Chapter: 65
Chapter 65 – Room 101, Cursed Room – ‘A Strange Family’ Re (3)
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Third Attempt
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[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
[Date: Day 22]
[Current Location: Floor 1, Room 101 (Cursed Room – A Strange Family)]
[Sage’s Advice: 3]
Let’s combine the facts I’ve discovered with my assumptions.
From my online searches, it’s clear that the state of various media content is patently abnormal. Where exactly is the place that produces such content?
Primarily, it’s the broadcasting stations.
Of course, these days many types of content are generated in personal broadcasts and various other media.
However, considering all that wouldn’t lead to a resolution. For now, let’s keep broadcasting stations as our primary candidates. If that’s not it, we can always look for other options.
Should I visit a broadcasting station then?
Several questions arose from that.
1. There’s more than one broadcasting station, so which one should I go to?
Even if I only consider terrestrial channels, there are more than a couple. If I include comprehensive programming channels, news channels, and cable broadcasters, there could easily be dozens.
2. How am I supposed to get there?
If I leave the house, maintaining distance from the Strange Family for about ten minutes should grant an escape validity. Originally, this escape was our lifeline, but if I need to change locations to solve things now, that escape flag would interfere. It would trigger before we even reach the broadcasting station and terminate our chance.
3. What about those who can’t leave their starting points?
If it’s essential to progress by moving from one’s starting position to a specific place like a broadcasting station, what about Ahri, who can’t even leave her quarantine? Is she doomed just because her start point is in the Hotel?
That doesn’t seem right. The Hotel is unreasonable, cruel, and hard to comprehend, but they didn’t unleash monstrous challenges on us to wipe us out in three seconds right from the start.
…
It was difficult to draw conclusions. But thinking about it without action leads nowhere. Rather than stand still and ponder until all questions are answered, I decided to act first and judge later.
Let’s tackle the questions in order. First up, I have to decide which broadcasting station I need to go to.
After some contemplation, I sat down in front of the computer and began sifting through old articles.
“Kain! Are you nearly finished? If you are, come out and help with the laundry!”
Ah, the interference from the Strange Family has begun. All I could do now was buy time.
“I have something important to check for school! I’ll be out shortly!”
Fortunately, rummaging through articles filled with just text didn’t carry the same pressure as filtering through videos. Upon review, the content was as ludicrous as anything else in this world, but the tangible threat of the curse felt significantly diluted compared to the vivid images and actual people.
I kept changing dates, searching for the place in this realm where the first anomaly occurred.
It was around eight months later that I finally discovered a potential candidate.
ABS.
It’s likely a relatively newly established public broadcaster, right? There were around thirty articles strongly condemning ABS’s shockingly provocative broadcasts. Injust two days, dozens of critical articles surfaced.
And in just those one or two days, did the curse expand to the entire world, or specifically across Korea? After that, no more articles of critique appeared. It seemed all media had gone completely off the rails afterward.
For now, I decided on ABS.
Moving on to the next question: How on earth should I get there?
…
Suddenly, a straightforward idea popped into my head.
What was the reason for the trigger of the escape condition in the first place? Didn’t it stem from the physical distance being imposed once I recognized the abnormality of the Strange Family?
If that’s the case, I simply don’t need to distance myself. I just have to head to the broadcasting station along with my family.
…
But then, I hit a wall in my thought process.
Even glancing around or having brief exchanges with my family members caused a throbbing headache, courtesy of the curse. That was only manageable thanks to the filter; without it, there was no way to endure unless I blocked my ears and shut my eyes, rendering me utterly defenseless.
Would I even be able to withstand a long journey alongside my family?
As I sighed and searched through the internet, I stumbled upon something.
Articles about some coronavirus treatments.
Ah, so coronavirus is a serious issue in this world too. Considering this stage was based on reality, it makes sense.
The moment I saw it, a solution sprang to mind.
“Ah! Seriously, oppa, are you a complete idiot? Why would you schedule a vaccine appointment so far away?”
“What?”
“Hey, dumbass! Get rid of those stupid earplugs. Why have you been squinting all this time?”
“Whoa! Don’t come too close. Didn’t I tell you I’ve been feeling weird for a while?”
—Whoossh! Thwack!
My younger sister hurled a hand-axe dangerously close to my head.
…
When I finally meet my real sister again, I promise to be nicer. Watching her chuck that random hand-axe because she was a bit annoyed only made me miss my actual sister more.
Had it really been half a year since this world got plagued by coronavirus?
The Administration had developed a groundbreaking treatment that began to restore order to the upheaval. Naturally, with the entire globe clamoring for this treatment, it was exceptionally challenging even for the Administration to keep up with the demand.
Consequently, booking a treatment appointment became as elusive as chasing the stars.
This morning, I insisted to my family that I wasn’t feeling well and that I’d made an appointment for the treatment at a hospital near the broadcasting station as I set off with my sister.
Even though she was irritated, she still chose to accompany her sick brother to the hospital. Honestly, I appreciate my sister – apart from her random weapon tosses, of course.
We maintained a distance of about 10 meters as we began our journey.
I was essentially saying, “Don’t come too close; you might catch this!” but “Can you still accompany me to the hospital?”
