### Chapter 153 – Room 201, The Cursed Room – ‘□ □□’ (2)
—
– Kim Ahri
As we headed toward the third mansion, I shared my deductions in the chat window.
The space beyond the doors of the mansion seemed twisted, almost like it was in a constant state of flux.
It doesn’t seem like there’s just one mansion.
Feeling the need to conserve chat time, I eventually shortened my explanation and entered the third mansion.
This time, we came in through the back door.
The appearance of the mansion was not much different from what we saw before.
After witnessing Oliver’s catastrophe with the carpet earlier, we were hesitant to just step around carelessly.
So, Elizaveta started giving orders.
“Let’s not scatter. We’ll check the parlor room first, one by one. Move cautiously, as a monster might pounce at any moment. Now, let’s go!”
The mansion wasn’t that big, so we didn’t take long to search it.
Everything seemed fine in this mansion, unlike the carpet in the previous one.
We quickly passed through the parlor and headed toward the living room when Cha Jinchul noticed something unusual.
“Hey, Jinchul? Did you find something weird?”
“Everyone, come here! The TV looks odd!”
As we got closer, I understood what he meant. The TV was flickering bizarrely, almost like it was having a party.
The second mansion featured a cursed carpet, and now this one had a cursed TV?
As everyone nervously grabbed their guns, thinking a monster would pop out at any moment—
The TV turned on.
— Zzt! Zzt! Pop!
“What? Whoa! It just switched on out of nowhere!”
“What’s happening? Did someone touch the remote—”
Suddenly, a song I remembered from elementary school began playing, pledging allegiance to the flag.
“/Doo—doo—doo doo doo! Doo—doo—doo doo doo! We will have a pledge shortly. All toys, please stand at attention./”
Toys? The moment the TV mentioned that, an inexplicable force halted all our movements.
“/Pledge. I am a slave. /I cannot see the truth even with eyes, so I am not worthy to open them. /I cannot hear distant sounds even with ears, so I am not worthy to listen. /I shall dedicate everything to the great one. /I hereby vow, please kindly carve my limbs, half fried and half boiled, and enjoy them!/”
A pledge so ridiculous echoed throughout the room, and our mouths moved against our will, reciting the lines.
“/Everyone has pledged. Shall we attempt frying some half-and-half chicken? Ding dong ding!/”
With that crazy talk, a boiling pot filled with oil appeared on the TV screen!
Suddenly, a black hand shot out from the display, grabbing Elena and starting to pull her toward the TV.
— Paaa!
A star appeared before Jinchul. While he couldn’t move, it seemed he could summon the star.
But this was a mistake!
Jinchul was the one stuck and unable to do anything.
It was a given that the star had no guiding function, so it just hovered in front of Jinchul, closer to us than to the TV.
Before the TV transformed, it aimed for Songi first, turning her skin inside out while I started to feel my hair become flesh as well.
Realizing the situation too late, Jinchul hastily summoned back the star.
In the end, the arm protruding from the TV began dragging Elena into the “display!”
Ready for a massive boiling pot of oil inside the TV!
Everyone’s complexion went pale as the situation grew far too clear.
— Bang! Bang!
Gunshots echoed, and the display shattered.
At once, all our bound bodies were freed, and Elena, who had been sucked into the screen, bounced back.
Turning my gaze, I saw Mooksung’s gloved hand floating in the air.
Ah, so remote-controlled gloves work even when your body is frozen!
Elizaveta, in a frenzy, exclaimed, “Mooksung! Well done! That was a close call!”
My heart nearly dropped.
If Mooksung hadn’t shot the TV to blow it up, we would’ve been dragged into it, with Elena—
…
Let’s not think about it. Just the thought gives me the creeps.
Jinchul, panicking, checked on Songi’s vividly bruised skin and apologized, while Songi nonchalantly noted that they had no choice in such a dire situation.
My hair was mixed with tentacles, but the hotel would surely get rid of that once we’re out.
