Chapter 63: Room 101, Cursed Room – ‘A Strange Family’ Re (1)
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Second Attempt
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—Kim Ahri
First of all, I had to say something. Otherwise, she’d just break down the door and barge in.
As I approached the door and my mom, I could feel my blood slowly draining away as I protected my mind.
So, the curse of Room 101 kicks in just by getting close and even listening to family voices, huh?
It’s a shame I don’t have a mind-protection filter like Kain.
“Mum! I’ll be out soon. You go ahead and start eating!”
—Thud! Thud!
“I’m hungry! I don’t want to eat alone!”
What do I need to say to get her away from the door? What was her personality like again?
Oh, right! I need to talk to her like she’s a little kid.
“I’ve prepared a present for you, Mum! Can you wait a bit further away?”
“A present? A present! Yay! I’m super excited~!”
Tap tap tap! I could hear her skipping away from the door. It’s amazing how such a childish lie still works on her.
Mum has a childlike nature. She doesn’t have much patience, so she’ll be back before long. In the meantime, how on earth am I supposed to escape?
Others could run out of their houses to escape, but mine is set as a hotel.
I have no way out.
If this was the second hotel, my current option might be to close my eyes, jump out the front door, and slow my fall. Sure, I could die from blood loss before hitting the ground, but there’s a chance!
But at the first hotel, the outside was the depths of the sea. I’d be crushed by water pressure the moment I stepped out. The only escape tool I had back then was an Air Bubble, not Wing Boots.
Going out the front door isn’t an option. There’s no way I can replicate my previous escape method either.
If I can’t leave…
I need to neutralize that imitation of my mother so it can’t approach me.
But there’s one major concern.
How much of my mum has the hotel ‘implemented’?
If it’s just her blessings, I’m confident I can beat this fake mum. But if she’s been blessed too… well, I’ll just have to find out.
Creak.
I opened the door, revealing a familiar dining room. In the distance, Mum was sitting there, her hands covering her eyes.
It’s probably me bragging, but she really looks adorable. If her mind were intact, she would’ve been a great mum.
I took a deep breath.
Considering all I’d potentially lose in combat—blood for fighting, blood for protecting my mind—I really can’t afford to drag this out.
I closed my eyes and reflected on myself, feeling the blood pumping from my heart through my veins. Then, I called upon the ancient power that coursed through every drop of my blood.
I manifested Ancient Blood.
A cold aura surged up from my fingertips like lightning, cutting through the air. It was a sudden attack, so Miro didn’t even have time to react.
“Ahhh! Ahri? Why—”
Sorry.
Actually, I’m not sorry at all. You’re not even my real mum! From now on, I’ll only call you by name.
With another blast of cold air, I struck her body twice. She screamed and rolled along the floor. Two red lines appeared on Miro’s body, and the blood that flowed out immediately froze.
But this wasn’t enough.
I wanted to finish things from a distance due to the mental contamination, but my punches were weak.
Attacking ordinary people might be different, but against a fellow blood witch, it’s hard to deal any real damage from afar.
As I poured more strength into my fingertips and leaped—
Bang!
Light flashed from across the dining table.
Thump!
A sudden hole appeared in my shoulder!
Rolling sideways, I released a cold gust and scanned Miro’s situation.
Things were looking pretty good.
Her recovery speed was painfully slow; it looked like showering her with cold gusts from the beginning was working. The ongoing chill was slowing the movement of her blood and interfering with her power.
I closed the distance again and channeled strength into my fingertips to strike her.
Thud!
The clash of our hands—hardened like steel from the Ancient Blood—resounded.
“Ahri! Why are you doing this? Mummy will scold you!”
“Sorry, but I’m probably stronger than you now! A lot of time’s passed since you died, Miro, and I wasn’t just sitting around!”
“What do you mean I died? Are you having a weird dream, Ahri?”
In about 10 seconds? Over 30 clashes of metallic hands occurred as we both attacked and countered, fueled by our blood.
Then, we both realized as I stuffed the cold gust into Miro’s body about five times—I’m overwhelmingly stronger.
My mastery of Ancient Blood and fighting techniques was on another level. Despite using over half my blood to resist Miro’s mental contamination, I could easily win.
“What is going on? This is so weird! Why are you suddenly so strong, Ahri?”
“I told you! I’ve been stacking up power longer than your entire life! Sorry, Miro, but you need to take a nap for now.”
She’s not my real mum, but seeing her in pain tugged at my heart. It’s almost done.
If I could just cast Oblivion, she’d fall into a deep sleep instantly. Our eyes locked, and I concentrated my power on worming into her heart…
Then suddenly—
A Balance appeared!
