### Chapter 215 – Room 104, Cursed Room – ‘Prestigious Hotel High School’ Re (9)
—
– Lee Eunsol
As twilight fell, while riding in Grandpa’s car towards the Old Main Building, I rummaged through my smartphone and noticed something odd.
“The news is completely fabricated. There’s no mention of any supernatural phenomena related to the collapse of the Old Main. It just talks about the sudden collapse of an aging building, luckily with no casualties, but suggests we need to check the building’s safety standards—ridiculous articles like that.”
“It looks like they treated it as just a failure of construction.”
“Can your cult really pull off something like this?”
Aurelia, sitting in the back seat, just awkwardly smiled. The person who answered was Grandpa, who was driving.
“Is that even a question? Of course, it was the Administration Bureau’s doing!”
Should I really ask if it’s called the ‘Administration Bureau’ in this setup? I swallowed the question, noticing Aurelia’s indifferent reaction. Thankfully, it seems the organization managing supernatural phenomena is still called the Administration Bureau even here.
Familiar buildings came into view up ahead. At last, we returned to the Hotel High, the place where all the secrets of Room 104 are hidden.
— Bang!
The welcome party began!
*
Once we arrived at Hotel High, it wasn’t long before gunfire erupted from all directions! The fact that the cultists were a heavily armed group became clear the moment we almost met our end. However, as bullets ricocheted around and the car quickly became Swiss cheese, I found it utterly absurd.
Isn’t this supposed to be 21st century South Korea?
Of course, this was within the realm of what I had anticipated. As bullets came crackling through the air, the moment the passenger windows shattered, everyone except the Grandpa in his protective suit ducked under the car, and simultaneously, Elena sprang into action.
In the vast grounds of Hotel High, there was clear malice coming from the cult group surrounding us!
Recognizing the need for retaliation, the scales of justice symbolized by Elena appeared in the air. She shone brightly in golden light, clearly proclaiming, “Look how amazing I am!” Countless bullets targeted her while the rest of us gained a moment of freedom.
Golden light spread like a wave, illuminating the dimly lit area of Hotel High as if it were early evening. Soaring rapidly into the air, Elena used the scales like a yo-yo swung by a giant, targeting the cultists all around.
In a cartoonish scene, the cultists flew into the air upon being struck by the scales traveling at invisible speeds. An incredible scene of destruction! The ‘traitor’ Aurelia, now back at the school, seemed unable to bear witnessing what was happening, her head hung low.
“Aurelia, snap out of it! Didn’t you say you’d guide us to the Old Main?”
“… Sorry. I’ll focus.”
We began moving toward the Old Main at a relatively slow pace. Due to Elena’s nature of ‘justice,’ she couldn’t rush while punishing every cultist in range. Getting out from under her protection would be far too dangerous, so we had to match her speed.
As Aurelia continued watching, her expressions shifted from concern to admiration.
“Such incredible power! Is that why my father sent revelations to keep her in check…”
“You’re not too shabby yourself.”
Aurelia scoffed and glanced at Kain, the ‘Apostle of God,’ perched behind her.
“But if this woman’s power is all there is, I feel it’s lacking. I’m sure my father has more hidden away.”
“That’s not something you should worry about.”
What’s with this force? Kain’s becoming more competent as an owl?
“… Of course, I’m sure he prepared well—”
Aurelia’s expression twisted as she suddenly clutched onto me and dove to the ground.
— Boom!
An enormous explosion erupted! My ears rang, and I could barely gather my thoughts. Before I even understood what was happening, Aurelia had scooped me up, jumping away. When I finally regained my senses, I realized there were five massive craters where we had been standing.
“What the—”
In the center of one crater, the fallen Elena got right back up, her clothes just slightly scorched, acting like it was no big deal, floating up into the sky.
— Thrum, thrum, thrum!
The roaring sound of gigantic engines filled the air. In the dark sky, only illuminated by Elena’s radiance, helicopters began to swarm in, well over ten of them!
Suddenly, I realized Aurelia was gone. With the unpredictable situation at Hotel High spiraling out of control, it seemed she opted to make her escape to the Underground City.
“Oh, it’s about time to die now.”
But no. A large, robust armored glove grabbed me with one hand, taking off at high speed. In the other hand, a little parrot was clutched, huddled like a sparrow.
Focusing my thoughts while relying entirely on Grandpa for the move, it became clear enough to understand the situation. There was no way a cult hiding behind a testing school could command this many combat helicopters.
We were being hunted down by the Administration Bureau of this realm!
*
– Kim Sanghyun
Taking in the chaotic scene at Hotel High, I realized that tonight was the last chance for our party. Tomorrow, or at the latest, the day after, when the Lord regains strength, there will be no opportunities left for us.
