Chapter: 118
### 118 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Witch’s Forest’ (9)
—
– Han Kain
Suddenly, my comrades rushed in, sensing an anomaly from a distance.
“What the heck is going on?”
“Seriously? What just happened?”
“Ugh! What’s with this corpse?!”
In the midst of the chaotic atmosphere, I slowly explained.
Arima started talking about her childhood, blabbering about her magical realizations, then out of nowhere kissed me and declared she would be reborn, before offing herself.
Even I struggled to comprehend what I was saying.
The others showed equally bewildered reactions.
Ahri broke the ice with a chuckle.
“Interesting. She showed signs of liking you, then suddenly kissed you and offed herself.”
“Signs of liking me?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“I thought she was just acting strange from the get-go.”
“She may have started acting, but later on? It was clear she wasn’t just a novice without talent.”
Songee added,
“I felt it while talking sometimes; Arima seemed pretty wounded. In her eyes, we were some sort of ‘wizard party,’ and she likely envied our camaraderie.”
Eunsol piped up with a question.
“So, is this it now? The witch is dead, so we’re done?”
“No way. Before she died, Arima said she was ready to be reborn, so we’ve clearly got a next phase…”
Suddenly, a booming announcement sounded from above.
/Congratulations, participants! You have passed the second trial, ‘Witch’s Forest.’/
In an instant, the surrounding space began to collapse.
I didn’t really know what was happening, but seeing my teammates rejoicing at passing the second trial filled me with terror.
The words Arima had spoken to me echoed hauntingly.
“I want to accompany you.”
“The mind of a person is an illusion. I’ll discard my meaningless obsessions.”
“I’ve finished preparing to be reborn.”
“I wish to live as a woman.”
Arima had freely manipulated Jinchul’s body for days. The hotel emphasized the physical form when it came to distinguishing real from fake.
All the information melded into one horrifying conclusion!
—
Just like when the first trial ended, we arrived in a clean hotel room-like space.
The seal of inheritance had been broken! The power of the grimoire had returned! I shouted in a daze,
“Songee! Scan Jinchul with the bracelet!”
Immediately, a white flash burst forth from the bracelet and enveloped Jinchul in a scanning effect—
Songee’s face turned pale.
“Ah! Oh no! Aaaah!”
While Eunsol and Elena panicked, Ahri shouted in a horrified tone,
“No way! That can’t possibly be Jinchul—”
By this point, Grandpa Mooksung also looked aghast.
“Damn it! That thing is about to wake up!”
Jinchul’s body began to twitch.
I summoned the grimoire immediately.
If I confronted the monster that had usurped Jinchul’s body directly, the sacrifices would be too great!
I absolutely needed to end this with the grimoire.
The power of the grimoire awakened, and my mind soared.
When I regained my senses, I found myself in an opulent mansion.
—
I heard a mix of violin and piano music tickling my ears.
Every decoration on the walls, candlesticks, and chandeliers sparkled in a dazzling display.
I wandered through the lavish space that radiated the homeowner’s extravagant tastes.
This was a first for me.
I had used the grimoire multiple times, but I had never landed in a world of imagination like this, diving right into my mind instead of controlling a body as usual.
Was it the witch’s power? I couldn’t tell.
As I walked, a glamorous dining table materialized. Across from it sat Arima.
“Is this your idea of a prank?”
“Prank? I’d call it an invitation.”
“Are you about to say something again?”
“Nothing major. Just want to persuade you.”
“Persuade? You’re the one who stole my comrade’s body and you want to persuade me?”
Arima chuckled softly.
“Since I read ‘Cha Jinchul’s’ memories, it has been one shock after another. The entire world I existed in was merely a play devised by an omnipotent transcendent… Ultimately, before crossing over into this body, even the ‘real Arima’ was a sort of fake, after all.”
Had I lived before gaining that insight, I might’ve gone mad, realizing I was fake myself. But now, it was fine! After all, the mind is just an illusion! Just obsessions! Thanks to your teachings, Sensei. I appreciate it!
Seeing Arima’s calm demeanor, I settled my excitement.
“Glad to hear it. But if you’ve read Jinchul’s memories, you must have some inkling. I’m not the grand mage you think I am.”
Arima seemed puzzled.
“Why not?”
“…Looks like you haven’t read everything yet—”
“Is it because you don’t understand the power you wield? Maybe because you’re young? The peer you’ve called your student is just someone using the power granted by this hotel anyway?”
She had indeed read everything.
“I don’t fully comprehend the power I wield. A lot is just done through experience—mostly trial and error, really. My age is probably an advantage, and having comrades is a huge plus. The power? That came from the grimoire, right? But isn’t it something you earned through your efforts? You are undoubtedly a magician.”
I didn’t know what to say. So, I decided to be straightforward.
“Could you leave Jinchul’s body?”
Arima exhaled softly.
“That answer is a bit disappointing.”
“Jinchul is precious to me—”
“I’m not disappointed because you value him more than me, or some childish reason. I’m disappointed because your answer shows you really don’t understand the truth contained in the grimoire.”
“…”
“Why don’t you understand, as the owner of the grimoire? The human mind flows like a river. Just like how water flows, the mind is endlessly moving and changing. The unchanging self that ordinary people believe in is merely scooping up flowing water at a specific time and place. Even if you scoop water from the same spot at the same time a day later, the river will be completely different.”
“I don’t even know what you’re trying to say—”
“Please listen a bit longer. Your request to me to leave stems from your belief that I’m not really Jinchul, right? Then what am I?”
“A-A-Arima, obviously?”
