Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 639
Only Krnovel
EP.639 Episode 639 – The Path of Ascension (1)
Episode 639 – The Path of Ascension (1)
“User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: 355th day
Current location: Seoraksan, Sokcho-si, Gangwon-do Special Self-Governing Province
Wise Man’s Advice: 3”
– Han Ga-in
Exactly 100 days have passed since we returned from the moon to reality.
I am climbing Seoraksan Mountain with Jincheol and Seungyeop.
“Hoooo… .”
As I was catching my breath, which had become slightly ragged while climbing, Jincheol hyung said something.
“Is it really that hard?”
“It’s not that hard.”
“Hiya….”
“Why are you like that?”
“Is it as hard as climbing Seoraksan Mountain?”
For a moment I was dumbfounded.
Isn’t Seoraksan one of the most rugged mountains in Korea?
It’s not like I collapsed on the floor because I was tired, but it’s normal for people to be a little out of breath.
Jincheol, who was walking beside me as if taking a stroll, shook his head as if he sensed something when he saw my expression.
“No, I’m not kidding. I’m just curious. If you’re a superhuman who can fly faster than an airplane, you should climb Mount Everest as if it were the mountain behind your neighborhood.”
“…”
I know how you feel, but it doesn’t make sense.
Whether the Holy Sun and the Grimoire are great or not, I haven’t even summoned the Legacy yet.
“I feel it again. Our abilities seem to be somewhat unbalanced.”
“yes?”
A story that started suddenly.
“I don’t even break a sweat when I go hiking.”
“I think so.”
“On the other hand, you seem closer to an angel or a demigod than a human being -”
“…An angel.”
“- If I move my body without using my inheritance, I quickly start sweating and breathing heavily. Just like a person.”
“Because we are human.”
“Do you really think so?”
“…”
After walking a few more steps, Jincheol opened his mouth again.
“Unlike you, I still have a lot of shortcomings mentally.”
The mental aspect?
In context, it seems to be an ability to counteract magical forces that squeeze the mind, rather than general concepts like patience or mental strength.
“I guess my brother’s blessing or inheritance won’t be of much help in that regard.”
“But I need that kind of growth.”
“To reach the ‘ultimate realm’ that my brother experienced on the moon?”
“yes.”
Jincheol needs ‘something more’ to reach the ultimate realm again.
At that moment, Seungyeop, who was running nearby, said.
“Can’t you just put it back in your hair?”
“what?”
“I believed in regenerative power and put a hole in my head again -”
“…”
After another brief silence, Jincheol sighed deeply.
“Aren’t you being too rude and saying things like, ‘It’s not your head?’”
“Oh! Jincheol hyung told you last time. He said you lacked the courage to take risks!”
“Hey! Is it courageous to suddenly drill a hole in your head and stick a star in it when you don’t even have a ‘dream’?”
Wouldn’t that be an act of incompetence rather than courage?
Isn’t it?
Since this is what the lucky owner says, this might be part of some bigger picture.
If you sneakily shove a piece of star into your head, won’t something happen?
Should we start by drilling a hole in your head?
If you can’t make a decision, I’ll put a laser on your skull –
“Okay, okay, everyone be quiet.”
No matter how much I think about it, this doesn’t seem right.
I always feel this, but Seungyeop, this is the problem.
He makes strange noises from time to time, mostly meaningless nonsense, but sometimes he answers correctly out of nowhere.
Looking back, I thought, “Wow~ Seungyeop got this right too? That was lucky!”
But when you hear the nonsense, there’s no way to tell if it’s the big picture or nonsense.
Seungyeop believed what he said and split Jincheol’s head open and put a star piece in it, but if he died, it would be a big problem!
“Seungyeop, in particular, please keep your mouth shut and don’t confuse others.”
“… yes.”
“So what you’re saying is this. You need ‘something’ more to reach the ultimate realm again.”
“Yes. And that ‘something’ must be in the hotel.”
“…”
“Is this the answer to the question you asked this morning?”
“What question did Gain hyung ask?”
“He asked if I wanted to go to the third floor.”
“…”
“I’m going. I’m going no matter what. For now, I’m just waiting for others to make their decisions.”
