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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 48: Room 104, The Cursed Room - ‘Hotel High, the Prestigious Entrance Exam School’ (8) - Ga-in (Final)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 19

Current Location: Level 1, Room 104 (Curse Room - Hotel High, the Prestigious Academy)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

“Long ago, Buddha said that life itself was suffering. Though he was no more than an unsaved human, he possessed insight into the world. This world is suffering itself. Why does evil fill heaven and earth? Why is life a cycle of hardship?”

I hadn’t expected this kind of atmosphere.

“That is because this world was shaped by the hand of the False One. Everyone, the Lord is coming. The Lord comes to save you. The Lord’s daughter will guide you to paradise.”

I had expected an occult atmosphere steeped in the madness of human sacrifice.

“Let go. Lighten your bodies and hearts. Do those bound for paradise need to cling to this and that? Money? Property? What meaning do they have? Let us cast it all aside. Your bodies? Those should be the first things you let go of. Immortal bodies await you in paradise, so why hold on to them?”

It was such an ordinary cult sermon that I was all the more surprised.

Why the hell was I listening to some cult pastor preach for over an hour?

It had started that morning.

* * *

After waking up and discussing a rough plan with A-ri, I headed straight for the Old School Building. I had prepared at least ten excuses in case teachers or anyone else stopped me along the way, but absurdly enough, I ran into several people on the way there and nobody stopped me.

Come to think of it, this school had been established to send students and staff to the Old School Building without drawing attention. Why would they stop fish from swimming into the net on their own?

The Old School Building’s atmosphere was different from what I had heard through the Chat Window. There was no strange radiance or mysterious singing. Once I stepped inside, someone appeared to guide the believers. The guide was an ordinary human.

It seemed my hypothesis from yesterday was proving correct. Still, anything could happen in a place like this. I altered the Status Window into filter mode and spread it across my entire field of vision. My sight felt slightly blurred, but it was manageable. I did my best to imitate the lingering effects of the angel’s brainwashing and followed with a suitably respectful air.

Then I reached the basement.

It was enormous.

Could you believe that beneath the Old School Building was a space that looked larger than the entire building above? It felt like looking at photos of icebergs floating in the ocean. The massive chunk of ice above the water looked huge, yet it was only a tiny fraction, not even five percent of the whole thing.

That was exactly what this Old School Building was like. Beneath it lay a space like a small village, where hundreds of people lived. As I passed through, I looked around. There were familiar faces here and there. Song-i’s report had been right. Most of the people here were probably the “originals” of the school’s students and staff.

Then I studied their expressions and felt a chill.

Gentle, warm faces, with the corners of their mouths slightly raised in comforting smiles. At a glance, they were expressions that could put even an observer at ease.

If not for the fact that hundreds of people all wore the exact same expression.

Feeling sickened, I lowered my head and copied that smile as best I could.

After walking for around thirty minutes, a “chapel” appeared. That was where I began listening to the endless sermon.

* * *

“Angel.”

The first time I saw her, I was overwhelmed without even being able to think.

An otherworldly charisma that made people worship her just by looking at her, unless their vision was covered by the Status Window. A sacred appearance so beautiful it could not even be described with the word beauty. Singing that echoed from the heavens. With a gesture, she summoned a Heavenly Wave, and with a prayer, she raised dozens of dead people back to life.

How could anyone not worship such a being?

As time passed, my “Cold Heart” awakened. Maybe it was an effect of the Blessing of Wisdom that A-ri had mentioned from time to time.

Two pieces of evidence came to mind.

The “angel” cared more about the outside world’s opinion than expected. Rather than kidnapping people at random, the angel created a pretext in the form of an entrance exam school, and when someone died, called the police to clean up afterward. Would a truly omnipotent being have any reason to care what “insignificant humans” thought?

Elena’s Blessing of Justice had worked on the “angel.” According to the Sanctuary of Blessings’ explanation of “Justice” and our own deductions, it was clearly a blessing that could only affect someone within the bounds of humanity.

Could the “angel” simply be a human who had gained special powers?

Could a human really wield such transcendent power without limits?

