Chapter: 75
75 – Room 101, Cursed Room – ‘Common Sense Renovating Media’ (9)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 24
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 101 (Cursed Room – Common Sense Renovating Media)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
*
Fifth Attempt
*
— Han Kain
As soon as I entered the room, an alert popped up.
[The enemies recognize the participant’s intrusion.]
[The power of the curse has been amplified.]
[You cannot escape.]
…
So this is the penalty that starts from the ‘Fifth Attempt.’
This is ridiculously extreme.
— Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Come out! Hahaha! Oppa? Not coming out?”
— Stab!
…
The moment it began, all the family members in the house went completely berserk.
I quickly locked the door and barricaded myself inside.
Is there even a way out of this?
Let’s consider the situation for everyone else.
Grandpa Mooksung just needs to kill his family since he has a gun. That’s easy.
Songee with her bracelet and strong Jinchul-hyung will probably find a way out somehow.
I’m a bit worried about Elena though. Starting from square one, she’s stuck with her family in the same room, and her senses of sight and hearing are gone. It all hinges on whether she can withstand the early chaos and activate her blessing.
… Actually, this isn’t the time to worry about others. The biggest problem is me, Seungyub, and Eunsol.
It’s hard to believe Eunsol-noona will make it. The security would probably take her down instantly. She might already be a goner.
Seungyub doesn’t look like he’s faring much better either.
— Thump! Crash!
What do I do? They seem determined to just break down the door.
…
Rummaging through the wardrobe, I layered on winter clothes as best as I could. Three pairs of jeans, two sweaters, and two puffy jackets. With this much stuffing, I could probably survive Antarctica.
This should make it tough for anyone to stab me with a kitchen knife, right? My parents and sister aren’t sword masters after all.
— Bang!
As I flung the door wide open, I immediately stabbed my sister in the neck with my dagger. In that split second, a kitchen knife sliced through my upper body, but of course! Those thick layers stopped it cold.
In a panic, I kept stabbing forward, but sensing movement behind me, I dodged quickly and felt a heavy blow against my back.
Turning around, I saw Dad with a golf club.
I can handle this!
Unlike me, bundled like a walking fortress, my family was just in casual clothes. The overwhelming curse had dulled their wits, too.
It didn’t take long for me to take them all down.
…
As expected, the ‘Escape’ option didn’t pop up even after taking down my entire family.
… My stomach began to hurt.
Didn’t it say, ‘The curse has intensified’?
As I stepped outside, I was met with a hellscape. People charging at each other in a frenzy—total chaos.
Is it a good thing? Compared to my family who were hunting just me, the other folks outside seemed to be going wild against each other. Obviously, any semblance of public transportation was completely down in a world like this.
How on earth am I supposed to get to the TV station? Walk through this hell?
I decided to try driving a car. In this world, no way they’d pull me over for driving without a license, right?
I had a rough idea of the way to the TV station—no GPS needed.
Before I took off, I checked my status window.
[Teammate Location Information (*)
Park Seungyub: Dead
Lee Eunsol: Dead]
As I suspected, those two couldn’t hack it.
If things get dire, I’ll use ‘Descent.’ Can’t hesitate when it comes to inheritance.
… My stomach really hurt.
*
It was my first time driving, but it turned out easier than I expected. I learned the basics from bumper car experiences.
Everyone was too busy brawling, so the road was nearly empty.
As for the pedestrians? I just plowed straight through them.
Ignoring the speed limits and plowing through folks, I bumped into all kinds of obstacles and didn’t give a hoot.
Driving is a breeze!
Let’s learn how to drive properly once I’m out of here.
Somehow I reached the TV station, and to my joy, I was greeted with the faces of the teammates I had missed in what felt like an eternity. Waiting there was Songee, who lived just a 10-minute walk away, and Grandpa Mooksung, probably having driven himself here.
“What about the others?”
“They’re still waiting. Check your status window. It says dead, right? Do you think the rest will make it?”
“I’ve been checking regularly, and Elena and Jinchul-hyung are still alive. They seem to be heading over.”
“By the way, what’s with the penguin getup? Haha! I see your clever plan now. You don’t have a gun after all. Good thinking! My junior is sharp!”
“…”
“But don’t you think it’s time to take off some layers? You look like you’re about to melt.”
Though I had no intention of becoming his junior in charge of the office, it was indeed hot, so I took some clothes off.
“How are the station staff doing?”
“They all seem to be ‘preparing.’”
“Preparing?”
“None of them are coming down. They must know we’re on our way and are getting ready.”
“What sort of preparations?”
“My biggest worry is guns. For a TV station this size, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had armed security around. They’re likely gathering as many guns as they can. That’s why Songee and I are just waiting here. We need a tank to use as a shield before we make our move.”
Cough!
…
As I felt a tickle in my throat, I coughed roughly.
What spewed out was blood and some tooth-like fragments.
…
“Are you okay?”
I lifted my shirt to inspect my stomach.
A new mouth was forming on my belly.
“What about you and Songee, sir?”
