Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 609
Only Krnovel
EP.609 Episode 609 – The Stolen World (24)
Episode 609 – The Stolen World (24)
– Maze
The strange liquid bubbled and then suddenly turned into opaque smoke.
After a while it turned into a solid stone, and as more time passed it started to turn into a liquid again.
An hourglass, a strange tool whose contents constantly move between liquid, gas, and solid states.
“Come to think of it, we still haven’t used the hourglass?”
Mukseong nodded at Elena’s words.
“I see? Wasn’t that originally used to withstand the light that calls for the end?”
Ari shook her head and answered.
“That’s just our guess, the hotel never explained how to use it.”
“Then how do you use it?”
Wouldn’t Gain know?
“The person holding it will know. Okay, so what are you going to do now?”
Ari, your thoughts are exactly the same as mine!
Ga-in, who was deep in thought while holding an hourglass, looked at us.
“Do you understand the general content?”
“You want to free the Virgin Mary and use the death of the previous wisdom as an excuse to restore your relationship with the moon?”
“After that, you can enter the realm of the moon, find out its greatest secret, and turn back time.”
“Are you going alone?”
The next words shocked me tremendously.
“I’ll just take you to the maze.”
“Eek!”
Just take me?
Well, of course, I welcome you and Gain doing things together, but…
The moon isn’t some kind of amusement park!
You’re going to take me to the most hellish place in the world?
Eunsol immediately asked back.
“The moon has powerful brainwashing abilities, so wouldn’t it need a flute?”
Right! Eunsol should have a flute, right?
“The flute has to be blown to be effective, right?”
“yes.”
“Right now, I’m trying to approach you as a loyal subject of the moon, but it’s difficult if my older sister is playing the flute right next to me.”
Oh, is that so?
Ari then asked back.
“I am?”
“The moon basically doesn’t like the administration.”
“Isn’t it the same for an agent and a maze?”
that’s right!
“Your ranks are different. You’re royalty, and Miro isn’t.”
“…”
“Actually, the maze is dangerous. The moon might kill you. But if I had to choose one, it would be the maze.”
“Eek!”
I groaned without realizing it.
Gain looked at me, smiled slightly, and said something to reassure me.
“Don’t worry, Miro.”
“No, you surprised me! Wasn’t it a joke that the moon would kill me? I’m Ga-in’s colleague… Don’t make scary jokes.”
“…”
“It’s okay since I’m a colleague of a saint, right?”
In the meantime, Ari nodded as if she understood on her own.
“Can’t we take more than one person because of mental erosion and other issues? I’m the head of the management bureau, so I’ll leave that out, and Elena won’t be able to do it because the Virgin Mary will power up as soon as she dies.”
I’m scared to death, what is Ari saying!
“It’s constant, and thanks to the time zone, it feels like it brings together many colleagues. The maze is definitely the best.”
When I glared at her with my eyes wide open, Ari smiled awkwardly and avoided eye contact, and Gain continued speaking.
“Okay, everyone, focus. Especially Grandpa?”
“Okay.”
“In Room 207, Ari lost her memories, right? If you turn back time with One More Chance, everyone loses their memories. Except for one person, Grandpa.”
“Are you saying I have to remember everything that’s important?”
“Of course, I also wrote down the key keywords in the status window.”
You slyly skipped over my question, ‘Is this okay?’
I know this much now.
Eunsol said with a worried tone.
“Wouldn’t the Moon or the Marauders notice that time has been turned back?”
Gain answered simply.
“I understand.”
“Ugh! Are you sure?”
“Not only the Moon and the Marauders notice, but the Administration also notices. Remember, One More Chance cannot reverse the soul’s disappearance.”
“…”
“How could the entire planet not know that millions, if not tens of millions, of people suddenly disappeared? How could the moon not know that its stomach is full of souls that it has never swallowed?”
“…”
“I don’t think we’ll know exactly what happened before we turned back time.”
Mukseong made an anxious expression.
“Are you sure about that?”
Gain smiled bitterly.
“How can anything be certain?”
“I asked a stupid question.”
“Both One More Chance and Hourglass are powers given by the hotel. They gave it to me thinking, ‘To this extent, we can solve real-world problems!’ So I believe it is possible.”
Gain spent a long time explaining the information she had obtained so far and what would happen next.
When I first got the insight, I didn’t explain anything, but my actions now are different.
What is the reason?
“I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say, Grandfather -”
“I memorized it all!”
“That’s great. Miro, shall we go somewhere quiet for a bit?”
If it were normal, I would have been really nervous to hear those words.
I was a little scared now.
“Yeah, yeah.”
