Chapter 679 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘Origin of the Species’ (23)
—
– Yu Songee
It’s now the third day of living as high school girl Yu Songee.
I’ve come to realize that my past self was quite the slacker.
— Whoosh!
“Yu Songee! Who’s sleeping with their head on the desk during class—huh?”
“Ah.”
I swatted away the flying chalk with one hand without even looking.
The other kids giggled with amusement, while the teacher sported a look of disbelief.
They probably think it was all just a coincidence, right?
Honestly, I felt a bit proud just now!
I can swat away flying chalk without even looking now!
“Sorry about that.”
What a useless ability.
What’s the point of deflecting slow-moving chalk instead of bullets flying at my head?
Anyway, after wasting such meaningless time, class finally ended.
As I blankly stepped outside the classroom, Ahri appeared.
“Do you feel anything? An awakening of some mystical memory perhaps?”
“Not at all.”
“Don’t say it so easily. At this point, I thought you’d realize something.”
“What can I do if I don’t know?”
Ahri looked at me with a face full of disbelief, and I could only shrug.
“Your constant questioning is just making me more confused.”
“… For the past few days, watching your actions made me feel something.”
“What is it?”
“You seem to live without any purpose.”
“…”
“You’re not studying hard, nor exercising much either…”
Most high schoolers are probably just like me!
“Are you living a life wasting time? Just napping like a lazy cat—”
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“Did you finally realize?”
Ahri let out a giggle and pulled my arm, dragging me into an empty classroom.
“Okay, okay. If we’re going to talk, let’s be careful about where we’re seen.”
“…”
“To be serious, I’ve noticed that after classes, you don’t seem to go home much. It feels like you’re not doing anything in particular.”
“I’ve always been this way.”
“Right. So, you’re consistently repeating that behavior. What I mean is, why don’t you go home?”
“… I just don’t want to see my parents. Mom’s been home a lot lately.”
“Oh~ now I understand.”
Ahri tilted her head in thought for a moment before continuing.
“So, did your past self roam around risking encounters instead of going home at night?”
“… Maybe.”
“If you just continue to waste time, it will never end. Let’s change that.”
—
– Lee Eunsol
Thanks to Grandpa Mooksung rewinding time, everyone has realized something!
The plan A set outside leads straight to a bad ending.
So within the room, our teammates quickly devised plan B, which is simple.
Live as Lee Eunsol, not just a hotel participant, but as a Senior Executive of Daeyang Group, and discover what the ‘first wish’ is.
Now, three days later, one thing has become crystal clear.
My siblings are quite the unfortunate bunch after all.
“Haha! Eunsol, have you heard the news?”
“…”
“The Shanghai project fell through, huh? Wow… that’s a big deal! Wasn’t there a lot of expectation for this at the group level?”
“…”
“Hey, hey! What are you going to do? You worked for over a year to collaborate with the Shanghai Tejin Group, right?”
This guy making fun of me on the day everything went haywire is Lee Jinwook.
He’s the proud second son of the Daeyang Group chairman and my older brother.
“What now? Our Eunsol seems to have some stress on her! So, guess what, brother’s gonna help out?”
Seriously, he’s digging at me.
At this moment, the emotion I felt was more of surrealism rather than irritation.
I didn’t even know what the “Shanghai project” was.
My brother thinks it’s the one I’ve been slaving over for more than a year, but it seems I completely forgot while rolling around the hotel.
Also, fighting over such trivial matters didn’t click for me.
So, was it? I muttered without thinking.
“How did we end up like this?”
Jinwook’s face showed a hint of confusion.
Or maybe he felt a tinge of embarrassment from what I just said.
“What’s this… ahem! Eunsol, I think Dad’s disappointed. So be ready with an answer.”
Though he spoke in a teasing tone, his words about “Dad being disappointed” carried a genuine concern, albeit just a gram of it.
This is the basic emotion shared among the four of us siblings.
Competitive spirit towards each other, combined with fear and resentment towards Dad.
“…”
Dad, Lee Seokhwan, chairman of Daeyang Group.
He’s always a source of competition and problematic discussions among siblings.
According to Grandfather Mooksung, he’s an incomplete reincarnate mistaking past loop memories for prophetic dreams.
“Prophetic dreams…”
“What?”
“Don’t mind me. I’m busy now—”
“Prophetic dreams? That’s something Dad used to say sometimes.”
In an instant, I was taken aback.
“What? Dad mentioned prophetic dreams?”
This time, my brother looked at me, confused.
“You heard him say it several times, right?”
“…”
“Didn’t you hear Dad mention it when he drank? How he relied on dreams to make crucial decisions?”
“Can’t believe it.”
“Why? Did you go drinking at lunch today or something?”
Now that he mentioned it, he was right.
Just as Jinwook said, Dad had often mentioned dreams when he was drunk.
I had simply dismissed such remarks in the past.
I thought talk of loops and reincarnation was just something for the movies and that calamities were matters for the Administration Bureau.
I had shrugged it off, but when I think about it, was this memory hiding a major secret?
“Brother, do you remember anything more?”
“What?”
“Any strange memories, bizarre experiences in life, or odd phenomena that you’ve wondered about?”
He seemed momentarily flustered and mumbled.
“Uh, why are we suddenly on this topic?”
