Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 392
Only Krnovel
EP.392 Episode 392 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (8)
Episode 392 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (8)
– Han Ga-in
How vain are words!
Is there anything in the world as meaningless as a promise?
Evil people try to deceive for their own selfish desires, good people try to deceive for a greater good.
Therefore, all humans are capable of lying, and it doesn’t make much difference if you replace the word human with ‘god or devil’.
I am no exception to this rule.
So should we blindly suspect and be hostile to every being we encounter?
If you keep doing things like this, you’ll just end up turning the whole world into your enemy.
You must be able to distinguish between situations in which a promise can be kept and situations in which it cannot.
The criterion for this is whether or not there is a coincidence of interests.
If the interests of A and B coincide, the promise between them is likely to be kept even without coercion.
If the interests of A and B collide, the only question left is who will betray first.
I had two promises before me.
Apollyon, the demon who served Ichthys, promised to find me a body that fell from the sky.
The administration promised not to interfere until the demon found my body.
The promises of the administration are trustworthy.
Because their goal is to gain the power to save the world from the hotel.
If I go back to the hotel and help the two agents, my chances of achieving my goal will increase.
The administration keeps its promises not because they are a good group, but because their interests align with mine.
How about Apollyon?
His goal is to have a mysterious parrot as his servant, a goal he can achieve without necessarily finding my body.
All you have to do is control the parrot’s mind with evil powers.
Rather, I think it would be dangerous to exert effort to find my body, as it could attract the attention of the administration.
…
If the interests of A and B conflict, how can we ensure that they keep their promise?
I also learned this answer at the hotel.
Interests must be aligned.
*
After Cain joined the sect of Ichthus, faith took root in the mystical parrot’s heart.
This is another miracle that the great father has created.
Ichthus thought so.
“Ichthus, may I give you a piece of advice?”
“Haha! Cain, my friend. The advice of the wise is my favorite. Feel free to give it.”
The content of the advice was beyond Ichthus’ expectations.
Cain stressed that the way the church was run was too old-fashioned and crude.
“Ichtus, how about cutting your hair and shaving?
“Friend, my appearance can make a strong impression on the public -”
“It leaves a strong impression on the management as well.”
“…”
“The number of people who gather for the meeting is about 150. Isn’t that too small? Looking at the ledger, the total number of believers seems to be around 500.”
“There were a lot of casualties during the process of me being caught recently….”
“It’s because the way it was run was too old.”
That evening, Cain returned to Seoul with several high-ranking followers, saying he would teach them the ‘new generation missionary method.’
Two days later, the believers who had visited Seoul returned with a number of people in suits and gave a passionate speech.
After listening to the men in suits for a while, Ichthus’ mouth opened.
“So what the new believers are doing is multi-level marketing -”
“Network marketing, not multi-level marketing!”
“Okay, okay. Network marketing. I get it, but why are you suddenly bringing these people into the classroom -”
A parrot with a mysterious appearance but with the most worldly mind in the world spoke.
“Lord Ichthus, it is a prejudice to think that a church must be built to worship God.”
Cain’s advice was simple.
Because Iktus keeps saying things like ‘I am the son of God’, the administration sends in the army.
So first, gather a lot of people and money through ‘network marketing’.
“No, multi-level -”
“Network Marketing!”
“How can we start such a business when we lack both capital and manpower?”
“Ichthus, what are you worried about when I’m here? Just take over the businesses that are already in operation.”
“…”
Time passed as if possessed by a ghost.
By the time Ichthus came to his senses, the church’s believers had long since fallen for the ‘network marketing’ called ‘Legway’.
Some people pointed out that Cain’s words were full of loopholes and that if he did anything too loud, the administration would notice.
These people were generally wise believers with high social status and good knowledge of the world.
Cain convinced them in just one day, and Ichthus thought that the badges worn on the believers’ chests played a big role.
“…Park Jin-sol, believer, what is that badge?”
“Hey, Ichthus! This is the diamond rank, right? In Legway-”
Cain divided the disciples into classes.
The high-ranking and suspicious believers were all given high ranks.
“Cain!”
“I’m really busy right now. What’s going on?”
“What on earth are you thinking? Are you planning to completely turn the church into a multi-level marketing company? This is an act that breaks the unity of the church!”
“Lord Ichthus, in order to grow an organization, you need to divide it into ranks.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Listen carefully. What is your plan? To disguise yourself as a legitimate business and expand your business?”
“…”
“But someone has to know about the church. Shouldn’t there be some criteria for deciding who that someone is?”
Cain’s words sounded absurd, yet strangely persuasive.
When Ichthus was confused, the parrot who had transformed into a multi-level marketing businessman in just four days handed him a small badge.
“…What is this?”
“Golden Triple Diamond. This is a one-of-a-kind badge. By the way, I am a Double Diamond.”
“…”
“It’s a rank that only Ichtus can obtain.”
Ichthus’s eyes widened as he saw the three ‘real’ diamonds embedded in the gold badge.
Oddly enough, Cain’s plan began to seem believable.
It definitely wasn’t because of the badge.
*
The next day, the congregation was listening to the parrot’s speech as a group.
A parrot that spoke like a human easily captured the attention of the audience because its very existence was already mysterious.
“Who are we? Are we not the chosen and faithful sheep of the great Apollyon?”
…
“How have you lived all this time? Have you been living in fear every single day? Have you been lying flat on your stomach, fearing the swords of the ruthless thugs of the Management Bureau?”