Arima chuckled and twirled around.
… Before me, ‘Cha Jinchul’ appeared.
“Now it’s Cha Jinchul?”
“…”
He turned back and morphed into Arima again.
“I’ve replicated the mind and implanted it into Cha Jinchul’s body. The real Arima’s soul and body are dead already—only the cloned mind has awakened in this body. Can I really call myself Arima? Am I just a part of Cha Jinchul who inherited some of Arima’s memories?”
“Wait… you replicated the mind and shoved it into Jinchul’s body? You gave up the soul and body completely? What’s the difference between that and suicide?!”
“Why is it suicide? I’m still here, aren’t I? Just because your ‘real Arima’ offed herself in front of you, it doesn’t mean I lost all continuity! Isn’t that attachment to continuity exactly what you’ve said is meaningless in your teachings?”
“I was just spouting nonsense! I don’t even know if the wisdom of the grimoire got mixed in, but how the heck did that make you attain such a insane realization?!”
“Convincing you is harder than I thought.”
With Arima’s regretful statement, the luxurious mansion began to crumble, the entire space shook.
Her beautiful form instantly scattered like bubbles, revealing a vast dark vortex.
A voice echoed within my heart.
‘If you foolishly choose to take this route, prove it through strength!’
A bizarre battle like none I had experienced began.
—
The dark whirlpool engulfed me, and in an instant, my body shattered.
But I could still think clearly. How to fight came naturally.
This battle was a clash of minds; the body was merely an illusion.
Chains of darkness erupted from all directions, penetrating the whirlpool.
The whirlpool trembled again, this time revealing Arima as lightning sparked all around, igniting the chains.
Once again, I extended chains to crush Arima’s form, and summoned lightning that struck me from behind.
This surreal exchange continued, and I realized.
Both of us held strengths.
Arima, having merged with Jinchul’s body, held stronger control over the mental realm that was Jinchul’s psyche.
I was wielding the overwhelming power of the grimoire, the endless well of secrets.
The problem was that this battle would not end any time soon.
Essentially, it was a fight without substance in a world of imagination, making landing decisive blows nearly impossible.
In one hour, the next trial would undoubtedly begin. I needed to end this before then.
I felt my mind reaching a higher plane than ever before.
In this dreamlike realm outside reality, my consciousness grasped a doorknob to a distant world, a realm I could never touch before.
To win, I needed a grander strength.
The power to summon reality from dreams, the power to draw something from nothing!
From the void, the grimoire manifested before me.
A new chapter I hadn’t been able to open lay before me.
The Power of Transformation
Soon, within this realm of illusions, substance manifested.
A singular flash pierced through the void where I and Arima had fought.
Arima began to scatter like ash.
‘What power is this?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Ahaha! Sensei, you’re truly a consistent individual. You believe you know but don’t, yet you say you don’t. Are you truly ignorant or afraid of the meaning of realization?’
‘…’
‘They say realization is the end of ignorance. Even if you achieve understanding in an instant, you still need time to embody that realization. Remember, the moment you gained the grimoire, you already awakened. Only the memories built over 20 years held you back from truly becoming great….’
With that as her last words, Arima vanished.
Or did she vanish? My elevated consciousness whispered to me.
As long as Cha Jinchul wasn’t completely dead, neither would Arima be.
Arima’s ego, her memory had vanished.
However, there would be some trace left behind for whoever would be reborn outside the Gate Room.
My consciousness, having reached that lofty realm, gradually descended.
—
It wasn’t time yet.
For the power of transformation to truly be mine, I needed a fundamental leap.
Simply letting time pass and honing my possession skill wasn’t enough.
A more foundational growth was necessary.
It felt like it might take a long time. I might not reach it until I left the hotel.
‘A mindset that surpasses human limits!’
… Was such progress truly desirable?
Amid my thoughts, my consciousness grew hazy.
—
– Han Kain
As consciousness returned to reality, I awakened.
The moment I returned, I looked at Jinchul.
His head was neatly cleaved in two.
“What on earth happened here?”
Eunsol answered.
“I’d like to ask you the same. You started using the grimoire, then you both collapsed, and about ten minutes later, Jinchul’s head suddenly split open!”
“Is that so….”
A sense of emptiness engulfed me. After all my efforts to save Jinchul during the second trial, it felt like all that work had gone to waste.
Everyone sat with faint expressions.
Ahri nudged me playfully.
“Hey, you did good! Is that the power of the grimoire? I can feel you growing stronger. At least we avoided the horrible end where we’d end up fighting Jinchul. If he had summoned stars during our fight, we’d probably all be toast. But did we really finish the witch?”
“Probably.”
“Your answer feels a bit shaky.”
Grandpa Mooksung interjected.
“One more thing, this is terrifying. You probably figured it out, but combining Ahri and Songee’s thoughts, that witch managed to use Jinchul’s body to escape the trial space, right?”
“Technically, yes. Although whether what escapes can truly be called the real Arima is debatable….”
“Let’s skip the philosophical dilemma. The important thing is that this was a sort of ‘escape.’ It’s no different than breaking out from the interior of the Gate Room, right? Isn’t there a similar escape possible in the curse room?”
My mind became muddied. The idea of replicating one’s mind inside a participant’s body, then escaping alongside them…
In that moment, I experienced something for the first time since entering the hotel.
[The Sage’s Advice: 3 -> 0]
What’s going on? I didn’t even use advice, and we overcame a crisis, right? Why did all three vanish at once?
[Remember the current insight. It is an issue you must inevitably overcome in the hotel.]
I promise to provide steady updates!
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.