Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 344
Only Krnovel
Episode 344 – Party Time – Unknown conversation and punishment (3)
– Han Ga-in
As I looked at the owl soaring into the sky, I was confused for a moment, not knowing what to do, when a sentence seeped into my head.
“Look at yourself”
The moment I heard the owl’s message, I realized that my body had lost its human form.
Where a person’s arms should have been, there were wings full of shiny black scales or feathers.
Confusing thoughts ran through my head.
Was it like this from the beginning? If so, why did I only find out now?
Did the owl change my appearance?
What am I like in this place in the first place?
Is the Sanctuary of Blessing a reality? Or a dream?
“Forget unnecessary thoughts and follow me.”
“… All right.”
The moment I spread my wings, a strange realization that I could not explain in words permeated me.
Have you gained a new insight that you never knew existed?
No.
It is true that something I already knew was engraved in my mind again.
I knew I could fly.
— Flap!
It frantically waved both wings and split the sky.
People who have never flapped their wings to fly in their lives will never understand, but flying was truly such a difficult task.
“Why on earth are you doing this!”
Even though I asked, I didn’t really expect an answer.
It was almost like a sign of anger at the situation in which he suddenly turned into a very large crow.
“Flight training.”
But the answer came back.
“Flight training?”
“I will be borrowing that poor parrot’s body often from now on, so it would be useful if I learned how to fly. Even if you forget other memories, you need to revive this memory.”
It was so true that I was speechless for a moment.
It’s not just borrowing Perrault’s body, it’s borrowing it to fly in the sky or transform into a grotesque.
If this is possible, the range of tactics I can use in the cursed room really expands.
According to the doctor, I have lived in Pero’s body for hundreds of years and have become capable of both flight and transformation.
After leaving the room, he lost his memory and the above abilities for unknown reasons, but the owl seemed to be trying to make him at least able to fly again.
After learning this fact, I started to move more actively.
For example, the tail feathers on the buttocks – when did this come about? – I turned to the side and changed direction sharply.
I also attempted a sudden descent by adopting a posture that minimized air resistance.
While I was doing flight training, out of nowhere, I got curious.
Is it okay to do something like this in the original Blessed Sanctuary?
It is usually a place to reinforce blessings and occasionally communicate with sponsors.
However, if the virtual environment created by the sponsor could be used as a place for training –
“Of course not.”
“yes?”
“It is grounds for disciplinary action to use the place for training when it is not a place created for training.”
“yes??”
“do not worry. “Because I have already been disciplined.”
“Oh, no! “He’s locked in a cage again like before -”
“This time you will be disciplined, not me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Concentrate. Since I’ve already been disciplined, I need to make sure I learn how to fly. “Where else would you learn it if not here?”
A sudden disciplinary action without a word! What on earth will the hotel do to me?
For a moment, I felt absurdity, irritation, and a little fear all at the same time.
I wanted to ask why I should have been punished for breaking the hotel’s rules without saying anything, but I stopped.
When did the sponsor discuss something with us?
“That’s right.”
“What is that!”
“Concentrate on the right wing angle.”
“Oh really!”
…
Time passed.
It felt like several hours had passed, but I couldn’t be sure because the place called the Sanctuary of Blessing seemed like a mixture of dream and reality.
An owl suddenly sat on a huge cloud.
After thinking about it for a while, I just folded my wings on the cloud.
“Aaaah!”
“… I haven’t learned how to land yet. “What a foolish young bird.”
As I barely got up out of shame, I heard the owl’s voice.
“Let’s say the human spirit is like water in a bowl. “A large amount of black, cloudy paint is mixed there.”
“… Is this story about me? “Is the black and murky water a grimoire?”
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is because the black paint is imbued with infinite and great wisdom. But too much is not as good as too little. “You need to adjust your speed.”
“…”
“What should I do?”
“I will listen.”
“The first way is to freeze the water.”
“Freeze water?”
The owl was silent for a moment, as if asking him to think carefully about this metaphor.
