Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 183
Only Krnovel
Episode 183 – Prayer for the Maze (2)
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 92
Current location: Tier 2, Ice Hell – Resurrection Room
Sage Advice: 2]
‘Prayer of Rest’.
Finally, the reality of other possibilities we can do besides resurrection using tickets has begun to be revealed.
“Guide, please tell me what the ‘Prayer of Rest’ is.”
“Repose prayers are a series of prayers to Buddha for peaceful rest for all participants. Of course, things in this world cannot be accomplished through prayer alone. In the end, you have to do it yourself to rescue former contestants from hell.”
“Rescue from hell? “Isn’t this hell?”
“Try it yourself.”
I feel like I won’t tell you more about this part. Ari said after observing the ice in which the maze was trapped for a while.
“My body is here, but my mind seems to be somewhere else. It seems like it’s about saving one’s spirit… .”
After hearing that, I looked again and began to understand what it meant. The bodies of those trapped in the ice statue were clearly in front of us, but they were only moaning with their eyes closed, as if they were having a terrible dream.
Should they go to a place where their minds are trapped?
“I feel like I’m having a terrible nightmare… . “What do you all think?”
“It looks like that to me too.”
My sister, who answered my question, then asked a question to the guide.
“I guess we’re not all doing this together, are we? Please tell me more about this! “The sponsors have already said a little bit about it!”
“Hell is a place where the living cannot go. However, Buddha’s mercy is endless, and the incense candle for salvation is prepared. As long as the flame of the incense candle is maintained, the living can also enter hell, but the flame of the incense candle is maintained only as long as the remaining people pray.”
Simply put, this means that the party is divided into several people who pray and maintain the flame of the scented candle, and while the flame is maintained, some people must enter hell and save the maze.
Ari, who was quieter than usual, asked again.
“What happens if I succeed in the ritual called the Prayer of Rest? Will the former contestant be released from the hotel? “Can you resurrect me even after the ritual is successful?”
“Rest and escape are two different things. All participants will be free from the cycle of pain, but they will not escape outside the hotel. Likewise, rest and resurrection are also separate things. Just as you can be resurrected independently of prayer, you can also be resurrected after prayer.”
It was easy to understand that resurrection through a ticket is possible regardless of the outcome of prayer. But what does it mean to escape the cycle of pain but not leave the hotel? The previous sentence was difficult to understand.
Anyway, the meaning of ‘pain’ ending was clear, so Ari’s expression became lively. Ari turned awkwardly towards us and muttered in a quieter voice than usual.
“We all agreed together before. Until we find a way to restore Miro’s spirit, resurrection is impossible. I still agree with that part. Because being with an insane being in this harsh place is something no one can handle. but… .”
Unlike Resurrection, Prayer of Rest does not use consumable tickets, and there is no danger if a mentally unstable Miro joins the party, so it is a perfect option for Ahri.
Before I could continue speaking, my sister answered.
“Let’s pray a prayer of rest.”
“…”
“I have to do it. Whether or not to be resurrected will have to be decided after finding a way to restore his mind, as you said, but the pain must end. We came here to normalize the second floor in the first place, right? “I think we need to do something, whether it’s resurrection or prayer, to get the second floor back to normal.”
I agreed to that part, so I quickly chimed in.
“I think so too. According to my understanding of the scenario, the reason the hotel froze was because of ‘the sorrow and pain of the people who died in the hotel’? “Whether it’s prayer or resurrection, the resentment and pain must be alleviated for the hotel to return to normal, right?”
“that’s right. and… .”
“and?”
Instead of answering, my sister looked at the statue of Miro, who was moaning endlessly, and then looked at Ahri again. I understood the meaning of that action. Will Ari be able to proceed with the hotel in his right mind even after knowing that Miro is suffering from this pain?
One day, he might suddenly steal a ticket, sneak into Hanbing Hell, and resurrect the maze. What will Grandpa do if Ari starts going out like that? Can we turn a blind eye to the suffering of a colleague with whom we have worked together for an inestimable amount of time?
From Ari’s point of view, the prayer of rest may be a ritual to end the suffering of his mother, Miro, but for the rest of the people, it is in fact a ritual to prevent ‘Ari and Mukseong from leaving.’
After a while, the ritual preparations for the maze began.
*
“Cain!”
“sister?”
“Let’s share the party. “I think what the sponsors have said and your advice is related to party classification.”
“Yes. “It looks like some people will go to hell, and some people will have to stay and pray.”
“I guess it’s better to go to hell…” .”
As she spoke up to that point, her sister trailed off slightly. It seems that going to hell would be more difficult, but to summarize the information so far, I guess Ari, Grandpa, and I should go.
“I think it would be best for me to go. Elena and Seungyeop openly advised me that it was not up to you to go, but I was told to go. “When information is lacking, it is better to follow the advice of sponsors.”
“good! Good idea. And I have something to tell you.”
My older sister looked at Ari slightly. Ari and her grandfather were looking at scented candles from a quite distant place and asking various questions.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“It’s a story about a maze. “I don’t know where you will be and what you will do, but given the circumstances, you will probably go to a place where there is a maze, right?”
“I guess so.”
“If possible, try to figure out what kind of person Miro is. From the looks of it, Miro’s problem doesn’t end with today’s prayer. Prayer only ends suffering, right? It’s not like leaving the hotel or resurrecting, right? “Ari must ultimately hope for the complete liberation of the maze.”
“… I will try my best.”
“You need to judge clearly, not just the level of effort. I can’t trust anything but your words. Would her daughter or her former co-worker be able to objectively see what kind of person her mother is?”