What are the conditions to resolve this room? The fall of the saint and the cult. The saint has already left the cult, so what remains is merely the remnants of it. And most of those remnants are still here near the Old Main, where the Lord rests. This location is a sacred ground for them.
In other words, as soon as the Lord awakens, he’ll be saying “Let’s feast!” and instantly devouring the cultists like cake. Knowing this, I sent a message to my companions: “We need to settle this today.” And they reached this location within mere hours.
The leftover cultists are no match for Elena wielding justice. So this situation is surely a threat to the Lord too!
…
That’s what I thought.
One thing I overlooked, however, was that the Lord read this plan as clearly as if it was lying in his palm. The first card the Lord played was none other than the Administration Bureau!
From the rooftop of the Old Main, I gazed down at Hotel High.
In the sky, more than ten helicopters were flying. On the ground, about eight unidentified multi-legged robots resembled spiders as they approached. And as if that wasn’t enough, countless drones carrying unknown silver boxes began covering the sky in a net-like fashion.
What sort of trickery ensured the Administration Bureau’s forces would arrive at this exact moment? It’s anyone’s guess. And now isn’t the time for such speculation!
In a heartbeat, our party found itself in crisis. Grandpa, carrying Eunsol, soon found himself encircled by the spider robots and unable to move.
Elena, showered in golden light, had already been shot to the ground dozens of times by heavy firepower and still couldn’t strike back properly.
Why can’t she counterattack effectively? From what I’ve heard about her power of justice, she shouldn’t be that helpless!
The reason was easy to identify. It’s all due to the nature of justice. It was said to work only against evil beings, right? The soldiers of the Administration Bureau are indeed human, but they can’t exactly be labeled as evil. They’re fundamentally a group meant to protect the world.
Let’s interpret this situation from the standpoint of the Administration Bureau.
An unidentified woman exuding supernatural powers appears and is in the midst of slaughtering civilians on the school grounds! Mind you, while these civilians may be the sinister minions of an evil god bent on world destruction, the Administration Bureau can hardly know that.
This is one of the cards the Lord prepared—‘the army protecting the world.’
It suddenly dawned on me why my companions were cautious about awakening the Lord in Room 104. Preparing a counter to undermine the principle of ‘justice’ that punishes the wicked? It felt like the Lord was analyzing the Hotel Party and strategizing an attack against us!
It’s like a player who is analyzing a boss monster’s attack patterns suddenly encountering a being that is parsing and plotting against them!
A massive structure resembling a giant birdcage, seemingly made of some exotic metal, appeared and trapped Elena. It looked like a sealing device designed to suppress the powers of supernatural beings. I could see Elena’s power gradually fading inside that cage.
…
Faint memories of the past surfaced. Long ago, there was someone blessed like the young lady stuck inside that cage. According to Ahri, the young Miro on the second floor wielded her power of justice without restraint, but even a fully aware Miro wouldn’t operate in such a casual manner. Miro also had her standards for determining right and wrong and had to use her blessings to punish those who strayed from those standards.
Naturally, the challenges Elena faced now were similar to those Miro had encountered. To solve the room’s challenges, she’d have to defeat NPCs that couldn’t precisely be deemed wicked beings. In the face of that, the blessing of justice went dead in the water. How did Miro respond back then?
… It all came rushing back.
The powers bestowed upon me by the Lord were still lingering a bit. Originally meant to deceive and harm my allies, there was no need to use them for such purposes now.
My body floated upward. In a whimsical experience akin to riding a transparent taxi ascending into the sky, I soared through the night air towards the cage where Elena was trapped. The lady confined within looked at me with wide eyes.
“Elena, what are you doing? You could break out of that cage any day now!”
She didn’t say anything.
“Can’t you talk while using justice? That must be different from Miro!”
With what little power I had left, I began to force the cage open. At the sight of my actions, Elena’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
“I’ll get you out soon! Just hold on!”
It felt like the moment was approaching. Surely, at first, she was startled by my sudden appearance from the air, but now that I was in action, the time for a response should be coming.
— Bang!
An immense bang. A stunning shockwave that almost sent me into oblivion.
A bullet or some explosive from somewhere pierced through my upper body. Thanks to the remnants of the mysterious power granted by the Lord, I avoided instant death, but it seemed I could only hold on for a few more seconds. The moment Elena realized my impending demise, her eyes ignited like flames.
… It’s over for me. My role ends here. Just before my consciousness became hazy, the conversation from long ago played back in my mind.
“My power was originally for punishing the bad guys. But…”
“But?”
“There are times when you need to become the villain to punish.”
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