Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 400
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EP.400 Episode 400 – Room 206, The Cursed Room – ‘The Demon King Resurrects in 100 Days’ (2)
Episode 400 – No. 206, The Cursed Room – ‘The Demon King Resurrects After 100 Days’ (2)
One evening, after a hard day’s work, Tobias entered a shabby bar.
People lying around, drunk, everywhere, a loud noise that pierces your ears.
It’s a typical, chaotic scene in a bar.
It was also a place where Tobias’ colleagues gathered.
One of his colleagues, Henderson, discovered Tobias.
“You’re here. Aren’t you a little late today?”
“I got punished for eating over 30 seconds. I had to work for 30 more minutes.”
“Good job.”
Soon the organizer of the meeting, Pendleton, began to whisper to everyone.
“Everyone, is the current appearance of paradise really the utopia that our ancestors dreamed of?”
‘That can’t be true.’
There was confidence in Tobias’ heart.
Although I had never experienced another city since I was born, life in paradise was so painful.
“The problem of the whole thing is the mayor, Leon Kadyrov. Kadyrov and his party have turned the paradise created by the founder into a hell for their own selfish desires.”
“Pendleton, what should we do then?”
“Good question, Peter. We need to drive out the market.”
“What I mean is, ‘what’ should we do? Kadyrov’s gang has a tight grip on the informants.”
“… Everyone, listen to me. Have you ever heard the ‘Voice’?”
‘voice’
The moment that word came out, Tobias nodded his head repeatedly.
Because there is a strange rumor that has started to circulate among the city’s lower classes.
When everyone’s ears perked up.
— Clang!
A cold metallic sound was heard.
“Citizen Pendleton of the Third Class. You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit treason.”
“Hey, Inforce! Where the hell are you from -”
The moment a man, who realized the situation too late, tried to run away in a panic –
A man of enormous build blocked the entrance.
“Stop. If you don’t want to fall behind.”
That was the end of it.
*
– Kim Muk-seong
I woke up in the role of a third-class citizen, an informer.
I thought about it as I dealt with the heavy workload that kept coming down without any time to catch my breath.
Paradise is truly an incomprehensible hell.
The city design itself was strange.
A hemispherical dome of unimaginable size covers the ground, and inside the dome is a city-state in which at least tens of millions of people live.
The only time citizens can see the real sky is 30 minutes a day, when the top of the dome opens for ventilation.
The indoor air quality was also the worst, and if there had been a fine dust meter, it would have clearly shown red numbers and warned us to put on a gas mask immediately.
There was one fortunate thing.
“Oh, Grandpa. This is so hard.”
“Is there a lot of work to be done?”
The presence of my colleague, Cha Jin-cheol.
As soon as he got into the car, he looked around and spoke in a lowered voice.
“Grandpa, I was working and I was feeling a little down….”
“Tell me.”
“What we’re doing, doesn’t it feel like we’re puppets of a dictator? Didn’t you know that Pendleton, who we arrested earlier, is a democracy activist?”
“I don’t know if he is a democracy fighter, but it is true that we are the weapon of the dictator.”
“…”
“Empty your mind. Think realistic thoughts.”
“What kind of city is this? I’ve never seen such a dirty world before.”
I thought Jincheol was just a simple guy, but even this guy started to come to his senses after rolling around for about three days.
“It’s a structure that actually encourages pushing, infighting, and betrayal. At least that’s the life of a 3rd or 4th class citizen.”
“I guess he meant for you to fight amongst yourselves instead of sticking your teeth into each other’s mouths.”
“…the quality of life is too low.”
“Because it’s a cogwheel.”
Every human being in the city was like a cog in a wheel, each with their own role to play.
The role of the informer is to control the city as the mayor’s right-hand man.
“Oh, this is the book I picked up earlier. There was one left in the corner of the library.”
After reading the information obtained through other routes and the ‘history book’ that Cha Jin-cheol had obtained, the outline or basic setting began to appear to some extent.
About 180 years ago, the known world was destroyed for unknown reasons.
At that time, the great hero ‘Shijo’ appeared and led the people to build paradise.
The people of Paradise are the last humans left on this planet.
“What are the conditions outside the city like?”
“Well… It doesn’t seem like there’s any way out in the first place.”
“Grandpa, what should we do now? Where are my colleagues?”
It’s goal setting.
I’ve been thinking about something for the past few days.
“Do you know why we lost our power?”
“I heard a strange voice when I woke up. Is it the indomitable spirit?”
“It’s clear. In the process of that unidentified force suppressing all supernatural forces, we too have become weaker.”
“Honestly, I was impressed. It wasn’t just the stars in another world that were blocked. My strength was like that of an ordinary person who just worked out hard.”
“No, that’s not it. What kind of normal person are you? You’re just the Hulk turned into a gorilla.”
“Let’s say that’s true. I got a feeling right away. Grandpa Indomitable Reason, Ari, and the Management Bureau are what they want, right?”
“…”
“You’ll be amazed at first glance. It suppresses supernatural powers so powerfully?”
“That is the long-held dream of the Administration. In any case, we must find a way to overcome this indomitable force.”
“I will overcome it.”
“If it’s a tool, there must be a way to stop it. Otherwise, we’re just ordinary people who use force. There’s no way to shake up the city.”
Cha Jin-cheol nodded as if he agreed, but asked one question.
“Why aren’t you very happy? This must be the thing the administration dreams of.”
“…”
“Grandpa?”
“I think I know the principle of indomitable reason.”
“yes?”
“The Administration has been researching it for a long time. Of course, we failed in development due to our lack of technology. However, in this world, we succeeded in development.”
