Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 513
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EP.513 Episode 513 – Room 207, The Gate Room – The Third Trial ‘Miskatonic University’ (15)
Episode 513 – Room 207, The Gate Room – The Third Trial ‘Miskatonic University’ (15)
– Kim Ari
Sometimes you can’t tell what you’re seeing even when you look at it with your own two eyes.
A good example is the shard of mirror I now have in my hands, a fragment of the transcendent power that allowed Lucas to use absurd forbidden magic.
“…”
I reflected on my actions.
Why did you kill Lucas and steal the mirror shard?
It’s simple.
Because it is clear from the circumstances that Fortuna is the boss of the second trial and Lucas is the boss of the third trial.
Therefore, both of them must be dealt with in order for the trial to end successfully, and the risk of the fourth trial that Cain will undergo will be reduced.
Mukseong was taken aback by my sudden behavior, but I couldn’t help it.
It was an urgent situation, so there was no time to explain everything, and more than anything, I was concerned about his silent attitude.
This is because he had personally experienced the massacre of the Vatican before turning back time, and thus he became subtly sympathetic to the Miskatonic University side.
Finally, I wanted to get the mirror piece.
Of course, Lucas won’t just give this to me, so I have to kill him and take it from him!
…
What kind of being is Fortuna?
To answer this question, we must first answer ‘what is a mirror?’
A mirror is something that reflects something.
It’s easy to overlook the common tool we see on our sinks every morning, but mirrors don’t reflect people as they really are.
The me in the mirror is a reversed version of myself.
That is, mirrors essentially reflect us in a slightly different way.
Fortuna is right before our eyes, but in some context she is a resident of a completely different world.
He sees us as something other than human – monsters or chaos.
Before reading the memories, I thought they were beings that protected humans and hunted chaos beings under the orders of the Vatican, but it was completely different.
In Fortuna’s cognitive realm, the entire world is nothing but chaos.
However, since Aidia asked them not to kill anyone, they only harm chaos entities and not ordinary people.
It’s easy to explain the results, but it’s the process that matters.
What process did Seungyeop go through to transform into the monster called ‘Fortuna’?
I want to get the answer from now on.
— Stab!
As if reading my mind, the tiny piece of mirror emitted a mysterious light.
Then an urgent voice was heard.
“no!”
“Sophia.”
“I don’t know what you were thinking earlier! But the Master said. What you’re holding right now is the most dangerous thing in the world -”
For a moment, I burst into laughter.
Now I killed Lucas, a classmate who had been with Sophia for a long time.
But Sophia was worried rather than resenting me.
Why?
Because my mother, who could see the future, told me to trust in silence.
Because I predicted that Mukseong and I would be her most important colleagues.
Eunsol, thank you.
“Sophia, I’m sorry. But I can’t help it.”
“Ariya… .”
As Sophia points out, mirror fragments are truly extremely dangerous objects.
If there’s anything more dangerous than this in Room 207, it’s the ‘larger piece of mirror’ that Our Lady has.
So what I’m about to do is a huge gamble, but it’s a gamble I must take.
Why?
My thoughts from the hotel before the third ordeal began.
Why did Mukseong and I come to the hotel?
Of course, there is also the revival of the maze, but strictly speaking, this is my personal goal, not the goal of the administration.
It was to prevent destruction.
One day, a strange light descends from the sky and everything ends.
What causes it and how can I fix it?
According to Cain, the setting of the fourth trial is 21st century Korea, and the content of the trial is similar to the apocalypse that occurs in real life.
According to the Swallower’s view of Prisoner 103, the Room of the Damned is a dramatization of real events that happened somewhere in the universe.
So, in a larger sense, what kind of world is the world of No. 207, which is a single worldview, dramatized?
It’s reality.
Room 207 is a stage adapted from reality!
We are previewing the causes of the destruction of the real world and the solutions in issue 207.
Therefore, I must learn more about the ‘Mirror’ even if it means dying.
Of course, I will admit that there is a ‘one more chance’ behind all these decisions, which provides an additional opportunity.
No matter what, if you don’t have any coins left, you can’t gamble~!
— Phagec!
I grabbed the mirror tightly.
Then, a distant being beyond the mirror reached out to me.
*
Up, up, up.
A portrait space so high and endless that it is difficult to imagine the concept of ‘above’ anymore.
There was ‘someone’ or ‘something’ in that area.
One who endlessly seeks out at the center of infinite portrait space.
He was a being who resembled Buddha so much.
Other prisoners’ retinas melted and their minds collapsed the moment they saw it, but ‘that thing’ was completely different.
On the contrary, I was calmer than ever, and my heart was at peace.
What is the identity?
The true form of Yaldabaoth that Lucas was trying to summon?
It looks a bit like Buddha –
‘It’ reached out to me.
“…!”
In an instant, everything that made up me – Kim Ari – began to twist!
In that distant realm where the boundary between reality and unreality, the soul and body cannot be distinguished, I screamed alone and silently.
I was marble and clay in the hands of the sculptor.
…
I look at the ‘me’ that has been shattered into pieces.
Among the pieces was a tiny, beautifully shining jewel.
The distant sculptor examined the jewel with deep eyes, then shook his head and put it down again.
As if this is something I can’t do on my own.
…
I felt sad.
I couldn’t tell if it was my own feelings of suffering or the feelings of the Great One who was ‘sculpting’ me.
An insurmountable limit.
A fake fate that cannot be escaped.
A being that is closest to perfection, but ultimately imperfect.
…
‘He’ was a distant being that could not be described in words, but he was not a being that had reached the ultimate.
A being that falls just slightly short of the ultimate realm.
It was only a difference of one step at most, but I vaguely knew it.
Some gaps can never be narrowed, even if given an eternity.
