### Chapter 341 – The Moment of Choice (2) Fin
—
– Kim Ahri
—
Kain turned towards me, flapping his mouth like a goldfish.
It seemed that talking with his voice was still tough for him.
“Don’t you have a pen? If you know how to write, go ahead and do it.”
Soon enough, I realized my suggestion was pointless.
He was already struggling to cut meat with a knife and had borrowed my hand, so writing with a pen would be even more difficult for him.
So, Kain started using the method that felt most comfortable to him.
“Who are you? I am – don’t use my voice!”
He found it hard to talk with his own neck but found it easy to make my neck talk instead?
I couldn’t grasp how Kain’s brain was functioning right now!
With that said, Kain leaned against the wall, lost in deep thought.
It seemed like he was trying hard to recall memories from his ‘human days.’
Feeling a bit tired, I went back to Sanghyun, who, at some point, had gathered his hands and was praying somewhere.
“Have you made your decision?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Come on, just talk comfortably.”
“What I need to do now is confess my great sin.”
“Great sin?”
“First of all, I still haven’t done what I absolutely had to do.”
With that, Sanghyun turned towards me and bowed at a 90-degree angle.
“…”
“I’m grateful that you’ve treated me as if nothing happened, but I was almost seduced by the voice of a prisoner and was about to harm everyone. I apologize for that.”
“It’s okay. Anyone else would have acted similarly or worse.”
I meant it.
I believed that if someone else had gone through what Sanghyun did in Room 203, they would have broken down just as he did, if not sooner.
He nodded with a somewhat complicated expression.
“Thank you for saying that….”
“So, have you decided? You plan to keep your memories?”
“Yeah.”
Sanghyun answered briefly, then looked out the window, beginning to explain his reasons for choosing.
“I also intended to put my heart at ease. It would be a shame to give up several abilities gained through the power of blessings, but they won’t completely disappear anyway.”
“…”
“It’s painful. The memories of the loved ones I cherished long ago echoed endlessly in my mind.”
“…”
“This thought came to me late, about my family, my people… None of them got out of Room 203. I’m the only one who did.”
“Because it’s the ‘Cursed Room.’”
“If I forget them, all evidence of their existence in this world will disappear forever. The love and care we shared, and the glorious history of raising a city from the wasteland… The evidence of all that now lies solely in my memory.”
“…”
“I’ve sinned.”
“From earlier, you mentioned it wasn’t that big of a deal –”
“This isn’t just about being seduced by the demon. That part, of course, is something I’ll have to remember my whole life, but fortunately, it was a problem that could be fixed. In the end, everyone got out of Room 203.”
“So what sin are you talking about?”
At this point, Sanghyun started staring off into the distance instead of looking at me.
It was because he wasn’t apologizing to me or the hotel party, but to other beings.
“I’m the husband who deceived his wife, the father who deceived his child, and the king who deceived his people.”
“…”
“I made countless promises of salvation to them. I told them there was a paradise flowing with milk and honey, that if they couldn’t achieve it while alive, they could obtain it after death…”
“…”
“I knew it was all a lie. Where exactly is this hotel paradise, and where is salvation? I couldn’t even save myself; how could I save my family and people?”
“They probably had no choice but to follow you.”
“That can’t be an excuse.”
“…”
“What happens to the NPCs that died in the Cursed Room? I know the future if a participant dies—I’ve experienced it. They suffer in Ice Hell or live as NPCs. But what happens if an NPC dies?”
I understood that a participant could become an NPC after death.
However, that didn’t mean all NPCs are former participants.
After all, each room has a whole star implemented, and it seems unlikely that every sentient being would be a former participant, numbering in the tens to hundreds of billions.
But, I couldn’t know for sure.
“I don’t know.”
“If they cleanly disappeared, it would be a relief if the cursed room where they were born vanished along with them. But if not, then what?”
“…”
“What if my wife, my child, my people fell into hell?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know about that either.”
“I heard something from Kain before.”
