Chapter: 94
94 – Room 102, Cursed Room – ‘Mansion of Fear’ Re (7)
* Third Attempt
– Lee Eunsol
As I silently gazed at Lee Sehyun, gripping his hand tightly, he finally began to speak.
“Siwoo… This was when he was a child. Over ten years ago. You remember Yoojin, Siwoo’s mom, right?”
Thus began the man’s rather lengthy confession.
Ten years ago, he discovered his wife’s affair, with the partner being an old friend and a major shareholder in the company he was running.
He planned to punish his wife, but due to various documents she snatched away and collusion with the major shareholder, Sehyun found himself on the brink of losing everything. Coincidentally, his son had also started to fall ill.
… Right. Sounds like a total morning drama tragedy.
But honestly, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t give a flying leap.
If I were your real sister, maybe I would’ve shed a tear or two. But, nope! Anyway, that moth outside is about to finish its cocoon, so could you please just get to the point!
I urged him on, trying not to show my impatience, and finally, he started the next part of the story.
“Back then, I was climbing the mountain behind the mansion, thinking about committing suicide. Although honestly, it was more like a small house back then—”
“So what happened on that mountain?”
Brother, please hurry up! That moth is literally about to seal its cocoon!
“… You’re in a rush, huh? While I was wandering on the mountainside, I stumbled across a strange door and arrived at a place bathed in sacred light.
I encountered a fairy-like being there. A mysterious, beautiful presence…”
He started drifting into a nostalgic mood again, so I gave him a light smack.
— Thwack!
“Ugh! E, Eunsol?”
“You! If you start rambling again, I’ll blast Siwoo away in the next episode, got it?”
“Y-Yes, fine, just calm down. I’m almost done. It turned out this being was an apostle of a great existence.
The Apostle revealed to me that I should serve a new god. He said that if I served Him, all my suffering would cease…”
The mysterious ‘Apostle’ suggested Sehyun serve a new god, claiming all his hardships would vanish.
So, when Sehyun began to serve the new god, things miraculously took a turn for the better, allowing him to punish his ex-wife and her lover.
All his wealth returned, and his business thrived incredibly, leading him to amass great fortunes.
Naturally, his son’s health improved significantly, too.
‘… Everything just worked out? More like that Apostle dude stirred things up in the human world to make your wish come true,’ I thought.
“After that, I decided to build an altar in the basement to repay the wealth I gained because of Him. I prayed sincerely and regularly—”
“An altar?”
“It wasn’t anything grand, just—”
“Wait, oppa. Where is this altar located?”
Please, Sehyun! Spare us the side stories! I just got the feeling we’re gonna need to break that altar!
“Huh? Explaining the location is a bit tricky. The Apostle stressed security so much that the path is incredibly—”
— Boom!
A thunderous sound shook the earth.
Oh no, please don’t!
Looking outside, I saw that the moth had finished its cocoon and had closed it up tightly.
…
I just might throttle Lee Sehyun by the collar right now!
“Hey! Lee Sehyun! Just tell me how to get to the altar!”
“Like I was saying, it’s hard to explain—”
/You have successfully escaped!/
… Are you freaking kidding me, Hotel? Did you seriously cut me off here? It’s glaringly obvious we need to smash that altar!
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 30
Current Location: Floor 1, Hallway
Sage’s Advice: 1]
– Han Kain
With a thud, I regained my senses in the hallway.
Looking around, everyone else was standing there with dazed expressions. This was the usual look when escaping from the Cursed Room.
We headed to Room 105, exchanged what we had learned, and started a strategy meeting over our meal.
Unlike usual, Eunsol noona seemed deeply lost in thought, so I kicked off the conversation.
“We’re nearing the end, and the conditions to resolve the curse have started to take shape.
There seem to be two main conditions.
First, we must prevent the birth of the Demon God.
I believe we can do this by destroying the otherworldly ‘Sanctum’ located somewhere on the mountain and the ‘Altar’ hidden in the basement.
Secondly, we need to deal with the Enemy.
We simply need to stop his possession ability with the bell and kill him. According to what Ahri and Seungyub uncovered, it appears the Enemy is currently possessing ‘Lee Siwoo’ at the start.
Feel free to share any other thoughts you might have.”
Songee asked a question.
“Rather than another idea, I’m curious. Why is he possessing Lee Siwoo’s body?
Since Lee Sehyun is the one managing the financials, wouldn’t it have been easier for him to possess Sehyun instead?
It seems he could have taken his body anytime.”
It was Grandpa Mooksung who replied.
“Given how publicly active Lee Sehyun is, the Enemy likely thought the chances of being discovered by the Vatican were high if he possessed Sehyun.
If the Apostle had actually been in Lee Sehyun’s body during our second attempt, we would have locked him up right away.
But, since he was in the body of a little kid, we completely missed it. Doesn’t that explain why you didn’t check the kid with your bracelet, Songee?”
Songee admitted it.
“That’s right. During the second attempt, I was too focused on Lee Sehyun and didn’t think to inspect Lee Siwoo.”
Having wrapped up her line of thought, Eunsol noona joined the conversation.
“I thought it over, but I really have no clue where the ‘altar’ might be in the basement. Even after rummaging through all the memories of Lee Sehyun’s knowledge I got, there’s no information about the altar’s location.”
So that altar is impossible to find because of all the security…
“How are we going to get there? Does anyone have any ideas?” I asked.
Grandpa Mooksung replied nonchalantly.
“What’s the fuss? Only ‘Lee Sehyun’ and the ‘Apostle’ know how to get there. Forcing the Apostle to talk is impossible, so we’ll have to make Lee Sehyun tell us.”
“Alright then, we have the answer to the first condition! Let’s find out the location of the altar through Lee Sehyun and destroy it, then we’ll head to the Sanctum as well.”
