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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 256: Party Time - Sanctuary of Blessings (2)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 109

Current Location: Level 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 3]

- Han Ga-in

“Who do you think will get an enhancement this time?”

Song-i asked over breakfast on the first day of Party Time.

Unfortunately, no one could answer. To begin with, nobody knew how the hotel evaluated Contribution.

We did know the criteria for qualifying to receive an Inheritance. According to the notification shown whenever the Time to Choose began, eligibility was determined by survival in the final round and Contribution to the “final battle.”

Contribution for blessing enhancements, on the other hand, came with hardly any explanation.

“I don't know the exact criteria, but we can at least guess how much everyone has accumulated so far. The Gate Room gave us an indirect clue once, remember? Does anyone remember the order from then?”

A-ri's words reminded me. In Room 107, during the third trial, the Jekyll and Hyde Game, Hyde had parasitized us in order of Contribution. I roughly remembered the sequence.

“I remember it, but we've gone through Rooms 201 and 202 since then, so it must be pretty different now.”

There was no need to consider the Gate Room, since Contribution wasn't awarded there.

“What was the Contribution order when Level 1 ended?”

“I think it was this.”

Han Ga-in / Yoo Song-i / Park Seung-yeop / Kim A-ri / Elena / Cha Jin-cheol / Kim Mook-seong / Lee Eun-sol

Seeing my name at the top as I wrote it on the whiteboard made me feel a little good.

Someone else felt bad for the same reason.

“Ugh... I've never come in last at anything in my life...”

“U-Um, sis.”

“Since then, we've had Rooms 201 and 202, so the order must be quite different by now. There's no way to know the current order. The hotel might give us another indirect clue, though.”

A-ri studied my chart and offered a slightly different opinion.

“Instead of ranking everyone by total Contribution like this, I think we should consider when each person last enhanced their blessing. For example, Ga-in has probably earned the most Contribution overall, but he spent a huge amount getting the enhancement that lets him check Companion Information and the powerful enhancement called Scenario Understanding.”

“Right. I might not have that much Contribution left now.”

Elena offered a different opinion.

“Um... I don't think so? Of course, Ga-in probably had almost no Contribution left right after getting Scenario Understanding. But after that, he was the one who saw Room 201 through to the end. In Room 202, he and A-ri also played a part in bringing down the Management Bureau, so he must have accumulated quite a bit again...”

“Thank you. Still, even if I've accumulated a fair amount, I don't think it'll be enough for another enhancement yet.”

When I obtained Scenario Understanding, the Owl told me we might not see each other again until I escaped the hotel. That meant I still had a long way to go before my next enhancement, and there could be several reasons for that.

Just as games required more experience with every level-up, perhaps blessing enhancements worked the same way. Counting Scenario Understanding as two enhancements, I had already enhanced my blessing three times. Or perhaps the next enhancement would be quite powerful too.

I didn't think it would be this time. A-ri continued.

“As you know, Contribution accumulates. Someone who enhanced their blessing a long time ago and has performed well in recent rooms should be due for another enhancement soon.”

A-ri walked up to the whiteboard and wrote down the rooms we had cleared, the people who enhanced their blessings afterward, and the names of the abilities they gained.

Room 103: Han Ga-in (Companion Information Display), Yoo Song-i (Telepathy), Park Seung-yeop (Heavenly Fortune Control)

Room 101: Han Ga-in (Saving), Kim A-ri (Compass), Elena (Lie Detection), Cha Jin-cheol (Regeneration)

Room 102: Han Ga-in (Scenario Understanding), Kim Mook-seong (Vivid Communication), Lee Eun-sol (Greedy Hand)

Room 201: Park Seung-yeop (Saving), Elena (Clear Mirror, Still Water)

Room 202: ?

Eun-sol looked at the chart and snickered.

“Looking at this, I guess it'll be difficult for me this time. I enhanced relatively recently. It feels like forever ago, though.”

Song-i had the complete opposite reaction.

“Eun-sol, I can't even remember when I last enhanced my blessing.”

Looking at the chart, I began to get a rough idea of who was likely due for an enhancement.

First, there were three people who almost certainly wouldn't get one.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't think it was my turn yet. Maybe it would come around the latter half of Level 2?

