### Chapter 258 – Party Time – The Ultimate Girl (4)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 109
Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
We had no results from our exploration even late into the night. After dinner, Dr. Chan, Grandpa, and my sister Eunsol had rummaged through all the paintings and decorations on the 2nd floor, but we hadn’t found anything special at all.
“This hotel is way too big!”
“I know, right? What kind of hotel is this ridiculously vast…?”
What was the biggest problem?
The hotel is ridiculously huge. While the first floor is manageable enough to cover everything in about ten minutes, the second floor sprouted vast empty rooms for no apparent reason, making it significantly more expansive.
The most serious issue is the basement. It’s silly to point it out now, but I can’t help but suspect that the basement of Hotel Pioneer is expanding in real-time. It’s a place where counting the rooms is almost impossible.
“Did we exhaust ourselves unnecessarily? After all, Ari will wake up by morning.”
“True. Let’s rest today as Eunsol said. When Ari wakes up tomorrow, she’ll find us with her blessing, like ‘Ta-da!’ By the way, Kain, have you tried using your advice?”
“I got absolutely no reaction. If the question crosses a specific line, it just goes silent.”
“Questions that cross the line? Like what?”
“Like when I once asked what the ‘Buddha’ is…”
“Man! That’s definitely crossing the line. You might as well have asked for the truth of the universe!”
“Even asking about the location of the Mirror Room gets me the same result. No response at all.”
At that point, Eunsol chimed in with a question.
“Can’t you phrase it differently?”
“Differently?”
“For example, ‘mystical place.’”
“Doesn’t seem like that would work either.”
Just to test, I tried that obvious trick, but it didn’t work. At that moment, Elena approached from across.
“Kain!”
“Yeah?”
“Songee hasn’t been seen for a while. Can you check her location?”
I wasn’t particularly worried. Who would dare break into a flying hotel?
So, I casually checked the status window for my teammate’s location.
[Team Location Info(*)
Yu Songee: Mirror Room]
— Clang!
Coffee spilled all over the floor.
“Huh? Kain?”
“What are you doing?”
… Looks like it’s going to be a long night.
*
– Yu Songee
— Whoosh!
“Ah~ this feels amazing! Wait, does this make me sound too much like a grandma? But this is just so good!”
“Beep!”
“… You keep making me talk to myself. You understand what I mean, right?”
“Beep!”
“Hey! Don’t come into the bathtub with a sunflower seed in your mouth!”
Why is this little guy deficient in common sense? I quickly pulled Perro out of the tub.
…
Thinking about it, it makes sense that a parrot would lack common sense. Was it my fault for bringing it into the tub in the first place?
But today, Perro seemed unusually sticky to me. Normally, it would hang around, but today it was practically a superglue since morning.
Even when I tried to forcibly detach it, it hung on to my fingers as if it was a lifeline; I couldn’t help but bring it to the tub with me.
“Perro~! You’re not a male, right? Because if you are, I might pluck all your feathers.”
“Beep!”
Perro stubbornly brought a sunflower seed into the tub. Now, how does one distinguish a parrot’s gender? I’ve heard that some species can be identified by feather color…
But with Perro, it’s impossible since there’s no comparable counterpart around. If it laid eggs, it would definitely be female, but Perro hasn’t laid any yet. I’ve also heard that if it suddenly sings and tries to court, it would mean it’s male, but I’ve never seen such behavior.
Is it a male just because it made a nest? I’m not so sure. I do have that fluffy white tuft Perro made in my room, but it’s made from human hair, which is a bit unsettling, yet I’ve left it there because Perro took such care in crafting it.
… It’s really a pointless thought. Honestly, what does the gender of the parrot even matter?
“Now that I need to dry off, you wait outside.”
There are countless dangers for animals, but using electric things in a humid bathroom while having an animal nearby is insane. In fact, it’s already a problematic act to invite an animal in while taking a bath.
“Why can’t you let go? Are you an overly clingy parrot with a fear of abandonment? Please, detach from me!”
After saying that, I felt a bit embarrassed. It’s fine. No one would hear what I’m saying anyway. I tied Perro with a hair tie and threw it toward the bed. Its desperate cries tickled my ears.
Once I simply dried off and styled my hair, I stood in front of a large mirror that reflected my entire upper body, looking at myself.
…
… I feel a bit disappointed.
What if my nose were slightly more prominent? What if my eyes were a little bigger? I’d wish my pupils were a unique color. And what’s this blemish?
I didn’t used to think about this much. To be honest, I’ve received many confessions at school before.
But now that I’m in this hotel, such thoughts have started to creep in often. It can’t be helped, considering I see Elena and Ari every day.
I gaze at myself in the mirror. As I stared blankly, the faint blemish on my cheek disappeared. My nose looked a little more prominent, and golden flames flickered in my pupils. And even my figure seemed to be slightly enhanced…
“… 103’s Starlight Whale Sensei, are you watching me from the heavenly realms? I’m not being stupid because I’m playing ‘hallucination cosmetic surgery’ with this bracelet.”
