Chapter: 119
### 119 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Jekyll and Hyde Game’ (10)
—
– Han Kain
I feel like I’m getting a headache.
I’ve gone through way too much confusion in just one day.
Fighting against Arima in Jinchul’s mind, the bizarre advice I received, all of it just jumbled in my head.
As I held my head and bowed down, Ahri nudged my shoulder.
“What’s got you so deep in thought? Just so you know, the break isn’t very long this time either.”
…Thinking about it, I don’t have to worry alone.
Isn’t that one of the perks of having comrades?
I immediately started spilling my thoughts.
Songee and Seungyub were staring blankly at the ceiling, but Eunsol and Ahri soon started thinking seriously.
Ahri answered first.
“To sum up what happened in the mental realm, the knowledge contained in the grimoire is already within you, but it’s taking time to digest. However, the deeper you accept this knowledge, the more it feels like you’re straying from being human, and that’s frightening. Am I right?”
“That kinda sounds about right.”
“Ultimately, it’s a problem for you to choose. But there’s one thing I want to say.”
“Go ahead.”
“Before the knowledge of the grimoire, who is its creator? An unborn god, right? Think about what that god is really doing.”
The creator of the grimoire. The unborn one.
“Honestly, isn’t he just a reclusive creep?”
I was hit with an unexpected answer.
“What?”
“Isn’t it true? Ever since he became conscious, he’s never left his mom’s womb and, when he finally started communicating with mortals, he was all filled with jealousy and just wanted to torment them.
‘The unborn one! The firstborn of the Stellar Dragon!’
Sounds fancy, but in reality, he’s just a hermit who’s been cooped up in some dark cave, green with envy over the outside world. Sure, he pretends to be a divine child, trying to imitate Buddhist thoughts through his magic, but it all amounts to some grim philosophy. Do you really need to get all wrapped up in that guy’s ideology?”
“… But if I can’t accept that understanding—”
“You’re worried you won’t be able to use the grimoire properly? It’s just a tool anyway; there’s no telling if you have to fully adopt its ideology to use it. Ultimately, it’s up to you what you choose, but remember: You don’t have to get bogged down or intimidated by terms like god or devil, or feel obligated to follow those kinds of beings.”
I felt like a light bulb went off in my head.
Is this a perspective gained from experiences in the ‘Administration Bureau’?
“Did that help?”
“I think I get it… or maybe I don’t.”
Eunsol chimed in, “I’m glad that Ahri was able to help with the grimoire topic. I don’t have anything useful to add. However, I’ve realized two peculiar points about the advice.”
“First, unlike usual advice, it consumed all three instances at once. Second, it just had to be ‘now’ when you received the advice.”
“I can guess why all three instances were consumed at once. Normally, advice is dropped automatically in dangerous situations or as responses to questions, but this time, neither applies. There wasn’t a crisis, nor did I ask a question. Maybe it’s a rule violation resulting in penalties? It’s absurd since I didn’t break the rule.”
“I think similarly. The Owl probably forced out ‘excessive advice’, leading to the penalty. So, the second point matters. Why did it deliver advice at the time it did, accompanied by the penalty for using all instances? We need to reflect that into how we interpret the advice.”
Listening to Eunsol, an idea popped into my head.
“The advice isn’t really about preparing for some distant future, is it?”
“I don’t think so. The Owl isn’t stupid. To give advice for the future while we are in the Gate Room makes no sense. That advice has to be closely related to the Gate Room.”
Ahri interjected, “It’s best not to be too definitive. I agree the advice seems related to the Gate Room, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be another interpretation. From past experiences, the Owl tends to complicate the interpretation of even a single word.”
The meaning of the advice could indeed be dual. I understood.
Let’s think about the advice’s meaning.
[Remember the current insight. It is an issue you must inevitably overcome in the hotel.]
“’Current insight’ must relate to the grimoire topic, right?”
“Sounds likely? So, ultimately, it’s up to you to interpret this advice. We don’t know what you’ve realized about the grimoire.”
What insight did I gain?
…
There were so many that it was hard to pin it down.
I vaguely felt the power of manifestation and realized I needed to change myself to improve my proficiency with the grimoire. Still, later, I heard another view from Ahri.
In all these realizations, what exactly did it refer to?
