Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 81
Only Krnovel
Episode 81 – Party Time (3) – Sanctuary of Blessing (2), what the remaining people experienced.
– Elena
I was embarrassed. ‘A kid trying to sway me in the wrong direction?’ What do you mean?
“yes?”
“This is the second child to enter the hotel. Like a blind man touching an elephant, the child mistakenly believes that he has gained great enlightenment about the hotel and its blessings, even though he was lucky enough to leave with only a small portion of the experience.”
…is this about Ari? The sponsor seems to think negatively about Ari.
“Do not be swayed carelessly. The scale of justice only shows its true power when its standards are upright. You may be able to become stronger by swinging the scale as you wish, but such strength will soon reach its limit.”
I can’t understand the flow of conversation from earlier.
Can you become stronger by swinging the scale at will? What on earth does this mean?
“You don’t understand what I’m saying. That’s good. There’s no need to try to understand the wrong path.”
She didn’t seem to want to explain further.
After finishing her tea, the woman said one last thing.
“I will give you the power to distinguish between truth and lies.”
… I thought as my consciousness faded.
Questions that arose from this conversation. Will I find the answer if I worry alone?
Let’s just ask Ari directly.
I decided to have an honest conversation with Ari.
*
[Elena – Definition -> Got ‘Lie Detection’]
*
– Kim Ari
A clanking sound. Office-like scenery.
A space filled with huge safes.
The first sponsor I met looked like a man in a suit.
.
.
.
We had a lot of conversations. Just before leaving, my sponsor warned me.
“The growth of ‘wisdom’ is quite rapid. You have not forgotten, right? If the growth of ‘your blessing’ is reversed in ‘wisdom’, then the owner of ‘wisdom’ will find out the facts you have been hiding.”
“… I know.”
“If you know, don’t you think that this passive action in the ‘common sense changing media’ is a failure? Although ‘Wisdom’ did not receive a legacy, she was active in her own way and grew her blessings.
“On the other hand, you have made virtually no contribution at all.”
“I should be careful.”
With that warning, my consciousness returned to earth.
*
[Ari Kim –
suggestion
-> ‘Compass’ was obtained.]
*
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 25
Current location: Tier 1, Sanctuary of Blessing
Sage Advice: 3]
– Han Ga-in
Flash! I came to my senses with this feeling.
When I came to my senses, people around me showed strange reactions.
“Huh? Cain, how did you wake up?”
I looked around. Jincheol, Elena, and Ari were asleep as if passed out.
If I strengthen the blessing like before, I feel like I will pass out for a day.
I didn’t strengthen it this time, so I woke up right away.
I told him about my situation. He said that he received a suggestion from a ‘sponsor’ to collect more contributions and then receive ‘very strong reinforcement’, which he accepted.
Eunsol’s older sister responded that it was fascinating.
“Very strong reinforcement? Understanding the scenario? I don’t know if that’s all I heard, but it’s something grandiose, right?”
“So I decided to save it too.”
The silent elderly man also nodded his head.
“Interesting? It seems like a very helpful ability. By the way, I’m glad you woke up right away.”
“yes?”
“Three people. Let’s fly. You carry the wild boar.”
“…”
“What are you doing? You’re not telling me to carry you, are you? I’m at an age where my knees hurt just from walking!”
It seems like you used to almost fly around in the mountains.
In the end, while the old man was carrying Ari and Eunsol and Songi took turns carrying Elena, I went back to room 105, carrying Jincheol half on my back and half dragging him on the floor.
He’s strong, so he’ll be fine.
The first morning of party time passed like this.
*
Lunch time in room 105.
Unlike usual, when three people, Cha Jin-cheol, Elena, and Ari, left, it felt somewhat empty.
During the meal, the schedule naturally came up.
“We should go on safari tomorrow afternoon, right?”
Eunsol’s sister responded immediately.
“That’s right. It’s said to be a place to practice heritage, but the person practicing won’t wake up until tomorrow afternoon.”
“So, I’m a little upset from this afternoon until tomorrow morning.”
Grandfather Silence answered as if he had been waiting.
“You’re so excited? Ga-in, your schedule is very tight. You, Song-i, and Seung-yeop should work on your stamina with me.”
… Isn’t there some other excuse?
“No matter how much you think about it, how effective would exercising for just four days be? Why not explore the hotel instead? I’m sure there’s something more hidden there.”
“Why are you distinguishing between training and exploration? You sure didn’t think we would just do bodyweight exercises in the hallway?
As you may have heard, there are many absurd places in the hotel basement. The places I focused on were ‘hiking’ and ‘the park.’”
“Didn’t you say that Eunsol had gone ‘hiking’ before?”
“Yes. When you open the door, a mountain comes out. It’s not like the mountain behind the neighborhood that many people see in Korea, but a really big mountain like Baekdu Mountain.”
“When you open the door, it’s like a mountain. I’ve never heard such a strange expression in the world.”
“Quiet! Quiet! So, my opinion is simple. Why distinguish between exploration and training?
There must be something hidden in that vast mountain. “You can exercise and find out what’s on the mountain.”
You really have no excuses? Climbing a place like Baekdu Mountain, not a mountain behind the neighborhood?
Songi found an excuse.
“If it’s such a dangerous mountain, wouldn’t we need special hiking clothes or walking sticks and other climbing gear? Without those, the regular clothes we wear right now are -”
“Don’t worry! If you go to the swimming pool, the hotel has swimsuits provided, and if you go hiking, they also have hiking gear that fits your body type.”
