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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 58: Room 106, Mission Room - ‘Hope Hotel Land’ (5)

──────

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 21

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

Sage’s Advice: 0]

5. Azure Dragon Train Departing from Space

As we approached the train, everyone began considering the same question. Like a typical roller coaster train, it had countless cars connected in a single line. Should we all board the same car? Or separate?

“Wouldn't it be better if we stayed together?”

Seung-yeop's voice sounded frightened. It didn't seem like a rational judgment so much as fear of being alone.

“There could be dangerous cars and safe cars. If that's the case, some of us might survive only if we split up.”

After the spaceship, A-ri once again argued that we should split up on the train.

“Couldn't splitting up be a trap too?”

Jin-cheol seemed to be seeing every visible thing as a trap now. To be fair, this was that kind of hotel.

I based my judgment on what I could see.

“I don't think we have a choice. It looks like we have to split up. I can see something like oxygen tanks.”

Each oxygen tank had only one mask attached. There had never been a choice to begin with.

In the end, we were separated into different cars. Still, the cars were connected without any real partitions, and they weren't particularly large, so we could talk if we took our masks off for a moment.

The moment we boarded, gravity disappeared. Thinking about it, having gravity in space to begin with had been the strange part. There had been gravity up to the station, but once we entered the train, our bodies began floating.

Just as we were getting used to it, the conductor appeared out of thin air and began spouting a tiresome spiel.

“Welcome aboard, challengers! I am the conductor of the Azure Dragon Train. From this point onward, this train will travel through the mysterious cosmos and provide you with many enjoyable experiences, so please participate enthusiastically.

“In ten seconds, the comet-dodging game will begin alongside the train's departure!”

“What the hell does that mean? Dodging comets? Explain it, you crazy bastard!”

“Dodging comets means dodging comets.”

After hearing that answer, I no longer felt like asking anything else.

“The sky.”

“The sky? We're in space.”

“I mean, look upward.”

When I raised my head, I understood.

Countless rocks were waiting along the rails the train would follow.

Ah. This was obviously going to be exhausting too.

The moment the train departed, the “comets” began falling.

* * *

---Whoosh! Crash!

Everyone frantically danced around inside the tiny train cars, avoiding chunks of rock falling from above. They weren't burning like their name, “comets,” suggested. They were just rocks, but that didn't mean it was safe to get hit.

We had to move while holding our oxygen tanks as well. At least we couldn't feel their weight without gravity. Before long, the train began twisting and turning, making the dodging increasingly difficult.

---Riiip!

A rock grazed past me, tearing part of my shirt. It didn't seem like a single hit would kill me, but it packed considerable force. One or two might be manageable, but if I started taking several hits, there would be no way to survive.

Were the others all right? I didn't have time to worry. Jin-cheol was usually fine with anything that required physical movement, but what about his leg? Could he keep dodging rocks with that leg until the end?

As we frantically dodged, the train rotated, and the falling comets stopped.

I barely caught my breath and took in the situation. The Azure Dragon Train had moved straight ahead while rotating halfway around horizontally. The comets began striking the train's floor, but we were safe for the moment.

“Is everyone okay? Did anyone get hit?”

“I'm fine. Got hit once, though.”

“I somehow managed to dodge them too.”

...

“Seung-yeop?”

There was no answer from Seung-yeop. I stopped myself from thinking any further.

Focus on the current situation. The train was upside down, but it wasn't especially uncomfortable. If this were Earth, blood would have rushed to our heads the moment the train flipped because of gravity. This was space. There was no gravity, so I had only felt dizzy for a moment when we flipped.

It would probably flip again after some time. Then we'd be too busy dodging rocks to think.

“What do we do? Doesn't anyone have an idea? Are we going to keep dodging forever?”

...

“Um, I had a thought the moment the train flipped. It might sound absurd.”

“It doesn't matter. Just tell us.”

“When the train flips again, how about we all move to the train's underside?”

?

“Jin-cheol? What do you mean?”

“There's no gravity because we're in space, right? So there's no real difference between the top and bottom of the train. Going down there won't pull us in the opposite direction. Can't we just avoid the direction the rocks are coming from?”

“That makes sense! The structure's open, so it won't be hard to get over there either.”

I understood. Since we were in space without gravity, we didn't have to stay on top of the train. All we had to do was carry our oxygen tanks and move underneath it.

“But the train's moving forward. What if we move unsteadily and get thrown backward?”

“We'll have to grab onto something and hold on. I think it'll be much easier than dodging rocks we can barely see until the end.”

-----Clunk!

The train began flipping again. At this rate, the comet-dodging would start over.

Following Jin-cheol's suggestion, we clutched our oxygen tanks, left the train cars, and moved to the other side.

That was when we realized it had been the right choice.

The moment we opened the car doors and stepped out, we saw ladders we hadn't noticed when we first entered. We climbed down one, half expecting nothing, and found identical train cars beneath the cars where we had first been seated.

