Chapter 45: Room 104, Cursed Room – ‘Preparatory Selective, Hotel High School’ (5)
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 18
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104 (Cursed Room – Preparatory Selective, Hotel High School)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
Lee Eunsol (Teacher): Come out.
It began.
The clock in the dormitory read 1 AM. At this time, most people should be asleep except for the night-shift teachers and security guards.
Tonight, we are escaping this place.
*
After gathering a few textbooks and a lighter, I stepped out of the room.
Clomp. Clomp.
Footsteps. Even though I was trying to tread softly, my footfalls echoed through the silent dormitory. After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to ditch my shoes and walk in my socks.
My room was on the third floor. Since not every floor had a guard, it was relatively easy to make it down to the first. The issue was the main entrance of the dormitory on the first floor where a security guard stood and the door was locked.
I spotted a fire alarm above the stairs. The plan was to trigger this and lure the guard away at the entrance—would it actually work?
I stacked a few books and set them on fire. I had wanted to burn textbooks at school more times than I could count, and now my wish was finally coming true.
—Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Just as I arrived on the first floor, the alarm went off perfectly. Peeking around the wall, I noticed the guard rushing out.
In the brief moment he was gone, I made it to the main entrance.
Han Kain (Student): I’m here!
—BBIK!
With the sound of a lock clicking, Eunsol-noona opened the door using her teacher card from outside.
“Let’s go. The car’s waiting.”
Stepping outside, I spotted a black SUV. But where were the girls?
Turning my head, I saw that Elena and Ahri were already in the back seat while Grandpa Mooksung occupied the front.
Thus began our five-person escape.
*
“Did you come out quickly?” I inquired.
“I just followed Ahri. She bravely walked up to the main entrance, looked at the guard, and he opened the door himself!”
Ahri must have used the hypnosis she cast on me last time.
“Everyone, be quiet! Don’t you know you must not get caught? Head to the back, lie down, and cover yourselves with this!”
Eunsol-noona tossed us a black cloth that matched the color of the seats. Given that it was nighttime, it would be hard to see us under this.
We all scrambled to the trunk area and draped the cloth over ourselves.
“Ah! I’m sorry. I couldn’t see well.”
“It’s okay.”
“Stay quiet, I said!”
Hiding three people in such a confined space was an absolute struggle. My arms and legs kept bumping into something soft. Whatever it was, let’s not think about it…
*
Knock knock!
“What’s the reason you’re out at this late hour?”
“Hello~. We have some business in town,” came the response.
“Can I see your card?”
“Here.”
“Lee Eunsol? Yes, confirmed. Thank you. But as you know, you must apply for late-night departures in advance.”
“We have an urgent matter,” she replied.
“Urgent or not, that can’t happen.”
“Haha, come on now. We’re just running out to get some teaching materials. You’re going to be that strict about it?”
“Uh, my apologies. But you’re looking for teaching materials at this hour?”
“We aren’t buying anything; we’re picking them up from a friend in town.”
“Um…”
“Listen! Are you really going to stick to these strict rules?! Didn’t you already check our IDs?!”
“Okay, okay. Just make sure to apply next time.”
*
It looked like we might just slip away.
Somehow, in this strange Hotel High School, my age turned out to be a surprisingly effective weapon. Well, it did work yesterday too when we intimidated with muscles. This so-called “prestigious preparatory school” certainly shared some traits with Korean schools in peculiar places.
Once we passed through the main entrance, a wave of relaxation washed over us.
Could it be that we escaped? We had left the school grounds, so there shouldn’t be any more entanglements, right?
It seemed the others had a similar thought, as they all peeled off the cloth and stood up.
“Looks like we’re clear now?”
“Who knows? I guess we successfully left the school. We should be able to vanish down this road, right?”
Technically, we were still on school property. I remembered that while flipping through various documents in the teacher’s office yesterday. This ridiculous school owned an expansive area of land outside the main gates.
“So that means we have to completely escape the school’s property?”
“Not sure. We’ll have to drive for about twenty minutes at least.”
“Twenty minutes by car? Could we speed it up a bit?”
“This rust bucket doesn’t even drive faster than 50 km/h. Unbelievable that the head had something like this as his vehicle.”
Just as we seemed relaxed, the situation took a sudden turn.
WHOOP-WHOOP!
“Huh?! What’s that?”
“It’s a pursuit team!”
“A pursuit team? What kind of high school has a pursuit team?!”
“One occupied by a cult that swaps people might!”
“Grandpa! Can’t you go any faster?”
“This junk of a car refuses to speed up! Wait, wait—”
STOP! STOP!
Glancing back, I saw at least four or five headlights closing in. They were moving much faster than us.
“Unni! What do we do? What should we do?!”
“I have no idea! But it’s too late to backtrack. Old man! Floor it! There’s no way they’ll do anything rough with a car full of teachers and students, right? As long as we can get out of this cursed land, something has to give!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Just as Eunsol-noona said they wouldn’t do anything with teachers and students, shots rang out from behind! Are these guys out of their minds?
Something felt off.
If they were that aggressive, shouldn’t they have threatened us with guns the moment we arrived at the school to drag us to the Old Main Building?
What a fancy name for a “prestigious preparatory school,” and concocting lame excuses like tests and triathlons to surround students.
Until now, they had at least put some effort into hiding something. Yet now, their extreme defensiveness was as if none of that mattered. Ahri, perhaps shared the same thought.
