put it down on the floor and glared at me, asking me what I was doing.
“Put them down too.”
“……I guess it’s okay to leave it here, right?”
“f*ck, it’s okay, so just put it down. That principal… Don’t you know his personality? You and I don’t know, but I wouldn’t lay a finger on these guys.”
“…Okay.”
Following another me, Liu, Lane, and Eunha are laid down next to Lucas and Kim Seong-il.
In the meantime, the hands and feet that had been pierced by the needle were trembling, but I somehow managed to apply strength and put it down without dropping it.
There was another me who looked at me like that…… He gritted his teeth as if he didn’t like it.
“Principal…What are you doing?”
“Failures always talk a lot.”
“There are bound to be more this time, right? Why did you bring Namgoong Min like that? This… Must have been a promise we made to each other!”
“……Tsk.”
Anyway, what a kid these days.
The principal, who muttered something meaningless, looked down at me and the other person with contemptuous eyes.
With that overbearing voice.
“Don’t you know that this is consideration of this body? After all, fortune tellers are scum.”
“…Consideration?”
“During the exchange meeting, you lost to that guy even though you took the best opportunity with the artifact I gave you. The sword went through your stomach, and if it weren’t for me, you would have died. Don’t you think?”
“……………….”
“But what’s the point in fighting the same here? You lose again, and you really die. Even so, it’s a bit difficult for me, so I was considerate in my own way.”
“…Is that…The reason you brought Namgoong Min in like that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? On the contrary, you can now easily kill Namgoong Min, so even if you shed tears and thank me, tsk tsk. This is why you shouldn’t do anything to these scum…”
The principal shook his head and then flew towards something black that was getting closer.
Looking at the way another me was looking at me right before I flew away…… I guess you just have to figure it out.
First of all, it was an unfortunate sound to me………
“…That f*cking b*tch…Is she being considerate? She’s sitting there talking nonsense.”
“………?”
…… All?
What is it?
“What, didn’t you try to kill me? Even during the exchange meeting, you said you would come back and kill me.”
“…Yes, that still hasn’t changed. My desire to kill you to get my daily life back hasn’t changed.”
“Yeah. I’ve already made a huge mess of my former god in the church. If you really kill me, I think that bastard will be very happy.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
What?
“What?”
“You’ve probably heard what the principal calls me, right? I’m a failure. I hated that title to death. So I wanted to kill you and prove that I was the real deal.”
“…But?”
“Look at how you look now. You’re exhausted, you’re suffering, and you’re having a hard time even standing up properly. What can I gain by breaking you now… By killing you now?”
Daily life as promised?
Becoming the real Namgoong Min?
“Yes, I might get it. But that… I can never convince myself.”
“……………….”
“At the exchange meeting, I lost to you. I lost miserably, overwhelmingly, completely. At that time, both you and I were at our best, and that’s how we fought and lost.”
And after that defeat.
The ‘real’ Namgoong Min saved him. Even though he said he would come back to kill, he declared that he would just end it with you and me without touching those around him.
…… At that time.
Just a little, just a little.
I was able to realize why I was a fake and that guy was real.
“I… Can’t be like you. I can’t save you in that situation, and there’s no way I can make that choice.”
“……….”
“So, at least, at least. You have to fight me again in perfect condition. And I will win there proudly and kill you. I will surpass you and become the real one.”
“…I see.”
“But you’re a total mess now. I brought you here like that, and you’re being considerate? You’re a b*tch after all.”
Namgoong Min and Namgoong Min.
Namgoong Min was born as an experiment to recreate the usurper’s older brother, Namgoong Min, and was labeled a failure.
He was clearly a guy who felt inferior to Namgoong Min and only wanted to kill him.
Through repeated meetings and conversations…… Was there something you realized yourself?
He truly became ‘another Namgoong Min.’
“…I think you are real now too.”
“……What?”
“I hate to admit it, but the influence of a certain pseudo-bastard has greatly influenced me to become who I am now. In some ways, I guess I haven’t found my true self yet.”
Just like I thought about myself when I was working on stocks.
I still don’t really know my own mind and thoughts.
That may be…… Isn’t it because he didn’t grow on his own, but rather grew up like an alter ego of that pseudo-bastard?
But what about the other me in front of me?
“But you are thinking to yourself. The first time I met was also in this dream. There, you were a being who only expressed one-sided hatred and murderous intent towards me… But what happened was your own. “You set a standard and move on.”
“……………….”
Kill me when I am in perfect condition? Is there any benefit to doing something like that?
In the end, all I have to do is kill myself in some form. That was my promise to my former god, and in fact, during our first meeting, he tried to mentally kill me by summoning a monster, even though he was in a lucid dream.
However, there is a condition attached that does not provide any benefit and is only disadvantageous.
Because it was Nam Goong Min’s own will and understanding.
“I originally thought you weren’t just a fake, but…Now you’ve really become another me.”
“……….”
“You said you wanted to be recognized as real, right? That may still be true if you were a former god-like bastard, but at least in my opinion, you are another real thing. From the beginning, your and my upbringings are all different, so how can you define who is real and who is fake?”
“…f*ck, don’t use difficult words.”
“I’m sorry. Ah, the apology I just made had a double meaning.”
“What…?”
Sigh.