In his metaphor, water is the human spirit, or humanity. Freeze this?
Does this mean that it is made hard so that paint cannot penetrate? A heart that never changes?
or… .
“A girl from the administration. “That child was born with a love that will never melt.”
“…”
“A feeling that will not fade even for eons. unchanging mind. “If you can embrace these things, no demonic power will be able to twist your mind.”
“Is this possible for me?”
“It’s difficult. So there is also a second method.”
“I will listen.”
“You just pour in more paint.”
“yes?”
“Right now, the problem is that only the black paint seeps in, so get the white paint and pour it in too. “This is also a path.”
I was speechless for a moment.
Considering the flow of conversation, black paint refers to my grimoire.
But white paint comparable to a grimoire?
“Are you saying to get another inheritance? Is that possible?”
“Do you really think it’s impossible? “Don’t you think you have to give in to your colleagues even when an opportunity arises?”
“…”
And the owl repeated what he said a long time ago.
“Remember. I hope you will be honored at the end of the hotel. “Not all of you.”
“…”
“…”
“Did you call me here to talk about flight training and this?”
“there’s more. “Don’t you keep the hourglass?”
“yes. “I put it in the drawer of the table in my room in room 105.”
“Why didn’t you take it to the cursed room?”
“I wasn’t sure how to use it and I thought it was too dangerous. “If we accidentally flipped it once, we almost all died together.”
“If you don’t touch it because you think it’s dangerous, you won’t know how to use it in the future.”
“…”
“It’s something I gave you to use, but you’re not going to use it until the end?”
I understood what he was trying to say.
That’s what I think every time I look at the hourglass in my drawer.
If you keep it hidden in a drawer like this, you will never learn how to use it.
but… .
But you want me to take it to the cursed room without knowing how to use it?
In a place infested with monsters that want to kill us even if we stay still, do we take a time bomb with no idea where it will explode and use it just once?
“Give me a hint.”
The owl silently turned its gaze into the sky.
It seemed like it was against the rules to give detailed instructions on how to use the hourglass.
According to what I heard earlier, the disciplinary action is confirmed as it is a violation of the rules since the sanctuary has already provided flight training.
I was honestly afraid that another disciplinary action would be added to this.
Just when I was about to give up on getting an answer, the answer came back unexpectedly.
“You got to keep that item. “It is not a coincidence, it is an inevitability.”
“… thank you.”
What does it mean? I don’t know yet, but it will definitely have meaning.
“last.”
“Is there more?”
“Actually, this conversation fits the purpose of the sanctuary.”
If the purpose of the sanctuary is to talk about strengthening blessings?
“The more a blessing is strengthened, the more powerful abilities become available, but the contribution required to obtain them also increases significantly. “For a significant number of participants, there are many times when they are unable to strengthen even once, and for those who rely on luck and skill, at most three times.”
“Did I strengthen it three times? “Is it worth understanding the scenario in two parts?”
“you… . “This is a participant who has the possibility of receiving a fourth reinforcement, which occurs very rarely.”
“…”
“Even so, don’t expect much. “You can only get it after solving at least two rooms.”
“What kind of ability is it?”
“He who has reached the end of wisdom will be able to penetrate all things… .”
With those words, the owl flew into the sky, and the space around it began to shake.
The timing of learning the fourth reinforcement is too late at the latest.
Rather than the power to climb the hotel, isn’t it the power that is like the final reward given for doing well?
At least on the second floor, it didn’t seem like it had the power to provide any meaningful help.
*
[Rules violated! The Sanctuary of Blessing is not a place for chatting and training.]
[Han Ga-in (Jihye) cannot provide any more advice during this party time.]
[The curse of Tantalus falls on Han Ga-in (Jihye) during this party time.]
…The Curse of Tantalus?
*
-Lee Eun-sol
A peaceful afternoon, after solving the cursed room, leisurely time spent at the hotel during the given party time.
The men disappeared, saying they would exercise, play games, or drink alcohol.
