### Chapter 417 – Room 104, The Curse Room – ‘The Preparatory Elite Hotel High School’ Re (16)
—
— Han Kain
Five days have passed since the hotel went into chaos.
The situation resembles what it used to be.
Ahri and Elena have been regularly creating a horror movie ambiance, torturing the followers of the faith.
Naturally, the voices of the followers pleading for salvation filled the air, but Aurelia remained silent, not stepping out of her dwelling.
During this time, Miro repeatedly used her ‘divine power’ to save the cult from the clutches of demons. Because of this, I’ve heard Ahri’s voice—fleeing from Miro—at least ten times.
As expected, Miro’s authority has risen significantly, and within the cult, she’s regarded as the second saint without question.
This means the cult is practically splitting into two.
So far, things have followed the plan nicely…
“I didn’t expect Aurelia to stay this inactive.”
Her response surprised me.
I thought she’d lose her mind for a day or two after realizing the purpose behind the attempted murder, but she’s been holed up in her room for five straight days?
Is her mental state this fragile?
Thanks to her, Jinchul’s plans have been slightly derailed.
“Hmm…”
“You seem deep in thought. Have a sandwich or something.”
“Ah, thank you, Noona.”
I’ve been spending time hidden in the old school building with help from Eunsol and Elder Mooksung for several days.
“Noona, you know the plan is subtly derailing, right?”
“Yeah, it seems Aurelia was a lot more shocked than expected. She hasn’t come out of her room at all.”
“So that means I should check the underground city.”
“I’ll take your host there.”
That’s quite an odd way to put it, but it is technically correct.
“Ha ha, Eunsol, did the saint really say she wanted to see me?”
“Of course.”
— Drilling sound!
*
The newly acquired identity is Secretary Kwon Il-hwan, a prominent figure aiding the oblivious Aurelia in worldly affairs.
“Good morning, Secretary!”
“Good morning.”
Thanks to this, I could move seamlessly down to the underground city beneath the old school.
To put it bluntly, it’s remarkable how smoothly everything goes when you inherit a ton of stuff and retry Room 1.
If this were Room 2, by now, some cult artifacts to fend off possession would have definitely shown up.
“Secretary, what brings you to the underground? If you’re here on business—”
“Nothing much, just planning to study the old scriptures for a while.”
“Ha ha! Truly a pious individual—”
The armed cultists smiled and let me pass.
“…”
The underground cultists all wore chillingly identical expressions.
I wasn’t surprised, having checked this in the past.
That said, it wasn’t a time to drop my guard.
Room 104 isn’t a room that’s hard to solve; it’s what happens after you solve it that’s the real problem.
The reward, the sacred sun itself, has everyone in a tizzy.
The Sacred Sun, the inheritance of Room 104.
What on earth does it actually do?
I already know a fair bit.
Firstly, the Sacred Sun is a manifestation of the deity.
Secondly, it appears when the cult is on the brink of destruction.
Thirdly, I must obtain the Sacred Sun for the deity’s goals to be realized.
The third bit of info was gathered during my second attempt at Room 104, where the deity threw every trick in the book to prevent anyone else from obtaining the Sacred Sun but me.
Why did it do that?
Because it doesn’t trust anyone else with the influence over their minds?
That seems improbable.
The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.
Once again, I could feel just how bizarre Room 104 is.
The room’s mysteries lie not in the process of solving them but in the inheritance gained afterward.
There’s a clue.
The revelation suggests checking the “myths and doctrines of the cult.”
Perhaps buried within this content lies the answer to my prolonged dilemma.
Just like many religious organizations, the cult of Room 104 also has a place where they store ancient scripture, and security isn’t particularly tight.
After all, scriptures are generally written so everyone can read them at least once.
…
[25:18]
I spent nearly half an hour sifting through the scriptures.
“Nothing much here.”
It’s all stuff I’ve heard somewhere before.
The Lord had prepared an immortal paradise for the faithful.
So, do not be attached to worldly wealth and flesh.
Honestly, don’t all cults say something similar?
Their teachings essentially mean you can go to heaven after you die, so just give us all your money, right?
“…”
No, wait.
If I think of it as just another ordinary cult, it would be a serious misunderstanding.
Because this cult is ‘real.’
While I habitually throw around words like ‘cult’ or ‘heretic,’ these guys aren’t fake.
They serve a genuine god who manipulates the stars and has a saint performing miracles; how could this be false?
With that thought, I revisited the scriptures again.
The Lord has prepared an immortal paradise.
Let’s take this literally.
The deity has genuinely prepared a paradise for the cultists, from which they will obtain immortality.
Do not be attached to worldly wealth and flesh.
I’ll take that literally as well.
Paradise is a place separate from the material world, completely disconnected from the possessions of Earth or the body.
[19:27]
Why did the deity create this cult in the first place?
I’ve met numerous prisoners in the hotel, but not everyone becomes part of a religious organization.
Is it out of pity for mortal humans?
Honestly, I doubt that.
Is there something to gain from humans?
I once heard a famous celebrity on TV say, “The purpose of cults is money and women.”
At least, it can’t be the Lord’s purpose, right?
“…”
Immortal paradise.
The futility of wealth and flesh.
The reason divine beings form religions.
The cultists, wearing eerily similar expressions.
