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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 182: A Prayer for Mi-ro (1)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 92

Current Location: Level 2, Frozen Hell - Resurrection Room

Sage’s Advice: 3]

Mi-ro suddenly appeared before us, trapped in ice. A-ri collapsed with a vacant look on her face, while everyone else stood there with their mouths hanging open, at a loss for what to do.

Then a voice rang out from the sky.

“Participants, welcome to Frozen Hell!”

Welcome? In an atmosphere like this? The absurdity of such a useless greeting made me look up. It was the unidentified drone we'd seen once in the Gate Room.

“What are you?”

“Participant Han Ga-in, I have been assigned the role of guiding you through Frozen Hell. Please call me the Guide.”

At the Guide's appearance, my companions finally came to their senses and gradually gathered around. Song-i helped A-ri over as well.

“Here... What are we supposed to do here? Why did you bring us to such a horrible place-”

The mechanical voice immediately cut Jin-cheol off.

“Participants, please take out your Ticket.”

Eun-sol pulled out the Ticket with a dazed expression.

“You may use the Ticket to resurrect one person who has fallen into Hell. Would you like to use it?”

Everyone was speechless. We all roughly knew about A-ri's mother, Mi-ro. Wasn't she an insanely powerful being who wasn't in her right mind?

There was no guarantee we could control Mi-ro if we resurrected her right away. Even A-ri, her daughter, acknowledged that, and we'd agreed it would be better not to resurrect Mi-ro carelessly until we found a way to restore her mind.

Still, could A-ri give the same answer while standing before Mi-ro, trapped in ice and suffering endlessly? Could we persuade A-ri once again to leave her suffering mother behind and save someone else?

There were eight mouths here, but not a single person had anything to say. An icy silence filled the air.

...

Eun-sol was the first to break it.

“Can I ask a question about resurrection? I've always wondered about this.”

“Please ask.”

“As far as I know, Mi-ro had several Inheritances while she was alive.”

“Former participant Mi-ro possessed three Inheritances immediately before her death.”

“Really? If she's resurrected, does she come back with all three of them?”

“If a former participant is resurrected, they may choose and recover only one Inheritance they obtained while alive. However, the same Inheritance cannot be obtained by two people. Therefore, if former participant Mi-ro is resurrected, she may choose and recover one of the other two Inheritances she possessed in life, excluding Old Blood.”

If a former participant who had obtained multiple Inheritances was resurrected, they could recover only one of them. And since the same Inheritance couldn't be given to two people, Mi-ro couldn't recover Old Blood.

Eun-sol immediately asked another question.

“What about Blessings? I'm not sure, but Mi-ro's Blessing was...”

She trailed off and glanced at Elena.

“Since participant Elena Ivanova has already received the Blessing of Justice, former participant Mi-ro cannot recover the Blessing of Justice. However, it is a principle of the Hotel that every participant must be granted a Blessing, so a new Blessing will be assigned.”

It was simple when summarized. If Mi-ro was resurrected, she would have one Inheritance, and her Blessing would be newly assigned. Since it would be new, it probably wouldn't have grown at all yet.

That thought gave me an idea.

With Mi-ro's power reduced that much, wouldn't our party be able to handle her? Jin-cheol must have had the same thought, because he spoke right away.

“Ahem. Things have suddenly become urgent, but I think this situation is a little different from when we discussed it before. Didn't we put Mi-ro's resurrection lower on the list because she was too powerful? And wasn't the heart of that power her multiple Inheritances?”

Song-i, who was supporting A-ri, answered as if in agreement.

“That's right! But according to what the Guide said, she'll only have one Inheritance anyway. Her Blessing will be reset too. Then Mi-ro won't be strong enough to overwhelm all of us by herself...”

Eun-sol's sharp voice cut through the air.

“Wait. Wait. This isn't something we can decide impulsively. Mi-ro's strength isn't limited to her Inheritances. Have you all forgotten that she was a superhuman with psychic powers even before she came to the Hotel? Grandpa?”

At Eun-sol's pressing question, Grandpa lowered his head and answered.

“... That's right. Mi-ro was already a superhuman before entering the Hotel. She had several abilities I couldn't understand.”

“See? Just because the number of her Inheritances has decreased doesn't mean we should underestimate the danger. And the real problem isn't even how strong she is. Guide!”

“Participant Lee Eun-sol, please ask.”

“I heard Mi-ro wasn't in her right mind while she was alive. Will her mind be restored after resurrection?”

“A former participant is resurrected with the mental state they had immediately before death intact.”

“So her mind won't be restored?”

“That is correct.”

Eun-sol sharply turned her head, and everyone fell silent again.

