Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 82
Only Krnovel
Episode 82 – Party Time (4), Souvenir Shop
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 25
Current Location: Tier Basement, Climbing
Sage Advice: 3]
– Han Ga-in
“Catch it! Catch that!”
A shout that echoes like crazy
“Aaaahhh!”
A scream that echoes throughout the mountain
…
What on earth is this all of a sudden?
A girl who appeared out of nowhere on the mountain suddenly started running away, and we frantically chased after her.
I’m curious even as I chase after him. Why on earth does that kid run away when he sees us? Why are we chasing that kid like this? I don’t know what it is, but let’s chase it first!
The mountain was already very rugged, and as I left the hiking trail and ran through the rough paths and trees, my clothes got dirty in an instant. If it were everyday clothes, wouldn’t it have already been torn?
“What? What on earth is this?”
My sister’s voice can be heard from somewhere. I think he belatedly saw our chase and joined us.
“Aaaahhh!”
No, don’t scream! Why on earth is he like that? It’s like we’re bad people!
Fortunately, the physical abilities of the girl who was running away were not half-human like Ari’s. On the other hand, her grandfather possessed moves almost reminiscent of a legendary martial arts master. It took less than 10 minutes to catch up. The energetic grandfather’s shout echoed through the mountains.
“Why on earth are you running away!”
“Why on earth are you chasing me?”
“I didn’t chase after you because you ran away!”
“I didn’t run away because my grandfather was chasing me!”
…
I was just dumbfounded. Now that I think about it, I think we did something wrong. A girl meets her grandfather and a young man in the mountains and laughs slightly, but if the young man suddenly yells and her grandfather runs like crazy, won’t she run away at once?
*
When her older sister appeared at the scene of the chaotic chase, the girl suddenly grabbed her older sister’s collar and started shedding tears. Why does he keep making us look like bad people?
“Hey~ Hey! Be moderate. I don’t know if you’re an NPC or something, but stop doing weird things.”
Then, her expression brightened as if she was lying, and she spoke teasingly.
“Is it noticeable?”
The grandfather reacted with astonishment.
“How is it possible for a child to sleep in a place like this? So what is your role?”
“I’m a clerk at a souvenir shop.”
After hearing that and looking at the girl’s outfit, she looked like an employee in charge of touting customers at some tourist attraction wearing traditional clothing. The girl suddenly stood up feeling lively and started leading us somewhere.
“If you walk around the hotel with less than half the number of people, you can meet me!”
Less than half?
“Can’t it be less than half? There are five of us who entered the mountain?”
“ah.”
My older sister responded that she knew something.
“sister?”
“Seung-yeop said he was having a hard time, so I just told him to go back and rest. Song-i stopped in the middle, so I passed by, but it looks like he went outside.”
“Ha! The young guys have already gotten the hang of it!”
“Grandpa. These days, when you suddenly come to the mountain with kids like this, it’s normal for them to run away. It’s amazing that Ga-in and I didn’t run away.”
“So you’re in the mood to get something! If you listen to adults carefully, you’ll be happy even in your sleep.”
“If anyone hears it, they will think that the old man brought it here because he thought there was a souvenir shop….”
After walking for about 30 minutes, a store appeared out of nowhere that I couldn’t believe was located in the middle of a mountain. The inside of the store was literally a souvenir shop. It was full of items that would normally be found in a souvenir shop, including various dolls, postcards, toys, and simple clothing.
I heard the clerk’s cheerful voice.
“We will give away one souvenir to each person who visits the store! Please only choose your own items. It is not possible to choose a gift for someone who is not present.”
I had a guess, but I asked to confirm.
“These aren’t ordinary items, are they?”
“It would be disappointing if it was an ordinary item, right? Of course, it is a hotel special! However, you can check the specific performance after receiving it.”
…
What should I choose? It feels like each item has a separate ‘special function’, but I don’t know which one to choose. My older sister came up to me and nudged me.
“I have no idea. Please give me some advice.”
“In a situation like this where you don’t know anything, you won’t be able to tell me properly.”
“Still, try it.”
After concentrating for a moment, I asked, ‘Please tell me what I should choose.’
[Please choose a familiar object.]
“They asked me to choose a familiar object.”
“Is this too vague? Are there one or two familiar items?”
“If you ask a question in a situation where you don’t know anything, you will only get a crappy answer like this.”
“Ugh, Seungyeop should have been there. If he was lucky, he would have chosen the three best items in this store!”
“So, my sister should have dragged me to prevent me from going down.”
“If I had brought her here, I don’t think this store would have been built.”
We talked so hard to each other, but we couldn’t figure out what to choose. Still, let’s take this advice.
‘Familiar object’
Before coming to the hotel, the biggest thing in my life was college entrance exams, and I spent the most time reading books and studying. If it looks familiar, isn’t it a writing instrument?
