### Chapter 380 – Room 205, The Cursed Room – ‘The Absolute Master’ (29)
—
– Park Seungyub
Fifteen days have passed.
And… nothing has happened.
The phantom that seemed poised to turn my world into hell has disappeared as if it were all a lie.
In the Cursed Room, where unpredictable incidents used to happen every day, now there’s nothing.
Fifteen days, two weeks and a day, is an incredibly long time in the hotel.
During this long stretch, neither the phantom nor the Baehwa sect has made a move.
I started to get a feeling about this.
No, not just a feeling—certainty.
The phantom is dead.
The scenario set by the hotel in Room 205 has come to an end.
But why hasn’t the room disappeared yet?
It’s me.
I’m somehow forcing the end of this room to stay put.
The reactions of the officials before me prove it.
“Your Majesty! Your heartfelt compassion for the people is truly touching. The citizens will surely be moved as well. But have you heard of the saying ‘the wise must be resolute—’”
“Your Majesty! A ruler must sometimes make a firm decision—”
The advisors trying to teach me with old proverbs have been saying the same thing for days.
With the army already surrounding the remnants of the Baehwa sect, they want me to issue the command to advance!
“We’ll adjourn today’s meeting here.”
“Ha!”
Without another word, I stood up and left the council chamber.
*
For the past fifteen days, my advisors have grasped at their necks every time they saw me.
If they’d just left me alone, the generals would have dealt with the Baehwa sect by now, but instead, I gave the absurd order to maintain a standoff without attacking.
I even slipped in a line about ‘punishing the entire family of offenders’ to keep the impatient generals just twiddling their thumbs.
That’s right.
I was a ruler frustrating enough to make someone feel like they were going to be crushed by their own frustration.
Of course, I had my reasons for holding back the conclusion of Room 205.
“Ha!”
“Take a breath. Now, step forward half a step with your right foot!”
“Ha!”
“Huh? This time it’s better! Just, your upper body’s balance is—”
I’m working on my martial arts training.
No matter how I think about it, this is right.
What if Room 205 disappears and then the hotel’s hellish schedule restarts?
There won’t be any time to train, and I won’t have a master to teach me martial arts.
My growth would likely halt.
Luckily, even after resolving Room 205, the structure allows me to choose the ‘end point.’
Maybe this itself is part of the reward from Room 205?
Aksha’s spirit is developing rapidly.
Even if it’s still just one in every four or five attempts succeeding from a previous one in dozens.
From a 1% success rate to 20% is definitely a huge improvement.
Just a little bit longer.
Could I manage a month, no, two months, or even six months?
“Your Majesty.”
“Yes?”
“The ministers are starting to talk about appointing a regent.”
“I’m still perfectly fine!”
“They think you don’t feel fine.”
“…”
My master looked at me as if penetrating my thoughts.
“Are you deliberately making the war drag on? Is there a reason?”
“…”
“Whatever the reason is, you should look for other ways. Today’s training is over.”
It’s only been just over two weeks, and already I’ve hit a limit.
If I keep trying to stretch this out, my advisors will start ignoring me and think of other ways.
‘Other means.’
I slyly pulled out the box my master got after killing the phantom.
The ‘Soul Vessel.’
Undoubtedly a legacy of Room 205.
According to what my master told me, this item is tied to a truly mysterious tale.
If it contains the owner’s spirit, they gain immortality.
If it contains that of a conscript, they may go to the land of ascension beyond this world.
To those unaware of the hotel’s truths, it may sound like a ridiculous legend, but to me, it was translated as follows.
The first sentence means that if you fill it with the spirit of the legacy owner, you can still act after your body dies.
You’d likely lose your qualifications as a participant, but in a ghost-like form, you could still assist your comrades.
That by itself isn’t so bad, but the second sentence was positively staggering.
If you fill it with the spirit of an NPC from the Cursed Room, you could take them out of the Cursed Room.
How many absurd monster NPCs have I encountered during this time?
Aurelia from Room 104, Beatrix from Room 201, and Rilinganor from Room 202 come to mind immediately.
There were three truly powerful NPCs in Room 205 as well.
The phantom, the Baehwa sect leader, and Lee Jasung.
“…Let’s try to persuade them.”
I’m not planning to just kidnap my master’s spirit and drag them out.
If I explain things adequately, perhaps they’ll agree…
Especially since they’ve been so devoted to helping me train lately.
*
Late at night, I set out to visit my master’s dwelling.
And then I got lost.
…What is this?
“Uh? Uh?”
Does this make sense?
No matter how forgetful I am, I’ve spent dozens of days in the palace—I can’t be lost!
“Why is there a wall here?”
This shouldn’t be a place with walls, but it’s blocked off.
Only then did I realize that getting lost isn’t normal.
Someone must have shown me an illusion to lead me astray.
At this point, knowing who it is, I moved along obediently.
A little later, I arrived at a luxurious imperial garden filled with fragrant peach trees.
A blurry figure approached from afar.
A white, round, and altogether unearthly form of armor.
A protective suit.
The mysterious battle from Cheongsan had left traces of survivors from the Baehwa sect behind.
According to the survivors, Han Kain, Ahri, and Miro were killed that day.
So where’s Sister Songee? I thought she was swept away in the chaos?
How strange.
If she was alive, why is she only showing up now? It’s been a whole two weeks!
Could it be the phantom?
…
No.
The manipulation of my vision just now was clearly the power of ‘Diverse Perspectives.’
When the phantom possessed Sister Eunsol, it couldn’t play the flute, and when it possessed my master, it couldn’t use the final flash.
In other words, even when possessed, it couldn’t use the legacies.
So that person must truly be Sister Songee.
With that realization, my whole body relaxed.
