Escaping the Mystery Hotel

- Han Kain

I spent the entire morning thinking about how to announce it.

When lunchtime arrived, I entered Room 105.

As expected, Seungyub wasn’t there.

He was probably being treated by the doctor or something.

The time for confession had begun.

“Everyone, please pay attention. I have something important to say today.”

As I made my opening statement, everyone looked at me with slightly puzzled expressions.

Ahri let out a small sigh and hung her head low.

The secrets I had hidden.

The escape route through the elevator.

The Protective Suit and the password.

How Advice consumed contribution points when asking questions unrelated to the progression of a Cursed Room.

The process through which I discovered Ahri's secret as Wisdom grew stronger.

Next, I intended to reveal Ahri's secret, but Ahri, saying she wouldn’t act like a coward, spoke for herself.

The true power of the blessing “Secret”, the “Ancient Blood” Inheritance, memories of the first party, and so on.

After Ahri and I finished our honest confession, silence filled the room.

Then, reactions different from my expectations began.

“Looks like I wasn’t the only one who was troubled.”

Eunsol-noona let out a sigh.

“Is it just me?”

What is this–

“It seems that many were hesitant, but only one had the courage.”

Only after hearing Grandpa Mooksung's words did I realize.

There were others besides Ahri and me who were hiding something!

Eunsol-noona also began to speak with a somewhat emotional tone.

“After hearing Ahri’s words, I had a revelation. This place. Rather than isolating ourselves, it’s a place to open up with one another and gather our strength. To that end, I have two things to say.”

The first confession was about the note she had purchased from the “Strange Merchant” long ago.

Surprisingly, the note had information at the bottom that someone was hiding Escape Route 1.

She was naturally alarmed and suspected it to be someone from the Administration team.

The second confession was a bit more serious.

The characteristic of the Hand of Greed. She realized it after actually using it.

The Hand of Greed granted the user's wish.

The way it granted the wish wasn’t by immediately presenting the desired item, but by creating a situation in which it could be obtained.

In this case, there were limits to the wishes that could be granted, and the situations to obtain the item could be dangerous.

So far, it sounded like the infamous Monkey’s Paw, but there was a significant difference.

“The user is never put into danger!”

As soon as I heard it, my mouth fell open.

Looking around, others couldn’t hide their surprise either.

Eunsol-noona spoke in a somewhat bitter tone.

“I didn’t know this characteristic before using it. After realizing it, I understood why that dragon boasted about this power. There is no risk for me, only rewards. The risk falls on all of you.”

I unintentionally mumbled.

“You thought to talk about such a dangerous aspect.”

Honestly, isn’t this something you’d want to hide until the very end?

“Listening to you and Ahri, I didn’t want to hide it anymore. Even just looking at the contents of this blessing, I can guess. My sponsor is an extremely selfish being. I don’t want to live like that.”

“It sounds like a big deal,” Jinchul answered, “But distinguishing who bears the risk, whether it’s me or someone else, doesn’t really matter, does it? If any of us gets hurt, it ultimately impacts everyone. From that perspective, I think it’s similar to your Descent, Kain. Let’s use it when necessary.”

“Thank you for saying that. As Jinchul said, it’s something we need to use well in moments of crisis. It doesn’t seem like a power to use whenever the cooldown comes back.”

Grandpa Mooksung also spoke.

“Well, if I can add something, I can actually open a private chat window. The conversation partner must always be me, though.”

A private chat window.

Has the Administration team been communicating separately using this?

Suddenly, it felt like a time for confession, where everyone revealed their hidden secrets.

Following Ahri and me, Eunsol-noona and Grandpa Mooksung also spoke.

Naturally, our gaze turned clockwise towards Jinchul.

“What? I really have nothing.”

It seemed likely.

“It’s not a secret, but don’t you think I’ve grown recently?”

Everyone looked at him, wondering what he was talking about.

He already seemed to be over 190 cm tall.

Seeing him daily made it difficult to notice slight changes in his physique.

Grandpa Mooksung examined him carefully and responded.

“Huh? It really seems like it. Your height has increased by about 3 cm? Besides that, you seem a bit bulkier overall.”

“Is this also the Blessing of Courage?”

The Blessing of Courage enhanced the body.

It seemed plausible for it to also enlarge the physique.

But, someone who was already over 190 cm growing even more?

By the time we leave the Hotel, would he be over 2 meters tall?

Elena spoke up.

“Talking about ‘growth,’ I feel like my blessing has grown too. The time I can use ‘Lie Detection’ has increased, and I can use it more ‘secretly’ than before. In fact, I’m already using it. Did anyone notice?”

““...!””

Surprised, I looked at Elena.

Sure enough, her eyes were faintly glowing.

Instead of radiating light as before, they simply had a faint golden tint now.

If one observed Elena closely from the front, they would notice easily….

Honestly, it was hard to look at Elena too intently because it was a bit overwhelming.

Eunsol-noona, feeling choked up, spoke.

"There's none... right?"

“No. No one is lying right now.”

Scary.

Finally, everyone’s eyes turned to Songee.

“I’ve been hiding it because it sounds crazy, but I’ve been able to talk to Perro for some time now.”

“What? Are you Dr. Dolittle?” ¹

Grandpa Mooksung exclaimed in disbelief.

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you’re Dr. Dolittle. Talking to animals -”

Ahri nudged Grandpa.

“Grandpa. Who here would even know that movie?”

