### Chapter 180 – Party Time – Natural Selection (7)
—
– Han Kain
As the second day of Party Time was nearing its end, Elena still hadn’t returned. My comrades started to show signs of worry, thinking, “She’ll be back by lunchtime… or dinner…”
“Songi, have you been to the basement?”
“Yeah. I waited for a while, but she said she’d come out after she was almost done. It’s taking forever.”
“Well, this is awkward. They say ‘almost done,’ but it feels rude to drag her out early.”
If this was an important moment for Elena’s abilities, it might be better to leave her be.
“Let’s wait a little longer. I’m sure she’ll come back with good news.”
“If what you say comes true, that’d be great. By the way, have you used all the advice?”
The second piece of advice was, “Let me know what else to prepare,” and we got the answer, “Prepare food.” With that, we sadly realized we wouldn’t be getting proper meals after Party Time ended.
Thanks to that, dinner was more about packing food than actually eating. I could see my brother Jinchul busy plateing a bunch of pork belly.
“The third piece of advice, I’m still thinking about. I’ll probably use it once I’m sure.”
“Alright. Let me know what you find out afterwards.”
Then Songi came over to us.
“Uh… while waiting to bring Elena back, I saw her constantly coming in and out of the safari.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Every time she came out, she looked super shaky and wasn’t in a good mood at all. She even told me to stay away.”
While I and my sister processed this with little reaction, Jinchul’s face turned dark.
“This is really not good.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Sis, if she wants to practice her abilities, staying in the safari should be enough. Why does she keep coming in and out?”
“Uh… maybe she’s just tired?”
As expected from our safari expert, Jinchul quickly deduced the situation.
“She’s dying over and over again. In the safari, as soon as you die, you pop back outside. Each time she comes out, she’s stressed out from that.”
Everyone’s expressions darkened at his words. No matter how numb we’ve become to death from the Curse Room, we can never get used to pain.
Ahri suddenly pushed my back.
“This won’t do. You need to go and bring her back.”
“No way she’ll come back if I go. Why don’t you or Eunsol go—”
“Just hurry up and get her here!”
*
In the end, thanks to Ahri’s insistence, I descended to the basement to fetch Elena, fully prepared to wait until she came out. Thankfully, Elena was outside.
“Elena!”
“…”
No response. Her expression was off. As I approached, she suddenly waved her hand at me. What did that mean? Ignoring it, I moved closer, and she distorted her face in a panic and shouted.
“Don’t come! You won’t help at all! If you hadn’t recommended I get this ability—oh! Sorry! Ah! I’m so sorry! You showed up just before ‘Clear Mind’ activated! What do I do….”
She suddenly freaked out at me, then apologized while nearly crying. I couldn’t make sense of what was happening, but it felt like I had to do something.
… But what should I even do in a situation like this?
I thought it felt a bit childish, but I held onto Elena’s hand for a moment. Gradually, her sobbing subsided, and the stormy sea of emotions calmed a bit.
“Are you alright? You haven’t eaten all day, just running around in the safari, and everyone’s worried. Plus, that last reaction didn’t seem good at all.”
“I’m fine now. And what’s this? An elementary schooler?”
“…”
— Thwwok.
She seemed better now. Elena smirked slightly and shook off my hand.
“I felt all day while practicing that ‘Ominous Imagination’ messes with your mind if you use it too much. The ability itself just endlessly stirs up people’s traumas. Like, to start the ability, you have to have ominous thoughts, but once it’s activated, it messes with your mental state.”
“… The side effects are worse than I thought. Based on what you said earlier, is it possible that I—”
“No, seriously, stop worrying about that. I was just rambling before Clear Mind kicked in!”
Elena grabbed my hand again and stared at me intensely, causing me to nod without realizing it. It seemed like her earlier words weren’t her true feelings.
Anyway, ‘Clear Mind.’ Isn’t that the skill Elena recently obtained? Sensing my curiosity, Elena changed the topic and began to explain.
“Clear Mind helps me regain my sanity whenever my mind gets too clouded. After using and using the ability, as I was half-crazy and struggling with various delusions, it brought me back to my senses in about three seconds.”
“That’s an awesome ability! But can’t you use Clear Mind in advance to protect your sanity while using Ominous Imagination?”
Elena chuckled at my suggestion.
“Turns out, that’s a common thought. I thought the same thing initially, but unfortunately, I can’t use Clear Mind consciously. It only activates after my mental state has crumbled.”
“Ah, so it’s not a preventative power; it’s more of a recovery power after you’ve been hit. What if you used Songi’s bracelet to help?”
Upon hearing that, Elena laughed.
“I met with Songi earlier, and she said the exact same thing. Unfortunately, that’s impossible. Ominous Imagination works in a way that you have to go crazy to use it, not the other way around.”
I understood what she meant. In simple terms, getting embroiled in madness was a requirement in the first place to use the ability. Therefore, if you defend against the madness in various ways, you ultimately wouldn’t be able to use the ability at all.
