Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 412
Only Krnovel
EP.412 Episode 412 – Glory and Transcendence (1)
Episode 412 – Glory and Transcendence (1)
– Kim Ari
I suddenly came back to consciousness, as if someone had pressed a light switch labeled ‘Kim Ari’.
I looked around and saw familiar faces looking around trying to figure out what was going on.
The first person to speak was Cha Jin-cheol.
“So… it’s not a solution?”
Gain nodded, leaning against the wall with a slightly pale expression.
“yes.”
“Ahh… That’s too bad. Well, it’s impossible to solve it on the first try.”
Elena smiled slightly.
“Mr. Cain, was my belief correct?”
I don’t know what was true, but given the circumstances, it seems like Elena and Gain were the last two left.
“… the last remaining descent, I wrote.”
No one was surprised.
First of all, Room 206 is the most difficult cursed room, and the most dangerous thing in the cursed room is the first attempt to enter without knowing anything.
So I put his mind at ease.
“Well written. It’s good that he came out alive. Now let’s gather some of the information we each gathered. I’m most curious about where Seungyeop was and what he did.”
I knew where everyone else was and what they were doing, and that the maze was sealed.
What on earth was Seungyeop doing?
Soon, Seungyeop showed a lively expression –
— Bam!
Gain leaned against the wall again with a pale expression.
Miro approached in surprise.
“Huh? Huh? What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
“I’m a little tired. Maybe it’s because the maze is bothering me.”
“what?”
“The maze transformed into the Demon King and put Elena and me alive in the mouth of a crocodile -”
“Whoa! That’s a lie!”
In the meantime, I was amazed at how much fun it was to play around with the maze, but fortunately, it didn’t seem like a life-threatening situation.
“What’s the problem?”
And then a bombshell came out of his mouth.
“I can hear your voice.”
“…”
In an instant, the surroundings became quiet.
Soon, Songi made a shocked expression.
“What, what are you saying? Is it because I used descent three times? What the hell is going on!”
“Is this the voice of the Lord? Or is it the word of ‘revelation’?”
“yes?”
“He told me to come back to room 104. Let’s make one last deal. This time, I’ll definitely prepare a table that will satisfy everyone…”
Everyone started to panic, not knowing what to do.
And then, Gain said with a calm expression.
“I’ll go and talk.”
I shouted as soon as I heard it.
“Who are you talking to! Who are you talking to!”
“I don’t know either.”
With those words, he slid down, leaning against the wall.
*
Gain passed out after making strange noises.
It’s an emergency.
In some ways, it’s a much bigger deal than episode 206.
Of course, Seungyeop’s words were shocking in the meantime.
“I, I found it after I defeated two bears and three tigers!”
A bear and a tiger? Suddenly?
“There was another city outside of paradise. It was also covered with a dome like paradise -”
Eunsol shouted urgently.
“Seungyeop, let’s write that down on the whiteboard and talk about it later. Gain, take a look at the situation first!”
— Bam!
He lightly tapped the table to get attention.
“Listen. The situation itself is within the range we often expect.”
Everyone nodded.
“Didn’t Ga-in mention it often in the first place? If you write Gangrim, something will happen. That’s why she always wanted to go back to Room 104 and negotiate with the Lord.”
Gain is the one who obtained and used the descent.
He must have sensed some ominous future that others could not sense.
At that moment, Eunsol made a subtle expression.
“…Do you all remember what I said before?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The night before moving into room 205, we discussed which room to go to, right? We discussed rooms 104, 205, and 206, right?”
At the time, we had received a promise from the hotel that they would ‘restrain the prisoners in the next room’, and we were troubled over which room to choose.
At that, Elena sighed.
“Come to think of it, I definitely had to go to 206… If I sealed the Demon King, I could just eat 206 raw!”
Eunsol shook her head.
“That’s a decision that can only be made if you can see the future. Don’t worry about the past. More importantly, have you all forgotten what I said?”
I’m starting to remember.
“You told me a funny story about Room 104. It seems like he figured out the principle that allows him to run wild like the other prisoners.”
Eunsol nodded and answered.
“Let’s make one thing clear. No matter how strong a prisoner is, he can’t ignore the rules of the hotel. If he could, he wouldn’t be locked up in the first place.”
A good example is Adravita in Room 203.
He turned us into frozen humans and attempted to prevent the escape and solution of the participants, thus ensuring the permanent existence of Room 203.
Although this behavior seemed excessive and tricky even to the hotel, it cannot be considered a violation of the rules.
Wouldn’t the lead be similar?
It’s not that I’m breaking any hotel rules, I’m just using some kind of trick.
Eunsol reiterated the story she had told at the time.
“Perhaps the main body of the Lord has never intervened since the first attempt, when He descended upon Cain?”
Songi asked back, as if she found it absurd.
“Then who took Gain’s body in the second attempt?”
Up to this point, the flow of the conversation is the same as before.
“The answer is! It’s actually within the information we have.”
What we know about the state.
He is a being who has escaped the concept of ‘identity’ and has created a clone of himself as his legacy.
Additionally, he gave Cain the power called ‘Descent’, which allows him to escape from humanity both physically and mentally.
*
– Han Ga-in
…
…
…
— Ding! Ding!
I came to my senses hearing the familiar sound of a bell.
As I looked around, I saw familiar scenery and familiar people passing by.
Sinbanpo High School, the school I graduated from.
“In a moment, the 21st graduation ceremony of Shinbanpo High School will begin. Graduates -”
“What is this…?”