The moment Seungyeop lowered his head without saying a word, something shone on the floor.
“… Again. I’m not a stalker or anything.”
Familiar – so familiar a letter.
“We have great news for our dear customers. Finally -”
“Seungyeop, don’t read it. I’ve read it over 100 times and memorized the content.”
A letter from the hotel saying the third floor is ready.
Anything that includes the word ‘hotel’ tends to be out of the ordinary, and letters were no exception.
You clearly put it in your pocket, but it suddenly appears on your desk, or you left it at home, but Seungyeop appears in front of you like this.
It’s as if they’re trying to make sure we never forget the keyword “3rd floor.”
“Seungyeop.”
“yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
“…”
“No one will tell you anything, so just be honest.”
“…if I suddenly disappear.”
“What if it disappears?”
“Won’t your parents be worried?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
It seems like he doesn’t want to go to the third floor, even if it’s just for the sake of his real parents.
It was a completely understandable psychology.
While Seungyeop slightly bowed his head as if he felt sorry and passed by, Jincheol muttered.
“I guess other people are similar.”
“…”
“People who have created a family like Seungyeop will be afraid to go to the third floor.”
“I guess so.”
“If you think about it, aren’t you and I special?”
“Is that so?”
“If there is no clear motivation to go up to the third floor, then a reluctant reaction is normal.”
A clear motivation to climb to the third floor… .
Aidia asked me a similar question.
I still remember the voice asking, ‘Why on earth do you want to go to the third floor?’
Is Aidya doing well?
Without realizing it, I raised my head and looked at the moon, which boasted a pale presence even in broad daylight.
and –
An insight that emerged after a long time showed the possibility related to Seungyeop.
“…?”
The look of being afraid and trembling?
*
“Date: 355th day -> 357th day”
I met Miro, Ari, and Songi at a coffee shop near Yeouido.
At first glance, there seemed to be about 30 customers in the store, but Ari immediately took out the management office’s special cell phone.
“The world has recovered so quickly. It’s been just a few months since the Earth was going to end, and now there are no seats in the coffee shop?”
As Ari manipulated her cell phone with those words, a light hypnotic power spread.
Before three minutes had passed, we were the only ones left in the coffee shop, and I felt a bit uncomfortable but also relieved.
Songi said playfully.
“Wow~! At this point, aren’t you a target for quarantine, Ari?”
“why?”
“It must be the duty of the management to protect the happy daily lives of civilians.”
“Everyone is so relaxed. It’s my job to break up the small tensions.”
“Isn’t this just interference with business? It’s a huge nuisance!”
“The public nuisance is that Imperial High School idols are the greatest public nuisance of all time.”
“Gyaaaah! Ari, you really are!”
While Songi blushed and grabbed Ari’s shoulder and shook her, Miro sat across from me with a hardened expression.
“I have made up my mind.”
“…”
It didn’t suit Ari or Miro to have such a serious expression on their faces.
“What decision?”
“You asked me on the phone last week!”
“Oh, really?”
“Don’t joke around! I’ve been thinking about it all week. I told you I was going to the 3rd floor!”
As soon as the words “3rd floor” popped out, something fell from the ceiling.
“Huh?”
“Good news to our dear customers -”
Ari put the letter away before she could read a single sentence.
“Are these guys really stalkers?”
“Let’s listen to Miro.”
The gazes of three people who gathered naturally.
Miro answered, looking away slightly as if embarrassed.
“I’ve been talking to my inner self for a long time.”
“If it’s you inside, it’s a ghost story maze?”
A twisted and dilapidated maze of ghost stories that endures ‘eternal hell’ on the moon.
Although she was still not normal, she seemed capable of minimal communication with the young Miro.
“I tried to understand what kind of thoughts that poor kid had while living… .”
As expected of a sensitive age, Miro began to shed tears.
The reactions of those around us were completely different, as Songi, Ari, and I all had awkward expressions.
“…Poor kid?”
“Ari, you don’t know anything about mazes!”
“…”
“What did my past self think when he saw the chaos of the world?”
“…”
Ari opened her mouth as if it was hard to hold back, but like Ari, who is generous to Miro, she eventually closed her mouth.
