Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 640
Only Krnovel
EP.640 Episode 640 – The Path of Ascension (2)
Episode 640 – The Path of Ascension (2)
“User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 358
Current location: Delight Hotel, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
Wise Man’s Advice: 3”
– Han Ga-in
Delight Hotel now feels like a hideout for hotel parties.
I found myself smiling slightly wryly as I looked at the shiny building located in the middle of Seoul.
After being transformed into the ‘Pioneer 3rd Floor Connecting Corridor’, Delight Hotel is no longer open to the public.
Because the entire building has been designated as a quarantine zone by the management.
It goes without saying that a hotel that does not accept guests can hardly be called a normal hotel.
Sister Eunsol was hurt more by this than expected.
Did you ask what happened to the promise to make it the best hotel in Korea?
Pioneer also does not sell to the general public.
Since the staff at Pioneer pride themselves on calling it the ‘best hotel in the universe’, I think they would think Delight would have no problem either.
Well, it’s not like there are no guests at all.
— Ding!
As I opened the front door, the familiar sight of Delight appeared.
“Oh, it’s been a while.”
Sang-Hyeon hyung was in the lobby.
“Why are you here instead of going in?”
“I heard that Miss Elena is taking a long time to prepare. As you know….”
“It looks like rehabilitation isn’t quite finished.”
“It’s not something that can be done overnight.”
Elena lost her body on the moon as a result of the reaction of using her ominous imagination to the limit.
A normal person would have died at that point, but Seungyeop is said to have kept Elena alive by putting her soul in the ‘soul box’.
It’s already been two weeks since the Bureau created another body for Elena and transplanted Elena’s soul and consciousness into it.
After that, Elena is in rehabilitation.
“Sir, would you like me to contact Agent Elena?”
“… Okay.”
After a lot of fuss, the personal information of everyone in the hotel party except me was revealed.
Thanks to that, everyone except me got the status of ‘agent’, but it doesn’t mean much.
Because the management didn’t really give us any specific mission.
Ari, as you said, isn’t ‘Please go to the 3rd floor’ the management’s opinion?
What’s more laughable than the expression ‘Agent Elena’ is the very existence of the staff.
Why are there so many staff in a hotel that doesn’t even accept regular guests?
Because ‘special guests’ are accepted.
“Mr. Gain.”
“yes.”
“I spoke to Eunsol a few days ago, and she said that Delight had effectively turned into a welfare facility for the management.”
“… That’s true.”
“He seemed very upset.”
“Well, if you look at it from a different perspective, it seems like the ground floor turned into a normal hotel as soon as the connecting passage construction was finished.”
“That’s true. During construction, concrete blocks the size of a house were flying around. Heaven -”
“for a moment.”
After briefly interrupting Sang-Hyeon, I looked at the nearby employees.
At first glance, they look like hotel concierges who know nothing and are just smiling, but they are all employees of the management office.
At that moment, a voice was heard from the other side.
“Don’t eavesdrop on conversations. Forget everything you hear.”
Soon the eyes of the staff in the area began to blur.
A blessing that we haven’t seen in a long time, the power of communication – ‘crowd psychology’.
I turned my gaze with a happy heart and saw Grandpa Mukseong.
“Is it okay?”
“Haha! I was thinking of using a grimoire, but it turned out to be more convenient.”
“Well, if it’s a ‘heavenly layer’ story anyway, those guys probably know the gist of it.”
“Still, I guess it’s better to be careful.”
“That too.”
“I don’t think you could write like this before, but now there’s no such thing as hypnosis.”
“It increases as you use it.”
After some brief greetings, I naturally headed to Elena’s room with my grandfather.
*
“Move slowly and precisely rather than quickly!”
“Hmm!”
“Move one area at a time.”
“It’s difficult – Oh, you have a guest?”
Elena, who was rehabilitating in a place that resembled a giant treadmill, greeted us.
The person helping Elena with her rehabilitation was also familiar, and it was none other than Sophia.
Because Sophia was the first person to experience being trapped in a soul box and then transferring her consciousness into a body created by the Bureau, before Elena.
I heard that you are currently working as a researcher at the Management Office.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
Sang-Hyeon approached me, scratching his chin.
“Miss Sophia, do you think Miss Elena’s rehabilitation will be over soon?”
“It depends on where you set your standards. If your standards are running around like crazy -”
While we were talking about this and that, I approached Elena and smiled faintly.
Elena, who had a tired expression, smiled at me, and as we made eye contact, I felt a subtle change.
“Elena, you’ve gotten so short.”
“It’s because my body is still young.”
“Did the blessing come back?”
“sure.”
“A meteorite will fall tomorrow.”
“… yes?”
“A bomb will explode in Delight soon.”
“Oh, are you kidding?”
“…”
I was just kidding because I wanted to see her use lie detection, but Elena didn’t seem to get it at all, so I was a little embarrassed.
We spent time laughing and talking about how things were going during rehabilitation.
