Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 546
Only Krnovel
EP.546 Episode 546 – One Ticket, Ten Dreams, and the Last Stop of the Train (2)
Episode 546 – One Ticket, Ten Dreams, and the Last Stop of the Train (2)
“User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 0
Current location: Gateway Train
Wise Man’s Advice: 3”
– Han Ga-in
The world we live in is truly a ‘strange place’.
This is a thought that came to mind while listening to Ari and her grandfather’s explanation.
There were some parts that I had guessed, but there were also quite a few parts that I didn’t know about.
After the lengthy explanation, the companions naturally scattered around the train and fell into deep thought.
As is often the case with hotels, the gateway train was also possible because it had an endless number of carriages.
Fortunately or unfortunately, once we reached the final destination, there was no urging to get off immediately.
It’s an important moment, so it’s like they’re asking everyone to come to their own conclusions.
*
While I was sitting by the window, someone came and sat next to me.
“What are you thinking?”
“I have various thoughts. What about Elena?”
“It’s similar. The story I heard today is the most amazing story I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“…”
“Did you know that the world repeats itself?”
“…”
“Gain and Sanghyun have been out before….”
“I had a vague idea.”
‘Loop water’ is a material that frequently appears in creative works such as movies.
This was not just a fantasy, but the reality itself.
The world repeats itself endlessly.
Therefore, birth and death were just two ends of the cycle.
“Do you remember when we first met? When I asked what month and day it was in reality, everyone remembered a different date.”
“I remember.”
The reason why each person remembered a different date in reality.
I just thought it was because they were being caught every few months or years.
In reality, everyone was caught in a ‘different loop’.
“Ari said. Hiding stories about reality is not her own decision, but the policy of the administration. Because… .”
“Because if you know the truth, you’ll easily break down mentally.”
“… That’s right.”
My parents and younger sibling are no longer in this world.
Also, I am not the only one who has lost a family member.
The same goes for other colleagues.
Because the family disappeared in the repetitive flow of the world.
“Ari… said. Our family would no longer exist in this world. Not because someone killed them, but because they had never been born in the first place.”
“…”
“My parents weren’t even born, and my sister never existed… When I go back, someone named ‘Elena’ will just fall from the sky.”
A painful story of being left alone in the world.
It’s mentally difficult for most people to endure.
So the management agents involved in the hotel hide this fact from the participants.
“I always missed going outside the hotel… but when it’s time to go out, I don’t know what to do.”
“… You said you wanted to be an actor, right?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
He looked a bit uneasy.
So, she pointed to the ‘dream’ she was holding tightly in her hand.
“The means to get it back is now in our hands.”
Elena smiled, as if those words were somewhat comforting.
Just before leaving, she muttered:
“But Mr. Cain.”
“yes?”
“When does the loop start and end?”
“…”
If the world repeats itself, where does the repetition begin and end?
Ari’s answer to this was simple.
“Was the universe like this from the beginning?
The administration just found out too late?
That may be true, but no one knows the exact answer.
This question is similar to ‘What was there before the creation?’ or ‘What will happen after the end?’
“No one can answer.”
*
Not everyone is as sad as Elena.
On the contrary, there were some people who were hopeful.
“Your expression looks good.”
“Of course! Pero, you too?”
— Beep!
Songi’s expression brightened as she fed the high-quality nuts, macadamia, to Pero’s squeaking beak.
“I went out and thought about how to write ‘Dream’.”
“…”
“There are limits, right? For example, make me the President of Earth! I don’t think that’ll work.”
“well.”
“Actually, I don’t really have any thoughts on this. I just need to ‘paint over’ my parents.”
“…”
“I’m sure you two will love me now.”
I heard that Songi grew up in an environment that was financially well-off but lacked love.
For her, the ‘dream’ might be the hope of having a ‘more perfect family’.
“Brother. Don’t you have anything to say?”
“Yes.”
“yes?”
“When you paint, always make sure to make a large cage for Pero. He’s a picky eater and only eats nuts, so prepare a bag of sunflower seeds coated with capsaicin.”
— Beep!
“Cook! But oppa, birds don’t know if capsaicin is spicy even if they eat it.”
I didn’t know that.
*
Is a family that has ‘painted’ the world with the power of ‘dreams’ a true family?
It’s a fairly profound philosophical question.
While some people, like Songi, did not care, others came to the exact opposite conclusion.
This is Jincheol hyung.
“My mother passed away.”
