Chapter 664 – First Escape, Meeting (1)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 4
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 – ‘The Room of Rest’
Sage’s Advice: 0
— Han Kain
— Chiiing!
The sizzling sound from the stone pot releasing fiery heat, with rice crust forming at the bottom, was enchanting!
And to top it off, the enticing aroma of sesame oil struck my senses. It was tough to resist.
Without hesitation, I took a big scoop of the stone pot bibimbap.
The taste was absolutely mind-blowing.
With colorful vegetables, stir-fried beef with gochujang, and that golden fried egg on top!
Even the slightly crispy rice at the bottom was a delightful addition, so it would be odd if it didn’t taste good.
As I looked around, everyone wore satisfied expressions.
Seungyub was devouring a juicy hamburger, and there was an old man slicing steak.
Elena was munching on something resembling cheese fondue; it looked so delicious that Miro kept asking, “Just one bite~! Just one bite~!”
“Miro, don’t do that. Just ask for some yourself. It’s a hotel; they’re bound to take extra orders—”
“No way.”
“What do you mean, no way?”
“Doesn’t Elena know? Food like this tastes better when you sneak bites from someone else!”
“…”
Honestly, I understood that logic.
You know those foods meant for sharing?
When you sneak a bite while someone else is eating, it’s just so much better than when you order it for yourself.
I got Miro’s mindset, but I couldn’t help but admire that shameless expression.
“Is that the good old American mindset of not caring what others think?”
Seunghyun, slicing into his tenderloin steak, rebutted incredulously.
“It’s not an American mindset; it’s just inconsiderate. Miro just clearly lacks home training.”
“Why only me! Just one bite of your tenderloin steak!”
With lightning speed, Miro lunged to grab Seunghyun’s plate!
— Ping!
Seunghyun’s knife moved with precision, knocking Miro’s fork away.
“Uh, uh?”
Miro’s eyes widened as they attempted to sneak another ‘just one bite,’ but this time, Seunghyun grabbed their wrist.
In the end, Ahri sighed heavily and had to take Miro away.
“Please stop… The more you do this, the slower the recovery rate of the Nightmare Miro.”
“What does this have to do with that?”
“Why doesn’t it? Every moment like this just chips away at Nightmare Miro’s mental state!”
And so, our delightful mealtime passed.
*
The first topic of discussion was about signals coming from the outside.
The first to voice complaints was Songee.
“Whoa~! This is seriously insane! So, all those times the house door got locked or the car door broke, that was all because of you guys’ interference?”
“Exactly! That was Kain concentrating hard on it.”
“How was I supposed to know? I just thought it was an accident or a bad omen or something!”
Honestly, Songee had a point.
When the observatory triggered poltergeist phenomena, I could empathize with Songee and Eunsol’s confusion while also feeling frustrated.
Who on the outside ourselves understands what’s going on inside?
Ahri slammed the table, responding.
“That’s why Seungyub suggested only you and Eunsol go in on chance. After all, the first attempt was bound to fail, so he only put in the two of you.”
“Whoa~! Do you know how that makes me feel? It’s outright dismissal!”
“The first attempt didn’t know what to do, so it was deemed expendable. The Duke said it at the end. Next time, don’t let it come to ‘the end.’”
“Hmm…”
Ahri was right.
The reason why Songee and Eunsol were treated as expendables was merely due to the nature of the first attempt.
In reality, only the two of them in the ‘solution group’ could truly finish Room 301.
I looked around at everyone.
“Let’s establish signals to avoid similar situations in the future.”
As someone with experience triggering poltergeist phenomena, I added a clarifying explanation.
“It has to be very simple. Conveying complex messages is impossible.”
Songee asked, curious.
“Isn’t delicate manipulation impossible?”
“Exactly. If I had to express it, it feels like grabbing the room with both hands and shaking it up and down?”
“… I have no idea what that feels like.”
It wasn’t easy to make someone who hadn’t experienced it understand, but that was about as much as I could explain.
“Timing is hard to control, and it’s difficult to trigger the phenomena I want. No matter how much I try to send messages from outside, it’ll be hard to comprehend inside.”
Songee looked uneasy.
“S-So then?”