Elena probably wouldn't get one either. She had likely accumulated a fair amount of Contribution in Room 202 after successfully escaping on her own once, but her most recent enhancement had been after Room 201. It was probably still too soon.

The doctor had only recently been resurrected, so naturally it wasn't his time yet.

There were also two people who seemed quite likely to receive an enhancement.

Seung-yeop was the strongest candidate. He had already been due for an enhancement in Room 201 but delayed it for a stronger one, so he had accumulated a great deal of Contribution. In Room 202, he found Riringanor, the Sea God’s hidden card, killed Director Park so Elena could escape, and contributed in many different ways.

Jin-cheol seemed likely as well. He had enhanced his blessing after Room 101, and a considerable amount of time had passed through Rooms 102 and 201. In Room 202, Jin-cheol received a Conductor Rudah transplant and took on the role of directly confronting the Management Bureau. It was a role only he could have fulfilled among us, and his performance had been remarkable.

The remaining four were harder to judge.

Song-i and A-ri had both enhanced their blessings quite a while ago, but it was unclear whether either had played a decisive role in Room 202. If I had to choose, A-ri had likely contributed more by greatly helping with the plan to bring down the Management Bureau.

Eun-sol and Grandpa Mook-seong had enhanced their blessings relatively recently and didn't seem to have made an overwhelming contribution in Room 202. Eun-sol did receive the Inheritance, but that was because everyone else stepped aside, not because her Contribution was overwhelmingly greater.

Once we had organized it to that extent, we headed for the Sanctuary of Blessings.

* * *

Park Seung-yeop, Cha Jin-cheol, and Kim A-ri can enhance their blessings. Would you like to proceed? (Yes/No)

The names weren't far from what we expected.

Seung-yeop and Jin-cheol, whom we thought were due for enhancements, were included. Of the people we considered uncertain, only A-ri's turn had come. I guessed the uncertain people who didn't get their turn this time would probably receive one after the next room.

“Oh! It's my turn this time. Is it because we couldn't have opened the ‘door’ and shaken up the Management Bureau without me?”

Jin-cheol nodded at A-ri's delighted voice.

“You and I did play the biggest roles in shaking up the Management Bureau.”

“When will it be my turn?”

“Don't worry too much. Your turn will come soon. Maybe after the next room?”

Elena, Grandpa Mook-seong, and Eun-sol, who had enhanced their blessings relatively recently, showed little reaction. They probably hadn't expected anything in the first place.

In the end, only Song-i, whose last enhancement had been a long time ago, was visibly disappointed as the light of the Sanctuary of Blessings descended.

* * *

- Cha Jin-cheol

The scenery had changed from before.

Hadn't there once been countless swords and spears stuck in a vast field? Now lava boiled up from every direction. Huge iron plates floated on the sea of lava, and I was barely standing on one of them.

“Ah... Sponsor, why are you in such a terrifying place?”

--- Rumble!

A giant with armor for skin and shields for eyes rose from the boiling sea of lava. At some point, I realized I was standing on the steel giant's hand.

“Your recent performance was among the finest.”

“By recent, do you mean Room 202?”

“Life is struggle. The life of a mortal is like a flame that burns for only an instant... With that flame, burn everything to ash.”

“The more I look at it, the more I think this is just how you talk. No matter what I say, you only say what you want to say. Come to think of it, you were like this before too...”

“Burn. Do not fear your own burning. The fighting spirit that charged without hesitation toward an overwhelmingly powerful force, even knowing death awaited, certainly had value. Of course, you died as a result, so you could not obtain the Inheritance. Some Sponsors may tell you to run away like cowards, survive until the end, and obtain the Inheritance.”

“...”

“I will never say such a thing. An Inheritance is only a result that follows struggle. What value could a treasure gained by avoiding struggle possibly have?”

“Thank you for putting it that way.”

“But there is one thing that concerns me.”

“Pardon?”

“The impurity that has seeped into you. Do you not feel it as well?”

...I hadn't mentioned it because I didn't want my companions to worry, but ever since leaving the Gate Room, I had developed a strange affliction. A vision of an unknown girl, or perhaps a woman, whom no one could see, not even Eun-sol with her transcendent eyes, had begun appearing before me.

