### Chapter 389 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream (5)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 224
Current Location: Floor 1, Main Entrance
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
– Han Kain
After the escape, the first thing I faced was a gigantic storm.
A person jumped from the sky, not falling down but getting bounced back up repeatedly by the strong winds!
I once asked a benefactor if I could escape by making a makeshift parachute from the hotel curtains.
Owl replied something like, “If you don’t value your life, give it a shot,” but I only understood its meaning now.
Unless you’re exceptionally lucky, the parachute is bound to rip, and you’d be toast.
“Ughhh!”
—Beep!
“Ugh, P-Peero?”
Peero seemed hell-bent on saving himself and was about to literally bite off my finger!
As Peero soared toward the sky, having found freedom, I was in a free fall towards the almost invisible land below.
At that moment, all sorts of thoughts ran through my head.
What happens if I die from this fall?
My body would be destroyed outside the cursed chamber – can I come back from that?
Would my comrades have to use a ticket for me?
Amidst the countless overlapping thoughts, I finally discovered a path.
In one hand, I held an hourglass.
In the other, a grimoire.
The hourglass turned.
The grimoire opened.
I couldn’t tell which one was faster, but the outcome was definite.
I saw my body, frozen in the sky, while I floated within Peero’s form!
It felt like time had stopped around my body.
At that moment, a foreboding thought brushed the little parrot’s head.
Wait, did my use of the hourglass freeze my hotel comrades too?
…
No, I don’t think so.
Miro awakened the Specter in Room 205 while turning the hourglass, yet there was no change in comrades at the city center.
The hourglass must have a ‘functional radius.’
Peero’s body, which was about 20 meters away, was intact, meaning my hotel comrades further away should be fine.
—Hiiiiiing!
My moment of contemplation was brief.
The monstrous storm didn’t cut Peero any slack just because it was a parrot.
Even notifications popped up amid the chaos.
“You’ve acquired the feathers of a bird soaring through the storm!”
“Hey! Of all times?!”
Not a single ounce of joy was felt.
Like when Jinchul’s hair and Eunsol’s eyeball got snatched, I lost some of Peero’s feathers too.
Thanks to that, the balance I’d barely managed to maintain in the storm crumbled immediately.
Time spent in a state closer to free-fall continued for a while.
Finally, I spotted land beginning to appear!
*
After returning to reality, I sat on top of a building and realized two things.
First, something strange had transpired at the hotel.
The drunken blackout from the previous night.
The bewildered actions of everyone who had lost their minds.
The power of clarity and constancy that protects the mind was rendered completely ineffective.
The cause behind such absurdity could only be the hotel itself.
“No matter how you look at it, jumping down outside without a plan?”
I must have truly gone nuts!
Second, the status window had disappeared.
That’s to be expected.
After all, blessings are constrained not to the possessed body but to the physical form.
Even before, whenever I possessed something, the status window wasn’t visible.
Of course, this ‘expected’ occurrence was nothing short of a catastrophic disaster for me.
“Beeeeep….”
Even my sigh sounded like a beep.
…
Though I was in a parrot’s body, observing the reality brought my spirits up a little.
The feeling of the atmosphere tingled all over.
People bustling about beneath the building.
Laser turrets starting to lock onto me.
All of this was movingly—
Wait, laser turret?
—Ziiiing!
What the heck is that!
Just as I dodged the turret that looked ready to roast me, another danger approached.
“Kieeek!”
A cute parrot’s head was about to be crushed by a fierce beak attack!
I quickly twisted my body in the air, escaping the predator’s strike.
The attacker roared with an arrogant expression.
“Peeooor!”
“What are you, an eagle?!”
The crisis wasn’t over.
To that deadly city ecosystem, I was merely a tasty morsel of parrot meat.
My difference from chicken was whether I’d already dropped into an oily frying pan.
The pigeon spun in a loop, extending its fierce beak.
The momentum was like a strike from a top-notch expert.
But who did they think I was?
The smartest parrot in the world!
As I pressed my wings tightly to my body, I began to drop quickly, while the pigeon’s strike sliced through the air ineffectively.
Just as the furious pigeon glared at me and charged again—
My body somehow stuck to a nearby small building.
—Ziiing!
“DIE!”
The red-glowing laser turret locked onto the opponent, and despair filled the enemy’s eyes.
They had no more chances left.
“See! This is the difference of intellect! Do you think a pigeon can beat a human?”
Still, they were a formidable opponent, just like the many monsters I faced in the cursed chamber.
…
…
…
“What the hell is this…?”
In came the rapid sage time.
Did I just have a soul-to-soul duel with a pigeon?
I didn’t even have the confidence to win one-on-one, so I ended up using the turret’s help….
—Ziiing!
Amidst all this, the turret that incinerated the pigeon turned its attention back to me.
I had no choice but to press myself tightly against the window to evade the turret’s firing path.
“Where the heck is this… Am I in Korea? Why does every building have turrets?!”
—Di-ring!
A telephone?
“Excuse me! There’s a weird parrot outside the window! Seems to be speaking human words—”
“Hey! Hang up the phone immediately!”
“It’s, it’s threatening me right now—”
That weak parrot had no safe place left in the city.
*
Half a day flew by as I soared around downtown Seoul, deep in thought.
It’s a bizarre world.
So bizarre that…
I couldn’t believe this was the reality I’d been living.
I tried to turn my thoughts away from the world.
What should I do from now on?
…
Let’s check home first.