“As I said from the start, let’s keep it simple: If something feels ‘dangerous,’ just make that happen.”
From now on, the meaning of the poltergeist phenomenon would be unified as just one: ‘It’s dangerous!’
*
The second subject was the people trapped in animal bodies.
“So, all those talking animals I saw were actually people? They lost their bodies to the race of Is, and their souls are trapped in animals?”
“Probably.”
“Okay, I get they lost their bodies to aliens, but….”
Songee tilted her head, puzzled.
“Why are the remaining souls entering the animals?”
The old man simply replied.
“Isn’t it something those Is folks shoved in there?”
“Why?”
“Uh?”
“Think about it. When Kain takes over someone’s body, the spirit left in that body doesn’t really go anywhere, does it?”
“Well….”
“When the Is nobles take over the bodies of doctors or Seungyub, where do those two’s souls go?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
There’s no inevitable cause and effect relationship between someone being physically taken over and their ejected spirit getting trapped in an animal body.
If I possess someone, their soul doesn’t get trapped in an animal, and judging by experiences, the Is nobles are no exception.
The old man murmured, frowning.
“Is it an act of revenge? Since the king died by human hands, surely there’s a lot of resentment. Trapping the victims in animal bodies to humiliate them.”
“Is that so?”
Is it a revenge tactic to trap them in animal bodies?
The Is race seems to hate humans, so it’s not entirely unthinkable…
But it’s still somewhat vague.
Let’s think it through a little more.
*
The third topic was about the ‘Daeyang Group’s chairman.’
Naturally, the eyes of the colleagues shifted over to Eunsol, who had been quietly munching on her sandwich throughout mealtime.
Where did all her usual sharp instincts go? She seemed totally oblivious to our focus on her.
“…”
In fact, when we had just exited Room 301 and walked down the corridor, Eunsol’s attitude was quite different.
As always, she had been trying to lead the meeting energetically.
Once the hypothesis about Daeyang Group’s chairman being a betrayal of humanity came up, she had fallen silent.
Finally, Songee broke the ice gently.
“Hey… sis?”
“Ah, is it my turn to speak now?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry, everyone, I was just deep in thought by myself.”
“No worries.”
Looking back at the dream and her behavior in Room 301, it was clear that her feelings toward the chairman of Daeyang Group were quite complex.
Respect for the achievements of building a conglomerate.
Fear stemming from the pressure of being looked down upon from above.
Love for the kin who has helped her in many ways.
Resentment towards a father who fueled sibling conflict.
Awe for his intelligence and work capability, which belied his age.
Doubt about whether all his achievements were due to his being a reincarnator.
Up to this point, the feelings could resemble the love-hate situation a grown child feels toward an overbearing parent.
But the weight of the next sentence was utterly different.
A betrayer who sold humanity to aliens.
Eunsol muttered wearily.
“While searching for things about my father, Songee suffered. I figured I’d be next, so I reported it to the Administration Bureau. And then the Is nobility came and killed everyone.”
We had all seen this part together.
“It seemed like my father knew the Is nobles. At that time, it was intriguing, but now… well, if he sold humanity out, that would make sense.”
At this time, I brought up a question that had been lingering in my mind recently.
“Sis, at first, I was vague on the wish you had, but now that it’s clear the chairman has dealings with supernatural beings, it’s something I’ve been thinking about.”
“What is it?”
“Isn’t the existence of the Daeyang Group kind of strange?”
“…”
I calmly pointed to myself.
“I knew about the Daeyang Group even before coming to the hotel. Of course, ‘Han Kain’s past memories’ are incredibly vague.”
At this point, Eunsol turned to everyone, asking.
“Anyone else know about the Daeyang Group before coming to the hotel?”
Soon, more than half the colleagues raised their hands.
“… Kain, I get what you’re trying to say. With everyone coming from different loops, it’s odd that everyone knows about the Daeyang Group, right?”
“Exactly.”
Eunsol sighed heavily and muttered.
“If my father is a reincarnator, this part is easily explained. Since he’s reincarnated, he must succeed every time, and the name stays the same.”
Now that it was half-confirmed that the chairman was a reincarnator, I added what I really wanted to say.
“Do you think the Administration Bureau didn’t know about your father?”