That’s why the “Blessing to Strengthen for Supplementation” conferred by the patron was given not as a power to prevent madness, but as something that helps recover after being caught in it. It’s a tiring ability in so many aspects. For such a powerful penalty, it should come with an impressive power level.
Today, Elena had gone all day without eating, right? Worrying too much, I led her towards the snack table on the first floor. As fate would have it, Ahri, who seemed to have been waiting for us, approached immediately.
“Elena! You’ve worked hard! Did you create some awesome monster?”
Ahri really never held back! Just blurting it out like that! I stayed worried about my own lack of progress and couldn’t even ask out of fear.
“Well, I did make a rather well-behaved little creature…”
“Oh! In just one day? Already? Elena, are you a genius of the century?”
“… Don’t joke around.”
“What kind of monster is it?”
“It looks… complicated to explain.”
“What do you mean?”
“Um, it’s tough to describe. Sort of like… it’s hard to pin down.”
“Now I’m even more curious. Can you show it to us right now?”
Elena seemed to think for a second but then nodded as if she felt a bit of pride and maybe wanted to show it off.
“I’m almost out of power from using it in the safari, but I’ll give you a glimpse. Even if it’s small, it should feel similar!”
With that, Elena glanced around for something.
“Are you looking for something?”
“Yes. I need a mirror or a window to clearly recall the image or memory…”
“A mirror or a window? Well, there’s something like a ‘Main Entrance’ over there. It’s just a transparent glass door, but…”
Would a transparent glass door do? Elena nodded, making her way toward it.
—
Moments later, silence fell over the hotel.
The chattering Seungyub’s noise faded away.
The fizzy cola I was drinking grew still on the table.
And the creaking sound from Ahri’s chair ended.
In the center of this inexplicable world of halted sounds, Elena brought forth the monster, gleefully announcing.
“Oh, it’s a bit small, but it did come out. Isn’t it cute in its own way?”
…
I literally couldn’t breathe.
On the chair beside the returned Elena sat a caterpillar with a human head, making bizarre sounds. The caterpillar’s head twisted at 360 degrees. Eyes appeared and disappeared on the spinning head.
Oh crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!
“AHH! This is seriously insane!”
Just before my mind completely blanked out, I managed to cover myself with the Status Window filter. My vision blurred, but slowly my clouded mind returned to a clearer state.
“Ah… ah…”
A weak groan escaped. I turned to see Ahri slumped, making strange noises next to me.
—
A sudden accident!
Elena had said she could control it, and didn’t she just say she was nearly out of power?
Neither I nor Ahri had expected something this horrific to emerge. Elena was equally flummoxed.
“Uh? Huh? What’s going on? Why—”
“Elena. Can you get rid of it?”
“It’s just sudden! I didn’t use that much power so it’ll disappear in about 20 minutes.”
“Then let’s just take it for now. We’ll see it again tomorrow.”
“… I really have no idea what’s going on. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Elena disappeared, glancing over her shoulder. The human-headed caterpillar crawled on the floor along with her.
— Swish!
As soon as Elena left with the monster, I immediately grabbed a cup and splashed water on myself and Ahri.
“Ugh.”
“Feel better now?”
“… Thanks. That really cleared my head.”
“What the hell was that? You think that’s cute? Is Elena still out of her mind? Didn’t she say ‘Clear Mind’ activated?”
Ahri mumbled, looking dazed.
“I think I get it.”
“You think you understand?”
“It’s Natural Selection.”
Suddenly, a concept from evolution popped up. I looked at her, wanting an explanation, but she stayed blank for a while.
“Can you explain?”
“… Elena was in the safari all day. I wonder how many times she created that monster?”
“Probably dozens?”
“Dozens of failed creations born from her, each time she thought, ‘This isn’t it,’ and discarded them, creating a natural selection of sorts for monsters. The choosing agent is Elena, not nature.”
“… So out of that process, a creature that looks like it ‘listens’ to Elena was born?”
“Probably. Elena isn’t crazy. That monster must look cute in her eyes. Given her behavior, it seems to appear more like a small child. Earlier, the three of us probably saw different things in that creature.”
—
A complicated feeling washed over me. Caught off guard, Ahri and I were struck by the horrible feeling of being overwhelmed by that grotesque monster’s bizarre power.
It was surely an unpleasant, terrifying experience, but at the same time, I felt relieved. Ultimately, it seemed like Elena was in control, and more importantly, it looked incredibly useful.
Rather than being anxious about creating a hideous monster, that concern had already faded. The power I obtained first was the ability to take over others’ bodies. In the game, it would be more associated with the power of a wicked dark sorcerer than a hero.
Thinking this way actually made me more at ease. After all, it was ‘our’ weapon. The ugly and terrifying could turn into advantages. If we could handle monsters of that level, it would be a massive help in overcoming the hotel’s trials!
Having downed my refreshing cola, shaking off the bitter memories, I stood up to return to Room 105 while pondering one last thought.
Just before, I saw the ‘Nonexistent One’s’ specter who struggled fiercely with me in Room 102. That must have been the monster that left the greatest impression on my mind.
… What did Ahri, with her decades of experience in the Administration Bureau, see?
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