*****

    A dream in which one is aware that it is a dream is called a lucid dream. There are many ways to have a lucid dream, but it mostly boils down to how to become aware that you are dreaming within a dream.

    Methods vary from person to person, such as making a mark in a dream or making a habitual check through training. Among them, for Fine, thinking of his own name was a kind of trigger.

    “──. Are you okay?”

    I can’t hear the voice calling me, as if there’s noise. However, the painter knew that that was not his real name.

    Then, your name comes to mind reflexively, even if you are not conscious of it. And then you realize that all of this is an illusion.

    “It’s no big deal. Because Master’s theory was wrong again.”

    The words came out of their own accord, regardless of the painter’s will. “Is this it again?” the artist sighed.

    Normally, in a lucid dream, one can act as they wish in the dream, but in Hwa-in’s lucid dream, there was only consciousness and everything went as it should. It feels like watching a video from a first-person perspective.

    It may be natural since it is not the artist’s dream.

    “Bullshit! My theory is perfect. Can you practice your skills there ──, ───, ─?”

    “So, the amount of horsepower required to actually apply it is not a joke? ──Even if you do it, there is a limit.”

    ” Depending on your will, your inner strength─, that is, as long as you have ──, ───”

    “Wow, Master, you have a lot to wish for.”

    Even while Hwain was thinking about other things, the dream continued from someone else’s perspective. The first person himself and a scholar-like man in his 30s or 40s were continuously arguing.

    Even so, the atmosphere is by no means harsh. Even if you leave out the parts that are inaudible due to noise, there was a familiar familiarity between him and the scholar.

    “Wouldn’t it be better to try here one more time? Anyway, what the teacher said was never wrong.”

    “That’s right! I know Changhyuk well.”

    “That’s because it’s someone else’s business. How difficult is this when you actually try it?”

    Even though his mouth was grumbling, he stood up again. It was a very strange feeling to have a numb body assume a posture I couldn’t remember.

    “Are you okay? Do it one more time.”

    “Ha, it would be a shame if it came out like that. You can do it 10 times or 100 times!”

    It was the voice that asked me if I was okay at the beginning of this dream. Quite a gentle, pleasant voice to listen to. The painter was confused as to whether the emotion was his or the owner of this body.

    And, when I saw the person who made the voice, I became even more confused.

    ‘Mr. Sia? … is it?’

    Teacher Sia may or may not be right. The hairstyle, age range, and if you look closely, the face was subtly different. Anyway, they looked very similar and the atmosphere they wore was similar, so it was difficult for a Chinese person to tell them apart.

    I want to see that person more. However, there was noise like a broken video, and the next moment, Hwa-in fell down and was left staring at the blue sky.

    “Ah, I don’t know. This is impossible. I can never do it.”

    “Strange, theoretically──”

    “Aaaah! What kind of mess is this!?”

    There was no need to wonder where the scream came from. Because his gaze automatically returned to the direction where the scream came from.

    There stood a bewildered priestess with her eyes closed.

    “I told you not to do this!”

    “Ugh~, this is the nagging of a pseudo. Changhyuk, what did you do when you didn’t guard the entrance?”

    “How can I stop the priestess?”

    No, is this really a priestess? Fine felt doubtful about his memory. The priestess he saw was a mature woman who always had a faint smile on her face and seemed calm yet somehow detached from reality.

    However, although the priestess in front of me looked the same, her aura was completely different. The girl who hurriedly rushed over and helped her looked like the girl she was.

    “Bachelor too! I told you to refrain from doing things like this!”

    “Keuhum. Well, when young people train, they tend to get hurt.”

    “This is not a little bit!”

    Clearly, his body was covered in bruises when he looked down. Hwa-in sincerely thought that it was fortunate that she was not sick in the dream.

    “Now, now. Please take a moment to look at the priestess. This level can be cured quickly if you have recovery magic.”

