### Chapter 149 – Rest and Reinforcement (5)
—
Han Kain
—
While organizing my thoughts, a raspy voice interrupted.
“Ahem. Well, let me say a few words.”
“Go ahead, Grandfather.”
“I may not be entirely neutral on this issue, but I appreciate being included in the discussion. First, let me share what I know about Miro, Ahri’s mother.
You may have guessed already, but Miro is a much more veteran agent than I am. Unlike an ordinary human like me, she was an obvious superhuman even before entering the hotel. Her physical abilities like strength, agility, and stamina surpass those of a typical person, and she has a variety of supernatural powers.”
Jinchul raised a question.
“Then what’s the origin of her superhuman abilities? If she was a superhuman even before entering the hotel, did the Management Bureau grant them? But I think Ahri mentioned that the Bureau doesn’t have the means to grant such powers.”
“The Bureau doesn’t have such means. I’ll give you the same answer as back then. If the Bureau could grant supernatural powers, why would I be just an ordinary man? Naturally, even a veteran agent like me would have powers too. I have no idea how Miro became a superhuman. Maybe Ahri knows.”
Sister Eunsol asked another question.
“How about her character? I’ve heard that she has the mentality of a child now.”
“I’ve heard she was somewhat dogmatic and had a tendency to look down on ordinary people. However, she wasn’t devoid of moral awareness, and she always had the mindset to protect the world as an agent. Of course, I’m not sure how much of this information applies to the Miro we analyze after entering the hotel.”
After all, she was a being who was already superhuman, separate from whatever abilities the hotel might grant. She was inherently somewhat self-righteous yet didn’t cross the basic line.
I thought I had a rough idea of her character.
At this point, I had organized my thoughts enough to share my opinion.
“When it comes to resurrecting someone, I believe we need to consider two factors. First, obviously, their abilities. They need to be someone who can help us. Secondly, the possibility of control. The person we want to resurrect must be someone we can control right now.”
“Possibility of control….”
“Is there anyone among the candidates for resurrection whom we know well? There’s no one, right? Our understanding of Miro is scant, and the others we know nothing about. We can’t tell who we can trust until we attempt a resurrection. However, we do have a fair idea of whom we can control.”
Sister Eunsol replied.
“First, it’d be scary if they were too powerful.”
“That’s what I wanted to point out. An excessively powerful being is hard to control. I want to ask Songee, do you think we can control Estavio?”
Songee immediately answered firmly.
“Absolutely impossible. I still have nightmares about him slaughtering countless aliens in the facility. I believe he was one of the powerful beings among the Athanasias. If he suddenly attacks, he could wipe us all out on his own.”
“So, let’s exclude beings like Estavio. Let’s think about it later when we’re much stronger in the far future.”
Elena looked a bit disappointed.
“If a being that strong were with us, we could almost breeze through any trial!”
Sister Eunsol seemed to have made up her mind and replied firmly.
“That’s what we think, but the resurrected Estavio might think differently. He might believe the best course is to slay all the weak beings and take all the spoils for himself, treating the hotel like a buffet. As an alien who sees humans as livestock, his mindset is utterly unpredictable. Let’s exclude him.”
Jinchul cautiously spoke up.
“In terms of ‘possibility of control’ mentioned earlier, wouldn’t Miro also be out?”
“Well, Miro is at least in a better situation than Estavio. At a minimum, I think Ahri could control her.”
Songee, looking anxious, added her opinion.
“What if we decide to resurrect someone other than Miro, and Ahri reacts strongly against it? What if that causes discord among us?”
…
At her words, everyone fell silent.
— Thunk!
The door swung open, shattering the silence, as a clear voice rang out.
“Did you think I’m such a childish person?”
“Gah!”
“Cough!”
Suddenly, Ahri burst in!
Everyone was startled, turning to Old Man Mooksung in confusion.
The old man waved his hands in panic.
“It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! I wasn’t having a private talk or anything!”
After a brief chuckle, Ahri interjected.
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not like there are hundreds of people in this hotel; there are only eight of us. It’s just suspicious if someone suddenly disappears without a trace. Isn’t it a bit of a shoddy ‘conspiracy’?”
Caught in our shoddy little scheme, we hung our heads in embarrassment.
If we were going to have a secret meeting like this, we should’ve at least kept it under wraps!
Amid the awkward atmosphere, Songee inquired.
“Umm… what did you hear?”
“I heard the part where you said if we resurrect someone other than Miro, I might oppose it fiercely and that a fight might break out.”
In the end, we relayed the discussion we had in front of her.
Jinchul’s idea to save our ticket for ourselves.
Followed by Old Man Mooksung’s brief explanation on Miro.
Then my thoughts on criteria for choice: abilities and controllability.
After quietly listening, Ahri expressed her own thoughts.
“I feel Jinchul’s suggestion doesn’t have much significance. Isn’t the biggest threat in this hotel the Curse Room? Given its nature, it’s either extermination or complete survival. There’s no chance for just a few to die while the rest escape.”
“I thought the same. If we only consider the Curse Room, saving tickets for ourselves becomes pointless. In an event where someone dies, it’ll be an all-out massacre, and there won’t be anyone left to use the ticket on. But the hotel has threats beyond just the Curse Room. There are rooms where sacrifices have already occurred, and if we find it too difficult to progress, we can opt out, and the hotel sometimes hosts special events.”
Ahri immediately countered.
“While not all threats are linked to the Curse Room, it feels like around 90% of them do. The Mission Room had just one on a whole floor, and we don’t know if there’s even one on the second floor. If we consistently wander into the Curse Room, the special events the hotel holds won’t commonly occur. Think about the biggest threat: by increasing the number of comrades, we can strengthen our power and reduce the risks of breaching the Curse Room.”
At this point, Sister Eunsol interrupted.
“Let’s hold off on the ticket-saving debate for now. That’s a topic we can revisit after we find the Resurrection Room. If we find ourselves in the situation where one of us is dead at that point, it’s only natural that our foremost goal for resurrection will be ourselves.”
“Are we talking about under the premise of resurrecting someone else?”
“Yeah. Actually, I’m curious about your opinion in that case.”
Ahri glanced around at everyone and then replied.
“I also think the criteria of abilities and controllability are very fitting. Your word choices work well too. However, it seems like only one person remains based on that criteria. It’s Cha Seungjin, the soldier who saved Seungyub. Sorry, but I don’t see him as essential based on his abilities.”
“Estavio, and unfortunately, so does my mother, Miro. Both shortcomings relate to the possibility of control. We can’t be attached to that transcendent alien, and I can’t be with my mother 24/7.”
After filtering out three possibilities, only one person remained.
It was indeed the person I had been secretly considering.
A figure with incredibly useful healing abilities but without an overwhelming combat prowess that would be beyond our control.
Doctor Kim Sanghyun.
On day five of our vacation, the conclusion of the resurrection discussion at the cocktail bar leaned toward the first target being the doctor.
—
Lee Eunsol
—
After the discussion ended, everyone left the cocktail bar one by one.
…
Only Ahri and I remained at the bar. With an inquisitive atmosphere, Ahri asked.
“Do you have something to say? You signaled for me to stay, so I did.”
“Yeah. I have a few questions to ask.”
“What is it?”
“I want to talk about your attitude towards Miro first. It’s quite different from what I expected.”
“…”
“I found your earlier remarks extremely logical. So, I was puzzled. You know very well how dangerous this place is, yet you came back to the hotel for the sake of your mother? The fact that you’re cold on the topic of resurrecting someone you love so much seems odd. If you’re hiding something, just spill it. It might be time to get over that habit of creating secrets.”
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