CHAPTER 314: THE PERFECT CHILD (2)

0% – Park Seungyub

“Do your best! Fighting!”

Songee-noona’s encouragement.

“...Thank you.”

Ahri-noona’s gratitude, holding my hand tightly in an uncharacteristic way.

“Don’t forget the command I told you? Make sure to include breaking the mirror!”

Even Kain-hyung’s voice, seeming not to trust me until the last moment. This was the first time I had experienced the hotel hyungs and noonas trusting only me!

Thanks to that, my heart, which had been beating roughly, slowly began to calm down in front of the mirror.

According to Songee-noona, one could enter the Mirror Room by placing two mirrors facing each other in Room 105’s private bathroom and standing between them.

Besides that, she explained earnestly how dangerous a place the Mirror Room was, but honestly, I wondered if it had any meaning.

I was going to use The First Human right away anyway, right? So it wasn’t me, but “another me” who needed to do well.

It was funny to think about, but this mindset was the source of my courage. Clearly I was doing something dangerous, but it didn’t feel like I was doing it.

It felt like someone else who would appear borrowing my body would do the hard work for me?

Perhaps this ease of mind itself was another effect given by The First Human. When I thought that I wouldn’t be experiencing the dangerous thing anyway, I wasn’t so afraid, even in a state facing a dangerous task.

The First Human: Available

“First Human Seungyub! I’ll only trust you? You have to do well?”

Of course, the First Human Seungyub who would answer hadn’t appeared yet.

After placing the two mirrors facing each other, I stood between them. In the middle, I thought about the Mirror Room and held a wish.

– Ting!

Along with a clear, pure sound, my vision blurred as if I had been anesthetized.

“...”

When I came to my senses, I woke up in a place full of shining mirrors all around.

Congratulations, Park Seungyub! You have discovered Hotel Pioneer’s hidden secret, the Mirror Room!

After that, all sorts of notifications popped up.

One needed a ticket to make a wish, but the first person to find it could make one wish without a cost. It was a story I had already heard.

That opportunity came to me because Songee-noona gave up her chance.

Blurry images slowly began to appear in the surrounding mirrors. It was dangerous if I delayed any longer!

Do you want to use The First Human?

“...”

I felt another me awakening.

***– Park Seungyub (The First Human)

I came to my senses in a space full of sparkling stones. It was so, so amazing that I reached out and touched the stones all around.

What on earth is this—?

At that moment, a revelation came down.

Make a wish in the Mirror Room to restore the mind of Miro, Ahri’s mother. If an incomprehensible problem arises, immediately wrap your shirt around your hand and strike down to break the mirror. The First Human ends when you succeed in making a wish or break the mirror.

...It’s long.

It was long and had many difficult words. Fortunately, the meanings of words I didn’t know naturally came to mind.

The Mirror Room was the place I was in now.

The sparkling stones all around were mirrors.

The general appearances of Ahri and her mother, Miro, also came to mind.

The First Human referred to the power that made the current me possible.

However, I wasn’t sure what “incomprehensible problem” meant. Judging by the expression, didn’t the being who gave the revelation also not know what problem might arise?

The words to make a wish were also a bit confusing.

“How” should I make it?

As I pondered about the concept of “wishing”, the meaning of the word seeped into my head again. Usually, the act of wishing was done by kneeling and asking for something to be fulfilled, it says.

“So I should kneel and speak like this? Ahem! Please restore Miro’s mind!”

The mirrors slowly began to ripple.

However, the image starting to appear in the mirrors didn’t seem to be Ahri and Miro.

Was my voice too quiet for the mirrors to understand? Should I shout louder?

“Please! Restore! Miro’s! Mind!”

The mirrors didn’t react to my voice at all. It seemed like whatever came out of my mouth didn’t matter at all from the start.

Finally, the image shown by the mirrors became clear enough to clearly know its form. It was neither Ahri nor Miro.

That’s “me”.

