Rea stood by the window, watching Adin.

  The precariousness he had shown when he first fell into this strange world was no longer to be found. He was staring directly into the darkness of The Monolith, and his eyes had grown firm, refusing to back down.

  Dr. O... I think this child can handle it.

  She could no longer postpone the truth under the pretext of protecting him. The room of Tildin and Ah Reum, frozen in time—it was time to break the seal and return his roots to him.

  Rea took a deep breath and made up her mind.

  "Adin."

  Rea called me in a voice that was lower and more serious than usual.

  "I think the time has come. There is a place you must go."

  "A place I must go...?"

  "[ MP.10-L ]. It's known as the 'Legacy Room.'"

  She pressed a note into my hand and continued.

  "In that room is every record of your parents, Tildin and Ah Reum. It’s the place that Dr. O and I... have protected until now, waiting for you to arrive."

  My heart began to race violently. The vague existence of my parents was suddenly becoming a concrete space.

  "Go there, Adin. That room will explain everything to you. The password... is here."

  Rea handed me a small piece of memo paper. On it, not numbers, but an unknown code was written.

  [ #000000 ]

  "What is... this?"

  "It’s a color value. The color you know best, and the color of the world that the owners of this room spent their lives trying to protect."

  I looked down at the memo.

  The three primary colors of light: Red, Green, and Blue. A state where none are mixed. A state where all light is absent, or perhaps, a state that has swallowed all light.

  "......Black."

  My home, Ebony.

  Only then did I realize the meaning of this code. In the middle of this Ivory world filled with light, they had chosen 'darkness'—the thing that must never be forgotten—as the key to opening the door.

  /

  In front of Room [ MP.10-L ].

  A cold, shining metal doorplate greeted me. At the end of a long hallway, a door stood silent as if severed from the rest of the world.

  I placed my trembling fingertips on the keypad. I pressed the number 0 six times, slowly.

  Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Click—

  The tightly closed door opened smoothly, as if recognizing my origin.

  The place I stepped into was different from the cold corridors of this building. There was a faint light and a familiar, warm fragrance floating in the air.

  It was a space so meticulously maintained it felt as if someone had just been there.

  A single photograph and an envelope lay on the table.

  Though it was my first time seeing the photo, I knew instinctively. A very young version of me was in the center, and on either side, the two people I had heard about from Dr. O—my mother and father—were smiling brightly.

  Though they weren't in my conscious memory, they were faces my soul remembered. With trembling hands, I opened the envelope lying beside the photo.

  /

  "To our beloved son, Adin.

  If you are reading this letter, it means our time has stopped and your journey alone has begun. Can you feel the weight of the Solet in your pouch? It is not mere powder.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  This is the 'Essence of the Soul,' created by your mother and me amidst the pitch-black pain of Ebony, peeling away the shells of the rough self and carving our very bones.

  It is the 'Fine Flour' that was obtained only after being crushed and ground countless times until nothing more can be broken—the purest essence in the world.

  Bear this in mind. This power was never given without a price. It is the result of a strict 'Equivalent Exchange.' Every time you scatter Solet to heal the world or overcome a crisis... as a price, the 'time' and 'records' we left in this world will be incinerated as fuel.

  Our photos will blur, your parents will be forgotten in the memories of others, and eventually, the very evidence of the existence of Tildin and Ah Reum will completely evaporate from this world.

  You are burning your parents' 'Past' to live your 'Future.'

  So, my son.

  Do not mix this noble flour of sacrifice with 'Yeast' that puffs up with pride or 'Honey' that is sweet with false pleasure. You must use this power only with compassion and softness (Soft) for others.

  On the day the last grain vanishes, we will be completely erased from the world, but if you are saved and the world is healed because of it, that is enough for us.

  For you, who shines brightest in the darkest place.

  We love you, son."

  /

  The letter was enough to organize the countless questions I had carried in my solitary life, but the complex situation and words suddenly pouring over me were still suffocating.

