Chapter 15: Room 102, Cursed Room – ‘Mansion of Fear’ (1)
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 5
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Cursed Room – Mansion of Fear)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
Thud, thud!
“Ah, Jinchul, can you drive a bit more steadily? My backside is killing me!”
“Hey, noona, this is my first time driving an SUV. The feel is a bit different!”
Thunk!
“Ouch! Ugh…”
“Ugh! My head… Hyung, can you slow down a bit?”
“We’re all going to die before we even reach the mansion!”
“Seriously, why are we on this pothole-ridden path for so long just to get to that stupid mansion? Didn’t you say you’ve been there a lot before, noona?”
“Hmm… truth is, my memories are a bit fuzzy since I was a kid back then. My big uncle has been living there since then… Still, it’s pretty amazing to be visiting a nice mansion for free, so what’s with the complaints?”
“It’s not complaints… it’s that it’s way too far and exhausting to get there.”
“By the way, is your big uncle actually at the mansion?”
“Well, Songee, I called him a few days ago, but it seems he hasn’t been feeling well lately and can’t come down from the hospital in Seoul. Good for us, right~?”
“Excuse me??”
“No, no! I didn’t mean it’s good he’s sick; it’s just that it’ll be just us without the staff.”
“Are there really staff?”
“I heard there’s one maid and one butler, just those two.”
“A maid and a butler? Wow, that’s truly an old-fashioned mansion then. I don’t think I’ve even seen such a style back in my hometown.”
“And that’s where we’re headed.”
BEEEEEEEEEChapter:
In my mind, it felt like a broken radio was playing, and just then, snap, I regained my senses.
At the same time, everyone else also shut their mouths.
What just happened?
After entering Room 102, we probably spent half an hour zoning out like we were watching a movie. It felt bizarre, as if I were an actor in some odd film.
Naturally, the car came to a stop.
“What in the world was that…? This just keeps getting weirder.”
“Wait, what just happened? I didn’t do anything and suddenly—”
“Someone was controlling our bodies like we were in a role-play for about 20 or 30 minutes. Likely this hotel’s doing.”
Finally, all of us pieced together the situation.
After entering Room 102, we lost control of our bodies and were practically puppeteered to head toward the mansion, with all this dramatic nonsense shoved into our heads like a play.
Elena, the one aspiring to be an actress, managed to grasp the situation first.
“It seems we’ve all been given roles. Me, Eunsol-noona, Jinchul-ssi, Kain-ssi, and Songee—five of us headed to Eunsol-noona’s big uncle’s manor. Except for Seungyub, we’re all part of the same college club, and Seungyub is the little brother. I just remembered this whole setup. Is anyone else similar?”
“I got the same thing. Well, I only learned today that I had a big uncle this entire time. The hotel really knows how to create nonexistent family members, huh? And college students? Maybe that fits everyone else, but Jinchul and I are technically—”
All of us fell mute again.
College students.
Eunsol-noona and Jinchul-hyung were both in their early thirties, so being college students was quite a stretch. Eunsol-noona could maybe pass if dressed right, but for Jinchul-hyung, it was pretty impossible.
Now, though, both of them seriously looked younger.
“You look just like college students!”
A dazed response came back.
“Right? I feel like I lost ten years.”
“Seriously, I come here and experience the weirdest stuff…”
“If we’re playing college students, then I actually seem older than before…”
“Still, I don’t think they made Songee look older at all?”
“Looks like Elena-unnie and I don’t see much of a change either.”
“They must have made Jinchul-hyung and Eunsol-noona younger for the roles. If they can bring people back to life, making someone look young should be a piece of cake.”
“I just wish my age would stay the same after leaving this hotel…”
Songee casually pointed out, making Eunsol-noona chuckle.
“But hey, unni! Where’s Seungyub now?”
“According to the setup, he’s already in the mansion.”
“Probably as some kind of hostage.”
“A hostage? What do you mean by that, Kain?”
“Oh, as soon as I came to, I noticed the name of the destination—we’re heading to a place called ‘Mansion of Fear.’ I don’t know for sure, but all sorts of horrendous things have got to happen there. Now that we woke up before reaching the mansion, I was just thinking… why not skip the trip altogether? Maybe that’s why they sent Seungyub in advance? To make sure we go to the mansion regardless!”
