Adin left behind the pale monitors of the neural synchronization hub and stepped quietly into the hallway.

  The subterranean screams that had weighed on his chest until moments ago followed his footsteps like heavy afterimages. Yet, Adin did not stop. He knew all too well that blind rage or brute force alone could never sever this gargantuan cycle of suffering.

  He wanted to confront the inner world of the woman named Somna. He had to understand why she had engineered such exquisite pain and see the true face hidden behind that ruthless logic.

  This was a necessary and honest process he had to endure to fulfill the mission of carrying on the noble sacrifice and spirit his parents had left behind.

  The private elevator ascended silently toward the highest floor. Gazing at his own gray eyes reflected in the mirror, Adin steadied his breathing. His resolve felt less like cold determination and more like a warm sense of responsibility.

  With a short ding, the doors opened, and Adin was greeted by a silence so transparent it felt agonizing.

  The summit of The Monolith. This was a sanctuary of vacuum, perfectly preserved, where neither the clamor of the surface nor the screams of the underground could ever reach.

  Adin crossed through the layers of silence and stopped at the end of the corridor. Thirty-six doors leading to Somna’s office stood in his way like the strata of a deep sea, impenetrable even by light.

  These metallic barriers, stacked one after another, looked like a barrier of absolute silence rejecting the flow of external time. Through the cracks, the rhythmic pulses sent by Somna’s consciousness drifted through the hall like ghosts.

  Adin did not hurry. Taking a slow breath, he stood before the outermost door. Through the gap of that massive portal, the minute vibrations created by Somna’s deep slumber traveled through the air, reaching his fingertips.

  "Only by understanding you can I find a way to help those who suffer."

  Adin whispered softly and drew the Solet from his pocket. Silver-white particles rose like mist above his palm. It was no mere scattering of light, but a living nebula trembling faintly in rhythm with Adin’s heartbeat.

  This time, he did not use the Solet as a tool. Instead, he surrendered his consciousness to the flow of those particles and dove into the sleep.

  To Adin, Somna’s sleep was a vast, transparent surface of water whose depth could not be measured. Casting his consciousness into it was a dive that felt incredibly soft and natural.

  The boundary between reality and dream was like the surface of a calm lake. Adin's consciousness did not break the surface tension; it projected into the depths like a beam of light slowly sinking into the water.

  The moment he passed through that glassy, smooth boundary, the mechanical noise of the Monolith vanished, and the speed of time stretched strangely. The refracted landscapes of reality drifted far above his head, scattering like foam.

  Everywhere was filled with a silent, deep blue abyss. Enduring the cozy pressure enveloping his entire body, Adin swam toward the deepest floor where Somna's consciousness lay submerged.

  The water pressure created by Somna’s fortified will pressed against Adin’s mind, and the silver-white Solet particles were pushed into a slender, streamlined shape, lighting his path.

  Finally, at the end of the darkness, he saw the only pulsating coordinate: the solid core of memory where her essence—her Stone—resided.

  When Adin’s consciousness touched the bottom of that abyss and the undersea sensations receded like an ebbing tide, he opened his eyes to find not cold pressure, but an unexpected warmth.

  When he opened his eyes again beneath the surface of consciousness, what greeted him was a golden light so brilliant it made his eyes sting. It was a peaceful, ordinary Saturday at 3:00 PM.

  Upon the ivory wallpaper radiating elegant grace, the listless sunlight cast long shadows of the latticed window frames. The minute dust motes floating between them looked like the crumbs of time that Somna had preserved.

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  Beyond the window, pale purple lilacs were in full bloom in the garden, and the breeze drifting through the open window brought the sweet scent of flowers along with the savory aroma of freshly laundered linen.

  In a corner of the living room, a dark brown grandfather clock declared with a steady tick-tock that this peace would last forever.

  From the kitchen, the low, soft humming of a mother drifted out, and the occasional light clinking of teacups and trays created the most comfortable harmony in the world.

  In the middle of that warm silence sat Somna in the form of a young girl. With a thick book on her lap, she was gazing out the window and smiling with clear eyes, as if staring at the dream itself.