    “Recovery magic is not omnipotent. If you continue to suffer from recovery magic like this… .”

    “But thanks to you, I got a feel for it today. Right?”

    Nod nod. My head nodded with all my might. A grand sigh poured out from the priestess who was looking at the wound next to him.

    “Really, ──you both secretly have that kind of temperament. … Is this just this time?”

    The priestess said that, but the painter didn’t think it was a very promising matter. While the priestess was lowering her head to cast a recovery spell, the four accomplices were raising their thumbs up and squinting at each other, and there was no fuss.

    “But what brought you here?”

    “That’s right, look at my mind. It’s time to eat. Everyone, please wash up and come towards the restaurant.”

    “If that were the case, you could have called it message magic.”

    “It was obvious that this was going to happen, so I came to call you directly.”

    “Ah, I miss the days when I had a cell phone… .”

    Everyone stood up when they heard it was time to eat. The priestess said that she still needed more treatment, but she ignored it and ran at a brisk pace, heading somewhere.

    This too was clearly visible. After a strenuous workout, the priestess told me to take a shower and then come back for dinner. In that case, it was obvious that he would go to a place where he could wash up.

    It brought a strange sense of anticipation and anxiety to the painter at the same time. A place where you can wash is usually a place with a mirror. Fine needed to check whether his current appearance was the same or different from last time.

    Before that, it was my own face reflected in the rainy window. That dream and the current dream had many similarities in many ways. If the face is the same this time, what does this dream mean?

    ‘ah… .’

    No exclamation came out of my mouth. ‘Self’ was playing around in front of the mirror, playfully striking various poses, but Fine’s eyes were fixed on the face in the mirror.

    The person who saved him that day from the fiery hell where he lost many things. I’ve only seen him in person once, but I’ve seen him several times in photos and videos since then, so I can’t go wrong with him.

    The person in the mirror was Asura Kwon Seong and Ha-min Kim, who looked a little younger than I remembered.

    [You’re here again.]

    Ami’s voice came from somewhere. Hwain turned his head and looked around, but he couldn’t see Ami.

    The body was already moving according to the painter’s will. Something came to mind, so I looked at the mirror again, but there was nothing reflected there.

    In some ways, it was a scene from a horror movie, but Hwa-in strangely understood it. Now it’s time to wake up from the dream. When I think back, I think I woke up with a similar feeling last time.

    The surrounding background becomes increasingly blurry. The painter slowly closed his eyes, feeling as if he was dreaming again, different from awakening. No, I tried to close it.

    [Oh, wait. Let’s talk again today.]

    Unless the shower floor suddenly disappeared.

    “Wow!”

    The painter fell helplessly into the darkness. The unique sensation of falling dreams sent shivers down the painter’s spine.

    Fortunately, that feeling didn’t last long. When Hwain came to his senses, he found himself in a strange, dark space.

    The painter tried moving his hand and pinching his cheek. The body moved normally and there was no pain.

    ‘You can say this is also a dream… , me?’

    On the dark background, there was something like white fluffy flowing leisurely. It looked quite soft, so the artist unconsciously reached out to touch it.

    Even though I was stopped by a voice just before that.

    “If you touch that, you will be sucked in again.”

    “Oh, sorry──Wow!?”

    What I heard from behind was Ami’s voice, and when I turned around, the face I saw was clearly Ami.

    However, from the neck down, there was a thick macho body full of muscle. Hwa-in was truly horrified by the terrible imbalance.

    “Why are you so surprised? It’s not the first time I’ve seen it.”

    “Of course I would be surprised if he suddenly appeared like that!”

    Hwa-in, who had the second dream, was dragged by Macho Ami just before he woke up. To Hwa-in, who inadvertently asked if this was a dream due to the shocking visuals, Macho Ami answered:

    ‘It’s a dream. ‘It’s not your dream, though.’

    Although it was a one-day reunion, Macho Army’s visuals did not change at all. Hwain was fortunate that it wasn’t his dream.

