Episode 50: The One Who Descended from Heaven
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 19
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Sage’s Advice: 2]
“I was at the hotel—”
“My mother—”
“She grabbed my neck—”
Faint murmurs of people could be heard. They seemed to be having some kind of conversation, but I couldn’t see or hear anything clearly.
From a distant place… the sound of a hymn wafted through the air.
Desperately trying to hold onto my sanity, I covered myself with the status window filter, closed my eyes, and plugged my ears. The sound of the hymn faded somewhat.
I feel so fuzzy. My body is here, but it feels like my soul is being pulled away to some far-off place.
Something— voices echoed around me. There was definitely an existence trying to convey their will to me, but I couldn’t quite make it out. It was as if the noise was being drowned out by static, blending voices and sounds into a confusing ruckus.
A number of vague pieces of information seeped in. Without anyone telling me, I just knew.
Some form of “negotiation” was taking place at that heavenly table.
And then, the negotiation came to a conclusion.
???:
Descent:
Descent: 3
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 19
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Sage’s Advice: 2
Descent: 3]
Let there be light.
And there was light.
*
A whirlwind of light poured down, as if a storm had erupted around me.
In Elena’s eyes, the scene unfolding was more unreal than anything she had ever experienced in her life.
Am I witnessing a person becoming an angel right now?
An indescribable aura radiated from Kain’s entire being.
She couldn’t even bear to look at his face directly. It was as if he had the very essence of divine glory. More than beautiful or handsome, he was… “sacred.” Before her stood someone from the heavens, beyond any human standard of beauty.
Tears streamed down her face. Countless pains and sorrows she had experienced flooded her mind. The abundance and joy of her childhood were overshadowed by the forced escape from her homeland. Poverty and threats followed them wherever they went, and whenever she was just about to bond with someone, she had to hop around like a grasshopper fleeing from one country to another.
Ah, so all that pain was just to meet this person.
The suffering endured in the Hotel was nothing but the thorns along the path to salvation.
As the long-held grief and despair in her heart began to blur, tears continued to pour like a waterfall.
This way, she knelt down and prayed.
*
Consciousness returned as I opened my eyes. The first sight that greeted me was my teammates.
Everyone had collapsed. Some were rolling on the floor while others were on their knees, praying to me.
Only then did I realize. At that moment, I had transcended the realm of humanity.
What do I need to do to return to being human? I’m not sure, but one thing is certain: I have to get away from my teammates for now.
I stood up in a daze and flung the door of Room 105 wide open.
The door burst apart!
Without a moment’s thought, I dashed out into the hallway.
With every step I took, the ground exploded beneath my feet, and when I leaped with immense force, my head smashed into the ceiling. My head was fine, but the ceiling… not so much. In a moment of panic, I swung my arm, and the wall came crashing down.
Finally realizing I needed to ease up on my movements, I began trying to move carefully.
What am I supposed to do? Is this state going to last forever?
I could see colors that I hadn’t noticed before, hear sounds that were once inaudible. I felt the dust floating in the air and the movement of pebbles shaken free from the crumbled walls.
A chandelier fell in the distance. The movements of air caused by the chandelier created waves, filling the atmosphere with melodies.
Ahh, how small is the world in which humans are trapped? What a tragedy to be oblivious to all the changes happening around them!
Only now did I understand: all humans are blind and deaf.
But even so, I desperately wished to return to my human form.
At that moment, an unusually kind piece of advice appeared in front of my eyes.
[Stay still. Once all the power seeps into you, you will return to being human.]
This felt different. Clearly, “Sage’s Advice” used to be just a few desperate words thrown my way right before I kicked the bucket, but now, it actually felt like advice.
I obeyed and stood still. Considering how I was obliterating everything around me whenever I moved, I was scared to do anything at all.
It might sound childish, but I was afraid of myself.
About ten minutes passed? The light surrounding my body began to settle down, and the infinite strength that had surged inside me like an active volcano slowly faded into a gentle stream.
Relaxing for the first time, I looked around to find the Hotel looking like the aftermath of a cataclysm.
The hallway was filled with craters from my steps as if there were mines, and a chandelier that had previously been twenty meters high now lay shattered on the ground. All the wall decorations had turned to scrap, and everything near the front desk—wells, trees; all obliterated, as if hit by missiles.
All I did was panic and inadvertently crash into things, yet look at this devastation!
And then—today’s final kind advice appeared.
[You may now descend three times. But remember, there’s no free lunch in this world…]
*
When I returned to Room 105, which now had no door, I was relieved to see that my teammates had regained their senses.
And they all stared at me with bewildered expressions.
“…?”
“…?”
“… Kain. Can you please explain what just happened?”
Where do I even start? I guess I should begin with the last day at school and what happened in the Old Main Building.
I slowly filled them in, explaining how I had infiltrated the Old Main Building alone, ambushing Aurelia at the right moment, only to get dragged off by the Lord. How I received something from the Lord and how the status screen got all twisted up.
And then—the event that had just occurred, the “Descent” that appeared on the status screen.
A hush fell over the room.
The first to speak up was, as expected, Grandpa Kim Mooksung, the agent used to dealing with the supernatural.