I recognized how contradictory that sounded – and even my slightly lacking sister found the absurdity hard to believe. But with the promise of 100,000 won, she begrudgingly decided to follow along.
What’s it to me? It’s all fake money in this world. I could promise her a million won with no hesitation.
Once outside, we snagged a taxi right away.
Taking a taxi seemed like the best way to reach the broadcasting station while avoiding contact with as many infected individuals as possible.
However, would the taxis in this strange world even operate normally?
We got into the taxi.
“So I’m telling you, these XX Party idiots are the problem. I can’t fathom what’s going on in their heads. I get it that lately people have been acting ‘freely’ leading to some casualties, but how can they justify banning battle royales? Do they not realize how helpful battle royales are for the mental resilience of the students?”
Why are taxi drivers always so chatty, even in a world gone mad?
“Talking about this reminds me of my university days. I hate saying this – it sounds braggy – but I graduated from Y University! When freshmen enroll, we start with, guess what, Russian Roulette! We filter out the weaklings, you know? They say about 130 students died this year. But what’s the big deal? The country has plenty of people!”
He was spewing such insanity that my brain felt like it might melt. I was blocking my ears, yet the sound still sneaked its way in.
The biggest downside to being in a taxi? I couldn’t distance myself from them.
No matter how close I pressed against the door, my sister was next to me, and the driver right in front; the curse felt invasive, like it was trying to creep into my sanity. Honestly, if it weren’t for the system window filter, I would’ve gone mad already.
“I don’t get the XX Party. With 7 billion people in the world, this tiny country has 50 million living here. Isn’t that too much? We definitely need to cut those numbers down! 3 billion? 20 million? That sounds just about right, doesn’t it?”
“Could you just off yourself first, please? Naturally, after I get out of this taxi.”
“But those XX Party members think that’s a problem! They want to regulate things or push for laws to protect the average citizen. It’s absurd! They don’t understand the survival of the fittest principle! In a capitalist world, the weak ones don’t survive, okay? They’re just a bunch of red-flag communists!”
I had to endure that for a full thirty minutes.
Eventually, it became unbearable, so I had to dig into my ears with my fingers, causing them to bleed just to make myself numb.
—Eeeeek! Thud!
As soon as I exited the taxi and created some distance, I felt a wave of relief. I was catching my breath when I suddenly heard something that sounded like it punctured flesh.
“Hahaha! Thank you! Yellow-haired young lady, you sure are brave?”
Dazed, I turned around to see my sister had literally stabbed the taxi driver in the gut with a hand-axe, and he was thanking her for it.
…
Let’s just keep going. I’m out of surprises and just hoping she wouldn’t throw anything at me now.
As I trudged forward, my sister caught up with me.
“Oppa? This isn’t the way to the hospital, is it?”
“I thought I’d swing by ABS before heading to the hospital.”
“Why on earth would you go there all of a sudden?”
“…”
“Oppa?”
Quickly, I crafted an excuse.
“I saw on my phone earlier that ABS is currently filming ‘Black Hole Princess’. Isn’t that the show you like?”
“Oh? Really? How did I miss that?”
Well, since I just made it up, it makes sense you didn’t see it.
Feeling that she might actually check her phone if I stood there any longer, I dashed toward the broadcasting station.
We were practically there anyway. After running with my sister for another five minutes, we finally arrived at the broadcasting station.
Reflecting on the challenging journey it took to arrive here made me want to pat myself on the back. I can’t believe I even entertained the thought of bringing my family all the way to the broadcasting station in a world as bizarre as this!
As I sighed while approaching the broadcasting station, suddenly—
Someone tapped my shoulder.
Goosebumps shot down my spine.
Since entering Room 101, I’ve developed a kind of ability. Each time a cursed individual approaches me, my filter weakens the curse, resulting in headaches and ringing in the ears. This allowed me to sense anyone getting near without even seeing them.
Yet just now… there wasn’t a hint of anything.
In a wave of overwhelming tension, I turned my head.
…
And saw a familiar face before me.
—Bang!
And that’s when my sister’s head exploded.
—
“So, you’re telling me you actually brought your family all the way here?”
“Indeed.”
“That’s impressive. I briefly thought about it, but I honestly didn’t expect someone to be mad enough to attempt such a reckless plan!”
“…”
“Did you not find it odd? This method is only feasible for you with the filter and Miss Songee with her bracelet.”
“None of us could retain our sanity remaining so close to family for that long. Even Ahri would probably dry up from the exposure.”
“There’s no way the Hotel would have separated us to instigate such ‘individual play,’ while ensuring that only a select few can manage to make it here.”
“I found it strange, but I just couldn’t figure it out.”
“You sensed something was off but still went ahead because it was in your wheelhouse. That’s commendable; brave even. Whatever the case, you successfully reached the broadcasting station, and that’s good for me too. Honestly, I was starting to think no one else would show up, and I pondered whether I’d have to walk this path alone. Having another person is quite the relief.”
“But how did you get here, Sir? You don’t have a filter like I do, nor a bracelet like Songee… so how did you bring your family here?”
“I used a much simpler method. One that anyone can learn if they just know how.”
“And what is that?”
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