“Kain?”
“He said there are two ways to honor the dead in the hotel. One is ‘revival,’ which we’ve already confirmed. The other he mentioned was ‘Buddha.’”
“I remember. Just so you know, the Administration Bureau was also aware of the revival, but I heard about Buddha for the first time since I came in—”
It was then that I realized something.
The entity that informed us of the second path to salvation called ‘Buddha’ was none other than—
“Kim Sanghyun, who told Kain about it.”
Kim Sanghyun, the doctor in Room 105 before his revival, who was a hidden NPC of the hotel.
“Right.”
“It’s quite funny. I, now, have no idea what it means, yet back then, I somehow knew something.”
“Back then, you must have been an employee, so you’d have known the hotel’s secrets inside out.”
“Where could ‘Buddha’ possibly be?”
“…”
I was curious too.
“We’re already on the second floor. There aren’t too many rooms left, but I can say I’ve found most of the hidden elements on this floor! The mirror room, the revival room, and the mysterious craftsman! Aren’t they all discovered yet?”
“There are two hidden rooms and two hidden NPCs left, meaning one NPC is left.”
“I know. For some reason, I just knew it. He, Buddha, is looking down on us from the highest position.”
What does that even mean? Was it Sanghyun’s faint recollection of his NPC days? Or was it simply instinct?
“He is the cause of everything. The one holding the answers to all questions we will reach at the last moment, the creator of all mysteries.”
“You, what on earth are you -”
“I have a wish. Since entering the hotel, I’ve developed a wish more desperate than escape for the first time.”
Having been trapped in the hell created by the hotel, he had developed a desire more intense than merely escaping.
“When I was young, my father was an alcoholic, you know? He used to beat my mother and us kids every day. I can’t express how desperately I wished for that dog to get shot in the back alley.”
Sanghyun’s words began to grow a bit disjointed.
“My mother raised us diligently even in such an environment. She always said, ‘Live honestly and sincerely, and the world will reward you.’ But from my experience, that was utter nonsense. I lived honestly and sincerely, and suddenly found myself in the hotel.”
It felt like the turbulent emotions had consumed his logic, leaving only the flow of thought.
“But then, I found myself as the leader of a cult and a swindler in Room 203. That’s when I realized. No, it’s not that my mother told lies; it’s that I was not an honest person and was punished for it.”
What a ridiculous story.
Sanghyun didn’t fall into the hotel because he lied; he lied to survive after falling into the hotel.
“I want to turn back. I want the lies I’ve lived for hundreds of years to become the truth.”
“You….”
“In some dark corner of the hotel, that person is lurking. The one watching everyone from the highest seat. I must meet Buddha. And I will beg and plead. Please, let there be salvation for those who died in Room 203!”
Before I knew it, I looked at the man who had knelt down.
He was a husband apologizing to his wife and children, a priest confessing he had deceived his followers.
And, repeatedly collapsing and rising again amidst trials he couldn’t bear.
So I too knelt and prayed from the opposite side.
“Please, let there be salvation.”
“… Please, let there be salvation.”
—
As time passed, I started discussing Sanghyun and Kain.
“About Kain, isn’t it too dangerous to go out in his current state?”
Seeing Sanghyun hesitate instead of answering, I reminded him of reality.
“You seem to feel a strong sense of debt toward Kain.”
“Kain gave me a second chance when I was trapped in hell. And it was Kain who faced the monsters while I avoided danger to save the tribe in Room 203.”
“Fine, I understand your feelings, but you should repay that debt when both of you are together. Right now, speak calmly for the sake of everyone else by stepping back a bit.”
“…”
“You know best about his current state.”
After leaning back against the train seat, Sanghyun pondered for a moment and then answered honestly.
“It seems it’ll be dangerous.”
“What part? Like, suddenly stealing our bodies?”
“For instance, when we face the Cursed Room together, Kain, who has become quite exceptional, might find our way of handling things frustrating.”