“...Isn’t it famous?”

“It was famous when you were young, Grandpa.”

Ahri seemed to know it well too.

But, the fact that she could talk to animals was both fascinating and intriguing.

“Do you talk to Perro often?”

“Yes.”

“What do you talk about? Any interesting stories?”

Songee thought for a moment, then started writing something on a piece of paper.

Perro’s One-Line Evaluation

“What’s this?”

“Perro talks about us almost all day. He says, ‘I like this one, but dislike that one,’ things like that.”

...I learned about an animal’s gossiping nature I didn’t want to know.

Perro’s One-Line Evaluation:

1. Yu Songee: Love. Mom.

2. Lee Eunsol: Brings food. Big food bowl.

3. Elena: Shines. Sparkle.

4. Kim Ahri: Red blood. Scent.

5. Park Seungyub: Dumb. Beneath me.

6. Kim Mooksung: Noisy. Nest material.

7. Cha Jinchul: Monster. Hits me.

8. Han Kain: Evil demon. Stay away!

“”…””

Everyone was speechless. Songee continued her explanation.

“Perro seems to know that Eunsol-unni orders his food. He likes Elena because she sparkles whenever he sees her. Also, Perro seems to sense our Blessings or Inheritance. I didn’t understand his comments about ‘red blood’ and ‘scent’ related to Ahri, but it might be the ‘Ancient Blood’ fused with Ahri’s body that he senses. As for Seungyub…. Luckily, he’s not here. Perro seems to look down on him a bit. Grandpa Mooksung is ‘noisy’ because Perro probably perceives our chats.”

“”…””

Songee? Why stop the explanation there? The latter part seems ominous.

Grandpa Mooksung reacted immediately.

“What’s with ‘Nest material’? I have a bad feeling, but recently that little bird has been plucking my hair whenever it gets the chance?”

“Perro seems to think your white hair is great nest material.”

“We should boil some water and catch that bird,” Ahri replied playfully.

“Wow~ Jinchul-oppa is a monster since he hit Perro on the first day, and Kain is… An evil demon! What do you do to Perro every day?”

“...”

“Kain-oppa always possesses Perro to practice flying. He can’t even fly for 3 seconds before crashing” Ahri answered while laughing uncontrollably, “It’s okay. If you practice for another month, you might be able to fly for 10 seconds. As long as Perro doesn’t lose all his feathers from stress that is!”

So, we ended lunch with everyone laughing together.

I went to find Perro for my “flight practice.”

Perro should understand!

If I could fly with Perro’s body, it would be a great help to the party.

***

Party Time, Day 3, Evening

“Now! It’s finally time for the final meeting. Since we decided to relax comfortably on the last day as before, today’s meeting is crucial. Of course, there’s only one person among us who knows about the Gate Room and the second floor! Professor Ahri will give today’s lecture, so everyone, give a round of applause for her!”

After everyone clapped lightly, Ahri began her explanation.

“First, remember that my explanation might be wrong. It’s a memory from long ago, and this Hotel constantly changes its contents. The Gate Room is structured with multiple Cursed Rooms in a row. There are brief rests in between, but just enough to catch your breath. Eliminated participants do not revive during the Gate Room, and only if at least one person passes through the entire room will they revive. There don’t seem to be any Convicts there. The reward doesn’t seem to be an Inheritance either.”

“If it’s not an Inheritance, what’s the reward?”

“I don’t know. The person who passed through the Gate Room in the first party hid it.”

How frustrating.

The person who got the reward hid it, so we didn’t know what it was.

Still, it must have been an amazing party to arrive at the second floor.

“How was the second floor?”

“Remember that it might change. The second floor, like the first, has Convicts and Enemies, but with two major changes. First, it feels larger than the first floor. For example, although the entire world is implemented on the first floor, the main activities take place in confined spaces like rooms, the broadcasting station, the mansion vicinity, the spaceship, and the school. The second floor has larger main areas and more people involved. Second, Sealing and Liberation. From the second floor, one person is sealed upon entry.”

I asked in surprise.

“Sealed? Is that person not able to do anything in the room at all?”

“Correct. The reasons vary every time, like being locked in a cell alone or falling into a deep, unending sleep. Even if the sealed person has two or three Inheritances, the Hotel suppresses them, making it impossible for them to come out on their own. It’s okay to proceed without freeing the sealed person, but it’s usually easier if they are liberated because they have the most useful ability in the room. This is why the previous party stopped progressing on the second floor.”

“What do you mean?”

“The previous party had people who monopolized inheritances and used their powerful abilities to hinder others and hoard rewards. So only two people ended up growing significantly. But on the second floor, one of the two who grew was inevitably sealed, effectively halving their power. They escaped with luck, but couldn’t proceed further through the Cursed Rooms.”

“”…””

I realized something.

Ahri’s mother was an elite agent, a strong person, more likely to harm than to be harmed.

One of the two people who monopolized the treasures must have been Ahri’s mother.

From what I saw through the mirror in Hotel Land, she resembled Ahri and had a very pretty and gentle impression, but clearly, appearances are deceptive.

I think I understand why Ahri was “created.”

When one of the strong, including herself, was sealed, they couldn’t proceed, so they tried to create “another strong person”.

Eunsol-noona, who had been listening intently, cut in at that point.

“Stories about the second floor are fascinating, but let’s focus more on the Gate Room. Remember Ahri’s explanation? Now let’s strategize.”

***

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