### Chapter 461 – Room 206, The Curse Room – ‘The Demon King Revived After 100 Days’ Re (23)
—
– Han Kain
Mooksung Grandpa, Sanghyun Hyung, and I sat around the table.
I spoke honestly without hiding anything, just as the advice had suggested.
“I used the advice.”
“Is that so? What was your question?”
He still didn’t quite grasp the situation.
“I asked if Sanghyun Hyung is in a normal state.”
“…”
It seemed even someone who had seen it all was a bit taken aback. He fell silent for a moment before asking again.
“What was the answer?”
I wrote it down for everyone to see.
Question 1: Is Kim Sanghyun’s current state normal?
Answer 1: Prioritize conversation over suspicion.
Sanghyun nodded at what he read.
“So you came to talk, huh? Seeing it marked as Question 1, it seems there are Questions 2 and 3 as well.”
“I used two pieces of advice.”
Question 2: Does this mean there hasn’t been any change since the Demon King Cult’s sanctuary?
Answer 2: A change in mindset doesn’t strictly require magic or superpowers.
“This is…”
“My Grandpa and I interpreted this answer as: The Demon King Cult didn’t use supernatural means to manipulate Hyung, but it looks like there has been a shift in his mindset.”
“…”
“People’s thoughts can change through persuasion and conversation. It doesn’t have to be controlled or brainwashed to change.”
The next words came from Grandpa.
“Therefore, Teacher, please tell us about what you experienced in the sanctuary and how your thoughts have changed.”
“…”
After a moment of silence, Sanghyun explained step by step what he had experienced in the sanctuary.
He encountered inexplicable beings there and gained various bits of information.
However, he also hoped someone other than Kim Sanghyun would show up.
“It seems the Ultimate One wants to meet Kain.”
“Me?”
“It’s just a guess, so nothing is certain.”
He realized the essence of the Demon King is influenced by the impulses or beliefs of the followers.
He believed that transforming the Demon King into a benevolent deity for humanity could be the answer.
Up to that point, it was information I had either heard or guessed already, but the next part was something I hadn’t considered.
The current cycle couldn’t follow the already discovered solution route.
“We’re running out of time. We should anticipate about a month left. How are we going to convert most of the city’s people to worship the Demon King in this short window?”
“…”
“Even with your superpowers, Kain, it won’t be easy. Plus, don’t forget, the city isn’t just one paradise.”
I understood.
There was only about a month left, and the city was not just a single paradise but at least ten more.
Converting over half the survivors in such a short time would be impossible, even if we employed the supernatural charisma of the Holy Sun.
Still, a thought crossed my mind.
Converting NPCs in dozens of cities instead of one paradise?
That wouldn’t be easy even if we had 100 days.
Should I pretend to be a servant of the Demon King and run around preaching for 100 days?
There was something odd about this.
If the hotel truly intended for such a solution, then there had to be “a simple means for conversion” within Room 206.
“That’s why I suggested we leave quickly. There’s no point in exhausting ourselves for a cycle we can’t resolve; it’d be better to just recharge the Holy Sun and escape.”
That was logical.
So logical that neither Grandpa nor I had a solid counterargument.
As we proceeded through the hotel, I often felt that human stamina and mentality are definitely not infinite.
If they were, then the comrades who fell into primordial times in Room 203 wouldn’t have mentally struggled at all.
In a cycle we can’t resolve, we should hastily move on for our own sake.
“…”
Grandpa looked at me for a moment before speaking.
“Your opinion is simple, Teacher. You’ve figured out the solution, but since it’s unachievable in this cycle, you suggest we give up and escape?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“That opinion carries one premise—the certainty of the solution.”
“…”
“If the people of Room 206 worship the Demon King, he would act like a god even more, which leads the followers to believe their survival is guaranteed.”
“Is that wrong?”
Is it an incorrect thought?
At least based on the information gathered in Room 206 so far, it holds some persuasion.
Grandpa continued his discussion.
“The evidence we found does indeed point in that direction. And, I doubt all of this evidence is mere trickery. There’s a good chance we can resolve this like that.”
“…”
“However, it’s an unpleasant method.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Teacher, this may sound strange, but I’m an atheist.”
This statement sounded really bizarre, making both Sanghyun and I raise our eyebrows at Grandpa.
“Ah! Are you both thinking this? That with the gods seemingly lurking around in every room, how can you say you’re an atheist?”
That was precisely correct.
