Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 178
Only Krnovel
Episode 178 – Party Time – Exploring the 2nd floor (5)
– Cha Jin-cheol
— Whiiing! chin!
“Ugh, what is this again?”
In a snowstorm that blew like a storm, a finger-sized piece of ice flew out and hit me in the face. Is this really Earth? It is difficult for the human body to even take one step properly.
Eunsol Lee: What?
Cha Jin-cheol: Talking to myself.
Kim Muk-seong: Finish it quickly and I will die.
… If it were like usual, inspiration would be terrible again! I’d like to, but not now. This is because my grandfather does not wear a protective suit like my sister, nor does he have a blessing that makes his body strong like me. If you stay in a space like this for too long, you can literally freeze to death. Although Grotesque had a dissatisfied attitude, he managed to walk around well.
The condition on the second floor became more serious. If the conditions when I went to Room 201 every day were midwinter in the Northern Hemisphere, now I think it is at the level of Antarctica or the North Pole. When I see myself feeling this much cold, even though I am receiving help from courage, I wonder if I am actually outside of the level of winter on Earth at all?
It was difficult to take each step purely because of the wind pressure. In fact, my sister, who was heavier than me including the protective clothing, was walking much more easily.
I feel like a blind person with my eyes open. The snowstorm was so severe that even beyond 5m there was no way to distinguish the terrain other than it was pure white. In this white hell, the only person who sees something clearly and moves forward is my sister.
Eunsol Lee: This way.
As I followed the signal and moved towards my sister, I saw a huge block of ice blocking the path.
“Ugh! “Whatever!”
The grotesque split a block of ice with its beak, and I cleaned up the split ice block. As I worked quickly, I thought the road would open, but immediately the snow started piling up. I guess I’ll have to clean it up again next time I come.
Cha Jin-cheol: Do you see something?
Eunsol Lee: It’s nothing special.
It seems to be a waste of money again. Anyway, it was fortunate that at least one person was seeing something and exploring.
Mukseong Kim: I feel like I’m going to die.
Cha Jin-cheol: Please wait a moment.
Eunsol Lee: Grandpa, let’s go to just one more place.
Just one place? Is there a place where you have been looking at something during this time?
Sure enough, she motioned to me and quickly moved in a straight line without turning once.
Eunsol Lee: Here.
After taking a few steps through the snow, I saw a space that could definitely be called a ‘room’. Unfortunately, due to the construction on the second floor being unfinished, there were only chunks of ice instead of proper doors or walls, but it was clearly a room-like structure.
Cha Jin-cheol: When completed, will it be the cursed room?
Eunsol Lee: I don’t know.
I tried my best, but it was impossible to move the whole thing. You have to break it up and move it piece by piece.
“Pero, you bastard, come and take a stab at it with your beak.”
…
“Please come! “I know you can hear me!”
Unlike his sister, that bird, which must have extraordinary hearing, goes out of its way to make a fuss whenever Songi disappears. And yet, should we say that it is admirable that they keep following us?
Complaining expression – Now I know what that bird’s expression looks like. – The grotesque has approached without even hiding it.
— Boom! bang!
Again, the Grotesque split the ice with its sharp beak, and I repeated the process of moving the broken ice. As I opened the path, I saw something opaque on the floor inside the room.
“What is this?”
Eunsol Lee: I can’t hear you.
Cha Jin-cheol: What is that on the floor?
My sister tilted her head at my words, entered the room, and approached the opaque floor –
“Ugh! “Why is something like that here?”
I was so shocked that I rushed over and grabbed my sister by the protective clothing and pulled her back!
“Ahh! “Is this an ice puddle?”
“you’re right. Be careful. “If you combine it with your protective clothing, it’s very heavy, so it’s hard to take it out if it falls out.”
“Why is there a puddle suddenly? “Is it a trap?”
“I’m told to keep an eye on the floor – hmm? “Can you hear me clearly now?”
We haven’t heard a single word from each other so far, so what kind of harmony is this?
“The sound of the blizzard has stopped.”
“… This seems like an amazing space again.”
Something incomprehensible happened. Apparently, a blizzard was raging outside the room as if the world was falling apart, but the sound of the blizzard was barely audible from inside the room. After arriving on the second floor, I found a ‘quiet space’ for the first time.
“What is it?”
“well… . I don’t know why, but next time, let’s move Grandpa to this place and explore. “It seems to be a lot less cold here.”
“That’s right. “Anyway, what is that?”
At first I thought it was another chunk of ice. Then it occurred to me that the temperature inside this room was not high enough to form such a large piece of ice, and when I looked carefully, I realized that it was something else. It was a huge door.
“…”
“… I think they’re asking you to come in?”
“Aren’t you anxious?”
“But if it’s a door, you have to open it first… .”
The moment I approached and grabbed the door handle, a notification appeared.
/Do you want to open the door to the cold ice hell? Party time ends as soon as the door opens./
I immediately put down the doorknob. When she turned her head, she also saw her eyes wide open with a somewhat excited expression. The notification appears to have popped up for both of them. After half a day of exploring the frozen second floor, I finally found something.
*
– Cha Jin-cheol
As soon as I returned to the first floor, my colleagues greeted me.
“Thanks for your efforts!”
“Brother, thank you for your hard work!”
“Okay, okay, everyone, get out of the way for a moment.”
