Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 584
Only Krnovel
EP.584 Episode 584 – The Eve of the Storm – New Year’s Gathering (3)
Episode 584 – The Eve of the Storm – New Year’s Gathering (3)
– Lee Eun-sol
Looking back, wasn’t Gain’s trip to Jeju Island a kind of starting point?
When Ga-in, who had been so strong-willed that she half-ignored the hotel’s advice to ‘keep quiet and rest’, collapsed, the others really rested like docile lambs.
I’m not saying that I played like a total slacker.
I devoted myself to hotel management, Elena returned to being the owner of the Esper, and Jincheol did his best in his work as an agent, right?
Of course, this is a bit different, since it means doing your best in the given role.
…
Time flies, the year has passed, and it is already mid-January.
If you count from the time we escaped from the hotel, it’s probably been 172 days?
The ‘six months’ window for taking action is now approaching.
Won’t the real chaos begin soon?
From now on, we decided to stop individual activities and just gather together.
So Jincheol and I are taking a limousine to pick up our colleagues.
*
“Hey, Jincheol, your driving skills have improved a lot, right? To be honest, a few months ago, your driving skills were really bad.”
“… There was one guy who was talking nonsense about driving, wasn’t there?”
“Who is that? That other agent who was your shooter?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. By the way, is this Songi’s school?”
“Right. Over there -”
“…”
The moment we saw Songi’s school, Jincheol and I were both speechless.
Starting from the playground, there are street stalls everywhere.
The street stalls were run by students, and they were all laughing happily as they made bungeoppang (fish-shaped bread) and grilled green onion pancakes.
Here and there, there were places for playing dice and cards.
The local residents also showed up, braving the cold weather and smiling brightly.
Jincheol, who was blankly watching the scene, muttered.
“Is that some kind of winter cultural festival? Hiya! Korea has really gotten better. When I was young, the only places that could have a cultural festival like that were like local festivals were college. High school festivals were completely formal -”
“It’s the same these days.”
“…”
“Normally, Korean high schools don’t have the money to make a fuss about it, and the parents are all obsessed with the college entrance exams. What kind of festival is this? If you do something like that, it’ll cause chaos. At a time like this, we should hold another special lecture on the college entrance exam.”
“…”
Although this is my first time seeing it in person, I have heard about it several times from other colleagues who have visited Songi School.
Did Songi’s life change like a ‘Japanese manga protagonist’?
I haven’t seen any such manga, but I’ve heard that the Japanese high schools in the manga make a huge fuss about their cultural festivals.
“No, don’t you all feel uncomfortable even like that?”
“I heard that since it’s a school where only rich kids gather, they don’t care about college.”
“Ah~ It’s the kind of school that appears in dramas? So-”
“That’s a ridiculous setting.”
“…”
A school that only has rich kids doesn’t care about entrance exams?
As a former third-generation chaebol, I can say that the image above is a strange fantasy that seems to have come out of a fictional work.
In reality, they are trying to make their children into prestigious universities that recognize their academic backgrounds by any means possible, whether it be through donations or studying abroad.
My deceased father, who was crushed in the loop, was no exception.
“Maybe there was a setting like that in a drama or cartoon that Songi saw.”
“… Let’s go pick her up.”
“I told you to stay outside?”
“He won’t come out, so I have to go get him.”
After entering the school to pick up Songi, Jincheol and I saw an even more absurd scene.
“Greetings to my dear sister!”
“Hey, Songi! Are you really not going to school next year?”
Songi, who receives love and attention from those around her like some kind of school idol.
Songi posed with her hair fluttering down to below her shoulders and made eye contact with the people around her.
“…What is he doing?”
“We’re in the midst of a touching farewell.”
“No… What is that show?”
“Don’t think of them as students, think of them as idols. Since they might retire, the fans are sad.”
“Ha, is there an idol at your school?”
“I guess that’s just how it is.”
The more I looked at it, the more I found it funny and envious.
Seriously, Songi lived happily for six months without caring about what other people thought!
It’s literally like living a life like a cartoon character.
Should I have made a wish like that?
“Oh my~! Songi too, what’s going on -”
“You, do you still have dreams?”
“…”
“When peace comes, try to dream like a pine tree.”
“What do you mean?”
“In a chaotic world, agent Cha Jin-cheol, whose body and mind are worn out, meets true love while walking around a cold city.”
“Hey, sister!”
“The destined partner is a beautiful actress in her 20s who is exhausted physically and mentally by the scandals of the entertainment industry. She meets a reliable agent, Cha Jin-cheol, and finds peace of mind -”
“Eww!”
While we were passing the time joking around, Songi, who was slightly blushing, came into the limousine.
“Hey, right~! I told you to stay outside the playground!”
“Jincheol asked me to come in.”
“Brother!”
“… I didn’t know you would be playing so noisily.”
“Songiya, what’s wrong? Are you ashamed of your dream?”
“Sister!”
“You should always be confident. I am Yoo Song, an idol from Imperial High School.”
“Whoa!”
