### Chapter 256 – Party Time – Sanctum of Blessings (2)
—
#### [User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
Date: Day 109
Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3
—
– Han Kain
“Who’s getting the boost this time?”
On the first day of Party Time, during breakfast, Songee threw the question out there. Unfortunately, no one could answer. It turns out no one knows how the hotel even evaluates contributions.
I mean, we know the criteria for obtaining heritage. According to the alerts that pop up every time the choice time starts, eligibility is granted based on our survival in the final round and our contribution in the ‘Final Battle.’
But as for the contributions for Blessing boosts? Yeah, those criteria are pretty much a mystery.
“We might not know the standards, but we can guess how much is piled up so far. Remember when the Gate Room gave us a hint? Anyone still remember the order from that time?”
Ari’s words triggered a memory. In Room 107, during the ‘Jekyll and Hyde Game,’ Hyde had latched onto us according to our contribution order, right? I do vaguely remember the rough sequence.
“I remember, but since we’ve gone through Rooms 201 and 202 since then, it’s probably changed a lot, right?”
The Gate Room isn’t a place where contributions are recognized, so it doesn’t count.
“What was the contribution order by the end of Floor 1?”
“It was probably this.”
—
Han Kain / Yu Songee / Park Seungyub / Kim Ari / Elena / Cha Jinchul / Kim Mooksung / Lee Eunsol
—
As I wrote it on the whiteboard, seeing my name at the top made me feel a bit good. On the flip side, some people became grumpy for the same reason.
“Ugh… I’ve never been last at anything in my life…”
“Uh, sis.”
“Since there were Rooms 201 and 202 after that, the order now should be quite different. For now, we have no way to know the current order. The hotel might give us another hint indirectly, though.”
Ari, who was closely examining my board, offered a different perspective.
“Rather than ordering based on ‘total contributions,’ it might be better to consider when the blessings were recently enhanced. For example, while Kain has the highest total contribution, you’ve spent a lot of it on gaining ‘Companion Information’ and a powerful enhancement called ‘Scenario Understanding,’ right?”
“True. My remaining contributions might not be that much at this point.”
Elena chimed in with a different opinion.
“Um… I don’t think so? Of course, right after acquiring Scenario Understanding, you might have been almost at zero contributions. But you saw the ending of Room 201, and you contributed a lot to crashing the Administration Bureau with Ari in Room 202, so you should have rebuilt your contribution pretty well.”
“Thanks. But even if I have built up contributions, it still feels insufficient for the next enhancement.”
Back when I got Scenario Understanding, the Owl had told me that seeing it until I escape the hotel could be tough. It means there’s still a long way to go before I can earn another blessing, and there could be various reasons for that.
Just like in games, leveling up requires more experience as you go along; the hotel’s blessing enhancements could work on the same principle. Treating the two times I boosted my Scenario Understanding means I’ve already enhanced three times. Or the next boost might just be pretty formidable.
But I doubt that’s the case this time. Ari continued speaking.
“As you know, contributions are cumulative. Those who’ve enhanced their blessings a while ago and performed impressively in recent rooms should be approaching their enhancements by now.”
With those words, Ari moved to the whiteboard and wrote down the rooms we had completed along with the names of those who boosted their abilities after clearing those rooms.
—
Room 103: Han Kain (Companion Information), Yu Songee (Telepathy), Park Seungyub (Fortune Control)
Room 101: Han Kain (Savings), Kim Ari (Compass), Elena (Lie Detection), Cha Jinchul (Regeneration)
Room 102: Han Kain (Scenario Understanding), Kim Mooksung (Vivid Communication), Lee Eunsol (Hand of Greed)
Room 201: Park Seungyub (Savings), Elena (Clarity of Mind)
Room 202: ?
—
Sister Eunsol looked at the table and chuckled.
“Looks like this time it’ll be hard for me. I did enhance not long ago. It feels like it was ages ago, though.”
Songee reacted completely differently.
“Unni, I don’t even remember when I was enhanced.”
Glancing at the board gave me a rough idea of who might be next. First off, there are three people who totally won’t be boosted.
Like I said before, I don’t think my turn is coming just yet. I doubt it’ll come back until floor two is nearly over.
