Chapter: 26
Chapter 26 – Exploring the Elevator, Entering Room 103.
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 9
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105
Sage’s Advice: 3]
At 7 AM, just like always, as everyone gathered in the hotel room for a meal, the display screen lit up.
“Today is a day off at the hotel. Meals will still be provided.”
“What on earth does that even mean?”
“It’s a day off, but they’re still providing meals? What is this supposed to be?”
“Hmm… I think I might have an answer for that.”
With a clear voice, everyone’s gaze turned toward Ahri.
“Do you know something about this?”
“According to the information we’ve gathered, the hotel regularly grants safe days like this. To put it simply, today is a day without penalty events, even if we don’t enter a Cursed Room.”
“So, they’re telling us to take it easy today?”
“That’s right. You finally got it. After getting through two rooms, take a break today. That’s what it means.”
With the rare good news from the hotel, everyone’s faces lit up.
A day off without any horrible incidents? Amazing!
After that, things moved quickly.
Everyone hurriedly finished their meals, and similar to that day when the pool incident happened, everyone fanned out to the basement facilities.
The girls left in a group, excitedly chatting about going to the bar or swimming, while Jinchul-hyung and Grandpa, who’d been in a cold war just yesterday, headed to the gym together for a workout.
Seungyub, who seemed eager to follow Ahri, quickly became dejected and wandered off somewhere when he saw the girls disconnecting.
And I…
As everyone got off the elevator to head to various places in the basement, I stayed behind alone.
I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do during the break, plus that elevator that had been broken since day one still bothered me.
I felt strongly that something was hidden inside.
“It’s broken.”
What on earth is broken? For starters, I know it can’t reach the 2nd or 3rd floors.
Is there something else?
I slowly examined the elevator, top to bottom.
At a glance, it didn’t look much different from a standard elevator. There was a little display on top showing the floor number, and the indicator panel on the right had markings from B1 to 3. However, the lights for the 2nd and 3rd floors were off.
And then… at the bottom of the panel, there was a red button labeled “Escape.”
“Escape?”
Typically, isn’t the button at the bottom of an elevator panel something like an intercom to signal for help if someone gets trapped?
Seeing the word ‘Escape’ piqued my interest sharply.
Should I press it? Just in case, I brought my hand slowly toward it while keeping an eye on the status screen.
Surely, if there was any danger, it would give me a warning.
Nothing happened until my finger hovered just above the button, so I finally pressed it.
Click!
The moment I did, the area beneath the red button suddenly flipped over, revealing a display!
A window appeared for entering a ‘number’. Next to it, a small warning was written.
“Enter the password while wearing a protective suit.”
Protective suit? What on earth is that? And what password should I even enter? Watching closely at the status screen, I cautiously touched one of the number keys—
“You will be scorched to death if you enter the wrong password.”
Seeing such a fearsome phrase made me instinctively pull my hand back. “Scorched.” This hotel really does have mechanisms to kill people lurking everywhere!
It was ridiculous, but at the same time, a realization hit me.
This is real. It’s a device that allows you to escape, provided you find that item called a protective suit, wear it, and enter the correct password!
With this, I uncovered yet another escape route from the hotel.
“Your understanding of the hotel has slightly increased.”
As I was filled with excitement and thought about sharing this good news with everyone, I noticed something newly engraved beside the small panel.
“[Escape Route 1. Do not tell others.]”
In that instant, I felt my breath catch. Unwittingly, my heart began to race.
What could this mean? Who wrote this? And why tell me not to share it with others?
As I stood in a daze, lost in thought, the panel disappeared after a certain period without touching it.
What should I do?
To be honest, it had only been about a week since we all met, but going through all kinds of hardship in such a short time really tightened our bonds.
It seemed only natural to trust them and share everything I discovered.
But… suddenly, a thought struck me.
What if that escape route was only for one person? If so, the warning of not telling others might really be important.
Would sharing this end up sowing the seeds of division among us?
For now, I decided to tuck that thought into the back of my mind and stepped out of the elevator.
Walking down the corridor of the basement with a troubled mind, someone approached me from the other side.
“Weren’t you looking for something? Did you find anything?”