Then, Elena suddenly started talking seriously.
“When Jincheol came to visit me in the hospital a while ago, I felt while talking to him that he was very interested in obtaining ‘great power.’”
“Yes.”
It’s true.
At some point, Jincheol lost interest in worldly money or fame, and became more interested in supernatural growth.
In some ways, I felt uneasy because it reminded me of ‘Aleph’, but I’m not too worried because I’m a different person and Jincheol hyung has colleagues by his side.
“I sometimes think about that when I lie down at night.”
“What do you think?”
“Imagine wings sprouting from your back.”
“…”
“Imagine transforming into a bird and flying in the sky, your lungs turning into gills and floating in the deep sea.”
“…”
“In the past, I would have thought I would turn into a monster, but now… .”
“now?”
“It feels like freedom. Is this what they call ‘shedding one’s shell’?”
“I don’t know.”
“There is a difference. Jincheol said he would go to the third floor to gain great power.”
I wasn’t the only one asking whether or not to go to the third floor?
It seems that Jincheol is also interested in his colleagues’ choices.
By the way, when we met the other day, you said that you were waiting for your colleague to make a decision.
“I don’t think I’m as good as Mr. Jincheol.”
“I understand.”
I have an inexplicable desire to grow, but it’s not enough to make me go to the third floor just for that reason.
It’s a similar but different attitude from Jincheol hyung.
“rather….”
Elena, who was talking, glanced at Sang-Hyeon and Grandfather Muk-Seong.
Sang-Hyeon was still talking to Sophia, and Grandpa Muk-Seong was talking to the management staff outside for a moment.
“Should I ask you to leave?”
“Ugh!”
“We’ve only seen each other for a day or two, so how can we say something we can’t?”
Han Ga-in: Grandpa, Sang-hyun hyung. Please vacate the guest room for a moment. Take Sophia with you.
Grandpa shrugged his shoulders as if he found it amusing and left, and Sang-Hyeon also left the room with Sophia with a slight smile.
Soon, Elena muttered in a soft voice.
“… Sometimes I think about this.”
“What is it?”
“I want to see my real family.”
“…”
“I, um, feel like the family I made of dreams isn’t real.”
“I understand.”
Certainly, it would be difficult to bring up this kind of story in front of my grandfather and Sang-Hyeon hyung.
“If you go to the third floor….”
“If you go?”
“I wonder if I can meet my real family who disappeared in the flow of time and make them happy. What do you think?”
“… I don’t know.”
A world that loops endlessly.
Elena’s ‘real family’ disappeared in the distant past, lost in the flow of time.
It’s about reuniting with them and making them happy.
Is it possible on the 3rd floor?
I don’t know either.
However, I was able to give an answer to this extent.
“I think about this. If there is one place in the world where Elena’s wish can be fulfilled -”
“It’s just a hotel.”
“It’s just a hotel.”
It might be impossible.
If possible, the only place where your wish can come true is a hotel.
*
— Bam!
Before I could close the guest room door and take a few steps, Sang-Hyeon Hyung approached me.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the third floor.”
“…”
“Just in case, I didn’t overhear your conversation with Ms. Elena. I just heard that Mr. Gain has been asking his colleagues recently if they want to go to the third floor -”
I thought Elena and I had a conversation about that topic, and it was true.
“Haha, I never thought you’d eavesdrop. I’m more curious about what you think.”
“…there has never been a time of greater inner pain than these days.”
“Inner pain?”
“I am….”
“…”
“I have a wife and a son.”
West Wind, Kim Jin-sol.
These are Kim Sang-hyun’s wife and son whom he called out in his dreams.
“Jinsol is just preparing for college entrance exams. To her -”
“I need a father.”
If Sang-Hyeon Hyung suddenly disappears to the third floor, what will happen to his wife and son who remain in reality?
If you ask the management, there won’t be any major problems with your livelihood, but your father’s absence cannot be completely compensated for with money.
“I also have this thought.”
“Thinking like this?”
“… the oath I made when I left room 203.”
In an instant, insight struck and visions of two people flashed through my mind.
This is a conversation that Sang-Hyeon and Ari had a long time ago.
*
“My family, my people… none of them came out of Room 203. I was the only one who came out.”
“If I forget them, the evidence of their existence in the world will disappear forever. The time we spent loving and caring for each other, the glorious history of raising a city from the wasteland… the evidence of all that is now only my memories.”
“I am a husband who deceives his wife, a father who deceives his children, and a king who deceives his people.”
“He promised them salvation countless times, promising them a paradise flowing with milk and honey, and that if they could not attain it while alive, they would attain it after death….”
“I knew full well that it was a lie. Where on earth is paradise and salvation in this hotel? I couldn’t even save myself, so how can I save my family and people?”
*
“Mr. Cain, do you know? There are two ways to comfort the dead in the hotel. One is resurrection. Do you know about the other one?”
“Buddha.”
