### Chapter 151 – Entry to the Second Floor
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 80
Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3
—
– Han Kain
Sure enough, the hotel notification announced the opening of the second floor.
We were calmly reading when we came to a halt at the last line.
“The second floor may not be well heated. Please be aware that it might be a little cold.”
…
Immediately, I raised my head to find everyone either chuckling or clutching their necks in disbelief.
“How cold is ‘a little’ when it comes to a hotel?”
Grandpa Mooksung chimed in exasperatedly, “Those idiots probably think Antarctica is refreshingly cool! Obviously, it’s going to be freezing enough to get us killed!”
Naturally, everyone turned their eyes toward Sister Eunsol, who looked as pale as a sheet.
“Don’t look at me! I used up all my HP Market purchases! I didn’t buy anything weird, okay? The hotel didn’t warn us about this beforehand! I packed my bag full of essential supplies!”
“Sister, calm down. No one’s blaming you. When do we get to restock those purchases?”
“It’ll take at least three days! And now that the vacation’s over, if we’re stuck here for three days, who knows what the hotel will pull on us!”
In the midst of the chaos, Grandpa’s calm voice broke through.
“Chill out, everyone. If they’re going to act this cheap, we can just respond in kind.”
Response in kind? I turned to Grandpa, confused.
He was appraising the elaborately decorated curtains with a critical eye.
Suddenly, his thoughts clicked in my mind.
“Everyone, grab whatever blankets you can find in your rooms! We’ll improvise some warm cloaks for the second floor!”
Everyone scattered through the hotel quickly. Some rushed toward the front desk to snatch fabric from there, while others hurried to grab blankets from Room 105. I joined in the hotel “extortion,” tearing at fabric wherever I could. Honestly, I felt zero guilt about it.
After about thirty minutes, we ended up in front of the elevator with an impressive pile of soft fabric taller than a person.
We hastily assembled it with scissors, tape, and whatever else we could find into makeshift winter outfits.
They were heavy, uncomfortable, and frankly ridiculous-looking, but at least they were warm—good enough for me!
Dressed in our hilarious attire, we hopped into the elevator.
Now, we were really entering the second floor! Finally moving on to the next phase.
Cracking jokes and laughing at one another, Sister Eunsol pushed the button for the second floor.
— Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor] -> [Current Location: Floor 2, Corridor]
It was Day 80 since we arrived at the hotel.
We’d finally hit the second floor.
—
How should one interpret the language used in the hotel?
I find my views align quite closely with Grandpa Mooksung’s on this matter. The expressions used here require a “universal” interpretation.
The average temperature in the universe is a chilly -270 degrees Celsius, near absolute zero.
At the same time, there are stars out there with temperatures exceeding 5,000 degrees on their surface.
In this light, when the hotel says “a little cold,” it could very well include Antarctica’s -50 degrees, and when they mention “a little warm water,” it might encompass lava over 1,000 degrees!
— Whoooooosh!
The moment the elevator doors opened, a chilling cold that felt like it would freeze us solid rushed in!
Caught in a wind so fierce it almost felt like our skin was being ripped off, we couldn’t even take a single step forward out of the elevator.
It was blizzard-like outside, and I could hardly believe it was still a “hotel!”
Sister Eunsol quickly slapped the elevator door closed.
As soon as the doors shut, everyone’s frustration boiled over.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Who has an indoor hotel where it snows? This isn’t a heating problem, it’s insanity!”
“At this rate, we’re going to freeze to death before we even get to the cursed room!”
“I think I can manage okay.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Jincheol, who looked unnaturally calm compared to us.
Has the power of the Blessing grown so strong that he’s developed resistance to the cold?
He remarked nonchalantly, “To me, this feels like a pretty normal winter day. I’m more surprised by how dramatic everyone else is being.”
“I’m fine too!”
“That’s because you’re wearing a protective suit. Just shut it.”
“Yes….”
“Let’s head back to the first floor and regroup.”
After returning to the first floor, we huddled together to discuss plans. The makeshift winter wear we had crafted helped somewhat, but it wouldn’t last long against this frigid temperature. I doubt we could last an hour.
Jincheol suggested, “The others should stay below while Kain and I head up to scout. Kain, wear the protective suit.”
“Yeah! With your guidance, Kain will be super useful for the reconnaissance!”
Ahri pushed me directly toward Jincheol.
Shortly after, I suited up and re-entered the elevator with Jincheol.
—
“Definitely, wearing this, I can’t feel the external temperature at all.”
“What are you saying!”
“Wearing this, I’m not cold!”
“What?”
Seriously? I decided to give up on conversation and just walked.
Less than a minute after stepping out of the elevator, our attempts at communication were completely drowned out by the roaring blizzard.
Even the conversation window wouldn’t work. Could it be because Grandpa Mooksung is below? The physical distance doesn’t seem that great.
Who knows? This hotel is filled with more questions than answers.
Trying to explore the second floor was no easy feat. The suit shielded me from the cold perfectly, but it didn’t do much for visibility or mobility in the blizzard.
I felt as if I were exploring with my hands, unable to see even a step ahead.
Jincheol seemed anxious about losing his way and kept holding onto the back of my suit, following closely.
After a while, I managed to grasp a few details.
