CHAPTER 321: ROOM 203, CURSED ROOM - 'NEW BEGINNING' RE (1)

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User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 138

Current Location: Floor 2, Room 203 – Cursed Room ‘New Beginning’

Sage’s Advice: 2

– Han Kain

The moment I saw the mysterious being behind the door Pride opened, I was dumbfounded.

Something so enormous that it made a space vast enough to fit an entire building with room to spare feel cramped captured my gaze.

If I had to compare it to something, the being resembled a giant whale. The body of the being, which seemed to swim through the air, had small wings and fins, and every time those flesh parts stirred the air, beautiful light filled the space.

The giant being slowly turned and looked at me. The moment an eye much larger than my entire body reflected me, an unbearable sense of pressure crushed me.

“Urgh!”

Just as I was about to fall to my knees without realizing it, a hand from behind grabbed me.

“Adravita, please be reasonable. Haven’t I brought the communication crew member you wanted?”

As Pride’s words ended, the tangible and intangible force crushing me disappeared. As I barely managed to straighten my posture, Pride spoke to me, “Mr. Han Kain, why don’t you try saying something? That thing doesn’t even pretend to listen to me.”

“...Adravita? Can you hear me?”

Adravita looked like the Convict of this room, no matter how I looked at it. Would such a being respond to human words—

[I c□□ h□□r y□□, □□s.]

It responded? But what is it saying? It’s like there’s noise in the middle?

“What are you saying?”

[N□□□□□ □□□□□□ication □□ □□□□□□□□ible □□□il □□□ 5□□ □□□□□pt.]

“...”

It was the same. Adravita tried to convey something, but unknown noise was interfering.

I thought I vaguely understood. I felt it the moment I saw the number “5”. If that being was a Convict, the only thing that could prevent the Convict from communicating with us would be the Hotel, right?

What on earth is this?

It was already absurd that the scenario suddenly changed and the stage turned into a spaceship, but now I was in a conversation from the start with an overwhelmingly transcendent being that looks like the Convict no matter how I looked at it. Moreover, the Hotel was even interfering with that communication.

At that moment, Pride spoke from behind, “It seems the words are getting through. Mr. Han Kain, please relay my words to Adravita.”

“Alright.”

“Adravita, what’s the reason for suddenly spreading contamination and interfering with the ‘new beginning’ recently? Didn’t you join this journey saying you’d cooperate with humanity’s pioneering? If you have any complaints, please tell us.”

Contamination. New beginning. Humanity’s pioneering.

Several keywords popped up in a short moment.

For now, I relayed those words as requested. I didn’t understand what meaning there was in me just reading Pride’s words again, but...

[Re□□mber.]

The other party’s answer wasn’t long. The next moment, suddenly Pride and I were thrown out of the space as if we had been teleported.

At this moment, I was so dumbfounded that I unconsciously turned to look at Pride, and Pride was looking at me with the same expression using Ahri’s body.

“...What on earth?”

“It seems to be telling us to get out. Mr. Han Kain, what on earth is going on?”

“How should I know if you ask me?”

“Are your memories still not fully recovered?”

Ahri’s crimson eyes turned towards me. I hesitated to give an answer, fully aware of the danger the being in front of me posed.

Advice: 2 → 1

What should I answer? Quickly!

I’m finally waking up now. How long until we reach our destination?

“I’m finally waking up now. How long until we reach our destination?”

Did that answer please “Pride”? The tense atmosphere dissipated in an instant, and a gentle smile settled on Ahri’s face.

“That’s a relief. I was worried you might have been exposed to contamination during cryosleep. We had to dispose of some crew members because of contamination.”

“...Dispose?”

“We’re almost there. To be precise, we’ll arrive in 572 days, 16 hours, and 32 minutes.”

For a moment, my mouth almost fell open.

Almost there? What? 572 days?

As I was silent, trying hard to control my expression, Pride led me to a place where a hologram was floating.

What kind of place is this now?

“This is originally an educational device for those who will start anew, but it seems it will be useful for you now, Mr. Han Kain. Please watch this. I’m a bit busy because Adravita might do something strange again.”

After Pride left, I activated the “educational device”.

***...I roughly understood the situation.

First, the place I was in was a spaceship, the “Pride of Humanity”, flying for the absurd mission of “exoplanet pioneering”. The being conversing with me using Ahri’s body was the spaceship’s main AI.

Second, inside the spaceship were “crew members” in hibernation and mass-prepared “human cultivation kits” for rapid growth after arriving on the exoplanet. The crew members were all said to be “enhanced humans”.

Third, Adravita was a divine being that had formed a friendly relationship with humanity.

It was said to have boarded to help humanity settle on the exoplanet, which must be harsher compared to Earth, and to provide auxiliary power for the spaceship. In return, it was also mentioned that it was promised “the right to spread faith” in the pioneering area.

Fourth, the AI’s words that we were almost there were not an exaggeration.

482 years had passed since the Pride of Humanity started its journey. If only 572 days were left when the travel time alone was close to 500 years, it could be considered that we had nearly arrived.