“…”
“Whew… He passed away. From his perspective, his son, who was like a rice cake, suddenly disappeared one day.”
“…”
“I’m just sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, hyung.”
“What does right or wrong mean?”
In Jincheol’s opinion, his brother’s mother has already passed away.
“You’re painting over your mother with dreams? I have absolutely no intention of doing so. It’s just an insult to my deceased mother.”
“Brother, just in case -”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of saying such things to Songi. Am I an idiot?”
“thank god.”
“I used to dream of becoming a martial arts fighter.”
“I heard.”
“If I go out this time, well, should I try some management work?”
“The administration will be interested in us anyway.”
“That too.”
A moment of silence.
Soon, my brother asked cautiously.
“Gain, are you thinking of going up to the third floor too?”
“I don’t think it’s a matter that needs to be decided now. In terms of order, going out into the real world comes first.”
“I’m a little anxious.”
“What part?”
“Look, many of us have already acquired great power and treasure.”
“We’ll have to see how much we can use it outside.”
For example, if Jincheol loses his blessing and regenerative powers, his inheritance will be effectively useless.
Elena’s ominous imagination is also nothing more than a self-destruct tool without a clear vision.
In the past, I also couldn’t use the Book of Incarnation normally without the status window.
In my case, I have overcome many of those limitations since some time ago, but not my colleagues.
Can you use blessings in reality?
According to Ari, there were people who could write.
“What I’m saying is this. If you fail while climbing the hotel, you’re guaranteed hell, so why come back to such a dangerous place?”
“Yes.”
Aside from all the treasure troves, the hotel is, to put it bluntly, hell.
We already know how dire the fate after failure will be.
Why on earth do you come back to a place like this?
“But there are people who come back. There is also a third floor prepared for them.”
“… That’s right.”
“That’s why I’m anxious. The reality is….”
I think it would be even more horrible than a hotel.
I thought there would be a reason to come back.
Didn’t the management duo say that in the first place?
The ‘light that calls for an end’ also exists in reality.
*
There were also people who showed a cynical attitude like Eunsol.
“It was funny.”
“…”
“Grand stories like the repetition of the world didn’t really hit me that hard. The scale was so big that it actually made me feel dazed.”
“…”
“It was much more shocking to learn that my family was gone.”
“That could be possible.”
“Gain, next is the kill point. What kind of emotions do you think I felt?”
“…”
“I thought, ‘Thank goodness.’ I thought about what I would do to my fucking brother and greedy little brother when I went outside… .”
“…”
“Huh? I don’t need to do anything? It’s already disappeared from the world? What’s going on!”
A vague memory of Room 101.
Eun-sol, the daughter of a wealthy family, is said to have had a difficult relationship with her family.
Seeing you say this, it seems like you weren’t just friends, you were enemies.
“What is this? A dream? Make a wish come true? Bring back a loved one? Nothing like that? Gain, do you want it?”
“Sister, calm down.”
My sister’s expression was not good as she said something along the lines of “It’s fortunate that my family is gone.”
No matter how distant the relationship was, there’s no way you can enjoy saying things like this.
“… I’m sorry. I got excited as I was talking.”
“It’s okay. Everyone has been coming to me since a while ago. I feel like I’ve become a counselor.”
“Foot!”
My older sister laughed as if it was funny and answered simply.
“I understand. I think you would give me some good advice. I guess everyone feels this way. So, do you have anything to say to me?”
“I mean, it’s a dream. There’s no rule that says you have to add only the person you love.”
“…”
“If you don’t intend to bring your family back, then spend it somewhere else. Wasn’t there something you loved about your sister too?”
“…”
“If it helped -”
“Thank you. I think I know where to use it.”
*
There were also people who were as thoughtless as a maze.
“I don’t know~!”
“okay?”
“The cycle of the world and all, it’s amazing, but it’s so amazing that I can’t really understand it.”
This part also has similar reactions from other colleagues.
Because the scale was so large, it was actually a story that was hard to grasp.
There are many cases where people are shocked at the point where ‘the whole family is gone’ rather than thinking about the cycle or the loop.
The maze didn’t even have that part.
Because even before hearing Ari’s words, she knew that she had skipped at least several decades.
The shock and fear caused by the death of his parents is something that Miro has ‘experienced before’.
So Miro turned his attention to other problems.
“Look at this. Can you see the hand mirror?”
“…”
“I was looking at the mirror in the bathroom… . Someone spoke to me. At first, I was startled and tried to call Ari, but then I knew!”
