Reader's POV
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The laughter had died down.
Not in a sad way.
Just in that quiet, satisfied way things settle when people feel… a little lighter.
Jiwoon lay upside-down on the dojo steps, legs hooked over the railing, sketching something ridiculous on a piece of parchment with a chunk of blackened charcoal he swore was cursed. Ereze sat nearby, cross-legged, carefully oiling the edge of her blade. And me?
I was watching the moon rise through the trees — pale, sharp-edged, as if it had been cut from memory and pinned into the sky just for tonight.
> "We should rest," I muttered, more to myself than to anyone else.
> "We tried resting," Jiwoon said, not looking up. "Last time it dropped us into trauma theatre."
He wasn't wrong.
Ever since the Dream Grave, something in all of us had shifted.
Not in a way that left visible cracks. No screams. No shouts.
Just... sharpness. Stillness.
Like a blade that's been honed one too many times — you don't see the damage, but you feel it when you hold it.
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I sat down beside Ereze, close enough to hear her whisper:
> "It wasn't just my mother." Her voice was quiet steel. "That dream... showed me the version of myself I was afraid I'd become."
Her eyes didn't blink, not even as the oil ran in slow rivulets along her sword's edge.
I didn't interrupt. Didn't prod.
I just nodded.
Sometimes, presence said more than sympathy ever could.
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Then something pulsed in the edge of my vision.
A flicker in the interface.
A new quest?
No.
A message.
But not from the system.
From Arien.
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> [Arien – Status: Alive / Remote Channel Activated]
Her voice came through like wind over glass — strong but distant, like it had traveled a long way to find us.
> "If you're reading this, it means I passed the Command Trial. I'm… deeper now. Past where you can follow. But I left this message for a reason."
We leaned in — Jiwoon flipping upright without a word, Ereze stilling her blade mid-stroke.
> "The trials aren't just teaching us how to survive. They're teaching us how to lead. How to carry. How to die well, if needed."
That line hit. Harder than any system warning ever had.
> "There's a time coming when I won't be able to help. You'll have to choose — not between good and evil — but between the right pain and the easy silence."
> "Don't forget why you're here. And don't forget… me."
Her voice faded like candlelight in wind.
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> "Damn," Jiwoon whispered, standing behind me now. "She's still fighting, huh?"
> Ereze sighed, low and tired. "She always was. We just weren't watching."
No one spoke for a long time after that.
The dojo around us remained still. No cursed fog rolling in. No twisted symbols burning into the ground. No monsters clawing through reality.
For once, the peace felt real.
But none of us believed it would last.
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That night, we lay in silence — each in our corners, cloaked in blankets and unfinished thoughts.
And then…
We dreamed again.
But this time, it wasn't our dream.
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She stood alone in a golden hall,
hair wind-tossed, eyes storm-bright.
Behind her: a thousand doors.
Each one crashed open at once — and from them, horrors poured.
Demons made from lies we hadn't told.
From truths we hadn't faced.
From guilt, shaped into flesh.
And Arien… she didn't flinch.
> "You think strength is choosing who to save?" a voice asked — ancient, genderless, cruel.
"What happens when you can't choose?"
Arien lowered her halberd. Took one step forward.
> "Then I break the game," she said. "And save everyone."
The vision snapped shut like a closing eye.
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We woke.
Not screaming. Just breathing hard.
Sweat-soaked. Throats dry. Hearts loud in our ears.
But beneath the fear… something else stirred.
Hope.
Because she was still standing.
Still fighting.
Still Arien.
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> "Next trial's coming," Ereze said, staring at the sky.
> "How do you know?" Jiwoon asked.
> "Because the dream wasn't about us," she replied. "Which means soon… it will be."
We sat in silence after that, watching the stars.
And for the first time in a while, they didn't seem so far away.
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We didn't sleep again that night.
Not because we couldn't.
But because some part of us had already started moving forward.
Preparing.
Because the fire Arien lit in the Trial of Command —
It was in our hands now.
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