  "It is... quite warm."

  At Adin’s voice, the girl slowly turned her head.

  "Isn't it? Time doesn't flow here, Adin. Everything is stopped at its most beautiful moment. We are forever safe here. There’s no need to be hurt, and nothing ever gets lost."

  Adin sat beside her and faced the dazzling sunlight together.

  "Somna, you have closed all the doors of reality to protect this peace. But life isn't found in this perfect stasis. Sometimes dust gets in your mouth, your clothes get soaked in a sudden rain, and you have to pull your collar tight against a cold wind."

  "Isn't it those unpredictable little disturbances that make us breathe and keep us alive?"

  The girl toyed with the pages of her book, looking at Adin with sad eyes.

  "But reality is too heavy and smells of blood. There is nothing there but wounds and partings. Surrendering oneself to the flow of time is no different from walking toward extinction."

  At that moment, Adin’s chest began to tighten. The pressure supporting Somna’s memory from the depths of her consciousness was beginning to consume his mental oxygen.

  His heartbeat thundered in his ears, and every nerve in his body screamed to return to reality. A dive into the depths of consciousness could not last forever. Adin gasped for air and barely managed to speak.

  "Wait... I’ll come back."

  Leaving those words behind, Adin surged violently toward the surface.

  "Hah...!"

  The cold air of Somna’s room pierced deep into his lungs. Adin leaned against the floor next to the tank, sweeping back his wet hair as he caught his breath for a long while.

  Behind the pain that felt as if his lungs were tearing, the ruthless metallic atmosphere of the Monolith rushed back in. Somna’s face inside the tank remained peaceful, as if she knew nothing.

  Adin took a deep breath once more and dove deep back into her dream.

  Returning to the living room, the mother’s humming was still lingering at the end of the same verse. Adin looked straight into Somna’s eyes and continued.

  "Somna, this tranquility you enjoy is actually nothing more than 'Sloth.'"

  "You have lost the courage to face life and have preserved yourself within a single, beautiful fragment. While you indulge in sloth here, your consciousness is slowly erasing itself. This isn't rest; it's a suicide being executed very slowly."

  "You can call it suicide. If I die trapped in this peace, wouldn't that be a blessing? To enjoy a perpetual Saturday afternoon without pain."

  Adin shook his head and whispered lowly but firmly.

  "The real blessing lies in this clock pointing to four, passing five, and seeing the sunset. It’s only life when the shadows grow long and the fear of tomorrow mixes with its excitement."

  "Somna, this frozen 3:00 PM isn't protecting you; it’s rotting you from the inside. Your paradise is the most cruel comfort, fueled by the time of others."

  Adin tried to take her small hand, but his hand passed powerlessly through her body like smoke. Somna’s consciousness was already dissolving its connection to reality.

  "This peace of yours was a living hell for someone else. You must stop running and return to the flow of time. I will help you. I will share the weight of the reality you must face."

  Somna seemed to waver for a moment at Adin’s warm and honest offer. The image of Adin reflected in her eyes was upright and merciful. However, she soon smiled sadly and rejected his reach.

  "I... don't have the confidence to endure that heavy time again. Adin, you still have much time left, so please go."

  "I just want to sink forever into this slothful happiness. This is my final point of resignation."

  Adin realized that further persuasion was meaningless. A soul that has turned its back on its will cannot be salvaged by any force.

  Adin gave Somna’s head one last gentle stroke and floated his body toward the surface.

  The scent of warm sunlight in the living room, the mother's song, and the fragrance of the blooming lilacs grew distant, and the cold, deep blue sea of consciousness enveloped him once more.

  When he opened his eyes with a gasp, Somna’s tank was before him. Her physical body inside the tank seemed alive, but her brainwaves were fixed like a perfectly still image.

  Behind the thirty-six doors she had created, she had submerged herself forever into the sunlight of a Saturday afternoon that would never return.

  Adin turned away without lingering. The heart of the masterless Monolith pulsated emptily.

  With calm steps, Adin left the silence of the upper floors. Behind him, the doors of the slothful paradise Somna had wished to protect sank one by one into the darkness.

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