“It seems that the entity known as the ‘Lord,’ sealed within the Cursed Room, made some sort of investment in you.”
Can an entity sealed in the room influence the outside world?
“That’s something I can’t confirm. But haven’t we verified through the Devouring One that those absolute beings trapped in the Cursed Rooms are somewhat aware of the Hotel’s workings? The Devouring One itself also understood the Hotel and was able to create its own pawns within the stage, exercising their own individuality.”
“Then why did it choose to invest in me?”
“You may not be the sole recipient of its investments.”
Are you implying it has been doing this for a while?
“Just a guess.”
“Let’s steer clear of discussing the Lord for now,” Ahri interjected. “None of us have a genuine grasp on the Hotel, so worrying over the intentions of that transcendent existence is pointless. Instead, it feels like you gained an extraordinary amount of power and some outrageous charisma. Are there any conditions tied to it?”
“It says there are three uses on the status window. It looks like I can use it exactly three times.”
And with that, I finally received advice that seemed genuinely sage.
“There’s no free lunch in this world.”
The room fell silent again as Eunsol noona chimed in with a question.
“I believe Mr. Mooksung and Ahri have more experience in this area than us. What would you say Kain should do?”
“As an agent of the Administration, I would advise that you live your life without worrying about this suspicious ability. There’s nothing free in this world; that’s why I called it an investment. The Lord will surely come and demand repayment.”
“As an agent of the Administration? Do you have other thoughts?”
“Coming from someone who has now fallen into the Hotel, it would be quite foolish to ignore an ability granted by the establishment simply out of fear of its price. If you’re too scared of the cost and end up failing, we’ll all become resources of the Hotel. Instead, it would be better to use what you’ve been given when necessary and fret about repayment later.”
“Hold on, sir. Those two pieces of advice are totally contradictory.”
“Deciding which path to take is entirely up to you.”
“Then let’s go with this,” Ahri said.
“I’m listening.”
“Try not to use it at all until the very end. Only when it’s the last resort—when everybody but you is dead, or if a total wipeout seems imminent—then you should use it.”
A last resort for that final moment.
I took a moment to consider the power I obtained that day. Maybe I should think of it as my ultimate move for emergencies.
As I ambled around, lost in thought, I noticed Elena and Songee flinching and backing away whenever our eyes met. Right, they had been praying right in front of me…
This was awkward.
Eventually, I abandoned my friends under the pretext of wanting to sort out my thoughts alone. It seemed like I had a lot on my mind today.
*
“…”
“… Kain’s not here, but what were you guys thinking when you saw him?” Eunsol spoke up.
“Divine? He looked like an angel?”
“Unbelievably handsome? Like he’d come to save the world? Just completely nonsensical thoughts like that.”
“Songee and Elena felt the same way,” Eunsol remarked.
“I think it’s going to be super awkward seeing Kain-oppa from now on.”
“Probably going to be the same for me,” Elena nodded in agreement.
“Me too,” Eunsol added. “For just a moment, he felt like a totally different being from us.”
“Well, I doubt anyone’s in the mood to eat anymore, and there’s less than ten minutes left in mealtime. Let’s take a break. Though it’s likely we’ll all vanish into our own spaces in just ten minutes.”
“Will we?”
“What do you mean, Ahri?”
After pointing toward the door with her chin, Ahri continued, “I’m just worried about whether the system of Room 105 will still function, even with the door destroyed.”
Her worries materialized into reality.
That day, all functions of Room 105 ceased to operate, and even after mealtime ended, we remained in the wreckage of what looked like a battleground.
In the end, reluctantly, everyone gathered their scant belongings and headed toward some semblance of a resting place.
*
“Ahri.”
“Unni? Didn’t you say you were going to sleep near the tea table?”
“I am, but I wanted to say something first.”
“Something to say? Why didn’t you bring it up earlier?”
“I wanted to talk to you alone.”
“Well, to be honest, I’m not really worried about your past or what your goals are or where you came from.”
“I grew up working in a company from a young age. When working on a large project, all sorts of people get involved. Many are thinking about their own agendas, yet a leader’s role is to bring everyone together and somehow make progress.”
“But there’s one condition for that.”
“At the very least, everyone needs to cooperate for the project to move forward. Even if they have different intentions and distractions, as long as everyone works together toward the project, things can move forward smoothly.”
“So, you’re basically saying we should cooperate for the grand objective of escaping the hotel, right? I’m already on board with that.”
“I figured as much, which is why I was going to overlook everything rather than interrogate you. Regardless, none of us intend to be trapped in this strange hotel for thousands of years. I hope you get what I’m saying.”
*
The next day,
As soon as morning hit, the hotel display system went into a frenzy.
/Massive Construction Work!
The staff of Hotel Pioneer have disappointing news to share. Last night, a violent customer caused a rampage that devastated our facilities, leading to serious inconveniences for our esteemed guests.
Regardless of who is to blame, we sincerely apologize for the disruption caused. Today, the Hotel will be closed. All facilities will cease operations, and we kindly ask our valued guests to utilize the camping grounds in the basement.
In one hour, the Hotel will be shut down. Please proceed to the camping grounds./
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