Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 590
Only Krnovel
EP.590 Episode 590 – The Stolen World (5)
Episode 590 – The Stolen World (5)
– Maze
How did the sand on the beach and sandy shore come to be?
According to what I learned in school, they were originally large stones and rocks.
Over tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of millions of years, the force of the waves has relentlessly struck the stones and rocks.
At the end, it split, split, split, and split again, and as a result, a vast sandy beach was created.
Waves of information are endlessly hitting me.
A storm of knowledge rages endlessly, forever, without stopping for a single moment.
Here, the weak human spirit is like soft clay.
In just a few months, let alone hundreds of millions of years, it would turn into finely divided grains of sand.
…
I felt a solid wall protecting me.
Unlike the contents of the ‘maze’, which were extremely dangerous, the vessel I was in was incomparably solid compared to stones or rocks.
It is a flame that does not go out even in the deep sea, and ice that does not melt even in lava.
The unchanging power protects me!
— Paaaaat!
I felt my vision brightening.
*
“… ah?”
I woke up in a place that felt like an empty classroom.
Honestly, I don’t like things like school… .
As I was walking around, I felt a presence behind me.
“Who are you?”
As I turned around, I saw an attractive girl with black hair flowing from below her waist.
He looked to be around 16 or 17 years old, but he looked familiar –
“Yes, Yeji!”
That’s the kid in the glass case!
A little while ago, I didn’t recognize him right away because he looked like he was about 12 years old.
She answered with a slight smile, as if she found it amusing.
“Yeji? Do you know my blessing? Hmm… I guess I know but not quite. By the way, my name is not Yeji. I’m ○■☆?”
“…”
I can’t understand just the name part.
The girl who saw my bewildered expression made a face as if she was wondering if that was true.
“Would you like to tell me your name this time?”
“A maze! A maze!”
The reply came back with a subtle bitter smile.
“I don’t understand.”
“Huh? My name is -”
“No, that’s fine. Just call me Yeji. What’s your blessing?”
“… unchanging.”
“I will call you Constant. Stay here for a moment.”
Soon, Yeji went out of the classroom for a moment and shouted loudly.
“Don’t come in!”
Are there any other people?
As soon as Yeji returned, she asked.
“Hey, is there anyone else here besides you and me?”
“Of course. There are many more.”
“Where is this -”
“Stop. I’m telling you this for your own good, so don’t be unnecessarily curious.”
“…”
“There’s a reason, right? Why did you come to see me?”
I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s true that I came to see Yeji.
“I have a question….”
“What is your question?”
“Yes, I said you already knew?!”
Yeji tilted her head.
“You’re not the one asking the question? Did someone else send it in your place?”
“that’s right.”
“Did you say I would know what the question was?”
“huh.”
This is what the ruler said to me:
“…What should I ask?”
“I think she’ll know how to answer. We’ve already asked her countless questions.”
Yeji laughed as if she found the story about domination funny.
“So, the ruler is someone who ran away from school? He seems to know very little about me. Is that normal, since he’s a coward who sends someone else in his place?”
school?
“School? Well, the ruler is also the silent one.”
“The Silent One? What is that?”
Don’t you know about the silent ones?
“Heads of the Administration Bureau!”
“What is the management office?”
“Uh… So, a guardian who protects the world that repeats loops? That’s too nice of a word -”
“Eww!”
“Yes, Yeji?”
“Suddenly! Don’t make such a bombshell statement! What did you say? A world that repeats loops? A secret organization that manages it?!”
“…”
weird.
According to the ruling, Yeji must have been in reality for a very long time… .
Why doesn’t Loop know and why doesn’t the management know?
I heard that even before entering the hotel, Ga-in knew about the existence of the management office.
Could it be that this person is from before Ga-in?
A time when the Administration completely hid their very existence from the general public?
“Ha! I’m going crazy. Anyway, since you told me to answer on my own, I’ll tell you what I want. About myself!”
A story about Yeji herself.
“I guess I’m not a very good student here. I keep trying to see things beyond my capabilities.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My blessing, foresight, is a very dangerous power. Depending on how you use it, it can bring you closer to being omniscient….”
“But?”
“Not only people, but even my sponsors can’t handle all that knowledge.”
“…”
“My sponsor has advised me over and over again: too much is as bad as too little, stay within your means.”
“Shouldn’t we do as he says?”
“I was going to do that. Until a little while ago, before I started talking to you.”
“uh?”
Yejin stretched her hands into the air with a somewhat hazy expression.
I could vaguely feel it just by looking at the hand gesture.
Yeji is moving into dangerous territory!
“It’s impossible now. How can I stop? Just one step away, and all the secrets of the world are within reach!”
“no -”
“I’m going crazy listening to you right now. Is the world looping? Is there a secret organization that controls the looping world? And you want me to listen to such an incredible story and endure it?”
“Hey, don’t do that -”
“Maybe I’ll end up completely crazy at the end of this road. But there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing I can do about it! I don’t plan on becoming a coward who’s afraid of the price I’ll pay in the distant future!”
