Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 698
Only Krnovel
EP.698 Episode 698 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘The Origin of Species’ (32)
Episode 698 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘The Origin of the Species’ (32)
– Lee Eun-sol
“Haaam…!”
Early in the morning, I opened my eyes in my soft bed and saw the familiar ceiling of room 105.
The sweet day of rest that the hotel gave us under the pretext of third-floor renovation ended yesterday.
Well, I can’t just keep playing.
As I was finishing up my quick face wash, I realized something embarrassing.
“what?”
Today marks the beginning of the third attempt at 301.
Of course, we all discussed late last night how to proceed with the third attempt.
However, I couldn’t remember the content of the discussion at all.
How did you plan it, how did you proceed in the beginning, and what is your final goal?
I don’t know anything.
Instead, I remember having this conversation with Gain at the beginning of the meeting.
*
“Sister. I thought about it carefully, and I don’t think everyone needs to attend the meeting.”
“what?”
“What if there is a variable that causes the King of Iss to steal his sister’s body?”
“that -”
“If that happens, the plan may leak out through your sister’s memories.”
“Oh, I get it, I get it, but aren’t the lead actors of Room 301 me and Song? It’s a bit much to completely leave out my opinion -”
“Your opinion will be actively reflected.”
“What? You’re telling me to skip the meeting?”
“My sister from another time zone will be joining the meeting.”
*
So, due to security issues, I’m absent from the meeting, and my past self, summoned by Miro, is participating in the meeting?
“…”
I went outside feeling a little bewildered, and found that my colleagues were already awake and talking.
To be exact, we were talking until I approached him.
Because when I got closer, everyone became quiet.
“… Aren’t you all going too far?”
Ariga smiled faintly.
“Sorry! But what if Eunsol has a spy inside her body?”
“…”
“Oh, Eunsol. This is a gift!”
Ari suddenly handed me a small piece of paper.
The letter read:
“After meeting late into the night, we reached one conclusion.
There are many loopholes in ‘Mother’s’ plan that we can exploit.
The reason I was helpless the second time was because I lacked information.
I felt anew how powerful it is to be able to play the game in turns.
A very tricky plan was hatched.
Some plans require you to fool your allies before your enemies do.
I also accepted this fact. ”
“It’s my handwriting.”
Ari nodded as if it was natural.
“Because it’s a letter you wrote.”
It seemed like he was showing me the letter to tell me, ‘This is a plan you agree with!’
*
After finishing a quick breakfast, I headed to room 301.
.
..
…
Soon, I woke up in a fancy room inside room 301.
As I was wondering what on earth they had planned, my colleagues naturally approached the table where the admission list was located.
This is because from the 3rd floor onwards, only those whose names are on the admission list can participate in the solution party.
So I was wondering who would put their name on the list – huh?
“What is it, guys?”
Everyone went to the admission list and marked it without exception!
“No, are they all going in? Is there no one in the escape party? Are you planning on emptying the observatory?”
Colleagues who don’t answer.
“Of course it was decided through a meeting… but is it okay to completely empty the observatory? It’s allowed according to the rules -”
As I was talking up to this point, I realized something as I saw my colleagues avoiding eye contact.
“ah.”
You were mistaken.
The power isn’t on.
A little while ago, a few people just walked up to the admission list but didn’t write their names down.
My colleagues don’t even hide from me who is in the solution party and who is in the escape party!
“…”
I understand.
It must have been a plan put together with great care by smart kids like Gain and Ari.
Seeing as it’s a tricky plan, it looks like there will be a lot of outrageous things happening with a lot of tricks.
But, at this point, I was honestly a little embarrassed.
“But, still… Doesn’t Room 301 feel like Songi and I are the main actors? It would be difficult if we didn’t know each other at all.”
Just before the third attempt on Room 301 began with a mysterious light, Songi looked at me and spoke comfortingly.
“Sister, I know you’re confused, but… please know one thing. You made most of the plans for this.”
“?”
*
.
..
…
I woke up in a soft bed.
This time, it wasn’t the bed in room 105, but the bed in my room in the mansion where the family of the chairman of the Daeyang Group lives.
“… I am once again shocked.”
I don’t even know who’s in room 301 right now.
Of course, I don’t know what to do or how to do it from now on.
I started out with no idea how to do the third attempt.
What’s ridiculous is that I came up with a significant portion of this absurd plan.
Another me who planned to deceive me.
“…”
I realized that the ‘me from another time zone’ brought by the time machine and the me now are very different beings.
Then, all of a sudden, I understood the meaning of the rule of time zones – the original and the summoned cannot meet.
Because I thought it would be really… scary if they saw me in a different time zone.
“Whew…”
Let’s stop with the philosophical thoughts here.
People like Gain do this all the time, so I don’t need to do it too.
First of all, let’s summon the flute.
Because the mysterious power that ‘Mother’ left in the mansion might distort my thoughts.
— Boohoo…!
I blew on the flute of peace and thought about the current situation.
Currently, there is no older brother or younger sister in the mansion. Naturally, there is no mother either.