Countless diverse possibilities of Park Seungyub appeared in the numerous shining mirrors all around.

Somewhere, I had become a leader who could sway people with just one word.

Somewhere, I was admonishing Kain-hyung to think before acting.

Somewhere, I was teasing Jinchul-hyung, asking if he couldn’t even defeat such a monster.

Somewhere, I had become a mysterious master hiding my identity and was receiving a confession from a girl named “Liringanaur”.

Somewhere, I had become a living legend—the GOAT in the world’s most popular game—

“What on earth is this?”

What is all this? I really don’t know?

When I touched the mirrors in confusion, I naturally understood the general meaning of the possibilities shown by the mirrors. It seemed like the mirrors told me, but I couldn’t understand even that general meaning.

Who is Kain-hyung? Who is Jinchul-hyung? Who is this Liringanaur girl confessing to me?

What nonsense is this about being a living legend in a globally popular game, and why does a person become a goat if they’re good at it?

Just as my head was starting to throb, the revelation appeared before me again.

If an incomprehensible problem arises, immediately wrap your shirt around your hand and strike down to break the mirror.

“...An incomprehensible problem means right now, right?”

After taking off my shirt and wrapping it around my fist, I struck the mirror repeatedly.

– Crash!

***– Park Seungyub

When I came to my senses, I was back in the bathroom. At the same time, my experience as The First Human was injected into my head.

“Aaah!”

What on earth? Is that really the “sincere wish” that came to mind after entering such a mysterious place as the Mirror Room? Is this for real?

And what’s with that delusion of Liringanaur confessing?

If I had asked for that to be fulfilled, how would it be fulfilled? Maybe a superpowered Liringanaur who only loved me would appear like in Room 202?

“...”

Huh! T-that was close.

As soon as I thought of the concept of a pretty superpowered girl who only loved me, my hand was automatically moving the mirrors to try to enter the Mirror Room again.

Get a grip. T-this really doesn’t seem right.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 136

Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 0

– Han Kain

“That’s how it turned out.”

Unfortunately, Seungyub failed. According to Seungyub who came out, the mirror didn’t care what words he said with his mouth and reflected the image of “The Great Park Seungyub”.

Hearing those words, Songee showed a reaction, as if she understood something.

“Ah... Come to think of it, you don’t need to say the content of the wish in the Mirror Room originally. It’s a place that finds the true desire in your heart. In that context, the cause of failure is clear.”

I realized too.

“If we consider The First Human as a kind of ‘external personality’, it seems the Mirror Room completely ignores that and sees the real Seungyub’s desires?”

As we realized the reason for Seungyub’s failure, the situation became more difficult. It wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by trying multiple times.

As the atmosphere suddenly sank, Jinchul-hyung, perhaps wanting to dispel the gloom, joked with Seungyub, “By the way, Seungyub!”

“Yes?”

“What was the image of ‘The Great Park Seungyub’ like specifically?”

“...I-I made a lot of money. I became a world-famous celebrity.”

“Money? Hey kid, you’re a middle schooler and already thinking about money?”

“Ahaha...”

The doctor smirked, “What’s strange about that? I have wanted to be rich since I was young too. But Seungyub, don’t worry about money. If we just escape now, we’ll live without worrying about money, at the very least.”

Grandpa also chimed in with a laugh, “If you join the Administration, I guarantee you’ll never have to worry about money for life. However, in this case, it’ll be difficult to become a world-famous celebrity.”

“I-I’ll keep that in mind.”

As the atmosphere lightened a bit, Eunsol-noona complained lightly, “It seems impossible to make the desired wish even with The First Human? It reflects the real wish of ‘Park Seungyub’, ignoring the ability!”

“That’s right.”

“Kain’s Advice is a bit disappointing too. If the reason for failure is this, it’s 100% failure, so he should have just said not to send him in.”

That’s right. Thinking about it now, the owl who knows the principle of the Mirror Room would have known that The First Human would fail.

