### Chapter 159 – Room 201, The Cursed Room – ‘The Cube’ (8)
—
[User: Han Kain (Former Wisdom)
Date: Day 82
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105, Room of Rest
Sage’s Advice: 1]
– Han Kain
I spent a long time brainstorming ideas on how to safely access the ‘Research Institute route’.
Eunsol suggested using the badge’s power to become transparent, while Jinchul proposed simply closing his eyes and running like a madman.
Then there was Songi, who was confident that the bracelet’s mental protection would work, and Ari, who thought blood could be sacrificed but believed they’d endure.
Some pretty wild ideas came up too, like dressing like researchers in white coats or, at the extreme, actually extracting eyes from inside the TV!
Many suggestions were thrown around, but ultimately, we reached one conclusion.
Until we actually tried it, there was no way to know if it would work.
After all, we have no clue what the source of madness is.
Just as the conversation was progressing, Eunsol unexpectedly pitched another perspective.
“Let’s just split the party!”
“Huh? What do you mean—”
“Remember that old saying? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. When you’re doing something that could lead to death, it’s all about diversifying risk. If we all go into the TV and our plans don’t work out, we’re toast!”
Once she said it, it made sense. We didn’t need the entire team committing to a route where, if anything went wrong, it would be a total party wipe.
“So some should go through the TV’s Research Institute route, while others stick to the original plan?”
With a blank expression, Songi asked, “Did we even have an original plan?”
“Well, not really, but securing an escape route is typically our first priority, right? Based on what I’ve heard, it feels like this: we explore several rooms inside the Cube, and when we find a room that leads to an escape, we stop progressing. Once we stop, a notification saying ‘Move!’ pops up somewhere in a mirror. That mirror leads to the escape route and is also where the devil girl is waiting.”
Listening closely, Grandpa concluded, “Let’s save as much energy as possible to get to that position and then face the devil. While we’re at it, one of us can escape.”
Jinchul, looking a bit anxious, replied, “But to secure the escape route, we need to fight that devil, right? Isn’t it risky to split up our strength for some to go the Research Institute route?”
Eunsol answered with a somewhat bitter tone, “Well, it’s fine if we send someone with lower combat ability to the Research Institute side. Honestly, do you think I’d be much help against the devil girl coming out of a mirror? The butterfly doesn’t seem that useful either—more of an exposed target.”
Songi looked curious. “Wait, butterflies have weaknesses? I was so impressed when it knocked down that gorilla in a single blow!”
Eunsol smiled and opened her brooch to summon a butterfly.
“Whoosh!”
As she blew air, the butterfly lost its balance as if swept up in a storm.
“You see? In the end, it’s just an insect. It couldn’t even get close just from a puff of air. The gorilla was probably being unusually sensitive and just slowly reached out its hand, that’s why it got hit.”
Grandpa Muksung nodded in agreement, saying, “I agree. From the moment we treat a gun like a toy, I really have nothing to offer against that girl.”
It seemed like Jinchul, Ari, Eunsol, and Elena would be fine taking on the devil, but Seungyub probably couldn’t join the combat. However, he’d fit perfectly in the role of securing an escape while the others fought.
We classified the parties into two: the ‘Research Institute Party’ (Lee Eunsol, Kim Muksung) who would enter through the TV, and the ‘Escape Party’ (Kim Ari, Park Seungyub, Elena, Yu Songee, Cha Jinchul), who would continue progressing through the Cube to secure an escape while facing the devil girl.
I felt the Research Institute group was a bit weak. Not having anyone like Songi or Ari, who had resistance to madness, felt like a loss.
But there was nothing we could do. With our lives on the line, all my companions leaned heavily towards securing an escape route, which I understood.
In the end, we wrapped up our rough discussion on how to proceed for our second attempt.
“Anyone have anything else to say?”
… Actually, I did.
Since yesterday, I’d been hearing about how my teammates were going about things from a third-person perspective.
Maybe because I was a step removed? I noticed multiple points that felt “off.”
While it was due to the hotel’s seal, I felt uncomfortable pointing out issues to those who had fought bravely to return while I couldn’t do much, so I let it slide yesterday.
But this was about our lives, right?
I finally decided that I had to voice my concerns. However, I’ll remember Ari’s previous advice.
“I have something to say. But first… Seungyub?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you step outside for a moment? I need to talk about your blessing.”
We didn’t want him to know anything about the luck involved.
Understandably, he walked out without a word.
All eyes turned to me, filled with curiosity.
“I think you all might have missed something while you were progressing, but listening from the outside made me realize some problems.”
Eunsol seemed to find it entertaining already. “This feels nice! Sometimes stepping back helps you see things better.”
“Thanks. But didn’t everyone rely too much on ‘luck’? For instance, the rooms we’ve identified so far are the ‘Imitation Room’, ‘Bingo’, and ‘Escape Room’, right? There’s got to be a way to distinguish these rooms.”
“Definitely. That’s why Elizaveta led us into the Bingo room.”
“But from what I saw, it felt like you all were simply telling Seungyub to just pick randomly instead of finding a way to differentiate the rooms. That’s why you got fooled so easily by Elizaveta’s trick.”
Jinchul responded defensively, “Yeah, but if we just waited in the room a bit, ‘Move!’ would pop up and urge us to hurry, so we didn’t have time to find anything properly.”
