CHAPTER 311: ROOM 204, MISSION ROOM - 'HOTEL CINEMA' (33)

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User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 135

Current Location: Floor 2, Room 204 - Mission Room, ‘Hotel Cinema’

Sage’s Advice: 0

– Han Kain

When was it? Control of my body returned to me.

Because of that, as Do Inho’s face approached, cold sweat started flowing from tension.

Do Inho seemed to find my appearance amusing and said with a slight smile, “Relax. Your story is already over, isn’t it?”

“What?”

Come to think of it, that’s right.

The progression of Scary Stories was simple. When the storytellers started telling their stories, we entered the content as a memory.

Afterwards, when we solved that content, the storyteller wrapped it up. Finally, if the writer confirmed the plausibility of the content and there was no problem, it passed.

If that was the progression, my story was already over. Now was the process of the writer checking for any unusual parts in the content, so there was no reason for me to newly enter the story.

“...”

Then what’s the purpose of this procedure now?

As if reading my thoughts, Do Inho answered, “According to Kain, aren’t you all busy surviving day by day in the harsh place called the Hotel? You probably haven’t had the leisure to ponder about the Hotel itself. So... I’m trying to point out parts you usually overlook.”

“Parts we overlook... I’ll listen attentively.”

“Ah, let’s turn off the camera from here.”

“What?”

– Click!

I heard the sound of something “turning off”. At least in my view, nothing turned off.

...What turned off was the “outside screen”.

This meant my companions couldn’t hear the conversation from now on.

“First question. Listening to you, it seems the reality that you and your Hotel companions remember is quite different?”

“That’s right. We were dragged in from different time periods to begin with. At first, I thought maybe only the time periods were different? But listening to the two agents’ stories, no matter how I thought about it, it was too different from the world I knew.”

“At least Kim Ahri and Kim Mooksung have lived in a different world from Kain. How about the others? You’ve talked about it occasionally, right?”

“...Sometimes we feel it’s a bit different, and sometimes we just think our memories are wrong.”

“A bit different... Exactly which parts?”

“...”

“The names of famous politicians are different or common knowledge about the world is slightly different? For example, I think Songee would consider it normal to have laser turrets at home.”

“...Did I just say something like that?”

“Huh, it’s a guess. Anyway, it seems you were all dragged from different worlds.”

What a guess!

I recalled how Ahri almost fell into Do Inho’s trap earlier. Now Do Inho knew even the content of conversations with Songee that I never mentioned in the coffee shop.

This person clearly knew everything that happened inside and outside the room, like the Hotel’s NPCs.

“Parallel worlds?”

“Parallel worlds? Oh ho! That’s one scenario too. But...”

With a meaningful expression, Do Inho said, “I hear the first floor of the Hotel is in the sky of Earth?”

“There’s no guarantee it’s exactly Earth.”

“I hear you can escape by flying? If you can arrive in reality through physical movement, it must be in Earth’s sky.”

“...Maybe so.”

“Then whose world is the single reality outside the Hotel, the world outside the main gate?”

He was telling me most of my companions remember different worlds. Perhaps everyone was dragged from different parallel worlds.

However, there seemed to be “a single reality” outside the Hotel.

Whose reality is it exactly?

To me, who was at a loss for words, the writer said as if amused, “It seems Miss Ahri and Mr. Mooksung already know the answer. Didn’t you say the ‘Administration’ organization has already accepted escapees from the Hotel?”

“...That’s right.”

“Think about this part. Now I’ll ask the second question.”

“Yes.”

“This is an extension of the conversation we just had, but the people from the Administration came to the Hotel to obtain a mysterious object to save reality, right?”

“That’s what they said. It seems... something big happened in reality.”

“Do you know what that mysterious object is?”

“They don’t know themselves. They say they came after hearing some kind of prophecy.”

“How do they find something when they don’t even know what it is? It seems like a situation ripe for being scammed by the Hotel, doesn’t it?”

