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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 125: Room 107, Gate Room - Fourth Trial (16)

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Episode 125: Room 107, Gate Room - ‘The Secret of the Esper’ (16)

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 45

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

Sage’s Advice: 1]

- Han Ga-in

As I listened in on the strange conversation while doing my best to pretend to be asleep, Pero transformed into its grotesque form and appeared among us.

The faces, which had gone quiet as the dead for a moment, began speaking ominously again.

“What the hell is that? Is there even a creature like that?”

“Demons exist in this world. A monster bird isn't anything to be surprised about.”

“You make it sound so easy. Have you forgotten that we need to offer one of them today?”

“... Why isn't that bird asleep? Does the Music Box not work on animals?”

“That can't be. It's worked on dogs and cats without exception until now.”

“Maybe it's different because it isn't an ordinary animal. Can't we just kill it?”

“Lady Amiens, fighting it might wake these people. And judging by the fact that they control a monster like that, they don't seem to be ordinary people. Let's avoid making a scene. We'll wait for an opportunity and subdue that monster. Conveniently, don't we have a suitable ‘Birdcage’?”

“Then today...”

“Let's use a ‘reserve’ today. Wasn't it difficult to decide whom to offer anyway?”

“That's true. They were all needlessly guarded. We only managed to learn their names. We need to find out a little more anyway.”

Since my eyes were only open a sliver, it was difficult to identify the speakers exactly.

Based on their voices, there seemed to be two older men, one high-pitched woman called Amiens, and one young man who had suggested using the reserve.

After the remark about needing to learn more, the ominous presences in the room vanished.

Still, just in case, I didn't move until morning.

Until I was on the verge of truly falling asleep, I analyzed the conversation I'd heard.

* * *

When I came to, my companions were already awake and having a simple breakfast.

Grandpa waved when he saw me wake up.

“Hey! You're finally up? Come have some bread.”

“Ga-in, you're awake? You must've been tired yesterday. You didn't wake up even when we shook you this morning.”

... Why was everyone in such a cheerful mood?

If we'd all passed out while waiting for the scenario to appear, shouldn't we have felt something was wrong the moment we woke up?

Yet everyone sat there with relaxed expressions, without the slightest suspicion.

I immediately went over and pointed it out.

As I began explaining what had happened the night before, everyone's eyes widened. They stopped eating and listened closely.

Once I'd relayed the conversation between the ‘faces’ as best as I could remember it, Grandpa gave his opinion.

“I didn't notice at all until you pointed it out. You're right. We all suddenly passed out while waiting for your scenario to appear at midnight. We should've been suspicious the moment we woke up.”

A-ri seemed to have instinctively grasped the cause.

“You said we all fell asleep when we heard the Music Box, right? It must have some kind of hypnotic effect too. Maybe it hypnotized us into thinking, ‘Nothing happened yesterday. You can rest easy.’”

“Ga-in, did you check the scenario?”

“I couldn't last night. I had to pretend to sleep all night, so I couldn't open my eyes at all. I should check it now.”

/Scenario: Gate Room - ‘The Secret of the Esper’

The hotel party fell asleep at midnight due to the Music Box's power and found themselves in danger.

Fortunately, thanks to the Grotesque Parrot's efforts, they safely survived the first night of the contract.

However, the threat hunting the party is closing in with every passing moment.

Will the hotel party be able to overcome tonight's crisis as well?

Please check the following at midnight./

The first two lines explained events that had already happened, but the phrase ‘first night of the contract’ stood out.

What did the ‘contract’ mean? It also included a warning about tonight's crisis. It clearly meant that a danger like last night's would come again tonight.

It struck me all over again how convenient Scenario Understanding was. Without it, I had no idea how we'd managed to clear Curse Rooms until now.

We began a meeting. Naturally, the topic was the suspicious conversation I'd heard the previous night and the scenario I had just checked.

A-ri was the first to give her opinion.

“There were two important points in the conversation you overheard last night. First, ‘We need to offer one of them today.’ Since they said they needed to offer someone, they were probably planning some kind of evil ritual involving one of us. Second, ‘Let's use a reserve.’ Pero got in the way when they were about to perform that ritual, and they suggested offering a reserve instead. That means they must be holding another victim captive somewhere on the ship, right?”

Grandpa Mook-seong gave his opinion as well.

“The later part is interesting. ‘It was hard to decide whom to offer. We only managed to learn their names.’ From the nuance, doesn't it sound like the ritual they plan to perform requires quite a bit of our personal information? Now that I think about it, those bastards were desperate to get information about us at last night's Dinner Party too.”

I spoke up as well.

“Let's combine the information we've obtained with what the scenario told us. The enemies are planning some kind of evil ritual, and it seems they need to offer us as sacrifices. They also seem to need our personal information for that ritual. That ritual is probably the ‘contract’ the scenario mentioned. It looks like they'll come for us again tonight.”

Elena raised a question.

“Something bothers me. Why are they waiting until night? Many of the crew have guns. Why don't they just threaten us by force? Of course, if they point guns at us, I can punish them with Justice, but they wouldn't know that.”

“Maybe they have restrictions too. Just like they need our personal information for the ritual. For example, perhaps they can't do anything strange during the day?”

Grandpa Mook-seong agreed.

“That makes sense. If they could act during the day, they would've played the Music Box again and dragged us away already. Maybe they leave us alone because they can't do that during the day. The scenario also keeps emphasizing midnight.”

Song-i, who had been quietly listening, spoke.

