The world twisted violently as he plunged through the surface. The cold enveloped him entirely, not like water but something far more alien - a liquid stillness that seemed to devour sound, light, and time. For a fleeting moment, there was absolute silence, a void so profound it felt as though even his thoughts had been swallowed.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszrzTYNd78
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Suddenly, it felt as if he broke through a wall, and then he was falling through empty air until he slammed into a hard, smooth surface. The impact drove the breath from his lungs, leaving him gasping for air.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ828wmrk56k
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For several heartbeats, he lay still, his mind struggling to process what had happened. Then he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around. 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxADU6FUd8o
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1opWt0vNgd
Gone were the violet crystals that had nearly killed him. In their place stretched corridors of black glass, their surfaces so perfectly reflective they seemed to hold depths that extended forever. The walls pulsed with a sickly phosphorescent glow that seemed to breathe beneath the surface, casting everything in an otherworldly pallor.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeeUzjwgm7y
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hoOpcY4gt
Cel pushed himself to his knees, wincing at the cold that radiated up through his palms. His reflection stared back at him from every surface - but not just one reflection. Dozens of them filled the black mirrors, and none moved when he did.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVM7v8MLGU
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One reflection tilted its head. Another pressed its palm against the glass from the inside, fingers splayed. A third simply smiled with too many teeth.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXps8GplZTU
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQv8U4saNgZ
"What in..." The word died in his throat as every reflection turned toward him in perfect unison, their movements creating a ripple effect through the mirrored halls.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbD3SCNLCiC
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc99qxErJZN
He scrambled to his feet, backing away from the nearest wall. But there was nowhere to go - reflections surrounded him on all sides, each one wearing his face but moving independently. Some wept tears that left dark streaks down their cheeks. Others snarled with animal fury. One stood perfectly still, its eyes tracking his every movement like a predator sizing up prey.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpMIblG7N0
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHi8zABKTgi
The silence that had plagued him since the crystal maze was gone. Here, sound returned with vengeful intensity. Every breath he took echoed from a hundred mirrored throats. His heartbeat thundered back at him, amplified until it felt like war drums pounding in his skull.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAzYHgsRZq
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCcbWdAnz7
He took a step forward, and the obsidian floor rippled beneath his feet like the lake's surface. The motion sent fresh waves of nausea through his stomach, but he forced himself to keep moving. Standing still felt like surrender.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCb8LhtTUz
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANyFJyLR9U
As he walked deeper into the mirrored world, the reflections began to change. They no longer wore his current face - scarred, hardened by suffering. Instead, they showed him as he had been. The boy who had cowered before his father's fists. The son who had disappointed everyone who ever looked at him.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnfyNYSk3c
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyITBUDiObm
In one mirror, Lord Aldric's face materialized behind his younger self. His father's mouth moved in familiar patterns of rage, though no sound escaped the glass. But Cel didn't need to hear the words - he knew them by heart.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqaRpQDvUU
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SYWTrRYpk
The reflection of his younger self flinched with each silent blow, shoulders hunching in the defensive posture Cel had perfected through years of beatings. Blood welled from the boy's split lip, and his eyes - Cel's own eyes - burned with helpless rage that had nowhere to go. 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0dHmEcj7G
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAq5FFzP8z
"Stop," Cel whispered, but the scene continued to play out behind the glass. His father's hands closed around the boy's throat, shaking him like a broken doll.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5YR04O5YU
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkxIHlygVY
More mirrors awakened around him. His mother appeared in one, her face a mask of cold indifference as she turned her back on her bleeding son. ’He brought this on himself,’ her lips seemed to say.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡur1Ufbyz3z
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Darian filled another mirror, standing in the doorway with his fists clenched and his feet rooted to the floor. The older brother who had never lifted a finger to help, who had watched every beating with the detached interest of someone observing the weather. His reflection mouthed words that cut deeper than any blade. ‘Not worth it.’250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyifO5GM6Bv
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1b01Wwpll2
The mirrors multiplied as Cel stumbled forward. Faces from his past filled every reflective surface - clan members who had sneered at the failure of House Solmar, servants who had whispered about the family's shame, lords and ladies who had looked through him as if he didn't exist.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgdLm1YLEZ
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But it was the cult members who made him stop breathing.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZumMAs4OD
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They emerged from the deepest mirrors like nightmares given form. Purple robes that seemed to devour light, hoods that cast shadows too deep for natural darkness. Their faces remained hidden, but their presence filled the mirrored halls with the memory of pain so intense it had carved channels in his soul.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHuRmhIQCs
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One stepped closer to the glass, and Cel saw the glint of the blade that had opened his veins countless times. Another held a vial of his own blood, dark and congealed. They had fed on his suffering for an entire year, growing strong on his weakness while his father counted the gold they'd paid for his torment.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULdmoQ8OMl
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdkrFRqlRE
The reflections of his younger self began to speak then, their voices overlapping in a chorus of self-hatred that made his knees buckle.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1u1H4uWAQ
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”You'll never be enough.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1lIy7aQh0
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”You should have died in that cell.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1E1rYRaiy
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweIKrFjNJm
”They saw you for what you are - weak and pathetic.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡne6jWAB0ov
