Chapter 663 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘Origin of Species’ (10)
—
– Kim Ahri
— Ziiing!
As the ominous imaginations were spewed forth all around, golden light began to shimmer from Elena’s body.
The Duke of Is wasn’t human by any stretch, but considering several of our comrades had already bitten the dust, ‘self-defense’ kicked in and justice awakened!
Soon, the spiral waves drawn by the scales of judgment started smashing into the Duke of Is one after another.
With Kain’s mysterious skill that unraveled the bindings and the last flash of light shot by Sanghyun, there was significant damage dealt.
On top of that, Elena was combining her ominous imagination with justice for a full-fledged assault!
From the looks of it, it felt like the tide of battle had turned, but honestly, it was just a fleeting advantage that lasted about 10 seconds.
After all, our opponent had nearly wiped us out upon arrival.
If everyone, including Kain, was ready to fight from the get-go, it might’ve been a different story. But starting off surprised like this, we had no chance of victory.
The blood flowing from the Duke’s body ceased.
The Duke cut off the malice formed from the ominous imagination.
It began intercepting each of the scales of justice one by one.
The Duke evaded every attempt, as if it had physically witnessed the spatial separation of the irregular polyhedron.
Once again, despair began to rise, filling my throat.
Fortunately, the survivors’ struggles were not in vain.
Thanks to buying time, the headless comrade on the floor had a moment to unleash their ‘big skill’!
— Swaaaaa!
In the chaos, I felt a dizzying sensation.
Soon, an incomprehensible illusion brushed through my mind, creating an ethereal atmosphere.
A universe filled with emptiness, with a whirlpool at its center, powerful enough to draw everything in!
— Goooohhh…!
A distant sound of celestial resonance reached my ears.
At first, I thought it was a sound meant for Kain.
Then, I figured it was for the Duke.
Only after two misunderstandings did I realize…
The sounds were coming from everywhere!
“What, what is happening?”
Kain seemed to be using some incredible technique, but what on earth was going on?
Just then, a solid feeling shot through my hand.
On my trembling palm appeared a small object, soaked in Kain’s blood — an hourglass.
My initial thought wasn’t “I’m alive!” or anything mushy like that.
What’s the purpose of turning this at this point in time?
Turning it won’t bring our dead comrades back!
If it were a tool for rewinding time, that’d be different.
But to be honest, an hourglass just measured time, right?
Going back a week would probably put us in even worse trouble!
At that instant, my hand froze like ice.
The Duke was staring at me, fixated on the ‘hourglass’ I was holding!
Now I couldn’t even rotate the hourglass if I tried.
Maybe it was the pressure that made my skin crawl?
Half out of my mind, a voice escaped my lips.
“Ah…! You think you’re some kind of god, huh? Do we really feel like mere insignificant creatures to you—”
To my surprise, the Duke actually responded!
“No, you are beings that cannot be compared to anything. And… I am no god.”
I realized too late.
The reason I could speak was that only my hand was frozen, and the fact that the other party was answering me.
Combining those two facts led me to conclude that they had no intention of killing me.
Did they never plan to kill me from the start?
“…”
No, that’s not right.
This ordeal started with Kain’s head being lopped off, leading to many comrades falling in a short span!
Initially, they definitely came to kill us!
But now it was different.
What changed their mind?
The next words from the Duke left me breathless.
“If you reverse this, will you gain a week of invulnerability?”
“…”
The Duke understood the hourglass’s function.
I barely had time to question how they figured it out.
The next voice conveyed even more shocking news!
“This is the first time.”
“Eh, What!?”
I couldn’t have misheard that, right?
In this scenario, the only thing “first” could mean is that the Duke realized we — that is, I — came from the ‘hotel.’
They even grasped that this was our first attempt!
How could this be possible?
If the Duke were a prisoner, it wouldn’t be surprising.
After all, prisoners generally know way more about the hotel than we do.
But the Duke of Is standing before me is definitely not a prisoner.
I’d seen enough prisoners to be sure of that!
There must be a separate prisoner in Room 301.
— Urung!
A colossal sound echoed from the heavens.
Bright, dazzling light began to descend as the Duke of Is started ascending into the sky, following the mystical light beam.
“… No way.”
Only at this moment could I accept it.
For some reason, the Duke of Is had changed their mind and was choosing to spare us!
At that moment, Sanghyun, sprawled on the ground, gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Why are you sparing us?!”
I was curious too. Seriously, seriously curious!
“There must be a reason, right?! Are you planning to use us? You have to explain something for that!”
About to leave while enveloped in radiant light, the Duke left us with one final message.
