[{"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-43":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},1322871,1757,"Chapter 43: Really?!","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-43",43,"\u003Cp>Darkness welcomed Leon as he swung the door open and entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stillness fell off him when he unwrapped the hoodie from his body and threw it forward, not minding where it would land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tilted himself sideways, inserted the key again, and locked the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uuuuugh... I’m tired,\" he said, rubbing his eyes with his left arm, then stretched his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved frantically in the darkness until the front of his knees slammed against a wooden structure with a sharp thwack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stumbled back, blinked, and then shook his head thrice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon moved two steps to the right, then continued forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drowsiness filled him so deeply that he fell fast into sleep the moment his body landed in the soft surface that reacted with a groan after he threw himself forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With every shift of his exhausted body, the material beneath him twitched and settled with a low, viscous sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It molded to his shape with an unsettling precision, cradling him in a cool embrace that felt less like comfort and more like being swallowed by a gelatinous creature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bed rippled softly as if digesting his distress each time the dream of turning his head to escape the pressure of the lizard-lady’s finger on his forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he could open his eyes and recheck, he was too drained, his consciousness fraying at the edges, pulling him into a synthetic sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the dream of the lizard-lady’s finger vanished, the warning from her and Hayes’s congratulations echoed like a distinct prayer in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grade B before twenty-five... or the world will collapse by your own hands.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Congratulations, Leon Storm. You passed. You are now an official Grade E Awakened student.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two voices looped in a maddening chorus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They twisted together, letting the words \"Creator\" and \"Grade E\" clash until they lost all meaning and became a pounding rhythm of impending failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More dreams followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In one, he was running up the endless, crumbling staircase, but the sentinels at the top wore the faces of Hayes and the lizard-lady, speaking in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At their back, he saw a flicker of Tiger’s face, but that vanished before he could recount it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dark-blue sky and ash clouds cleared, making way for the new day’s sky to appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sharp blade of the morning sun sliced through a gap in the curtain, found the chocolate skin of his exposed forearm where he’d thrown across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rays didn’t warm his skin; they burned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sudden searing pain jolted through the fog of his tormented sleep and etched on him like a brand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon grunted as the skin prickled with a heat that felt personal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A deep resonant hum vibrated through the floor, up the bed frame, and into his bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It buzzed in his teeth like an oppressive knot that had been absent in the dead of the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anger flashed through Leon as his eyes snapped open. His fist clenched in the twitching sheets as he lay there for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drowsiness was visible in his eyes, yet he glared at the ceiling as if he could silence the infrastructure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pink light stabbed his eyes, forcing him to blink. There, the anger he’d woken up with vanished and turned into confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Where am I?’ he whispered in his thought and turned his head slowly to the right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes caught sight of a small, polished desk filled with arrays of cosmetics and hairbrushes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the left, he saw a delicate, preserved flower in a crystal vial placed on the windowsill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This isn’t a male’s room,\" he said, his voice echoing in a whisper. \"This is a feminine room.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The responsive mattress gurgled in protest when he sat up swiftly. His eyes darted around the room, taking in the subtle differences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way the light hit a silk scarf draped over a chair, and the faint, clean scent of something floral.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"HUH!\" he cursed under his throat as realization coiled in his gut when a new sound cut through the building’s hum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Splash. Drip. Drip. Splash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A splash and soft dripping sound echoed from behind a slightly transparent door on the far-left side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he neared it, Leon’s eyes widened when he saw a ghostly imprint of something that confirmed his findings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he shook his head, his gaze shot to the big analog clock mounted above the very door he stumbled two steps away from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first time in the room, he saw something that didn’t have the pinkish color. The hands, bold and black, pointed unequivocally to 7:00 AM.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic surged in Leon, forcing him to wipe his eyes with his palms, then look at the clock again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind replayed the previous night, the key, and the number assigned to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d seen and saw the 7 on the fob as he rechecked, but for the doors...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coldness ran through his bones as he moved from the mat he had been walking on to the side of the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon unlocked it, yanked it open, and leaned out to check the number plaque beside the frame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the hallway, a bustling, noisy current of uniform and sleepy chatter clung to his eyes and ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of eyes locked onto him the moment he hastily moved out without a shirt at the doorway of a pink room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, a tall guy with an arm draped around a petite girl’s shoulder stopped and stared at Leon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A smirk played on his lips as he tapped on Leon’s shoulder and drew his attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do I know you from somewhere?\" he drawled. The girl holding the boy’s hands giggled, then buried her face in his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe,\" Leon squinted his eyes as if trying to remember, but stopped when he saw the girl’s smiling face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Didn’t they tell you the new academy directive?\" The boy’s voice tensed at first, but calmed when he saw how confused the one at his front was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon’s face shimmered with no emotion as he shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ooh, sorry. Rooms are dual-gender now.\" A smile tore on the boy’s lips as he tilted his gaze to the girl at his right-hand side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’DUAL GENDER?’ Leon’s eyes widened as he screamed in his thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Supposed to ’foster balanced synergy’ or some proctor nonsense.\" The boy paused and laughed. \"Better hope you got a good one.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frowned slightly and tilted his gaze at the lady, \"Some of us weren’t so lucky.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words hit Leon like a physical blow. Dual-gender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon didn’t wait for the boy to finish his jab. He entered and slammed the door shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He placed his back against it and breathed heavily, almost as if his end had come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that instant, the smile Zoe showed him the day she visited him at the hospital replayed in his mind like a movie that wouldn’t stop reeling.\u003C\u002Fp>",1146,"2026-06-05T19:15:29.303Z",1,"novelbin.me","ed94519a559ae492aa147bf0567b9e64ef7f738600d2399a36a142534df8096d","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-44","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-42",272,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsolflare-the-painter-s-secret-cover.jpg"]