Chapter 136: Let's Paint Until the Day We Die
The Brush Test Site: Seria stood with Zenon, walking towards a large black brush.
Zenon reached out his right hand and touched the giant brush. Black ink began to flow out, drawing Zenon inside, bit by bit.
Zenon was drawn to the brush by the black ink.
The pitch-black space transformed into a bright white.
Zenon stood looking around. Inside the black brush was all white ink.
Zenon looked up at the sky. White paper, with numerous drawings floating down.
A voice said, "Alright, little girl, this is the test. Black brush. If you can paint and impress me, you win. Please begin.
Warning: If no one can paint to impress me, don't even think about leaving this place.
Let's paint until the day we die. This is the way of an artist. Dedicate yourself to this."
Zenon asked curiously. "Anything? Just paint?"
"Of course, little girl, anything." If you think this will impress me, the passing criterion is to impress me. Go ahead. There's no time limit.
Zenon began drawing, finished it, and submitted it to the contest. However, the feedback was rejected, so he started again. Zenon kept drawing more and more.
The sound of "fail"
Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail.
Outside the black brush, Seria stood watching as the black brush began to release black ink bit by bit. The surrounding area remained white and gray.
"Hmm, it looks like you can't leave the ink room. Let's ask someone inside."
Seria shouted loudly, "Zenon, Zenon, can you hear me? Hello, hello, Zenon!"
Inside the brush, the sound of a barrier filled the air.
Zenon asked, "Can I go outside?"
"Of course. Whether you paint or not is up to you. Please feel free."
Zenon walked out of the black brush.
Seria stood there, shouting, and then stopped.
"Can you come out?" "
"That's right. Would you like to go in and take a look?"
"Of course. If I can get out, I'll have to test it out. What's the content?"
"The content is to draw a picture to impress the owner of this place."
Seria frowned. "Are... or what!?"
Seria returned to her expressionless expression. "What was that?"
"You guessed right. What's next? Do you want to take the test?"
Seria nodded. "Okay, wait here. The black ink from the brush just now leaked out, meaning failure.
The correct answer is: Don't let the black ink leak out. Are there any consequences if you fail?"
"No. If you fail, just start over. If you don't succeed, you'll be stuck here forever. That's what he said."
Seria waved goodbye to Zenon and walked inside the brush. The sound of the test grinding sounded again. He explained exactly the same as Zenon.
Seria looked at the paper on the floor. There were Zenon's paintings everywhere.
A burst of laughter erupted. "Hahaha, this Zenon is terrible. Doesn't he have a talent for drawing? Hahaha, this sounds fun."
Seria put Zenon's picture on the floor.
The expression turned serious. "Okay, time for fun is over. Time for questions?"
Seria lay on the floor and looked up at the sky.
The black brush asked, "You can ask anything you want. If you can answer them, go ahead, girl."
"What did you use to impress him? Is there anything?"
"What criteria?" The answer is obvious. The painting that impressed you the most, the one you'll never forget in your entire life. How about that?"
"It means the most impressive painting in the world, the one that impressed me. That's acceptable."
Seria picked up the black paintbrush from the floor and looked at it. "As long as one person passes the test, we'll all survive, right?"
"Of course. Once I have a successor, I won't care about the rest."
"That's quite cruel. Like a law enforcer who doesn't care about anything. Whatever it is, I don't care. What I want to ask most is what qualities we have to be selected. From Xenon's lousy painting, I know one thing. This isn't the only criteria for determining our suitability for the test."
Seria smiled, a hint of mischievousness, as she thought about the answer she'd asked. [In her mind, this must be about that place. Barrier's home.]
The answer from the paintbrush was loud.
"The criteria are simple. The one who initiates the test is the one at the center of the starting point.
And coincidentally, that place, as you mentioned, How does this coincide with the initiator? I'm trying to help the initiator generate ideas, you know? I'm thinking of using that whole house to boost his imagination, to explore possibilities in this place. It's pitch black.
So I need to find something to stimulate his ideas. That's all.
Can you accept that, girl? You're probably thinking about getting caught in the crossfire of pulling that house in.
Seria sighed. "It's so unfortunate. Because of the rules, we can't let them go. And because of this rule, we have to die because of other people's problems. How cruel to do this to such a lovely girl."
"Who said it was cruel? You just pass the test and you'll gain incredible power, unimaginable. I'm a level eight magical item. Don't you think you can pass the test to increase your abilities? Opportunities like this don't come easily."
Seria stood up, her voice still cheerful. "It sounds fun, but it's probably too late. I've already got the test item." I'm not planning on taking on other people's tests. "Of course not."
"What is it? Your test?"
Seria stuck out her tongue, teasing the brush. "No... I won't tell you, cruel one. Can you send my request to the person who initiated the test? I have something I want to tell them."
"Tell me, if it's useful, I'll tell you."
"A boy or girl drawing a black and white picture. That's all."
"What's that? A code?"
"It's not a code, but a finished word. If I tell you, you'll know what it means."
Seria waved the black brush. "Go ahead."
Seria left a hint and walked away from the black brush.
[According to what Seraph left, the missing painting would be normal and worthless to others, but to the artist, it would be heartbreaking.
The painting disappeared from Seraph's room. Interpret this as the painting being destroyed. Draw me another picture and let me take it? Not all of them. Seraph wants to say that the picture is lost, so draw a better one. That's for sure. Uh... I finally understand the meaning of the lost picture.
Even though it's a bit forced, this is the only clue related to the picture. Turns out, that Zoe wasn't involved in the incident. It was just a reminder of the picture. I almost forgot about it.
What are the rest of us going to do?]
Seria walked out.
Xenon and the other two ran up to Seria.
Zoe asked anxiously. "So, did you get any clues?"
"No, but there's a way to escape this place."
Louis was very interested. "You got an idea? What do you do?"
Seria looked at the white ink footprints. There were four pairs of footprints along the path.
"Go back to where you started." Someone will come get you.
Zoe couldn't help but wonder. "Isn't this place impossible to get out of, so we had to explore?"
"No, I was just walking around looking for something to do, and I remembered something as soon as I got inside the brush."
"What is it that you remembered?"
"Our rescuers are trying to help us out here. How about outside? Two people from the Korenin School are missing. Do you think they're abandoning you?"
"If they had come to our aid in time, this wouldn't be such a hassle."
"What's the trouble? Don't you see? Just walking around this place."
Outside the test area, the four of them had been swallowed up by the test. After they were pulled into the test,
A black brush pole, as big as a house, stood in the middle of the forest.
Master Chang Wing stood guard with a puzzled expression. "What's going on? I ran for Seria and Sinon, and when I heard the sounds of people... I told them to come this way. I was planning to capture them and teach them, but I ended up finding this place after asking the villagers for directions. They were the four from the Korenin School and two others.
We're coming this way. We can't leave this suspicious place behind again.
I'll tell Master Abel to come here first. It's very fortunate. I brought a boundary-building potion to teach the two children, but he ended up building this place instead. Couldn't it be Seria's doing?