Even if there were limits, I had no idea what kind. Like Seung-yeop, it could be a cooldown. Like Song-i, it could place a burden on the body. Like Elena, it might require extremely demanding conditions.

I would find out what those limits were.

And perhaps...

* * *

Even after the sermon ended and everyone came outside to circle some strange sculpture, neither the angel nor, as they called her, the “Daughter of Heaven” appeared.

In an ordinary religion, someone in a position equivalent to the cult leader would not come out every time a newcomer arrived. This religion was different.

It had been confirmed that whenever new people arrived, the Daughter of Heaven personally welcomed them, crushed them with overwhelming charisma, and brought them in.

Yet she still had not appeared.

The effects of yesterday’s fight had to be lingering.

There was another odd point.

If you thought about it a little, there were elements that would be far too easy to exploit.

They did not conduct body searches when people entered from outside, so it was easy to bring in weapons or sharp objects. Thinking about it, that was only natural. Normally, they brought in the school’s students or staff. What weapons or sharp objects would they have? On top of that, the Daughter of Heaven would subdue their minds as she brought them in, so the cult’s vigilance would naturally be lowered.

This was a place that could be dealt with more easily than expected if I somehow entered with a weapon. As I proceeded, I carefully considered what I should do the next time I came here.

* * *

What time was it?

It was hard to tell underground in the Old School Building. It was not especially dark just because it was underground. They had practically established their own kingdom down here, so the lighting was bright and ventilation was good, but there were no clocks.

According to the plan we had made that morning, evening would be when A-ri started moving in earnest. Before then, I needed to draw aggro here so that the Daughter of Heaven and the cult’s strike team could not move freely.

First, though, it would be nice if I could actually meet the Daughter of Heaven...

I decided to ask the preacher directly, the one with the title of “Elder.”

“Elder.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for today’s teachings. It gave me time to reflect on the Lord’s will. Still, being as dim-witted as I am, I wish to receive further instruction from the Daughter of Heaven, who personally instructed me yesterday. Would it be possible to meet her?”

...

It was quiet.

...

There was no answer. The moment I raised my head in confusion, I saw it.

The Elder’s eyes stretched open to a nauseating degree as they spun!

If I had not kept the Status Window in filter mode, something might have happened to me just now.

“Hmmm. You clearly need more education. I understand. Sometimes there are children too stained by the secular world to receive the teachings quickly. But that isn’t a bad thing. Great vessels fill slowly. I believe that children who learn slowly grow the most. Follow me.”

Had that worked out?

I had made some kind of mistake just now. The Elder had realized that my brainwashing was incomplete! Still, the Elder did not seem to have realized that A-ri had taken some sort of measure to remove it completely.

“A child who learns slowly.” In other words, the Elder thought I was brainwashed, just imperfectly?

As long as I could get close to the Daughter of Heaven, I did not care.

* * *

The place where the Daughter of Heaven stayed was not especially grand or strange. It looked much like the other “homes” in this underground settlement where the cultists lived. I probably could not have found it alone without the Elder’s help. I memorized the location in preparation for returning later.

Surely they would not change locations, right?

---Knock. Knock.

“Lady Aurelia. Your faithful servant, Park Su-hyeok, is here.”

“Didn’t I say I was tired and would rest today?”

“My apologies. However, the student whom you personally instructed yesterday seems to be accepting the teachings slowly... I, being inadequate, attempted to finish the matter myself, but it was not easy.”

“... Then let him enter.”

Was it really this easy?

I had been racking my brain over plans B, C, D, E, and F in case I failed, but Plan A was this easy? The most important being in the cult, weakened as she was, was allowing someone to approach this easily?

They had absolute faith in their ability to subdue minds. So much that they did not even suspect anyone would resist.

I could use that faith next time...

No.

This time.

Would an opportunity like this come again so easily? Maybe I had reached this point through a streak of luck I was not even aware of. I decided to take my chance.

A-ri would escape safely anyway, right?

* * *

“Come in.”

The inside of the house was neat. Other than the bare necessities for living, there was not even a television. I needed to be as respectful as possible. Like a servant attending the daughter of a great god.