“Scammed?”

“Since they don’t know what it is, they wouldn’t know if the Hotel doesn’t give it to them and sends them out. Or, even if it’s already been given, they might not know if the object they received is that object.”

“Well...”

“What do you think?”

“...I don’t think the Hotel will deceive us about reward-related issues.”

“Do you really think I’m implying that the Hotel is the one doing the deceiving? Think about it a little, did the Hotel promise to give the Administration people an object to save the world in the first place? They just heard some strange prophecy or whatever outside and forcibly entered, right?”

I closed my mouth, having nothing to say. In fact, as the writer said, the Hotel never promised to give the Administration an object to save the world.

“You don’t know much about this issue either, Kain. Then let’s move on to the last question.”

“Yes.”

“I hear you can all escape when the second floor ends?”

“That’s what we understand.”

“Will you stay in that situation, Kain?”

“Of course... I’d leave, right?”

“That’s normal. Even if you can obtain great treasures by breaking through the Hotel, facing endless life-threatening trials itself is too big a risk. Moreover, won’t you be trapped in a place no different from hell if you’re defeated in the hotel?”

“It’s the Frozen Hell. It seems like the most painful moment in your life repeats.”

“It sounds terrible just hearing about it. Moreover, Kain has already obtained great treasures. There’s no need to be newly greedy for more. The Grimoire? It seems immortality isn’t a dream depending on how you use it.”

“...”

“You don’t need to think only of evil thoughts like stealing someone else’s body.”

I flinched for a moment!

I never said such things? He’s not even hiding it now!

“If you reveal your abilities by getting a job at the Administration, don’t you think the Administration will endlessly create clone humans for you?”

I closed my mouth tightly, having nothing to say.

“Kain, who has already obtained immortality, wealth and glory, will naturally leave... And the same goes for others. Those who have obtained great power will leave because they’ve already obtained it, and those who haven’t obtained any particular power will leave because they don’t have confidence to proceed further.”

That was right. Strong people would leave because they had already obtained a lot, and weak people would leave because they didn’t have confidence to go further.

“There’s another problem too. The collapse of the ethical sense of duty to remain in the Hotel.”

“The collapse of the ethical sense of duty?”

“You’ve already obtained one means of escape now, right?”

“If you mean the Protective Suit, then yes.”

“The reason there were no attempts to escape secretly even though you obtained it is because of the ethical sense of duty, right? If you run away alone with such an important tool, it means everyone else should die.”

“...”

“Excellent! That benevolent appearance is even admirable. However, all this logic holds because the Protective Suit is a means of escape for one person. After the second floor ends, you can all leave without such problems, right?”

“That’s what they say.”

“The situation will be different then. From the perspective of people who want to leave, aren’t the people who stay just staying because they want to?”

“That’s right.”

“In the Protective Suit issue, for example, if Kain runs away alone with the protective suit and everyone else dies, Kain might be responsible for this tragedy.”

“...”

“The escape after the second floor is completely different. If staying in the Hotel is their choice, even if they die while proceeding among themselves, it’s not the responsibility of those who left.”

“I suppose so.”

“There’s no personal reason to stay, and no reason to stay for companions. Then everyone who wants to leave will leave, and at most two or three people will stay.”

“I think the Administration people will probably stay.”

“Let’s say that’s the case. After everyone who wants to leave has left, how will the third floor proceed? There must have been such problems in the past too? There won’t be anyone to proceed, so why did the Hotel create the third floor?”

Silence fell over the coffee shop for a moment.

I was too busy thinking about the next room to have thought about what would happen after the second floor. Maybe that was why this conversation itself gave quite a lot to think about.

The three questions Do Inho threw, summarized, were as follows:

First, all the hotel companions came from different realities. However, the world outside the Hotel was singular. Where would we go after escaping?

Second, Ahri and Grandpa entered the Hotel to obtain power to save the world. However, what exactly was that power? Was it even in the Hotel?