Elena also seems unlikely. She had a decent contribution for successfully escaping on her own but most recently boosted in Room 201, so that should still leave her short.
The doctor, who had only just been resurrected, obviously isn’t going to get called just yet.
There are a couple of other folks who seem likely for a boost.
Seungyub seems most probable. He missed his enhancement in Room 201 but built up a ton of contributions by delaying for a strong boost, plus he made a splash by locating Rilinganor, who was the hidden card of the Sea God, or by killing Director Park, allowing Elena to escape.
Jinchul is fitting the criteria too. He boosted after finishing Room 101, and now with 102 and 201 behind him, quite a bit of time has passed. Moreover, in Room 202, Jinchul took on the conductor Ruda and engaged directly with the Administration Bureau. That role is something only he could perform among us, and his contributions were substantial.
The rest of the four are a bit murky.
Songee and Ari enhanced a while ago, but I’m unsure whether they had pivotal roles in Room 202. If we had to nitpick, Ari’s share of the plan to collapse the Administration Bureau would likely be greater.
Sister Eunsol and Grandpa Mooksung are both somewhat recent in their boosts, and they likely didn’t have significant feats in Room 202. Sure, Sister Eunsol earned the heritage, but that was largely because others stepped back—not because she overwhelmingly contributed.
After laying it all out like this, we decided to head towards the Sanctum of Blessings.
—
Park Seungyub, Cha Jinchul, and Kim Ari are eligible for enhancements. Will you proceed? (Yes/No)
—
The candidates didn’t stray far from our predictions.
Seungyub and Jinchul, who I thought would be ready for an enhancement, were in the running. Among those I deemed somewhat ambiguous, only Ari got her turn. I suspect those ‘ambiguous’ folks who didn’t get their chance this time are likely on deck after the next room wraps up.
“Oh~! It’s my turn this time! If it weren’t for me, we couldn’t have opened the door and shaken up the Administration Bureau, right?”
Ari’s cheerful voice rang out, and Jinchul nodded.
“Yeah, you and I played huge parts in rattling the Bureau.”
“When do you think my turn will come?”
“Don’t worry. Your turn will come soon. Maybe in the next room?”
Elena, who had enhanced fairly recently, as well as Grandpa and Sister Eunsol, didn’t seem to expect anything in particular, remaining unphased. In the end, only Songee, who hadn’t enhanced in quite a while, looked genuinely disappointed as the light of the Sanctum began to descend.
*
– Cha Jinchul
—
The scenery has changed from before.
There certainly used to be a vast plain littered with swords, right? Now, molten lava is bubbling all around. Floating over the sea of lava is a massive iron plate, and I’m precariously perched on one of them.
“Ugh… why in the world is my Patron in such a deadly place?”
— Rumble!
From the boiling sea of lava arose a giant wearing armor like skin and a shield for a face. At some point, I realized I was standing atop the steel giant’s hand.
“Your recent feats have been commendable.”
“Recent as in… Room 202?”
“Life is a struggle. The life of a mortal is akin to a flame that burns bright for a moment… burn brightly to incinerate all!”
“I see, so this is your catchphrase. You just keep saying what you want to say no matter what I say. Honestly, I feel like I’ve heard something similar before…”
“Burn, do not fear your ignition. The courage to rush headlong into seemingly overwhelming forces is undoubtedly valuable. Of course, as a result, you died, so you didn’t earn any heritage. Some patrons might say run away like cowards and survive to earn treasures.”
“…”
“I would not say such things. Heritage is simply the result of overcoming struggles. What value do treasures have when gained by evading struggle?”
“Thanks for saying that nicely.”
“However, I do have one concern.”
“Excuse me?”
“One impurity that has seeped into you. Don’t you feel it?”
… I didn’t want to worry my comrades, so I hadn’t mentioned it, but ever since coming out of the Gate Room, I’ve been plagued by a strange ailment. A mysterious specter of a girl, or woman, has begun to appear, unseen by anyone—even Sister Eunsol with her transcendental vision.
“I hear she’s the witch from the Gate Room. So far, she hasn’t said a word to me.”
