CHAPTER 329: ROOM 203, CURSED ROOM - 'NEW BEGINNING' RE (9)

0% – Miro

My mind was hazy. Not a single ounce of strength remained in my whole body, and I couldn’t even move a finger.

I had been starving for days. I recalled the past from a few days ago, the time when I first entered the room.

The repulsive heteromorphic nest full of writhing flesh, the hatchery where Divine Ones were born—this was my starting point in Room 203.

Why am I the only one starting in such a terrible place?

It was a question without an answer.

Anyway, since the starting point was so hopeless, I had to select companions to borrow time from with the Time Borrower based on “whether they could get me out”.

The first was naturally Yu Songee. She could control the wasps in the hatchery to get me out. She was the first person everyone thought of during the meeting.

The second was Cha Jinchul, with the opinion that he could just tear down the hatchery wall with his strength, and if the wasps showed an aggressive reaction in the process, he could beat them to death.

Actually, I wanted to borrow Kain’s time.

But according to Kain, even if he possessed a wasp, he wouldn’t be able to properly move the four wings, let alone fly, so I gave up.

The third was naturally Ahri. For good reason, Ahri’s death was fastest and easiestt confirmed escape method.  Because currently, the fastest and easiest confirmed escape method is Ahri’s death.

After entering Room 203, I called out Songee first as soon as it started.

***“Look at this! Isn’t this one unexpectedly cute?”

“It’s amazing. To think you can really control such a monster.”

“Don’t think of it as a monster, try to believe it’s cute. You know, aren’t bees actually quite cute? They’re fluffy and round. If you look closely, this one is similar to a bee.”

“Even bees wouldn’t be cute at all if they were enlarged 1 million times. Anyway, just take me out!”

“...Who on earth taught you to be this ill-mannered? Is it innate?”

“Hurry!”

***Although Songee complained, she controlled the wasp to take me out of the hatchery. Until then, I thought things were going well.

The moment we poked our heads out of the hatchery, Songee and I were both dumbfounded.

***“Kyaaah!”

“Uwaah!”

“Squeeek!”

“Wait, why are you screaming, Bean?”

“B-Bean?”

“This one’s name—“

“Stop talking nonsense and save me! What are all these monsters?”

“M-Miro, stay still for a bit! Bean’s legs are about to fall off because you’re struggling!”

“Kyaaah!”

“Can’t you stay still? You stupid middle schooler! Don’t just look like Ahri, act like her too!”

***Recalling the past memory, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It was funny even thinking about it now.

Wait, why did the wasp carrying us scream too? Mob mentality?

Outside the hatchery, there were at least 5 huge monsters. Thanks to that, I screamed in shock thinking we were dead the moment we went out.

However, unexpectedly, the monsters just looked at us with indifferent eyes without showing much of a reaction.

At first, I was moved thinking Songee’s Affinity was this amazing, but...

***“S-Songee, you’re really amazing!”

“Huh?”

“Did you enchant all these monsters? I wish I had a powerful Blessing like Songee...”

Songee wore a bewildered expression for a moment.

“My Blessing is what? Powerful? That can’t be.”

“What?”

“Can’t you see? They’re like guardians of this hatchery. If the wasps are workers, they’re security guards.”

“Ah...”

“They’re not attacking because we’re with Bean. My Affinity can’t enchant all those monsters at once.”

“I-I see.”

“Miro, you need to develop your perception a bit more.”

You screamed with me at first, but now you’re acting all high and mighty!

...But she’s helping me now, so I should endure.

“L-look over there!”

“Hmm?”

Songee soon gave instructions to the monster wasp, “Bean”, to change direction.

The building I discovered was very clean, and because of that, it didn’t match at all with the hatchery full of hideous monsters with unrecognizable shapes and writhing flesh.

It was a place like a clean laboratory, so I knew as soon as I saw it. This was the place the “whale” showed at the end of the second attempt!

There was some kind of security device in front of the building, and when I put my hand in it, my finger tingled and then a machine sound was heard.