  There were many records and photos in the room.

  It seemed my mother and father had stayed at The Monolith as a base, trying to stop the collapse of Ivory and Ebony, constantly persuading and trying to heal those going to Ebony.

  While flipping through an album, I also found photos of Rea's parents and Rea as a young child.

  Knock, knock. It was Rea.

  "....Can I come in for a moment....? Are you okay, Adin?..."

  "..Yeah, I'm okay. I don't feel much, it's just... it feels like a story that has nothing to do with me... yet it's my story, isn't it?"

  Rea stroked my hair as if she pitied me.

  "....Yeah.. But what happened to my mom and dad? Are they dead?....!"

  I poured out all the questions I had been wondering about in a straight line.

  "...I don't really know either. What's certain is that they have become beings that... we can never meet again. The Solet you carry tells that story.

  I heard from Dr. O that your parents, the doctor's couple, had no family but you.... and through Dr. O, one of the two portions of powder went to you...."

  "...I kept the other one in this room and waited for you to come. All ownership and authority of this room belong to you, the owner of Solet, Adin!"

  ".....Okay."

  "However, while not just anyone can use that Solet as they please, everyone knows it has value, so there are many who want to possess it.

  Like I told you before, that's why I told you to be careful. ...Got it...?"

  "...Yeah......!"

  Ding-dong. As soon as Rea finished speaking, the bell rang. It was Chairman Gene.

  "Rea, you were here. My, my! I truly didn't recognize who I was dealing with. I didn't know you were the only son of the esteemed doctor couple...!"

  (Chairman Gene's brazenness was truly incredible.)

  "If you need anything, please tell Rea or me."

  Facing Adin's eyes which had lost focus and offered no reply, Chairman Gene, who couldn't stand a gap in conversation, chattered to himself for a bit before awkwardly slipping away.

  "Chairman Gene. That man is like a shadow. There's no need to provoke him by shining a light on him, but you must never forget that he is always attached to your feet."

  **"He is not the owner here, but he is the manager who hears every breath taken in this place. What he holds is not power, but 'information,' and sometimes a secret held on the tip of a tongue cuts deeper than a blade.

  So be careful. Even your silence can be a clue to him."**

  . . .

  Questions I wanted to ask Rea pooled in my mouth, but instead of letting them out, I swallowed them with a long breath.

  Between you and me, an unfamiliar distance like a dawn mist that hadn't cleared was still floating.

  I always stood alone, like a single sheet of dry paper, precariously poised to be cut even by a passing breeze.

  Then, overnight, the weight of too many truths and destiny crashed down on me. Layer upon layer of stories weighed down my shoulders like wet cotton, making me feel as if I were being pulled from all directions.

  Right now, I needed my own silence to settle this dizzying vertigo.

  ".....Rea. I'm sorry, but can I be alone for a while...?"

  "..Oh, sure! It’s so sudden. I'm sorry I didn't think about how hard it would be for you. Rest, and if you need anything... anything at all, contact me!"

  For the first time, I forced an awkward smile at Rea. My heart was in a state as dark and wretched as the tunnel I had crossed, but I just wanted to smile at her.

  The room my mother and father left for me was like looking at a single book. As I opened doors throughout the room, it was like peering into a book, and I lost track of time as I fell into the story.

  My mother's name, Ah Reum, and my father's name, Tildin. Taking one syllable from each, my name had become Adin.

  Until now, my name was just a sound, a noise made when someone called me, but since learning its meaning, I began to whisper the names of my mother, father, and myself out loud.

  / /

  Chairman Gene leaned back deeply into his chair and asked.

  "I can't believe that boy is the doctors' son. Since when did you know?"

  "I only found out today as well." (He looked complex again. After all, he had shown them a side of himself he shouldn't have.)

  "Did he ask anything about me? And the other one—did you see the Solet?"

  "Ah.. No..."

  "Watch him closely and report to me about that friend every day. A clumsy novice might be an easier target than Xen, haha."

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