Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 554
Only Krnovel
EP.554 Episode 554 – I’m Alone at School (4) Fin
Episode 554 – I’m Alone at School (4) Fin
– Kim Ari
“Agent, aren’t you cold?”
“…”
Didn’t answer.
Instead, I recalled information about ‘Pale Breath’.
*
“Pale Breath”
Serial Number: C – 2213
Risk rating: C
An illusive being that appears on cold winter nights.
Appears before people in crisis and tempts them.
Offer up the one you love and I will spare you from a painful death.
Then you will obtain a frozen heart that can withstand the bitter cold.
Management Procedure: Contain
First, infected hosts are managed by confining them in an isolation area inaccessible to the general public.
Second, — 」
*
According to the records, the old man extended his life by sacrificing his loved one after being ‘infected’ by Pale Breath.
That is why I do not sympathize with the host or the sacrifice.
— Shoooo…!
The frozen breath that was slowly starting to be heard.
The temperature keeps dropping.
The heater was clearly on and it was only early fall, but frost was starting to form on the windows.
Seungyeop also said that he had a hard time enduring the cold.
They proudly boasted that the cold had gone away after lighting a bonfire in the quarantine area with ‘Sammaejinhwa’… .
In fact, it wasn’t supported by a bonfire.
I just believe that.
“Agent, where are you going?”
“I told you I was going to your house.”
“My house? My son and his wife live in Gangneung.”
“To be exact, I should say that they were alive. Your son and daughter-in-law died 22 years ago.”
“…”
— Knock knock!
I can hear the window freezing.
It’s getting to the point where it’s becoming unbearable, but it’s okay.
Because we’re almost there.
— Squeak!
“We’ve arrived.”
“This is….”
Stopped in front of an old apartment.
The name is ‘Rainbow Apartment’, and I like it.
Because we’re not going to be isolated in a real rainbow apartment anyway.
“Your name is Kim Dong-ho, right?”
“you’re right.”
“Mr. Kim Dong-ho, please stay here from now on. This is, um, a senior welfare home provided by the current government -”
I climbed the stairs with the old man, muttering random words.
and.
— Clank!
The front door of the apartment is locked.
“… the door is locked.”
The ‘quarantine zone’ of Bangbae Middle School.
Seungyeop seems to blame the management for not being able to physically escape the quarantine area, such as the main gate being locked.
no.
The control of the Administration is to prevent access to the ‘isolation space’ itself, and it has nothing to do with the Administration not being able to leave the school within.
This is the power of ‘Pale Breath’.
“That’s right.”
An old man smiling coolly.
It’s as if even you can’t escape this frozen world anymore.
“…”
As someone whose job is to isolate chaos entities, I often find myself curious.
I want to have a heart-to-heart conversation with crazy monsters.
Do you enjoy trapping victims in places like this?
Do you understand the circumstances under which we are isolating you?
What were you thinking, freezing your son and daughter-in-law to death?
last.
Are you human now?
Or is it ‘Pale Breath’?
“…”
If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
Therefore, do not communicate with monsters.
This is one of the oldest adages handed down to the administration.
I spread out the picture.
— Flutter!
“Hmm? Agent, what is that picture -”
And there was no one.
The old man will breathe pale breath into the frozen world until his last breath.
After the old man dies, the pale breath will be freed to find a new host.
And we will once again find and isolate Pale Breath and its offerings.
This is how the world turns.
*
— Thud!
The moment I woke up next to Mukseong, a glass of water was poured over me.
“Huh!”
“…”
“Kuuuuuu! Hey, looking at you like a rat that got drenched in rain – ugh!”
One punch was enough to silence the silencer.
When I looked at him in disbelief, he added an excuse that wasn’t even funny.
“Hey, hey. How bored must I have been?”
“…”
“You’re planning on escaping to the kingdom of dreams, so I need to catch some sleep, but I need to know when you’re going to escape!”
Because of that, Mukseong had to just sleep on the bench until I wrote the Kingdom of Dreams.
Maybe he took some sleeping pills or something.
I know it’s boring, but does that mean you’re going to spray me with water as soon as I wake up?
Are you still a middle school student at heart?