But honestly, this is too much fun.
There’s a reason many people edit their photos. It’s like a much more upgraded version of kids dressing up dolls! After all, that doll is you!
What? You can even deepfake videos now? That’s so lame! My bracelet can show what I imagine in real time!
“Hey, Perro, I suddenly feel like committing suicide.”
“Beep!”
“Wanna join me in the tub and hold your breath?”
“…”
“Hey? No answer? Then I’ll just tie your beak and hop into the tub myself!”
“Beep…”
“Hey, Perro, is there another way to get prettier in this hotel?”
“Kirirring?”
“I don’t want too much; just as pretty as Ari. Actually, even that sounds a bit greedy. Alright, I’ll give up on having jewel-like shining eyes.”
While rambling, I naturally dried off completely. One last look at the mirror sparked an amusing thought.
“Watch this, Perro! I’m going to show you something fun!”
I glanced around and found a tiny mirror near the vanity.
“See? There are two mirrors, a big one and a small one, right?”
I positioned both mirrors to face each other and then stood in between them.
There’s a mirror. Inside the mirror, there’s another mirror. And in that mirror, there’s yet another mirror. In the endless cascade of mirrors, there are infinite copies of me!
I see an infinite version of myself. Within it, I catch a glimpse of countless imperfections.
I didn’t like the subtle blemishes on my skin. The color of my eyes symbolizing normalcy didn’t sit well with me. I wasn’t satisfied with the rather bland contours of my figure. My somewhat introverted personality annoyed me.
Imperfect. My many imperfections seemed magnified in the infinite mirrors.
… Just as I was about to shove the mirror away, a thought crossed my mind. Could I overcome imperfection?
Could I transcend the many weaknesses of this person named Yu Songee?
At that moment, from the endless mirrors, ‘something’ reached out to me with a hand.
/Of course! In Hotel Pioneer, you can achieve anything you desire!/
I felt my consciousness fading…
*
When I regained my senses, I woke up in a bizarre space filled with mirrors.
— Ding!
There were mirrors everywhere I looked. Even the floor and ceiling were mirrors. All of them reflected me.
I panicked, dropping to the ground when I got a notification.
/Yu Songee, congratulations! You have discovered the hotel’s hidden secret, ‘Mirror Room’!/
“… The Mirror Room? Is this where I am?”
/The Mirror Room is a place for wishing. But, of course, wishes come with a price. To make a wish, you’ll need a ‘ticket.’/
I didn’t have a ticket. The one I got after passing through Room 107 was used up to resurrect Dr. Chan, and the one I earned in Room 201 was still only half intact.
/But shouldn’t there be a perk for the first person to find the Mirror Room? Rejoice! Special service! The first person to find the Mirror Room can make one wish without any cost. Unfortunately, starting from the second wish, you’ll need to use a ticket./
To make a wish in this place, a ticket is essential. However, since I was the first to find the Mirror Room, I could make one wish without paying any price!
My heart raced. A wish? A real wish?!
This was on a totally different level than wishing upon a shooting star with family! This place is a hotel? Truly a place where anything can be fulfilled!
— Thud! Thud! Thud!
What’s that sound? Oh! It’s the sound of my heartbeat. The moment I heard the word ‘wish,’ my heart entered an uncontrollable spiral!
What should I wish for? There are so many things I want!
Money? Should I buy the most expensive apple company? Nah~ Money doesn’t matter. Maybe I should aim for immortality!?
Oh, how about becoming the President of the United States? Lifelong presidency? Is that a bit too much? Nah, being president means so much work and a lot of hate, so forget it.
What about charm that would make everyone swoon over me? Beauty? Or supernatural charisma?
Let’s think bigger! Helping the world wouldn’t do any harm. If I listen to the stories from Ari and Grandpa, terrible things seem to happen in our world! Everyone just turns a blind eye because they really don’t want to worry in this hotel.
Desire was boiling over within me.
An infinite surge of bubbling desire erupted. Humans are creatures of desire, and even the ocean wouldn’t suffice to fill a goblet of infinite cravings.
I looked at the mirror. I saw the reflections of myself from every angle. In it, I saw the infinite ‘me.’
There’s a rich girl swimming on a priceless treasure.
There’s a girl wielding power, standing at the center of a white building, receiving the admiration of countless people.
There’s a superstar girl, enshrining her image on the display in the heart of a dazzling city.
And I glimpsed the ultimate of all these desires.
I saw the illusion of ‘the perfect me.’ The me that could bring everyone to their knees. The me that everyone would have no choice but to love. Therefore…
I looked down the path to see the ‘ultimate me’ that could enchant even myself.
I stepped forward, as if mesmerized.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
As my hand reached out toward the endless potential boiling around me—
A notification appeared.
/Would you like to make a wish?/
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