I immediately took my grandfather to the refreshment table. Luckily, this time, there was a warm drink waiting for me that wasn’t a joke. For a while, while my grandfather was drinking hot tea and melting his blue lips, my sister and I started talking about what we had found out.
“Brother, did you find out something?”
“okay. I found something. Should I go roughly to the right from the entrance for a while and then go straight?”
“It’s closer to diagonal than straight. “I know the location.”
“Anyway, if you go straight that way, you will come across a strange ‘Gate of Cold Ice Hell.’ As soon as I hold the doorknob and open it, party time ends. Of course, I left it behind.”
“The name ‘Hanbing Hell’ is very scary.”
“What do you think is beyond the door?”
Everyone fell silent. Doesn’t the name of the door say ‘Gate of Hell’? It’s hard to imagine how terrible something awaits us beyond.
The old man must have warmed up a bit and opened his mouth.
“The circumstances are clear. After all, it seems we have something to do on the other side of that door. However, there is no need to end party time in advance. You have to prepare in your own way. Starting tomorrow, Ga-in will write advice as well. Rather, it is ‘hell’… .”
“Do you have any words that come to mind?”
“It’s a story we all know. “Gain must have already heard about this guy from someone called the ‘Nebula Dragon,’ and the management bureau is also aware of this.”
“Quickly, get to the point.”
“Atta, look at you, you can’t be defeated again. Hey man, ‘Buddha’. “You’ve all heard it, right?”
… A long-forgotten word struck everyone’s mind.
An unidentified being, ‘Buddha’. An incomprehensible transcendental that even the ‘Nebula Dragon’, a prisoner in Room 102, treated with extreme respect and caution.
“If you think of Buddha, it’s Buddhism, and if you think of Buddhism, isn’t it a religion famous for hell?”
“A religion famous for hell… . “That expression is a bit harsh.”
“Eunsol, just understand. Anyway, going to hell in this hotel where there is a Buddha doesn’t sound ordinary. “I don’t think they would have used the word ‘hell’ simply because it was dangerous and difficult.”
“Then why do you think it was written?”
“Well, I don’t know either. Well, is this a place where even sinners are judged?”
There was silence around again.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Oh, Grandpa, why don’t you rest in your room for now?
“Okay. It’s nothing-”
“Atta! Sir, don’t be needlessly proud and just lie down. “Let’s take a break.”
Day 1 of party time ended like this. The next morning, Elena woke up.
*
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 90
Current Location: Tier 1, Room 105 – Room of Rest
Sage Advice: 3]
– Han Ga-in
On the morning of the second day of party time, as soon as I arrived at room 105 to eat, I found Elena. She was sitting alone on one side of the table, and Elena ran straight towards me.
— Clap!
Golden waves fluttering like waves and eyes that seemed to contain the vitality of a green meadow were staring at me so clearly that it was difficult to move, as if I had turned into stone.
“…Elena?”
“…”
“Do you have anything to say?”
Elena looked at me intently and muttered.
“Am I right? is not it? I usually don’t know… .”
“yes?”
“sorry. “I was just checking what I heard from the sponsor.”
“What did you hear?”
Elena chuckled and answered.
“Ah, I asked you to consult with Mr. Gain about using the ability I recently acquired, ‘Ominous Imagination.’”
“aha! Even if that wasn’t the case, I thought we needed to have a conversation, and it seems like there’s nothing the sponsor doesn’t know.”
I shared the knowledge about the use of ‘ominous imagination’ that I had discussed with the group yesterday morning when Elena was not around.
“… Did you roughly understand? To summarize, first, don’t be afraid of your own strength and have confidence in it. If you can shift your consciousness towards the monster you have created, that would be great. Becoming stronger is a good way to gain confidence. Second, rather than just conserving your power, you can focus on one thing and create a very powerful monster and then try to persuade them.”
“hmm… . I understand why the sponsor asked me to talk to Mr. Gain. “I feel like I have clearly realized why it is difficult to control ominous imaginations.”
“is it so?”
“The jar analogy. It’s perfect. In fact, I usually tried not to let out even a single drop of the power that was overflowing within me, but I had the strange feeling that a few drops would inevitably splash out and create a monster.”
“This is probably the knowledge the chief learned during his research.”
“Move your consciousness towards the monster. I honestly have no idea about this. “I don’t really want to do it.”
“is that so… .”
“But, there’s something about the second method that struck me as soon as I heard it.”
“oh! “If at least one thing works, it’s okay.”
“A being that deserves all the power of sinister imagination to create. A being whose evil and ominousness is endless, but at the same time capable of communicating with people. In fact, several very clear entities come to mind. “I’ll go right away since I’m leaving.”
With those words, Elena immediately went on a safari and said she would test her abilities.
Did something come to mind? In the end, it is Elena who uses the ability, not me. I can only give advice, but you have to do the actual solving yourself. Seeing him move immediately with a confident expression made me feel a little relieved.
When the party time is over, we have to head to an incomprehensible place called ‘Hard Ice Hell’. Before that, it’s a good thing that if Elena is able to control her own powers, it will remove one of our worries ahead of her big ordeal.
however… . What on earth?
‘A being whose evil and ominousness is endless, but at the same time capable of communicating with people.’
What kind of being was Elena thinking of when she left for safari with such a confident expression?
See next episode