Escaping the Mystery Hotel

- Lee Eunsol

Back in the Mansion of Fear, we repeated our attempts up to the fourth one. At that time, the ultimately poor decision to send the majority of us to the underground facilities put us in a precarious situation, and in the end, Kain had to use Descent as the final solution.

Thinking about it, we have yet to actually see Kain fight while using Descent. We only heard the details from Kain afterward.

Ahri, who had at least spoken with the Son of Heaven and could understand Kain’s explanations to some degree, responded, “I haven’t seen him fight firsthand either. But we can guess how strong he was based on who he fought.”

“Who did he fight?”

“The Convict of Room 102, or should I say, the Convict’s firstborn? The ‘One Who Couldn’t Be Born’ was a moth the size of a mountain range, and a single flap of its wings could terraform an entire planet.”

“That sounds like a god in every sense of the word. Are you saying Kain fought and killed such a being in a one-on-one battle?”

“To be exact, he killed it when it was still in its caterpillar stage before it became a moth. It was definitely weaker than it would have been as a moth, but it’s still meaningless to try to compare its strength to ours. It’s like ants trying to discuss the growth stages of an elephant.”

“I see your point. You’re saying he was strong enough to kill a weakened god, and Kain’s power is far beyond ours. If he’s at that level, none of us could stand against him, even as a group.”

“I think so too.”

“And at the same time, Descent seems like a truly absurd power. It makes me wonder why we didn’t have that kind of luck back when we were dying in the Deep Sea Hotel…”

Everyone fell silent as they glanced at Kim Sanghyun. Grandpa patted his back reassuringly, and Kim Sanghyun continued, “I now understand why you all find Room 104 so strange. That Descent ability sounds more valuable than any Inheritance. It’s like having a free pass for three Cursed Rooms.”

A free pass for three Cursed Rooms.

It sounds exaggerated, but if you think about it, it’s not entirely wrong.

The ‘One Who Couldn’t Be Born’ is the child of the Convict and was in an incomplete larva state when Kain defeated it.

Considering that, it’s unlikely for the Son of Heaven to be able to handle the Convict.

But in all the Cursed Rooms we’ve experienced so far, we’ve never had to kill the Convict. They were usually observing from a distance.

If we rule out the Convicts who don’t need to be fought, there’s no one in the Cursed Rooms who can stand up to the Son of Heaven. There’s no need to devise a strategy; if the Descent power is unleashed at the start, it would be over in three minutes.

“I already thought that Descent was a strange power, but after hearing Sanghyun’s explanation, it seems even more bizarre. How did the Lord grant such power to Kain? It doesn’t seem like an Inheritance.”

Ahri pointed out another issue from a different angle, “How the Lord granted that power is also strange, but what’s even more bizarre is why the Hotel allowed it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“As Sanghyun said, it’s practically a free pass for three Cursed Rooms, a power more valuable than an Inheritance inside the Hotel. And we got it for free.”

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch… Kain mentioned that when he first got Descent, he received a notification.”

“There’s definitely a price to pay for that kind of power. We just haven’t paid it yet.”

Grandpa, who had been quietly listening, voiced a different opinion, “The price might not be something Kain has to pay all by himself.”

“Huh?”

“Did Kain, or any of us, ever ask the Lord for that power? It seems unreasonable to grant such immense power without us requesting it and then expect us to pay the price. Of course, since we’ve already used it to clear Room 102 and will likely need it twice more, we will eventually have to pay something.”

“But not all of the price?”

Grandpa didn’t say anything further, but the theory made sense.

Right after gaining Descent, Kain mentioned some unknown negotiations between great ones.

Who were the parties in that negotiation?

At least on one side, there must have been the Lord.

But who was on the other side? Who negotiated with the Lord to grant us this immense power? Was it the Patrons? Buddha?

If we don’t have to pay the full price, who will pay the rest?

My head was spinning, so I decided to change the topic.

“Let’s leave the discussion about the price of Descent for now. Ultimately, it’s a problem Kain has to solve himself, and there’s no point in us debating it.”

Kim Sanghyun nodded.

“Let’s return to the original topic of how to deal with the Son of Heaven. After listening to you, I’m convinced of two things.”

“Two things?”

“First, we must avoid fighting the Son of Heaven at all costs. We can’t win against him.”

“Everyone agrees on that.”

“Second, we probably won’t have to fight him.”

“I agree. I thought the same.”

Several others, including Grandpa and Songee, nodded in agreement. Jinchul smiled slightly and spoke, “Noona, by now you know enough about this Hotel, don’t you? The Hotel isn’t going to send us into a life-or-death battle with a god who can cause earthquakes with a flap of its wing. If they wanted to kill us that way, they’d just serve us on a platter directly to the Convicts.”

