Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 596
Only Krnovel
EP.596 Episode 596 – The Stolen World (11)
Episode 596 – The Stolen World (11)
“User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 226
You are currently: Searching… .
Wise Man’s Advice: 3”
– Han Ga-in
The moment I was about to put Ari into Eunsol’s dream, I heard a loud noise that sounded like the heavens and earth were collapsing.
—Whoosh!
The kingdom of dreams began to collapse, unable to withstand the pressure of the stone slabs!
“Whoa!”
Could it be because they have become weak from enduring the harsh environment for a long time?
Ari screamed in an unnatural manner and lost her balance, staggering.
“Get in!”
“You, you -”
“Just come in!”
After hastily sending Ari to Eunsol, I turned around and saw an absurd sight.
The entire dream kingdom, filled with gray fog, is torn apart by pitch-black chains!
It’s as if the devil is waving a black marker pen and ruining a painting.
Will I be able to safely return to my dream in this situation?
First of all, what happens to me if the dream kingdom is destroyed while I’m inside it?
He clenched his teeth and summoned the sacred sun.
If it comes down to it, I’ll go out and fight that damn slate!
“ah?”
A pair of incomprehensible eyes appeared before me.
…
I woke up in a pure white space filled with light.
*
“So, after you sent me to Eunsol, you met those eyes again?”
“Perhaps it is the self of the dream kingdom?”
“Did that guy send you to the ark too?”
“maybe.”
Ariga took out the ‘Kingdom of Dreams’ from her bosom.
“The condition is not good.”
Could it be because of the stone slab attack?
Or did you exert effort to send me to the ark in addition to Ari, the user?
Maybe it’s both.
Anyway, the result is that the kingdom of dreams is half ruined.
The picture was covered with dark lines.
“Can you rewrite it?”
“Maybe. But it will take time to recover.”
Ari nodded slightly as she looked at the picture.
“thank you.”
“…”
“You do it too.”
“thank you.”
“Are you feeling okay?”
“… Let’s rest for five more minutes. That will give the old blood time to recover.”
“Yeah. We have a lot to talk about anyway.”
A castle of light filled with pure white.
This is the first thought that came to mind when I arrived inside the ark.
Considering the lofty goal of preserving humanity from the apocalypse, there were aspects of it that felt like a paradise clumsily created by humans.
Those who first built the ark also probably hoped that the ark would be a salvation for pure and beautiful humanity.
— Clang!
“Just stay still.”
“Be careful not to die.”
Sadly, the ark was the first fall of mankind.
Knowing this fact and looking back, the very existence of the ark felt like a black comedy.
“Ari, are you free from the pressure of the slab now?”
Ari answered with a bitter smile.
“Not completely. Once the ark is 100% complete, the stone tablets will also be brought over here.”
In the past, the Silent One, who was the husband of Chun-lian, said that if you endure until the end of time, you will be freed from the stone tablet.
After hearing Ari’s words, I thought back and realized that it was a simple story.
The story is simple: after the ark sets sail, the stone tablets disappear into the next loop, so those left behind in the world on the brink of destruction gain freedom.
“Aren’t you saying it’s safe for now?”
“That’s right.”
“Then it’s fine.”
— Wiggle!
“Here it comes again.”
“Take care of it so it doesn’t die. It’s useful.”
The questions that have been confusing my head for a long time are being answered one by one.
Thinking back, bringing Ari to the ark wasn’t a bad choice.
“It’s pretty.”
Ari strokes the inner wall of the ark with a slightly dazed expression.
After being promoted to the Silent One, he learned the truth about the Ark, but this is the first time he has actually seen it.
First question.
Why didn’t Ari and the other agents know about the existence of the ark?
“You didn’t even know the ark existed before you entered the hotel?”
“Half and half.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I thought about whether there was something to prepare for the end of the world. It’s not like someone told me, but if you work in a place like the management office, you’ll think about this kind of thing.”
Even common people in pre-modern times responded to the situation by preserving food in preparation for winter.
If an organization like the Management Office doesn’t prepare for the apocalypse, that would be dereliction of duty.
“I didn’t know the specifics, like gathering ordinary people to create a god-like being, or splitting them up again to create a huge number of people.”
I knew there would be something, but I didn’t know the specific concept of an ark.
“That part is confusing. During the process of building the ark, all sorts of noisy phenomena occur.”
