Chapter 750 – First Escape, Meeting (2)
—
– Kim Ahri
When progressing through the Curse Room, you experience a fragmentation of information.
With ten party members operating in their own realms, what one knows, another might not.
This issue intensifies on the third floor, which has systems like the Observatory and the post-apocalyptic world.
And that’s why a meeting is necessary.
Not just to gather unexpected info, but to piece together what only I know, what Seungyub knows, and what Sanghyun knows to create a bigger picture.
By combining information, questions that seemed incomprehensible at first start to unravel a bit.
A prime example is Sanghyun’s confusion.
While being chased by the Administration Bureau, Sanghyun pondered this:
“I understood one thing at the end. The Bureau is trying to pull me back again. Why? Ah! It seems my role is needed to summon the Son of Dawn.”
Had the ritual of magic not started, maybe it would have been different. But after it began, Sanghyun threw a wrench in the works and disrupted it.
As for the Administration Bureau, they couldn’t change the components of the summoning ritual.
So instead of punishing Sanghyun in the next loop, they tried desperately to pull him back.
“There were things I didn’t understand back then. If I know the Administration Bureau, they would have used some violent methods…”
Mookseong honestly nodded along.
“They would have used drugs and brainwashing to forcibly bring you back.”
“… Instead, they guided me to willingly pledge loyalty to the Bureau.”
That was a question Sanghyun couldn’t answer alone.
But by gathering everyone’s info, the answer came together.
“It was due to the Son of Dawn’s tendency to respect human free will.”
“Do as you wish.”
That was the Son of Dawn’s guiding principle and the philosophy he aspires to.
He respects the free will of mortals.
According to Kain, it’s a belief that won’t easily break, even at the cost of death.
The principles of the great being…
Honestly, it was quite an impressive element.
Kain seemed to feel a sense of reverence for this aspect too.
Anyway, at the starting point of Room 302, the prisoner was ‘half’ awake.
Since it wasn’t a complete summoning, the creation of the world couldn’t begin, but he was spreading his influence globally.
That’s why the Administration Bureau couldn’t go against the Son of Dawn’s will.
Instead of breaking down Sanghyun’s mind through force, they guided him to return willingly.
Shall I add another reason here?
“I think that if the ritual is completed normally, you too might have become a six-winged angel, Sanghyun.”
“Hmmm… That makes sense.”
“If that were the case, the Bureau’s brainwashing would instantly wear off. Maybe they avoided using coercive means for fear of your revenge.”
“Let’s consider what Ahri said as the second reason then.”
In summary, the Administration Bureau in Room 302 can’t act too harshly towards Sanghyun.
They can’t kill Sanghyun, and the chances of coercing him through magic or drugs seem low.
We should leverage this point in the next attempt.
Meanwhile, on one side of the table, Seungyub was spinning tales of his own exploits.
“So, you and Soyeon were the only ones to wake up in a looping world?”
“That’s right! Haha! The funny part comes next: Soyeon figured out that if she gives ordinary people a strong mental shock, they wake up!”
“Hmmm… And then?”
“She said she used violent means a few times.”
Soyeon, alone and alert in the repeating world, was trying to wake up by shocking ordinary people.
Apparently, she had attempted assault or even set fires.
The outcome wasn’t pretty.
At the beginning of Room 302, Soyeon was still just an ordinary human.
An average girl causing a ruckus would just end up in jail when the police show up.
Thus, Soyeon found herself stuck.
“I, haha! Got the answer immediately! Hahaha!”
Seungyub was incredibly proud to have figured it out.
Wasn’t the next round about helping Soyeon, not hindering her?
“In the end, it’s all about pissing people off without lifting a finger, right? Haha! Isn’t that easy? Why couldn’t she do that?”
“…”
“How did you do that? So I was playing LoL -”
“That’s enough.”
At this point, Kain gave Seungyub a light tap on the shoulder.
“Huh? Kain? The next part is the highlight—”
“No, no. Brother Seungyub, you don’t need to explain. Everyone can guess what it was. You triggered them through chat in the game, right?”
“Y-yeah, that’s right. To be precise—”
Songyi mumbled with a tired expression.
“Seungyub, Ahri’s telling you to stop. You don’t need to explain in detail. There’s no need to elaborate on that complicated relationship between you and Han Nam Dongi Jon Jead.”
Well, I beg to differ on that one.
I actually want to hear about it.
What kind of chat provoked someone to show up with a knife at school?
After that, Seungyub shared a few notable things about the “Brave New World.”
For instance, how Soyeon acted like she was going to kiss him, and it made ‘time slow down’ unexpectedly.
“Isn’t it fascinating? A world resetting itself, with people repeating the same actions. And suddenly, when she tries to kiss, time slows down!”
Seungyub couldn’t grasp these strange phenomena.
Combining the knowledge I gained from the post-apocalyptic world, it becomes clear.
“It’s simple. Seungyub, the place you were in was a movie world.”
“A movie world?”
It wasn’t about the world resetting.
It was just a case of the movie ending, and then it’s replaying from the start.
Repeating the same actions? It’s more problematic if the content of the same movie changes!
Soyeon and Seungyub were the exceptional cases where their behaviors changed, whereas ordinary people remained constant.
