[{"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-48":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},1322876,1757,"Chapter 48: Marked as a Target","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-48",48,"\u003Cp>\"...sparring with a rat, can you believe it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A Dusthollow rat, no less! Should’ve stuck with Kang T.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Guess she likes them desperate...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe slammed the door shut, sealing Leon inside with the echo of their scorn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon stood there, breathing heavily, the stink of the rotten apple still on his palm. He closed his eyes, exhaled deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked to the bathroom, stripped off the filthy hoodie, and stepped under the shower sprayer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t turn it on. He just stood there, letting the cold silence press down on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did she cast it on a video?\" He squeezed his eyes, thought of all other possible ways. He shook his head when the faces of the guys that walked in the field reeled in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bone-cracking sound erupted around him, his jaw tightening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a minute, Leon swung the shower lever to the left. \"Oouch...\" then to the right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evaporated air gushed out as the cold water replaced the feeling the hot one brought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He washed the sweat, grime, and the sticky juice away. He scrubbed the blue sponge harder until his skin was raw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click... snap...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water stopped abruptly as he turned the lever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drip... drop...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beads of water fell from his foot as he walked out of the shower. He walked lazily to the steamy mirror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stranger with hard, brown eyes and wet, jet-black hair stared back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tiny golden electric sparks flickered deep within his irises as Vera’s smirking face flashed in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blinked, once, twice. Then, the spark vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a split second, a faint, Y-shaped mark shimmered like a brand in the steam on his forehead. He wiped his brow with the back of his left hand, and it vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’This mark again?’ A smile tore on his lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned, grabbed a blue towel from the rack, leaving the white one Zoe had used, then wrapped it around his waist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he opened the bathroom door, Zoe was right there, leaning against the opposite wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A soft chuckle escaped her as she jumped. Then, her gaze dropped, taking in the towel slung low on his hips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her laugh died in her throat when her eyes flickered to his chest, where the beads of water were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint, genuine pink flushed her cheeks as her eyes snapped back up to his.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon’s own face heated. \"What’s the time?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He brushed past her, swinging his left arm at his side, while the right held the top of the towel, where it had been tied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"14:50.\" Zoe’s voice came in low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"14:50?!\" His face shimmered with shock. ’I have only ten minutes to reach there.’ He blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze scanned around, searching for his damp clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your clothes,\" Zoe said, her voice echoing in a strained tone. She pointed a finger at the lower drawer of the wardrobe without looking at him. \"They kept your kit in there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon dashed closer. \"It’s stuck.\" He wrestled with it for five minutes before it gave way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Screeeech...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside was a neatly folded set of standard-issued black training gear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled them out, dressed in a frantic, clumsy hurry. His belt was crooked. One shoelace was tied in a haphazard knot, the other trailing. He didn’t have time to fix it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon burst out of the room without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"See him,\" Zoe’s voice traced to him as he stopped at the front of the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hallway became a tunnel of eyes and suppressed laughter. He felt their stares on his crooked belt, his mismatched shoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The video had painted a target on his back, and now every flaw was magnified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the elevator. In the main lobby. He was a storm of sweat and disarray rushing through the polished platforms of the academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cold air flew across his face, but he felt it hot. Following the map on the datapad was like swimming in the ocean without a compass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The proctor’s building loomed ahead, a severe structure of wine-colored stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dust swelled up when he stopped at the base, where thick fruit-bearing trees were.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his front stood Mr. Lee. His eyes raked over Leon—the sweat, the crooked uniform, and the untied lace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t ask for an explanation. He didn’t applaud the completed task. He simply looked at his own wristwatch, then back to Leon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What’s the time?\" Mr. Lee’s voice came in like a blade of absolute zero.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Lee turned without waiting for an answer and opened the black twelve-foot door he stood beside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entering the room was like stepping into a lion’s den. The walls weren’t just walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were galleries of stern, life-sized portraits of past Head Proctors and decorated military figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Leon passed, their painted eyes seemed to flare, tracking his movements. It felt less like a corridor and more like a gauntlet of ghosts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A deep weight slammed onto Leon’s shoulder—Mr. Lee’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hurry up!\" It didn’t sound like a comforting tone, but a command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soles of Leon’s mismatched boots made no sound on the thick, obsidian carpet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After what felt like ten minutes of pressurized walking, they halted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before them was an unmarked door of dark, polished wood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mr. Lee opened it. A silver clinical light cut into the dim hallway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enter,\" Mr. Lee’s voice sounded in a tone that was undiluted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three people stood at the side of the room when Leon entered, their backs turned to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The walls at their backs were lined with data-screens scrolling with biometric feeds and combat analytics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Images flared to the screen, but Leon’s ears were already tingling with the whispers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lieutenant... are you sure he’s the same boy that was sent to the hospital seven months ago?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah. Look at his face,\" the other proctor, a man with a scar across his chin, said. \"Why do you see him differently?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female proctor turned. Her eyes scanned Leon up and down with clinical detachment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She leaned closer to her colleague, her voice dropping to a hiss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nah. But per what I heard about the catastrophic event that happened at WinJi Hospital... the energy signature was off the charts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1026,"2026-06-05T19:15:29.303Z",1,"novelbin.me","92e4fb3b1b7c4f1ec79867e889b8209ae108dbe9849e68ab9e359255bddedfca","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-49","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-47",272,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsolflare-the-painter-s-secret-cover.jpg"]