“It’s simple. I don’t really see those ‘self-proclaimed gods’ as gods. They are just monsters with powers vastly greater than that of humans. People believe they are gods solely because they feel fragile and weak.”
“…”
Self-proclaimed gods are everywhere, and we often use the term ‘god’ ourselves.
Grandpa frequently used the word to refer to strong beings.
But for Grandpa, such expressions were simply figurative descriptions for extraordinarily powerful entities; he didn’t actually worship them.
Sanghyun chuckled awkwardly.
“Um, just to clarify, I don’t actually worship the Demon King either—”
“I know, I know. I’ve never misunderstood. The hotel is a matter of survival for us, after all. What I just said is simply my personal belief; it’s not more important than survival. You would likely share the same thought.”
“…Indeed.”
“So don’t worry. If the only way to survive is to worship the Demon King, I’ll be the first to build an altar.”
He didn’t genuinely intend to believe the Demon King.
He just meant to spread the ideology of Demon King worship as a tool for solving the Curse Room’s issues.
At this point, Sanghyun and Grandpa’s opinions converged, and soon, I blushed in apology for my suspicions.
Of course, Sanghyun was smiling, saying it was understandable.
…
…
…
It seemed like Sanghyun and Grandpa’s opinions were aligned.
My thoughts were a bit different.
Suddenly, I recalled the ‘third piece of advice’ I hadn’t revealed.
“Why have I been suspicious of Kim Sanghyun? What’s the reason? Am I missing something?”
“Seek the answer not from Kim Sanghyun but from yourself.”
“…The answer lies within me.”
Ten days later, when the recharging of the Holy Sun concluded.
The next day marked the end of the third attempt.
*
– Kim Ahri
A considerable amount of time had passed since I learned various information from Miro’s memories.
In that time, we analyzed the information and reached our own conclusions.
“The leader of the Order, the Ultimate One, was already tainted by the Demon King about 200 years ago. He might have been the first person to worship the Demon King.”
Jinchul looked utterly stunned.
“Wow, really? So, he was a protector of humanity? It sounds like putting a cat in charge of a fish shop!”
“Well, he probably believed that worshiping the Demon King was the way to save humanity.”
Elena tilted her head.
“Then why give the Demon King Cult such a bad time for almost 200 years?”
“…”
At first glance, it seems odd.
If the leader of the Order was a worshiper of the Demon King, then surely he could’ve arranged for the entire world to become worshipers ages ago.
The reality is, up until the day before we came down to the depths, the paradise threw “heretics” to the unyielding reason.
“Because the timing wasn’t right.”
“Timing?”
Various possibilities began to flicker through my mind.
“At that time, the Order couldn’t have had complete control over humanity.”
Back then, there was no ‘paradise.’
Naturally, there was no ‘city control system’ either.
“Let’s head to the control system now.”
*
The second room with the control system was just a slightly bigger computer.
Soon, Kain—Miro—was summoned again and started fiddling with the control system.
He regained memories he had forgotten and was in a situation with quite a bit of leeway.
As he leisurely manipulated the control system, hidden protocols different from before surfaced.
“Would you like to execute ‘True Belief’? (Y/N)”
At that moment, everyone froze.
“…”
“…”
The moment I saw that, I knew.
That was the “one-touch conversion system” prepared by the Order’s leader, the Ultimate One.
Pressing it would convert a significant portion of the surviving human population into worshipers of the Demon King.
The principle? Honestly, I didn’t understand.
The Administration Bureau has a myriad of ways to brainwash humans, but those are generally only capable of influencing a few hundred people at best.
To brainwash over 1 billion humans into worshipers of the Demon King at once?
If the heads of the reality administration came to see that, they’d surely be knocked out from shock.
However, if we think about it, the Order has proven capable of deploying the “Soul Furnace,” which was a project strewn with failures in the Administration Bureau, under the guise of “Unyielding Reason” at every city.
This implied that the Order’s technological prowess was far superior to the Bureau’s.
“…”
Would pressing this solve things?
Or would it be a gigantic trap?
I didn’t know.
Uncertainty gnawed at me—something felt off.
Was it because the idea of brainwashing billions of humans felt immoral?
Or the horror of having the surviving humans live as followers of a monster like the Demon King?
… I didn’t think I had such a sentimental character.
“Um… Ahri! Shouldn’t we be doing something now?”
Meanwhile, Kain spoke in a strangely middle school girl tone that was irritating me.