And how would that realization apply to the remaining challenges in the Gate Room?
While I was mulling things over, Grandpa Mooksung placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind; maybe stop worrying for a bit.”
“Uh?”
He stretched his arm to point at the notification in the air.
[22:33]
“The break is barely left with just over 20 minutes. Are you just going to think your head to pieces until the next trial starts? You should take a breather.”
“Fair point.”
“Also, I think it might not only be about the grimoire.”
“Really?”
“The thing you mentioned just before the advice wasn’t about the grimoire at all, was it?”
I recalled what I had said before the advice came.
The witch almost escaped the trial room by copying Jinchul’s mind.
“Right, it was about escape. But how does that relate to the Gate Room? We can’t just start copying minds and escape from the Gate Room.”
“Who knows. I was just tossing ideas around.”
Everyone tilted their heads for a moment.
There was now less than 20 minutes left. Eventually, everyone stopped pondering and started relaxing.
I leaned against the wall, trying to catch a little nap.
…
As I closed my eyes, I realized another strange point about this advice.
A peculiar feature only I could recognize since I received the advice.
[It is a problem.]
Does the Owl use such a strange style when giving advice?
I thought it typically used formal or semi-formal language.
But this peculiar tone felt like someone was mimicking another’s style.
Before I could think much further, I dozed off.
—
Thud.
“Wake up.”
“Ugh.”
I groggily opened my eyes, pushing through the fatigue at Ahri’s gesture.
[1:21]
“One minute left.”
“So you woke me up.”
“After just two trials, I feel like I’m on death’s door here…”
“I think it’s surprisingly manageable.”
“Manageable?”
“The trials are five; if just one passes, we all survive! We passed the first trial with everyone, and in the second, only one fell, right? That’s only a 40% hurdle, and with just one dropout, we can take it easy—”
I quickly slapped a hand over Ahri’s mouth!
Grandpa Mooksung, who was listening to Ahri, smacked his forehead.
“What? Why the sudden freak-out?”
“Please, don’t say something cursed! Didn’t you know that in an ER, you NEVER say ‘today is quiet’?! Saying ‘the trials are taking it easy here’ in a hotel is just asking for trouble!”
“What kind of superstition is that—”
“Ahri, seriously, shut it! This time, Kain agrees with that! Hearing your words just makes it feel like we’re about to face an absolute hell of a trial from the hotel!”
While Ahri pouted minimally, the break came to an end.
Unexplained foreboding loomed as the third trial began.
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 44
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 107 (Gate Room)
Sage’s Advice: 0]
– Han Kain
As the light brightened, we found ourselves sitting around a round table in a tidy office.
In the center, an unknown orb descended.
“Hello!
From now on, you participants will engage in a ‘Jekyll and Hyde Game.’
Call me the announcer. Now, the blessings of all participants shall be sealed.”
With that, our status windows disappeared.
Jekyll and Hyde Game?
What the heck does that mean?
Songee reacted, “This kind of sounds like some Mafia game!”
“Is Jekyll the citizen and Hyde the mafia? Having Hyde infest among us is the unique part, isn’t it?”
Grandpa Mooksung exclaimed in surprise.
“Hey, hey! Don’t just talk about things you know! Fill me in on what this Mafia game is!?”
Eunsol also looked greatly perplexed. “I know about Mafia, but isn’t that just a political game? How on earth are we supposed to find Hyde? And ‘you can’t find it with a legacy’?! So it’s just a guessing game?”
Our ultimate guesser, Seungyub, has his luck sealed.
What are we even supposed to do? Everyone was plunged into confusion.
Stay calm.
“Let’s all relax. The hotel wouldn’t make us play a pointless guessing game for no reason.”
“What do you mean?”
“There has to be some logic behind this. Ultimately, the key to this game is: first, who will Hyde infest, and second, who will Hyde kill, right?
If we find out who will infest, we can find and execute Hyde. If we learn who will be executed, the doctor can protect them.
Selection of infesting targets and execution targets. There must be logic to it. There’s no way it would be random infestations and executions.”
While I said that, I felt equally confused.
How does Hyde choose whom to infest and whom to kill?
It felt chilling. I had a premonition that we would face considerable sacrifices in this game.
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