Grandpa Mooksung silently lifted his shirt a bit.
… Several fleshy lumps, resembling eyes and tongues, squirmed around.
“Didn’t it say at the start that ‘The power of the curse has intensified’?”
“It seems to be affecting our bodies directly. Songee has issues with her right arm.”
“Enduring this for long won’t be easy.”
“Think positively. Did you expect to stay in a place like this long? We should head to the hospital as soon as the two of them arrive.”
“If it comes down to it, I’ll use Descent.”
“Right. I actually ventured into Room 101 again, banking on that ability of yours.”
“Did you vote for it yesterday?”
“I think I should’ve gone to another room; however, your Descent should more or less sort things out.”
*
Not long after, the sound of a car pulled up, and Jinchul-hyung emerged.
“You made it! You! Please tell me you didn’t bring your mom again!”
“Of course, I wouldn’t mess up like that again!”
“Did you take your meds?”
“Nope! Just drove over.”
We simply waited for Elena to show up.
About 15 minutes went by…
…
An angel descended from the heavens.
*
Her hair glimmered like waves, as if made of molten gold.
A radiant golden scale orbited around her.
In that state, Elena ‘came down from the sky.’
All teammates stood there, dumbfounded and mouths agape, as she rushed past us without a glance and sped towards the upper floors of the TV station.
… Huh?
“Whoa! Miss Elena!”
“Ah!”
“Everyone, run! She seems to have already activated Justice, and it looks like she can’t stop now!”
Elena arrived already with Justice activated.
In a frenzy, we followed her while assessing her condition. Her blouse was torn in places, revealing parts of her stunning body and —
Wait. Torn?
Upon closer inspection, her clothes were shredded, and her body was covered in wounds.
…
The others also belatedly noticed this.
“Unni? Are you hurt?”
True to form, even while her actions were forced, Elena could still converse.
She explained, slowly.
“Right from the start, my sister attacked me. I did cast my blessing in time. However, the wounds I sustained couldn’t be healed…”
…
As we began our ascent in the TV station, opposition erupted.
— Bang! Bang!
People in police uniforms started firing, while TV station staff barricaded themselves with desks and walls.
It would’ve been brutally difficult had we needed to charge through alone.
Yet, Elena solved everything with ease.
Invisible hands tossed the staff aside, knocking them unconscious. An invisible force made their barricades utterly pointless.
Wait, unconscious? Upon checking again, none of the staff seemed to be dead.
… Did Elena gain the ability to neutralize curse victims after what Ahri said yesterday?
I was starting to grasp how Elena’s blessing worked.
Blood.
As Elena strolled forward, a relentless trail of blood dripped behind her.
Despite blocking bullets and rendering the staff’s barricade futile, the numerous wounds she suffered didn’t heal.
Walking while staining the floor with blood, it was inevitable for us to talk among ourselves.
“Grandpa! What should we do? Can Elena-unni keep fighting like this?”
“It’s driving me insane too! If we could just pause for a moment to bandage her wounds and stop the bleeding, we would!”
“Let’s dash up to the rooftop ASAP. We’re already on the 6th floor.”
“I’ll carry Elena,” Jinchul-hyung offered.
“What if you get shot for interfering with the enforcement?”
“I won’t! I can carry her and dash upstairs, right? Not sure if the blessing has AI behind it, but it shouldn’t stop me from helping her.”
Jinchul-hyung sprinted off, lifting Elena as he went.
Fortunately, Elena didn’t resist.
Could we really reach the end like this?
*
Upon arriving at the rooftop, Elena seemed to collapse as if the weight of presence around her diminished. The power of Justice enforcing her actions couldn’t prevent her from fainting due to exhaustion.
“All the staff below are incapacitated. Let’s leave her here and head up just the three of us.”
“Is leaving her here really safe? The staff are just unconscious. They might wake up and attack her!”
“Are you suggesting we take her to a hospital crawling with monsters?”
“Look at this! We have to take her,” Songee pointed out.
The scale continued to orbit around Elena.
“Did her blessing fade?”
“No, Justice is still active. It’s just that Elena herself lost consciousness. If she wakes up somehow, she can fight again.”
“She passed out from blood loss; how is she supposed to wake up?! She’s probably seconds from death.”
“Who knows, the blessing might still work even while she’s unconscious. She might wake up after all.”
“Let’s just take her! I can carry her! She’s not even that heavy!”
“No, I’ll do it,” I insisted. “You’ll need your arms free to escape.”
Jinchul-hyung was about to carry Elena, clearly trying to shut down the discussion by dismissing the option to leave her behind altogether. However, his fighting capability would really take a hit if he carried her, so I took over instead.
As I did, a strong scent of blood hit me hard. Is she really going to be okay?
Grandpa Mooksung held his tongue.
Standing before the rooftop door connecting to the hospital entrance, we all paused for a moment.
…
No time to waste, we exchanged glances, steeled our resolve, and charged into the hospital.
At last, the end of the long road in Room 101 was at hand.
—
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