Aside from the fun, I had this thought:
Songi’s attitude towards the world is not serious.
It seems like he treats the people around him more like props for his own enjoyment than as people.
At that time, Jincheol asked a somewhat uncomfortable question.
“Song-ya. The way you treat those people right now, uh, seems so different from how you treat us.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“…”
“My brother, my sister, and my colleagues are all my family. Those people are not.”
The expression “family” made me feel touched, but at the same time curious.
Are ordinary people not considered ‘family’?
Or is it that they are not ‘people’?
…
I have no intention of hitting you.
To point out Songi for such a problem, our leader, who is still lying in the hospital bed – and I think most of you would agree – created a cult of idolatry to recharge his legacy.
*
“Oh my~! Eunsol, thanks to you, I get to ride in a limousine that I never had the fortune to ride.”
“Have you ever ridden in a limousine while working at the management office?”
“Do we have to advertise that we’re special people? We hardly ever do.”
“Aha~!”
Following Seungyeop and Miro who had been previously picked up, Sanghyun and Grandfather Mukseong also boarded, making the limousine quite crowded.
“Miro, you were causing a commotion at school, right?”
“What’s the fuss?”
“Inma! I heard everything from Seungyeop. What are you doing at school? Summoning a monster?”
“Wow~! Seungyeop, this guy is really lethal? It wasn’t anything serious, but you told Mukseong about it?”
“… It was nothing. That day, the ghost story maze almost cut off my arm.”
“Are you okay?”
“I, I dodged it well!”
“Then it’s okay!”
I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard the absurd story coming from behind me.
After Ari went missing and Ga-in was admitted to the hospital, Miro truly became a girl who had nothing to fear under the sun.
Well, I don’t think anything has crossed the line yet.
Anyway, Seungyeop’s arm wasn’t cut off, right?
“Hey! Aren’t you going to apologize?”
“Why? Didn’t I help you practice martial arts?”
Miro, this is a bit shameless… .
“Okay, okay, let’s calm down. Shouldn’t we meet Ga-in as soon as we get to the hotel?”
“…”
Indeed, as soon as the word ‘Cain’ came out, Miro became quiet.
It is truly pure love in many ways.
“I think Mr. Gain would like Miss Miro to apologize for what needs to be apologized for.”
“…”
“What do you think?”
“… Sorry.”
Sang-Hyeon knew how to use that innocence.
“Agent.”
“Teacher, I told you I’m a former agent now?”
“How are your children? Did they arrive safely in Texas?”
“I got a call last week. Thanks to you, teacher.”
“no.”
Judging from the way he bowed his head and spoke politely, which was unusual for a grandfather, it seemed like he was truly grateful.
Some of my colleagues had dreams of having families, and after the meeting, they decided to send their entire families to the United States.
I understand wanting your family to be in a safe place.
But is America really safe?
I don’t know.
I don’t know for sure whether Grandfather or Sang-Hyeon are certain, but I wonder if they just had vague hopes.
“…”
I often think this way.
How long will my colleagues be able to regard ordinary people as their true family?
I heard that even my grandfather, who has experience as an agent, has a short career as an agent, so he still treats his children and grandchildren ‘sincerely’… .
What if, in the distant future, we’ve gone through loops again and again?
I think that at that time, we would no longer try to create ordinary families.
“Each of you, don’t you have any secrets or anything?”
“I have a dream left. Is there a maze left?”
“huh.”
“Are Jincheol and Miro’s dreams? The rest?”
“Haha~! I have ‘Awakening of the World’s Best Master’! It’s only for one time use though.”
Seungyeop’s awakening as the best master in the world… .
Not bad.
Maybe I can save everyone once?
By the way, I have the hand of greed.
The problem is that it’s difficult to write when there are colleagues around.
“Arrived! Everyone get off.”
Now that we’re all together, I’m reminded of the old days a lot.
Seriously, it feels like everyone is challenging the cursed room again.
*
– Han Ga-in
— Ss …
I feel outside in a mental world that is like an abyss.
“…”
Among the superheroes I liked as a child, there was a blind hero.
Although he lost his sight, his brain developed superhuman hearing to compensate for his lack of sight, and with that power he was able to perceive space in three dimensions.
At the time, I thought it was a cartoonish exaggeration… .
After being in a semi-comatose state for over a month, I realized that my theory wasn’t entirely wrong.
Just as people who have lost their sight develop hearing, I, who have let go of my entire body, have become more sensitive to a kind of spirituality or sixth sense.
Coming out into reality, it is making up for the damage caused by the weakened blessings to some extent.
Perhaps, this too was the owl’s wish.
“User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: 174th day
Current location: Delight Hotel, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
Wise man’s advice: X”
About 3 days ago, the status window started appearing again.
That the discipline is coming to an end, that the time of recovery is approaching.
That is, it means that a time of tribulation is coming.
and….
“Scenario Understanding has been activated!”
“Scenario: The Stolen World
Specific details will be disclosed after the disciplinary action is concluded.
A Stolen World?