Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 137
Only Krnovel
Episode 137 – No. 107, The Gateway Room – ‘Perfect Life’ (28)
– Kim Ari
— Whiiing!
I held on to my shaking legs with both hands.
I didn’t know the wind was this strong on the roof of the building.
I looked down at the ground from the rooftop of the administration building disguised as a publishing house.
Even though it was already close to midnight, I could feel the energy of people coming out of the neon signs and bustling restaurants and bars that filled the city.
Have you ever seen such a beautiful world?
But I came all the way to this place to jump off the roof.
I thought about whether there was a better way, but I couldn’t think of a surer way than suicide.
Something I could never imagine, something terrible and unfortunate.
Is there a clearer answer than ‘my death’?
Since He was crucified thousands of years ago and rose three days later, it is not easy for a living person to experience death and resurrection.
Of course, even in my vaguely recovered memories, there was no memory of death at all.
When I went up to the roof of the building, I was very determined, but when I actually got up, my legs started shaking.
… Maybe the idea that the world is a lie is just a delusion of mine?
Could it be that I’m doing this because I lost my mind while performing a classified mission?
Swallowing, I walked up to the rooftop railing and looked down at the ground, my breath caught in my throat.
I closed my eyes and climbed onto the railing.
One step. Now all it takes is one step. Don’t look down.
If you just close your eyes and take one step… .
“omg!”
I finally opened my eyes with a heavy breathing sound.
The moment I opened my eyes, a dizzying view from the rooftop of the building caught my eye.
This is not it! Surely there must be another, better way.
Maybe all my thoughts so far were my illusions?
Let’s think again. There must be a more rational way than suicide.
After all, people act after careful consideration –
— Piyooooo!
?
??
puck!
I felt something pushing me from behind and I instantly started falling in the air!
I will definitely fry and eat that new bastard!
“hey! New baby yaaaaa!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
Are you dying? Do you really die like this?
I didn’t jump of my own accord, but the parrot’s headbutt was my last?
In an instant, the ground rose up! No, I fell towards the ground at incredible speed.
An overwhelming fear that I have never experienced in my life is eating away at my soul.
In a split second, all the confusing thoughts that had filled my mind so far were swept away in an instant.
There was only one thought in every heart.
Stop!
World, stop! Please stop!
And the world stopped.
People who were pouring out the fatigue of the day over a late night drink stopped.
The neon sign, which was constantly blinking and providing a source of light to a city that had forgotten the night, stopped.
The flow of air that had been hitting my skin the entire time I was falling stopped.
The cheeky parrot that was still looking down at me from the sky also stopped.
It was only at the moment when the entire world stopped in response to my wish that I finally accepted the truth deeply into my heart.
That this whole world was just my fantasy!
The pendant hanging around my neck naturally came towards my gaze and opened.
The pendant clicked open and the photo hidden inside appeared.
The reason I came to the hotel. My precious memories that should never be forgotten.
There was a girl in the photo who looked very similar to me in everything except the color of her hair.
Unlike the people I had met until this morning, my mother only looked to be in her mid-teens.
The moment everything stopped, my mind drifted toward the past.
*
– Memories from long ago
— Let’s go.
I woke up to a sharp scratching noise on the wall.
A clown was seen with more than 10 shining eyes all over his body.
Immediately I felt nauseous. But it was okay.
Anyway, there is no food in my stomach to vomit anymore.
“Get away from me.”
— Let’s go.
Pierrot scratched the glass case protecting me with dozens of fingernails.
“It’s no use. “This item is a hotel special.”
I looked around while rubbing my sleepy eyes.
The beautiful hotel that people once admired as being more luxurious than any other hotel in the world has long since disappeared.
The hotel collapsed here and there as if it were a construction site ruins, and everywhere was full of monsters that were scary to even look at.
… maze? Where are you? Where did you go, leaving me alone in the glass box?
Time goes by. The memory moved like the wind and moved to the next scene.
I was in a glass box again. Miro appeared, bleeding all over her body.
“What on earth did you do to get hurt like this? “Has a strange monster appeared again?”
“Yes. no. “I got hurt trying to get this.”
In Miro’s hand was an unidentifiable balloon-like object.
“Is that an ‘air bubble’? Isn’t this what ‘the team over there’ had? How can you do that? No way!”
“I couldn’t help it. “This is the only thing that can save you.”
With those words, Miro pushed me into the glass box.
“What on earth is this? why -”
“Ariya, stay still.”
“maze!”
“Ari, my daughter, the prettiest and smartest daughter in the world. I’m dumber than Ari, but now I know. We can’t hold on here any longer. yes?”