“Identity confirmed. Captain Kim Ahri, welcome to the Southern Pioneer Branch.”

Then 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days passed.

***“...”

This place was safe.

The terrible monsters overflowing outside ground their teeth looking at me through the transparent door, but that was all. I knew well that they didn’t lift a finger against the building.

This place had no monster attacks, and it was neither cold nor hot. Moreover, there were not only things like beds good for lying down, but even modern toilets unsuitable for the primitive era.

It was a perfect place except for just one problem.

“I’m... hungry.”

There was no food in this building. I could drink water from the bathroom, but there was no way to get even a piece of food

Every night, exhausted from hunger, I thought countless times.

Should I just call out Ahri and ask her to commit suicide?

It didn’t seem bad to escape like this. I had already found out so much information!

This place was a facility established by humans who arrived on this planet 1800 years ago for pioneering.

The reason why the truly great space people, unlike their fallen descendants, moved the main power source of the spaceship, the “core”, to this place was for planetary pioneering.

Also, miserable records of why they perished were sleeping here. If I could get out somehow, I had a lot to tell.

So isn’t it okay to end it here?

...I endured and endured.

It was already the third attempt. If I went out here and came back in, it would be the fourth attempt, which was essentially the last round. After the fifth attempt?

Honestly, if it became the fifth attempt, I thought everyone would just give up on Room 203. It wasn’t like this was the only room.

“Do you understand my situation now? Even talking like this is extremely difficult...”

“I understand.”

Ahri sat down next to me with a complicated expression and held out a thermos.

“...This isn’t Ahri’s blood, is it?”

“It is. Blood surprisingly has its own calories. Also, my blood is a mysterious elixir with various effects.”

I’m not sure if it’s an elixir, but drinking Ahri’s blood did give me vitality.

“Thank you.”

“It’s a temporary measure. There’s a limit to this.”

After hearing about my situation, Ahri looked at the monsters waiting outside the building door and said.

“Whose time did you say you borrowed with the Time Borrower?”

“Yu Songee, Cha Jinchul, and you.”

“What about Han Kain?”

“Not this time. As you know—“

“Ah, I remember. We passed because he wouldn’t be very useful in the hatchery... That’s a shame. He would have been the most useful in the current situation.”

“Kain?”

“Should we summon Jinchul and break through? No. The numbers are too many, this is impossible.”

“...”

“You’ve already called out Songee once in the hatchery, right?”

“Yes.”

“How much of Songee’s borrowed time is left?”

“About 40 minutes. I didn’t use Songee’s time for long since the building is near the hatchery.”

“Should we trust in Affinity and try going out?”

Maybe because I just drank Ahri’s blood? I felt a bit energetic and chimed in, “Can’t we summon Jinchul first to take down one or two, and then call out Songee?”

Ahri shook her head and explained about the characteristics of Affinity.

“Affinity only makes Beings of Chaos feel quite friendly towards Songee, it’s not mind control or brainwashing. Affinity has its limits in a state where a stronger being’s order or a very intense hostility has arisen.”

“After a clash, the monsters will get angry and ignore Songee’s Affinity?”

“With high probability, yes. Anyway, since Jinchul can’t kill all those monsters, it’s better not to summon him.”

In the end, it seemed we had to pray that Songee’s Affinity would prevent those monsters’ attacks and allow us to get out when summoned.

I asked Ahri, who was looking at me with a worried expression, one last thing, “...How about calling out the past Miro?”

Ahri’s expression became extremely dark.

It didn’t seem like the time to use the last resort. Right now it was just “my crisis”, most of the others should be fine.

They are fine, right?

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 683,623

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

Sage’s Advice: 3

– Han Kain

“...Let’s depart now.”

Jinchul-hyung’s expression was dark as he buried Songee’s corpse in a hole.

Of course, since it was a death in the Cursed Room, we could meet her again when we got out, but...

Even so, death was death. It could never be accepted comfortably.

