TRPM 372

chapter 372

The day after returning from England and confirming that Oracle’s doppelgänger had died, I headed to school as usual.

“I already dealt with the curse on the doppelgänger’s body and even incinerated the corpse with Sammaejinhwa, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Next week was midterms, and I couldn’t afford to spend too much time on something like a doppelgänger. Of course, having studied regularly made high grades easy to achieve, but a student’s primary duty was still studying.

Scritch scratch.
“Hmm…”
Tap tap.

Other students were also absorbed in midterm prep. Our class had a focused learning atmosphere during lessons, allowing teachers to cover material quickly, and to balance the pace, they provided self-study time. So most of my classmates were quietly studying with their textbooks or reference books.

Only one person wasn’t interested in studying: Elliott, who was watching videos on his smartphone. Of course, he didn’t want to disrupt the learning environment, so he would stifle a laugh when startled, letting the others study quietly.

“…Just because someone studies hard doesn’t mean they’re good at it.”

Among those studying were Ryu Amin, Ryu Ayoung, and Jin Cheon-ha, all clutching their heads as usual. Their scores probably wouldn’t be high this time either. I was thinking this when…

“The class period is ending, so everyone, study hard for your exams. I’m leaving.”

Even though it was self-study, the teacher at the front reminded us it was still class time and then left the room.

“Phew…”
“Already break time?”
“Five minutes left.”

The students, who had been diligently studying, started to relax as if break time had arrived.

Zzzz…

By the time I reached Kang Garam, he seemed exhausted from yesterday and had collapsed face-down on his desk, knocked out.

“Geonwoo.”
“Hm?”

Seeing the others, Elena, who looked relatively normal, approached me and asked,

“You went to England last weekend, right?”
“Yeah, I did.”

It wasn’t exactly a secret, so people who knew would know.

“And you met Grandma Alice there?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”

She seemed to know that too. I wasn’t sure whether Elena knew Grandma Alice personally or if Rachel or Arthur had mentioned it to her.

“Then you must have received one of Grandma Alice’s dolls, right?”
“…What doll?”
“Huh? You didn’t get one? Grandma Alice always gives a small handmade doll as a souvenir to visitors of her workshop…”

I had never received one.

“…Is that so?”
“Oh, now that I think about it, she seemed busy with a lot of orders. Maybe she forgot?”
“If she was busy, that could be it.”

She probably didn’t have the time to make a handmade doll. Still, a doll from the famous doll maker, Grandma Alice… Even though I’m not particularly into dolls, I wanted at least one. Maybe I should contact Rachel or Arthur to send one.

“By the way, why are you asking if I got one?”
“These dolls sell for high prices among collectors. By the way, I’m a collector too.”

Ah. She wanted me to sell it to her.

“Want to see some photos?”
“You took pictures too?”
“Of course.”

Elena showed me photos on her smartphone of the dolls she had collected.

“How is it?”
“Whoa…”
“…What’s with that reaction?”

The dolls in the photos were all tiny and cute. However…

“When you put them all together like that, it’s kind of creepy.”

Seeing all those cute dolls sitting facing one direction gave me goosebumps.

“Geonwoo, you feel it too? Even my family, including Elliott, felt the same…”

I wasn’t the only one.

“Why do they do that?”

Elena genuinely seemed confused.

“What? You don’t understand?”

Our classmates gathered, interested in our conversation.

“Do you want to see this? Is it really that creepy?”

Elena showed them the photos on her phone…

“……”
“……”
“……”

The kids were silent after seeing the photos.

“Huh?”
“Right?! I’m not the only one who thinks it’s creepy, am I?!”

Elena seemed flustered by their reaction, and Elliott seemed relieved to find someone who shared his feelings, reacting dramatically.

“Ugh… what’s that?”
“Ew… it gives me goosebumps.”
“Individually they’re cute… but…”

Hearing the harsh critique, Elena put her phone down, looking a little dejected.

“…Hmm. Judging by their reactions, it seems I wasn’t wrong.”

Everyone else found the dolls creepy, so the problem seemed to be with Elena.