Therefore, he was an eternally imperfect creator and could not become a Buddha.
Moreover, an imperfect sculptor can never create a perfect creature.
*
– ???
When I woke up, Sophia was standing in the same position as before, looking at me.
Behind him was a confused silence, and behind him was Fortuna, slowly getting up.
It felt like I had suffered for hundreds or thousands of hours from the distant being beyond the mirror, but in reality, was it only a few seconds?
“Ariya, are you okay? You suddenly grabbed the mirror and closed your eyes -”
After hearing Sophia’s silent words, the moment I saw him, I realized.
What Seungyeop went through happened to me too.
…
I hated silence.
His voice, his breath, his face – everything about him was so repulsive that I couldn’t bear it.
However, the being that quietly rose up behind him was completely different.
Fortuna was extremely beautiful and wonderful, and above all, she felt ‘human’.
A boy who felt the same way as me ran towards me with a blank expression.
The surprised Mukseong tried to stop him, but the gap was too big.
“Who, older sister? Older sister?”
“Then. You saw it in the spirit world?”
“No, it was a loathsome enemy that invaded my mind -”
“Do you hate me?”
The boy opened his eyes wide.
“No way! Who would have thought there would be another human besides me and Aidia in this world…?”
“Aidia… .”
The powerful bond felt between those who were distorted by the mirror – could this be the principle that allowed Aidia to control Fortuna?
“Fortuna, I beg you, could you please go to a place where there are no people and stay still?”
“…”
Confused eyes.
This must be because Aidia’s request to kill all the university forces and my request are contradictory.
I said it a little more strongly.
“Are you going to ignore my sister’s request?”
“… no.”
When I looked back, I saw Mukseong and Sophia with surprised expressions.
“Sophia, I have a favor to ask -”
I feel like I’m going to throw up just by making eye contact.
I was out of breath and wanted to slice it into isosceles polyhedrons right away.
If this continues, I feel like I won’t be able to hold it in any longer than a minute and will tear out Mukseong’s neck.
It’s not a problem that can be solved by willpower alone.
Even Seungyeop, who loved Yumi and practiced martial arts to the highest degree, buried his true self in his subconscious and turned into Fortuna, right?
Right now I’m suppressing my instincts with reason, but only for a little while.
Soon, my reason will find endless reasons to kill Silence and Sophia – and the people of the world.
We need to take special measures before that!
“Ariya?”
“Bring me the sarcophagus of immortality. You keep it, don’t you?”
A girl with her eyes wide open in surprise.
“T, Master!”
“Yumi?”
“I told you not to open the sarcophagus before Horus comes.”
“I don’t mean to open it completely. Just, listen to one word. Then I’ll put you back to sleep.”
“Are you listening?”
“Sophia, please. Don’t forget what your mother said. Trust me and follow my will.”
In the end, Sophia could not refuse my request and left to get the sarcophagus.
…
After Sophia left, Mukseong approached cautiously.
“Your current condition is not normal.”
“…”
“From the movement of your eyes, the changes in your expression, the twisting of your lips… it seems like you feel intense emotions whenever you see me and Sophia. Is that right?”
“…”
“Is it difficult to even have a conversation?”
“Let’s have the last meeting after the sarcophagus arrives.”
Soon, Sophia returned with the sarcophagus.
I thought with my hand on the sarcophagus lid.
Could the being sleeping inside be the woman I expected?
“Mukseong-ah.”
“hmm?”
“If the person sleeping inside isn’t Maze, turn back time immediately.”
“… That’s right.”
— Clang!
When the sarcophagus was opened, inside was a girl who looked like a sleeping princess.
This eliminates the need to use One More Chance any more.
The remaining opportunity will probably be for the ‘next trial’.
“It’s a maze.”
“It’s a labyrinth.”
“Wow! It looks exactly like Arirang!”
He took a step closer, reached out, and stroked the girl’s snowflake-like hair.
Exhale slowly, savoring each moment.
…
I feel the hostility towards the world that was boiling like a storm subsiding.
It may sound childish, but the best cure for hate is love.
Something that even the imperfect Creator could not touch.
The strongest piece that makes up my inner self.
Love for mazes.
“Ugh… Where am I?”
When Miro finally woke up, rubbing her sleepy eyes, I asked her a favor.
“maze.”
“Huh? Ariya! What is it? This is already the third trial -”
“Tell me.”
“Huh? Huh?”
“Tell me with your own mouth.”
“What are you talking about -”
“Tell me not to forget who I am. And tell me that you love me.”
Are you surprised by the unexpected and somewhat embarrassing request?
The girl with her rabbit eyes opened looked confused for a moment, then quickly got up and hugged me lightly.
“Why are you acting like a child! Alright. Don’t forget, you’re Ariya. I call you my daughter, but I want to think of you as a sister. I love you!”
*
After the last meeting with Mukseong, he asked cautiously.
“Ari, if it’s as you said, Fortuna is the boss of the second trial. So… does that mean that in order for the trial to end successfully, Fortuna must die in addition to Lucas? Or is it because you can control her?”
“Well, either way, it’ll all come to a close soon.”
“…”
“I’m going to Spain with Fortuna. Sofia, please give me the tickets.”
Just before departure, I thought about the three futures or possibilities that Ga-in had told me about on the train.
Me in a shabby classroom.
This is what it looks like when I was taking a class at Miskatonic University.
A picture of her walking under the blue sky wearing a white one-piece dress.
This is like a commencement party, I guess.
Finally, me in the ruins that looked like a meteorite had fallen.
…
I feel the end of the third trial approaching.
I plan to meet Our Lady of Aedia for the last time.
I wanted to confirm at least one thing.
She believes that she can save the world with the power of mirrors.
Is that salvation the same concept as the ‘salvation’ I think of?