I glanced at Jinchul-hyung while mentioning the word ‘destroy,’ and he quickly understood and nodded.
“Destruction sounds doable with my Star. We don’t have bombs or anything, so my Star is the most reliable method. It’s powerful enough to shatter even the Demon God’s wings, so I can wreck both the altar and the Sanctum.”
He continued on.
“Next, killing the Enemy, the ‘Apostle’ should be easy. The moment we start, we’ll restrain Lee Siwoo and ring the bell while keeping him from possessing anyone…”
Suddenly, I found myself at a loss for words.
After all, losing a body to an evil entity makes that poor kid unfortunate, so do we really have to execute him?
As I hesitated, Ahri chimed in.
“Let’s just constrain the possession and handle Siwoo.”
… There’s nothing to be done about it.
The final plan took shape.
First, use the power of the Star to destroy the altar and the Sanctum. We’ll learn the altar’s location through Lee Sehyun.
Second, we’ll kill the Enemy, the Apostle of the Demon God, while suppressing his possession ability with the bell.
Grandpa Mooksung finished off with a warning, and today’s meeting concluded.
“Everyone, keep this in mind! The ritual for the Demon God is underway, so we need to proceed with the plan as quickly as possible.
We cannot be sacrificed in this process. If we end up as sacrifices, it will accelerate the birth of the Demon God.”
* Fourth Attempt
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 31
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Cursed Room – Mansion of Fear)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
As soon as the Fourth Attempt began, we raced to the village, picked up Ahri and Seungyub, and dashed straight to the mansion.
There was no longer any need for caution. All that mattered was speed!
The top priority of our plan was to restrain the Enemy possessing Lee Siwoo so he wouldn’t pull any tricks.
We stormed into the mansion like lightning. Lee Sehyun tried to greet us, but we grabbed him before he could say a word, while the Cardinal ordered the maids to summon Lee Siwoo.
Before Lee Siwoo could react—
— Bam!
The bell I held resounded with a harsh metallic clang.
Feeling something off, Lee Siwoo’s face twisted like a fiend.
“How is this happening?!”
Black chains emerged from everywhere, but as expected, they were weak against the bell’s power. Even without Priest Jinchul’s help, my own strength was more than sufficient to withstand them.
We bound Lee Siwoo to the bed and rang the bell incessantly.
Before long, he seemed to lose consciousness and slumped over.
Next, we attempted to persuade Lee Sehyun.
We explained that an evil entity possessing Siwoo had been sacrificing the village’s children to invoke the Demon God. We stressed that the being he was serving was deeply malevolent and that we needed to destroy the altar.
Naturally, Lee Sehyun resisted fiercely and refused to believe us.
Of course, we hadn’t come just to peacefully persuade him.
Ahri stepped forward and hypnotized him.
What should we do now? Should we kill Lee Siwoo right away?
Before I could act, the Cardinal approached the unconscious boy with a gun in hand.
… Sighing heavily, I looked away.
— Bang!
— Ting~!
?
What’s that sound? Something bouncing off?
I turned back in surprise and saw that Lee Siwoo was unexpectedly encased in a massive crystal that appeared from nowhere.
“What is this?” I asked.
The Cardinal responded, bewildered.
“Seems like he had a secret defensive measure. As soon as I shot the gun, this absurd boulder popped up.”
Despite ringing the bell, the crystal remained intact. What now that the bell and the gun failed?
Jinchul approached with a grin.
“Everyone, step aside. I can smash something like that with my Star—”
“Idiot! Don’t use the Star here!”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean ‘huh’? Can’t you see Kain is still ringing that bell for dear life? There’s no way a bell can withstand the Star that even distorts the wings of a demon god!
The bell will shatter before that crystal does, and once the bell is gone, that guy will return to his original body cause of that freak show! Do you want to see that happen?”
Jinchul finally caught on, and he began pounding the crystal with his fists.
Sadly, the crystal didn’t budge even the slightest. Next, he grabbed rocks and metal chunks to strike down at it, yet still, no marks appeared.
Ultimately, the Cardinal sighed in exasperation.
“Enough! Clearly we can’t break it by brute force. It looks difficult to destroy using standard means.”
So what are we going to do?
It shrugs off bullets and remains unscathed even against Jinchul’s might. The only way to shatter it seemed to be with the Star, but if we used the Star, the bell would break; and taking the bell outside its range might let the Apostle regain his possession abilities.
… Just as we stood there, unsure of the next step, Ahri made the decision.
“He can’t maintain this crystal endlessly. It’ll fade away with time. Let’s have some stay behind to ring the bell and keep him restrained while the rest take Lee Sehyun off to break the altar.”
So we decided to divide ourselves into two parties.
To destroy the altar went Jinchul-hyung, Songee who needed to use the bracelet, and Ahri, who must maintain the hypnosis on Lee Sehyun. The rest of us remained to keep ringing the bell to monitor the Apostle.
*
– Lee Sehyun
… My mind was hazy.
What am I doing?
I have no idea. It feels bizarre, like I’m trapped in a dream.
Why am I guiding the priests of the Vatican, whom I’ve never seen before, to the altar?
…
Open your eyes.
My faithful lamb! My devoted servant Sehyun!
Those who worship the false god are treating you like livestock.
…
Open your eyes.
The sanctuary you’ve built with sincerity and protected with reverence is on the verge of collapse.
The life of the child you’ve cared for over the past 5,000 nights hangs by a thread.
Rise up. For you alone can restore everything.
My consciousness began to awaken. I realized I was surrounded by deceitful hypocrites.
‘Ah! Lord! My lord! What must I do?’
From this moment onward, follow my words. You shall serve as my hands and legs.
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