[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-solflare-the-painter-s-secret":3,"chapter-solflare-the-painter-s-secret-solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-38":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Solflare: The Painter's Secret",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1322866,1757,"Chapter 38: The Life or Death Test","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-38",38,"\u003Cp>A roaring sound echoed from Leon’s back as he stumbled three steps backward and leaned against the glass prison the two-headed dog was inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blinked, trying to let the view of a half-human, half-snake humanoid being grind its metal teeth on the head of an undead human.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Leon,\" Hayes’ voice echoed, turning the grinding to a stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Leon turned to Hayes, he shook his head and dashed forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entering through a black door, Leon swallowed hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, he saw one lady sitting at the back of a transparent door, her eyes open wide – but without life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One step after another, he saw countless people in the same posture, and with the same black-colored eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grrr.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A groaning sound erupted when Hayes opened one of the transparent doors and stood at the side of the gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sit.\" He said, using his eyes to gesture to the boy, and grinned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stepping into the small room, Leon whirled his gaze around, scanning the black lines of wires and the operational touches placed at the edges of the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat calmly on the seven-foot foamy bed and stared at the man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon sat still as the man walked and stood behind him, forcing his head to touch the top of the bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ouch!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon screamed in a low rumble and grinned, yet he couldn’t counter the man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After two minutes, the man tied Leon’s arms and legs to the metal hinges of the bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Leon Storm,\" Hayes said, folded his arms at his chest, and smiled. \"This test you’re about to go through is a life or death test.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, moved to the side of the wall, and flipped all four switches up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bright white light stabbed Leon’s eyes, although he turned his head and closed his eyes, he could feel his skin peeling off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is not just a psychological test.\" Hayes’ voice tensed as he closed in on the bed where the boy was tied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As you can remember, all that you experienced the moment you stepped into the entrance of the building was never there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your mind created them for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hayes paused, turned toward a table at Leon’s left side, and picked up a syringe filled with a black liquid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This will help your mind to be stable, but not for long.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon gritted his teeth as the sharp needle of the syringe pierced through his upper-left shoulder skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His vision turned blurry in an instant, causing his body to go limp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Remember to survive, or else you’ll die in your test.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As darkness swallowed him whole, he could hear Hayes speaking, yet the actual words, sentence, or phrase didn’t have a meaning in Leon’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon’s vision buzzed as his eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, nothing made sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sky above was an uneven smear of gray and amber, like molten metal frozen mid-pour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon blinked, once, twice, trying to focus, but the edges of his vision trembled heavily, as if the world he was in was breathing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath his feet, the cracked asphalt road stretched endlessly, disappearing into the ruins of collapsed buildings on both sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A groaning sound echoed as debris slammed down, letting dust rise and form tiny clouds and circle him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It brushed against his skin, clutching Leon’s tongue with a dry and metallic taste.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With force, Leon moved a step, but when he moved five steps away from the dust, golden, brown, and brittle leaves drifted at his side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stopping by the front of an upside-down light pole that shimmered not light but darkness, Leon gasped for air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bright light shot up at his front, causing him to continue forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reaching the building where the light erupted from, a gust of wind swept across the road, carrying a faint scent of scorched metal and rot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon flinched as a scrap of paper flew to him and hit his cheek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Trying to make sense of the scene and place he was, Leon tilted his head to the left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time, after spending ten minutes finding nothing, he found someone of the same height as him walking in the far distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"HEY!\" Leon screamed, shot his arms upward as he ran toward whoever the person was, paddling his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The building he ran past glinted unnaturally, its broken glass and twisted metal catching light in ways that defied reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And when he paused at where he saw the person, discarded rubber hopped around him as if alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wasn’t that a person?\" Leon whispered as his mind spun with questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With trembling legs, he moved two steps forward but stopped the moment he felt a warm arm moving on his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He steadied his breathing, then tilted his head in the same slow movement he felt the arm move on his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He froze when he saw no one, yet he had the feeling of something moving on his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around the bed, Leon lay on, Hayes stood by the side of Leon’s head, tapping on the boy’s shoulder as if leaving traces for the boy to follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After two minutes, a smile tore on Hayes’ face when he saw the boy twitch sideways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe he won’t be stuck like the rest,\" Hayes said and chuckled softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved to the table he took the syringe from, picked up a long, tiny needle, and walked back to Leon’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hayes’ face glittered with a sinister grin as he pierced the tiny object into the boy’s skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon’s eye twitched as if wanting to open, but his mind remained numb, almost as if it had lost its essence of living.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, in the virtual world, countless humanoid beings reappeared and disappeared, confusing Leon about their direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he noticed one particular being wasn’t vanishing like the rest, a stupid courage rammed through Leon’s bones, causing him to run toward it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sweat beaded Leon’s skin when the tip of the sixth long, tiny metal pierced through his skin and reached his skull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that instant, Leon’s mouth opened wide, yet his mind remained in the dull mode, causing his mouth to freeze immediately the gasp ended.\u003C\u002Fp>",1034,"2026-06-05T19:15:29.303Z",1,"novelbin.me","cdaed0f61058de432a3a11dd4d90d45530ac7eb7f22a3bf10bd281a5c3e85d58","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-39","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-37",272,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsolflare-the-painter-s-secret-cover.jpg"]