It’s a thought I had every time she spoke— I’m 20, she’s 16, yet whenever it’s just the two of us, it feels too natural for her to speak casually.
But I didn’t want to argue about something trivial in this trying hotel, so I brushed it off.
“I’m not too sure. Just double-checking what we already knew? The 2nd and 3rd floors are still off.”
“Probably because we need to pass through a specific room on the first floor first.”
“A specific room?”
“That’s what we call the ‘Gate Room.’ It’s a room you can only enter once you’ve achieved sufficient success in all other rooms, and passing it will let you go up to the next floor.”
“By sufficient success, what do you mean?”
“That varies each time. Sometimes escaping from all the other rooms is enough, but sometimes it requires complete resolutions from 1 to 3 rooms.”
“Complete resolution…”
“So far, we’ve just barely passed two rooms. Our party’s goal until now has been simply surviving and escaping. But if we want to leave this hotel, we’ll need to reach a certain number of rooms that eliminate the root cause of the curse at some point. That’s when the so-called ‘treasures’ that the hotel emphasizes will start to appear, and you’ll need those treasures to progress.”
“Just another mountain to climb.” Well, in terms of the Mansion of Fear, does that mean we have to kill the monster that is the root cause? Because from the memory you showed me, there’s no way a mere ‘human’ can tackle that, right?
“I’m not sure. It could very well require such action, but we might also consider a more relaxed approach.”
“A relaxed approach?”
“Technically, isn’t our main foe not the arch-devil buried in the ground at the Mansion of Fear? According to the narrative, the real enemy was that elderly gentleman, right? We might just need to get rid of him…”
“That sounds better, but in the end, we’ll only know by trying.”
As we continued discussing our future plans, I soon realized just how long we’d been on our own chatting.
“Speaking of which, didn’t all the girls head to the bar and pool? Why are you here all by yourself?”
“Underage, can’t drink. Plus, I’m not a fan of swimming.”
“Seungyub must be searching for you then.”
“And I’ve been actively avoiding him.”
I was at a loss for words. For her to casually say that she was avoiding him was unexpected. There’s a boy out there wanting to be Romeo, but it seems Juliet has no intention of playing that role.
We parted ways casually, and only then did I finally attempt some things I wanted to try.
I visited the zoo Songee had mentioned to check out some bizarre animals, grabbed a mysterious cocktail at the bar, and later, we all returned to Room 105 to enjoy a meal together, laughing and chatting happily.
And thus, our day off came to an end.
By the time dinner wrapped up, everyone couldn’t hide their glum expressions.
We all knew too well.
From tomorrow, we would have to get back to the intense grind.
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 10
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 103 (Cursed Room – Animal Farm)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
MOOOOOOO~~~~
What on earth is this? Is this sound actually coming from my mouth?
The day after our break, we entered Room 103 together, feeling somewhat accustomed to the situation, when I suddenly blacked out. When I came to,
I had become a black cow.
I thought I had encountered all sorts of weird experiences, but something I never imagined was happening, and I was about to lose my mind. Luckily, just then, a message flew into my head.
Mooksung: Wow! This hotel really is a piece of work, right? Quick, everyone, report your status!
Eunsol: I think I’m a snake.
Songee: I’m a goose…
Elena: I think I’m a golden retriever.
Kim Ahri: A cat. Probably a Norwegian forest.
Park Seungyub: I’m a wolf! Super cool!
Han Kain: MOOOOOO!*
Cha Jinchul: I’m a pig… Actually, a boar.
Mooksung: So you’re just the same as usual, huh?
Stupid Pig: Hah, let’s not pick a fight. Oh, you changed my name right when I was talking to you, you old coot.
Clever Snake: First, let’s check our locations and situations before we talk more about this. Our chat might be short on details.
Rat King: Yes, we’ve already used more than half. Everyone, check your surroundings, and let’s reconvene in about two hours.
Stupid Pig: What the heck is this Rat King nonsense? Ridiculous!
Ahh… what kind of trial has this time prepared for us?
I feel like I’m losing my mind already. In the midst of my crazed thoughts, I tried to clear my mind.
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