“This world is full of evil whirlpools, and the moon is just the tip of the iceberg. Even now, someone in the darkness is sowing evil seeds that we cannot yet see -”
Wow, it’s really so awkward to hear something like that from Miro.
As if waiting, faintly glowing letters appeared on the table.
“Brother Gain, is this the maze?”
“… Miro, what you’re saying is that even after the moon disappears, reality is still full of chaos and disasters?”
“huh!”
“Then, do you plan on staying in reality rather than on the third floor?”
I thought you meant to stay in reality to resolve the chaos of reality.
No it wasn’t.
“No? I’m going to the third floor.”
“uh?”
“ah?”
Of course, Ari also tilted her head and opened her mouth.
“You’ve been talking a lot about the evil forces in the dark. Shouldn’t you stay here to beat them up?”
“Corruption is like a mushroom that grows endlessly in the shade, and no matter how much you burn the revealed corruption, there is no end to it….”
“Are you just reciting what Ghost Story Maze said?”
“… we must remove the cause of the corruption. We must remove the mycelium that produces the mushrooms. The path is not in our hands -”
“The ghost story maze is on the third floor?”
“Stop interrupting me!”
Miro thinks he’s saying something ‘cool’, but Ari keeps interrupting him, so he looks upset.
Separately, the maze’s words themselves were easy to understand.
A world full of chaos.
The moon was only the biggest threat, but it wasn’t the only threat.
Just as the marauders hid from the moon – there are many other forces that can be compared to them.
One of them might sow the seeds of another apocalypse.
Some of them may worship an unknown ancient evil god.
A fight that will never end if you beat them one by one.
Where is the fundamental solution?
Ghost Story Maze says, ‘You have to get something more out of the hotel.’
why?
“Of course there are devils in heaven.”
“hmm….”
“… Those were the last words my past self spoke. After saying those words, I fell asleep again.”
Because Buddha wants to create heaven, and there can’t be any devils in heaven.
It was a vague story, but it also sounded plausible.
At that moment, Ari muttered as if it was a surprise.
“I never thought you, Miro, would say something like that.”
“Eww! You’re trying to tease me again -”
“I’m not kidding. That’s what I thought.”
“Thinking like this?”
“You and the current Management Bureau Miro… were really the same person.”
“…”
I felt it again.
Because of the difference in time and experience, Miro is often perceived as a naive and cute girl, but one possibility of her growth is that she is a ghost story maze.
Wasn’t it Ghost Story Miro who ran into the hotel because he couldn’t stand to watch the forces of chaos dominate humanity?
At that moment, Songi said playfully.
“Just because Gain oppa said he’s going, aren’t you going too?”
“What, what!”
“If my brother had stayed in reality, would the maze have remained?”
While Miro blushed, Ari took Miro’s side.
“If you plan on staying in reality, you should study for the CSAT.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to college!”
“They don’t study and they don’t take the college entrance exam. Are these the high school students these days? This country is really ruined.”
“If the country falls, it’s not because of me for not studying. It’s because those who stay silent from the middle of the day on weekdays don’t work and just play around.”
“I’m half-launched from work these days.”
A serious story that suddenly popped up in the middle of a trivial conversation.
“what?”
“The other silent ones were secretly pushing me away.”
“…”
“I’ve also heard this from the ruler recently: Send ‘another unidentified wisdom’ to the third floor.”
Another unidentified wisdom… .
“It looks like the administration has lost information about my brother again.”
“I lost the specific information, but through analysis, I was able to recognize the great evil behind the hotel party and warn me.”
“A great evil? Is that what Cain is talking about?”
“Huh! You’re joking.”
“I’m not joking.”
I laughed lightly at Ari’s pointless joke.
Wouldn’t ‘we’ be a chaotic entity so powerful that it would be burdensome to the Administration?
Even so, I plan to go when the time comes, but that ruling person is really…
Suddenly, I felt like doing something loud before leaving reality.
Hey, show me some Aleph-style spicy food?
It seems like I’ve ruined the world about 3,000 times, but do you think it’ll make a difference if 3,000 times turn into 3,001 times?
“I felt like there was something like this hidden behind it. If possible, Ari, you should come with me.”