Suddenly, a rapture occurred and a large number of people were taken away. This bizarre incident did not happen once, but happened dozens of times around the world.
How did I not know this?
“Originally, the ark wasn’t made this noisy.”
“ah?”
“Let’s say the end comes in 2030. In that case, we would start from 2020 and slowly select over a long period of time. Think about it. Don’t you think that’s much more efficient?”
“…”
“The moon’s awakening is accelerating. This time it was especially severe.”
This time, the Ark was made noisily because the end times were brought forward too much, but the story is that it was originally completed slowly over a long period of time.
When I thought about the tremendous commotion caused by the ark circling the world, I thought I knew what he meant.
“Still, it’s confusing. There are too many missing people. The memories of some people who noticed are erased. Maybe even my own… I don’t know about this part. There are no records left up to this point.”
“Why don’t you erase it?”
“Because the very existence of the Ark is a means by which the Silent One controls the Administration.”
“A means of controlling the administration?”
“The Administration is made up of regressors and the general public who support the regressors.”
Agents who are regressors and the staff who support them.
“The latter, the general public, are quite jealous of the agents.”
“…”
This is a story that Eun-sol and Jin-cheol, who are half-employed at the management office, often tell.
Even people like Park Hyun-min, the head of the Korean branch who rose to the highest rank as an employee, sometimes could not hide their jealousy toward the agents.
“From the perspective of the Bureau leadership, agents are great weapons, but they are also a burden. They repeat the loop and become too powerful for the Bureau to control.”
The wisdom of the past generations is a good example.
“So, we hope for the complete loyalty of the general public and secretly spread information to them.”
“…”
“There is a means that allows even ordinary people like you to see the afterlife. Therefore, pledge your loyalty.”
If we compare it to actual history, it is similar to how royalty used high-ranking commoners to keep high-ranking nobles in check.
Aren’t relationships between people ultimately similar no matter how large the scale becomes?
“In short, ordinary agents like me in the past died without even knowing about the existence of the Ark. Just mass disappearances of civilians? What the heck? Then they were struck by the light that called for the end.”
“The light that calls for an end… .”
Second question.
What on earth is the light that calls for the end of days?
“I got information about the light that brought about the end from room 207. The source of that light was a mirror.”
“okay.”
“I think it’s the same in reality.”
“that’s right.”
“After gathering information, it appears that the ‘largest piece of mirror’ was in the possession of the Management Bureau and was used to build the ark.”
“It was the same in room 207, right? The owner of the mirror was Aidya.”
As Ari said, it was the same in room 207.
The owner of the mirror is the Vatican, and the light that calls for the end is a phenomenon created by Aidia.
“…”
“Gain, your thoughts are probably half right.”
As I watched Ari calmly affirming, I eventually had no choice but to come up with one terrible hypothesis.
“Is the light that calls for an end a phenomenon created by those who remain silent?”
“It’s a little different. To be exact, it’s a phenomenon caused by the ‘Ark’.”
“…”
“After completion, the ark develops a kind of self-consciousness.”
The source of the light that calls for the end is mirrors, and the largest mirror is in the ark.
Therefore, the light that calls for the end will soon emerge from the ark.
“…Why doesn’t the ark create the light that calls for an end?”
“To stop the moon from growing.”
The reason the completed ark creates the light that calls for doomsday is to prevent the moon from growing.
…
The group that led the destruction of the ark, including the wisdom of the ancestors, insisted that the very existence of the ark was the cause of the fall of mankind.
Arido himself acknowledged that this claim was true.
In that case, shouldn’t those who want to protect the ark also look for an alternative?
The biggest problem with the ark – finding a way to suppress the moon.
The answer was ‘the light that calls for an end’.
Third question.
“Then what on earth is the moon?”
“I think you’ve probably guessed it by now.”
“I have a guess, but I want to get an exact answer.”
Ari answered with a gloomy expression.
“Do you remember when I appeared in your dream and answered your prayers before?”
“It’s vivid, like it happened yesterday.”
Three stories Ari told.
First, there is a being in reality that corresponds to the Demon King.
Second, the problem of regression, which is often omitted in creative works.
Third, the frame in the temple, the ark moving forward with its back to the sun.
There have already been many interpretations.
“It was mostly about the moon.”
“…”
“The moon beneath the Earth, responding to the Demon King.”
“What’s next?”
“Many regressions don’t show the world after the regressor has regressed.”