“Ah?”
“Having the same person start a company at a similar time, getting every answer right at every choice, and naming the conglomerate Daeyang Group every time. Do you think the Administration Bureau wouldn’t have caught on?”
At this point, it was like I was practically advertising that I was a reincarnator.
“Good point.”
“It’s highly likely that the chairman was either an agent or a high-ranking employee of the Administration Bureau. The Daeyang Group is one of the conglomerates managed by the Bureau. What do you think, Ahri?”
Ahri made a complicated face.
“While it’s a bit tricky as it’s from a long-ago loop, it’s a possibility.”
Naturally, the fourth topic about the Administration Bureau came up next.
This time, Eunsol turned to Ahri with a question.
“You saw from the outside, but when I reported it to the Administration Bureau, a devil-like being came. Back then, I thought the Bureau was the root of all conspiracies?”
At that time, Eunsol knew nothing of the concept of the ‘Great Race of Is,’ so it was a possible misconception.
“If the real enemy is the Is race, then what’s the deal with the Administration Bureau? Why did an alien come when I reported it?”
Ahri shrugged and replied.
“We should check, but it’s possible many lower-level employees have been corrupted.”
“The lower tiers of the Administration Bureau have been infiltrated by the Is race?”
“If so, then the things you went through would make perfect sense.”
Soon, Ahri opened her mouth, looking as though she couldn’t comprehend.
“Now that I think about it, the Is race is a really powerful race, right?”
What sort of prowess did the Great Race of Is display?
Each individual could surpass a fair number of participants.
They could conquer the whole Earth in the blink of an eye and stuff survivors into human zoos, making them formidable as a race as well.
With supernatural powers or scientific advancements that humans couldn’t cope with, the term ‘Great Race’ is not an exaggeration.
“At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Administration Bureau was completely annihilated without a fight…”
Ahri’s next question was quite legitimate.
“But the Is nobles told a completely different story. They said they provided countless opportunities and attempted negotiations multiple times.”
No human ever negotiates with chickens or pigs.
To negotiate requires the other party to be qualified to sit at the table.
“Even Kain discovered that!”
The final part of this remark was something I picked up.
“The Is race is scheming to revive their dead king. And the race that killed their king is… the Administration Bureau.”
Ahri couldn’t hold back her disbelief.
“How is that possible? I mean, I won’t absolutely declare it’s impossible, but—”
Naturally, all eyes turned to me.
That was information I received from the Duke.
— Tap!
“I suppose I should start from the beginning. The initial attack was a surprise from the enemy. Ahri, you remember that I was engulfed by anxiety at that time, don’t you?”
“I recall. The opponent was gathering loads of information on us. You said something about how hundreds of missiles were bound to rain down anytime soon, right?”
“I knew a crisis was incoming. I just didn’t know the timing would nail it perfectly.”
“So?”
“With a flash! A massive attack swooped down with incredible speed. Their power skimmed my head -”
“To say ‘skimmed’ is a stretch,” Ahri and Seunghyun immediately rebutted.
“More like you were vaporized.”
“If that’s skimming, then there’s no such thing as injury in this world.”
“… Regardless, normally I would have been a goner.”
“Normally?”
Memories flashed through my mind.
The moment I utilized the power of the sacred sun to block the enemy’s assault just for a fleeting second.
Eventually, I couldn’t hold it any longer, and the barrier shattered.
Feeling death approach, I instinctively recalled that overwhelming wisdom.
Know that beneath the heavens, you are the only one.
In terms of time, it couldn’t have been more than ten seconds.
In that brief moment, I felt all boundaries crumbling away.
At that moment, I was the Duke, and the Duke was me.
We were two yet one—a single intelligence gathering everything to reach an understandable conclusion.
“The Duke was filled with doubts too.”
“…”
“How could the king be overcome by a mortal? How could that grand star from above be vanquished by mere mortals?”
“…”
“We crushed the humans of the land. Yet…. up until the very last moment, we couldn’t detect a force capable of threatening the king.”
Looking at my bewildered comrades, I declared.
“This might be one of the biggest secrets of Room 301. How did the Administration Bureau take down the king whom the Duke served like a god?”
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