Remembering the attitude the Elder had shown the Daughter of Heaven earlier, I entered bowing as low as I could.

What did the Daughter of Heaven look like again?

Absurdly, I could not remember. I had definitely seen her only yesterday. The moment I saw her, I thought she possessed beauty not of this world, and that she truly looked like an angel!

Yet when I tried to recall her specific features, only a vague image came to mind.

Had that otherworldly beauty been created by some magical power after all?

The Daughter of Heaven sat on the sofa.

“You. Little lamb. Open your heart and raise your head.”

I slowly raised my head.

For the first time, I examined the Daughter of Heaven’s true form without the halo around her.

She was pretty even without it. Around her mid-twenties, perhaps? Black hair, brown eyes. She had a slightly Western look to her. The sort of beauty that would draw everyone’s attention wherever she went.

But she definitely did not feel like an angel.

This woman definitely could not use an angel’s power right now.

“Your heart has many walls. You do not accept the Lord’s teachings with your soul, and the wicked thoughts of the secular world remain within you, so you learn slowly. But the Elder was not wrong. A vessel that fills slowly is a wide vessel. Come here and sit comfortably.”

It struck me again.

In a way, even though I was the student who caused that incident yesterday, once they believed I had become one of their believers, they showed boundless generosity.

Thinking about what I was about to do made me feel a little guilty.

When I sat in front of her, the Daughter of Heaven leaned closer and met my eyes with hers.

Then...

I no longer felt any need to hold back.

---Stab!

“Ghk! Hah! What the hell are you doing?!”

“If I kill you, will this room’s curse be resolved too?”

“What the... What bullshit are you... Dea-ugh!”

“Sorry for covering your mouth. Let’s finish this quickly. I never thought I’d end up doing something like this in my life either.”

She was truly helpless.

Before me was neither an angel nor the Daughter of Heaven. There was only a woman, stripped of all her radiance, pierced by a knife as her body slowly turned cold.

I had done it.

Relief washed over me. It had not been long since we parted, but I already missed my hotel companions!

I waited for the hotel to display a notice saying the room had been resolved.

The window opened.

A Heavenly Wave crashed down.

* * *

...

...

...

My soul drifted through an endless space. I became countless stones scattered throughout the universe.

...........

Endless time. Endless distance. I passed beyond a horizon where even the standards for measuring time had collapsed.

..........

.....

..

I raced endlessly through space.

Earth? The sun? Countless stars passed by.

...

Infinite space. Infinite time.

...

I reached a plain where everything stood still. I knew what I had to do.

...

I walked and walked. Until I could atone for even one thousandth of the sin I had committed against the Daughter of Heaven.

Christ fasted in the wilderness for forty days, then faced Satan and overcame temptation.

I was not Christ.

The weak and foolish could not endure.

...

Pain. Suffering. The endless cycle of Sisyphus.

...

I heard a voice. A merciful voice that saved a young sinner.

...

Guided by that voice, I walked without thinking. Did I run? Did I fly? I did not know. I ran and flew endlessly until I reached the voice.

Before me stood the heavenly throne.

The master of the world.

The eternal master of humanity.

..

I knelt before it and bowed my head. I would serve the master of the world forever. Alongside Aurelia, I would become the Lord’s hand, son, and servant.

[Activate filter mode, close your eyes, and cover your ears.]

My Cold Heart awakened.

Confusion.

Fear.

Where the hell was I? What the hell was happening to me?

More than anything, what was that thing in front of me...?

Something, a radiance, struck me.

I felt my consciousness fading...

/You have failed to escape!

You calmly took a step closer to the truth hidden by the Secret Cult! But wasn’t it a rash decision to attempt the assassination of the Daughter of Heaven without sufficient preparation? Be more cauti-

No, my son. You have not failed. Await my call... I have bestowed light upon you.

Rdaebnm; raangrai; mneopyaetnm

...

...

Compani0n raim succ3ssful per;ia! Congratu!at10ns; -------------------Safe retu raingnmeori---/

Footnotes:

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