[{"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-53":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},1322881,1757,"Chapter 53: Endless Task","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-53",53,"\u003Cp>Leon seized the broom and dustpan and began walking toward the exit on the second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eyes drew from every direction and paused as he moved past the doors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lowered his head, shoved the hood over his head, and sighed the moment he stopped and waited at the front, where the elevator was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A mechanical hum echoed as the door opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at the faces that were already in the car and smiled faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once inside, he kept his head down, but his heightened sense caught every shift in the mechanical humming sound as the car descended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...shifted to janitorial duty already?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What did you expect? Grade E is basically a civilian class. He might as well be useful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Poor Zoe. Trading Kang T’s spotlight for this... a guy who fights dust.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She’ll learn.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Told you he’d come back broken. Surviving against Kang T just broke him differently.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors opened on the ground floor, releasing him into the marginally cooler air of the lobby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t pause. He forced his way through the main doors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The early morning breeze, which still carried the night’s chill, lifted the edges of his hood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes caught sight of a pack of black filtration masks hanging freely on a two-inch metal nail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grabbed it and fastened it over his nose and mouth, creating a barrier against the world and the dust and leaves he was about to conquer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The academy quad in the early morning was vast and silent. The datapad vibrated in his pocket as sweet-scented air flew across the mask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pulling it from his pocket, the first location marker flashed insistently – a courtyard between the grey building and the very cream building he stood beside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This will be easy,\" he smiled, then set to work. In the first hour, he moved as if he himself was being used by the broom. Sweep, gather, dump.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blue marker winked as he finished and moved to the next. Then the next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun began its ascent, painting the granite building in hues of gold and orange, but Leon saw none of its beauty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His world narrowed to the arc of the broom, the scatter of leaves and litter, and the insistent pulse of the map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the third hour, 09:50, a dull ache settled in his shoulder and lower back. The sun climbed higher, its heat pressing down through his black hoodie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sweat beaded at his brow and traced itchy paths down his neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Students in crisp training outfits walked around him like water around a stone, their eyes sliding over him with flickers of contempt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused after repeating the same routine in the fourth hour and leaned against the base of a large oak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled the datapad out and checked; twenty-five locations completed. He looked up as satisfaction started to form in his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His joyous expression collapsed the moment he tilted his gaze back to the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The courtyards, which he had meticulously cleaned within three hours earlier, were once again lightly dusted with a fresh sprinkling of leaves and pollen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he let his gaze remain fixed on the screen, a naughty gust of wind danced through, pirouetting a new handful of dried leaves across the courtyards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled the datapad closer when a cold knot of disbelief tightened in his gut. His blood ran cold, seeing all twenty-five completed locations turn yellow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ahh. Why?\" Frustration slammed him harder, causing the words to linger before fading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that instant, one clarity struck his mind; the task wasn’t just to clean, it was to hold back the inevitable tide of nature and neglect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His jaw clenched so tight his teeth ached as he turned and retraced his steps. Cleaning the second time felt extremely heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leaves he gathered seemed to mock him, their dry rustle like laughter that wouldn’t stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved to the twenty-sixth location, sweat dripping from his face like a broken pipe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He kept his head down, focusing on a stubborn clot of wet paper, when he heard the familiar honeyed cadence of Vera’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed when they passed him as a group, their chatter bright and carefree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, a whirl of wind snaked down and hooked under the edge of his filtration mask, tugging it from one ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mask fluttered for a moment before landing in a dirty puddle at Vera’s feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stopped and turned, then her laughter rang out like broken crystal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, look! He’s come back for more. Practising your kneeling, Storm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon didn’t look up. He bent, retrieved the soaked mask, and wrung it out without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What the hell! Is he going to put that back on his face?\" one of the girls beside Vera said, her face crumpling as if tasting a rotten rat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon dumped the mask in the dustpan and resumed sweeping, the bristles scraping violently against the asphalt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of their laughter followed him slowly, then vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun blazed heavily as the time reached midday, 12:00.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon’s world reduced to a circle of heat, thirst, and the relentless, yellowing map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He watched as streams of students clad in combat fatigues moved toward the distant building where the trials took place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’When will I be done with this? When do I get to fight something real?’ He stopped, leaned heavily on the broom’s handle, and stared at his reddish palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’How will I ever know if I’m getting stronger, or have become strong enough to take care of my mother and sister, in case Uncle Feng leaves?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes closed as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. Cracking his eyes open, he forced himself to look at the datapad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thirty locations remained.\" He sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gust of heavy wind swept across the grounds, stirring up a fresh mini-tornado of debris from a spot he’d cleared minutes ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Above, the flawless blue sky was being invaded from the west by towering purple-grey clouds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air grew thick, pressing down on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After five minutes, the first cold raindrop struck the datapad’s screen with a loud plink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, another. And within seconds, the drizzle turned into a roaring, blinding curtain of water that soaked him in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The grounds transformed; dry dust became slippery mud, leaves plastered themselves to every surface, and the gutters began to overflow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leon scrambled for the overhang of a nearby building – the one closer to the field that was 5 miles away from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At least I can pause and rest,\" he said, pulling the datapad close, shielding it from the spray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The screen flashed, a new notification sound vibrating through his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tilting it slightly, a new unyielding test appeared over the map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ADVISORY: TASK PARAMETERS REMAIN ACTIVE. PROTOCOL MANDATES COMPLETION IRRESPECTIVE OF METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. CONTINUE.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood under the inadequate shelter he had found, water streaming from his hood and pooling around his boots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the carefully cleared walkways turn into swirling muddy rivers, the thirty remaining markers on his map glowed red. They moved, reflecting the storm-darkened sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tried moving forward when the rain’s pressure lowered slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that instant, he hurried back when a white-hot lightning strike struck the very front of where his right leg was ready to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crack... BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thunder tore through his ears, sending the ground beneath him shaking.\u003C\u002Fp>",1227,"2026-06-05T19:15:29.583Z",1,"novelbin.me","9142cc809d3c5d9902c52c266ac850e75ee56789fe24866343a710e07435bcc8","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-54","solflare-the-painter-s-secret-chapter-52",272,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsolflare-the-painter-s-secret-cover.jpg"]