Chapter: 651 – Meeting, Exploration (2)
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User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 1
Current Location: Third Floor, Lobby
Sage’s Advice: 0
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– Han Kain
Afterwards, various hypotheses emerged regarding Seung-hyun’s memories. It felt like a mix of sci-fi and horror, with so many possible scenarios that it made my head spin.
At one point, Seung-hyun himself wearily waved his hand.
“Let’s call it a day. There are indeed many interesting hypotheses, but too many will just make our heads spin even more.”
Eunsol sister quickly jotted down some information about Seung-hyun.
“Kim Seung-hyun: Background is an unidentified exoplanet. Faced with an incomprehensible entity and filled with fear. Issues include location, subjects, and the context of traveling to space.”
I pondered for a moment. Should I use my insight on Seung-hyun?
“…”
Nah, if I use my insight now, the flow of the meeting might get interrupted.
Timing is everything—I’ll save it for after the meeting.
“Then let’s move on to the next person. The order is—”
Ari suddenly jolted.
If we kept going, the next in line was gonna be Miro.
“—Ugh, let’s start with Eunsol first.”
Miro looked clueless, while Ari seemed embarrassed and desperately wanted to skip Miro’s turn.
A few fellow comrades raised their eyebrows at the awkwardness, but Eunsol sister started her explanation without further ado.
“Okay, mine is short and straightforward.”
As expected, Eunsol’s dream was simple. She briefly described her time as an executive at Daeyang Group, shared some sibling stories, and mixed in a hint of disappointment regarding her father.
“My father always had high expectations from us. Looking back, I think the biggest reason for the tension among my siblings stemmed from how my dad fueled our rivalry.”
Since it was a family matter, everyone remained silent and listened intently.
“Back then, I felt just that. My father was always strict. Always disappointed in us. Such an incredible, amazing father…”
Her voice carried a mix of love and resentment towards the chairman of Daeyang Group, who was her dad.
“But after experiencing the hotel and uncovering its mysteries, I sometimes wonder. Was my father really just an ordinary human?”
Grandpa cautiously asked, “So, does this mean you think he’s a regressor? Like, he succeeded in founding the company because he was a regressor?”
“I felt like it at times. It’s like….”
“Like?”
“It feels like he knows the future. How could he make such astonishing choices consistently?”
“Hmm…”
“Of course, I’m not certain. After all, founders of major corporations are all extraordinary people.”
“That’s true.”
I decided to throw in my two cents.
“You could gather a hundred thousand people and hold a rock-paper-scissors tournament. One of them has to win, right? If we only look at the winner, they’ll appear as if they can predict the future since they guessed the correct answer every time in dozens of rounds.”
Eunsol nodded.
“I get what you’re saying. Even now, many aspiring CEOs are starting businesses. One of them will eventually become a major conglomerate, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Looking solely at the final winner could make them seem like they are foreseeing the future. Whether it’s luck or skill, that person just won every round of rock-paper-scissors. Sure, I understand your point. But…”
“But?”
“Still, my father was bewilderingly difficult to understand.”
“If you get a chance in the Curse Room, let’s try to verify it.”
“…”
“I’m curious how the Chairman might intertwine with the room’s scenario if he really is a regressor.”
At this point, Eunsol’s story about her father had reached its conclusion.
Eunsol: Is the chairman a regressor? If so, how is that connected to the scenarios?
“I’ve written that down. Next is… uh—”
Just as Eunsol paused, Miro chimed in.
“Wasn’t it my turn?”
“… true that.”
Eunsol chuckled awkwardly at Ari, but Miro, in his obliviousness, started to boast proudly.
The situation felt quite funny.
Ari, who knows the truth, was trying to pass Miro’s turn, and yet Eunsol was simply accommodating it, while Miro was completely oblivious.
How does this innocent kid even grow up into the spooky Miro of urban legends?
“I’m simple, unlike Doctor!”
Doctor?
Looks like attending school for a few months has made that expression stick in Miro’s mouth.
“Remember the Santa I saw ages ago? I think I wished for the disappearance of evil while losing friends to him. The wish was probably about… the destruction of the demon?”
Eunsol, who was doodling on the whiteboard, double-checked.
“Saving the innocent, destroying evil beings, achieving justice. Something like that?”
“Yeah!”
“You also have a second wish like Seung-hyun, right? The empty wish from Pioneer.”
“Yup.”
“What is it?”
“My, um, a few days ago in a dream, I met my former self? Back then—”
He recounts how he met his past self in a dream and reignited his goal of saving humanity.
The dream must have been true.
Miro’s wish genuinely aligns with the execution of justice.
Yet, the hotel likely considers Miro’s actual hope to be something entirely different.
Earlier, when it was time to see the next person’s dream, we made do with a suitable lie and let Miro slide, but—
Now that I think of it, do we really need to keep extending those lies?
Shouldn’t we keep secrets from our comrades?
— Tap!
“Hmm? Kain?”
“Sister, I have something to—”
Just as I was about to reveal the ‘harsh truth’ in front of everyone…
“…”
“Kain?”
My legs suddenly began to feel icy.
Ari must have started blowing cold winds with the old blood she used.
Under normal circumstances, I’d send a ‘private message’ with Grandpa’s help, but now I wanted to keep this conversation hidden from him, leaving only my poor legs to suffer.
An instant exchange of glances, Ari and I conversed with our eyes.
‘Do you really have to say it in front of everyone?’
‘We can’t keep this hidden forever.’
‘Think about Miro’s rights!’
In the meantime, Miro was just staring wide-eyed, completely clueless.
“Kain? What’s up?”
“Ah, nothing. I think I just misinterpreted something.”
“… really?”
