### Chapter 377 – Room 205, The Cursed Room – ‘The Absolute Master’ (26)
—
– Han Kain
I took a shocked step back, staring at the demon-like existence that had burst forth from hell.
In response, the entity also took a step back.
Was it just playing around? I scrunched my face, and it made a similar face in return.
As I reached out my hand to tell it to back off, it stretched out its hand too.
…
A moment of late realization crashed over me.
This was me.
The mysterious substance all around was merely reflecting my soul like a mirror.
I had certainly awakened from the seal; I couldn’t understand how I had turned into this grotesque monster.
Just then, a serpent appeared from a swirling pitch-black vortex.
Before I could even react, the snake coiled around my body and started to tighten its grip.
At the same time, a noise that felt like it was stabbing my head filled my mind.
You are a bug.
You shall forever serve me, your master.
You are nothing but dust in the long span of my life.
You are the specter that dwells within my body, a shadow!
All kinds of curses and mockery echoed around me.
You are….
“Ugh, this feeling is so cliché!”
That snake was likely a phantom, yet it didn’t feel tense at all.
I just knew it, even without anyone explaining it.
Its voice was loud and boisterous, and it was surprisingly terrified of me.
To put it bluntly, it sounded like a scared little child crying loudly.
I thought back to the chief researcher I met in Room 201.
A person whose dignity didn’t even compare to that ugly serpent, regardless of power.
What did he say again?
The relationship between a sealed NPC and the participants lies in the participants’ lead.
I naturally understood the meaning of that phrase.
Now feeling the snake’s curse fail, it began to burrow into my body.
This was a battle not of the physical, but of the ‘mind.’
A fight similar to the one with the witch I had in my brother Jinchul’s head a long time ago.
Our minds collided and intertwined.
I read the phantom, and it read me back.
The outcomes of our repeated exchanges were unexpectedly hollow.
It wasn’t intentional, but during the process of fighting, the phantom stumbled upon shocking information, causing its spirit to collapse instantly.
‘W-what is this!’
“…”
‘Everything… is a lie? The entire world? Me? Just the inside of Room 205?’
“…”
‘No! This can’t be… This demon showed me an illusion! It deceived me!’
I never expected to hear the phantom refer to me as a “demon.”
But whatever, since I was caught anyway, I might as well use this situation to my advantage.
“Really think so?”
‘…’
“Don’t deceive yourself. You must know that all of this is the truth.”
‘Ah… How, how could this be!’
The phantom cried.
Not joking, it wept like a child.
Completely mentally collapsed, it had no intention of hiding its inner thoughts from me.
It realized a terrifying truth during the process of reading my memories.
If it escapes, Room 205 would reset, and ‘the phantom of this cycle’ would vanish.
If resolved, Room 205 would perish, and the phantom would disappear forever.
If it fails, the entire hotel would reset, and the content of the cursed room would change, meaning ‘the phantom of this cycle’ would still vanish.
Indeed.
No matter what ending we achieve moving forward, the phantom is doomed to extinction.
The immortal life it obsessively clung to was never a viable option for an NPC in the hotel from the very beginning.
Endless despair.
Simply a desire to live.
Shouts filled with fear.
Just an entity shackled to existence, desperately clinging to day-to-day survival.
“You’re really quite petty.”
‘…’
“Just surviving. I can’t tell you apart from a caterpillar squirming in the dirt.”
‘Y-you! You will—! You can achieve true immortality!’
“Oh really?”
‘Because, because I can go outside, I can gain true eternal life, making it easy for me! I am…’
I adjusted my tone and changed my words.
“You are death. You’re on borrowed time, nothing but a mayfly. The only difference between you and everyone else is whether you are aware of your mayfly status or not.”
‘Ah…’
“But… you also have a chance.”
‘What?’
“I shall show you the way to attain eternal life.”
‘W-what do you mean—?’
“Will you serve me as your sky? Will you bow your head before me? Thus, discard your mayfly-like fate and gain eternal life?”
‘…’
“…”
‘…I will.’
“Will?”
‘I will heed your words. I am blind and deaf. Please teach me.’
The information I uncovered at the moment of intertwining minds with the phantom came rushing back.
Ancient memories, dimly remembered even by the phantom itself.
The moment it gained incomprehensible power.
It reached out to the void, summoning the ‘Soul Vessel.’
“Behold.”
‘…’
“You are freed from your corporeal curse by pushing your soul into that box.”
The serpent’s eyes were glued to the soul vessel.
“Now, you must understand my statement. That box is the legacy of Room 205.”
‘…No way!’
“If I resolve this room, I will take the soul vessel with me. Within that box lies your tiny spirit; hence, you may also escape your mortal fate.”
‘Nonsense! What—’
“Why do you think it’s impossible? If you rummaged through my memories, you would have faintly seen Room 104 too, right?”
‘W-well—’
“When the cursed room vanishes, everything inside disappears. However, one single item, excluding the participants, can escape the room.”
‘The legacy…!’
“Serve me. Accept your weakness. Then, eternal life shall be yours.”
At last, the trembling lamb in fear found refuge in the arms of the Lord.
*
Upon fully waking from the mental realm, the sight before me was two forms covered in black and dusty debris.
They were so dirty they looked uglier than the previously seen snake-like phantom.
“Get back, filthy demon!”
“…”
“…”
Ari and Miro stared at me with their mouths half-open.
“Did you awaken?”
