Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 398
Only Krnovel
EP.398 Episode 398 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (14) Fin
Episode 398 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (14) Fin
– Kim Sang-hyun
It wasn’t until the next morning that I returned to Sherry Mama’s house.
Did she wait at the window all night for the two men to return?
Mom ran out to greet me before I could even ring the doorbell.
“Mom, why don’t you go in -”
“Johnny! What the hell happened?”
My mother was so excited that I had a hard time coming to my senses.
“Why are you hurt so much!”
“Sherry, I can take care of myself, so please take care of Timothy. He’ll probably need to be washed and fed.”
Sherry Mama looked back at me with a worried expression as she led Timothy into the bathroom.
“Hoooo… .”
As Mama said, my condition wasn’t normal either.
Even though I excitedly shouted ‘THIS IS AMERICA!’, the fight went on longer than I expected.
What kind of weapon is a double-barreled shotgun?
No need for a long explanation.
Isn’t this the very definition of a man’s romance, expressed with a single ‘click’ sound?
…
Men are not the type to do complicated calculations by thinking about it in detail.
That is, men’s romance is usually inefficient.
Thanks to that, I thought about it more than 1000 times all night.
I should have just grabbed my AR-15 somehow!
Well, I guess it’s fine.
Isn’t it because I somehow managed to kill that damn skeleton?
Around lunchtime, I had a serious conversation with Sherry about Timothy.
Mama said she would take care of Timothy, but taking responsibility for a child is never something to be decided on a moment’s sympathy.
So I told Timothy in detail what kind of illness he had and what kind of problems he might have in the future.
Mama’s will was unwavering.
I realized once again that she is one of the kindest people I know.
He is also a rich man.
Financial resources are a very important factor in raising a child with a terminal illness.
At this point, all I can do is end.
Because the affairs of those who remain must be decided by those who will remain in this world in the future.
As time was running out, I said goodbye to Sherry.
How should I spend the last few hours?
… a good idea occurred to me.
*
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 231
Current Location: Tier 2, Central Hall
Wise Man’s Advice: 0]
– Han Ga-in
The long and tiresome hotel day is slowly coming to an end.
We fought really hard to get to this point!
The fact that the number of advices is 0 is proof of this.
Ari, leaning against the wall with holes here and there, muttered.
“This event will end soon, right?”
“Maybe. In fact, it’s been quiet for about 20 minutes now.”
“Ugh… That was really hard!”
Songi also complained from the side.
“I thought I’d be able to relax a bit since we had a week of party time.”
I think the same thing.
What the hell kind of party is this?
All I remember is putting on a ridiculous show with some ridiculous cult members outside and then coming back with a demon?
Even when we returned to the hotel, an even more tiring fight awaited us.
“…”
Before I knew it, the surroundings became quiet.
Even at this moment, time flowed without stopping.
There are only about 10 minutes left until party time ends.
and….
The teacher hasn’t come back yet.
Little by little, my colleagues began to speak up one by one.
“Actually, I knew something like this would happen someday. That guy has been to hell once.”
Elena heard Ari’s words as if she had given up.
“I understand you, sir. Every moment in the hotel must have been painful….”
Songi seemed a little disappointed.
“But, still! Leaving like this! Don’t you think this is a bit much, Pero?”
— Beep!
Grandpa looks like he’s given up.
“It was bound to happen at any moment. I mean, one of us could have gotten away somehow.”
Ariga said something.
“Mukseong, you said Sanghyun would definitely come back?”
“That’s wishful thinking! How can something like this turn out the way I want it to?”
In this way, when my colleagues began to calm down one by one and accept reality.
— Ting!
I heard the elevator arrive.
— Crazy!
Everyone got up and ran towards the elevator!
Beyond the slowly opened door was a man wearing clothes that one might wear at a tropical resort.
“It’s been a while, everyone. Did you all have a good rest during the party?”
Everyone’s mouths were half open.
“I took a vacation on the beach in California after a long time. I took a walk along the beach while drinking a refreshing cocktail, and all the stress that had built up went away.”
At this moment, there was only one thing I could say.
“teacher!”
“Gen. Cain?”
“Everyone believed in you, teacher!”
“yes?”
And so, the happy ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ ended.
… You were happy, right?
[End of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’!]
*
As the days passed, something truly magical happened.
The building, which looked more like a ruin after the destruction of humanity than a hotel, returned to its usual, splendid appearance in the blink of an eye!
Even my colleagues, who usually don’t bat an eye at anything unusual, were busy looking around with their eyes wide open.
Besides that, many things have returned to the way they were.
Miro cheered as he looked at the pocket watch.
“It’s true! The midnight maze is filled again!”
— CLANG!
The teacher hugged the pure white spacesuit that fell from the sky.
“Oh my! Thank goodness. I was worried that the protective suit would disappear after being turned into an admission ticket.”
Of course, my strength is the same.
[Descent: 1]
“Okay! It looks like it’s all over. But, there’s something we need to do right now, so let’s gather at the central table!”
It was nice to hear my sister’s confident voice after such a long time.
As soon as she sat down at the table, Ari opened her mouth.
“You’re all probably tired, so let’s just say what’s necessary. First, tell me what each of you got. I’m so out of it that I don’t even know what happened to each of you.”