“Oh, Seungyeop called.”
“Did you get in okay?”
“That’s what he said. And he bragged about it so much!”
“okay?”
“I felt it while listening… That guy, he figured out the most perfect countermeasure for ‘Pale Breath’?”
“…”
Serial number C – 2213, the most perfect countermeasure against Pale Breath.
Even in the cold when the world freezes and the body stiffens, the ‘heart’ does not freeze.
A warm heart that can even withstand the cold waves of the Arctic is the answer.
It’s the most perfect answer, but it’s also an answer that agents have a hard time writing.
Think about it.
How can I maintain a warm heart when I know that the old man threw his son and daughter-in-law into the chaos to save his own life!
“I spoke briefly with Sophia, and she said that Seungyeop seemed especially stupid compared to usual.”
“…”
“If you overthink and calculate, your warm heart will melt, so maybe luck has guided the guy. Anyway, that problem is solved… .”
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“That guy Cha Jin-cheol contacted me.”
“…”
“They say they’re about to start.”
Before returning to reality, we had a lot of conversations with our colleagues on the gateway train.
Among them, the strange story mentioned by Cha Jin-cheol.
*
“Ariya. I’ve thought about it carefully, and I want to be an agent.”
“Agent? Easy. Anyway, you are special talents that the management office is concerned about, so if I report to you-”
“I don’t like that.”
“what?”
“I wish you hadn’t reported on me.”
“What is that -”
“Can you do it?”
*
Someone must have tried to convince me with some clever pun or thorough logic as to why I shouldn’t report to the administration.
Instead of persuading him like that, Cha Jin-cheol made an earnest request.
It’s an absurd and emotional attempt.
“Ari, I didn’t know you would do that guy a favor.”
“…”
It’s easy to fool the management when it comes to hotels.
Because the management knows almost nothing about us in the first place.
Management isn’t even sure exactly how many people are in the hotel party.
If we go into what blessings and legacies each of us has, there will be more information we don’t know than we do know.
I hid a lot of information.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
“You weren’t questioned?”
“Not really. Rather, there are rumors that he will be promoted.”
“promotion?”
The topic of conversation returned to Cha Jin-cheol.
“By the way, Jincheol is really that guy! I wonder what’s so good about being an agent… .”
“It’s mysterious, it looks honorable, and it pays a lot of money, so there’s a reason to like it.”
“Does it feel that way when you look at it from the outside?”
“Rather than that, I don’t know why I’m acting so stupid.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Just, if I convey his intentions to the administration, they’ll put up an agent badge right away?”
“I guess so.”
“But you don’t like that?”
“Hmm… .”
After thinking for a while, Mukseong came up with his own hypothesis.
“Isn’t it the mentality of a second generation chaebol to want to succeed on their own without the help of their parents?”
“The situation is completely different! What’s needed to become an agent isn’t skill in the first place!”
“Is that so?”
Mukseong’s expression was indifferent.
The atmosphere where it doesn’t really matter how things turn out.
I understand.
Just before leaving, I looked at my ‘former colleague’ one last time.
“Get some rest.”
“…”
“Have a happy time with your son and grandson.”
“Don’t say goodbye like this. It’s just a vacation, vacation!”
Kim Muk-seong’s empty wish in the form of a ‘dream’ was the resurrection of his son and daughter-in-law, his grandson, and…
Resignation.
This means that ‘during this loop’ the administration lost information about the silence.
After serving the world for many years, the old man finally finds some rest.
I haven’t told my other colleagues yet.
…
There is no concept of ‘retirement alive’ for agents.
The moment you take your last breath in this world is the only escape, and there are no exceptions.
One day, when the clock hands turn one full circle, the short vacation of silence will come to an end.
*
– Cha Jin-cheol
— Ring ring ring ring! Ring ring ring!
The phone is ringing busily.
I looked at the screen and saw a familiar name.
“Brother Sang-Hyeon”
“Oh my~! Brother, I already told you everything yesterday… .”
— Ring, ring, ring!
If I ignore you any longer, you’ll yell at me later, right?
He is a colleague who is secretly deep-hearted but has a lasting impression.
I got a phone call.
