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Tower Realm – Floor 8
[Trial Gate: Sea of Memory – Activated]
A soft breeze brushed Ha-Joon's skin.
Unlike the chaos and cold of previous floors, this place… was quiet.
Too quiet.
He stood at the edge of a white-sanded shore. The sea stretched out endlessly, still and blue, almost glass-like. The sky above was pale gold. Warm. Dreamlike.
Waves didn't crash—they whispered.
No trial message appeared.
No timer.
Just a path of stepping stones leading out into the ocean.
Ha-Joon took a step forward.
The moment his foot touched the first stone, the water shimmered.
And his name echoed from the wind.
> "Ha-Joon... Come home."
He stopped. That voice—so familiar.
His eyes narrowed.
"Mother…?"
---
A faint mirage appeared on the water.
A small kitchen table.
Sunlight pouring through lace curtains.
His mother smiling, her hand reaching out with a bowl of tofu stew. His sister giggling from the corner. His father wiping sweat from his neck in the background.
"Come, Joon-ah. Eat before it gets cold."
His stomach clenched.
It looked real. Every detail.
But he didn't move.
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> "You miss them," another voice said.
This time, it was his own.
A reflection of himself stood on the water, dressed in his old school uniform—his expression soft and uncertain.
"You don't have to fight anymore. You've proven enough. Just stay here, where it's warm."
Ha-Joon stared at the illusion.
He shook his head.
"I don't belong here."
The illusion stepped closer.
"They're waiting. Why go forward when you could return to this?"
Ha-Joon's grip tightened on his weapon.
"I don't want memories."
"I want reality."
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Suddenly, the water darkened.
The mirage vanished.
The wind picked up, and the stepping stones beneath him shattered.
The sea beneath became black and endless.
Then hands—countless hands—reached out from the water, clawing for his legs, his arms, his chest.
Ghosts.
Visions of the past.
Moments of doubt.
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> "You'll forget your own face."
"You're nothing but pain now."
"You're not human anymore."
"Stay with us. Rest."
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Ha-Joon's body trembled, but he didn't fall.
He closed his eyes, and one image filled his mind.
His sister, Ha-Rin, placing a warm towel on his head when he had a fever.
Smiling.
Alive.
Real.
That image cut through the fog.
He slammed the butt of his spear into the water—and the sea screamed.
The hands vanished.
The water boiled.
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A new path formed—this time of light.
He walked forward.
With each step, a different version of his past tried to stop him. Teachers who ignored him. Classmates who mocked him. Strangers who pitied him.
He didn't hate them.
He didn't blame them.
He just walked past them all.
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Finally, a doorway of golden light formed ahead.
A final voice whispered.
> "If you go through that door, you can never return to what you were."
Ha-Joon answered without hesitation.
"I don't want to return."
"I want to become someone who can protect what matters."
He stepped through.
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Trial Cleared – Sea of Memory Conquered
> • Skill Acquired: Mental Fortress Lv.2
• Passive: Illusion Immunity (Basic Tier)
• Stat Boost: +2 Intelligence, +2 Willpower
• Trait Gained: "Anchor of Self"
• Title Earned: "The Unforgotten"
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He emerged onto solid ground once more.
The sea behind him faded into mist.
And he stood taller.
Not because of stats.
But because he knew himself better than ever before.
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Earth – Suwon, Jung Residence
A light drizzle fell on the rooftop.
Ha-Rin stood by the window, watching people pass under umbrellas.
It had been a full year.
A full year of not knowing.
Her mother no longer cried. Her father no longer spoke of it.
But she still dreamed.
In every dream, her brother looked older. Sharper. But always smiling.
She whispered to the clouds:
> "If you're out there… keep going."
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Back in the Tower
Ha-Joon looked at his reflection in a puddle of water left behind from the trial.
His eyes—once brown—were now fully crimson.
But in those red eyes, there was no madness.
Only purpose.
He whispered to himself.
> "I haven't changed."
> "I've just become what I always needed to be."
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