Firstly, the expanse of the second floor is vast. It’s sure way bigger than the first floor. It’s wider horizontally and incomparably high vertically.
I can’t even see the ceiling! I have no clue how the snow is even coming in.
About ten minutes into our exploration, I accidentally brushed against something on the wall.
When I leaned my helmet closer, I could see the number ‘201’ behind a giant block of ice.
Finally, I found the first room on the second floor! I waved Jincheol over to me.
He understood right away and first tried to chip away at the ice with his hands, but gave up and pushed me aside to momentarily summon a star to melt it away.
Since we found the room, I suggested we stop the exploration here. With visibility so poor, we’d easily get lost if we continued.
Would it be any better if Eunsol, with her keen eyesight, ventures out in the protective suit?
—
As I was leading Jincheol back toward the elevator, frustration and anger bubbled up, and I used my advice.
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
“Hey, crazy dude! Is the second floor gonna stay this way?”
[Keep your manners. The second floor requires repairs.]
Repairs? That was an unexpected phrase.
Should I send another piece of advice? I considered it but decided against it. We might enter the cursed room today. I ought to save some for later.
Of course, I suspect I’ll end up sealed anyway, but you never know. It might be someone else who gets sealed instead.
In any case, the condition of the blizzard-ridden second floor didn’t seem normal even by hotel standards.
After wandering around for what felt like ages, we finally managed to get back to the elevator.
—
As soon as Jincheol and I emerged, everyone rushed over.
Before I could answer, I handed the protective suit to Sister Eunsol and asked her to go have another look.
She nodded and headed back up to the second floor while the rest bombarded me with questions.
“How was it?”
“Did you find anything?”
I shared the discovered facts.
The visibility being blocked by the intense blizzard, the surprisingly vast space, the location of room 201, and the ‘repairs’ mentioned in the advice.
Jincheol, who seemed to simply follow along without much thought, ended up giving a long explanation himself.
Although we don’t grasp its meaning, apparently, the second floor is divided into multiple zones. I had just seen it as frozen ice, but it seems there are walls partitioning it into sections.
Jincheol offered his thoughts, “Hearing the mention of repairs, it hit me. The current state of the second floor resembles an unfinished building. There should have been several rooms, but due to incomplete work, they’re just awkwardly partitioned. It seems the outer barrier isn’t even secure, allowing the outside snow to spill in.”
It was so absurd that Songi muttered, “What kind of hotel invites guests when it’s still under construction?”
“If it’s a hotel where monsters roam and opening doors leads to alternate realms, maybe it can summon customers while still being under construction?”
Seungyub shared a slightly different perspective. “Repairs. If you think about it in RPG terms, this could be linked to some kind of ‘repair event.’ A hotel repair quest has come up!”
I was utterly baffled and had to add, “Are guests expected to do repairs for the hotel?”
Saying it, I realized it made sense for this place.
Ahri sighed and opened her mouth, “Alright! We need to figure out what to do today. Whether this is a repair event or not is secondary; our vacation ended yesterday. If we don’t enter the cursed room today, the hotel will probably spring some weird special event on us.”
Grandpa Mooksung contributed his view, “From what I can see, this repair event might have to be addressed during Party Time. If there’s no indication that they’ll overlook it while the event is occurring, that’s what I’m saying.”
After much deliberation, Sister Eunsol returned.
Her findings were mostly aligned with ours, but she added one intriguing detail.
“There’s no ceiling? You can see mountains above?”
“I’m not sure. The blizzard was so intense, I reached the limits of my vision.”
Grandpa let out a heavy sigh.
“We’re really in for it, aren’t we.”
Sister Eunsol turned to us and asked, “So, we definitely need to go into the cursed room today, right? Are we heading straight for room 201 you found? If we all run with these ridiculous winter clothes, we’ll probably reach it before freezing to death!”
After a moment of contemplation, none of us had any alternatives.
As Grandpa said, this was something to deal with during our rest period—making the second floor functional again.
We have no idea where the other rooms are, but the fact that room ‘201’ is in a spot close to the elevator strengthened our reasoning.
Perhaps the hotel wants us to deal with room 201 first, gain some Party Time, and normalize the second floor during that period?
In the end, the most vulnerable Seungyub donned the protective suit, while the rest of us sported our makeshift winter wear, and we rushed to room 201.
Within a short span of ten minutes, I could feel ice daggers slicing against my skin.
It was so frigid; otherwise, we’d have no time for encouragement. Jincheol, leading the way, flung open the door to room 201.
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 80
Current Location: Floor 2, Room 201 (Cursed Room – ㅁ ㅁㅁ)
Sage’s Advice: 2
—
— Brrrrrrr
…
Bubbles were rising all around me.
I felt like I was locked in a gigantic test tube.
People outside were hustling about. Were they some kind of researchers?
As my vision cleared, I heard voices shouting something.
A hotel notification popped up regarding a ‘seal’ of some kind. Guess I’m the first one sealed.
Just to be sure, I tried summoning my grimoire, but it didn’t respond at all.
Ari’s warning popped into my head: escaping by yourself is totally impossible.
I don’t even know the name of this room. Is that something I can find out only after my seal is lifted?
…
As my consciousness began to wane, I thought, They better get through this! I’m just gonna take a nap for now.
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.