“…”
“See it with your own eyes. What kind of person is Miro, and can he be resurrected? “If possible, focus on mental state.”
“All right.”
Soon, an unidentifiable scented candle sprouted in the middle of the cold ice hell, and a mat and a small dark room were formed around the scented candle.
“Are you going to go inside that dark room and pray?”
In response to my brother’s question, the guide said yes. My sister muttered as if she was worried.
“Should we start praying right away?”
“Sister, let’s all eat together first. “Before doing something dangerous, you need to have a full stomach.”
“All the food was cold. Let’s eat anyway. “I need to eat this at least.”
As I chewed and swallowed lumps of rice that I couldn’t chew well, the three of me, Ari, and my grandfather gathered separately and started a separate meeting.
“Ari, I don’t know what kind of thing ‘saving Maze from hell’ is going to be, but I guess I’ll probably be meeting your mother, right?”
“Probably so. “It seems like the spirit of the maze is going to a place where it is trapped.”
“Tell me everything you know about the maze. “What kind of superpower is it?”
“Uhm… . “It’s not easy to explain.”
“It is hard to explain?”
Ari answered after thinking for a moment.
“First of all, don’t trust my explanation too much. Because I’ve never encountered Miro in his normal days. To start with simple strength, it’s physical ability, right? He was definitely stronger than an average person. “Is it roughly like this?”
With those words, Ari reached out and grabbed my arm tightly.
…I held on tight. It was difficult for me to move at all. I guessed it all along, but Ari is stronger than me for his size.
“How does it compare to when you give your all?”
“It’s similar because the power comes from the same heritage in the first place. However, it is incomparably weaker than Jincheol and weaker than Mukseong’s arm. Well, what’s more important than physical strength is probably superpowers. That power isn’t something easy to understand like telekinesis or teleportation. “If I had to ask, great charisma?”
“charisma?”
This time the grandfather answered.
“He is the type of person who easily persuades people and always sways everyone around like the main character.”
“Is that a superpower? Aren’t there many people like that among politicians and celebrities? Or are you manipulating people’s minds?”
“Control the mind? It feels that way to some extent, but it’s not that way either. You can just think of it as amplifying charisma and leadership to a supernatural level. It’s hard to say clearly. To roughly summarize, he was the type of person who could instantly become the leader of a group of people he met for the first time. That’s why we infiltrated the hotel.”
It is no exaggeration to say that a person who has the power to instantly become a leader even among people he or she meets for the first time is truly a hotel-optimized talent. For such a thing, it looks like you ate it in a big way.
Ari, who had been quiet for a moment, opened her mouth.
“I only found out after escaping from the hotel that my mom had superpowers. Although she knew about inheritance and blessings.”
“If it were a type of superpower like leadership or charisma, it would have been difficult to use it properly after the infantile regression. “It seems to be an ability that requires intelligence.”
“I remembered it now, but there is also an expression that is kind of like a nickname for my mother.”
“What?”
“’Fairytale princess’”
“That expression is kind of cute… .”
Grandfather smiled bitterly.
“About half of them are nicknames given to her because she is pretty, and the other half are nicknames given to her because she is self-righteous and arbitrary, like people from the dynasty era.”
“Hearing that makes me anxious again. “Didn’t you say you have other super powers?”
“There was some additional, unknown power. The problem is that although the forces seem to be separate forces, depending on the perspective, they are forces in the same direction, so in fact, there has been an opinion that they are all derived from one force.”
“You said you were an agent of the Management Bureau, but the information about your abilities is quite unclear?”
“To reveal its abilities more clearly, some kind of experiment is necessary, but due to the nature of Miro’s abilities, he had many ‘followers’ even within the management bureau. Because of them, research on the maze could not be conducted properly. In fact, no matter what, Miro was loyal to the management bureau, so the leadership did not want to treat Miro harshly.”
‘I was loyal to the administration.’ As soon as those words came out, Ari reacted.
“I think I only said negative things, but in any case, no one doubted Miro’s loyalty to the Bureau. “Most negative stories are also about character, and in terms of actions, he has saved countless people from evil entities throughout his life.”
This part is another good story. In any case, when I was still mentally sound, it seemed to mean that I easily adapted to organizational life and had sufficient basic morals.
I’ve been hearing information about Maze from the two for a while, but all I learned is that he doesn’t have a great personality and his abilities are ambiguous.
Boom! With a sound, a door appeared just as the scented candle and dark room appeared. Even without asking, I knew the meaning of that door. Me, Ari, and Grandpa exchanged glances and headed towards the door.
Now it’s time to enter the hell of the maze.
*
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a happy New Year!
I came to my senses while listening to the cheerful carols. The surrounding scenery was somewhat familiar. A neat bed, a bookshelf with several books, and a luxurious wooden desk. Although it seems small (about 15 pyeong), it is still quite spacious for living alone.
As I felt the moment I heard the carol, snow was falling outside the window. It is not at the level of a blizzard like the second floor of a hotel. A lot of children were seen happily playing outside, befitting the word ‘hell’.
After examining the surroundings, I next examined myself.
…
When I looked in the mirror, I looked at least two or three years younger. If you hit it well, you will have a youthful face of around 15 years old. No matter how you look at it, the clothes you are wearing are school uniforms. When I look at the scenery and myself, I feel like I have become a student at a boarding school like when I was at a hotel high school… .
Slowly, I began to have doubts.
Why is this place ‘hell’? Where are Ari and Grandpa? Where is the maze again?
As the question mark grew bigger, a chat window appeared.
See next episode