“We must have touched their sore spot.”
“Did we inadvertently push their buttons?”
“Unless there’s something seriously wrong, it’s hard to explain their harsh reaction.”
“Is it because we’re trying to escape? Because we wanted to leave Room 104?”
“It’s highly probable. But try not to think of it that way. How about perceiving it from within the stage?”
Perspective within the stage.
Right. This world was a stage created by the Hotel, only known to transcendent beings like the Devouring One, while most of the characters were clueless.
From the stage’s perspective: they were a bizarre cult playing with human lives.
“Are they fearful of being exposed to the outside world?”
Ultimately, their objective is to swap people. Hence, creating a preparatory school, acquiring land, and teaching genuine exam material. They’re doing everything possible to keep a low profile.
These individuals are deathly afraid of attracting public attention.
If we can exploit that—
At that moment, a car appeared from the opposite direction.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Clink!
Kiik! Boom!
The car spun out of control, dancing like a wild beast until it veered off the road and collided hard with the adjacent hill. In just a moment, my entire body throbbed from impact. I leaned forward to check on the driver—
Grandpa Mooksung’s head was shattered.
…
Since entering this hotel, I’d witnessed countless gruesome scenes. But no matter how often it happened, I could never become accustomed to such horrors. I had to suppress my urge to throw up.
Ahri walked over silently and closed his eyes. Eunsol-noona also had a wound on her body. I gently closed her still-open eyes despite her immediate death.
In the blink of an eye, the teacher team had been wiped out.
My breath hitched. An overwhelming sense of despair washing over me. Was this really the end? Were we just going to be carted back to school for replacement?
At that moment, Elena, who had been quiet until then, experienced a change.
*
Elena
I felt a tightness in my chest.
Why—
Why was I incapable of doing anything?
Everyone else had gained blessings, leadership skills, muscles, and mysterious tools, hence each one had their own role. Yet I felt like I couldn’t do a thing. Even now—while the pursuers were threatening to kill everyone—
Wait. Killing everyone?!
Suddenly, my thoughts cleared as if ice-cold water had been splashed on me.
I recalled knowledge I had never known before.
Knowledge? Was it even knowledge? It felt almost more like a sensation.
Deep within my being.
A scale stood somewhere unknown to weigh the sins of humanity.
What is justice? Those who commit sins must face their consequences.
Even the ancient Romans believed in this concept. They wished for a deity capable of weighing the sins of the world to establish rightful order. They hoped the scales of the goddess of justice would restore order to society.
I knew what I had to do.
*
“We’ve apprehended them! Two teachers are dead! What should we do about the students in the back?”
“There was an order to keep the kids alive. It’s already too late for the corrupted adults, but these children still have a path to salvation. Bring them along alive.”
—Thud!
“Come out. Your sins are not trivial by any means, but the Lord is infinitely generous, and you can still be forgiven—”
—Slam!
It felt as if a giant hammer had descended from the heavens, instantly crumpling the heretic into a mushy pile of potatoes. Before even having a chance to be horrified by the brutality unfolding, I was left in disbelief, unable to grasp what was happening.
“What? What is going on? Where did this come from—”
—Bam!
Another body was crushed like a mashed potato. I struggled to look out from the wreck of the car and into Elena’s direction. Something—golden and luminous—was orbiting around her.
—Boom! Boom!
It was as if a colossal hammer rained down from the sky, decimating the pursuers in an instant.
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pursuers only just began shooting back then, but it was ultimately futile.
Elena hadn’t even left the car, while the half-wrecked vehicle served as a perfect shield. Thus, Elena stared blankly at the sky from inside the car, obliterating over twenty of those pursuing us in the process.
As if it was no big deal, Ahri’s curious voice broke the silence, “Is this the power of ‘justice’?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“What’s the mechanism behind this? I anticipated it to be powerful with all the conditions, but this is just ridiculous!”
“Well, I’m still piecing it together myself. Let’s discuss this outside.”
“That makes sense.”
I opened my mouth after Ahri, “Let’s put a pin in that conversation and make our escape immediately. We should be able to exit this damned school as we’ve driven enough. Just one hour on foot and we’ll be clear of this miserable school property.”
“No,” Elena insisted.
“Miss Elena? What do you—”
“Justice must be equitable. Those subject to punishment must not be distinguished from those who aren’t. Now that the enforcement has commenced, I must see it through to the end.”
“See it through? You don’t mean going back to the school, do you?”
“Seems that way,” Ahri added. “You’re planning to return to the school and eliminate all the other cultists? Does that mean you can’t even stop yourself once your blessing activates?”
“I’m not sure if I have to eliminate all of them, but I must go back.”
This was quite the troublesome ability. Being able to blast dozens of people into oblivion without even laying a finger on them was beyond outrageous, and up to this point, we hadn’t witnessed any other blessings with such an impact.
But the conditions were absurdly numerous.
1. It must target beings akin to humans.
2. The user must recognize their villainy.
We had previously known those two conditions, yet it seemed there was a third.
3. Once enforcement begins, the user cannot stop at will.
“What do we do? It seems like Elena has no choice but to stay. Should we at least make a run for it, Ahri?”
Instead of Ahri, someone else responded.
“Such concerns are needless.”
“For thou hast no rights to choose.”
An angel descended from the sky.
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