“Sure, that might be true, but I think we need to go, regardless,” Jinchul-hyung replied. “If we think we won’t go, they’re probably going to put us through all kinds of scenarios to drag us there. Suddenly, zombies appear, and we have no choice but to run to the mansion. Wouldn’t that make sense as a new scenario?”
“You’ve only been here for a few days, yet you’re already becoming a pro at this hotel business, Jinchul.”
“Alright, let’s just go to the mansion then. If it’s a place they want us in by any means, I think we should walk there ourselves to avoid extra trouble.”
“Do you know the way, Jinchul-hyung? You weren’t actually the one driving this whole time, were you?”
“Hmm… actually, the map is right next to the road, but there’s a bigger problem…”
“What’s that?”
“This is a manual transmission, not automatic.”
An eerie silence settled in.
“Hyung, don’t tell me you actually…”
“I got my manual license, but I haven’t driven a stick in ten years. Does anyone here know how to drive one?”
“I don’t have a license…” Songee muttered.
“It’d be weird for a high schooler to have one. Mine is automatic too. Kain, what about you?”
“Same here, no license.”
“What about you, Elena?… Nah, skip that. This is a disaster.”
“Let me drive,” Elena said as an even deeper silence fell.
“Miss Elena? Do you even know how?”
“I actually got a Korean license before and realized that it’s mostly automatic in Korea. Russia, however, still has over 80% manual, so… just let me drive.”
And just like that, the steering wheel of the manual car, which no one could operate, was handed to the young foreign girl in her twenties instead of the former martial artist in his thirties or the career woman in her thirties.
We kept our lips zipped as we approached the mansion. Jinchul-hyung had a look on his face that seemed more rigid than a statue.
The mood in the car grew darker as we neared the mansion.
What kind of place is the ‘Mansion of Fear,’ I wondered.
As we got closer, the surrounding forest had an unsettling vibe that progressively intensified. The trees were rising taller and taller like giants, and the birds perched ominously, gazing at our vehicle.
Was it just my imagination?
Soon, we spotted the mansion in the distance.
With a giant mountain behind and an enormous lake out front that made anyone wonder, “Is there really such a huge lake in Korea?”
There was a bridge across the lake wide enough for a car, and we moved toward the mansion via that bridge.
It truly was a mansion unlike the rectangular matchbox-style houses in Korea.
Crossing over the lake, a beautifully decorated garden greeted us, along with antique statues peeking out all around.
And there, a grand entrance sat, looking too massive for people to even open.
As the car approached, the main entrance smoothly opened up, and we all stepped out.
Next to the entrance stood an extremely bizarre statue I had never laid eyes on before.
It bore the form of a human but had six arms and a heart that was disturbingly large. The enormous sculpture of the heart seemed like a monstrous appendage that could jump out of the body and move at any second.
As we gazed at it, Songee couldn’t suppress her curiosity and gave the statue a gentle prod with her foot, and finding her cute, Eunsol-noona ruffled Songee’s hair just as a figure emerged from the mansion.
An old man accompanied by a boy and a girl.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our mansion.”
The dignified old man in a suit gave a slight bow, while we awkwardly responded to the greeting.
“Hello! I, umm… I am Lee Eunsol…”
“Ah, I’ve heard much about you. The young miss is going to stay at the mansion for a few days with her college friends, and our master insisted we must do our utmost to please you. Unfortunately, the master is unwell and unable to be present at the mansion…”
So just the old man and two helpers are here?
“I am the butler of the mansion, Kim Mookseong, and this child here, while lacking in experience, is my granddaughter, Kim Ahri. We will do our best to satisfy you.”
“Ahri?”
Caught off guard hearing a name that didn’t sound Korean, I turned to see the young girl next to him bowing deeply.
“Hello! I work as a maid here.”
What on earth is happening? Normally, aren’t maids supposed to be over 20? This girl looked barely in her early teens; at best, maybe 13 or 14.
Aah… I decided this line of thought was pointless.
What’s so surprising? Ever since arriving at this hotel, strangeness and the ordinary have virtually merged into one.
It’s a place where even if a 5-year-old called themselves a butler, I’d have to just roll with it.
But in addition, this girl had an extraordinarily surreal appearance. Her skin was as white as snow, and her features were so doll-like, but her crimson eyes were the most striking feature of all.
Weren’t such eyes typically a sign of albinism? Yet this girl definitely wasn’t an albino; the hair was jet black!