As always, the perceptive sister seemed to catch on to the undercurrent between Ari and me but, being sharp herself, decided not to dig deeper.
“Then, on to the next person!”
As everyone’s attention shifted to Seung-yub, I pondered internally.
Is it really necessary to keep hiding what Ari asked me to?
If the issue is discussing it in front of Miro, we can tell someone else when Miro isn’t around!
“Um, I—”
As Seung-yub opened his mouth.
“Wahaha!”
Miro suddenly burst into laughter.
“Eh?”
“I’m going to spill everything! I know it all!”
“W-what are you talking about? I can still—”
Seung-yub turned beet red, desperately trying to steer the situation, but it was a lost cause.
Miro just kept joyfully rambling about what he witnessed.
“Did you know he was gaming all night from the start? He’s really hopeless. His parents must be devastated!”
“Hey! You mind your own parents! Just because you were playing princess in school!”
“What? Princess play? Ha! Wishing on a team’s bad luck while gaming? Oh wait, there’s more shock to come!”
At this moment, Miro abruptly halted.
“…”
As if thinking, ‘Even I can’t talk about this,’ he held back.
Of course, the clueless comrades around didn’t have a clue why.
For instance, Songee was one of them.
“What’s the next shocking thing?”
“…”
“What? You made such a big fuss over it, but gaming all night can’t be all there is!”
Seung-yub quivered, not meeting anyone’s gaze while Ari looked up at the ceiling like she knew nothing.
Even Miro, who started the story, now averted his eyes in regret.
Well, I’ll just have to be the one to step up.
I’ll be the first to reveal what everyone fears.
“One time, after class, as I was on my way home, suddenly I got a confession from a girl named So-yeon.”
“Eh?! Out of the blue?”
“From what I saw, I don’t think she’d even spoken to you once before that.”
“…”
“Exactly what were the words? ‘So-yeon! From the moment I first saw you—’”
“K-Kain, please stop!”
I wasn’t about to back down now after starting.
“‘From the moment I saw you, I was captivated by your shining eyes!’ Isn’t that right?”
“Ugh…!”
Seung-yub made a pained expression as if he was fading while I was just absorbing it all. My memory is great.
“And then she replied, ‘Sorry, I have a boyfriend.’”
Songee looked shocked, as if thinking, “And then what?”
“And Seung-yub said, ‘Well, if you happen to break up, then next time—’”
“Ahh! Stop, please!”
— Tap!
“Hah…”
Eunsol sighed heavily and tapped the whiteboard.
“Alright, I got it. I’ll jot down Seung-yub’s dream content.”
1. Blamed team luck while gaming until dawn.
2. School life is a mess; barely any friends.
3. Tried to confess to a girl he never spoke to and was immediately shot down. Afterward, attempted to pursue again, only to be rejected once more.
As soon as the notes were written down, silence fell over the room.
“Is that right?”
Seung-yub and Ari, as well as Miro, who was initially eager to tease, all fell silent, speechless.
Every tease, joke, and exaggeration was stripped, leaving a starkly pure summary.
And that made it even harder to bear.
At this point, Seung-yub lay half-conscious on the couch.
It was a miraculous moment where the self-proclaimed best player in the world (at least in his mind) crumbled in just three sentences.
If I had to guess, even if Lee Jaesung from Room 203 came back to life, he wouldn’t stand a chance against this attack.
Seung-yub eventually replied with a soulless expression.
“… Yes.”
Struggling to break the tension, Jinchul finally spoke cautiously.
“Hey, come on. There’s no way that’s all there is. Isn’t there something more? Like, it turns out So-yeon is a demon?”
“…”
“Or perhaps that your favorite game harbors the sinister magic of cosmic entities?”
“…”
“Seriously, you’ve got to have something. It can’t be nothing!”
Hearing that almost cracked me up.
Shouldn’t we have So-yeon become a hostile spirit by now?
Or perhaps a conspiracy from the Management Bureau in that game!
After Ari sighed, poked my shoulder as if to speak, she murmured.
“Didn’t you say something about being convenient?”
“…”
“You mentioned that feeling like it.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
All eyes naturally gathered on me.
Especially Seung-yub’s gaze felt particularly desperate.
“For instance, what if Seung-yub’s parents overly ignored him?”
“Seems logical. I felt it was a bit too much. Anything else?”
“When he wanted to confess, did the target appear conveniently?”
“What?”
“Given Seung-yub’s demeanor, it clearly didn’t seem like a planned confession.”
“What do you mean?”
“It felt like, he was debating whether to confess or not, and then, out of nowhere, the girl appeared in front of him. So he couldn’t hold back and spoke.”
While listening, Songee nodded.
“So, what you mean is this: judging by Seung-yub’s behavior, it wasn’t a planned confession. It didn’t appear like he meant to meet that girl. Yet, out of hundreds of students at school, he randomly bumps into her at the perfect moment? That’s peculiar.”
“Roughly the notion.”
Songee frowned for a moment, and oddly enough, I sensed her underlying thoughts.
“Oppa, have you ever failed to find Gayeong at school?”
What the heck is this?
Could it be that my insight read their emotions through expressions and gestures?
Hah! Or maybe it’s just my own delusion?
Both seemed calm and composed, while I alone contemplated as Seung-yub squirmed with embarrassment.
At that moment, Ari spoke in a lowered tone.
“It could be part of a plan, you know?”
“What? How could that even be planned? Even kindergarteners wouldn’t come up with such a ridiculous confession.”
Seung-yub murmured with a lifeless voice from the side.
“It’s not a plan. Please, let me live.”
And then—
Ari replied nonchalantly.
“Well, sure, there are people who confess after a week of rigid planning through text messages. So, Seung-yub’s confession could’ve been a month’s worth of planning.”
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