“A useless impurity. Someday it will hinder you. However, if you overcome it, it may also become a stepping stone for growth. But ultimately, it’s something you must resolve.”
“More importantly, I’m here to let you know that your time has come today.”
“My time?”
“Your turn for a ‘Strong Enhancement’ has arrived.”
‘Strong Enhancement.’ My heart raced at the thought.
“What does ‘strong’ mean…?”
The giant appeared to take a moment to choose his words.
“You will come to perceive the time that splits the moment.”
With that, I felt my consciousness begin to blur.
… Wait, I heard that Kain or Seungyub were given the option to gather contributions before choosing whether to take a strong enhancement or a rather ambiguous one. But I don’t seem to have any such option?
*
– Park Seungyub
—
I awakened in a beautiful place.
It was a strange realm where the mysterious galaxy flowed like a river.
The Patron I’d met several times before seems completely insane this time as well with their absurdities—
“Please, at least show me some basic respect.”
“…Huh?”
“Respect, my foot! Just a moment ago, you thought I was some lunatic, didn’t you?”
“Can you read minds?”
What an absurd thing to say…
“Enough! Just come this way.”
I followed the boy into a bizarre place with strange orbs.
“Um, so I can get an enhancement this time, right? I mean, I worked hard in Room 202!”
“Just barely. Honestly, it was quite on the fence. Let’s say I filled in the gaps.”
“Eh? Are you saying a patron can fill in for a participant who hasn’t built up enough contribution?”
“It’s not just contributions. If a patron bears quite a loss, they can intervene. The one investing the most among us right now is the Owl.”
“Is that Kain’s patron?”
“He might not have realized the potential he sees in the participant he’s backing. He might think that he and you could possibly reach the end of this hotel.”
“Oh! So, did you see some potential in me as well? Is that why you’re taking the risk of—”
“You’d die on the street if I didn’t help you at all.”
“…”
Sounds like I just got hit with some ruthless truth.
The boy arrived before the orb and quietly touched it. His hand’s caress caused countless bubbles to swirl around and pop.
“Have you thought about the essence of luck?”
“Eh? The essence of luck?”
“Have you ever considered that there’s no true meaning behind luck? The random events we think are actually born out of ignorance of the causes behind them.”
“…”
“Sorry, that was a mistake to ask you.”
Of course, I didn’t fully grasp what he meant, but calling me out on it kinda didn’t sit well.
“It’s this sort of talk. Suppose you’re walking along a street and get struck by lightning. Folks will probably say you had bad luck. But can it really be called a ‘random occurrence’ even from the perspective of an exalted one?”
“…”
“Long before lightning struck, the moment and place it was going to hit were likely predetermined. Lightning is certainly a phenomenon with causes. The fact that you were passing by at that moment was probably already set in stone, too.”
I felt like I started to grasp where he was going.
“So perhaps, from an exalted perspective, there is no luck in this world. The occurrence of all events was predetermined from creation, and humans simply label the unknown causality as ‘luck?’”
“Oh… I’ve heard similar stuff before. I’m not sure though, but isn’t there something like the uncertainty principle or quantum mechanics in the world…?”
“Oh! Whoa! Aah!”
“Excuse me?”
“Since meeting you, I’ve never been this shocked. That word just now… did it really come from your mouth?”
“…”
“Just kidding! Of course I know about that theory. But I didn’t gather here to debate the universe’s principles with you, did I?”
“Right.”
“The reason I suddenly bring up ‘necessity’ is that understanding this concept is essential for grasping the ability you’re about to receive.”
At that moment, I felt a twinge of unease.
I know that through my experiences, one of the characteristics of my ability is. When ever patrons give me these theoretical and in-depth explanations, it tends to be more of a hindrance to me.
“That’s a solid insight you’ve gained. Quite well aware of that.”
“…”
“Do not worry. I’m well aware of that concern. This enhancement will even alleviate that problem to some extent.”
—
Recently, I’ve been finding it increasingly challenging to maintain the serialization schedule. It’s evident that unlike at the beginning, I’m running low on stockpiles, and there are more factors to consider while drafting the scenarios.
I’ll likely adjust the serialization schedule soon.
Thank you to all the readers who consistently enjoy the Hotel Horror Escape story.
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