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0X0aPYWTM8
”Do you really think the gods care about your suffering?”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsXfPUZ1Oq
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”You've always been a failure.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1efA2gRKU
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlSUYxi80F
”No one is coming to save you. No one ever will.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKjwoAH0R8
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”They were relieved to be rid of you.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8voZBySc3C
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Cel's ears remained useless, yet he heard everything. Each word finding the spaces between his ribs where doubt had always lived. Cel's breath came in ragged gasps, his chest rising and falling like a bellows worked by desperate hands. The silence that had plagued him since yesterday was a distant memory now - here, every cruel whisper thundered with the force of absolute truth.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmz1Itv2oiw
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He pressed his palms against his skull, fingers digging into his scalp until he felt the sharp bite of his own nails.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT64xvyeGPe
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”You know we're right.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpu3RX4vPmh
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWW47XR3LR5
”You've always known.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtoIIU5dCd
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”Stop fighting what you are.”250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SXBWlSHtK
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCya0qnSdj6
Tears burned behind his eyes, but Cel bit down on his tongue until he tasted blood. He wouldn't break. Not for them. Not after everything he had endured.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrQ4DFGiHh
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIpZp4RWyU
But even as he stood defiant, the mirrors began to change. The black glass surfaces rippled like water disturbed by stones. Hairline cracks appeared, spreading outward in spider web patterns that caught the sickly light and threw it back in fractured rays.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rfG8iAhGr
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The first reflection pressed its palm against the glass from inside, and where flesh met mirror, the barrier began to soften. Like wax held too close to flame, the obsidian surface warped and stretched.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsHlEWD8uk
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0VemsSElc
Lord Aldric's face emerged first, pushing through the yielding mirror as if surfacing from deep water. But this was not the man Cel remembered - this version gleamed with an inner light that made his skin appear translucent, veins of silver running beneath the surface like captured starlight. When his boots touched the obsidian floor, they rang out like hammer strikes on an anvil.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2EjsXsL7r
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"Look at you," he said, his voice carrying the weight of mountains. Each word fell like a physical blow, driving Cel back a step. "Still cowering. Still weak."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCLjMS3xxL
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09ejnthWb5
The mirror behind him continued to ripple, and more figures began to emerge. Cel's mother stepped through with ethereal grace, her form wavering like heat shimmer. His sister clung to her skirts, eyes wide with the same terror Cel had seen on that terrible day. But there was something else in her gaze now - disappointment, so profound it made his stomach clench.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcjIY3XTcf
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"We tried to love you," his mother whispered, her voice barely audible yet somehow cutting through every other sound. "But you made it so hard."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEmcJtlKFv
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCBBnWFwzz
Darian came next, his crystalline form catching the phosphorescent light as he moved. He met Cel's eyes for only a moment before looking away, his fists clenched so tightly that light leaked between his fingers. 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6OzdrSPP5
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"I wanted to help you." His crystalline form shifted slightly. "But you never made it worth the risk."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0r2o4a8Gr
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MtDTky8tF
The clan members followed in a cascade of silver and shadow, their sneers frozen on faces that gleamed like marble. They moved in perfect synchronization, pointing at Cel with fingers that extended like accusatory daggers250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcOyY94smg
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8l1lliI2a4
"Disgrace."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TIvqaQtFg
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"Failure."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbhByUrC9G
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"Mistake."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xj1n2cOGE
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Their voices overlapped, creating a harmony of condemnation that made the air itself seem to thicken.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDx2wR6lk6
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Behind them, the cultists stepped through their mirrors with barely a whisper, purple robes settling around them like shadows. They took their places among the gathering without fanfare, silent reminders of past torment.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDfilsbo7O
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But it was the mirrors cracking wider still that made Cel's breath catch in his throat.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnzS9M2IOR
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His own reflections began to emerge.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsZy8F6Sxr
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They came slowly and deliberately, like hunters who knew their prey had nowhere to run. The first was himself at seven years old - small, bruised, with eyes that had already learned to expect pain. Its mirror-born body moved with the jerky, uncertain gait of a child who had been struck too many times to trust his own balance.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfN8frUCstS
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Another followed: the prisoner, gaunt and hollow-eyed, his ribs clearly visible beneath gaunt skin. This version of himself moved with the careful, measured steps of someone who had learned that sudden movements brought punishment.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbnFJT1pII
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A third reflection stepped through - older, harder, with Cel's current face but twisted by something that looked like madness. This version smiled with too many teeth, and when it spoke, its voice carried the rasp of someone who had screamed until his throat bled.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEVi2c3RB1
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"Nothing changed," the child-reflection whispered, its voice high and broken.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLkbdAWz58
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The prisoner-reflection tilted its head, studying Cel with the detached interest of a scholar examining an insect. "You think escape means freedom? We know better, don't we?"250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNr1VJpCDn