“...”

These were all fascinating and surprising stories.

Honestly, the scale was so large that it made my mind go blank instead.

Is this era humanity’s very distant future? A future capable of pioneering exoplanets?

The fact that they “contracted” with a being like Adravita also suggested this. After all, a contract was something made between mutually equal beings.

Of course, individual humans would still be trivial in the eyes of beings like Adravita, but it would mean that humans collectively had enough power to make an equal contract even with such beings.

What should I do now?

Let’s check the scenario first.

Scenario: Cursed Room - 'New Beginning'

The hotel party woke up scattered in an incomprehensibly vast world. Han Kain, who woke up among primitive tribe members suddenly calling him a ‘Divine One’, encountered an ominous story from an old man outside the tent...

“What?”

This was confusing. I understood the content itself as soon as I saw it.

In our first attempt at Room 203, we woke up in a primitive era tent. Scenario Comprehension was telling me how to act in that situation.

If I went outside the tent, there was an old man who was the leader of the tribe called “Old Wolf Claw”. If I talked with that old man, I’d get information that a monster called “Writhing Fangs” was about to attack.

“...”

I understand all that, but why was this story coming out now?

Come on, Owl. Don’t you see I’m on a spaceship now? If the scenario has changed, shouldn’t Scenario Comprehension give helpful information that matches it?

I had high hopes for the utility of Scenario Comprehension, but its worthless content left me unsure of how to proceed. At that moment, “Pride” appeared behind me in my confusion.

“Did you receive re-education?”

“I understood the situation. I have one question.”

“That’s good. Do you have any questions?”

“You said you’re the main AI of the Pride of Humanity, right?”

“Yes.”

I tried to refine my question as best I could so that the AI wouldn’t suspect me.

“If you’re an AI, you’re originally a being unrelated to, um, a human body, correct?”

“Naturally.”

“Your main body is this spaceship if we think about it, right?”

“Certainly.”

“Then, what’s that body?”

Why on earth is that thing inside Ahri’s body? How can I drive it out and release Ahri’s seal?

“Aha! Certainly, that content wouldn’t be in the educational device. Ms. Kim Ahri is the captain of the Pride of Humanity. The captain has excellent physical durability as the owner of the nanomachines known as, ‘Ancient Blood’. Because of this, she’s lending her body to me during the journey.”

Quite a few questions were resolved in an instant.

In the scenario, Ahri was the captain of this spaceship, and due to Ancient Blood, which was treated as “nanomachines” inside, she was an immortal being.

Because of this, Ahri could endure a nearly 500-year long space voyage without cryosleep. So the spaceship’s AI was saying it usually used Ahri’s body.

Is using a human body specifically for communication with “Adravita”? I’m not sure.

My head became saturated from obtaining so much information in a short time. I thought while holding my throbbing forehead with my hand.

Shouldn’t I find my companions? Aren’t the “crew members” somewhere on the spaceship my companions based on the circumstances?

“Where are the rest of the crew members?”

“They’re all in cryosleep. It would be good for you to go back to sleep now too, Mr. Han Kain.”

“What?”

– Beep!

Before I could say anything, an unknown noise was heard. “Pride”, who rushed over in one step, carefully caught my body as I lost balance and collapsed in an instant.

“Excuse me, Mr. Han Kain. It seems your memories are not fully intact, so I was worried you might act rashly and anesthetized you. It would be good for you to sleep again. I’ll see you in 572 days, 16 hours, and 11 minutes.”

I forcibly moved my already stiffening mouth and barely managed to spit out. “Why did you wake me up in the first place?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Because Adravita suddenly interfered with the journey, we needed someone who could communicate with it. Fortunately, Adravita has started cooperating again. Thank you for your hard work.”

In my fading consciousness, a lightning-like realization struck.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 683,615

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)

Sage’s Advice: 3

When I regained consciousness, a brightly burning bonfire came into my view.

The spaceship had disappeared somewhere, and naked primitive people filled my surroundings. They were all kneeling towards me.

“...No way.”

As soon as my voice came out, the primitive people all started crying, becoming emotional.

“Oh! The Divine One has awakened! The Divine One has awakened!”

Amidst the frenzy, my eyes were directed not at the primitive people, but at the absurdly increased number on the Status Window, which I stared at blankly.

Day 683,615

Pushing away the people trying to grab even my hand while wailing, I entered the tent. Fortunately, the warriors cooperated, probably thinking I was composing myself alone.

Walking around the tent, I recalled the questions I couldn’t understand from the moment I woke up on the spaceship.

Why on earth did the scenario change?

At first, I thought it was simply because of Miro’s joining.

But I recalled the lightning-like realization that came just before falling asleep on the spaceship and its grounds.

The content of Scenario Comprehension that seemed to not anticipate at all what happened on the spaceship.

The companions who couldn’t wake up until the end and thus wouldn’t know about the existence of the spaceship.

Adravita, who suddenly did something strange and tried to wake one of us up.

...Perhaps the scenario never changed?