### Chapter 407 – Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days’ (9)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 268 (+36)
Current Location: Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days’
Sage’s Advice: 3
—
– Han Kain
The date has changed.
It’s not just a day or two; a whopping 36 days have passed!
With a shock that felt like someone was hammering my head, I realized…
There’s a time-traveler in Room 206!
I mean, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
We had talked about what kind of “creational clichés” exist in this so-called revelation of secrets.
And among those, there were indeed examples of time travel, possession, and reincarnation.
But still, a time-traveler, really!?
I feel like my brain might explode.
Not only are we suppressing supernatural abilities with unyielding reason, but now we gotta deal with someone who can turn back time?
Is this some sort of prank made to test my sanity?
I’ve already complained about this hotel more times than I can count, but this time it really takes the cake!
…
But this is no time to be lounging around complaining.
Let’s think this through.
Every time we escape the Curse Room and then go back in, everything resets.
In other words, from the perspective of the beings inside the Curse Room, we are the ones who came back.
The time-traveler in Room 206 is also a being similar to us.
What did we do?
After gathering various information on the first try, on the second try, we eliminated the risks we had already identified—
“This is bad news.”
That so-called ‘identified risk’? That’s us!
…
As I pressed my ear against the iron door, I could already hear multiple people moving around.
No doubt about it.
100% chance the time-traveler is trying to kill me right from the get-go!
Just then, I heard a groggy sound from beside me.
“What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be sleeping at this hour?”
In the shared lodging, as I moved around by myself, Peterson woke up next to me.
“Hey, Han Kain, you seem to be bursting with energy!”
“…”
“You have an extra hour of work tomorrow—”
— Bang!
“Ugh, oh nooo!”
I don’t have time to chat with this guy!
I quickly grabbed a nearby ornament and whacked Peterson on the head before snatching away the lodging key.
After what felt like about three minutes of running?
The pursuers finally realized I had escaped the lodging and began making a racket.
“Catch him!”
“He can’t have gone far!”
“Seal off the entrance!”
All valid points, which sent shivers down my spine.
I certainly haven’t gone far, and if they seal off the entrance, I won’t have anywhere to run.
What in the world am I supposed to do—
— Click!
The miners’ lodging doors in the hallway started to burst open one after another.
It was late, and since things had gotten noisy outside, the leaders in every room were waking up.
Naturally, the rougher leaders couldn’t just sit back.
“What’s going on? Eric! What’s that noise?”
“I don’t know! Someone’s running around upstairs!”
“Hey, what’s that guy doing in the hallway? Isn’t that Peterson’s miner? Why are you out at this hour?”
I felt my breath hitch.
With informants chasing me from behind and angry leaders from other rooms in front,
“What am I supposed to do…?”
Just when I realized how outrageous this time-travel ability truly was, someone appeared at the end of the hallway.
“…?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes; at this moment, I doubted my very vision.
Below the waist, flowing black hair.
In the dark, those crimson eyes faintly glinted.
“Ahri? What the heck—”
In the next moment, people appearing behind Ahri shoved the leaders aside as they moved closer.
“Ahhh! Who the heck are you people!”
“What on Earth is going on—”
Ahri, emerging from the shadows, shouted firmly.
“Let’s go. Right now!”
*
After escaping the mines with Ahri’s help, I listened to her lengthy explanation.
“So these people are from the Demon King cult? You woke up and came to rescue me?”
“Exactly.”
This meant two things.
First, Ahri wasn’t affected by the time travel.
Second, Ahri expected a time-traveler to target me.
“Did you notice the time travel?”
“Yeah. I was outside Paradise.”
“Outside Paradise?”
“There are cracks leading out in the city’s underground. If you get outside, you can use your powers without suppressing them. The time travel works the same way; it only rewinds time inside the city.”
“So the time-traveler is Leon Kardirov, the mayor? How did you know he would come after me?”
“Because you sparked a revolution before time rewound.”
At that moment, I was left speechless.
“H-Hold on, what revolution?”
“A revolution.”
“No, please don’t be metaphorical; make it simple—”
“I’m not joking; it’s a real revolution. The kind where you stab the ruling class with pitchforks to create an equal world.”
“…”
Was our first attempt Han Kain a total nutjob?
“Hmm, I get why the mayor wants to kill me. But what about the others?”
At those words, Ahri’s expression darkened.
“Instead of asking who died, we should question who’s still alive.”
That meant fewer survivors.
“Eunsol, Mooksung, Sanghyun, and even Songee—they’re definitely dead. Jinchul is barely hanging on.”
“… They all took part in the revolution?”
“Rather than directly taking part, they helped you. The mayor figured that out.”
“So, aside from us, the only survivors are Seungyub and Elena?”
“I’m not too sure about Seungyub…”
“Why?”
“He was already missing before time rewound. He might have escaped. He’s usually good with sneaky getaways when he’s alone.”
If Seungyub escaped, that’s great, but it’s still not a certainty.
As I walked through the underground, analyzing the situation step by step, I realized a fact that Ahri hadn’t mentioned.
“Ahri, you pretty much sacrificed the Demon King cult, didn’t you?”
“… Yeah.”
The cultists stormed the mines to save me.
