Escaping the Mystery Hotel

- Han Kain

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 37

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 107 (Gate Room)

Sage’s Advice: 3

The crackling sound of the fire in the fireplace began to fill the room.

Everyone, who had been moving frantically, began to sit down and rest.

“Grandpa?”

“Doesn’t the scenario tell us anything?”

“Not yet. We followed the instructions to enter the cabin, but no further details have appeared.”

Ahri, who was leaning against me, answered.

“If you think about it like a movie, it seems like the right time hasn’t come yet.”

The right time... Does that mean something is about to start soon?

Ahri sighed as if disappointed.

“Ah~ I managed to gather five guns on the train! And four badges. But they all vanished.”

In the First Trial, the “Doppelgänger Train”, all our items except our Inheritance were duplicated.

The fakes received not only the gun but also our badge, pen, glove, etc. Ahri had collected these one by one. Unfortunately, when the First Trial ended, all the duplicated items disappeared.

“That gun was something you acquired after trading an arm and a leg. It was treated as a precious item, so it was unlikely they’d let you duplicate it so easily.”

“That’s true. Anyway, since it’s called ‘The Witch’s Forest’, I guess a witch will appear?”

“Most likely.”

Songee, who had been listening, chimed in.

“Do we have to kill the witch?”

“Well, I think we should follow my 'Scenario Comprehension' to avoid making any mistakes.”

“I’m hungry, should we find something to eat?”

With those words, Eunsol-noona stood up and headed to the kitchen.

At that moment, an alert appeared.

From now until the end of the Second Trial, the participant’s Inheritance will be sealed.

In the First Trial, our Blessings were sealed, and in the Second Trial, our Inheritances were sealed.

Will the restrictions alternate from trial to trial?

As the alert appeared, “Scenario Comprehension” began to flash again.

Now it’s starting.

Scenario: Gate Room - ‘The Witch's Forest’

While resting in the suspicious cabin, the party opened cupboards and drawers looking for something to eat.

They discovered ominous traces inside! The party sensed danger, but it was already too late.

The witch is approaching the cabin. Can the party survive the witch's threat?

Check the next part at midnight.

“…???”

What the–

“Kyaaaaa!”

A piercing scream erupted from the kitchen!

We all turned to look at the kitchen, where Eunsol-noona was trembling, still holding the cupboard open.

Grandpa Mooksung rushed over to check the surroundings.

“Damn it! Eunsol, get out of there!”

A burst of cursing immediately followed.

What the hell is it?

“What is it?”

“This cabin’s owner is a crazy cannibal. Every container is full of human corpses!”

I forced myself to stand up and look, then quickly turned my head away.

The transparent containers were filled with human eyes, and various parts of human bodies were scattered everywhere.

Just as everyone was getting chills from the revelation of the “witch”, the beasts inside the forest started howling.

-Woof! Woof!

-Awooo!

Even without the Blessing of Affinity, I could understand the meaning of these cries without it.

It’s a cry of terror!

The beasts were signaling each other to flee from the approaching monster.

In the dreadful atmosphere, everyone started moving frantically.

Jinchul-hyung was still unconscious.

We couldn’t escape the cabin.

So we had to hold our ground here.

We barricaded the doors and windows, made torches in preparation, and loaded the gun with bullets, all in a tense atmosphere.

Who could fight?

The strongest among us, Jinchul-hyung, was still incapacitated.

I could hardly move properly, and Songee and Ahri had become ordinary girls with their Inheritance sealed.

Did that mean Grandpa Mooksung had to fight the witch alone with the gun?

As I turned my head, I spotted another potential fighter.

“Songee!”

“Yes?”

“You said you could communicate with Perro, right? Tell him to transform into a monster like before!”

Upon hearing my words, Songee immediately tried to communicate with Perro.

Did he understand?

Perro flew from Songee’s shoulder to the door of the cabin.

I can’t just lie here.

Gritting my teeth, I stood up.

As soon as I stood, my limbs trembled, and a stabbing pain washed over me.

But I had no choice.

I prepared for battle, clutching a capsicum spray and a silver dagger.

-Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang!

Finally, the “witch” arrived near the cabin, and its appearance became visible through the window.

In all my life, I had never seen such a horrific creature.

True to the word “witch”, it vaguely resembled a female figure.

However…

It had at least eight limbs, with eyes protruding from all over its body like grotesque spikes.

Even crawling, its height was about 3 meters, and its mouth was filled with sharp, spike-like teeth.

The horrific monster, having spotted us through the window, grinned widely.

...I nearly vomited at the sight of that grin.

Does this monster think it’s about to feast?

-Bang! Bang!

As soon as the figure emerged, Grandpa Mooksung started shooting.

The torch illuminated the target, revealing the ineffectiveness of our attacks.

The bullets weren’t bouncing off, but they sank into its body as if they were entering jelly, leaving the witch unphased.