“Do you know who showed you the way?”
“He’s my older brother from the NPC days.”
“Yes. This is me in the past, when I was the hotel’s ‘doctor.’ Back then, I seemed to know all the hotel’s secrets.”
“Because I was a hotel employee.”
“There is salvation in the hotel. It is not a vague imagination, but something concrete that I, as an NPC, can confirm. Something that can save countless people who have suffered.”
“That makes sense.”
“Where might it be?”
We have uncovered all the secrets of the first and second floors.
However, we still have not found a means to save the majority, let alone the resurrection of specific individuals.
“It’s the third floor. Absolutely. If I keep my past promise, I have to go to the third floor.”
“…”
At this point, I understood the inner pain that Sang-Hyeon was feeling.
It is a conflict between his feelings of not being able to leave his beloved wife and son behind and his feelings about the salvation he had sworn to his people in the past.
“I often regret this. My family -”
“Let’s do that.”
I shouldn’t have created a family based on my dreams.
That’s something you absolutely should not say at this point.
“I’m sorry. So, Mr. Gain.”
“yes.”
“…Can you give me some advice?”
I was momentarily speechless at the attitude of Sang-Hyeon Hyung, who was asking for ‘wise advice’.
I really want to give something groundbreaking, to ease the suffering of my colleagues… .
Because no clear answer came to mind.
“… Let’s think about it a little more.”
*
As I was walking down the hallway with complicated feelings, Grandpa Mukseong appeared.
“That guy Sang-Hyeon really seems to have a complicated mind.”
“What about Grandpa?”
“I don’t really have any thoughts.”
“yes?”
How can you not have any special thoughts?
My grandfather not only has a son and his wife, but he also has grandsons!
“Inma, that guy’s son is in high school? My son is already over 40!”
“ah?”
“At that age, I guess I would be like that even if my father died tomorrow.”
“How could that be? That’s ridiculous…”
I was a little taken aback by the harsh expression, but I understood what he meant.
The difference between Sang-Hyeon and Grandfather Muk-Seong, who cannot leave easily because their son is a teenager, is that
Or maybe you’re trying to believe this.
The harsh expressions may have been part of the grandfather’s efforts to convince himself.
“I am satisfied that I have corrected my mistakes from long ago. These children will live well whether I am here or not. I have no particular worries about them being my children or grandchildren. Rather… .”
“rather?”
“I’m concerned about the story that Miro told.”
“…”
“The answer to a world full of chaos will be on the third floor. Maybe that will be my last task.”
“I understand. Grandpa… .”
“I am?”
“You are a heavenly agent. Like a maze.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Haha! Okay, so now you’ve gathered all your colleagues’ opinions?”
“I should listen to Eunsol’s opinion too.”
“What about your ancestors?”
“I plan to visit soon.”
“Okay, okay. I understand.”
*
At this point, I’ve briefly summarized the opinions of my colleagues.
People who are motivated to go to the 3rd floor: Me, Cha Jin-cheol, Miro, Elena, Kim Muk-seong.
People who look at the opinions of their colleagues: Kim Ari, Yoo Song-i.
Given the circumstances, it looks like the seven of them will go to the third floor.
People who are attached to reality: Kim Sang-hyun, Park Seung-yeop.
These two seem to be in deep trouble.
“Sister Eunsol… I guess I can ask her now.”
As if she had been waiting, Eunsol came running from afar.
“Sister! Long time no see -”
The moment I was about to greet my sister who was running towards me, I realized that her expression was truly urgent.
“Sister?”
“Gain. Where are the others?”
“It’s nearby.”
“Listen carefully, it’s important to talk about this.”
Important story?
“These past few days, letters about the 3rd floor have been following me around like a stalker, and I’ve been thinking about all sorts of things.”
“Everyone is struggling with that these days.”
“Then at some point I realized, we don’t know much about the third floor.”
“hmm….”
“Think about it. You don’t know what the 3rd floor is, what it’s for, how it works… You don’t know anything about it, do you?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe our worries right now are meaningless.”
“ah?”
“Sang-Hyeon’s worries are typical. If you realize the reality of the third floor and think about it again, it may be a meaningless worry.”
“how -”
“What I mean is, it’s strange to decide whether or not to go to the third floor without knowing anything about it.”
That’s not wrong.
So I’ve written advice many times, but Owl never takes questions about the third floor.
“… This morning, I used the hand of greed.”
“ah?”
“The price was taken care of by the management. They also wanted us to leave for the third floor.”
When I heard that ‘the price was taken care of by the management’, several thoughts crossed my mind, but I didn’t ask any further questions.
It would have put a death row inmate who committed a serious crime in danger.
I’m sure Eunsol thought it over carefully and made her decision.
“So?”
“I got the answer a little while ago. Soon….”
“soon?”
“…he said he would send a guide.”
—Whoosh!
I heard a clap of thunder.
I heard the sound of an invisible giant hammer hitting Delight!