I guess Ahri must’ve used her ‘Apostle’ status to claim she got divine revelations.
Given this action, there’s no way the mayor would let the cult live.
“Feels like it’s just you and me left. The cult is basically gone.”
“…”
“What are we supposed to do? This feels way too hopeless, doesn’t it?”
Even Ahri nodded, looking frustrated.
“Sealing supernatural powers and rewinding time? Quite overkill.”
“Did you find any weaknesses before the time rewind?”
“A few. Both the sealing powers and time rewind only apply within Paradise.”
Outside, you can use blessings and inheritances.
The time rewind goes back only within the city’s internal timeline.
“Anything else?”
“Another thing. Even though we’re humans deprived of powers, Leon Kardirov is the same. He’s just a regular human without time travel. One bullet could take him down.”
As soon as I heard that, a singular goal popped into my mind.
“Should we kill the mayor?”
“… Maybe we should try to enlist him instead.”
“Let’s focus on escaping first; then we can think about enlisting him next run.”
Enlisting was out of the question for this attempt.
Given that I had already sparked a revolution, the mayor would be extremely on edge about me.
“I’ve got to make sure we take him down this time. If we don’t, it’s death for both you and me.”
“That makes sense. Anyway, I’m revealing the mayor’s last weakness. Informants generally don’t come down to the underground.”
“…”
It felt a bit off since earlier.
The informants looked like they’d blow up the whole mine to chase me down, yet…
The moment we went underground, the pursuit effectively stopped.
Thanks to that, Ahri and I could have this leisurely conversation.
“Why wouldn’t they go underground?”
“Maybe because there’s a passage leading Outside down there?”
The underground has all sorts of openings leading out of Paradise.
“I heard from Sanghyun before the rewind that the mayor doesn’t want information about the Outside leaking within the city. Naturally, he’d want to hide that from the informants.”
“Information about the Outside means there’s no danger in going out, right?”
“Exactly. So instead of sending informants, who have limited ideological training, he sends specialized secret agents to watch over the Demon King cult.”
The Outer world is somewhere that people can live peacefully, totally different from the teachings within the city.
The mayor knows this truth but keeps it completely hidden from the city folks.
Something… something clicked in my head.
This information is definitely one of the crucial hints regarding Room 206.
Just then, Ahri decided to steer the conversation back to reality.
“Let’s return to our plan to assassinate the mayor. I think you’re right; we need to eliminate him this time.”
“…”
“Underground isn’t safe either. Right now, it’s just the 3rd grade informants, but still, eventually, 2nd grade secret agents will come to kill us.”
“I’ve been thinking, and nothing about this seems easy. While the mayor himself seems weak, he always has bodyguards with him.”
“Hmm…”
Another short silence ensued.
Then Ahri and I made eye contact simultaneously.
“I’ve got an idea.”
“So do I.”
*
– Elena
“Phew…”
The torturous shoot is finally over.
Honestly, I never thought I’d struggle so much with broadcasting work.
Even if it was a so-called B-grade drama or an unpopular variety show, I usually enjoyed it…
Reciting the ridiculous script that Patrick made is actually lowering my IQ.
After a deep sigh that let me forget the laborious work, I entered my house and flopped down onto the bed.
…
— Rustle!
“…”
I sensed a presence.
Someone had broken into my house.
If I were just an ordinary girl, Elena Ivanova, I’d probably be crying and not knowing what to do.
But I’m a contestant who’s experienced hell and high water in this hotel.
I grabbed the golf club leaning against my bed.
All I need is a single powerful swing.
I stood by the door and waited for the intruder to step inside.
…
— Creak!
“Hi-yah!”
With the momentum of a decisive strike, just as I was about to slam the intruder with my golf club—
I recognized the intruder’s identity.
“AHHH! Han Kain! What are you doing?!”
Startled, I tried to pull back the swing, but there’s this little thing called inertia in the world.
— Bam!
“Ouch!”
*
It took quite a while for Han Kain to wake up.
“Ar-are you alright?”
“…”
“Han Kain, can you show me your hand?”
“… This is something else.”
“Uh?”
“This is even more dangerous than when I was chased by informants after the rewind.”
“…”
“It’s more dangerous than being chased by 200 informants sent by the mayor—”
“W-Well, I was creeping in the dark, of course it’s harder!”
“Ugh… Ahri awoke Elena without any problems before time rewound!”
“That’s only because Ahri is better at hiding—”
What is Han Kain talking about right now?
What? Time rewind? Ahri woke me without a hitch?
In that moment of panic, a sly smile spread across Han Kain’s face.
“Elena, listen to me carefully— oww! That legitimately hurts!”
“…”
Once I understood the situation, it became clear.
The realization that the mayor possesses time-traveling abilities was shocking.
“Did you come through the underground to get to this house? The mayor doesn’t apply his influence down there, does he?”
“Exactly.”
But why did Han Kain come looking for me?
“You need me for your plan to assassinate the mayor, don’t you?”
“Listen closely.”
I listened to the lengthy plan.
“Got it?”
“…”
It’s a bizarre assassination plot.
So, in short…
“If the mayor were an ordinary person, this method wouldn’t hold up at all.”
“That’s right.”
This assassination plan only works on time-travelers.
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