“They say she's the witch from the Gate Room. So far, she hasn't said a single word.”

“An unnecessary impurity. One day, it will become an obstacle to you. But if you overcome it, it may become a foothold for growth. Well, in the end, that is something you must resolve yourself. More importantly, I wish to tell you that your time has come.”

“My time?”

“The ‘powerful enhancement’ your companions have begun receiving one by one. Your time has come as well.”

A powerful enhancement. My heart began pounding wildly.

“When you say powerful... what exactly do you mean?”

The giant seemed to choose his words for a moment.

“You... will be able to see time divided into fleeting instants.”

With those words, my consciousness began to fade.

...No, I heard Ga-in and Seung-yeop were given a choice between saving their Contribution for a powerful enhancement or getting a mediocre enhancement right away. Why don't I get a choice like that?

* * *

- Park Seung-yeop

I woke in a beautiful place.

It was a mysterious place where a galaxy truly flowed like a river.

My Sponsor, whom I had met several times before, seemed completely out of his mind, so this time too, he was probably going to say something absurd...

“Could you please show me a bare minimum of respect?”

“...Pardon?”

“What do you mean, pardon? You just thought I was insane.”

“You can read my thoughts?”

He's a strange guy who says ridiculous things despite being terrible at League of Legends...

“Stop, stop! Just come over here.”

I followed the boy to where a strange orb rested.

“Um, I can enhance my blessing this time, right? I worked pretty hard in Room 202!”

“Just barely. Honestly, it was a close call. You could say I made up the difference.”

“What? Even if a participant hasn't accumulated enough Contribution, a Sponsor can make up for it?”

“A Sponsor can intervene if they're willing to accept considerable losses, even if it isn't specifically through Contribution. The one investing the most among us right now is the Owl.”

“Ga-in's Sponsor?”

“Perhaps he saw some kind of potential in the participant he sponsors. The potential to reach the end of the hotel...”

“Oh! Then did you see some potential in me too, Sponsor? Is that why you accepted losses and...”

“I thought you'd die alone in the streets if I didn't help you even a little.”

“...”

That was a ruthless insult.

The boy arrived before the crystal and quietly ran his hand over the orb. Each touch made countless bubbles rise and burst all around us.

“Have you ever thought about the essence of Luck?”

“What? The essence of Luck?”

“Have you ever considered this? There is no luck in the true sense of the word. Events we consider accidental are only the result of our ignorance of their causes and effects.”

“...”

“My mistake for asking you.”

I didn't understand what he meant, of course, but being called out for it still annoyed me.

“Let me put it this way. Suppose you were walking down a street and got struck by lightning, dying on the spot. Many people would probably think you were unlucky. But even from a transcendent being's perspective, would that really be an ‘accidental event’?”

“...”

“Long before the lightning struck, it would have already been determined that lightning would strike that place at that time. Lightning is a weather phenomenon with a definite cause. And the fact that you would pass through there at that moment would have been determined long ago as well.”

I felt like I vaguely understood what he was trying to say.

“So from a transcendent being's perspective, perhaps there is no luck in the world. Every occurrence has been determined since the moment of creation. Aren't humans simply unable to read those causes and effects, so they dismiss them as ‘luck’?”

“Um... I've heard something before. I don't know much about it, but apparently there are things like the uncertainty principle and quantum mechanics in the world...”

“Oh! Wow! Aaaah!”

“Excuse me?”

“Since meeting you, I've never been as surprised as I am now. Did those words really come out of your mouth?”

“...”

“I'm joking. Of course I know those theories too. We didn't come here to debate the principles of the universe, did we?”

“Right.”

“The reason I'm suddenly talking about ‘inevitability’ is that understanding this part is essential if you want to understand the ability you're about to receive.”

I suddenly felt a slight sense of discomfort.

Through my experiences so far, I knew one characteristic of my abilities well. Detailed, theoretical explanations like this from my Sponsor tended to be a hindrance to me instead.

“That's a good realization. You've learned it well.”

“...”

“Don't worry. I know that problem well too. This enhancement can ease even that problem to some extent.”

Footnotes:

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