According to what Ga-in found out at the end of the second episode, her mother could only intervene fully after I dug into her father’s memories.
In the third attempt, the father’s memories have not been dug into yet, so the mother cannot intervene either.
So, there are only three people left in the mansion: my father, me, and my second older brother.
Originally, I thought it was a cozy house with six people living there: two parents and four siblings.
When I realized that there were only three people in the house, the mansion felt incredibly desolate.
“…”
My older brother and younger sister passed away when I was young.
My mother, I feel, doesn’t usually show up in reality and only appears when needed.
Even though we lived like that for over ten years, my father, I, and my second older brother didn’t notice.
It is a story about three people living together for over a decade, believing that three other people who did not exist existed.
“What the heck is this…”
It’s dizzying.
At this point, the power of a mother to shake the human spirit is not just scary, it’s admirable.
As I came out into the hallway with a sigh, I saw my second brother, who had finished getting ready for work and was wearing a suit.
“Hey, hey!”
“why?”
“Why is there a strange noise coming from the room this morning? What, it sounded like a whistle.”
“Just, as a hobby.”
“Ha~! You’re really strange. Anyway, you should go to work early too. You’re going to have a hard time at work today, right?”
The second oldest brother with a playful expression.
In the past, I would have really hated it…
Now, even in this sight, I feel warmth.
“Brother.”
“huh?”
“Do you know where your older brother is?”
“Huh? Bro? Shouldn’t you have already gone to work?”
“… What about Hee-yoon?”
“He must have gone to work too. Hey, you should hurry up and change your clothes too. I’ll go first!”
Thank you.
I was grateful that my only remaining brother was alive.
*
It’s an absurd fact even when I think about it again.
I have no idea what to do on my third try.
No matter what, it’s to the point where I wonder if it’s okay to be like this!
Since I didn’t know what to do, I thought I’d just go to work.
I kept grumbling in my head as I headed to the parking lot to go to work – ugh! As soon as I opened the car door, Ga-in appeared!
“Eww!”
“good morning.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s a surprise!”
“Why are you like that?”
“Why, why! Why are you in my car?”
No, wasn’t this the residence of the chairman of the Daeyang Group?
What are the bodyguards doing with that money? – Okay, okay.
If Ga-in sets her mind to it, she’ll even come and go from the management office like it’s her own living room, but a conglomerate like that would look like a neighborhood hole-in-the-wall store.
“Eunsol, can you see only Gain?”
The person sitting in the driver’s seat was even a silent old man.
At this point, it was a bit awkward to argue, so I just laughed.
“… Good morning.
“Yes, good morning.”
It looks like Gain has joined the ‘solution party’.
I felt relieved inside.
Because I felt a sense of relief knowing that my most advanced colleagues were doing the same thing as me.
Of course, I also felt uneasy thinking that there would be no Cain in the post-apocalyptic world.
“Yeah, if you came in, Gain, you would have already confirmed that you understood the scenario, right?”
“Nothing much. Understanding the scenario is a useful skill in the early stages of the game, right? But, we’ve already made a lot of progress in the first and second rounds.”
“Oh… really?”
I don’t know if he’s saying it’s nothing because it’s really nothing, or if he’s hiding the details of his understanding of the scenario from me.
Meanwhile, I noticed that the car was going somewhere other than the company.
“… I don’t have to go to work?”
“Yes. Right now, I’m going to burn the maze.”
Are you going to burn the maze?
When Grandpa and Gain came, couldn’t they have just brought Miro with them?
Oh, the time zone contains the word ‘peacock’!
I have a feeling that Miro will check the Duke’s situation.
Anyway, since I didn’t know the situation well, I was a little worried.
“Can I act like this? You know, I’m not a regular employee, I’m a managing director. I’m also the chairman’s daughter. If I suddenly miss work without notice…”
It’s sure to be a strange thing for the Ocean Group.
To be exact, the ‘Ys race’ that has infiltrated the company might feel uncomfortable.
Gain’s answer was firm.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“what?”
“Yesterday, during a meeting, this topic came up.”
A meeting in which I actively participated, but was unaware of.
“The story was that there was no telling how many traps the King of Is had dug in Room 301.”
“That’s definitely scary.”
The biggest trap was ‘Father’s Memories’.
This is a trap that I discovered by stepping on it myself on my second try.
Of course there will be more.
When people plant landmines, they don’t just put down one, right?
“Our conclusion is that the longer we delay, the more we wander around, the more dangerous it becomes.”
The most dangerous thing to do in a minefield is to wander around for a long time.
So, my colleagues came to a simple conclusion.
“The response to this is simple: proceed in a straight line at high speed.”
“Super-fast straight line progress?”
“I won’t waste time. I won’t wander around and step on traps.”
“That means – ”
“The resolution or failure of Room 301. It will be decided today at the earliest, or tomorrow at the latest. So you don’t need to worry about the reactions of the people in the company.”
“I understand.”
“Oh, and!”
Gain said with a smile.
“Don’t play the flute until you reach your destination.”
“…”
The moment I heard that, I understood.
Right now, the reality that I see and hear has already been manipulated.