Ari chimed in too, “I took a quick look, but I couldn’t see any differences. But you’re right; there must be a way to distinguish them. That’s why Elizaveta was able to deceive us.”
I pressed further. “Besides that, there are plenty of baffling points. For example, is it really true that there are definitely rooms we can escape from and rooms we can’t? I heard ‘Move!’ appears in the very first room too, right? Maybe if we break the mirror with those words first, it might reveal an escape route hidden behind it. Yet, everyone acts as if the escape rooms are limited by default.”
“Because Seungyub fainted while guiding us.”
“That’s true. Seungyub got all the way to the sixth or seventh room and fainted. His fainting could be seen as some sort of choice, and then Ari just passed by the mirror and found the escape route. But that kind of interpretation seems too results-oriented, doesn’t it? It’s possible there was an escape route behind the mirror from the very first room.”
Everyone seemed to ponder for a moment. I pressed on.
“The interpretation concerning luck feels overly results-oriented. If fainting is considered a lucky choice, then before Elizaveta arbitrarily picked the room, we could view Seungyub’s delayed selection as a choice as well. Yet nobody sees that aspect as a lucky choice.”
At this point, Ari responded, “I get what you’re saying. So, it’s like you’re saying that only the good outcomes get labeled ‘the luck choice,’ while the bad outcomes get interpreted as ‘choices unrelated to luck’?”
“Exactly. If we interpret only the fortunate events as being by design of luck, it would only lead us to view luck as an all-powerful force, making us rely on it more.”
Grandpa Muksung, who had been listening attentively, nodded.
“I suddenly recalled something too. After we escaped, we learned from Elena’s memory that the Research Institute was behind the TV. If luck really was a near-omnipotent ability, shouldn’t Seungyub have done something as soon as he reached the ‘TV interior’? Like, which would indicate that something exists inside?”
Songi, frowning, responded, “But it’s true Seungyub avoided the ‘Bingo Room’ with wacky monsters like gorillas.”
“Certainly, that part must have involved some luck. I’m not saying luck is insignificant.”
“Could you say it a bit more simply?”
“I mean it like this. When you roll a dice, the odds of rolling a six are 1 in 6, right? But when Seungyub shows off, he rolls it ten times and gets six almost seven times. That’s clearly a supernatural phenomenon, an incredible ability. But it’s never 100%. If he rolled three or more different numbers, then…”
“There are definitely times when you can’t just blindly believe and follow luck because it can malfunction.”
“It could malfunction, or it just might not trigger at all.”
After hearing that, Ari let out a huge sigh and wrapped it up.
“Thinking about luck is exhausting. Depending on how you look at it, it can seem like an incredibly powerful reality-altering ability, or like you see, a constantly malfunctioning machine.”
“…”
“Just a tangent, but maybe it’s obvious why luck wasn’t given to Kain. It doesn’t really suit an analytical person. Whatever comes from this meeting, don’t tell Seungyub. Your skeptical take on analysis could be harmful to him just by sharing it.”
“Am I some radioactive substance or something?”
While Ari seemed to slightly disagree with my point, Eunsol supported me.
“Kain has a point. In the second attempt, let’s not rely just on Seungyub for choosing the next room, but also look for ways to distinguish the rooms. I think if we try to really take it to Elizaveta, something will emerge. At least that girl seems like she can differentiate the rooms.”
The lengthy discussion on luck concluded with Eunsol’s straightforward summary:
“Let’s give Elizaveta a real smackdown.”
Eunsol seemed really shaken by the blow she took from the gorilla and bore a huge anger towards Elizaveta for leading everyone into the gorilla room.
After the morning meeting, Eunsol wrote down our plan on a whiteboard.
1. After entering the Cube, interrogate Elizaveta to gather information.
2. Proceed until the TV Room appears. In the TV Room, the Research Institute Party enters to explore.
3. The Escape Party continues to the escape room. In the escape room, Seungyub escapes while the rest try fighting the devil girl.
“Got nothing else to add, right?”
On the last piece of advice, I pondered what to ask.
How to differentiate between the Bingo room? Tips for breaking my seal? It felt tough to choose with so many burning questions.
My curiosity was evident, but my companions’ interests were quite clear.
“Kain.”
“Oh, Elena?”
“You still have advice left, right? Please ask if there are any tips for dealing with the devil!”
Everyone nodded and looked expectantly at me.
It felt strange, but those who had experienced it firsthand clearly differed from me, who had merely been a listener.
Since yesterday, I felt the fear and vigilance about the gorilla and the devil girl emanating strongly from my teammates.
I thought that, since she was a humanoid, Elena’s justice would easily take care of things…
Could it be they think there’s a chance justice wouldn’t work even with her?
“Of course!”
[Advice: 1 -> 0]
“Please give me some advice for dealing with the devil girl behind the mirror.”
[Their essence hides behind the mirror]
“What?”
“Once again, it’s like the idiom you told me earlier: ‘Their essence hides behind the mirror.’”
“Don’t focus on the part—see the essence?”
“Roughly, that’s its meaning.”
After discussing the final piece of advice, we set off towards Room 201 yet again.
Seeing everyone tense made me nervous too.
Will it be okay? It feels like the first time supporting someone without stepping into the fray.
With a strange feeling akin to a parent sending their child to a college entrance exam, I mentally waved goodbye to everyone as the second attempt began.
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