My first thought was, ‘I feel like I’ve entered a cursed room.’
Now, I recalled my experience in Room 101, which was barely a memory.
However, unlike then, my mind did not seem to be polluted.
…
No.
A madman can’t tell whether he’s mad or not.
Who knows?
Maybe real high school students should all hold guns and have a battle royale at their graduation ceremony.
Even so, is this too much of an imagination?
“Congratulations, Gain!”
“yes.”
In a peaceful atmosphere, my parents gave me a bouquet of flowers.
At this moment, I wish it were a cursed room.
If that were the case, I would have mistaken the people in front of me for my real parents.
A clearer mind than ever whispered to me.
This is some kind of imaginary world, and I encountered a strange situation as a result of writing the third descent.
Even while I was lost in my imagination, time passed steadily.
The graduating class representative came out and started talking about this and that, and the kids who did well on the CSAT were already smiling and talking about college.
Of course, the kids who were preparing for the college entrance exam looked extremely determined just by looking at their expressions.
This is a memory from a few months before I entered the hotel.
“Gain, I made a reservation at the Chinese restaurant near Hamjibak intersection -”
“Dad, I need to grab something from the classroom.”
“Huh? Huh? Gain!”
Talking to my parents in the welcoming room was quite painful.
I spoke confidently in front of Ari the other day.
The hotel promised me a happy ending, so I shouldn’t worry.
…
How could you really not be worried?
About half of it is my wishful thinking, and the other half is just to reassure Ari.
Is there any other place as bizarre as this hotel?
What I think of as a ‘normal ending’ and what the hotel thinks of as a ‘happy ending’ can be completely different!
As soon as I thought about it, I suddenly became depressed.
“So, stop here and just come out.”
Who is this being that shows me visions of the past?
Is this the ‘Revelation’ we talked about after defeating Apollyon?
“Are you listening to me? I know more or less who you are.”
…
“Are you a personality created through the descent of the Lord?”
…
“Let’s say I solve problem 104 and get the Divine Sun. What is the Divine Sun after all? It’s a legacy. Even if the Lord’s incarnation is contained in it, it’s still a legacy.”
…
“The legacy can never bind the participant. Even if you look at my grimoire, it is the same. It has twisted my way of thinking over a very long period of time, but that is the extent of it. There is no such thing as the spirit of the unborn bursting out of my head.”
…
“For the Lord’s plan to be completed, the participant who obtained the divine sun must not go against the Lord’s will contained therein. In other words, the inheritance alone is not enough; the participant himself must also be reformed.”
…
“That’s what I came down for – Hey, you little shit! If you’ve heard this far, come out!”
I feel like an idiot after talking to myself in class for a long time.
The intention of the Lord, the divine sun, the purpose of the descent.
I noticed this a long time ago.
It seemed like Eunsol also had a rough idea of the whole situation.
But why isn’t this kid coming out?
“Isn’t it your intention to trap me in this memory forever? Do you think there’s no way for me to escape this memory?”
With those words, he summoned the ‘Book of Grimoire.’
“If I want, I can tear this space apart with the power of the incarnation. Revelation, I’m being considerate because I want to hear your thoughts -”
“You’re more talkative than I thought.”
“…”
“Be patient. I want to show you my glory.”
Show glory.
What on earth is this?
“Just say it.”
“A thousand words are not as good as seeing something once.”
“You’re secretly a bit annoying… And, why should I listen to you? I know you’re trying to poison my mind -”
“I contaminated you? Really? Isn’t the book in your right hand the culprit?”
“…”
After a while, an unpleasant vision flashed through my mind, like a dream within a dream.
I saw myself standing before indomitable reason.
He controlled the tentacle monsters and sacrificed thousands of civilians without hesitation.
“Isn’t that truly amazing?”
“…”
“I saw you make a decision in room 206. Surely, a ruthless mine like this could overcome the trials of the hotel.”
“…”
“Is this really your essence? I ask again. What has tainted you? Me? Or the Grimoire?”
I didn’t know how to answer.
*
As I came out of the classroom, some friends appeared, who I couldn’t even tell who they were.
Even so, as we exchanged a few words, old memories came back to me.
These are faces I miss so much.
At that moment, Minseok grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him.
“Hey, hey! Come quickly!”
“What’s going on all of a sudden?”
My friends around me were already laughing as if they knew everything.
Even my parents looked at me with excitement.
“What? Did you guys make some kind of event?”
“Ah~! Kid, why do you need events like this? Your life is an event!”
There was a hint of jealousy in those words, along with the playfulness of a friend, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on any more.
In the first place, it was ‘revelation’ that created this strange dream.
What is he trying to show me?
As I was moving outside the playground, led by my friends without a destination in mind, a student from another school approached me from a distance.
“Who the hell are you all of a sudden -”
What? No?
No no no no no no no!
Really?
“Hey! This kid is real!”
The moment I took out my grimoire and was about to tear up my dream without looking back –
The devil’s temptation was heard.
“Why don’t we just meet up and see each other’s faces?”
“…”
She came to me, looking at me shivering and out of breath.
Same age as her, slightly taller than Songi.
Her wavy, copper-colored hair falls slightly below her shoulders.
She’s not an overwhelming beauty like Arina Miro or Elena, but she’s someone who seems to exist in reality.
In the past, a legendary A-class beauty in the province who swayed dozens of male students at Banpo Middle School with a single wave of her hand!
It’s Gayoung.
“Cain.”