“That’s true.”

“So there’s no way the Hotel is going to have Kain use Descent and wipe us all out as part of the scenario.”

“Still, don’t let your guard down. Even if it’s not that extreme, I’m sure the Lord will find some way to mess with Kain.”

“Let’s prepare for that in two ways. First, we’ll hide the key parts of our plan from Kain, like we are now. Second, we’ll keep a close eye on him, and if he starts acting strange, we’ll knock him out.”

For now, there’s not much else we can do. The Cursed Rooms is designed so that we only figure out the solutions as we go, often while on the brink of death.

Elena, who had been listening quietly, brought up a different topic, “What about Aurelia? We might not need to worry about the Son of Heaven, but we’ve already identified the conditions for Aurelia to appear.”

“She’ll probably show up when the chaos starts in the school, just like last time. Elena, what do you think? You’re the only one who’s fought her directly.”

Elena thought for a moment before answering, “It’s hard to compare, but back then, I had just started using ‘Justice’. Since then, I’ve used it several times, and I think I’ve grown way stronger.”

“That makes sense. Everyone’s Blessings and Inheritance have been growing stronger.”

“That’s true. I think I could handle her on my own now. And with help from the rest of you, it should be even easier.”

I couldn’t help but feel impressed.

I remember Ahri and Kain saying that Aurelia was so overwhelming that they couldn’t even approach her, and Elena didn’t last long against her either.

Now, Elena was casually saying she could take her in a one-on-one fight.

Of course, with “Justice” active, Elena was indeed strong, but we all had grown quite a bit.

…Except me.

Now that I think about it, I have been using the Hand of Greed more and more recently.

With everything happening during this Party Time, everyone needed a break, so I hadn’t had a chance to use it.

And using it now will definitely be a burden.

But I’ll definitely try it next time.

…Enough idle thoughts. It’s time to divide up the roles.

The meeting continued late into the night, as we prepared for re-entering Room 104.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 97

Current Location: First Floor, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: X

- Han Kain

I feel uneasy.

After going through so many Cursed Rooms and various trials, I should be an expert by now.

…Right?

But this is the first time in a long while that I’m entering a Cursed Room with no clue about what’s going on!

It feels like when I first woke up in the Hotel and blindly entered Room 101 without any idea of what to expect.

The unease started when I spoke with my comrades this morning.

After their late-night meeting, I expected them to explain a lot, but it took less than ten seconds for them to summarize.

They said they’d revisit the interpretation of the hint after gathering more information and that Elena would deal with Aurelia like before.

That was it.

The entire explanation took about ten seconds.

Is that really all they discussed during their long meeting?

I’m not stupid, so I understand.

They were suspicious that the Lord might take control of me, so they decided to hide their plans from me.

I get it.

I’m not childish enough to feel hurt by this.

But the unease won’t go away.

Maybe I should think about something else.

The suspicion that the Lord might control me is valid.

I’ve considered that possibility myself. But is there no way I can prepare to counteract it?

Control.

My newly awakened ability is also about control, isn’t it?

From afar, I heard my comrades’ voices.

“Kain! Do you still need time to prepare?”

“No, I’m ready! Let’s go!”

Just before entering the room, Ahri said something ominous to me, “Kain.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be too surprised once we’re inside.”

“What am I supposed to be surprised about?”

“Just… don’t be.”

I was already anxious about not knowing my comrades’ plans, and now hearing this made me feel even more uneasy.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 97

Current Location: First Floor, Room 104 – Cursed Room ‘Preparatory Selective, Hotel High School’

Sage’s Advice: X

- Ding Dong Dang~!

When I regained my senses, I found myself once again wearing the school uniform of the Hotel High School.

“There have been many attempts to define what music is in terms of the specific att… Looking at the context of this sentence, we can decipher…”

Hearing the overly sweet voice from the front of the classroom, I sighed instinctively, drawing glances from around me.

I looked around and saw my comrades.

Ahri with a bemused expression, Elena wearing a school uniform, and Songee sitting with Perro perched on her shoulder.

I mean, I know the Hotel makes up its own rules, but bringing a parrot to school?

Even Songee looked amused, stroking Perro while smiling wryly.

-Thunk!

A loud sound made me turn, and there stood Seungyub, now older, holding a hammer in his hand.

Wait… What?

…A hammer?

“Park Seungyub! What on earth are you doing, causing such a racket in the middle of class—”

-Thud!

And then, I completely lost my mind.