### Chapter 457 – Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Revived After 100 Days’ Re (19)
—
– Han Kain
Date: Day 500
Current Location: Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Revived After 100 Days’
Sage’s Advice: 3
—
I felt pain.
It was because the life of the man in front of me was so pitiful.
“Ugh… Lord Kardiroff…”
I gripped the old man’s hand tightly as he lay gasping on the damp hospital bed.
Naturally, I could ‘feel’ his life.
Despite the wrinkled skin, he was barely in his early 40s, aging prematurely from working in the Paradise shoe factory since childhood.
He had never seen the sea or a lake, let alone the sky or tasted fresh meat.
His life had been spent like a cog in a machine, completely draining himself away.
Finally, when the man could no longer work, all Paradise had prepared for him was this worn-out bed.
“…”
A life void of dreams or hopes.
That’s why I also felt tortured.
“Lord Kardiroff… It’s an honor to meet you…”
“…”
Just then, the sound of the hospital door opening interrupted.
“Gain, we took the photo, let’s go!”
“…Sure.”
As Kardiroff’s successor, I was doing some kind of charity work.
After all, politicians in reality occasionally cover their faces and deliver coal, don’t they?
Both the citizens and I knew it was just a show, but politics is originally a performance.
“Yesterday, I got word from Elena that we’re about to leave.”
That means Elena, Aira, Seungyub, and Jinchul are heading down to the depths of Paradise.
“That’s good to hear. Though it feels like a lot of power has slipped away up top.”
“It’s unavoidable. Securing an escape is more important than anything.”
That’s true, but effectively, half of our power has left.
“Is there still no news from Uncle Sanghyun?”
“…Uncle?”
Seeing my sister’s slight confusion, I added,
“We’ve been together for quite a while now, so calling him ‘teacher’ feels a bit awkward.”
“…You can ask him later. I think ‘teacher’ is better than ‘uncle’.”
“And I haven’t heard any news?”
After Uncle entered the bizarre place known as the Sanctuary of the Academy, Aira, having finished her tasks, also headed to the depths.
Since the hotel party that was originally part of the Demon King’s cult has all defected, Songyi and Eunsol have sent another agent to the cult.
“Well… there haven’t been any particular reports.”
“That’s strange. I heard from Elder Raymond that you usually get news within a week.”
It’s been over two weeks now.
Without the status window, it would be easy to think Uncle was dead there.
“Is Sanghyun still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then we should wait. He’ll come out when the time is right.”
“Hmm…”
My role this time seems to be rather subtle, just like the last round.
Research on the Demon King’s cult, infiltration of the depths, securing an escape, and domination of the city.
These are all tasks currently in progress, but it’s all being done actively by my other companions.
I am solely focused on charging my inheritance.
My companions haven’t berated me about this issue.
After all, the Sacred Sun is expected to wield immense power, especially given its conditions and ‘side effects’ that are vastly different from other inheritances.
Strength, in most cases, means plenty of answers.
“So how’s the charging going? There were a ton of believers this time! Is it all finished yet?”
I smiled back at my sister, who expressed her anticipation with a smirk.
“It’s much faster. I expect the charging will finish this round. Maybe even right now…”
“Right now?”
Suddenly, I recalled that strange feeling I experienced earlier.
An old man who has exhausted his entire life.
A life with no dreams or hopes.
The cogs of Paradise.
Compassion for the man filled my heart, and a faint light began emanating from my body.
I couldn’t turn back the lost time he spent, but I wanted at least to heal a part of his ailing body, so he could spend whatever little time left in comfort.
“…”
That was it.
An incomprehensible force forcibly tore at the flow of my light.
It was the unyielding rationality.
If it has a name, it seemed to warn me, saying, “I won’t allow this any longer.”
“…I guess flashy powers are beyond me.”
As I lightly sighed, I could see Eunsol with wide eyes like a startled bunny.
“W-What did you just do?”
“I didn’t do anything; I just failed at trying. That unyielding rationality—”
“B-but! You released at least some light from your body! Y-you pushed away the unyielding rationality with your strength, right?!”
“I tried to push it away but failed.”
Eunsol didn’t seem to even hear my words.
“That’s amazing! The Demon King couldn’t budge against the unyielding rationality—”
“…”
This isn’t the kind of comparison to make with the Demon King.
Because the Demon King has been suppressed by a vastly stronger version of the unyielding rationality due to being a master of time, whereas I am not in that situation.
If the Demon King were in my position, he would have swept away the ‘unyielding rationality’ like a piece of paper and devoured the world.
“That would surprise the firstborn!”
“Isn’t the firstborn also pretty powerful?”
“Turns out they were just using trickery.”
“It wasn’t trickery; it was more like the authority of managing the unyielding rationality.”
The firstborn’s methods aren’t anything we could imitate.
Anyway, it’s a fact that I’ve somewhat succeeded in a miracle within the range of the unyielding rationality.
After that mysterious speech last time, this time makes it the second occurrence.
“…”
What if the charging is completed?
My heart began to feel light, just like my sister’s.
Then my sister tilted her head.
“So what exactly were you trying to do?”
I explained briefly.
How painful that man’s life was, how I felt for him.
And she seemed even more surprised than when I used my superpower.
“Wow…”
“Sister?”
“You… you….”
“What’s with that expression all of a sudden?”
“I never thought that you, of all people, would say something like that.”
“…Huh?”