Since coming to the hotel, I’ve used the dagger quite a bit, but I haven’t seen any dagger-like items. He eventually picked up a pen. It has the word HP engraved on it. Is this an abbreviation for Hotel Pioneer?
When I turned around, Eunsol came holding a badge with HP written on it.
“I just chose something that was easy to carry around.”
Grandpa came from somewhere carrying a glove.
“Don’t you think it looks luxurious? I chose it because it has a good texture.”
Each person chose a pen, badge, and gloves and stood in front of the clerk.
“Are you sure about these items?”
“Well, do you have any other recommendations?”
“All the items in our store are hotel specials! They are all excellent items, so I recommend them all!”
“You go on for a long time saying you can’t tell me anything. I’ll just use these gloves.”
“I also decided on a pen.”
“I decided on a badge too.”
The clerk clapped his hands lightly and pointed to the door. I was about to leave naturally but stopped.
…
I guess this clerk is also an NPC. Perhaps, he was one of the ‘failures’ who had tried the hotel before us. Can’t I ask a question?
“Can you tell me anything about the hotel?”
The girl’s expression, which had been cheerful just moments before, suddenly became as frozen as ice.
“…”
“I don’t even know what to ask. Just anything, something simple is fine. If possible, even your ‘real’ name.”
“That’s one of the most unanswerable things.”
…I remembered a conversation I had with a doctor, ‘Kim Sang-hyeon’, a long time ago. He said that it was impossible to have a normal conversation while ‘my mind’ was intact.
Is it impossible to have a conversation outside of the ‘role’ of a store clerk? The clerk looked into space with a somewhat blank expression, and then opened his mouth.
“The other two.”
“what?”
“Grandpa and Miss have already gotten the items, so why don’t you go out?”
It’s out of the blue. The clerk suddenly told my grandfather and sister to leave, excluding me. The two people looked puzzled and walked out of the store as they were told. The clerk and I were the only ones left in the store.
“Do you want to go out?”
“Of course. Who would want to stay in a strange hotel like this forever?”
“There are several escape routes from the hotel. I’m sure you have figured them all out already.”
‘Several’
The clerk who said that looked at me intently. She felt it instinctively. The clerk knows that out of all his colleagues, I know the most escape routes!
“…”
“You might be wondering, is there a way out for everyone, not just one specific person?”
“Is there such a way?”
“3rd Floor.”
“3rd Floor?”
“There is an unconditional way out on the third floor for everyone. There is no need to break the room on the third floor, just arrive at the third floor. In fact, all of you can exit the moment you pass through the gateway room on the second floor.”
My heart is racing.
When I learned of the escape route via the elevator, I instinctively hid that route. A shallow and selfish thought that only I want to use. I can’t say it wasn’t there.
However, the fact that it is a one-person escape route in the first place is bound to become a seed of division. Its very existence must be hidden. There is a way for everyone to escape. That fact alone filled my heart.
She lowered her head as if she had no intention of talking further. Why did she only tell me?
I was about to ask, but stopped. Because I knew the answer from the clerk’s meaningful attitude.
Wasn’t ‘information about the escape’ only given to ‘those who already knew more about the escape than anyone else’?
— Snap!
I opened the door and left the store. When I turned around, the store had disappeared like a lie. Even if I bring my colleagues back later, they won’t have to visit the store.
My grandfather and sister, who were waiting outside, asked me what on earth they were talking about. I told you what I heard. The fact that there is a way for everyone to escape is right on the 3rd floor.
However, the clerk said that the reason he only told me about this was probably because of my blessed ‘wisdom’.
*
When I left the climbing room and arrived at room 105, I met Seung-yeop and Song-i, who had come first and were resting. Seung-yeop and Song-i, who did not know the situation, approached with somewhat apologetic expressions and made the excuse that they had gone down because their legs were too sore.
Me, my grandfather, and my three older sisters were momentarily speechless. Thanks to these two people leaving, I met an NPC that only appears when there were less than half the crew and suddenly got some treasure. Should I say thank you?
…
After a little conversation, the atmosphere completely changed. The three who got the treasure couldn’t hide their joy and instead began to comfort the two, and the two who went down first started rolling on the floor.
Are you really rolling on the floor? I don’t know about Seungyeop, but isn’t Songi this old?
“No, what are you doing? Are you in elementary school? Are you upset?”
“I’m really mad! You go to a place like that and don’t even think about calling us!”
“Hey, you guys suddenly disappeared. How can I call you?”
“Grandpa could have called you through the chat window!”
Actually, I thought about that too. However, I decided not to call because I thought the store might disappear if Song or Seung-yeop showed up. After taking some comfort time. Everyone was excited and began testing the performance of the three newly acquired tools.
See next episode