“…”
“Strange. In the past, delicious food was always served at every meal. No food came out today either. “A clown came out from under the bed, and transparent monsters started crawling on the walls.”
“… It’s because I didn’t enter the cursed room.”
“And you won’t be able to enter in the future either. Because we can no longer progress through the cursed room. yes?”
“mom… .”
“are you okay. “I thought something like this might happen someday.”
The balloon in Miro’s right hand inflated, becoming large enough to cover the entire box I entered.
“How on earth did you get the air bubbles? Did you steal it? no way… . You didn’t kill the people on ‘that team’, right? “You decided not to do that.”
“I couldn’t help it.”
“please. Let’s go out together instead. “You just need to make the ‘air bubble’ a little bigger.”
“no. It was written in the instructions when you got this balloon. This item is for one person. “If two people go in, there will definitely be problems.”
Miro, who had always been like a child since I came to his senses, was strangely smart and determined that day.
“Then it would be better for Mom to go out. She heard that her mother was a very important person out there-”
— Side!
Miro’s moist lips touched my forehead, then fell, and the glass box closed.
“love you.”
Under Miro’s touch, my consciousness began to blur.
Tears welled up incessantly from the corners of my eyes that I thought had dried.
Using my tears as ink and my soul as a notebook, I engraved an unchanging oath.
I will never forget this moment.
Also, I will definitely return to this place someday.
Just as you gave up your life today to save me, I swore that next time I would save you.
*
– Kim Ari
I really came to my senses. A huge flood of information burst in my head and filled my head.
I instantly felt a headache, so I had no choice but to hold my head and lean against the wall for a while.
… As I came to my senses, I also realized one absurd fact.
I’ve already died several times in this hotel.
The memories of what happened at the hotel were not recovered until the last moment.
Thanks to that, I was unable to imagine ‘death’ and was able to wake up through a suicide attempt.
What would have happened if the memory of dying in a hotel came to mind and you were able to imagine death?
I got scared so I stopped. When I think about it again, isn’t this a very risky method?
Anyway, this is the solution, right? This long gateway room! It ends with the beautiful girl Ari Carrie~!
A hologram window appeared in the air.
/Participant Ari Kim, congratulations on passing the final test ‘Perfect Life’!
Among my colleagues, the final passer has emerged! Now that the final winner has passed, all members will return safely.
Those who pass through can immediately escape the gateway room. Do you want to escape? (Y/N)/
“Aaaah~! It’s really over! “It’s really over!”
The world seems to have stopped, and no one is looking at me.
I danced for a while, spinning around with a happy heart!
The moment I approached the hologram and tried to press Y, I felt a strange feeling.
Why on earth do we have ‘choices’?
There have been many times where I have solved or escaped from the cursed room.
However, the hotel never once gave me the option of whether I could leave or not.
If you escape, you automatically exit, and if you solve it, the room disappears immediately.
Even when aiming for a solution, there were times when the ‘automatic escape judgment’ got in the way.
But why did you give me a choice this time?
The meaning of being given the ‘choice not to escape’ even though I have already passed.
‘There’s still work left for me to do.’
“I want to ask a question.”
/Do you have any questions?/
“What happens to the remaining colleagues after I leave?”
/You already know the answer./
The Gate Room is ultimately a reinforced version of the Curse Room.
Therefore, many of the principles that exist in the Chamber of Curses also apply to the Chamber of Gates.
I recalled memories of conducting a media program that changed common sense in the past.
While we were making repeated attempts to solve the problem, Seung-yeop was always on the escape team, securing escape by moving away from the room at the beginning of the play.
The reason such an attempt was possible was because Seung-yeop’s escape did not block the progress of the remaining people.
Unlike ‘resolution’, where the entire world inside the room disappears, ‘escape’ only involves the person involved leaving the stage, and the remaining people continue on.
until when? Until you solve it, escape, or die.
I looked at the notification that appeared to me again.
‘Passers can immediately escape from the gateway room. Do you want to escape? (Y/N)’
It’s not a solution. It’s an escape.
Even after I escape, the gateway room does not disappear, and my companions continue to progress.
…
A scary thought occurred to me.
What would happen if my companions keep going and don’t wake up?
Unlike the Curse Room, it is a peaceful and warm world where there are no enemies that threaten the lives of your colleagues.
What if, after living for decades, perhaps more, until the moment of awakening in such a perfect life, by chance, or only after the end of one’s life… .
An ominous thought took my breath away.
Only then did I realize why I was given the choice.
There is still work left for me to do.
See next episode