She was such an improbable girl appearing in a place ominously dubbed ‘Mansion of Fear.’ Naturally, I felt a mix of incredible suspicion and wariness, yet there stood the boy beside her, gawking like a fool.
“Seungyub, aren’t you going to say hello to noona?”
“Ah, um, noona, you’re here! Hello, everyone!”
“Oh my! If you keep staring like that, your eyes might pop out. How amazing that you’re like this in a place like this!”
As Eunsol-noona noted, Seungyub was clearly transfixed by the girl next to him. Anyone could see he was practically trembling at the sight of Ahri, feeling this intense fated encounter wash over him.
Every time Ahri turned and smiled back at him, he would avert his eyes down to the floor without taking a breath. Honestly, it was so absurd it was hard for me to say anything else.
Of course, she was extremely pretty, but—
As Eunsol-noona observed, in a place like this, ‘the Mansion of Fear.’ The most suspicious spot in the world, where even questioning her humanity felt essential.
That was when the butler spoke again.
“By the way, do you have any plans on where you’d like to go?”
Plans? It had only been about an hour since we twigged we were coming to such a bizarre mansion.
“Haha, we haven’t exactly come up with anything yet.”
“In that case, Miss, I suggest you and your friends unpack your luggage, relax a bit, and then take a stroll to the hill behind the mansion. Unfortunately, it’s quite far from the city, so you won’t find much entertainment, but we take pride in our beautiful scenery. Beyond the hill, there’s a lovely stream, and you could even enjoy boating on the lake. There’s also a charming old cathedral nearby.”
Since none of us knew a thing about this mansion anyway, no one had any other plans to suggest.
Thus, we collectively decided to unpack, rest a bit, and ascend the hill for a casual walk before dinner.
After settling our belongings in our lavish rooms, we convened for a “strategy meeting.”
“By the way, Kain, where did Seungyub run off to?”
“Uhm… that’s strange. He was right next to me while we were washing up…”
“Oh! Earlier, he said he’d help the maid and ran off!”
“Oh man, he’s really getting on my nerves. Is he mistaking this place for some idyllic fantasy mansion? Songee, you just stood there and watched him run off?”
“He dashed away so suddenly…”
“Alright, alright. Were we really going to depend on a middle schooler for this meeting anyway? Let’s continue with the rest of us. Kain, did you discover anything from the window?”
“Nothing outside the mansion’s name so far. It just says ‘Fear.’ It sounds ominous, but we have no clues about the dangers or what we should do.”
“Well, we should probably start with the simple goal: what’s our first objective? From the last announcement in Room 101, we can make some deductions. The first goal is to ensure at least one person survives. If we manage that, everyone else can come back to life even if we perish.”
“But… how long do we have to survive for?” Songee asked.
“Now we need to guess. The simple approach is just to survive as long as possible. And to survive, first, we need to know what could threaten us.” Eunsol-noona replied.
“That’s pretty obvious who we should be cautious of, right?”
Honestly, I agreed with Jinchul-hyung. Who could be a potential threat? Of course, there might be an invisible monster showing up, but that’s something we can’t even begin to predict.
More than that, the butler and the young maid we just met seemed to exude an air of outright suspicion.
“The butler and that girl gave off real danger vibes from the moment we met,” I stated.
“100%. And you know I keep myself fit, right? As soon as I saw that old man, I sensed danger. He had muscles that couldn’t be concealed even under his clothes. If you thought he was weak just because he’s old, you’d be in for a surprise. He could probably outmatch you in arm wrestling, Kain.”
“But that maid didn’t seem like she was capable of fighting at all.”
“Sure, she looks young, but you can’t rule anything out.”
“Honestly, I think the statue by the entrance is the most suspicious of all,” added Songee, seconded by Elena.
“For me, it was that bridge. While we were driving here, it felt kinda flimsy, similar to the roads during the rasputitsa season in my home country.”
“Rasputitsa?”
“It’s when the snow melts in Russia, and the roads turn into muddy messes. I think Elena means that there was too much moisture on the bridge, making it feel like mud.”
“Spot on.”
For about thirty minutes, we discussed how suspicious each aspect of the mansion felt and how alarming it appeared.
As we began perceiving the mansion as a hellish landscape laden with deadly traps, and the butler and maid morphed in our minds into potential murderers,
Knock, knock, knock!
The sound of someone knocking echoed through the room.
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