— Kookung!
I heard thunder.
It was a sound that signaled the end of the conversation at ‘this point’.
It was also the heartbreaking lament of a sponsor who realized that the participant’s doom was certain.
…
As I wandered through the vortex filled with endless information, I vaguely realized what was happening.
I met Yeji, who was overcoming the ordeals of school with her friends back when the hotel was called ‘school’.
The reason why Yeji not only didn’t know the questions the management office asked, but also had no idea about reality was simple.
At this point, the prediction hasn’t even escaped from the second floor yet!
Also, I stimulated Yeji’s curiosity by accepting the advice of her sponsor and trying to endure, which made her go down the path of madness!
I met Yeji, who became a crazy god after pursuing extremes. The reason Yeji went crazy was because he met me in the past?
Yejin passed away a long time ago, but is it my future self who caused her to go crazy?
I couldn’t understand.
Also, I learned that I shouldn’t understand.
*
The next place you wake up is a cavernous place filled with strange machines and black wires.
This time, before I could even walk a couple of steps, I felt a presence next to me.
“long time no see.”
“… Yejiya?”
“Yeah. It looks a little different?”
This time he looks like he’s in his late 20s or 30s.
If it weren’t for the similarity of the circumstances, it might have been difficult to think of them as the same person.
“I, I know what’s going on now!”
“situation?”
“Right now, you’re appearing in front of me from different time periods, right? At first, you were the past you -”
“It’s a matter of perspective.”
“what?”
“Unchangeable, it may seem to you that I am appearing before you from different time periods, but from my perspective, I am seeing you appearing suddenly like a ghost over a long period of time.”
“…”
“It must have been frustrating in the past. I was told to get answers to my questions, but I didn’t even know what the questions were.”
“Do you know what the question is now?”
“I see. What the Administration wants from me is simple. How to delay the Moon’s awakening.”
Information we found out after coming into reality.
There is a moon under the Earth, and the moon is like a demon king.
In the room of curses, the moon corresponds to the prisoner of reality.
The information the Administration wanted from Yeji was exactly how to delay the moon’s awakening!
“Whenever the Bureau sensed signs that the Moon Demon was about to awaken, they built an ark and escaped to the next loop. However, the Bureau knew one thing to be afraid of.”
“What, what is it?”
“The moon’s awakening period is getting earlier and earlier.”
“ah?”
“In the loop a long time ago, it was said to be after the 25th century. But it gradually got faster, and by your point of view, it’s the 21st century.”
“…”
“What if it were brought forward?”
“Well, then… .”
“That’s the worst possible ending the Bureau can think of. You escape to the next loop on the ark, but by the time you escape, the Moon Demon is already awake.”
“…”
“The ark arrives before the prisoners. As soon as it arrives, ajak! The history of the Administration ends there.”
I was out of breath.
“You, you know? How to delay the moon’s awakening?”
Yejin had a somewhat empty expression on her face.
“… one.”
“one?”
“If you go even further back in time, it might be possible, but by the time you get here, it’s already too late. There’s no way.”
“uh -”
“two.”
“two?”
“Advice for you, rather than the administration. Just let the world go to ruin.”
“what -”
“Look what happens after it’s over. Maybe the answer lies there…”
“What does ‘might’ mean? Don’t you know more about it?”
At that moment, Yeji smiled bitterly.
“Sorry. I don’t know the answer either. Because….”
“because?”
“This is an area where the bad ending is completed because the answer is not found.”
what –
The moment Yeji smiled brightly and started operating the machine on the wall, a “push!” sound was heard along with the mechanical sounds from all directions.
“Uh, crying? It’s like -”
“It’s the sound of a baby crying.”
“baby?”
“Maybe I should call him the last survivor….”
Last survivor?
At that moment, the ceiling of the cave opened.
iced coffee…!
I saw it.
I finally saw it.
I saw the crimson moon, the only light source illuminating the dark sky.
This is a world of complete silence.
It is an empty land where even the traces of intelligence that feel pain, sorrow, and despair have disappeared.
As I knelt, crushed by the overwhelming pressure of the moon – Yeji whispered.
“I am here waiting for the final touch.”
“…hands?”
“The final mercy of one who cries for the three thousand worlds.”
He who cries for the three thousand worlds?
“We will soon be collected by his hands. Before that, you had better leave this place.”
—Whoosh!
At the last moment, I saw a giant hand reaching out from beyond the empty sky.
I saw the sight of Yeji kneeling and crying after seeing that hand.
The worst of the worst – even when all human attempts have failed, there seems to be one last chance.
…
Once again, my consciousness became hazy as the sound of the sky ringing came.
There is still one more trip left.
*
“…”
I woke up in front of a familiar glass case.
In front of my eyes was a 12-year-old girl with blurry eyes.
Have I arrived in the ‘present’ again?
“maze.”
Yeji knows my name now.
“I’ll tell you the third story. This is a story about your unrequited love.”
“…”