“…”
“What happens to the rest of the world after the protagonist returns? Does it disappear immediately since the protagonist is gone? Or does the world’s time itself return?”
“…”
“It would be different for each work. In fact, it is content that is omitted in most regression works.”
“…”
“After the Ark leaves, there are still many people left in the world. After all, the Ark is not a being that fights against the apocalypse, but rather a being that escapes before the apocalypse.”
The problems of the world after the regressor regresses.
Even after the ark has left the world to avoid the apocalypse, there are still many people left in the world.
What happens to them?
“From here on out, it’s all speculation. Since it happened after the Ark left, the management office can’t possibly have any records related to it.”
“…”
“An incomprehensible harmony has occurred….”
“…”
“It is devouring all the souls of those who are left behind after the apocalypse.”
“…”
“Don’t you understand? Gathering the souls of billions of abandoned people, not just one or two, isn’t something you can just say you want to do.”
“…”
“But that’s what’s happening. That’s what it seems. The souls of billions of abandoned people are gathering in one spot, toward the center called the moon.”
Just like the ark, the moon demon was also born from the gathering of countless human souls.
This is the meaning of the picture of the ark avoiding the sun.
The nature of the moon is also similar to that of the 104th week!
“Funny enough, we didn’t find out this information. It’s just speculation from those who remained silent after seeing the Ark’s response to gaining consciousness.”
“What do you mean?”
“One day, just before the completed ark set sail, it emitted a light that would bring about the end of the entire Earth.”
“…”
“The god created by the Management Bureau realized as soon as he was born that those who were abandoned after he left were becoming the nutrients that would breed another disaster.”
“You kill them all with your own hands before the moon swallows you up?”
“That’s it.”
My head hurts.
The ark was built to avoid the apocalypse, and the moon was born from the people who were abandoned on the ark.
Then, arks were built one after another to avoid the moon, and in the process of avoiding them, many people were abandoned again.
The moon grows stronger as it devours those who have been abandoned.
The Ark, having come to this realization, began to annihilate those who would remain on Earth with the light that would bring about the end of the world in order to stop the moon’s growth.
The moon, whose growth had slowed down, knew that it was time to make a decision and began to bring forward the time of awakening.
“…”
The ark was built to avoid the moon.
The moon was born because of the ark.
What is the cause and what is the effect?
“That doesn’t make sense -”
“Isn’t the cause and effect strange? Don’t you have a strong feeling that something is missing?”
“okay.”
“That is the greatest mystery of the Administration.”
“…”
“Everyone feels there is a contradiction, but no one has found the answer. But we can think about it this way.”
“…”
“There must have been another reason for the creation of the ark in the first place. Because the moon demon must have appeared after the ark was created.”
Getting Ari back gave me answers to many of my questions.
The secret hidden in the ark and the light that calls for an end.
The tragic and bizarre reality of the moon.
But the answer to the question raises a new question.
Is the moon the cause of the ark?
Or is the ark the cause of the moon?
Or was there another initial cause that everyone has forgotten?
Finally, I asked a question.
“What made you put agents in a hotel who don’t know the truth?”
“You’re talking like a dog, and you expect me to understand you perfectly.”
“what?”
“The agents who enter don’t even know what the real problem is, but the hotel knows the truth and trusts them to give them the right answer.”
“…Do you trust the hotel that much?”
“Believe me. We’ve solved many problems this way in the past.”
An answer the administration couldn’t find.
The correct answer the hotel has been giving.
My mind, clearer than ever, came to one realization.
As problems get more complex, let’s go back to the beginning.
Didn’t the hotel give us a hint?
By borrowing the power of the hourglass and one more chance, you can solve real-world problems.
Everyone had guessed how to use these two tools long ago.
Endure the moment of destruction with an hourglass, see what happens next, then use One More Chance to go back to the past.
Therefore, the answer to the question lies ‘after the end’.
So, the management office hasn’t found an answer even after so long.
The ark always leaves before the end, but the answer is hidden after the end.
As for the management office, even if they repeat the regression for an eternity, they will not find an answer.
Only we, with the hourglass and one more chance, can find the answer.
So we must have appeared in reality.
— Wiggle!
“This guy, he’s only got a head, but he’s still wiggling around a lot.”
“Be careful. Even though Basilio has incredible vitality, if his brain melts, he’ll be dead by then.”