“Hey…”

I approached Elliott, Elena’s sibling, and asked,

“Do you know why Elena acts like that?”
“…Geonwoo, didn’t you know?”

I frowned. I knew?

“She… normally puts on a coy act.”
“…Ah.”

Right. Her usual appearance hides her true self, and her hidden nature is close to psychotic.

“…So because she’s psycho, seeing photos like that doesn’t seem strange to her?”
“Yeah.”

Elliott affirmed.

That night.

“…?”

Lying in bed to sleep, I sensed a presence. No…

“…Woo Ji-min?”

I could feel the doll I used as an artist standing next to me. Now, it had Woo Ji-min’s body.

Ssshhh…
“…Hm?”

I could even sense the doll drawing its sword.

Thunk!

The sword pierced vertically through the bed. I didn’t know why the doll acted that way, but it seemed intent on impaling me along with the bed. I had already gotten up and assumed a combat stance when it pierced the bed. I observed the doll to understand why it attacked…

“Wait a second.”

Through Sammae, I realized something.

“This is a dream.”

After using Chloe Greenwood to summon Merlin’s soul, she failed to control her powers, causing me to have a nightmare and a lucid dream. Thanks to that experience, I knew this situation wasn’t real…

Click… Rrrrr…

I also confirmed I could control the dream. The doll froze in place.

“Phew… a lucid dream…”

Was this my first lucid dream since Chloe Greenwood’s incident? Why now?

“Judging by the doll attacking me… oh, could it be because of that?”

Was it because of the creepy doll photos Elena showed earlier? Hence, a nightmare about dolls?

“I… can’t believe I’m having a nightmare just because of a photo. Time to train my mind a bit.”

I had been mentally lax to end up having a nightmare like this. Time to strengthen my mind…

“…Wait.”

If I just let the nightmare continue, wouldn’t it naturally train my mind? I released control of the lucid dream. Then…

Click click click…!
Rrrrrrrrr…!

Countless dolls appeared and began advancing toward me.

“No…”

Why are they all dolls? I expected my nightmare to feature my mother dying before my regression, a doppelgänger I killed before, or people I know dying. Why dolls?

“Did my subconscious judge dolls as scarier than those things?”

Were the photos that impactful? I fought the dolls one by one, thinking of it as a form of training.

“…Tired.”

On my way to school, I muttered this without realizing it. I had been dealing with dolls in the dream until my morning alarm. My body rested, but my mind kept working in the dream, leaving me mentally exhausted.

“Normally, I wouldn’t be this tired from missing a night’s sleep, but the nightmare’s unique situation really drained me.”

Still, fighting dolls in the nightmare seemed to strengthen my mental barriers, though slightly. My barrier was already strong, so it wasn’t obvious.

“It’s not that my mind weakened, it’s that I had a nightmare despite my mental barriers.”

I couldn’t hide my astonishment. I had a nightmare over a single photo Elena showed. My pride took a hit, and it was hard to believe.

Screech.

Mulling over this absurd fact, I entered the classroom and saw a few students already there.

“…?”

Only Ryu Amin, Ryu Ayoung, and Lee Ha-eun had arrived, but none reacted as I opened the door.

Zzzzz…
Snore…
……

They were all asleep.

“…Stayed up late studying for exams?”

I sat down, noticing something strange when more students arrived.

“Good morning…”
“Morning…”

Everyone looked drained, like they hadn’t slept.

Snore…
Snore…

Many immediately put their heads down on their desks. This wasn’t just typical exam fatigue… something was off.

“You all seem tired. Did you stay up all night?”

Only two looked okay: Elena and Kang Garam.

“…No way.”

Elena had shown the dolls’ photos yesterday, and Kang Garam had been asleep when she showed them to everyone. If the other students also had nightmares like mine…

“…Elena.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“The doll photos you showed yesterday… can I see them again?”

I needed to confirm.

“Sure, no problem. Here.”

Elena found the photos on her phone and showed me.

……

Unlike yesterday, I could now see the dolls looking toward the camera.