-Thud!

The witch attempted to tear down the door with its hands!

“Block it!”

Frantically, we moved tables and furniture to barricade the door.

“The gun isn’t working! How are we supposed to deal with this thing?”

“How should I know? If only we had the Star! With our Inheritance sealed and Jinchul still unconscious, I have no idea what to do!”

“Should we try burning it?”

“With no oil? How? Do you think holding a torch to it will burn it?”

-Kwajjik

A giant hand clawed through the wall and reached through the window!

The hand nearly grabbed Seungyub, but he “coincidentally” tripped and avoided it.

-Piyooooo!

Perro transformed grotesquely and pecked at the witch’s hand with his huge beak.

The witch, seemingly enraged, made a bizarre noise and threw Perro away after grabbing his head!

Ignoring my pain, I rushed to lift Perro’s head, which had slammed into the wall, and checked for injuries. Perro, who usually fled at my approach, didn’t move away this time.

There was really no solution.

Without the Star and with Jinchul-hyung unconscious, there’s no way for us to stop this monster.

“Die already, you bastard!”

Using a pitchfork-like object hanging in the cabin, I thrust it outside, swinging it wildly.

The witch, trying to enter, momentarily backed off.

Its horrifying eyes twitched counterclockwise as it stared at me.

As I saw those eyes, an idea came to mind.

I ran to grab Grandpa Mooksung’s gun.

Though surprised, Grandpa handed it to me, and I passed it to Seungyub.

“Use your Blessing and shoot!”

“Huh?”

“Use your Blessing and shoot, like what you did with the balloons!”

Finally understanding my plan, Seungyub went to the window.

Without even looking at the witch, he pulled the trigger.

-Bang! Bang!

What luck!

Without even looking, he miraculously shot several of the witch’s eyes.

Can any creature withstand having its eyes blown out?

-Screech!

With a scream that shook the entire cabin, the witch started retreating.

“…”

Everyone collapsed to the floor, dazed.

Time-wise, it was 20 minutes or so?

It was a brief fight, but it felt like it drained our spirits.

What an outrageous monster.

“Is it over?” Eunsol-noona muttered blankly.

Grandpa Mooksung was skeptical.

“How could it be? A monster like that will surely regenerate its eyes and come back!”

“How does the Administration handle such monsters?”

“It’s simple. They usually bring in a helicopter and shoot it with a machine gun, then fire rockets or missiles.”

“What? Helicopters?”

“Did you think we’d sprinkle holy water and pray? It’s the 21st century! Machine guns are better than holy water, and missiles are even better than machine guns. In the 21st century, the biggest enemies of monsters aren’t priests but helicopters and tanks. Although tanks can’t enter forests like this, so we’d have to use helicopters.”

“...That’s a fascinating story, but we don’t have a helicopter right now.”

“Indeed. I don’t know how they expect us to handle a monster that even the Administration needs military equipment for…”

I felt utterly drained.

Even a veteran who had spent his life hunting monsters felt helpless without military equipment like helicopters or tanks against such a monster.

How can we defeat such a monster without our Inheritance?

Ahri stood up and started talking.

“Something’s off. We’ve broken through many Cursed Rooms, but this is a first.”

“What do you mean?”

“This Hotel generally focuses on solving puzzles rather than brute force. Suddenly throwing an overwhelming monster at us and saying, ‘Beat it with strength,’ isn’t their style!”

Everyone nodded.

Right.

The Hotel wouldn’t suddenly make us fight a ridiculously strong monster without any other way out.

There must be another way.

Everyone got up and started searching the cabin for clues.

***

We re-entered the kitchen we had fled from earlier.

Foods made from human parts filled the space.

Small glass jars were filled with what looked like pickled human eyes, and hanging from the ceiling were sausages clearly made from human meat.

Among these were some truly creative dishes.

“Why the hell does this freak do this with human bodies?”

While sighing and wandering around, I felt a sense of unease for the first time.

“...”

How did the witch look when we saw it earlier?

It was a grotesque monster.

Its limbs were haphazardly twisted with multiple extensions, and its body was covered with spike-like eyes.

Even while crawling, it seemed about 3 meters tall.

How big would it be standing on two legs?

Could such a large creature enter this modest-sized cabin?

Even if it did, could it even move properly?

Furthermore, could a creature with such a twisted body make these “foods”?

I immediately called my comrades and shared my thoughts.

Ahri nodded.

“It makes sense. This cabin isn’t big enough for such a monster, and it couldn’t have made these foods with that body.”

Grandpa Mooksung added.

“Can it transform into a human form?”

I answered immediately.

“I think that’s the key. Fighting that monster isn't the answer no matter how I look at it. We have to find a way to change it into its human form to kill it.”

“That reminds me of something.”

“What is it?”

“The scenario you mentioned. Didn’t it say to check the next part at midnight? Maybe there’s some change at midnight.”

***

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