The train's true nature had been hidden by the station platform when we departed.

Ridiculously enough, this train was double-sided, with no distinction between top and bottom!

We kept moving between the two sides like that to dodge the comets. After a considerable amount of time passed, the comets finally stopped falling.

* * *

“Ha ha! Everyone, did you have fun? The comet-dodging game has ended. The next game is resisting a black hole!

“No tricks will work in this game. Show us the strength of the bodies you've trained!”

No tricks would work. We had to show our physical strength.

The meaning became clear at once.

The Azure Dragon Train's structure suddenly changed in space. Every structure we could use disappeared, as did the ladders and doors that led to the opposite side. Only a handle, easy to grip, appeared in the middle of each train car.

A huge hole appeared in midair. Don't tell me...

The moment I instinctively grabbed the handle, a pulling force began to form in the void.

No tricks would work. We had to show the strength of the bodies we'd trained.

This wasn't a challenge that required us to think. We were meant to endure the pulling force through nothing but muscle strength.

What? A brute-force mission out of nowhere?

I looked around for some easier way through, but there was nothing.

Only one thought came to mind.

I didn't necessarily have to hold on with my arms.

I wedged the handle between my legs and prayed I could endure until the end.

...

It felt like my legs were going to be torn off.

How long had I held on? I didn't know. In reality, it might not have even been ten minutes.

Every second was agony. A black vortex formed in distant space. I didn't know whether it was an actual black hole or something imitating one, but the force generated by that black hole felt ready to tear my body apart.

In the distance, I could see the station.

Maybe it would end if we endured until we reached it?

Someone else had seen it too.

“Hang on a little longer, everyone! We're almost there!”

Compared to me, who could barely breathe, perhaps Jin-cheol still had enough strength to shout.

Unlike me, holding on with my legs, Jin-cheol was probably using his arms. His arms were fine, and if they were fine, he could hold on well enough with one arm alone.

The moment the train entered the station...

---Ting~

I heard something strike metal and slide, then saw A-ri get flung away!

There was nothing I could do. All I could do was watch another person get eliminated with a blank expression.

Then A-ri sprang upward in midair and flew into the station.

A-ri still had enough strength to fly. It looked like three of us had made it through somehow.

* * *

Once the train entered the station, I could no longer feel the pull.

I sat there blankly, then staggered out the moment the train stopped.

My legs were ruined. Like Jin-cheol's leg after the Gyro Drop earlier, dark bruises covered them from top to bottom.

I didn't even have the strength to remain standing, so I collapsed onto the station platform as soon as I stepped off the train.

A little later, I felt Jin-cheol lie down near me too.

“...Ga-in, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?”

“You look fucking awful. So do I.”

“There are still two left. I really feel like I'm going to die.”

“Both physically painful missions and mentally painful missions keep coming one after another. We can't survive like this. They aren't giving us any time to rest either. This is seriously killing me.”

---Tap. Tap.

Footsteps dragged weakly toward us.

“A-ri, are you okay? You still had strength left, judging by how you flew at the end.”

“...”

“A-ri?”

“Both of you, come over here.”

A voice as faint as a mosquito's.

Sensing something was wrong, we both barely got to our feet and approached.

Her face was so pale it almost looked blue. A cold aura surrounded A-ri, and her body was gradually cooling.

“A-ri? A-ri, are you okay?”

“I think... I'll rest first.”

I couldn't speak. Had that flight back earlier not been because A-ri had spare strength, but a final burst before dying?

Neither Jin-cheol nor I knew what to do.

“The syringe.”

I pulled out the syringe as instructed.

“Should we draw our blood and give it to you? Or do we have to feed it to you by mouth?”

Even while half-dead, A-ri gave us an utterly dumbfounded look.

“Blood? Do you think I'm a vampire? You're saying ridiculous things even now.”

“Wasn't it something similar? You use blood whenever you use your power.”

“My blood. Draw it.”

“No, you've been like this because you don't have enough blood...”

“There's no time. Draw it now.”

...

I shut my eyes tight and drew A-ri's blood with the syringe.

Jin-cheol, who had watched while trembling, didn't stop me either.

“You tried it once before, so you know, right? It's an improved version of what restored your stamina. Inject it wherever it hurts. This is really the end now. See you outside.”

Had A-ri let out a final breath? Her ebony hair bent heavily, and her fairy-like face fell limply to one side.

Her expression looked relieved, as though it was easier to finally be able to rest.

Only two remained now.

/Mission 5. Azure Dragon Train Departing from Space complete! Would you like to proceed to the next mission?/

* * *

/Mission 6. The Real Deal! Haunted House.

1! 2! 3! Start!/

The now-familiar distortion of space.

Once the shaking ended and I came to my senses, an old mansion appeared beneath the dim moonlight, its shabby form looming before us.

Footnotes:

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