Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 35
Only Krnovel
Episode 35 – Room 103, Room of Curse – ‘Athanasia’s Human Ranch’ (4)
Episode 35 – Room 103, Room of Curse – ‘Athanasia’s Human Ranch’ (4)
[User: Mmmmmm
Date: ㅁㅁ1st
Current location: Tier 1, Room 103 (Curse Room – Athanasia’s Human Ranch)
Sage Advice: 3]
How can I escape from this ‘ranch’?
The conclusion is simpler than you think. That I can never leave this place on my own.
How can a chicken get out of the poultry farm on its own?
If you can’t get out on your own, the answer is to borrow the power of someone who can get out.
And the teacher, who is able to leave, is sealed by Athanasia.
Ultimately, all escape plans end in one direction.
How can I free you from Athanasia?
Plan A, ‘Diverse Perspectives’, to directly control Athanasia and disarm the control device failed.
If so, it’s time to find Plan B: a collaborator.
From the sky to the ground, literally the entire horizon was filled with unidentifiable ‘faces’.
A space where some faces constantly let out soft screams, but most only let out moans as if they had lost the strength to do so.
Thanks to this, the entire vast plain is filled with horrifying groaning sounds.
The faces of countless intelligent beings that I cannot recognize.
If I hadn’t become numb to the horrific scenes after staying at this ranch for so long, I might have screamed as soon as I arrived.
Since there are ‘faces’ all over the land, it is not easy to walk.
Aside from the fact that the ground is soft, the strange-looking mouths keep trying to bite my feet, so I have no choice but to move around, bouncing like a rabbit.
They said there was a collaborator somewhere on this vast ‘Farm of Pain’. Where on earth is it?
As we continued to struggle, Athanasia appeared from a distance.
Should I hide? She quit.
Anyway, there is no terrain to hide in the vast plain full of faces, and I found Athanasia.
It is fair to say that Athanasia, who has far better senses than me, discovered me long ago and came to me in search of me.
A shape that is now more familiar than a person.
A huge human-shaped creature that seemed to be at least 6 meters tall, with thick tentacles that seemed to replace limbs.
Athanasia approached me, silently watching me, and then walked at a slower pace, less than half the speed she had when approaching.
It probably means follow me.
Has the Devourer regained his strength?
?
what. Are you ‘talking’ to me now?
I was so surprised that I stopped without realizing it. I have never communicated with Athanasia before!
Don’t you understand what I’m saying?
“No… can you also use human language? “I’ve never heard it before?”
Let’s just say I’m unusual. I’ll ask again. What is the condition of the swallower? You will know that you cannot get out without his strength.
“The devourer… do you mean the teacher? He stopped all the Athanasias in the locked room.”
That’s enough to get you kicked out.
I spoke with Athanasia for the first time. Then, I asked the question I had as soon as I arrived.
“This place full of faces… The teacher said it was like the prison of Athanasia.”
It is a hell where the intelligent beings who opposed Athanasia were imprisoned with only their heads pulled out.
“Why on earth… why are you doing this? “Why are you being so cruel to people, or rather to all these creatures?”
That’s a stupid question. Are ‘humans’ merciful to creatures of lower rank than themselves?
I was momentarily speechless. But Athanasia continued the conversation.
In fact, the premise of such a question is wrong. Because ‘Athanasia’ did not create this hell in the first place.
I don’t know if the ‘real Athanasias’ out there are running this hell, but at least it’s not Athanasia who created this hell, but the Tower of Trials itself.
‘Tower of Trials’. Are you talking about a hotel?
“I’m asking because we can talk, but why on earth are you helping the teacher, or rather the Devourer, escape? Aren’t you also Athanasia?”
What does the race given to me matter in a puppet show?
puppetshow. I knew it as soon as I heard that word.
This being…
You know that all of this is happening inside the hotel.
Just like ‘teacher’.
Also, I figured it out after hearing your question. You still don’t know much about the providence of this place.
The goal of the devourer is not escape. For he can never get out of here.
?
I was surprised again. Your goal is not to escape?
“And what is his purpose? “What is your purpose?”
The purpose of the devourer will become clear at the end. Let’s say my purpose is… the survival of the self itself.
“Survival of self?”
You have a vague idea of the providence of this place, but you don’t know exactly. I have a suggestion, so let me explain.
The Tower of Trials has existed for a very long time and has attracted countless intelligences…
Those who passed the ordeal to the end achieved a miracle.
The Tower of Trials, of course, refers to a hotel.