“…”
“It was my voice. In the mirror, there was another me that wasn’t me! This is what you and Ari were talking about… .”
“Ghost Story Maze.”
“Ghost story! It’s scary! Gain, can you get rid of this?”
“I don’t know.”
I really don’t know.
There is something more mysterious than a formless ghost in the current maze.
“Oh, I heard it from Eunsol!”
“…”
“There’s something whitish over me! Am I possessed by a ghost?”
“It looks that way to me too.”
“Whoa!”
“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
“I, really? Do you know what you’re saying? Or are you just lying to me to deceive me?!”
“Really. It’ll be okay.”
This statement is also true.
“Nothing will happen to you.”
“huh?”
“Miro, when you return to reality, stick to Ari.”
“Is it still like that now?”
“Please continue to do so.”
“Pfft! Another idea occurred to me.”
hmm?
“Can’t Gain be next to you?”
Mazes often leave people feeling bewildered.
*
Of course, there are people who are lost in deep thought.
Sang-Hyeon Hyung belongs right here.
“A great mystery has been solved.”
“What is it?”
“Mom, do you remember?”
Sang-Hyeon grew up in a somewhat disadvantaged environment, and it is said that he received help from a woman in the village called ‘Mama’ who was like a godmother to him.
At the time of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sang-Hyeon Hyung came back after seeing reality like me.
‘Mama’ recognized Sang-Hyeon Hyung.
Not only did he recognize his brother, but he also recalled memories of his brother’s alma mater that had disappeared as the loop repeated.
“I never thought Mama would have the talent of an agent….”
“I would say ‘a weak talent’ to be exact. If an agent needs 10, she seems to have 3 or 4.”
What talents are needed to become an agent of the Administration?
High intelligence enough to graduate from a prestigious university?
Physical abilities comparable to those of an athlete?
Or the superpower to throw a car with a snap of your hand?
Not all of them.
Those are the abilities needed to become an ’employee’ of the management bureau, and there was only one talent needed to become an ‘agent’.
‘Awareness of the loop.’
An agent is someone who can protect their self even in the midst of the repetition of the world.
“According to Ari Yang, we will now have agent talents.”
“That’s right.”
“I thought I could maintain the continuity of my ego even after the loop… The story after that was even more bizarre.”
In some ways, the story about the ‘agent’ was more bizarre than the story about the world.
“You work for the administration and live, but you get hit by a terrible chaos entity and die. You lose consciousness like that, and then you come to your senses at some point.”
“…”
“The point of awakening is different each time. Sometimes it’s the 1900s, sometimes it’s the 1980s, and of course sometimes it’s the 2000s.”
“It’s a fascinating story.”
“Aside from the fact that it’s strange, does it make sense?”
“…”
“In order for a being called ‘I’ to be conceived, I need my parents’ genes. That’s science. If my parents disappear, I shouldn’t be able to be born.”
“I guess so.”
“The existence of an agent is something that deviates from this natural order. My parents disappeared, and I was reborn. In the same body, in the same mind!”
Agent means a strong glass that does not crumble even in the midst of an endlessly collapsing sand castle.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Brother, if you’re going to argue about whether something makes sense or not, the hotel itself doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s true, but….”
A moment of silence and one last question.
“… I had a dream and this thought occurred to me.”
“Tell me.”
“Can I bring my wife and son back to reality?”
“I think it’s possible. That’s what it was intended for in the first place.”
“… Do you think that the family you dreamed of is your true family?”
“Is there an answer to this question? However, this is what I think.”
“I will listen.”
“If identity is determined by genetic identity, then the family conjured in a dream will be a real existence.”
“…”
The hotel must have that level of capability.
There was nothing more to say.
Because the rest is up to you to make your own choice.
*
Just when I was starting to think that it was time to end the counseling class with ‘Mr. Han Ga-in’, two people showed up together.
“Hey, Gain, you worked hard today!”
“There’s still some consultation left.”
“Oh my, aren’t we finished?”
“what?”
“Isn’t Seungyeop next?”
It looks like we’ll have to extend the counseling class.
“I’ll skip the small talk. Do you see this?”
Ariga took out a ‘thermos flask’.
“Do you know what I have in here?”
“It looks like some strange thing, a mixture of machine and flesh.”
“It’s a camera. It’s a ‘living camera.’”
“…”
“I want to take a picture of you with this. What do you think?”