Eun-sol's argument that Mi-ro was still extremely dangerous was convincing. If she were simply someone with a difficult personality but sound reason, we could at least cooperate toward the shared goal of escaping the Hotel. But could we cooperate with someone who had been mentally unstable from the start?

What if, in the middle of a Curse Room, Mi-ro suddenly started rampaging with the mind of a child and attacked an ally? Who could possibly handle that? A-ri? What if A-ri had already died during the Curse Room? There was no answer. The more I thought about it, the less of an answer there was. It made sense that even A-ri, her daughter, had said she wouldn't consider resurrecting Mi-ro until we found a way to restore her mind.

...

As my thoughts grew more tangled, voices around me gradually began to rise. Someone said Eun-sol was being too harsh, and Eun-sol replied that she was disappointed they were saying such impulsive things. After watching Grandpa step in to stop them, I turned away.

It was confusing. And painful.

If my parents had been the ones trapped in that ice and suffering endlessly, what would I have done? Wouldn't I have used Descent immediately and knocked everyone down if that was what it took to free my mother from her pain?

Thinking about that, I realized A-ri's mental fortitude was remarkable too, considering she was still standing there blankly.

... Come to think of it, I had an ability that could help in complicated situations like this.

[Sage’s Advice: 3 -> 2]

‘Is there a wise way to resolve this situation?’

[Have a cup of coffee and relax. The answer is in your head.]

“Ah, you bird bastard! You're calling this an answer again? Are you seriously messing with me?”

“Did you use Sage’s Advice?”

A-ri, who hadn't said a word until then, spoke to me for the first time.

“... Yeah. It said to have a cup of coffee and relax. That the answer is in my head.”

“Really?”

Without another word, A-ri took out some coffee from her backpack and held it out to me.

“...”

“Have some.”

“Thanks.”

Hellish cold that brought the polar regions to mind, a song of suffering echoing throughout the entire world.

Right in the middle of it, my companions had started their most hopeless argument since entering the Hotel, while I began calming myself down with a cup of coffee amid all this chaos.

What kind of situation was this?

...

‘The answer is in your head.’

I searched through my memories. What had Kim Sang-hyeon, the Doctor who first told us about the existence of the Resurrection Room, said?

‘Someday... if you gain an opportunity in the Resurrection Room, or if you meet the Buddha.’

As a way to save himself, the Doctor had mentioned the Buddha as well as the Resurrection Room.

‘My Sponsor told me that the issue concerning the cold isn't something I should get involved in.’

‘I was told that I didn't need to push myself.’

Elena and Seung-yeop had received advice from their Sponsors that the matter concerning the cold wasn't something they should handle. The pieces of information scattered through my head slowly came together.

What did all of this mean?

There was another way besides resurrection to save NPCs who had failed in the Hotel!

And there was something we had to do in this space. Something Elena and Seung-yeop weren't suited to do, something I had to do alongside people with experience. The Sponsors wouldn't have told them it wasn't something they should get involved in or that they didn't need to push themselves over something as simple as taking out a Ticket and resurrecting someone.

“Wait! Everyone, calm down and be quiet for a second. Guide!”

My voice rang out loudly enough to stop my companions' argument. The drone floating in the air turned toward me.

“Participant Han Ga-in, please ask.”

“What can we do here besides resurrect someone with the Ticket?”

The Guide gave no answer.

“Why aren't you answering? What can we do? Is there another way to stop those people's suffering?”

Grandpa was the first to react.

“Come to think of it, this is strange. Before we came here, wasn't it obvious they were going to make us do something big? Some were told not to get involved, while others were told to work with experienced people. So why are they suddenly only talking about the Ticket now that we're here?”

Eun-sol came over too.

“Why does this thing keep refusing to say anything? Hey! Guide? Are you hiding something?”

Then A-ri finally spoke to everyone.

“It seems its whole concept is that it doesn't lie.”

“What concept?”

“It doesn't lie. But it doesn't tell us the truth either. Maybe it's that kind of drone? It looks like we have to find some kind of keyword ourselves and say it...”

The moment she said keyword, one word came to mind.

“If it's a keyword, then maybe Buddha? Guide. Do we have to make a wish to the Buddha or something?”

“Maybe not? Guide. Do we need to break the ice?”

“Stop trying to solve everything by breaking something. Guide. Can we buy Mi-ro?”

“... Eun-sol. That was worse than breaking the ice... What exactly are you trying to buy?”

“Can't we shove someone else into Hell in her place? Like the Merchant?”

“Why do you hate the Merchant so much, Grandpa?”

In the middle of that confused stream of nonsense, Seung-yeop said something.

“Guide, do we all need to pray together?”

--- Buzz!

“Participants. Would you like to offer a Prayer for Rest to the Buddha for former participant Mi-ro?”

Footnotes:

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