Hearing that snapped me back to reality.
What a blunder! Plan B was supposed to revolve around living as a Daeyang Group executive, not a hotel participant!
Just moments ago, I was acting way too much like a participant.
“… Forget it. Just leave.”
Waving my hand dismissively to get him to leave, Jinwook, who seemed bemused, was about to head out.
Suddenly, he paused at the door and mumbled.
“By the way, you reminded me of something.”
“What’s that?”
“We traveled a lot when we were kids, remember?”
“Did we?”
“You and Heeyoon were probably too young to remember. Mom loved traveling.”
“I guess that rings a bell.”
“There were some unique trips, if I recall correctly.”
“…”
“Was it Mom’s taste? I don’t know.”
“What was so unique about them?”
“Honestly, I can’t remember that well. Ask her at home.”
—
Alone in the office, I pondered various keywords.
The “Senior Executive Lee Eunsol” not as a participant.
The first wish borrowed from the hotel.
It’s all about memories from before coming to the hotel.
Not just me, but many colleagues share similar tales, but memories from before the hotel are quite fuzzy.
The experiences in the hotel were shocking enough that no ordinary human could even imagine them.
In the end, the memory of an ordinary person like ‘Senior Executive Lee Eunsol’ has long since been swept away by the tides of forgetfulness.
Thanks to that, I failed to anticipate what would come next.
“Oh my, oh my! I’m so sorry, so sorry!”
“…”
At that moment, I didn’t grasp why the secretary was apologizing.
Fortunately, the secretary, whose name I couldn’t even remember, quickly clarified the reason for the apology.
“I should have prepared your coffee beforehand…! I was, uh, organizing your schedule for tomorrow and totally—”
Only then did echoes of my past self flicker into my mind.
I had to have a warm cup of coffee on the table while working, right?
What does this even mean?
It means that the coffee cup must always be full, or the secretary needs to keep refilling my coffee before it gets cold.
Not to mention, the coffee beans must always be Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, maintaining the right temperature between 70 to 80 degrees Celsius.
After recalling all of this, I stared blankly at my right hand.
No Ethiopian beans here, just Maxim mocha gold instant coffee that has long since gone cold.
No wonder the secretary’s nervous about getting in trouble.
“Ma’am, I’ll—”
“Forget it, forget it.”
“Yes?”
“It’s no big deal, don’t worry about it.”
Seeing the secretary’s face light up with relief, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
What’s this Ethiopian Yirgacheffe nonsense?
Just drink some instant coffee already!
What if it cools down a bit?
Who’s going to freeze to death if the coffee gets a little cold?
Past Eunsol was certainly a bit ridiculous.
“…”
Wait, no! Shouldn’t I be annoyed right now?
If I live as I did before, the past should unfold similarly…
“Hey!”
“Eek!”
“What kind of assistant can’t even make coffee right when you’re getting a paycheck?”
“I-I’m so sorry!”
To the nameless secretary, I apologize.
I guess there’s no helping it. That’s just how I was back then.
I’m glad my colleagues never saw this side of me.
Well, if I treated people like this at a place like Hotel Pioneer, it wouldn’t just be a character flaw; it’d be an intelligence issue too.
—
‘… I didn’t know Eunsol had this side to her.’
‘I don’t have no memories coming back, not exactly…’
‘Was there something similar that happened?’
‘When I saw the memories related to the first wish, it showed me commanding our staff quite naturally.’
‘Oh no!’
—
Late at night, I returned home early, a bit earlier than usual.
Being in the company had made me uncomfortable more than a few times.
At that moment, I wondered if this was how it should be… but looking back, on days when I was annoyed, I’d just ditch the meetings and go home.
Can a Senior Executive do this?
Well, the chairman’s daughter can do whatever she wants.
Sitting in my office space, I casually jotted down the documents I had brought along.
What kind of person was the old me – Senior Executive Lee Eunsol of Daeyang Group?
Looking at the blurred memories and the demeanor of those around me, I felt some things were apparent.
I was simultaneously terrified of and resentful towards my father.
There was quite a strong competitive spirit with my siblings.
While I didn’t hide my greed for Daeyang Group, I also wanted to start my own business.
How do such things connect to the first wish?
Will I naturally come to know if I live out my life as I am now?
“…”
Isn’t this very analytical approach indicative of a hotel participant’s behavior?
If I were truly the past me, I wouldn’t even know such a term as “first wish”!
This situation feels exactly like that phrase, “Don’t think about elephants.”
The more I try not to think about A, the more I get caught up in A.
“Ugh…”
With a sigh, as I attempted to rummage through my mini-fridge for a snack.
A familiar voice rang out.
“Eunsol, you finished work early today?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a few things on my mind.”
— Creak!
“Huh?”
I felt a slight tremor in the room.
For a moment, I thought my colleagues outside were warning me about some poltergeist, but…
It was too brief for that.
Wondering what that was, I heard my mother’s warm, or perhaps teasing, voice.
“I was a bit surprised this time.”
“Yes?”
“It seems things haven’t been going well… Is that right?”
Seems Jinwook already blabbed about the Shanghai project and all that.
Right now, it’s totally irrelevant to me.
“It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Glad to hear that. You know I always support you, right?”
“Of course.”
“… It wouldn’t be bad to give it another shot. I’ll help you.”
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