“I keep thinking about the last part of their conversation. They said they'd wait for an opportunity to subdue Pero because it was getting in the way, and that they had a ‘suitable Birdcage,’ remember?”

“They sounded pretty confident even after seeing Pero transform into its grotesque form. It probably isn't an ordinary Birdcage. Maybe it's the kind that even a monster can't escape once it's trapped inside.”

Silence settled over the table.

A-ri spoke again.

“That's a good thought, but let's deal with what's urgent first.”

“What's urgent?”

“The Music Boxes. If they work again, everyone except you, with your Filter, will fall asleep, right? You said they rang out from all over this room. We found one yesterday, but there must be more. Let's find them all and destroy them.”

Everyone nodded and stood up. Plans were plans, but the Music Boxes were the greatest immediate threat, so we needed to find and destroy every last one.

We searched the entire room all morning.

Music Boxes kept turning up beneath the bed, under chairs, behind the table, inside the clock, and everywhere else.

When we placed them all on the table, there was barely enough space left. Seeing so many made me uneasy.

“Are we sure we found them all? I have a feeling there are more hidden somewhere.”

Grandpa Mook-seong seemed to consider something, then looked at A-ri.

A-ri nodded.

“There is a way to find them.”

“What is it?”

“Um... I actually have an ability called Compass.”

???

What was she talking about now?

While Song-i, Elena, and I stood there with our mouths half open, A-ri continued.

“It's an ability I received when I enhanced my blessing. It helps me find objects I want to find. It has quite a few restrictions, though. Strong supernatural power from an enemy can block it, and I need to know what the object looks like and its characteristics. I can't use it on people. But I can find things like these Music Boxes.”

Song-i, who had been listening blankly, finally spoke.

“Why are you only telling us about such a useful ability now?!”

I smiled awkwardly and pulled Song-i back by the hand.

“If she got it through an enhancement, she can't have had it for long. Things have been complicated for everyone until now. Let's just be glad she told us now.”

After making a small apologetic gesture, A-ri began waving her hand through the air.

A little later, we found three more Music Boxes.

“Is that all of them?”

“Probably.”

“That's a relief either way. If we hadn't found these, we'd have fallen asleep again tonight.”

“Yeah... So, Song-i, please take this thing away.”

“Pero must like you. What am I supposed to do about that?”

It wasn't the time to argue in the middle of a trial, and I'd come to understand A-ri's guarded nature fairly well after we'd once opened our hearts and talked.

So I decided to let it go. Song-i seemed slightly annoyed with A-ri, though, and made Pero do ‘something.’

Morning came to an end as we watched Song-i's faithful underling, Pero, try more than ten times to chew off A-ri's ear.

* * *

Around the time we opened the window and threw the Music Boxes into the sea, a bell rang outside the door.

--- Ding!

Tension filled the room. After we all looked at one another, Grandpa Mook-seong opened the door.

“Who is it?”

Two people who appeared to be crew members stood outside.

“Good day. Did you have a pleasant time last night?”

“Sleep was more troubled than expected. Did you have something to say?”

“We received complaints last night from guests staying in nearby rooms.”

“Complaints?”

“It seems you're keeping a bird in this room. We were told the bird made far too much noise.”

A chill ran through me. I remembered the conversation I'd overheard the night before, and their talk of subduing the bird.

“Our bird doesn't make noise. You must be mistaken.”

“No. This is definitely the room.”

“That's an unpleasant accusation. Do you have evidence? If not, I won't listen any further.”

--- Thud!

Grandpa Mook-seong ignored the crew member and tried to close the door, but the crew member wedged a knee into the gap to stop it.

The crew member casually placed a hand at their waist. The revolver hanging at their side gleamed threateningly.

“What is that supposed to be? Are you threatening us?”

“Ha ha ha! Sir, what do you mean, threatening you? We simply have a duty to maintain order aboard this ship. Please cooperate.”

It wasn't as if we had no guns, but they had more armed people.

In the end, Grandpa Mook-seong had no choice but to step back.

The other crew member held a rusty Birdcage.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary Birdcage, but the moment I saw it, I knew.

That had to be the ‘suitable Birdcage’ mentioned in last night's conversation.

Tension spread through the whole room.

The crew member threatening us with a revolver suddenly burst out laughing.

“You don't need to be so tense. We'll take excellent care of the parrot. We'll provide plenty of high-quality nuts every day, so there's nothing to worry about.”

The crew member holding the Birdcage approached with a perfectly calm expression. What were we supposed to do?

Just as everyone's gaze turned toward Pero, Song-i naturally petted Pero and conveyed some intent to it.

--- Flap!

Pero suddenly took flight!

Before either we or the crew members could react, Pero flew toward the open window in an instant.

The crew member with the gun immediately drew it, but Grandpa Mook-seong, standing beside them, instantly knocked the barrel aside.

--- Bang!

“What the-!”

“That's what I should be saying! You son of a bitch! You were going to shoot just because a bird flew away?”

As if he'd decided to go all the way, Grandpa started beating the crew member.

From the outside, it only looked like a bird had flown off on its own, and the crew member had suddenly fired a gun.

Perhaps because we were clearly in the right, the crew member backed off after taking several hits and getting a bloody nose.

Having regained their senses, the crew member bowed their head.

“I-I'm sorry. The bird suddenly flew up, and I panicked. This was clearly my fault.”

The other crew member repeatedly apologized as well, and the two of them left the room.

Only then did we turn toward Song-i with our mouths hanging open.

Footnotes:

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