“…”
“I guess I’m a burden.”
Songi asked incredulously.
“It’s not like there were any participants for a day or two, so why are you so sensitive? You were participants in the first place!”
Ari reached out the window and pointed at the pale figure.
“Look at that.”
“…”
“The Administration is not stupid either. They know full well that the moon is in fact the Administration above the Administration, a god descended into reality.”
“…”
“We are just like Aidia’s colleagues. We could easily contact the moon right now, right?”
“That’s true.”
“That’s why I’m on guard.”
“Do you think of us as servants of an alien god?”
“Similar. But I can’t kill him, so I’m asking him to please leave for the third floor.”
Miro asked Ari with shining eyes.
“Then are you going? Are you going?”
Ari, who had been silent for a moment, answered calmly.
“Miro, I won’t leave you. You know that, right?”
“Come on!”
If the maze remains in reality, then it will remain, and if it goes up to the third floor, then it will go up together.
Suddenly, this thought occurred to me.
The answer you just gave is just a smokescreen to hide the real reason.
It seemed like Ari had a separate purpose for going to the third floor.
It’s more of a personal reason rather than a grand cause like a maze.
So, it’s something that can’t be revealed to others.
“…”
Is this just intuition? Or the power of insight?
It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to distinguish between the two.
“Songi, what do you think?”
“The third floor?”
“huh.”
“Well, I was thinking, weren’t there other parties that gained ascendancy before us?”
“yes.”
“I don’t think everyone who gained authority would have chosen the third floor. There must have been many who stayed in reality and wanted to eat well and live well.”
“I guess so.”
“There will likely be only a small number of people going to the third floor….”
“…”
“So can I proceed to the third floor?”
“I know.”
I’m curious about that part too.
“I think the third floor will be very different from the first and second floors.”
“I guess so.”
“Oppa! Yes, that’s right, that’s right, isn’t there any other answer than this? At this point, you should speak like a wise man who knows everything!”
“what?”
A wise man who suddenly became well-versed in everything?
While I was tilting my head, Ari mimicked my voice and spoke.
“Is that so… Is that so? The third floor… There are so many secrets there that you don’t know about… Did you figure that out? Your guess? You could say you were right, but you could also say you were wrong… .”
“…”
“When I tell you to look at the moon, you only see your finger…. Even though you have both eyes, you are no different from a blind person. The great principle is -”
“Hey, hey! When did I ever say that?”
“Wasn’t it similar?”
“Exactly the same!”
“Just being alone!”
As Miro and Songi responded enthusiastically, I was the only one who felt embarrassed.
I guess my appearance after gaining insight caused some stress to my colleagues.
“I’m sorry, but this time I really have no idea.”
No matter how insightful you are, you can’t sit in a coffee shop and figure out what the third floor is like.
In the first place, it seemed like the hotel wouldn’t allow insight into the third floor.
“And Song-ya, this is an important question, so answer accurately. Are you planning on going to the third floor?”
Songi answered in a calm tone.
“The third floor is good, and I also like what remains in reality.”
“what -”
“Whatever we do, I hope we all do it together. Without being divided.”
“…”
The opinions of five people were confirmed.
*
— Jiiing! Jiiing!
Late at night, the cell phone rang loudly.
When I picked up the phone, I heard an unexpected voice.
– How are you?
“… I didn’t know you would call. It’s been a while.”
– Long time no see.
“How are you these days – no, more importantly, do you remember me?”
– Is there any reason to forget?
“Aren’t you the ark now?”
Because of the empty wish in reality that turned into a dream, no one except my colleagues can remember me.
This effect is so powerful that even the Administration and other participants like Ryan don’t remember me.
– Not an ark, but a comrade.
“…”
– Isn’t that what you said with your own mouth?
That’s right.
I said with my own mouth that I saw the wisdom of my ancestors and called them my colleagues.
Since then, the dream judges that the wisdom of the ancestors is also my colleague and does not erase my memories.
It was my fault, and I actually think we are close colleagues… .
The subtle tension was unavoidable.
“What’s going on?”
– That’s good news. And it’s also a way for me to thank you.
“yes?”
– The school has appeared.