Are my parents doing well? What about my siblings?
…
No sign of them.
They must have lived around here their whole lives, yet….
Neither my parents nor the home I grew up in could be seen anywhere.
At that moment, it honestly felt like the sky was crashing down.
Then, memories from the hotel cinema surfaced.
“Will Kain’s family be in the world we arrive at after escape?”
“I believe it won’t be a tragic ending. If Kain can overcome the trials, he will be able to see the ending he desires.”
“….”
That promise was surely made to me by the hotel.
If I overcome the trials, a happy ending, the ending I want, awaits me.
Right now, I haven’t escaped after conquering the trials; I merely lost my mind and fled suddenly.
So, the ending I desire isn’t out there.
That’s what I decided to believe.
With that self-comfort, I fell asleep.
There was no longer a moon in Seoul’s night sky.
…
The next morning, I awoke in a birdcage.
Surrounded by people dressed in white.
The Administration Bureau had captured me.
*
Half a day had passed.
I realized one more thing.
“Hey! You idiots!”
“Memo: The behavior of ‘The College-Educated Parrot’ is becoming increasingly aggressive.”
“Hey! I’m one of the Bureau’s agents! Bring me someone important!”
“Memo: ‘The College-Educated Parrot’ requests an audience with high-ranking officials of the Bureau.”
“Wow…! Do you think I’m stuck here because I have no power to kill just one of you?”
“Memo: ‘The College-Educated Parrot’ is prone to arrogance.”
“Kim Ahri! Kim Mooksung! Miro! Don’t you know? You’re all part of the Korea branch!”
“Memo: ‘The College-Educated Parrot’ is aware of the names of the missing agents Kim Ahri and Kim Mooksung. Internal information poses a risk level increase.”
“No…. Sir, I understand; just bring me one high-up who can communicate with me!”
“Memo—”
—Thud! Crackle!
“Ugh!”
“Memo: ‘The College-Educated Parrot’ seems to lack intelligence more than anticipated. It often forgets that electricity flows through the cage.”
“…”
The Bureau researchers had a remarkable knack for making people burst with laughter.
*
I pondered how to get out of this situation.
My original body felt like it was still in good condition.
The hourglass was spinning, fixing my body in the hotel’s sky.
Unless intervened, the hourglass would stop our bodies’ time for seven days.
Since seven days hadn’t passed yet, I had to somehow return to where my body was.
If that’s the case, then I must escape from this damn place.
After which, I could fly—
…
Even after escaping, I faced issues.
My body was located far too high up.
I was unsure if the parrot could even fly that high to reach the spot.
If I considered escape first, another issue arose.
This was a struggle I had never encountered in the cursed chamber.
This place was reality.
It wasn’t the reality I’d lived, but the reality where Ahri and Grandpa existed.
The people before me were Ahri and Grandpa’s comrades.
So….
I couldn’t carelessly kill them.
“Hey, you’d die right away if I set my mind to it.”
“…”
“If I don’t kill you, the Bureau will!”
“Memo: ‘The College-Educated Parrot’ frequently makes unreasonable threats.”
What would happen if I hijacked this researcher’s body?
Would escape be as easy as it seems?
…
I doubt it.
This wasn’t mafia prison but rather a facility for sealing monsters.
Surely, there’d be methods to detect body hijacking.
If I steal this guy’s body and the Bureau finds out, what would happen?
The answer was too simple.
I’ve seen it already in Room 201, right?
The Bureau isn’t the type to ‘consider’ situations like this.
A drone or something would fly in without hesitation and blow the head off the researcher who was once my comrade.
That would mean failure in escape, and I’d just end up killing one unfortunate Bureau researcher.
Transforming grotesquely?
I doubt that would make much of a difference.
…
Even so, if it were the cursed room, I would’ve attempted various experiments.
Here, reality is at play.
They are comrades of Ahri and Grandpa.
This realization left me utterly powerless.
And….
Night fell again.
*
—Beep, beep!
…
—BEEP!
What the heck is that time?
Are they planning to torture me to the point of not even being able to sleep?
—Creeeak!
The door opened.
Not to where I am, but the adjacent room.
A ‘different existence’ was locked up in there.
“My Lord….”
Lord?
“Aah, you’ve come, my son of Kim Hyunmoo, So-wun. You’ve arrived.”
“My Lord, how many long nights have you spent in this narrow place? When I first welcomed you, I realized the Bureau’s corruption—”
“So-wun, my loyal child. Let’s speak in detail after we go outside. I bestow infinite glory upon you. You didn’t come alone, did you?”
“My Lord, five comrades have already sworn to serve you.”
What kind of nonsense is this?
Could it be that the fifth reincarnation of Jesus next door is charming Bureau staff to escape?
Those imbeciles at the Bureau—
…
No, no, this is a great opportunity.
I don’t want to harm a Bureau officer with my own hands.
But wouldn’t it be fine to slip out during the ‘minor tumult’ that occurs without me?
—Thud!
“Father!”
“…”
“My Lord! Jesus!”
“So-wun, what is that sound?”
“It’s just a talking parrot. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Then I shall take my leave—”
“Am I about to scream?”
“…”
“I’m gonna scream really loud! Can you handle it?”
“…”
“My Lord, please show mercy even to a little lamb.”
“…”
“I have heard your teachings and know that a true shepherd has risen on this land—”
“I have never preached.”
“No way, the reincarnation of Jesus hasn’t preached even once? When the hell are you gonna save the world?”
“…”
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.