Thanks to having a conversation with another me…… The pain has lessened a bit.
Even though I’m still shaking, I can somehow stand up.
“You said earlier that you wanted to fight me with all your might, right? I don’t think you can say that.”
“……………….”
“Let’s stick together now.”
How would I look to another me?
‘Fool? Or an as*shole?’
The other me wanted to fight with my best self. That means you won’t fight with me right now.
From Noble mtl dot com
I don’t know if I will be able to get out of this dream safely…… At least it means that I will save you instead of killing you now.
‘Maybe, just like I did at the exchange meeting, you might be trying to save me once.’
I am Namgoong Min, but I am not another Namgoong Min, so I cannot understand his feelings.
It was clear that he would be seen as an idiot who kicked away the opportunity to save his life.
“Why…Why…?”
“Just as you tried to save me for your own reasons, now I have to fight you for my own reasons.”
“…I don’t understand.”
“That’s because you are not me and I am not you.”
“………!”
“It’s natural for two different people not to understand each other.”
Did you realize something from those words?
Nam Goong Min’s expression was that he was displeased, that he didn’t like it, that he knew, that he understood.
Woke up after me.
‘How long can I last?’
Of course it is impossible to win, and you will have to struggle as much as you can.
You have to buy as much time as possible somehow.
That’s how it should be──
“……….”
“…What are you looking at? Your friends?”
“Just, I was looking at a smart guy.”
──It will be able to buy Lucas some time.
*
This is a lucid dream.
Did I realize that fact quickly or too late?
After Lucas came to his senses, a boy passed by.
…… He was kicked out of the Arthur family in the name of ‘education’ and grew up on the streets.
Lucas Arthur was there as a child.
‘…… ‘It doesn’t matter.’
Anyway, he knows his childhood best.
It’s quite diluted now, but it was a time when Lucas developed a meritocratic personality.
The memories of that day are still vivid. There was no need to see it because it was so vivid.
Lucas rose into the sky.
‘This is a lucid dream. So what can I do…… ‘It’s just something in my memory.’
In a lucid dream, he is omnipotent, but he only comes from his own memories and common sense.
Just like I can’t go there because I don’t know what the Korean Empire and Romance Academy were like at this time.
Even if you force yourself to go, it will look very different from the real thing, a mixture of current memories and common sense.
Therefore.
Of course── You shouldn’t be able to go to the Arthur residence during this period either.
After being kicked out of Arthur, the Arthur residence until the age of 15, when he returned to Arthur, must be completely unknown.
‘…… See.’
The Arthur Mansion is visible.
So vivid and clear, but a little different from his memories.
I could see the ‘Arthur Mansion of those days’.
That meant only one thing.
‘Lucid dreaming is connected.’
Who is connected?…… That’s obvious.
Anyone who can dream of the Arthur mansion of this period.
‘Rain…….’
His younger sister…… She was probably the only one who was suffering more than anyone else at this time.
I was instinctively reluctant.
As the older brother who could not do anything for Lane during his most painful time.
If it weren’t for Namgoong Min, we wouldn’t have been able to reconcile as a family.
I was reluctant to go see Lane when I was young.
‘But, I have to go save Namgoong Min.’
My last memory is when everyone’s gold crowns were broken due to the principal’s surprise attack.
However, I remember that Namgoong Min’s gold crown somehow held on.
Because it was a surprise attack, we were unable to respond. But if I wake up from this dream, the story will be different.
Because I clearly remembered the magic the principal used.
‘Let’s go.’
I don’t know how much time has passed. We must hurry and take Lane with us to escape from this dream.
She is the younger sister whose superpowers have grown to the point where she can even crush the entrance to the gate and deal with a large army of monsters alone, so she will definitely be of great help ──
‘……… Uh?’
──The Arthur Mansion didn’t look much different from what I remembered.
I saw a familiar gate. I saw a familiar garden. A familiar user appeared.
And then I saw my familiar father.
In the lucid dream, Hector Arthur was swinging a whip while severely scolding Lane.
There is no iron at the end, but it is something that no matter how much of a job you have, it is bound to be painful.
Wow! Every time the whip marks were carved into her little sister’s body, Lane cried and somehow held back the tears.
──It is natural for the strong to dominate the weak. Even now, I can whip you because I am stronger than you.
The culprit behind Lane’s underlying mentality of strength and weakness.
Hector’s harsh corporal punishment and education did not last long.
As if to prove that this was a lucid dream, Hector, who was shouting loudly, suddenly disappeared.
His office had already turned into a bedroom.
It didn’t matter up to that point. Although Hector’s education put a strain on her hands, it was enough to wake her sleeping sister and somehow get out of the dream.
But there were two people in the bedroom.
“Mom…It hurts so much…”
“It’s okay, Lane. I’m sure you can survive.”
“Yes…”
“Mom, I trust you.”
Rain falls asleep with tears in her eyes, and a woman smiles sweetly by her side.
Lucas knew who she was. She had no choice but to know.
However.
‘………… Principal?’
When Lane woke up, her mother had suddenly disappeared.
She is a mother who cannot even remember her face anymore, as all the photos and paintings have disappeared under Hector’s orders.
Although more than ten years have passed, she is still the kind mother that Lane is looking for.
Her face.
…… He had the face of a principal.