Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 674
Only Krnovel
EP.674 Episode 674 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘The Origin of Species’ (18)
Episode 674 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘The Origin of the Species’ (18)
– Yoo Song-i
If the laws of evolution are applied to the soul, the story of the seer is that a regressor who can endure the loop is the owner of a soul that was naturally selected.
I thought it was a pretty plausible story, but… .
Ari seemed to think the seer was spouting nonsense.
“That’s a strange thing to say.”
“Why?”
“Why and what? Isn’t this just an arbitrary extension of the laws of nature?”
“Can’t we expand it?”
“Of course not. The soul and genes are completely different. First of all, the biggest difference! The soul can’t be inherited, right?”
“…”
“If the essence of evolution is that individuals who survived the harsh nature and were naturally selected leave behind their genes and spread them widely, then the soul has been outside of this logic from the beginning.”
After hearing this, I understood what Ari was saying.
Unlike genes, soul traits are not inherited.
The story is that just because you are the child of a regressor, you are not a regressor.
Therefore, it makes no sense to extend scientific theories about genes to the soul.
The seer’s answer to this was even more bizarre.
“That’s true.”
“…”
“Miss Ari is right. As she says, the laws of evolution do not apply to the soul. But can’t we overcome that limitation?”
At first, he extended the natural laws that apply to living things to the soul, but when he heard the objection that it should not be extended, he said that even that limitation can be overcome.
Something is strange?
At this point, I also realized that the visionary’s thoughts were somewhat strange.
Saying someone is crazy isn’t just an expression you can use when they’re drooling and screaming with a weird expression on their face.
On the outside, he seems perfectly normal and kind, but when you have a deep conversation, you can feel his madness.
The present visionary was like that.
Something deep inside me felt twisted, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
Right at that moment.
“The time has come.”
“uh?”
It was the first time I heard a strange voice.
“what’s the matter?”
Yoo Song-i: Didn’t you hear a strange sound just now?
Kim Ari: I don’t know
Was it because Ari and I stopped with puzzled expressions?
The visionary said with a big smile.
“The ground is dangerous, so it would be difficult to stop without caution.”
“…”
“Just a little further on, there you will find the answers to your questions.”
At that very moment.
Cha Jin-cheol: Come out!
Kim Muk-seong: Both of you come out!
Elena: Intruder! Intruder!
The colleagues outside who had been listening to Ari and I’s conversation started to warn us one after another!
“oh!”
“…!”
I met Ari’s gaze in surprise for a moment, then immediately turned around to follow the warning.
The moment I was about to run towards the entrance!
— Snap!
“Stop! No!”
“Oh, Ariya?”
“It’s late. They’re already in!”
When I looked at Ari in surprise at those words, I noticed that her expression was pale and frozen.
“Children, come here.”
“…”
The unidentified voice was heard again.
While I was wondering what this was, I heard a voice mixed with admiration from ahead.
“I see you’re getting real-time updates from the outside world? That’s amazing.”
The moment he heard those words, Ari rushed at the seer like lightning and grabbed him by the collar.
The polite attitude that had been shown until just now had long since disappeared.
“you!”
“Ugh! It hurts. You two don’t have to worry.”
“…”
“Did you know? The Iss race is more cowardly than you think.”
“…”
“Due to the nature of their abilities, they are unlikely to die, so they often act confidently. If they think it is dangerous, they are much more cautious than humans.”
Ari asked with an urgent expression.
“Something in the underground ruins is dangerous to the Duke of Iss as well?”
“They will think so.”
“Why do the Iss race think this place is dangerous?”
“Because they think their king might have died here.”
A sudden mention of the King of Ys!
Ariga’s expression hardened and she put more strength into her hands, and soon the seer’s expression began to turn pale.
“you…!”
“Ugh! Calm down, you have to trust me.”
“Ha! I followed you and now we’re surrounded by aliens. What? I want you to trust me?”
“That’s why you have to trust me even more. Will the Is species disappear if I kill them?”
A statement that sounds like sophistry, but is not wrong.
“You can ignore the outside situation. I told you, the Iss race is cowardly. We’ll move very slowly here. We have time to spare.”
“… Tell me. As soon as I followed you to the underground ruins, the Iss race surrounded the area. What is this situation?”
The seer gave Ari a faint smile, even as his neck was choked.