At the same time as my sister’s cheerful answer, the three people’s sharp gazes pierced my sister.
stabbed I stabbed my sister about five times with my eyes before answering.
“As expected, I’m glad there’s someone who has already experienced it. Sister, please come with me and let me know. Shouldn’t there be at least one more person searching that huge mountain?”
“…”
In the end, all five people decided to climb the mountain, except for the three who strengthened their blessings after lunch.
*
“Ah! The sky is blue and the air is clear! Is there such a beautiful place?”
“…”
All four people fell silent.
As I entered the hotel basement and entered the room marked ‘Hiking’, a mountain came out just as Eunsol said.
It didn’t feel like a world was formed out of a barrel like the Curse Room.
It is a strange structure where there are only rooms equipped with mountaineering equipment and mountain climbing gear on a vast land.
Just think about it in peace.
Anyway, at some point, you’ll have to search the hotel as much as possible to find something hidden.
I decided to think of it as both exploring and exercising.
Of course, if my grandfather hadn’t insisted on going to the mountain, no one would have thought of searching the mountain.
I entered the space where hiking gear was prepared.
It wasn’t surprising at all.
I was thoroughly prepared with various hiking clothes that fit my body type, hiking shoes, walking sticks, backpacks, simple water and energy bars.
Even though I saw more grandiose items, I only packed a backpack.
The hike began as soon as the grandfather dragged Seung-yeop, who was taking care of himself as slowly as possible.
As expected, Seungyeop and Eunsol began to suffer the most.
As his grandfather often pointed out, Seungyeop was a skinny person who didn’t eat much and played games for a long time.
My sister claims that she has done some exercise, but there are limits to the physical strength of a woman who has worked in an office for a long time.
Surprisingly, Songi climbed well without much complaint.
Let’s not talk to the elderly. It doesn’t seem strange at all to climb to the top alone.
In the end, due to the speed of the proceedings, we were separated into three groups: the elders, me and Songi, and Seungyeop and Eunsol.
“You walk better than I thought? Did you do things like hiking often?”
“I raise several dogs at home. Isn’t this because I walk them a lot?”
I think Songi fell behind a lot when I did the triathlon at Hotel High School, but I guess I did it really roughly back then.
“Why on earth did Grandpa drag us to a place like this?”
“From what you said, it seems like you wanted to explore and build up your stamina.”
“You’re going through a hard time every day, so why go through all the trouble again to build up your stamina? Besides, there are so many other places to explore, so why choose such a difficult place?”
“I think so too… As I walk, doesn’t it seem like there really is something to this mountain?”
After listening to Song, I looked around.
A decidedly alien landscape. There are no monsters or beasts, but the scenery of the mountains alone can be so heterogeneous.
I don’t have much knowledge about plants, but don’t trees have their own types?
There are different types of trees that grow depending on the climate, such as conifers and broadleaf trees, but this strange mountain was a mixture of all kinds of trees.
Is there really something there?
If there is a place where there is something to be found, shouldn’t we walk while looking at the surroundings more rather than just following the hiking trail?
I don’t intend to deviate from the hiking trail and hike the entire mountain, but I think it would be a good idea to climb the mountain while looking at the area around the hiking trail.
Time passed quietly like that.
I don’t think it would have been very fun to walk alone on the mountain, but I still had a fun time chatting with Song.
It was fun for about an hour.
…
After an hour, the mountain was filled with silence.
Every step is tiring, so what kind of conversation is this? I was just busy sweating and putting all my effort into walking.
Songi and I eventually lost track of speed and Songi disappeared behind us.
The old man who had been walking forward slowly got closer to me, as if he was adjusting his pace.
“Did you sweat a little?”
“It tastes like death.”
“Sometimes you need it like this.”
“Sometimes? Since I came here, I feel like I’m dying every day….”
“In the Curse Room, it’s not a question of whether your body is tired or not. It’s really a question of life or death. It’s a battlefield, so to speak.
“I’m saying that you need time to relax, sweat it out, and calm your mind.”
“I don’t feel much free time.”
“Still, while you were walking like this, didn’t you get rid of the thoughts about it being a curse room, a gateway room, or an ordeal?”
“…”
It’s not wrong. He was so tired that he didn’t think anything of it.
“Are your parents okay?”
From that point on, my grandfather and I continued our daily conversation for a long time. I felt it during the conversation, but it didn’t seem like my grandfather was really curious about my family’s story and was asking about it.
It feels like just having this conversation is a purpose in itself.
It felt awkward to be talking about such an ordinary story in a strange hotel full of surreality.
“Something is strange. These stories. To the outside, these stories would have been ordinary conversations, but here, they seem like very unusual conversations.”
“But they are also really important stories.”
I feel like the tension is completely relieved. Obviously, the body is in quite a difficult situation… .
A strange feeling that actually made my mind feel at ease.
I lifted my head to the sky in a daze, then looked back at the unusual trees around me.
I lightly waved my hand as I saw the girl laughing among the trees looking at me.
…
?
No, wasn’t this some healing time? What else?
Why does a girl suddenly appear in a place like this?
I was so surprised that I looked back at the trees!
The girl was still smiling, and the old man was surprised to see my reaction and looked over.
Age is roughly mid-teens? The outfit is so strange that it’s hard to believe it’s worn in a rugged mountain.
It looks somewhat like traditional oriental clothing?
Grandpa’s voice rang loudly.
“Who are you!”
The smiling girl tilted her head – and started running away!
And so an unexpected chase in the mountains began.
See next episode