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The mad-reflection threw back its head and laughed, the sound like glass grinding against stone. "Freedom? There is no freedom. There's only what they made us."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRuUY2s1xY
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More emerged - dozens of versions of himself, each one representing a different moment of breaking, a different surrender to despair. They formed circles around him, creating a forest of accusation and self-hatred.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTuGeFFQT6
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"You should have died in that cell," hissed a reflection with lips cracked and bleeding from dehydration. 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZysiopw9nv
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"Death would have been kinder," agreed another, this one bearing scars the cultists had carved into his flesh.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ho8ednpaS
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"But you were too weak even for that," sneered a third, its throat raw and damaged from screaming.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUn6t8KzO5
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Cel's legs gave out. He crashed to his knees on the reflective floor, the impact sending ripples across the surface. His breath came in sharp, desperate gasps, each inhalation feeling like it might be his last. The weight of their collective judgment pressed down on him, heavier than chains, more suffocating than the cultists' dungeon walls.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wLBu2ib88
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"Weak."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzLqxanmDS
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"Pathetic."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Jm3cyIX72
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“Failure."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Vh08zNy4K
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"Worthless."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dbpo715MR
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"Coward."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7xUKjjFpo
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"Nothing."250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtkbb8AUYQ
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Tears burned at the corners of his eyes, and this time he couldn't stop them. They carved hot tracks down his cheeks, each drop hitting the ground with a sound like a funeral bell. His shoulders shook with the effort of holding himself upright as everything he'd survived, all the pain that had become his foundation, rose up to claim him.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4600P8sGP8
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For a moment that stretched like eternity, he felt himself falling into that familiar darkness. The void where nothing mattered because nothing had ever mattered. Where the pain was so complete it became a kind of peace.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVAdEVIm9n
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Suddenly, he heard laughter - a wild, broken sound that scraped against the obsidian walls like fingernails on glass. It bubbled up from somewhere deep and fractured, edged with hysteria.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTT5SMr6EE1
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It took him a moment to realize it was coming from his own throat.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhU2j6FWte
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORKthuFuV8
"Ha... haha... HAHAHA!" The sound grew louder, more unhinged with each breath. His shoulders shook violently, not with sobs but with mirth that felt like madness clawing its way out of his chest. Tears streamed down his cheeks, hot and burning, but still the laughter poured out of him.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNI8AX1CWT1
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The reflections paused, their sneers faltering as Cel's hysterical cackling filled the mirrored halls.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvtplb3dvm
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"You think... haha… you think this hurts?" He gasped between fits of laughter, his voice turning savage, primal - the sound of something fundamental snapping inside him.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjA5GVZUb3d
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKpeHiQLgD
"You want me broken?" he shrieked, the words torn from his throat between bursts of manic laughter. "If that's what this world wants from me - if that's what you ALL want from me - then fine! I'll break!"250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXLDMT3wvr
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPaUJyCPOi
For the first time since he'd entered this trial, a smile crept across Cel's face. It was a wide, happy smile full of pure delight, even though tears still streamed down his cheeks.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LMbRxfhHF
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The mad-reflection stepped closer, its twisted smile widening. "Oh, what's this? Finally cracking, are we? About time you—"250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQL8TRo7nRK
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nSuymHkqD
Cel launched himself forward with a burst of euphoric laughter that sounded almost joyful. His hands slammed into the reflection's chest, sending both of them crashing to the ground. The impact rang out like a bell, but Cel barely felt it.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8XhGde366
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkzU6yRXLL
His laughter bubbled out of him like a spring, bright and musical as his fists pounded into the reflection's face. Each blow sent spider-web cracks racing across its crystalline features, and each crack made him laugh harder, as if this destruction was the most wonderful thing he'd ever witnessed.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVi1y9HK6aq
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvT43H6UmQE
The reflection tried to speak, its mouth opening in protest, but Cel's fist crashed into it again. And again. And again.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2oJd8Ko0V
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtXrs0WL6o
His knuckles split against the crystalline surface, his own blood mixing with the fragments. But the pain only made him laugh harder, as if each strike brought him genuine happiness.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJwFLfh6Nf
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With a final, devastating blow, the reflection exploded beneath his fists. Fragments scattered across the floor like fallen stars, each piece reflecting his tear-streaked face - still wearing that beautiful, terrible smile.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhMzrlDfUs
250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUfOt9JyxT
Cel knelt there in the debris, his laughter gradually fading into ragged breathing. The other reflections had gone silent, watching him with something that might have been fear.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfeyD4OycLq
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He looked up at them with a wide and radiant smile of mad delight.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPraC57mpn
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“Who’s next?”1234 copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8eNiSgNR3 尼

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