“Brother, it’s been a while -”
“You haven’t started yet?”
“… Not yet. Feel free to talk.”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while since our phone call yesterday, but no matter how much I think about it, it’s not true! Jincheol, you should avoid going to the management office.”
Brother Sang-Hyeon doesn’t like the management office.
It must be because I got beaten up so badly by the maze in the deep sea hotel.
The reason I didn’t make tea at the hotel was because Ari and Grandpa Mukseong were around.
Now that he was out, his brother couldn’t hide his displeasure with the administration.
“I was convinced when I saw the similar organizations that emerged in the room of the curse! They are extremely vicious -”
“Isn’t this an organization that protects the world?”
“… I don’t deny that it’s a necessary evil. However, it’s not a place you should be in.”
Everyone has different views on the administration.
Just as Brother Sang-Hyeon has his own thoughts, I also have my own thoughts.
“Brother, why, isn’t there a saying? If you want to catch a tiger, you have to go into the tiger’s den.”
“…”
“I’ll be watching closely. That’s why I asked Ari not to report anything about me.”
I hoped the administration wouldn’t have any preconceived notions about me.
Then, you will show me your true self without hiding anything.
A quiet silence.
Because we spent a long time together at the hotel, I could feel what the other person was thinking.
Rather than being convinced by my words, I think he gave up because he realized he couldn’t convince me.
“Big, big brother. How are Baram Yang and Jinsol?”
West wind.
Kim Jin-sol.
This is the name of the family that Sang-Hyeon Hyung called ‘Dream’.
Do you think the ‘real family’ created in room 203 and the current two people are the same person?
I don’t know.
I believe that my deceased mother and the person I brought back to life through my dreams cannot be the same.
Of course, I have no intention of conveying these feelings to my colleagues who have painted their families.
Isn’t distinguishing between what to say and what not to say the beginning of so-called social life?
“… I’m fine. I don’t know how well Jinsol studies.”
“You look like your brother.”
“Yesterday, Eunsol came to my hospital.”
“Is that so?”
“There were rumors about Hotel Delight recently, but they are somehow getting it under control.”
“How is that guy, Cain?”
“I heard that the hotel is planning to do something similar to exorcism during the promised break.”
“An exorcist?”
I laughed out loud, but if you think about it, it actually suits you.
It’s been about two weeks since I returned to reality.
I also have a rough idea of how my other colleagues are doing.
Sister Eunsol, who became the hotel’s CEO.
Brother Sang-Hyeon, who opened a decent hospital.
This guy, Ga-in, is suddenly working as an exorcist.
Elena and Songi are enjoying life to the fullest.
Ari and Grandpa Mukseong seem to have returned to being agents again, but they haven’t been in contact with each other personally.
Because I was warned that if I made any rash contact I would be exposed to surveillance by the management agency.
For similar reasons, I did not meet Miro and Seungyeop individually.
“…”
Finally me.
“Jincheol-ah.”
“I’m listening.”
“If you need any help, please contact us immediately. One of us will be there to help.”
“Thank you for just listening to me.”
— Bam!
After pestering Ari on the Gateway Train, he figured out how to become an agent of the Administration without anyone’s help.
There is only one condition to become an agent: ‘awareness of the loop.’
In simple terms, you have to be a regressor.
Of course, there is no public recruitment process like in a company, nor is there an agent examination like in the government.
There is no need for it.
Because regressors tend to show that they have regressed!
I turned on the TV.
“Today’s draw, let’s start! Please press the button with your golden hand! Regardless of the order in which the balls come out, if you match the numbers, you win! The draw begins.”
“…”
“Number 17! Number 43! Number 10! Number 30! Number 35! Number 22! I’ll draw the 2nd place bonus ball! Number 44!”
“17, 43, 10, 30, 35, 22… The last one is 44.”
That’s correct.
Not a single number is wrong.
therefore….
From today, I have become a millionaire with a total fortune of 12.7 billion won.
This is the first step towards becoming an agent.
Of course, there is still a little more to be done.
“…”
Do the people of the world know?
The lottery is a hoax!
This is a real fabrication!
Dear Mother, the dreams and hopes you bought every week were fabricated by those bastards from the Management Office!