Chapter: 108
### 108 – Party Time (10) – Strategy Meeting (2), What is Luck?
—
Evening of Day 3 of Party Time
– Han Kain
“While the talk about the second floor is fascinating, let’s focus more on the Gate Room for now. Remember Ahri’s explanation? It’s time to strategize.”
As my sister spoke, everyone snapped back to reality.
The second floor is a later issue; for now, we need to prioritize the Gate Room.
I made a few notes on the characteristics of the Gate Room.
First, the Curse Rooms come one after another, with only brief resting periods in between.
Second, if anyone drops out midway, the entire Gate Room must be completed for that person to be resurrected.
Third, it seems there are no prisoners, and the reward isn’t a legacy.
“This doesn’t give us much to work with for a strategy. We don’t have any information on the individual rooms. Any other characteristics? How many rooms are there, anyway?”
Ahri seemed to be mulling it over but only came up with a half-hearted response.
“While I did experience the second floor, all I know about the Gate Room comes from hearsay. Besides, as everyone knows now, my first party didn’t really have an environment for sharing information generously.”
I had resolved not to rely psychologically on advice, but we needed help here.
‘Give me advice for preparing for the Gate Room.’
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
[Preparation for exams starts with analyzing mock tests.]
…
I was momentarily speechless.
Knowing I was short on information about the Gate Room, I suspected a bizarre answer was coming, but this was a bit much.
I shared the question and answer with my comrades.
As soon as Jinchul heard it, he let out a sigh.
“Seriously, that damn Owl is like a Sphinx or something, always making us solve riddles.”
“It’s not always, but in a situation like this with a lack of info, it tends to come out like this.”
“But information is always lacking in this hotel!”
“That’s the problem.”
I thought it through slowly.
The ‘exam’ clearly referred to the Gate Room, right? So the ‘mock exam’ must mean the Curse Rooms? If I interpret it that way, the advice implies:
[Reflect on the lessons learned from the Curse Rooms thus far.]
“It seems the exam refers to the Gate Room and the mock exam to the Curse Rooms. I think it means we should reflect on the Curse Rooms we’ve been through already?”
Eunsol responded, “I had a similar thought, but…”
“I’ve noticed that there are no random words or metaphors in the advice. Every word and metaphor has meaning. The use of ‘exam and mock exam’ must have a reason.”
“Then what do you think is the reason, our top entrance exam expert Han Kain?”
“When it comes to entrance exams, it’s common for questions from mock exams to reappear in the real exam. So the Curse Rooms we already experienced are probably similar—just modified—for the Gate Room.”
“Then let’s go through each Curse Room and pick out keywords to note. What do you think about Room 101?”
“The bizarre family, the media that twists common sense. Several keywords come to mind. The most crucial one was agility. The mental attack starts the moment it begins, so we must act right away. Next is deductive reasoning. We need to find the correct location.”
“I can speak about Room 102. Its keyword is ‘complacency.’ The haunted mansion wasn’t as fast-paced as Room 101. On the first try, the first night went by uneventfully, and even after the scenario changed, it continued without incident for a day or two, only to have me let my guard down and fall into an irreversible trap.”
Listening in, Songee chimed in.
“For Room 103, I think the keyword is ‘doubt.’ Doubt about the entire reality right in front of us. That the stage given could be a lie or an illusion. In fact, having a mindset like a paranoid might actually be necessary in this hotel.”
What about Room 104?
“What about Room 104? It’s the only one we couldn’t solve and decided to skip, so I have no clue.”
Ahri answered, “Open-mindedness? The Daughter of the Heavens is likely the strongest among our adversaries, yet even with that power, she acted the most discreetly, suggesting there was a need to consider ‘the eyes from outside.’”
“Look outside the stage?”
“That’s just my guess. Since I’ve never gone through Room 104, when we actually do, the core element might be completely different.”
“Let’s keep it simple. Given that we don’t know any details, contemplating these key points is likely the best we can do.
We need to be quick to react to attacks that come right after we enter, possess deductive reasoning to analyze the twisted scenarios, be able to question everything we see, and, on top of that, be creative!”
Jinchul replied with disbelief,
“Is that even human?”
“Let’s do our best. If things don’t go well, what else can we do but die?”
I said that jokingly, but no one laughed.
And with that, today’s entire meeting came to an end.
The next day, everyone spent Day 4 of Party Time resting or training, as we had agreed.
—
Early Morning of Day 4 of Party Time
– Park Seungyub
It’s frustrating.
For some time now, I’ve always felt this suffocation.
Why am I such an idiot? I’m not good at studying, not good at sports, and I’m definitely not good at games either.
Every time Mom and Dad press me, I yell at them not to interfere, but when the excitement dies down, I realize.
At least if I were a middle school Challenger in League, my parents would trust me. But since everything I do is subpar, they inevitably butt in.
Nothing has changed even after coming to this hotel.
At first, I escaped from the bizarre family by pure luck. Back then, I thought I could achieve something.
But here I am, feeling just the same—just trailing behind the smart and strong people, playing the role of the tagalong.
Am I just living my life like a bus passenger, riding along wherever I go?
I delved deep into that nightmare.
—Splash!
“This friend seems rather gloomy.”