The women gathered together and came to the swimming pool.
— Splash!
“I won!”
“Ugh~! Wow! “Save me!”
Everyone seemed happy.
At least Ari looked happy as he pushed Miro into the water, but I’m not sure if Miro was happy.
“Eunsol unnie!”
Songi, wearing a swimsuit, came in front of me and suddenly took a spin.
It looked like he wanted to show off, so I clapped his hands lightly.
“Sister, please come into the water too.”
“I do not want to.”
“yes? “Do you hate swimming?”
“I used to like it, but I started hating it after coming to the hotel. You guys are amazing too. “To enter without hesitation into a swimming pool where lips the size of a human body were sticking out and tongues flailing.”
“Well, that’s a pretty old story.”
“Go over there and take out the maze. I’m going to cry like that. “Ari, he went through so much trouble to save Miro, so why do you keep bothering him?”
“Isn’t this how you treat your younger brother?”
This is how I treat my younger brother.
“You said you were mom?”
“Who cares?”
“That’s right.”
okay. Honestly, who cares?
It is clear that the question of how to legally define the relationship between the two would be confusing even if a Supreme Court judge was brought in.
“But sister, Ari told me to ask you earlier.”
“what?”
“When are you going to use the hand of greed?”
“well… . “Wouldn’t it be used after the people who were taken to the Sanctuary of Blessing returned?”
“I’ll tell you that.”
The hand of greed. Hearing those words, I remembered the complaint my grandfather confessed at the sanctuary this time.
‘How on earth can I function with a blessing like communication!’
Honestly, I agree with that opinion 100 times.
Grandpa’s blessing, ‘communication’, is useful in its own way to us as colleagues, but it is too useless for him personally.
Since blessings do not help much, it is difficult to be active in the cursed room.
It’s hard to be active, so it’s hard to get a legacy.
My own growth is stagnant, but with the power of the party, progress continues, and the room of curses becomes increasingly difficult.
Ultimately, it has reached a stage where it is difficult to turn back growth once it has been delayed.
Did this situation only happen to my grandfather? It has certainly happened countless times in the past.
Once growth starts to slow down, it is inevitable as it is difficult for hotels to keep up.
So what should we do?
The hotel also left the possibility of a ‘reversal’ for participants who encountered this very situation.
Inheritance is not mechanically given to those who have contributed the most to solving the Room of the Cursed.
The condition that takes precedence over contribution is ‘survival’ in the final round, and if contribution exceeds a certain level, everyone is gathered together during ‘selection time’ and given a chance.
If you focus on the keyword ‘survival’, you can come up with a devilish idea.
Just as the Cursed Room is about to be resolved, what if someone betrays his colleagues and he is left alone to survive?
No matter how powerful a person is, they have no business against a sudden bullet.
No matter how strong Ga-in, who uses the grimoire, suddenly gets a bullet in the back of his head, he dies on the spot.
The same goes for Jincheol, who is physically the strongest.
Sometimes, the more I analyze the rules of the hotel, the more I feel it.
Who on earth created a system that ‘encourages betrayal’, and how do they expect us to behave in a place like this?
Once again the flow of thoughts returned to the hand of greed.
The sponsor said this was a very powerful force.
However, there were quite a few moments when I was disappointed while actually using it.
Although the butterfly brooch, monocular bird’s eye, and chef’s hat obtained through greed were quite amazing, they had great weaknesses in a place full of trials like a hotel.
For example, a butterfly brooch is an item that even an ordinary person would not get hit with if the other person is conscious of it.
Although it can put the object it touches to sleep, the medium is really just a butterfly.
The chef’s hat doesn’t work well even if you’re just a trained human.
Of course, it’s something that doesn’t exist in front of the monsters that overflow in the hotel.
…
When was it? I suddenly realized.
I realized that the problem was not with greed, but with me, Eunsol Lee.
As the name suggests, this power is a power that must be used ‘greedily’.
When I realized this… .
I gave up high hopes for the Hand of Greed.