I rushed over to Elena. “Are you okay? Elena?”
Elena, who was pulled from the TV, was silent.
“Elena?”
Elena turned back to me, looking vacant.
By now, our surrounding teammates were gathering.
“Elenna? Are you okay?”
“Elena older sister?”
Elena finally opened her mouth.
“I saw… I saw…”
“What do you mean you saw?”
“There were eyes inside the TV.”
“Eyes? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Eyes.”
“Elena? Are you alright?”
“Eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes.”
Look at the eyes gleaming from the gaps. Look at the eyes watching from above. Have you felt someone observing you while walking on dark roads? Have you sensed a gaze from behind while tapping away at your keyboard alone? Little children can’t sleep, fearing that the dolls around them are watching. In the dawn sky, there are eyes looking down on early commuters. On the land at noon, there are pupils quietly gazing at a world brimming with life. Ah! The whole world will soon be eyes. I have seen the 3,000 gazes that blanket the horizon. That greatest eye captured everything from the abyss to the sky, so, of course, we reside within it.
???
Suddenly, Elena stopped talking and glared at the ceiling.
“They’re here as well. No, they’re everywhere in this place. Say hello, everyone!”
— Bang!
Just as we were processing Elena’s bizarre outburst, she suddenly shot herself.
None of us could even fathom the rapid change in the situation.
—
In an instant, the second shocking incident unfolded: Elena, consumed by madness, took her life.
Since entering the hotel, it had become commonplace for comrades to die. We’ve experienced death, only to meet up outside again several times.
It had become long since Eunsol and Seungyub, who initially appeared young and naïve, got accustomed to the demise of teammates.
But…
This death was among the most ‘bizarre’ we’d witnessed in the hotel.
Seungyub’s mental state began to falter.
“This must be from the luck selection process, right? A safe room should pop up from that! So why from the room I chose -”
Blatantly mentioning blessings in front of Elizaveta!
While startled, thankfully, she seemed too preoccupied with inspecting the shattered TV around her.
I sensed that Seungyub was about to break down, so I hurried over and ruffled his hair.
“Get a grip. It’s only natural for things not to go as planned. I’m going to call the active skill from now on ‘divine luck’. Anyway, you weren’t chosen by luck. It was just a hunch, right?”
I offered some comfort in a muted tone. Seungyub continued to tremble.
Jinchul joined in, saying, “Seungyub, it’s not your fault. If someone else had chosen, wouldn’t they have faced danger too?”
Eunsol stepped up, “Everyone, stay focused! I think I’ve figured some things out. When we move through a door, a new mansion emerges. The new mansion has similar elements, but there’s always one item that has changed. That item has the monster. Am I right?”
“And there’s also some time given before the monster strikes. A surprise attack has never happened.”
Listening in, Songi responded. “Is it a sort of ‘find the differences’ game? Find the discrepancies within the time limit?”
Mooksung mumbled in disappointment. “This time, we found the incorrect items correctly. The one mistake was not shooting the TV the moment we found it. If we’d taken it out with a gun, wouldn’t the monster have vanished immediately?”
“Next time, let’s shoot as soon as we find the flaw,” Songi suggested.
“Rather than looking for flaws item by item, how about we just charge in and blast the place with our rifles as soon as we enter?”
Mooksung countered immediately. “Songi, that’s a rifle in your hands, not a missile. Shooting every object in the mansion individually takes more time than you think, and crucially, we’re short on ammo. But, while the idea of breaking everything at random is fine, we should use other methods instead of just rifles.”
Since the beginning, Elizaveta has been wandering around. Jinchul hurried over to confirm this.
“Let’s just smash things around. We can deal with that woman later.”
“Isn’t it fine to just leave her? After seeing Mooksung control those gloves, I don’t think she’s prying into our business. From her perspective, we probably think we’re figuring out everything by ourselves while she observes.”
My head was spinning with thoughts. There are many factors to consider, and I suddenly miss that reckless guy.
—
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.