“Sister! Why didn’t you come sooner? Are you—”
At that moment, a flash of light obscured my vision.
“Uh? Uh?”
Simultaneously, I felt a loud rumbling vibration as something grotesque charged at me!
“Ugh, Aaaah! Why are you doing this?!”
“Activate Divine Fortune! The universe’s energy protects you!”
I activated the Divine Fortune and ran like crazy.
Why? Why is Sister Songee trying to kill me?
Because she’s possessed by the phantom? That can’t be.
She’s using the legacy!
Then why—
A lightning-like realization struck me.
Just as I suspected the sister to be the phantom, she was likely suspecting me as well.
Why?
Because the emperor is acting strange!
Even when I could end the war and see the conclusion of Room 205, I choose not to.
At that moment, the cries of PeiRO ceased, and my view reset.
I understood why Sister stopped her attack.
She’s too weak to be the phantom.
It’s suspect that I’m dodging without resistance while getting away.
So…
I need to assure her.
That I possess a power the phantom can’t imitate.
The phantom couldn’t see the conversation tab when it possessed my grandpa.
It couldn’t use the power of luck either.
I lightly tossed two dice.
Sister Songee’s confused eyes followed the dice in the air.
With a light smile, I looked at her.
I didn’t do anything silly like check the bottom for the result.
Of course it would be 66, adding up to 12!
“Phew…”
“Seungyub.”
“Now do you understand?”
“Look at the floor.”
“Hah! Seriously, how can you be so oblivious? I knew immediately it was you!”
“Three and five.”
“…What?”
No way! Three and five? Total of eight?
I rolled the dice! This can’t be happening!
In my flustered shock, as I dropped my jaw wide – the illusion vanished, and the truth was revealed.
66, total of 12.
Dumbfounded, I looked up to see Sister chuckling uncontrollably.
“Seungyub, when did you start thinking you weren’t using ‘diverse perspectives’?”
“…”
“Ah, sorry! I just really wanted to say that line once!”
*
In the emperor’s private garden filled with fragrant peach trees, we quickly cleared up the misunderstanding through a brief chat.
“You didn’t end the room because you wanted to train in martial arts?”
“You might think that’s selfish—but—”
“No, if you can become a martial arts master, it would help everyone else.”
“Thanks for understanding. But why did you come to the palace? If I were truly a phantom…”
“You wouldn’t have stood a chance, right?”
“Yes.”
“I knew that, but I had no choice. I thought the phantom was conducting some unknown strange ritual.”
“Oh.”
“So, if I rushed in now, I’d have a 5% chance of winning, and if I waited, only 1%. What should I do?”
“Even if it’s just 5%, I’d have to throw myself into the fight.”
“Exactly. And…”
“And?”
Sister smiled brightly and pulled a piece of cloth from her bosom.
It was the emblem of the Baehwa sect, a flag adorned with flames.
“What’s this?”
“I was going to kill the emperor and drop this flag.”
If the emperor were assassinated by the Baehwa sect, the empire would smash the remnants of the sect out of revenge, and the room would resolve.
“By the way, how interesting. If what you said is true, then Lee Jasung killed the phantom?”
“Maybe? Sister Eunsol played the flute until the last moment. The flute blocked the phantom’s possession, and my master killed the body possessed by the phantom. So it could not escape—”
At that moment, Sister Songee’s expression hardened.
“Who told you about this?”
“Excuse me?”
“Who told you what you just said?”
“Um, my master—”
“Lies! I interrogated over ten people trying to figure out what happened at the palace!”
???
“She didn’t even get to put the flute to her mouth. Grandpa shot her before she could! Many people saw it!”
My master, Lee Jasung, lied to me. Why?
…
The profound knowledge about the Soul Vessel.
The overly helpful demeanor.
The mention of seeking ‘other means’ to continue training.
In that moment, I felt like a hammer had hit me in the head.
Then, a shabby old man descended from the sky.
He smiled like a kindly grandfather, as he typically did lately.
“Your Majesty.”
“…”
“Your Majesty, I have something to say.”
“…Speak.”
“I explained the usage of the Soul Vessel, didn’t I?”
“…I thought your explanation seemed overly specific for a legend of the martial realm. It was originally your item?”
“Your Majesty, what I’m about to say now will have not a single lie.”
“…”
“First, the owner of the grimoire promised to take me out. You can confirm this later with him.”
“…”
“Second, there will hardly be a more useful ‘character’ within the ‘hotel’ than myself. I’m neither a madman like Beatrix nor a fanatic like Aurelia.”
“…”
“Third, I can be your good master. Have I not proven that over the past two weeks?”
I felt breathless.
The madness I’d experienced from that entity before now paralyzed my body with fear.
At that moment, bright words appeared, visible only to me as an illusion.
“Say you got it! Promise to take me out. Once you’re out of Room 205, you can ignore all those promises!”
This is it!
Sister Songee is quick on the uptake.
Ha! Phantom, you scumbag!
What’s so great about you? How impressive can you really be?
Isn’t it just that Room 205 is still in effect, so you’re strutting around like you own the place?
When the time for choice comes, you’ll be trapped in the Soul Vessel, begging for our mercy!
“Alright, fine! It’s a promise! Let’s go out together. Just don’t forget to teach me how to train properly!”
A streak of light split the air.
The power that could instantly demolish even a concrete building suddenly hurled Sister away.
She didn’t even have time to scream.
A solid hand grasped my neck.
“Aah~! You really can’t act. Who would fall for that face?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“What a shame. We could’ve left in peace. You’re going to have to play with me for a bit. Don’t worry! I’m not a bad person, you know?”
Overwhelming fear began to engulf my soul.
“Three days will be enough. By then, you’ll consider me a living Buddha.”
—
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