*
A reality filled with pungent dust.
A place that has become more hellish than a hotel.
Gain looked up at the ominously glowing crimson sphere, then suddenly lowered her gaze to look at me.
“…”
Take a slow look at me from head to toe.
It was as if the country was trying to read all the possibilities that belonged to humanity.
After nearly 30 uncomfortable minutes, Gain opened her mouth.
“sorry.”
“…”
“Was it uncomfortable? I had a lot to think about -”
“I’m going to report this to the police. Isn’t this a crime?”
Sexual harassment or something!
Gain looked slightly embarrassed.
“…what you just said was beyond any possibility I could see.”
“Really? Then do you know the relationship between frogs and tadpoles?”
“what?”
“Seungyeop said, tadpoles don’t know what frogs are doing! So when tadpoles are in a tank -”
“No, no. Maze. Just stay quiet. If you add any weird information, it will be confusing.”
Ha! This is it!
You’re saying that my creative thinking, whether it’s insight or whatever, can’t keep up?
Thinking this way, my instinctive reluctance towards Gain and Insight disappeared.
“Hoo hoo…!”
Gain saw my reaction and made a very complicated expression.
“… I don’t know what it is, but it’s good that you look happy. Yeah, that’s better than being scared of the moon.”
“Huh! This is me -”
“Don’t open your mouth. Every time you open your mouth, I get confused.”
“…”
I think I’m going to feel bad again.
“maze.”
“…”
“maze?”
“I told you not to say anything.”
“… Now, do you see this?”
In one hand is the hourglass I saw at the hotel earlier.
In his other hand, a fist-sized object that was a mixture of biology and machine?
“Oh! Is this a live camera? Isn’t this Ari’s thing?”
“That’s right. I’ll show you how to use it.”
At this point, I realized something too.
“Sir, do I really have to write both?”
“okay.”
“Gain-ah! Chi, think calmly!”
“I’m very calm right now.”
“Aren’t you trusting me too much? You’re taking me to such a dangerous place, and you’re entrusting me with your most important tool!”
When I looked into Gain’s eyes, suppressing my heart that felt like it was going to burst, I heard a calm voice.
“The difference between me and the wisdom of my ancestors.”
“uh?”
“Actually, there’s one more.”
“what -”
“I trust you. If you don’t trust your colleagues, who can you trust? So don’t worry.”
“…”
“I saw the potential for you to succeed. Do you believe it now?”
I felt a strong intuition.
Are you saying this is a lie?
No, it’s closer to saying only part of the story than lying.
I saw the potential for me to do something well, but at the same time, I saw the potential for me to not do it well and fail.
But what’s the point of talking ominously at this point?
“Believe me!”
Gain smiled brightly.
I smiled brightly in response.
*
“User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 238
Current location: 1 Uisadang-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
Wise Man’s Advice: 3”
– Han Ga-in
Day 238, one day left until the moon’s descent.
The sealed Virgin Mary was released.
As soon as Aidy woke up, she grabbed me by the collar with a ferocious aura.
“I will chew your flesh alive -”
“Listen to the explanation! My flesh won’t taste very good.”
He looked at the burning Virgin Mary and told the lie he had prepared step by step.
It didn’t even take a minute for the Virgin Mary to become horrified.
“What, what did you say? The wisdom of the past – you killed that old woman?”
“Here, do you see the body?”
The wisdom of our ancestors was not usually reflected in reality.
Because of this, there were concerns that the Virgin Mary might not recognize the body, but her worries were groundless.
Because the Virgin Mary stroked the severed head of the previous Wisdom with a face full of complex emotions.
“That’s true. I really killed that disgusting old woman!”
Contrary to the words, the Virgin Mary had a somewhat sad expression, closed her wide-open eyes of wisdom of the past, and clasped her hands together in prayer.
“I hope you find peace at the end of your hard life….”
We knew each other better than I thought?
It seems like there was no personal grudge, only a public feud between the Virgin of the Moon and the Marauders.
Or, it could be that they are showing mercy since he is dead.
“I’m sorry. It is extremely dangerous to fight against the wisdom of the past, and I think the Virgin Mary would object -”
“That’s enough. There’s no need to dwell on the past. It was truly a great feat to kill this monster. The prince will embrace you generously.”
I realized this after observing the moon several times.
The moon no longer showed its anger towards me.
“The prince will probably… come down tomorrow.”
The date the hotel gave was accurate, as expected.
“Get ready. Now, the time of victory has come.”
*
“Date: Day 239”
The color of the sky changed from early morning.
Because the ominously shining crimson moon threatened to drive out the sun from broad daylight.