“If you failed, how do you know the principle?”
“It’s in the same direction as what we were trying to develop.”
“…”
“The result is plausible, but in reality it is a very… evil thing.”
“An evil thing?”
“It’s clear that this is what caused this city to become like this.”
“Ha, Grandpa. Could you elaborate a little more?”
“As I expected, in order to create the Indomitable Reason, they would have killed an unimaginable number of people. But that’s not the end. Even after it’s created, humans must be sacrificed continuously in order to operate.”
Cha Jin-cheol was speechless.
“The Bureau gave this name to the thing they were developing: ‘The Soul Furnace.’”
*
– Elena
I am a third-class citizen.
As I have come to realize over the past three days, every human being in paradise has a role to play in the city.
My role as an actor is to relieve the public’s stress through dramas and movies.
It looks like I’m a pretty popular actor.
Even the staff and directors on set are aware of me, so in reality I’m a star actor.
What kind of person is a super popular star actor?
They are called ‘celebrities’ and their social influence surpasses that of most politicians.
At least that’s what it was like in reality as I remember it.
This is a story that does not apply in paradise.
The reason why people are concerned about my feelings is because the staff and directors are also ‘third-class’ citizens.
No matter how popular an actor is, the reality of paradise is that they are just ‘third-rate’ people.
So, we have to endure these things too.
“Hmm… Miss Elena. Did you write some of the lines in this script?”
“Yes. Is that okay?”
“Pfft. Your face is pretty, but your head is empty.”
“…”
“Well, what can I do since I don’t have a wide field of vision? This is your level.”
“…”
The black flame inside me, no, the black Elena! I have to endure it!
I’ve been hearing this shit for 30 minutes and my fists are starting to hurt, but I’m holding on!
You have to be patient.
That piece of trash in front of you, Patrick, is a high-ranking informer and a second-class citizen.
A second-class citizen can kill a third-class citizen at will, as long as there is a good reason to do so.
“There hasn’t been an answer since a while ago. Is it because you have a low IQ? Do you think that if you have a pretty face, you can just bow your head and get away with all the problems?”
“Whew… If you tell me I’m pretty, I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“That’s a compliment. If you didn’t have that face, you would have been shot at the very moment you came up with that line.”
“…”
“Thank you, I modified your crappy script accordingly.”
With those words, the man handed over the censored script.
The first page looked like this.
■■■, ■■■ City ■■ Market ■■. ■■, ■■■.
■■’s ■■■■■ ■■’s ■■■■■.
Jeong■■ ■ ■■ ■■■ Lee■ ■■ ■■■ ■.
By collecting a long string of letters like this, the following sentence was completed.
‘The mayor’s decision saved everyone.’
“…”
“What do you think?”
“What a great line.”
I think that even some of the most dictatorial regimes on Earth would react by saying, ‘This is a bit…’ if they saw a script that was censored to this extent.
The other actors, directors, and staff who read the script censored by the high-ranking informer were collectively shocked.
“What, what kind of line is this -”
The moment when one of the staff members accidentally opens his mouth.
— Clang!
“Are there any complaints?”
Patrick aimed his pistol.
“Oh, that’s right! I was so impressed by the quality of the script.”
“That’s great. Let’s proceed with filming.”
The ambassador was dissatisfied.
I just had no complaints about the gun.
*
At some point, people on site just put everything aside and waited for work to end.
At some point, the director stopped asking the actors to reshoot even if they made a blatant mistake.
Finally, the painful filming of the drama has ended.
I was attached to the TV shows I appeared in and the roles I played.
Of course, I know that some dramas and entertainment shows don’t get good reviews.
Even so, each and every one of them is an experience and a good memory to me.
Except for the one taken today.
My head started to spin as I recalled the lines I had just said.
““Oh! Mayor, Mayor! Your wisdom has saved everyone!”
Thinking about this again makes me angry again?
Market, Leon Kadyrov.
Isn’t this kid a pervert too?
Did you really want to see lines like this in a drama?
“Phew… .”
I stopped thinking about random things and thought about more important things.
Where are the other colleagues?
I know about Eunsol, she is a second-class citizen and director.
I have never seen it myself, but the cinematographer knew about it.
Are there any first-class colleagues among you?
As far as we know, second-class citizens and above are the ruling class of the city.
Among them, the person at the top, Mayor Leon Kadyrov and his key officials are first-class citizens.
Anyone among us who can do level 1….
Would Gain be able to do it?
If that guy is first-class, wouldn’t he be devising a plan that would shake the city by now?
With these hopeful thoughts in my mind, I went home and lay down on the bed.
…
…
…
— Thud!
The moment I felt a presence and was about to wake up, a soft hand covered my mouth.
“Quiet.”
Fortunately, it’s a voice I know.
“Ugh, ugh!”
“Speak softly.”
“Ari! How did you find me?”
“Oh! Mayor, Mayor! Your wisdom -”
“Eww! Joe, be quiet!”
When I think about it, it’s so easy.
You saw me on TV.
“Elena, did you find your companion?”
“Sister Eunsol is a second-class director. I don’t know the rest. Do you know?”
“Mukseong and Jincheol are third-class informers.”
“Mr. Cain?”
“I don’t know.”
“you?”
Suddenly, a question occurred to me.
If you want to meet me, why don’t you just pretend to be a fan?
Since he was a popular actor, he had a lot of fans and even signed autographs on the street.
“I have no class.”
“What is that -”
Paradise is a dystopia halfway to hell.
The setting is not science fiction, but rather the near future, about 20 to 30 years ahead of reality.
A word that seemed completely out of place against this backdrop came out of Ari’s mouth.
“I am a devil worshipper.”