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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 54: Room 106, Mission Room - ‘Hope Hotel Land’ (1)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 21

Current Location: Level 1, Room 106 (Mission Room - Hotel Land of Hope)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

1. Real-World Bumper Cars

-----Vroooooom!!!

Before I could even get my bearings, the monster truck attacked. Its target as it started moving was-

That crazy bastard is targeting me! I don't even have a license!

In a panic, I searched my memories for times I'd seen my father drive.

Turn the key, I think? Did it start? Move the lever to Drive, and when I frantically looked down-

Which one's the accelerator, and which one's the brake? Why are there two pedals?

[Press the pedal on the right.]

Thank you so much! I stomped on the right pedal, and the car began moving forward.

-----Rumble!

Was that really the sound of a car moving? Why did it feel like the whole ground shook whenever that truck moved? What kind of bumper cars were these?

I frantically swerved to the side and realized something. Was this the hotel's last shred of conscience? The monster truck wasn't actually that fast.

Then the Chat Window began lighting up like crazy.

Kim Mook-seong: Turn the key to start it, shift into Drive, then step on the accelerator!

Park Seung-yeop: What's an accelerator? What's Drive?

Lee Eun-sol: Move the stick next to you to D, then press the right pedal by your feet!

Yoo Song-i: Why won't the light turn on?

Lee Eun-sol: You have to turn the key all the way! If it still won't start, check whether the lever is in N or P!

Cha Jin-cheol: We're all going to die at this rate! At least Ga-in's getting chased, thank God.

Han Ga-in: Thank God my ass! I'm dying!

I really was going to die. Was that truck insane? Why was it only chasing me? I didn't even need to look back to know it was right behind me, thanks to the incredible noise and vibrations.

As I sped along in a panic, I realized the truck had switched targets.

Yoo Song-i: Aaaaaah! It's chasing me!

Lee Eun-sol: Step on it! Shut up and hit the accelerator!

From a distance, the truck began chasing a silver car. The silver car took off recklessly, unable to keep its balance.

Cha Jin-cheol: If you keep going straight, you'll hit the arena wall! Turn the wheel!

Yoo Song-i: Which way?

Lee Eun-sol: Right, right!

The silver car immediately turned left.

Lee Eun-sol: No, you crazy idiot, that's a wall too! Right!

Amid the chaotic chase, the silver car finally turned right.

The silver car barely escaped the truck. That was when I understood why it could avoid the truck despite such confused driving.

It was probably the hotel's last shred of conscience. The truck's speed and turning were slower than expected.

Cha Jin-cheol: Is it chasing whichever car is closest?

Kim Mook-seong: I'll get close and check!

About ten seconds later, the truck finally switched targets again. Two cars, both clearly driven by people who knew what they were doing, began circling the truck and leading it around.

Considering the truck's slow speed and turning, those two cars could keep it busy for quite a while.

We needed to come up with a plan while they bought us time.

Han Ga-in: Anyone who can't drive, move to the outer edge of the arena! We're done for if you get targeted!

Lee Eun-sol: Good idea. Let's keep messages short from now on. We need a strategy.

Han Ga-in: They call it bumper cars, but the weight classes are way too different. If we crash into it, only our cars will get wrecked.

Lee Eun-sol: Agreed. We can't solve this by crashing our cars into it.

Kim A-ri: We probably need to make it crash into the arena's outer wall.

Lee Eun-sol: Can we lead it there?

Kim Mook-seong: Are we F1 drivers? Driving that well is difficult.

What were we supposed to do?

No good idea came easily. No matter how I looked at it, if the cars collided, our side would be wiped out.

Leading it into a wall seemed too difficult with our level of driving skill.

Besides, even if we led it there, was the truck driver dumb enough to crash into a wall?

I looked toward the truck's driver's seat just in case and vaguely saw someone inside.

A person?

Han Ga-in: There's a person in the truck's driver's seat.

Kim Mook-seong: Of course there's a person in a car.

Han Ga-in: What about shooting the driver? Are you confident you can hit them?

Kim Mook-seong: ...I hadn't thought of that.

Thankfully, Elder Mook-seong had brought a handgun before entering the room because he had experience firing one.

Was he confident he could hit the driver? I didn't know the details of Elder Mook-seong's past, but I remembered him sometimes saying he'd spent his whole life on battlefields.

Kim Mook-seong: Jin-cheol! Keep it busy for a moment.

Cha Jin-cheol: Yeah.

The gray sedan immediately approached the truck. Once the truck turned toward it, the sedan moved while keeping a suitable distance. So the gray car was Jin-cheol's.

Kim Mook-seong: Ready to fire. Bring it toward me.

With skillful movements, Jin-cheol led the truck toward the black car. The driver's-side window of the black car rolled down, and the Elder's upper body popped out.

Could we clear it like this? We just had to kill the driver by shooting them, right?

Then, as the truck passed by and switched targets to the closer black car, turning toward it-

------Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several shots rang out in succession. Finally!