To sum it up, it’s simple.
I have finished the wing boots along with the information about the outside and they will be coming tomorrow.
Sister Eunsol has obtained a powerful tool through the hands of high-powered greed, and she is also scheduled to come tomorrow.
Elena, Ari, and Miro relieved themselves of their burdens.
Jincheol and Seungyeop had a topic about Arima.
Grandpa and Songi received a new blessing.
It seems like the doctor had a good rest.
Next, we shared our opinions about the next room.
“It is decided which room you should go to.”
Everyone nodded at the teacher’s words.
“Of course, we should exclude the rooms at the gate among rooms 104, 206, and 207. Room 104 should also be excluded since Ga-in’s descent stack has returned.”
“There’s only room 206.”
“Yes.”
Room 206, the last cursed room left on the second floor.
Ari muttered cautiously in the tense atmosphere.
“Do you all remember? Room 206 is….”
“It’s a particularly difficult cursed room.”
“That’s right. What did you say in the weather forecast?”
I remembered it clearly.
“A three-way battle, a common topic in creative works, check the date often.”
Grandfather quickly emphasized.
“You guys, don’t forget something important. Do you remember the information Ga-in got at the hotel cinema?”
The power that the Administration seeks to save the world.
The hotel responded as follows:
There are two treasures, not one, and one is an hourglass.
The other one is given in the ‘most difficult curse room’.
That is, it is the legacy of No. 206.
Interpretation of the weather forecast and speculation about the legacy of No. 206.
We discussed the two subjects until late at night.
*
Han Ga-in: Ari, come out.
Kim Ari: …
Han Ga-in: …What is this? A prank?
— Squeak!
“Haaam! You asked Mukseong to use the private chat window? We had a meeting late into the night, what are you talking about at this hour?”
“Sorry. I was just too curious to hold back.”
“What is it?”
“What happened outside. I felt like I should tell you.”
“Hmm, I was curious. So, how does it feel to have escaped?”
“The outside was not my reality.”
“…”
“I had no parents, no friends. I didn’t even have a middle school to graduate from. The high school building was different.”
“…”
“But the administration office recognized your and your grandfather’s names. Maybe you and your grandfather are the whole world.”
“I see.”
“You knew that, right?”
“…”
“Well, it’s okay. I didn’t call you here to ask about things like this.”
“What did you call me to tell me?”
“…”
I recalled yesterday’s events again, when I wrote Gangrim and killed Apollyon and returned to the hotel.
“I used the descent method outside. Of course, when I came back, the numbers recovered.”
“You must have done something spectacular.”
“As I told you before, Gangrim isn’t just an ability that increases your physical strength. It’s much more… complex.”
“Complex?”
“Would you believe that you could distinguish the shape of each and every one of the million snowflakes falling from the sky?”
“… This is truly divine power.”
“Thanks to you, I, who wrote Gangrim, can feel things that I would never normally notice.”
“…”
“I had a vague, really vague realization. At the time, I didn’t even know what I had realized, but as time went by, I felt like, “Could this be what it meant?”
“…”
“Is this reality?”
He waved his hand lightly in front of Ari.
∞
This means infinity.
“… What the heck.”
“What the heck?”
“How did you ‘feel’ that?”
“Because it’s the descent.”
“What a truly absurd power.”
Ari didn’t deny my answer.
Soon, anxiety began to creep into her eyes.
“If you had realized that fact, you would have known another truth.”
“Truth? What truth?”
“In this universe, there is no such thing as ‘the world that Han Ga-in lived in’ -”
“There’s no such thing? The reality I lived in has already disappeared, and there’s no way to get it back, whether it’s my parents or my friends?”
Could it be because I was smiling as if nothing happened while saying this?
Ari opened her eyes wide in confusion.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Okay, then. It’s okay.”
“Are you okay? How can you be okay when your parents don’t exist? Are you a filial son with the fire attribute?”
“…Why is there a fire-attribute filial son there?”
“No, I’m surprised.”
I honestly didn’t care.
It’s not because I didn’t care about my reality, which was crushed in infinity.
“Ariya, is that why you’ve been hiding it like that all this time?”
“…”
“If I find out about this, I’m afraid I’ll turn around and go on a rampage or something.”
“Even if you don’t rush in, you might be in for a big shock.”
“It’s okay. I’m really okay.”
“why?”
I laughed so hard that Ari felt reassured.
“Because I got a promise.”
“promise?”
“I told you, when the hotel cinema ended, the hotel made me a promise. If I could just overcome all the trials….”
“I will give you an acceptable happy ending.”
“That’s it.”
“No, there’s no such thing as a happy ending or anything -”
“Ariya, do you really think you and the Bureau have everything figured out in this universe?”
She closed her mouth, seemingly speechless.
“Of course, there’s a lot I don’t know. But, I do know one thing.”
“…”
“As far as I know, there is no place that is as omnipotent as a hotel. This is where you can say ‘yes’. Think about it. Why did you and your grandfather come here in the first place?”
“…”
“You tried to achieve something that was impossible with the help of the management office, with the help of the hotel?”
“yes.”
“I am the same as you.”
The next day, we entered the final cursed room.