“Oh no. It’s over. This ridiculous hotel even ‘implemented’ Miro’s blessings!”
I took a step back as soon as I saw it. I knew I couldn’t win.
Bam! Boom!
Suddenly, everything erupted. In an instant, the decor of the dining room shattered, and a force so overwhelming it could crush mere humans rushed towards me. I barely managed to hide behind nearby furniture as I escaped Room 103.
When was it again?
I recalled something Seungyub said when we learned about Elena’s blessing, Justice, at the Sanctum of Blessings.
He speculated that the numerous restrictions on Elena’s blessings were for balance.
Sorry, Seungyub, but you’re dead wrong.
This hopeless hotel doesn’t care about balance not even a little bit.
The blessings it dispenses come without any conditions—only boundless possibilities.
Restrictions are things created solely by the human heart.
So here are the three conditions of Elena’s blessing:
1. The target must be an evil person.
2. Elena must be aware of the evil deed.
3. The execution cannot be stopped once it begins.
There are even concepts like self-defense, closely resembling legal principles on Earth.
So, would the hotel even care about the human world’s laws when establishing restrictions for blessings? No, these are merely stipulations crafted from Elena’s perception of Justice.
Still, it may not have differed much even if the Blessing of Justice went to someone else, since most people’s ideas of justice align broadly.
Thus, it’s only normal for the Blessing of Justice to carry the characteristics and restrictions we observe in real-world law. Laws are fundamentally formed by common understandings of justice.
But what if this blessing got in the hands of someone who doesn’t share that universal view of justice?
For example, what if a crazy person were granted the Blessing of Justice?
Someone who believes they have the right to punish everything—even animals, monsters, and objects;
Someone who sees every action they dislike as unfair;
Someone who operates solely on their feelings about punishment.
Long ago, Miro created me in exchange for her intellect.
And in losing that intellect, her ego transformed into that of a child, obliterating every restriction of Justice and making her overwhelmingly powerful!
The result? That chaotic creation was now smashing through everything nearby with a flick of her hand.
BEEEEEChapter:
The static from a faulty radio filled my head.
This noise is so loud, it’s wrecking my hearing!
BAM!
A thunderous explosion rattled the ceiling, as though a bomb had gone off.
Crack! Crack!
Miro’s rage shredded the marble floor, splintering it like paper. The whole hotel trembled like an earthquake was occurring.
Thud!
Stones crumbled from the ruptured walls and slammed into my back. Today is proving to be quite a nuisance.
Yet amidst this chaos, there’s one reason I could still run away.
Thanks to that poorly cast Oblivion earlier, Miro couldn’t find me at this moment.
But then, the implications of that fact struck me as even more bewildering; it meant she was annihilating everything around her without even noticing me. That implies she’s wielding the power of Justice against inanimate objects.
What on earth is her view of Justice that allows for such usage? Does she consider this corridor and door wicked for being in her way when she’s angry?
Let’s not dwell on that.
…
After about a 10-minute chase, I finally realized there was nowhere left for me to escape.
I tried flying, running, groping in the dark, but Miro looked set to demolish the hotel entirely. It mirrored how Kain acted during his awakening!
I decided to throw in the towel.
Standing beside the main entrance, I gazed out at the view outside the glass doors. Strange fish flitted by, trying to catch my attention. After all, in my first hotel visit, we were at ocean depths.
Clomp. Clomp!
As I watched the fish, the effect of Oblivion faded, and Miro appeared before me.
“You’re here?”
“Mhm!”
“Oh, my head is starting to feel weird. I suppose it’s about time I hit a limit.”
“You’re acting so strangely today, Ahri! I don’t get why you’re doing this to your mom.”
“You’re right.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“Who knows?”
“I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. I was really angry, destroying everything just now, but I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me for that, okay?”
Ahh, this fake mum even loves me, just like I love my real mum.
But, you see… fake mum?
Your love is about to contaminate me, just like that.
“But you know you shouldn’t treat your mum this way, right? For the next week, I’ll just carry your head around, Ahri! So you better reflect on your actions!”
I should have just ignored that last remark.
The worst part is that my real mum isn’t like this due to Room 101’s curse. In truth, she has always been this way since I was born.
I could feel my consciousness beginning to fade.
You have failed!
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
[Date: Day 22]
[Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor]
[Sage’s Advice: 3]
Wow!
I thought as soon as I escaped Room 101.
This was way too easy, wasn’t it? We suffered back then just because we didn’t realize something so simple.
This is so easy that there’s no way anyone could struggle to escape. Just close your eyes, block your ears, and run—so simple, right?
I turned my head, expecting everyone would be smiling.
But that’s when I realized that something felt off.
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