Kim Mook-seong: You bastard! It's bulletproof glass! That damn bastard, seriously-

The truck ran right over the black car.

...

One person was eliminated just like that. At the same time, we lost the Chat Window.

What were we supposed to do now?

Before I could think, the truck chose its next target.

This time, it was Seung-yeop, who still couldn't properly control his car and was floundering in an awkward position.

-----Vroooom!

Vibrations that shook the ground. Noise that filled the arena.

Right before colliding with the truck, Seung-yeop somehow managed to move his car, though awkwardly, but completely avoiding the collision was impossible.

Was it quick thinking? Seung-yeop opened the car door and ran out.

The truck ran right over Seung-yeop's car.

It ran over the car? It ignored the person?

A realization struck me. At the same time, someone else who had reached the same conclusion shouted across the arena.

"Everyone, get out of the cars!!!"

Everyone scrambled out of their cars.

The first mission's theme was bumper cars. Bumper cars were a game where cars crashed into each other, not one where cars ran people over!

The prediction was right.

The truck ignored us once we got out of the cars and began destroying only the vehicles.

We naturally gathered together. Song-i asked a question.

"Will we clear it if we just wait like this?"

"I don't think so. I think we have to destroy that truck somehow. We only have four cars left already."

"What happens if all our cars get destroyed?"

"We... lose, I guess."

...

The situation was clear. If we stood still outside the cars, we could avoid being killed by the truck, but we had no way to win.

Bumper cars were a battle between cars. Whether we were alive or not, if that truck destroyed all our cars, we'd lose.

What happened if we lost here? What about Grandfather Mook-seong? Would he just die for good?

Everyone's faces began to turn pale as they thought about Grandfather Mook-seong's death.

"We have to destroy it. We absolutely have to wreck that truck. We can't let the Elder die like this."

"That's true, but do we have a way? A way to physically destroy that thing. Song-i, can you use your bracelet?"

"I've been trying since earlier. But the truck is so big, the driver's seat is too high up, and the truck itself is moving around so much that I can't target it at all."

"Elena. Can you use Justice?"

"I tried too, but it's impossible. I instinctively realized why. Grandfather Mook-seong pointed his gun first, so-"

"So the truck driver's being judged as acting in self-defense, and it doesn't count as an evil act. Does it not matter that the truck threatened us first? Was that not an evil act because it's a bumper-car game?

"The more I learn about that blessing, the more ridiculous it seems. We only have two cars left. If it comes to it, Ga-in might have to use Descent. You can destroy that thing if you use Descent, right?"

Descent. I thought back to before.

"Honestly, even if there were a thousand of those trucks, I'm confident I could destroy every one of them by myself."

"That's why you shouldn't use Descent for something like this. It's like using a sword meant for slaying dragons to kill chicks. I think I've got an idea. I'll try it."

"Jin-cheol?"

Jin-cheol didn't say anything more and strode forward. We only had one car left.

What was he trying to do? It was obvious that we had to do something, so no one stopped him.

He headed straight toward the truck without hesitation. The monster truck began slowly turning toward its final target, and-

Jin-cheol jumped nearly five meters and clung to the driver's seat!

Then, like some kind of gorilla, he slammed his fist into the door and somehow managed to get into the driver's seat.

"..."

"..."

"So we could've cleared it by brute force like that."

"He's really strong. That truck door looked like solid steel. Can you really dent it with your fist? He seems stronger than before."

"Maybe he's getting more used to using his blessing."

Then the original driver was flung out of the truck, beaten to a pulp. Jin-cheol calmly took the driver's seat and drove the truck straight into the arena's outer wall.

/Mission 1. Real-World Bumper Cars cleared! Congratulations. Would you like to proceed to the next mission?/

Ah. We could choose whether to proceed to the next mission too.

At this point, though, we had no real choice.

The message from when we first started.

/If there is a survivor who clears the final stage, those who have died up to that point will be revived./

Conversely, if no one cleared the final stage, the dead would stay dead.

"Let's proceed."

"We don't have a choice. We have to save the Elder."

* * *

As everyone moved forward without another word, the next notification appeared.

/2. Challenge: Man-Eating Carousel Horse!

1! 2! 3! Start!/

Man-Eating Carousel Horse.

The space lurched, then returned to normal.

I found myself riding a bizarre horse with a wooden lower body and a real head.

At the same time, its head turned and began struggling to bite me!

The instant I looked at the ground to jump off the horse, my breath caught.

Sharp spikes that promised death the moment I touched them covered the entire circular floor. We were riding Man-Eating Carousel Horses mounted over those spikes, circling the floor clockwise.

How were we supposed to clear this one?

While everyone was thrown into confusion, I heard Jin-cheol's excited voice.

"Wait! I'll rip its head off!"

Even in the middle of the chaos, I couldn't help looking when I heard something that insane.

When I looked over, Jin-cheol had actually pulled the horse's head off its wooden body with both hands!

Could we clear this one with strength too?

A grim thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Is a carousel really supposed to be cleared by fighting the horses?’

Footnotes:

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