“‘You, small little one. The life of a human is like a feather, and the value of your pain is merely the dirt on that feather.’ Isn’t that your concept?”
“What kind of speech pattern is that?”
“It’s the sort of speech you like. Honestly, it sounds somewhat similar, doesn’t it?”
Without realizing it, my face flushed.
“Cough! Don’t joke around.”
“Not bad at all. I think it could work!”
“…What do I look like to you right now?”
“Well… You seem a lot more at ease than before. Didn’t your patron tell you to pour ‘white paint’ on yourself?”
“Yes.”
“I think I understand the meaning of that. I think you’re okay.”
“Okay, huh?”
The Grimoire and the Sacred Sun clearly have different directions.
The former feels like, ‘Your body is my tool,’ while the latter has a vibe of, ‘You are me.’
If you ask what this means, I’d say the latter is more ‘sincere’ to people than the former.
But ‘sincerity’ isn’t always in a positive sense.
I’m always sincere about my beef.
My sister must have thought that I, or Ahri, were too cold in those times.
In that context, it’s only natural for her to be happy about my change in feeling sympathy for the tortured NPC.
My sister doesn’t know what I did when I was consumed by the Sacred Sun in the last round.
Recalling this point stirred peculiar thoughts.
“The blessing always protects me.”
“What?”
The status window, when the blessing of wisdom disappears, makes it difficult to control the extreme influence of the Sacred Sun.
Reversely, this means that as long as the status window is active, I can at least control it to some degree.
Just like right now, where my companions might feel I’m more ‘human’ than before.
“…”
I once heard from Aira a long time ago.
There’s not just one way to escape from Hotel Pioneer, and depending on that method, you could lose your blessings or heritage.
This truth surfaced when I temporarily stepped outside during the Midsummer Night’s Dream event.
At that time, I had almost lost my blessing of wisdom.
…
For my current self, ‘escape without blessings’ is dangerous.
It means I’ve become more dependent on the status window.
“Ah…”
“What’s wrong?”
The side effects of the Grimoire, realizing that, led me to be more dependent on the Owl for new heritage.
Could it be that the Owl was aware of this future?
“There’s not a single trustworthy soul in this world.”
“Well, it’s always been like that, hasn’t it? As if it wasn’t the norm before.”
“Haha! Sister, I appreciate that remark just now.”
“Suddenly?”
For the first time in a while, I felt my sister truly being an ‘adult.’
That’s right.
There really isn’t a single trustworthy soul out there.
“I’ve got a small goal now.”
“What is it?”
“I think I need another means to protect my sanity.”
—
– Kim Sanghyun
— Thud, thud, thud…!
Feeling the ground shake beneath me, I climbed up into a tree just as an enormous boar came charging through, snorting.
Upon the monster’s back was a very familiar cute boy.
“Where are you! Come out!”
It’s Seungyub, using ‘ominous imagination.’
An impossible existence, obviously, and fake.
“Gasp!”
Holding my breath, I waited and waited.
As the boar approached the tree, and finally—
— Jump!
“Urgh—!”
It took me less than a second to snap the fake Seungyub’s neck.
Soon, the boar also vanished into dust.
“Phew… Is this another one? This isn’t easy at all.”
I wondered how many days had passed outside.
Room 206 had a habit of distorting the passage of time, and in this bizarre location created by the Demon King, it’s hard to grasp the flow of time.
It feels like it’s already been over ten days.
“Demon King, now I’m mad too, so I’ll drop the formalities. You son of a gun! Why did you create this bullshit place?”
The first location I arrived at was a decaying city full of zombies.
In that place, another ‘me’ with a strange blessing, not diligence, was busy trying to kill me under the Demon King’s orders.
After killing about four of those guys, I naturally discovered a strange door.
… Beyond that door was another curse room.
A hotel within a hotel.
A curse room within a curse room within a curse room—
“What the heck is this? Who picked up the term fractal structure?”
The next room was a snowy rural village, where a fake Cha Jinchul came charging at me.
Being a pure athlete, he nearly killed me.
Then came a windowless building with a fake Eunsol.
Sorry, but Eunsol isn’t very good at fighting, making it much easier than the previous room.
…
This feels endless.
The elder of the sect told me it would take about a week, but that time has long passed.
“Where are you! Come out!”
As I grabbed another fake Seungyub’s neck, the boy whimpered as he mumbled,
“Mom…! Sister Aira! Brother Kain!”
“…”
— Crash!
These fakes even seemed to carry our memories.
That fact was painfully maddening.
“Please, Demon King. I’ll speak politely now, so just come out. What on earth is this perverted nonsense you’re doing?”
Though I acted nonchalant, deep down, I felt differently.
I don’t know the exact moment, but at some point, I vaguely realized it.
I, Kim Sanghyun, was getting closer and closer to the Demon King with every moment.
My fragile mind was being sucked into an empty world, into a distant abyss.
“…”
From some time ago, every time I closed my eyes, I could feel the Demon King.
Looking at an endless amalgamation of wriggling impulses.
I could feel that impulse slowly reaching out toward me.
“Are you planning on molding me into something you desire?”
Standing before another doorway leading to the next room.
Like I was spellbound, I opened the door and moved forward.
—
It was a colossal room.
The walls were filled with a dark red hue, and there were no passages leading to other places.
The door through which I had entered had vanished like a ghost.
In the center of the room stood the young man I revered the most.
“Uncle, great job!”
“…Uncle?”
Right from his first words, he displeased me.
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