As I knelt down and waited after bathing and purifying myself as instructed by the Virgin Mary, the space suddenly began to split apart.
At that moment, the Virgin Mary looked extremely moved.
“Saint, the time of victory has finally come.”
“Congratulations.”
“It’s not something I should be congratulated on, it’s something everyone should be happy about!”
It’s something that everyone will be happy about… .
The concept of ‘all’ that the Virgin Mary speaks of will be different from the universal meaning of ‘all’.
Anyway, I tried my best to look happy.
“Hmm… Your Majesty.”
“yes?”
“… Do you really have to take this girl with you? It’s okay to take a hotel colleague as an escort, but this girl -”
When the Virgin Mary glared at him, Miro hid behind me as if he was scared.
“Is that because you are from the management office?”
“… the prince is not pleased with the administration.”
“Please. He is a very useful comrade. He will be of help to the prince.”
“after….”
Aidy sighed softly and closed her eyes tightly.
It seems like he’s asking about the meaning of the moon.
“I will accept it generously, thinking of the saint’s merits.”
He immediately knelt down and bowed his head.
Miro, who had been standing there blankly, belatedly knelt down next to me.
“Your Majesty, this is enough. Please go in.”
*
What awaited beyond the entrance was an endless fall.
He fell down helplessly, his mouth wide open as if he was about to scream.
Is it because I have regained full insight and my wisdom has become sharper than ever?
I realized one ridiculous thing.
iced coffee….
The hazy moon shape in the sky was not the real moon.
When I stuck my tongue out at the wisdom of my ancestors the other day, I only pulled out a part of their body.
The moon has never been outside the Earth before!
If you think about it logically, is this obvious?
If something as huge as the moon were to come out from underground, the Earth might be physically destroyed!
It is an immediate destruction of humanity, and a great loss for the moon that seeks to devour the souls of survivors.
haha!
Common sense, common sense… .
If you’re going to use common sense, the problem is that the moon entered the Earth in the first place!
How did you get it in in the first place?
No matter how advanced the ancient human civilization was, how could such a thing of science be –
“…”
Another realization that came to me out of the blue.
The being that trapped the moon inside the Earth was an ancient participant!
Chewing on science like candy?
It’s definitely possible with the strength you get from the hotel.
They earned the right to ascend and left reality forever in exchange for having created dozens or hundreds of loops for humanity.
What about the wisdom of our ancestors?
Didn’t he also contribute quite a bit?
Is there any reason why the previous methodology is ‘absolutely’ impossible?
Reason, which has become clearer than ever, stretches out endlessly to find just one answer.
– Rumble!
I heard thunder.
Also, I knew that this was not a physical sound.
It is the joy that a living typhoon gives to an old friend.
It is the joy of having won a war that seemed like it would never end.
It is the emotion of a great man.
This is the reality of the great.
The two realms are one, as you can immediately translate your thoughts into reality.
Enlightenment.
Enlightenment.
Enlightenment.
…
I don’t want this kind of knowledge.
I didn’t come here to find out how much greater and stronger the moon is than me!
I’ve experienced the overwhelming power of prisoners countless times in hotels.
Another realization is needed.
– to help me get to the right answer
At that moment.
“You came”
“saver”
“researcher”
“wizard”
“teacher”
“betrayer”
“The Return of the Saint”
Countless voices were heard at once.
It was a conversation, and it wasn’t a conversation.
It was the will of a living star, and it was a sound heard from a realm where the boundary between thought and reality collapsed.
“Ugh!”
Perhaps there was a limit to how much I could endure even with constancy, so I held the groaning Miro’s hand tightly and focused my mind on one point.
…
I had a strange realization.
There is a limit to the number of souls the ark can swallow.
If there were no restrictions, there would be no need to eliminate survivors in advance for the sake of preventing the moon’s growth.
There would be no need for a selection procedure since all of humanity would be put on the ark.
Even the arks made by the Bureau, as well as the plunderers, have limited capacity.
Even the sacred sun has capacity limits.
But why doesn’t the moon have these limitations?
I know a being similar to the moon.
I saw a being in the hotel that was a condensation of countless mortal souls, incomparable to the moon!
A moment when you feel dizzy and lose consciousness.
It’s been a long time since I heard someone’s voice.
“Son”
“Do you understand now? I have already shown you the way.”
“Now that you have finally begun to understand, there is no limit to what I can do. Expand and expand again. Understand that the evolution of life has taken place from single-celled to multi-celled.”
Could this be a hallucination?
Or is it the last remaining voice of the sacred sun?
Couldn’t tell the difference.