Eunsol-noona wiped her moist eyes and expressed some regret.

“The Cutter just flew away. What should we do?”

“It’s fortunate that it just flew away. I was worried the monster might try to kill us since Songee, who tamed it, died.”

“Maybe it developed some affection for us, too?”

“We just rode on top and used it harshly, though? Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We’re almost there, anyway.”

Jinchul-hyung approached me and asked, “How many kms exactly are left until Miro’s location?”

“I can’t see it anymore.”

“Ah...”

I didn’t know now. This was because Miro’s location was displayed like this in the companion location information.

Miro: Deceased

Thanks to this, I also realized why Songee was silently dead like Sleeping Beauty in the forest when we woke up in the morning. It seemed Miro summoned Songee for some reason to escape a crisis, but failed.

“No problem. Probably something will come out if we follow that,” Noona, riding on the Grotesque, said simply.

Noona’s gaze was directed forward.

“Can you see something?”

“...I can see a huge mass up ahead. And there are things wriggling?”

“Wriggling?”

“Let’s think as we go.”

After moving for about an hour, Noona got down from the Grotesque with a dark expression and stopped everyone.

“The huge mass I mentioned earlier. It’s a building.”

Jinchul-hyung showed a bewildered reaction, “A building? Since it’s the Stone Age, is it just piled up stones?”

“No, it’s clearly a modern building.”

“That means?”

“It’s probably built by the spaceship forces that built the civilization in the mountain range.”

“Let’s go.”

“Wait. There are a lot of monsters nearby.”

“Like the Cutter?”

“Probably. One, two, three. Oh...”

“...”

“Five? Six? Seven?”

“That’s terrible.”

Seven monsters that were threatening even in a 1-on-1 fight?

It wasn’t easy. There were three people on our side, but since Eunsol-noona wasn’t a combat force, in reality, Hyung and I had to face seven.

“This is difficult, isn’t it?”

The three of us put our heads together for a moment, but no good ideas came up. Seeing so many monsters in the location where Miro was until just before she died, I could guess why she died.

Advice: 3 → 2

Is there a way to break through the monsters and reach the building?

Wait. A path will open soon.

“Huh?”

“What? Did it tell you something?”

“It says to wait.”

The owl’s “soon” was really soon. It took less than 10 minutes for Noona’s gaze to turn sharply and then wear a serious expression.

“Let’s go.”

“Noona?”

“I understand the meaning of the words ‘a path will open’.”

“What?”

“Let’s just go.”

Strangely, Eunsol-noona didn’t explain “why” the path had opened.

Only, because Noona’s expression had hardened like stone, I could tell that something unusual was happening.

Making the words about monsters being there embarrassing, no entity blocked us as we arrived at the building and passed through the security device.

Instead, there was a guest who had arrived before us inside the building.

“Kain! You’re here! There’s a sink over there, so it would be good to wash up lightly. Ah, if you put your hand in and out of the machine at the building entrance, you can enter.”

Seeing Elena after a long time, she was even more beautiful than usual, making me smile without realizing.

Noona, who was hugging Elena lightly while smiling brightly as expected, suddenly asked with a worried expression, “You... Are you okay?”

“What?”

“Should I play the flute for you?”

“...”

“I’ll just play it for you.”

“I’ll bring Seungyub down from upstairs too.”

Unable to endure the strange atmosphere, Jinchul-hyung asked me, “Why has Noona been acting like that since earlier? Why is she suddenly saying she’ll play the flute?”

I couldn’t answer because I was very curious too. However, one ominous thought came to mind.

Based on the circumstances, it seemed Elena and Seungyub, who arrived before us, lured out the monsters near the facility.

What method did they use, and what did Noona see?

In the evening, we were finally able to understand the tragedy that occurred 1800 years ago in Room 203.

It was because a lot of data remained in this building, the “Southern Pioneer Branch”.

“...These are all the reasons why the AI bastard was trying to kill the crew?”

Everyone nodded at Jinchul-hyung’s words.