Time slowing down during a kiss? Classic slow motion.
During highlight scenes, movies often slow down to grab the audience’s attention.
If there’s anything peculiar, it’s just the ‘genre.’
In the post-apocalyptic world, I ended up feeling like an actor in a horror movie.
As a result, I experienced some truly terrifying moments.
The hotel had to edit out substantial portions of those memories.
Meanwhile, Seungyub was in a bright, cheerful genre. Must’ve been a school drama, right?
Songyi had a gleam in her eye.
“If there’s a slow-motion kiss scene, then Seungyub was the lead in a romance movie, huh?”
“N-no way!”
A romance film…
With a slow-motion kiss scene, seems like a viable theory.
So does that make it a school romance flick?
After that, we also shared various insights about “Brave New World” and Seungyub’s experiences.
…
Was it about thirty minutes later?
After a lengthy discussion on the “Brave New World,” Kain unexpectedly spoke up.
“Seungyub, or rather, Brother Seungyub—”
“Hyung! Please stop joking around.”
Kain chuckled and corrected his tone.
“Got it. But let me ask you one thing. Don’t be shy; just answer honestly.”
“W-what are you planning to say…?”
Don’t be shy? His next words silenced everyone.
“Can you charm Soyeon again?”
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence overcame us all.
Seungyub turned beet red, speechless.
“She, she likes me! I mean, uh—”
Seungyub stammered, embarrassed to admit Soyeon had a crush on him.
At that moment, I couldn’t help but wonder how on earth he managed to charm anyone.
Is that even possible?
“This was all due to luck, you know? But I might not have that luck for a while, so it might be tough.”
“Hmmm… Seungyub, listen closely.”
“Yeah?”
“We often overestimate the influence of blessings. I did; you’re doing it now too.”
“O-overestimate?”
“For example, I used to see the Owl’s vague words as if they were divine revelations. But with time and insight, I realized that much of that ambiguity came from the Owl not knowing either.”
The Owl’s advice, so vague it could be interpreted in various ways.
Over time, Kain figured it out.
Many times, even the Owl was unsure.
Since it couldn’t pinpoint a single possibility, it provided a range of interpretations instead.
Of course, that’s just Kain’s take on the Owl.
Only the patron knows the actual truth.
“The patron didn’t know…”
“The Owl also didn’t know. It provided ambiguous answers, and I only added post-interpretations after the events concluded.”
“I understand.”
“You might be facing a similar scenario.”
“…”
“From 1 to 8, everything was already in place; only 9 and 10 were completed through luck. Seeing it as all from luck can be misleading, as 8 was already there.”
Seungyub listened blankly to Kain.
He seemed to be entranced by Kain’s convincing words, which was a bit amusing.
So I chimed in.
“Hey, just say it plainly.”
“Huh?”
“Look at Seungyub’s face. He clearly doesn’t understand you. Simply put, it means that Soyeon liked you from the start. Or she had a high chance of liking you. That’s right, right?”
“Yep. Separate from luck, consider the setup. Two genuine people awakening in a false world, it’s just like a movie.”
In short, Soyeon was naturally in a position where she could like Seungyub, according to Kain.
Thus, he believed that even without luck, there was plenty of opportunity to charm her.
Up to this point, everyone nodded in agreement.
Saying ‘charm’ sounds funny, but it’s actually significant.
It means preemptively winning over the Apostle of the Prisoner, the guardian of the eight wings.
… The problem arose after that.
“Listen carefully. I think it’s best to approach her with sincere conversation at first. That girl is probably in an incredibly lonely state.”
“A lonely state?”
“She’s the only one awake among blind people, after all. You should exploit that loneliness—”
A serious moment where Kain was giving Seungyub romantic advice.
It caught me off guard.
Wait, is Kain actually giving Seungyub dating tips?
I wasn’t the only one thinking this; it seemed others had the same thought.
Songyi’s eyes went wide, and she jumped up.
“No way… Are you really planning to teach Seungyub how to charm girls?”
“Huh? I was just sharing my thoughts—”
“Oh really! Who do you think you are to give advice? Especially you, of all people!”
Just then, Miro jumped in.
“… Reminds me of something Kain said before. What was it? Something about bringing a picture—”
“Ugh!”
Kain’s mouth dropped in shock, and honestly, if it weren’t for him, I would’ve shut Miro up myself.
Please, let’s just pretend that didn’t happen!
“Everyone, listen up! Kain actually—”
Miro seemed eager to spill the truth to everyone, but I felt dizzy just thinking about it.
Seriously, what is Kain up to?
Meanwhile, Songyi started scribbling something on a whiteboard.
‘xx 오톡’
‘April Fools’
“Ugh! How do you know this?”
“I have my ways!”
The painful memories known only to a few.
Those unaware looked on in perplexity.
Anyway, amidst the chaos, one conclusion was reached.
“Bro, now you see.”
“…”
“Just remain quiet. Who exactly is giving advice to whom here?”
—
Brave New World, with time slowing down scenes: Chapter 728
Thanks to Solbu and Geoguema for your support!
I modified the second half of Ahri’s monologue. There was some confusion between the worldbuilding and backstory. I appreciate the heads up on that!
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