And lastly, the reason I must obtain the Sacred Sun.
With those thoughts, I began to grasp a vague understanding of the principle behind the Sacred Sun.
I’ve already encountered similar entities or phenomena in the hotel.
Perhaps, the Sacred Sun is akin to a ‘pointillism’ existence?
It’s still merely a hypothesis.
To be sure, I need evidence.
—
[14:11]
A location that might provide evidence sprang to mind.
*
I retraced my steps from the second attempt.
My destination? The holiest of holies, extra holy grounds.
“Hmm? Is that you, Secretary Kwon?”
“…”
Four heavily armed cultists blocked the way, and by the feel of it, no matter how significant a figure in the cult I was, I wouldn’t get in here.
Only the saint would be allowed passage.
“Am I allowed to pass through?”
“Pardon? Ha ha! You’re joking, right, Secretary?”
This body cannot pass through here.
I wonder about others…
[05:13]
I guess it’s time to back off.
— Click!
“Ugh! W-why, Secretary Kwon, sudden gun—”
“Drop the gun or die! Do you think a handgun could pierce through me?”
Even wearing a bulletproof vest, I know it won’t get through.
I’m smart enough to realize that much.
— Bang!
“Ahhh! Secretary Kwon just committed suicide!”
“Medical team!”
“Let the saint know!”
*
As I returned to my body and opened my eyes, there was Ahri right in front of me.
“Did you figure anything out?”
“Sort of.”
I relayed the information I’d gathered and a few hypotheses to Ahri.
“Interesting hypothesis, but isn’t it more your intuition than solid evidence?”
“True.”
“I might need to check that underground holy ground.”
“Right. But, to do that, I’ll need to kill a bunch of people.”
I could, but if I rampage and kill the cultists in the underground, the Sacred Sun might show up and go, “Hey you!”
“I’ll talk to Miro. Since she’s regarded as a 0.9 saint now, we should be able to arrange it.”
“Cool. By the way, how’s Jinchul?”
“He might be with Aurelia by now.”
*
— Cha Jinchul
Everyone must be doing their best, right?
Some are being saints, some ghosts, and some saint assassins, all fitting into their roles perfectly.
At this very moment, I, Cha Jinchul, find myself…
…
Trapped in the cult’s underground prison.
“Argh, darn it!”
Everyone’s working like well-oiled gears, why does my situation have to go so south?
The original plan was incredibly simple!
Kain would stab that punk, mentally shatter the saint, and she’d be bedridden for a day or two.
And then, the counterfeit saint Miro would show up?
Naturally, the real saint would rage and get up to smack some sense into them.
And right at that moment!
I swoop in and complete my objective.
But Aurelia has been holed up in her room for five days now.
Why is her mental state so weak?
Was it really that shocking to realize that a god wanted to kill her?
Shouldn’t a saint be able to respond with something like, “Oh dear God, you’re boiling oil, let me in!” and jump in willingly to get fried?
Sure, I can agree this is a bit much.
But after three days and four nights of resting, wouldn’t she rationalize that perhaps the Lord has a great plan, or that Satan has deceived her?
She needs a bit of that zeal to act like a saint, don’t you reckon?
When I snap back to reality, the important thing is that Aurelia hasn’t taken a single step out of her underground dwelling while I’m stuck in a cult prison because I just wanted to catch a glimpse of the saint’s face.
Because of that, some being who hasn’t had any presence for a long while has been stirring up chaos since the day before yesterday.
“Why are you just sitting there?”
“…”
“Just tear down the bars. Hurry and send me to Aurelia.”
“…”
The witch, who had kept quiet for several months, suddenly began acting like a noisy child.
Is she finally giddy at the thought of possibly getting her own body?
“If you want a body that bad, I’ll fetch you a decently wicked NPC—”
“No!”
That reply came in barely a second.
“I decided the moment I saw her, Aurelia will be my body; she’s too pretty, has high magic affinity, is too pretty, and has high chaotic resistance. Did I mention she’s too pretty?”
“There are three ‘too prettys’ in that sentence, you know?”
“I want a pretty body too!”
“You could change your appearance anyway. You can swap to another body if you wish.”
So couldn’t she just pick a random body for now and then choose her preferred body later?
“Don’t make it sound so easy. It’s a complex issue you wouldn’t ever understand with your intelligence.”
So I zipped it.
As I thought quietly, it struck me just how absurd this was.
The physical body is no luxury shopping bag to simply select from; this feeling of choosing pretty goods to enter or not is…
This is a chillingly inhuman conversation we’re having.
The very fact that I’m naturally falling into this outlandish dialogue felt burdensome.
“Why are you just sitting there?”
“I told you! I’m restraining myself because if I reckless take out cultists, the sacred sun might pop out and say, ‘You there!’”
“Then are you going to stay here forever?”
“I have plans too, so pipe down.”
As if I’d be lying around here doing nothing!
Naturally, I have my grand scheme to meet the saint!
No matter how mentally broken Aurelia is!
If it goes my way, I’ll definitely get to see her.
“Just wait a little. It won’t be much longer.”
At that moment, Ahri uttered something particularly foreboding.
“Hasn’t the saint truly lost her mind?”
“…”
“Perhaps—”
“I know. I’m considering other possibilities, so stop worrying.”
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