“What’s with that tone?”
“Ahri~! Yang~! Aang~!”
Is she joking around right now?
Dumbfounded, I glared at Kain—Miro laughed instead.
“Everyone’s too serious about things. We still have some time, so please listen to me.”
The serious expressions of Jinchul and Elena, who were still deep in thought, shifted over to Kain—Miro.
“Just a feeling, but I think this could also be a solution.”
“…”
“Making the Demon King a god for humanity. How much evidence has there been throughout Room 206 for leading to that conclusion? From that ‘urban legend’ that came up in the latter half of the first cycle—it’s proof that the Demon King reacted in humanity’s imagination.”
“…”
“Is all this evidence a lie? A trap set by the hotel to deceive us? I don’t think so. Of course, the hotel could be filled with lunatics, but—”
Seungyub cautiously interjected.
“Aren’t they totally lunatics?”
“… Anyway! I believe this is not a trap and could lead to a resolution. More importantly, who told us about this method?”
Who was the one to inform us of this method?
“It’s Miro, who awoke from the seal. The fact that the way to resolution would open when the seal was broken has been confirmed several times. Should we really say that everything here is a lie?”
If this entire premise were indeed a trap, it would imply that the very fundamental system of the ‘seal’ on the second floor is a deception.
No matter how crazy the hotel is, that’s unrealistic.
“This could be a solution. It’s the method the leader of the Order found 200 years ago. However, it’s only a 30-point solution.”
“A 30-point solution.”
“Which brings us to our current situation; we have approximately half a ticket left.”
One ticket from the Gate Room.
0.5 each from Rooms 202, 203, and 204.
We didn’t earn any from Rooms 201 and 205.
That made a total of 2.5 tickets, one of which we used for Kim Sanghyun, and one for Miro.
“That’s right; we have half a ticket remaining.”
Kain smiled brightly.
“We need to fill the gap of that half a ticket. Let’s try again, but in a different way. There’s definitely a better answer! Truth be told, I find this method disgusting.”
Everyone’s expressions, including mine, brightened.
However, the last comment left a slight nagging feeling.
‘Disgusting…’
— Crumble!
This was the final memory of the third attempt.
*
– Han Kain
— Whoosh!
The moment of the third attempt in Room 206 was ending.
The world had turned blazing hot.
Just like in the second attempt, our comrades in the depths chose to offer every surviving soul up to the unyielding reason.
Grandpa, Songi, and Sanghyun had been in the shelter prepared by the progenitors for quite a while now.
“…”
I stepped outside because I wanted to see the end of paradise.
— Screams!
— Ugh, ugh!
— It’s hot… It’s too hot!
Looking at the screaming citizens left me with a complex feeling.
Perhaps it was because a significant number of them were my followers, I didn’t feel as indifferent as before.
“…”
Since that day, neither Grandpa, Sanghyun, nor I had held any further meetings.
Did we think that the answer was already found in ‘total worship of the Demon King’?
Or was it that we simply couldn’t think of another answer?
Sanghyun believed that was enough, and Grandpa said he wasn’t fond of it, but if it was the only option, he would follow it.
“…”
My thoughts were different.
I had no intention of carrying out such a plan.
“…”
That day, in response to my questioning, the Owl responded.
“Seek the answer not from Kim Sanghyun but from yourself.”
Why had I been suspicious of Kim Sanghyun?
The reason lay within me, not him.
It was because I detested the answer he had found too much.
I had no intention of executing such a disgusting plan.
The more I focused on that distaste, the more he began to seem suspicious.
Why did I despise the idea of worshiping the Demon King so much?
“…”
Ha.
Haha.
Hahaha!
Am I going insane?
Why have I not realized this simple answer?
It’s mine!
The soul of this room is my possession!
I’ve been plotting this since the moment I stepped into Room 206!
What sort of moron would share the food that belongs to me with someone else?
“Hah, haha! Hahaha!”
Therefore, plans of absurd worship of the Demon King are dismissed.
“Everything here belongs to me.”
Everything in Room 206 has belonged to me since the moment I ‘awoke.’
For that reason, I will seek a different solution.
Thus—
I proclaimed to the innocent lambs in the midst of destruction.
<1 Chapter>
(1:1) Little children, I have gathered you into my fold long ago.
(1:2) You are mine in the past, present, and future, so do not fear.
No one can take what is mine.
Not even the Demon King!
This was the final memory of the third attempt.
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