Third, when the second floor ends, everyone could return to reality. Clearly, most of us would choose to escape. Then how would the third floor proceed, and why did the Hotel create the third floor?

Curious about what others were doing, I raised my head to look. Everyone seemed to be pondering deeply about the questions Do Inho had thrown.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Um... Kain! Can I share my thoughts?”

I nodded at Park Sumi’s words.

“I’ll listen attentively.”

“I’m not sure about the later stories, but I feel like I might know the answer to the first question.”

“If it’s the first question, you mean the issue of which reality we go to when we escape the Hotel?”

“I’m not sure about complicated stories about what reality is like. I don’t know much about parallel worlds and such. Rather, isn’t the important issue for Kain clear?”

“The important issue for me?”

“Will Kain’s family be in the world you arrive at after escaping? This is the most important, right?”

My breath caught.

What if I went through all sorts of hardships to return to reality, but the place I arrived at was completely different from the reality I knew? What if it was beyond just being full of terrifying monsters, but there was no one, not my family, not my friends?

Park Sumi, who was looking at my expression with concern, said as if to reassure me, “I’m certain that won’t happen.”

“...What do you mean?”

“I believe it surely won’t be such a tragic ending. If Kain just overcomes the trials, you’ll be able to see the ending you want.”

“...”

“I believe so.”

I had nothing to say in particular. It seemed Park Sumi wasn’t speaking based on logical grounds either.

Next, Cha Eunpyo opened his mouth, “Is it because I’ve liked toys since I was young? Now that I say it, it doesn’t seem particularly relevant. I think I might know the answer to the second question.”

“The second one... You mean the treasure to save the world that the Administration is looking for?”

“It’s just a vague thought, but that treasure? Power? It doesn’t necessarily have to be just one, right?”

“Well... The Administration didn’t really know properly to begin with.”

“Could it be two?”

“Two?”

“One might have already been given.”

At this point, I felt a sense of discomfort. The writer’s questions and the storytellers’ answers to them were too specific!

Could it be? The questions and answers that have been proceeding since earlier, are they themselves part of the reward? Was it a story revealing the Hotel’s secrets?

“Could you please speak a bit, a bit more precisely?”

“The hourglass, isn’t it too out of context? The hidden location is too absurd too... Maybe it’s an object that the Hotel suddenly inserted ‘for you all’.”

“One is the hourglass? What about the other one?”

“If it’s an incredible treasure containing the power to save the world, of course! Wouldn’t it be given in the most difficult cursed room?”

“The Inheritance from Room 206?”

“These are all just my thoughts.”

– Boom!

I felt a vibration. Not a physical shaking, but a distortion of space itself. The phenomenon that appeared when a “room was disappearing” that I had already experienced several times in the Hotel!

I hurriedly turned my head to look at Han Yuri.

Now only the last question remained, how would the third floor proceed when the second floor ended and most people left, and what was the reason for the existence of the third floor!?

“The last one! The last one!”

Han Yuri answered with a somewhat amused smile, “Why are you in such a hurry? As if everything is about to end...”

“Hurry up, please!”

“I’ve been having dreams occasionally for a few years. Dreams about my past self, where I endlessly pursued goals that were too difficult to achieve.”

Is she talking about the humanization of the gumiho? No, in this context, it must be some kind of metaphor?

“Really... I could do anything for the dream. No matter how hard and painful it was. I don’t even know what that dream was now.”

“In detail! Please tell me in detail!”

“So—“

– Boom!

As the space shook again, Do Inho, who had been giggling beside me, hit the table with a thud.

“Hahaha! Good. The last one was especially interesting. Then, let’s end today’s meeting here.”

“Hey! You haven’t given a proper answer to the last one yet!”

In the collapsing space—Do Inho grinned.

“In my view, I’ve given them all. I hope you’ll thoroughly chew on the questions and answers. Congratulations.”