“It’s a natural progression. Once you guys get here, things just work out.”
“This is real -!”
The moment when Ari frowns and tries to use coercive means.
I stopped Ari, feeling a strange realization that I couldn’t express in words.
“…Stop.”
“what?”
“I think I know something.”
“What are you talking about -”
“I’ve been hearing someone’s voice since a while ago.”
“…”
“Seer, I have just three questions for you.”
“Tell me.”
I asked, wondering about the strange voice or transmission of thoughts that I had been feeling since a while ago.
“First of all, someone has been talking to me for a while now. They say there is a powerful chaos entity in the underground ruins. Could it be the King of Iss?”
The visionary smiled broadly.
“you’re right.”
“Second, you are a servant of that being, correct?”
“you’re right.”
An attitude so kind that it’s hard to understand.
The reason why I revealed secrets that I had not told C from the first day without hesitation.
The visionary is human.
Just a human who willingly serves the King of Is!
The strange actions above were merely following the orders of the King of Is.
“Last, thirdly, is the King of Iss now, um, awake? The Iss race sensed the energy the King was emitting and came?”
“sure.”
“…Why are you waking up? Because you sense us?”
“You are a very wise man. He wants to meet you.”
At this point, I vaguely understood the situation.
The King of Is sleeps in the underground ruins of Gangwon-do.
He – or she – was waiting for ‘us’, and when the seer heard of our approach, he began to awaken after ordering us to come.
As the king wakes up, the Is clan, who are aware of this, also flock to the ruins in Gangwon-do!
“…”
Little by little, I began to hear sounds like “Bang! Bang! Eww!” in my ears.
The sound of soldiers from the management office being massacred at the entrance to the underground ruins.
Meanwhile, Ari’s expression grew increasingly pale.
“…is coming.”
A stone-hard expression, a trembling voice.
A truly rare sight, Ari looking terrified.
“I can feel the Duke’s presence.”
I’ve never really fought against the Iss race before, since I was defeated without even being able to breathe on my first try.
However, I heard about Ys’s work from my colleagues who participated in the post-apocalyptic world.
The high-ranking ruling class of a great alien race that rules the galaxy.
An entity that cannot guarantee victory even when all colleagues are gathered in one place.
The two of us?
The fight itself cannot be established.
It’s not a gap that can be overcome by hard work, effort, or luck.
Is it because he feels the Duke’s strength more keenly than I do, having fought him himself?
Or is it because I have been sensing the will of an unknown chaos entity through ‘telepathy’ since a while ago?
Ariga looked at me with a blank expression.
“… How do I do it?”
Think about it!
Isn’t it true that Ari usually tries to lead the people around her without hesitation when ‘Ga-in is not around’?
This time too.
It was inevitable because it was something related to the management office, but Ari led me most of the time.
I don’t really have any complaints.
In the first place, Ari is often smarter than me.
But, at this moment, Ari doesn’t know what to do and relies on me for judgment!
I won’t hide the small sense of triumph that I felt in my heart.
I answered Ari, trying to look more confident than usual.
“Let’s go forward. If we wait, we’ll just get attacked by the Iss race coming from behind.”
“…There’s a prisoner in front?”
Ari’s appearance of openly using expressions like ‘prisoner’ even though there is a visionary.
It looks like you’re really nervous.
Of course, this is not the time to choose your expressions.
“I feel like this is a place where prisoners are very actively involved.”
“…”
“If you want to catch a tiger, you have to go into the tiger’s den. Let’s go!”
…
“The opportunity has finally come.”
“It’s a shame that he wasn’t the first child I prepared for, but this too is fate.”
“With this, everyone will achieve a glorious ending.”
*
‘… Observation from Songi’s side has been cut off.’
‘Gain! Songi is dead?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘What about the others? Jincheol, Agent Mukseong, and Ms. Elena, have they all been affected already?’
‘I don’t think so. At least Elena is resistant to the Iss race. Also, they are all veterans in their own right. However… .’
‘but?’
‘Even if they are alive, they cannot be observed.’
‘Oh my! I see. The only people being observed are Songi and Eunsol!’
‘Let’s pray that you are doing well.’
*
– Kim Muk-seong
— Boohoo!
“Cha Jin-cheol, man! Step on it more! It’s slow!”
“How can you go faster than now! Do you know what kind of sports car this is?”