“That could be true.”
“If it were the old Kain, he might have tried to persuade us somehow, but the current Kain may just move our bodies to handle things in what he thinks is the appropriate direction.”
“…”
“Because to him, that seems more efficient.”
“What if I say ‘don’t do that?’”
“There’s a huge gap between a mindset that views a body as an ordinary human’s identity and someone who can throw away their body like a piece of clothing at any time. To him, we’ll probably look foolish.”
I could see where Sanghyun was coming from.
A fundamentally changed value set isn’t something that can be swayed with just a word or two.
Even if we strongly protested, Kain wouldn’t regard body snatching as an ‘evil behavior.’
He might even manipulate us more crafty and seamlessly to avoid detection.
It’s something that’s frequently seen in the Administration Bureau agents.
Civilians who’ve half-immersed themselves in the darkness of this world often express their anger that the Bureau is the greatest evil in the world.
It would be stranger not to be outraged by the act of easily burning the lives of innocent people like feathers.
Of course, we have our reasons.
It’s just that since we know how futile it is to explain that reason, we simply point a gun instead of convincing.
“Alright. Looking at the catalog, if we get off the train when it reaches the terminal, it means memory, while staying on the train means forgetfulness.”
“Right, it says that.”
“Kain is left—did you all decide everything except for me?”
In the next moment, the air froze.
Me and Sanghyun couldn’t even take a deep breath, only turning our heads slightly to the side.
Next to us stood Kain, who had somehow gotten closer and was beaming with a smile.
“…”
“Why, are you mad? Did you want to borrow your voice again?”
This sentence wasn’t uttered using my or Sanghyun’s voice this time.
It seemed Kain had finally learned how to speak with his own mouth.
“…”
“Aren’t you being a bit too much? To talk about me while ignoring my opinion?”
“… Up until a moment ago, you were doing great, acting like a kid.”
“Eh! I just didn’t know how to talk yet. And sorry for cutting the meat with your hand. I heard that it felt uncomfortable.”
“…”
“Seriously, you’re sensitive about everything. Can’t I just borrow your hand? You can use mine too, right?”
“…”
Kain studied my expression and then suddenly picked out some cold meat left on the plate and offered it to me.
“Here!”
“What is this?”
“You were mad because I cut the meat with your hand, right? This time, I’m giving it to you with my hand. Don’t you get that?”
I was taken aback but had no choice but to take it, as it seemed I’d end up eating it anyway.
“Alright! Did that work?”
“…”
“Looks good. And is this the catalog you guys have been looking at since earlier? What’s this?”
When Kain pointed to the first page, Sanghyun calmly began explaining.
“It’s the page for choosing the legacy.”
“I guess I can’t choose. It says my participant qualifications have been lost.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s how the rules are set.”
“…”
A tension I couldn’t explain began to fill the train slowly.
At that moment, a sound broke the silence.
— Clank!
[This stop is the hotel, the hotel. There will be no next stop.]
“Looks like we’ve arrived.”
“Let’s get off, Ahri.”
Sanghyun, instead of feeling uneasy, wore a relaxed expression and approached the door.
Feeling quite guilty towards Kain, he seemed to find this situation more of a relief.
Now that Kain understood the situation, he would make his own decision.
Just as he was about to walk to the door, Kain reached out and grabbed my shoulder.
“You…. I remembered your name now. It’s Ahri, right?”
“Right.”
“What do you think? Should we get off or not?”
“… You decide.”
“Come on~! Your expression says it all.”
“…”
“Alright then. I’m going to stay here. So I guess I’ll forget quite a lot about the outside.”
“… Take care. See you later.”
Right before the train doors closed, the young man remaining on the other side suddenly spoke with a grin.
“Ahri, spilled water can’t be gathered again, and those who have awakened from an egg can’t go back in.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means forgetting or remembering isn’t as critical as you think. We’ll meet again. Farewell!”
This was the last memory I had of him.
… Probably.
—
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