Of course, Angel did not think that Heart House alone could enable Toby to defeat Extreme Grudge Intent.
But for now, the foremost task was to let Toby face Extreme Grudge Intent.
Only by confronting a bleak ending could he find the drive to change a tragic fate.
In reality, once Toby faced Extreme Grudge Intent, it would be equivalent to triggering the Five Flavors Tribulation. No one knew whether he could survive that calamity. But within Heart House, facing Extreme Grudge Intent carried no such risk.
That was also one of Heart House's unique qualities.
When Shalu snapped out of his silence, Angel and Frod had also just finished discussing the combat strength of the inner demons.
By Angel's reckoning, the experiment had ended here. He had learned everything he needed to know. Yet Angel did not leave at once. Instead, he looked at Shalu, whose gaze was still somewhat dazed.
"You still seem not to have given me a sufficient reason."
Earlier, Shalu had made a request: in the future, he hoped to enter Heart House for another trial. Angel had said then that if Shalu could give a sufficiently compelling reason, he would not mind making an exception.
But even now, Shalu had not offered a reason that Angel found convincing.
Shalu lowered his head, his voice growing slightly somber. "What I said before concerned what lay behind the third door. In truth, the first and second doors are more important to me than the third."
Angel did not interrupt Shalu, signaling for him to continue.
"Next, I will tell a short story. It may not be interesting, but it is my experience, and it is connected to the first two doors." Shalu paused, then began to recount it slowly.
When Shalu was young, he lived