    “So this is ARMY’s dream?”

    “To be exact, it’s not in a dream. Think of it as roughly similar.”

    “So you’re like ARMY’s unconscious?”

    Slightly, Macho Ami’s eyes widened. The startling motion was pretty cute, but since the body was muscular, it had the opposite effect.

    “Unconscious. Okay. That’s roughly similar.”

    “Why are they all similar? Can’t you tell me exactly?”

    “That’s not possible. It’s a secret.”

    It was a clear statement of refusal. Although he was smiling, his stubborn-looking attitude reminded Hwa-in of something that had happened earlier during the day.

    As mentioned earlier, before this dream, Hwain had had two similar dreams. The first one ended without knowing what it was, but from the second time, Hwain realized that the main character of her dream was Kwon Seong.

    If what Macho Army said is true, it is not just a dream. The presence of the macho army was too strong to see it all as a dream. Because there is no way such an Army exists in one’s subconscious.

    But then, what is the reason why Kwon Seong is the main character in Ami’s dream?

    When Ami introduced himself as Kwon Seong’s adoptive son, Hwain was surprised in a different way. There’s no way the relationship is at that level. Above all, the person assumed to be Ami was not even visible in the dream.

    In other words, that is also a lie. Ami is still hiding something from herself. Just like this macho army he is looking up at right now.

    “Why didn’t you ask me about this dream?”

    “What, you don’t know anything about work when you’re awake.”

    “The opposite is true. What I don’t know is what happened while I was here.”

    Macho Ami corrected him, but Hwa-in actually remembered it correctly. I was just making excuses to evade it.

    Originally, Hwain revealed this dream to Ami and tried to ask her if it was really related to the contract. Because it was ARMY who accurately taught us that our potential was a contract.

    But when Ami lied to Hwain with her usual smiling face. A black thought also appeared in the painter’s mind.

    I guess I don’t really need to say anything about this place.

    ‘… Although I am aware that it is a foolish idea.’

    There must be circumstances where the truth cannot be revealed to ARMY. On the other hand, when the painter lied, it was closer to complaining. Even though I knew that, I just couldn’t cut it.

    Once I made up my mind, I planned to let you know and apologize.

    “So, what do you want to talk about?”

    “Oh, indeed. I called you to warn you. You can’t keep coming here and seeing your dreams. It’s okay for now, but it’ll get into trouble soon.”

    “Isn’t it because I want to see it too?”

    When you wake up after falling asleep, you will realize that you are dreaming. On the contrary, the painter did not want to do anything like looking at someone else’s diary.

    “It’s simple. Don’t think about me, don’t want to know about me. Because your potential reacts to your will and fumbles the contract path.”

    It’s so easy, right? It seemed like he was saying it, but the painter was appalled. Does Macho Army know what he’s talking about?

    In other words, ‘Are you always thinking about me?’ ‘You always want to know about me, don’t you?’ This is like asking. Even putting potential luck aside.

    However, despite saying such huge things, Ami’s attitude was ordinary. I feel like I literally said what was in the knowledge. Painter, who was worried that his feelings might have been discovered, soon remembered that Ami in front of him was unconscious.

    “By any chance, if I were to tell you this to you in real life, would I get a similar answer?”

    “Huh? Maybe so? Other than that, I don’t have any specific cause.”

    In other words, if you tell ARMY about this space, they will find out.

    Hwa-in firmly vowed never to talk about this space.

    “Okay, I’ll be as careful as I can. Anything else?”

    “You just need to know that you shouldn’t come if possible. The way out is over there.”

    Where Ami pointed was a brightly lit place that seemed to advertise itself as an exit. There was nothing white and fluffy on the road leading there.

    If I had nothing more to say, there was no need to endure the visual terror before my eyes. The painter ran away from the muscular army and escaped this unknown space.

    It was a little later that Hwain, who was talking in his sleep, almost fell off the bed.

    *****

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