…
“Come. The time has come! The moment of glory has come. Now, do you see the badges on your chests? Do you know that everyone here is at least Platinum rank?”
…
“First of all, let’s get at least one BMW for every household. The building that will be built in Bupyeong-gu? You all know that shares will be divided among you, right?”
…
“Loyalty! Loyalty again! Loyalty to the infinite glory of Lord Apollyon! BMW, Benz, Audi! Let’s go!”
“Let’s go!”
The disciples chanted, “Let’s go!” with their eyes half rolled back.
Ichthus, looking at this sight, was in awe in the purest sense of the word.
This is the first time I have heard such a sermon that is so explicit and worldly.
But this sermon completely destroyed the hidden desires of the believers.
If you think about it, it’s obvious.
Who wants to be stuck in a small rural town for their entire life?
Even ‘we’ are the great people chosen by the true God?
I was forced to crouch down due to the management’s tyranny.
That is why the temptation to ‘disguise oneself as a legitimate business to increase one’s influence’ was so strong.
Of course, there were those who doubted until the very end, and Ichthus was one of them.
If you disguise yourself as a legitimate business, there is no outside interference?
This is a tactic that only works when dealing with the South Korean government.
When on earth did the administration ever care about whether there was a law or not?
If something seems a little strange, their method is to take out a gun and kill everyone, and then fabricate a story in the media that a gas explosion killed 300 people.
however….
For the past five days, the administration has not really intervened.
This fact removed the last remaining doubts in the church.
“Lord Ichthus, that is only natural.”
“Of course?”
“The way to hide a tree is to hide it in the forest. Since they were talking about the Second Coming of Jesus on the Korean Peninsula, where Jesus was not even born, they were easily caught.”
“…”
“So, if you want to establish a church, you have to do network marketing -”
“To my ears, it sounds like if you want to commit fraud, you should start a business that is full of fraudsters.”
After Cain’s speech, the rosy atmosphere within the church grew uncontrollably.
*
It was the evening of the fifth day since the church began to dream a new dream.
Cain suddenly went crazy.
Suddenly we couldn’t communicate.
Suddenly he turned into a monster and started throwing the believers around.
Suddenly, during the gathering, he let out a strange roar, causing the congregation to run away.
Suddenly, the brainwashing of multi-level marketing business owners began to wear off.
I have to hold an information session at the new Bupyeong-gu building next week!
The new dream of the church required the power of a parrot, controlling people with a single flap of its wings.
Ichthus’s own strength was not enough.
It was only at this point that Ichthus came to his senses.
The church can no longer go back to the past.
This is because the dream of ‘getting rich!’ has already been instilled in everyone’s hearts.
In reality, the parking lot is full of only tractors, but in the parking lot of our hearts, everyone has parked a BMW for a long time.
Late into the night, the believers desperately begged Ichthus to restore Cain.
Ichthus could not refuse that request.
“…”
— Pretty much!
“Cain.”
— Pfft! Crunch!
“I know you’re listening to me.”
“… Huh, Ichthus?”
“Whew… You’ve been working like crazy these past few days. Was this your intention?”
“What is your intention?”
“Don’t change the subject. You made us dependent on you.”
“…”
“What is it that you wish for?”
Cain opened his beak slightly.
Ichthus thought that this might be Cain’s own laughter.
“You just have to keep the promise you made at first.”
“promise?”
“My body will probably fall from the sky sometime between dawn and noon tomorrow.”
“…”
“Just find it.”
“…”
“Why are you doing that? Wasn’t that what you promised from the beginning? As if you had no intention of keeping your promise… .”
“To be honest, if you regain your body, your powers will become even stronger than they are now.”
Will the sect be able to control Cain, who has become stronger than before?
Ichthus swallowed these words.
“That part has an easy solution.”
“way out?”
“How about you personally take care of my body that fell from the sky, Apollyon?”
“…”
“If I ever think of anything ‘nonsense,’ Lord Apollyon can punish me immediately.”
Ichthus thought carefully about Cain’s proposal.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no flaw in his logic.
What if Apollyon personally collects and preserves Cain’s body, which falls from the sky?
From then on, Cain cannot betray the church.
If you use a strange number, Apollyon will destroy your body.
“I’ll tell my father again.”
“thank you.”
“… Instead, let me calm today’s chaos.”
“Of course.”
Late in the morning, the mysterious parrot spoke passionately again to the followers, apologizing for the confusion caused by his ‘little mistake’.
“Let’s go!!!!”
“Let’s go!!!!”
This time, a Gangnam apartment has entered everyone’s heart.
*
[4th letter: Hanga (Ji)
〿자 : 2〿〿day 〿
Current location: —
Current situation: 〿]
– Han Ga-in
Finally, I got my longed-for body back.
…
The status window was not normal.
It wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t read a single letter like before, but many of the letters were broken and, above all, blurry.
Is it because we have become too distant from our sponsor, the source of our blessings?
Just when I was feeling so refreshed that my mind was completely freed, the voice of the Red Devil was heard.
Are you ready to serve me again?
“…”
You will be my greatest servant along with Ichthus –
The status window was blurry and did not function properly.
It doesn’t matter.
This is because the power you are about to use is only formally included in the status window and is not something that your sponsor has bestowed upon you.
This power was created from the beginning for the purpose of allowing any being to leave the hotel.
“Descent: 1 -> 0”