Someone grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
Looking around, I found myself waking up on a yacht drifting in the vast ocean.
In front of me was a boy around my age, wearing a mischievous expression as if he’d look great in a straw hat.
“Who are you?”
“Your friend! Normally, we only meet in the Sanctum, but you were digging too deep, so I came to find you.”
“Friend? Out of nowhere—”
‘Only meet in the Sanctum…’
It was then I realized who this boy was!
“Ah! Oh, are you my Sponsor? I’m sorry; it’s just that your appearance has changed from before—”
“Back then, I was card-shaped, right? That’s one of my favorite forms. Just call me ‘Dice.’ It’s my favorite tool.”
The boy playfully pulled out two dice from his pocket and rolled them.
Of course, it landed on 66.
“Why do you think I came to see you?”
“Because I’m terrible at everything?”
“Let’s say it’s because you’re frustrating. Meeting outside the Sanctum is usually tough. I put in quite a bit of effort, but it’s also that you were nearly dead that made this visit possible.”
Dice continued to fidget with the dice as he spoke.
“Why are you always so gloomy? Nothing works out, nothing goes right. With thoughts like that, you’ll even kill off your luck.”
“I don’t want to be gloomy; it’s just that gloomy things keep happening. It’s not that I think it won’t work—it just doesn’t!”
“Wow! Every syllable of that statement took my breath away!”
“…”
“What’s so gloomy? There are no bullies or parents who don’t understand you here.”
“Why are you suddenly bringing their names up!”
“Hey, don’t get mad, just think about it. How do you see ‘Park Seungyub’?”
“Huh?”
“You lack talent, and on top of that, you lack diligence too. This was true outside and inside the hotel. With so many shortcomings, it’s no wonder toxic people hang around you. Your parents don’t trust you either.”
“Are they trying to lead me to suicide…?”
“Ahaha! No way! Quite the opposite! I’m saying I have the perfect answer for you! In fact, I chose you precisely because you’re that kind of person!”
?
It felt like my Sponsor claimed he had chosen me. Wasn’t the blessing supposed to be determined when I entered the hotel and picked up ‘my’ fragment?
Dice went on.
“You dislike deep thinking, right? You hate plodding along for ten hours a day, right? Be honest.”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s right! That’s why I chose you! It’s like this. A problem you don’t know comes up, and you roll the dice. It shows a 3. Then, you just have to go with it. That’s luck.
The floundering kids do this: ‘The dice say 3? But OMR has too many 3’s already! So it must be 4!’ They end up dodging right between the answers like idiots.”
“Are you saying not to think?”
“You’ve already learned this once, right? After we finish in the Hotel Land you played shooting games in? When you consciously tried to shoot something, the silver balloon popped, but when you just shot randomly without thinking, the golden balloon burst. The bottom line is confidence and belief!”
“Huh?”
I’ve been sensing it for a while; even though I’m a kid, this deity acts childish too, jumping around with all sorts of thoughts, making it tough to understand.
“Believe! Live by trust. I’m the god of luck, and I chose you. You’re going to be the luckiest person alive, so why don’t you believe in your luck?”
“I’ve never thought I had good luck before…”
“That’s the problem! From now on, answer me! Got it?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Among faith, hope, and love, which is the greatest?”
“Uh? Um… love?”
“It’s luck!”
“Eh?”
“World peace, wealth, and the most beautiful Ahri among all the pretty girls, what’s the greatest?”
“Stop teasing me already!”
“If luck’s on your side, you can have it all. It’s all about luck.”
“Is it because it’s been impossible to point out what’s clearly non-existent?”
“Feel it. Got it?”
What the hell is this feeling? Crazy.
“Did you think I’m saying something insane now?”
“…”
“Stop thinking. Act on your feelings! Trust the beat!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Dice suddenly yanked my arm and dragged me to the edge of the yacht.
I was confused, not knowing what was what!
“What do you think will happen if you jump into the sea from here?”
“If I jump, I’ll drown because I don’t swim well.”
“Suddenly, what if a sea turtle saves you and takes you to an island?”
“What a ridiculous story—”
“Why wouldn’t it make sense? It could happen! Why are you thinking too much? Honestly, you’re not that smart, are you? Don’t twist your brain; just trust. The turtle will be there to take you to the island.”
Before I knew it, Dice shoved me overboard!
“Hey, you bastard!”
“Yeaah!”
“I’m gonna die, you bastard!”
“Take a good look underwater. Who knows? Maybe you’ll see a mermaid?”
…
—Suddenly!
With a dizzy feeling, I came to and found myself back in the bed of Room 105.
I looked down at my body. It felt thinner and feebler than before. My head spun dizzily.
Ugh, this is a mess. My Sponsor seems like a truly insane fellow.
But there was a turtle in the sea.
So, I just randomly jumped in, and what, a turtle just happens to save me? How? Is that for real? What’s the logic in that?
Who needs logic anyway.
Whether there’s a turtle or not doesn’t matter. Doubt, distrust, and ruminating thoughts—those are the enemies of luck.
I extended my hand. The dice were there. I casually tossed it on the table before heading out to check on my older siblings outside Room 105.
I didn’t even check the dice. It’d definitely come up as 6.
—
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