Yet, it advise us to send Seungyub in once while telling the countermeasure? I think I know why.

“Apart from Seungyub’s failure, we’ve learned more about the Mirror Room. We’ve also realized an unexpected characteristic about The First Human.”

“An unexpected characteristic?”

“According to Songee, the temptation of the Mirror Room is tremendous, right?”

Songee affirmed, “I think I wouldn’t have been able to come to my senses without the power of the bracelet.”

“But it seems The First Human broke the mirror without even flinching, completely unshaken?”

Seungyub nodded, “From the start, I thought the Mirror Room’s temptation was ‘incomprehensible nonsense’.”

“It ignores all temptations and absolutely follows our instructions, which it thinks of as ‘revelations’. It seems this itself can be applied in various ways.”

At that moment, the doctor carefully interjected, “Kain’s insight is always excellent. It makes sense. However, isn’t the current problem ultimately Miss Miro’s recovery? If even The First Human is useless, how on earth do we make a wish?”

“...”

“...”

The audience fell silent. No one could think of a method.

At that moment, Ahri, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling somewhere, muttered, “I think I know.”

As everyone’s gaze turned to Ahri, she started speaking in a way that felt like she was speaking randomly according to her thought flow, unlike usual, “I thought from the perspective of the Hotel that created the Mirror Room.”

“The Hotel’s... perspective?”

“It reads the true desire in the human inner self. With this principle, it neutralizes my suggestion that manipulates surface psychology. ‘Desire’ is not a mental illness, so abilities that defend against various mental attacks don’t work, and it even ignores abilities like The First Human that create a new personality and reads the desire of the real personality.”

“My, it’s quite tricky.”

“It’s excessively tricky. This is, so to speak, an ‘anti-cheating’ measure.”

“Anti-cheating?”

“What do you think the Hotel’s thought was when designing the Mirror Room? After creating complex conditions, was the intention to have us research means to somehow bypass these conditions?”

Slowly, I began to understand what Ahri was trying to say.

“We thought so. Believing that, we researched various mental manipulation means to somehow bypass the dangers of the Mirror Room. But now that even The First Human has failed, I have this thought.”

“The approach of trying to avoid the danger of the Mirror Room through mental manipulation itself was wrong? The straightforward method is the answer?”

“That’s right. The Mirror Room isn’t a place made for us to try to avoid danger through supernatural means. It’s a place made for someone desperate enough to risk the danger to enter.”

After saying that, Ahri looked at Seungyub with a somewhat gloomy expression.

“Seungyub, do you know why The First Human failed?”

“N-Noona?”

“The Mirror Room can ignore The First Human and see through the desire of the ‘real Park Seungyub’ inside. So... it’s because you, Seungyub, didn’t sincerely wish for Miro’s recovery.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“It’s not something for you to apologize for. You’ve never even seen Miro, right? Sincerely wishing for the recovery of someone you’ve never seen? It’s naturally impossible. It’s not just impossible for you, but for other people, too.”

No one in this place, except for one person, could wish for Miro’s recovery in the Mirror Room.

After all, no one here with the exception of Ahri could be sincere about such a wish.

“I should apologize for making you do something impossible. I’m sorry.”

This task was only possible for one person from the beginning.

“Come to think of it, it’s obvious. Wishes should naturally be made by the person who desires them. Why did we try to ask someone else to do it? It was a mistake to try to tackle the Mirror Room like we tackle the Cursed Room. Next time, I’ll go in.”

With those words, Ahri lightly bowed her head to everyone and headed to the second floor. It seemed like she wanted to clear her mind in the snow field.

In the silence, Songee muttered, “So... the Mirror Room is a place where someone with a very! Extremely! Highly! Desperate wish should enter? Desperate enough that the desperation itself can erase all idle thoughts in the mind?”

Grandpa sighed, “If you don’t know, Songee, who would? This is also a new interpretation. I hope this interpretation is correct.”