“… Try again. Next time, don’t let it reach this stage.”
*
A bloody plain.
With barely a few survivors remaining, even the headless comrade that had been writhing moments ago had stopped moving.
The three of us who survived stared at each other in shock.
“… Ahri.”
“Elena.”
Sanghyun, observing the tender moment between Elena and me, chimed in.
“Hey, I wanna join in too!”
“…”
“It’s, um… really painful.”
“You’re losing a lot of blood from your belly. Instead of chatting, you should focus on healing—”
“No point in that. I’m hit by Elena’s ominous imagination, you see.”
At those words, Elena gasped in shock.
“Ack!”
Given the nature of ominous imagination, precise range control was impossible.
If it were an evil curse strong enough to threaten the Duke, a mere human body wouldn’t last a scratch.
“I think I’m about to die.”
“…”
“I hope an escape pops up before that.”
“Let’s hope for that.”
“I’m sure of it.”
None opposed Sanghyun’s words.
Though none fully understood the situation, we all felt it.
An escape notification would come soon!
Why? Because the Duke had lost their will to fight and left!
“… I’ll explain more when we’re all together outside, but here’s what I sensed.”
“Go ahead.”
“The Duke knew this situation was the ‘Cursed Room.’”
“Right!”
“They also realized we were in our first attempt. Furthermore, they figured out that the hourglass is a special tool.”
“… My eyelids are getting heavy.”
“In the end, they even told us to try again before departing. Since the foe has lost their will, the probability of an escape judgment appearing soon is high.”
Sanghyun said nothing more.
“How could this happen?”
Elena whispered, gazing sadly into Sanghyun’s eyes as they closed.
“I think… I might know. Actually, I think Ahri knows too.”
“…”
“You didn’t feel it? The Duke was different from when they first came and when they left.”
“There was definitely a change in their attitude.”
“It wasn’t just a simple change. It felt… you know, like…”
Elena’s gaze flickered briefly to the headless corpse not far from us.
“It felt a bit like Kain.”
“…”
“I had that kind of feeling. Didn’t you?”
Elena’s tone hinted for me to agree.
And I shared similar thoughts.
In that last moment, the Duke seemed to know way too much.
They only had to grasp that this setting was within the hotel’s confines.
Prisoners would have such information, so they might’ve spilled it to the Duke.
But the Duke’s knowledge was over the top.
How could they know our number of attempts or the function of the hourglass?
That should be info even a prisoner wouldn’t know!
Elena nailed it.
“Kain was the one who informed them.”
“…”
“Somehow, in areas we didn’t know, Kain battled against the Duke, and during that process, they acquired considerable knowledge.”
“Why would they inform them? What was the point of enlightening them?”
“Let’s go outside and ask.”
— Kwang!
Just then, a booming sound of the world collapsing echoed, and soon the notification we’d been eagerly waiting for appeared.
“You have successfully escaped!
Confrontation with the Duke of Is, who manages humanity’s protection zone, and the ensuing blood battles with Baron-class beings!
Seeing you defeat them one after another, it seems your fighting skills have improved quite a bit; I’m pleased.
But, wasn’t this a rather foolish approach?
Killing the underlings of beings that have devoured stars will only bring forth even stronger pursuers!
Your hastily arranged negotiation with the Duke at the end was commendable.
But, remember well.
There will be no second negotiations.
You cannot escape in the same way twice.
You have escaped from the curse.
Yet, you can still feel the remnants of the curse lingering.
…
Successful escape among comrades!
—
The hotel corridor was clearing as I regained my senses.
As I looked around, I saw confounded expressions on my comrades’ faces.
Most had either died before the escape notification went off, so they probably couldn’t grasp the situation.
Well, even I couldn’t entirely get it!
“Uh, uh… Did we… somehow finish?”
“I think so!”
Anyway, we did manage to escape, and thanks to that, colors returned to my comrades’ faces.
And I…
Now, I firmly grasped the arm of a comrade who just grew their head back.
“What is going on? What was that?!”
Everyone’s eyes were naturally glued to me.
“… A singularity.”
“What?”
“For a moment, the boundary between the Duke and me disappeared. And…”
“And?”
Kain hesitated and murmured, looking rather puzzled.
“The Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron.”
“Huh?”
“It’s their hierarchy. The Duke was the last to appear.”
“Why the sudden concern about ranks—”
“There’s a king above the Duke. Only one king.”
“The King of Is?”
“The king is dead. Dead, and… the race of Is is trying to awaken the king again.”
“Why was he dead?”
The next words shocked everyone significantly.
In a way, it was also a little ‘touching’ story.
“… The Administration Bureau killed him.”
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