“Dispose of that hideous appearance at once—”
“Oi! Stop with the nonsense. You’re really awake, right?”
“Yeah, first let’s—”
Just as I was analyzing the overwhelming memories of the phantom pouring into my mind, I stumbled upon unbelievable information.
I was so shocked that I momentarily lost my words.
“Kain?”
“I need to get out!”
“What?”
“We have to leave right now! There’s a primitive bomb planted in this place!”
The Abester Church had been preparing means to destroy my body since the sealing area was established thirty years ago.
My very flesh was part of sealing the phantom, so this was ultimately a means to liberate the phantom.
Did they really prepare a bomb to both imprison and liberate the phantom at the same time?
What the hell were these guys thinking?!
— Rumble!
As if the ground had been waiting for the moment, the entire area trembled, and the terrain began to collapse!
Ari startled and dove under Miro, who was in a protective suit, and Miro quickly sprawled out to cover Ari—
“Hey! Miro, what about me?!”
“Uh? Uh?”
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
[Take three steps to the right immediately!]
— Boom!
As soon as I rolled to the side, a boulder larger than my torso fell.
It was literally a life-or-death moment!
Seeing Miro, who was just freezing with a dazed expression while covering Ari, shocked me back to my senses.
I needed to find my escape.
And—
“Make a move right now! If I die here, you die too!”
“What, what?!”
“This isn’t directed at you, Miro!”
Someone else, a character willing to be humble for the sake of their life.
The phantom twisted its hand under my permission.
Soon, a bizarre wave occurred, and a crimson barrier enveloped us all.
— Rumble!
*
Borrowing the power of the phantom, as soon as I emerged outside Cheonnim Mountain, an overwhelming number of people entered my sight.
All Abester followers, ready to wrap the entire mountain in a human curtain. I wasn’t kidding.
A middle-aged man descended from the sky, flapping his robe.
It was Jo Wonhong.
“Phantom, it’s been a while. Has it been thirty years?”
“…”
“How does the fresh air feel after all this time? Must be refreshing compared to the gloomy cave air.”
This guy thinks I’m the phantom, huh?
I might as well take advantage of that misconception.
“While I vaguely realized it as I slept thirty years ago… Jo Wonhong, why did you set explosives to both imprison and free me?”
“For this moment, right now.”
Around us, a multitude of enormous beads had already been set up, Jo Wonhong waved his hand lightly, and flames began to ignite in all directions.
“Isn’t this beautiful? I call it the ‘Demon Suppressing Pearl.’ Come, try to possess me.”
“…”
I wasn’t about to make a show of failing in that attempt.
Jo Wonhong isn’t stupid; he proudly stepped forward because he must have ways to counter possession.
Just like that Zisug guy, he had means prepared to prevent possession.
I wasn’t surprised; I anticipated that.
An icy silence fell all around.
Finally, I deciphered the Abester Church’s and Jo Wonhong’s plan.
Those beads, the Demon Suppressing Pearls, didn’t exist thirty years ago.
They must have been in development.
That’s why the Abester Church couldn’t control the phantom back then and had to imprison it in Cheonnim Mountain.
But the Abester Church must have been plotting from the moment they thought of this.
What if one day, they could develop something to suppress the phantom’s power?
What if that power could be used to control the demon?
The phantom could become the ultimate weapon wielded by the Abester Church.
At that moment, Jo Wonhong, smiling, broke the silence.
“Surely you’re in a bind, huh? It seems the Yihonma doesn’t budge at all?”
“…”
An ornate fan appeared in the Master’s hand.
“What’s this? If I bring down the judgment of the red flames here, you’ll be done for?”
“…”
“Wow! Phantom, are you shaking in fear?!”
“Jo Wonhong, I didn’t know you were this childish.”
“Don’t be absurd. I’ve met you enough times to know your personality.”
“Have you regained some self-esteem by crushing me?”
“What are you—”
“Regardless, that doesn’t mean your crisis has disappeared. When did you create those Demon Suppressing Pearls? More than ten years ago? So why did you just come to wake me now?”
“Y-you brat!”
“Did you lose? What the heck have you done that the mighty Abester Church can’t beat one little Emperor child?!”
Jo Wonhong’s face started to turn red and blue.
Seeing that was a bit funny, I decided to throw a few more words.
“Oh! I guess I owe you an apology. If the Emperor is just a kid and you can’t beat him, then in three or four years, Wonhong, you won’t catch your breath either, so you should take that bet now?”
“Shut up!”
The moment Jo Wonhong slammed the ground, a chillingly sinister energy filled the surroundings.
“Let’s call the mind games here. You must have come for something to say.”
“… Phantom. I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Jo Wonhong proposed that we join forces to bring down the empire.
In turn, if he becomes the Emperor, he won’t suppress the phantom anymore, and I can freely roam the world killing people if I want.
From others, I heard Jo Wonhong was rather suited to be Emperor, but…
From his childish behavior earlier to his now morally deprived attitude.
The loss in the war was twisting Jo Wonhong’s character.
Whatever the case, I was more interested in one ‘meaningless’ topic while engaging in such conversation.
Could the Demon Suppressing Pearls really suppress me?
‘What do you think, Phantom?’
‘… The Demon Suppressing Pearl will prevent possession. It won’t just be me; it won’t work on the Emperor either.’
‘Is that so? I have to win so you can come out, so give it your all.’
‘A good plan is brewing here.’
—
I will strive for consistent updates.
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.