Most don’t pass. The losers remain trapped in the tower forever and become actors in the group drama that the tower creates.
Sometimes you kill the participants, sometimes you are killed by the participants, and you become part of the tower without even forgetting who you are…
“So do you”
You are a loser.
Now I don’t even remember who I was. Let’s go back to the original question.
Why does Athanasia help the devourer? That’s because they aren’t real.
Beings who run a ranch for intelligent beings, trapped in the roles assigned to them by the tower, without even knowing who they are or where this place is.
However, the reality is that they themselves are nothing more than animals trapped in a ranch created by the tower.
How can such a thing be called my compatriot? Know this. There are only two true beings in this ‘room’. One is the participants like you, and the other is the ‘devourer’.
“According to what you said, you know so much about the Tower and have awakened from your ‘role’, so aren’t you a true being?”
I just maintain my ego by living as a parasite on the ‘swallower’… ‘He’ periodically destroys my ‘role’ and restores my ego.
But is the restored self truly true?
Who knows?
Maybe I am a doll created by the ‘swallower’. It may be a tool to wait for ‘participants’ like you to reach this place…
So I would like to ask you a favor.
“…”
One day, if you sufficiently overcome the pagoda’s trials, you will at some point reach the ‘Buddha’ or the ‘Room of Resurrection’.
At that time, I pray for the salvation of ‘Estabio’…
I am Athanasia.
You will be stronger than most beings you will encounter in this tower. It will definitely be of great help.
A familiar story. After Ga-in got hurt at the swimming pool, he said that when he met the ‘doctor’ who came to room 105, the doctor made that suggestion.
After hearing that, we learned that there was a kind of ‘loser’s revival’ in the hotel. After the doctor, I heard the suggestion of ‘Estabio’.
I didn’t know what to say, so I just walked without answering anything.
Estavio didn’t speak to us again after that, and we continued walking through the plains filled with faces.
Has it been almost two hours?
In fact, this plain full of faces was so hard to walk that I was struggling in less than 30 minutes, and Estavio lifted me up without a word.
After moving for a while while still listening, a structure finally appeared.
An inexplicable appearance.
The most unusual part was that no matter how you looked at it, the building looked like some kind of giant creature.
When Estavio entered the ugly building and touched something on the dashboard, it started moving downward. Was this building some kind of elevator?
“Where are we going now?”
Didn’t the devourer tell you?
“He said if I go find a collaborator, he will help me disable the control device.”
One of the controls is located in the facility’s basement.
“If we dismantle it, will the Devourer be released?”
We have to dismantle all three. I’ll help you with up to two, but…
The last one is ultimately up to you.
That may be the final ordeal the Tower has in store for you in this place.
test.
Why on earth does this hotel keep giving me this ordeal? It’s some kind of treasure or something, and I’ve never once wished for it.
Estavio didn’t respond to me after that, probably because he was tired of further conversation.
——-Hook!
Third person.
When I went down to the basement, there were other Athanasias. Even after seeing Estavio, they did not suspect anything and just did their job.
Estavio swooped in and dealt with them one by one as naturally as breathing.
It’s like – we’ve done this thousands of times.
Estavio itself may be stronger than ordinary Athanasia, but…
I think that progressing this far cannot be viewed simply as a matter of strength or weakness.
Perhaps, this series of procedures in which the ‘teacher’ sends the ‘participant’ to Estabio, and Estabio guides the ‘participant’ to liberate the ‘teacher’… has been repeated countless times.
I shook my head and cleared my thoughts. This is a problem that you can think about by going out and sharing it with your colleagues. My sisters and brothers who are smarter than me will be able to organize it well.
For now, let’s just think about getting out.
After some time, all Athanasia in the facility except Estavio died.
Even the transcendental Athanasias, who shake people’s minds with their hand gestures, are seen as nothing more than giant starfish after their heads are pierced with tentacles by the same Athanasia.
How humans look like gods in the eyes of dogs
The meaning of those words was this. These are not great transcendents, nor are they gods. It’s just something a little stronger than a human.
center of underground facility
A translucent hologram in the center of it.
Estavio dropped me off.
From now on, you have to do it yourself.
“Are you doing something with the bracelet? If you wear it rather than me…”
‘Diverse perspectives’ cannot be used unless you are registered as the original owner.
The reason you can use it is because the Devourer took steps that even I cannot understand.
Raise your arms.
Once again, the familiar feeling of my mind floating in the air fills my head.
The ‘target’ this time is something that looks like that hologram.
And as soon as the bracelet works –
I realized the absurdity of this facility.