When the Iss race began to flock to the Gangwon-do ruins area, we responded quickly.
What is a rapid response?
Jincheol and I ran away like crazy, leaving Elena behind!
Some people might call Jincheol and I cowards.
However, this is the best we can do as we cannot resist the body-stealing powers.
Is there any point in staying on the scene?
If you are manipulated and attack Elena, it will only make things harder for Elena.
“How long has it been since we left?”
“20 minutes!”
After running around frantically for nearly 20 minutes, I realized this.
“Jincheol-ah.”
“What is it?”
“Doesn’t it seem like there’s no pursuit?”
“… Actually, I’ve been feeling this way since a while ago.”
“Ah! If you had felt it earlier, you should have said something then!”
“I just said it because I felt like it, but what if I’m wrong?”
“You stupid kid! You’re dumber than Pero!”
“You’re swearing at me when you didn’t even notice! Did you sell all your agent experience? You’re weaker than Pero!”
“Hey, hey, let’s go meet Eunsol first.”
“I’m already on my way there.”
“Are you smart?”
“You have to do this much.”
At this point, we were sharing words of encouragement with each other and thinking about the future.
— Gooooooo…!
A tremendous roar that shook the heavens and the earth erupted from all directions.
“What is it?”
“What is it?”
I looked out the car window in surprise, and saw that all the other cars on the road were surprised as well.
They all stop on the street and look around with a blank expression.
“…Jincheol.”
“…”
“I had an ominous thought.”
“Just now, I had a similar thought.”
“It looks like it’s going to fail soon.”
“Isn’t it already ruined? It looks like Song-i and Ari did something.”
A moment of silence.
“…”
“…”
I instinctively took out ‘One More Chance’ and played with it in my hand.
“Would you like to turn back time?”
“What do you think?”
“If you ask me such a difficult question… .”
“Inma! There’s no one else here but you!”
“You have to think about it yourself.”
Actually, Jincheol is right.
It’s my legacy, so I should decide whether to use it or not.
“…”
A warning that has been heard since the first time I got One More Chance – the price of reversal.
Based on my experience using it several times, the content of the price was not set in stone.
When I wrote in the gateway room, it was rapidly aging.
When used in reality, it was to remove the regressor’s ability.
Although they seem like completely different masters, the two masters have something in common.
“Limited number of times….”
“Agent?”
“The essence of the One More Chance price is the number of times it can be used. The key is to prevent it from being used multiple times.”
“Yes.”
Room 207, the gate room, was old enough.
Because there was no way to become young again.
In reality, aging is a meaningless price to pay.
Because you can become young again with the power of the management office.
So, in reality, the price of reversal was the removal of the regressor’s ability.
If I had used it one more time, I would have perished.
In the Room of Curses, even eternal death is not a sufficient price.
Remember what happened in Room 206 when the NPCs who were dedicated to the Soul Furnace re-attempted the Room of Curses.
If you can somehow escape, the hotel can even restore the souls that perished in the cursed room!
Therefore, the price of reversal in the room of curses will likely be different.
Could it be because I felt this anxiety?
Jincheol said with a worried expression.
“If you’re anxious, you don’t have to use it.”
“…”
“You know, there’s this guy, Gain, waiting for the escape party. We’ll be able to get out somehow.”
Now, I made up my mind because of Jincheol’s words.
“…I don’t like it.”
“yes?”
“You’re telling me not to trust Cain and use the inheritance, because she’s behind you? If that’s what you’re thinking, then why did I get One More Chance?”
“…”
“That’s a stupid idea. If you’re afraid of the price and can’t use it, you shouldn’t have inherited it in the first place!”
At that moment, a hint of admiration flashed through Jincheol’s eyes.
“You are brave. I think my sponsor would be impressed if he saw you.”
“The child is floating!”
After Jincheol lightly tapped the guy’s head, he took out his cell phone.
“Agent?”
“There is something you want to do.”
“What are you doing?”
“Something I couldn’t do because I was afraid of the aftermath. I have to do it now!”
— Ring! Tick!
“Oh, Grandpa? Did you hear the noise outside just now? Everyone was startled -”
“Eunsol-ah.”
“yes?”
“Cut off your father’s hair right now.”
“Huh? What -”
“Find out what secret is hidden in the Chairman’s head right now!”