### Chapter 295 – Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (17)
—
– Kim Mooksung
When I regained consciousness within the movie, I found myself standing in a bustling city reminiscent of a college town. As I observed the citizens around me, a brief piece of information was injected into my mind.
“Black Café 25 Hours?”
That’s the name of the coffee shop I need to go to right now.
As the information slowly settled in, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. If this is the Curse Room, then avoiding that café might be a viable option.
But that’s not possible. Considering the judge’s evaluation later, I have to go to the designated spot in the script.
A sign hanging at the coffee shop’s entrance announced that they were closed today. Of course, that sign didn’t mean a thing to me. As I opened the door and stepped inside, I found four people already gathered.
“Cough, sorry for being a bit late. I’m Kim Mooksung,” I declared.
“No problem. We all just got here,” said the meeting’s organizer, the screenwriter Doh In-ho, waving me over with a smile. I surveyed the others at the table, excluding him.
A poised woman in her early 40s, Park Sumi.
A stunning young lady in her early 20s, Han Yoori, whose eyes were wide with excitement.
A pretty handsome young man in his late 20s, Cha Eun-pyo.
And in the mix, the “intellectual senior,” Kim Mooksung in his late 60s.
Four of us were the storytellers. As I took in my surroundings, Doh In-ho began to outline the situation.
“As you know, ‘Scary Story’ is a gathering for sharing the scary experiences you’ve had in life.”
Han Yoori smiled slightly and asked, “So you’ll be collecting our stories, and they might turn into a movie or drama plot later?”
Doh In-ho nodded. “Absolutely. I mentioned this beforehand, right? Anyone who wishes to leave now is welcome to do so.”
Nobody moved to leave. Doh In-ho confidently continued the conversation.
“You four have all gone through rare experiences in your lives. We’ve gone through some procedures to determine their authenticity. But, as these stories typically go, it’ll feel surreal to hear them sometimes, won’t it?”
Cha Eun-pyo nodded. “So, we should refrain from judging whether someone else’s story is true or not?”
“Exactly, Eun-pyo. Now… shall we get started? Let’s go in a clockwise order. How about you start, Sumi?”
“Sure.”
The first speaker, Park Sumi, immediately presented herself as a wealthy lady judging by her elegantly tailored outfit and the handbag she set on her chair. With a moment to recall her past memories, she began to speak.
“This story is from my newlywed days. My husband had a small business that was thriving during a good economic season. Our marital relationship was quite smooth as well. Then one day, my husband said to me with a serious expression…”
The space around us began to tremble.
…
What’s going on here? What the heck is happening all of a sudden?
*
– First Story, Memories of Newlyweds
I managed to regain my senses amidst the dizzying atmosphere as everything shook around me. Realizing the ridiculousness of the current situation, I couldn’t help but curse.
“Ugh, this is so crap!”
“Su—Sumi?”
I sighed at the sight of the bewildered young man, Park Sang-ho, staring wide-eyed at me. I need to salvage this somehow.
“Um, sorry! I just stepped on something sharp all of a sudden….”
“What was sharp? A thorn? Should I take a look?”
Seeing the love-soaked attitude of Park Sang-ho, I let out another deep sigh. I waved my hand to refuse and headed briefly to the bathroom to reassess the situation. The mirror showed a poised young woman in her early 20s.
And that’s me now. Ugh, how annoying!
*
Just two minutes into the movie, the “shocking twist” began, and the theater became noisy.
“W-wait! Did Grandpa just transform into that girl?!”
Elena muttered as she watched Kain’s jaw drop in disbelief.
“This movie has a movie-within-a-movie structure! It looks like ‘Scary Story’ is composed of four smaller segments. We’re transforming into different characters in each segment,” she explained.
Seungyub stammered, “So in the story of ‘Park Sumi,’ we’re becoming that girl? Will we change again in others’ stories?”
Ahri nodded. “I think so. We’re stepping into the storytellers’ past memories, so we must take on their past forms.”
With that, Ahri prodded Kain playfully. “You’ll excel at this. You’ve been in other people’s bodies often, right?”
“…”
“Just avoid touching any chests this time—”
“What are you even saying?! And what’s the deal with the fourth story? It seems like we’ll be storytellers ourselves for that one!”
“Who knows….”
*
“Seriously, this is so messed up, right?”
“S-Sumi? Are you okay?”
Hearing the concerned voice of my “husband” from outside made another curse slip out. How am I supposed to resist cursing when I’ve suddenly turned into a powerless young lady in her 20s?
What held my tongue was twofold: one, my husband was outside, and two, that I looked like a sophisticated young lady in the mirror.
Park Sumi: So annoying!
Since I was in a movie memory, I checked if my chat window had vanished, but thankfully it was intact. It felt annoying to be stuck as a character among the actors, but at least it seemed the Blessing was still active even in the movie memory, so I could likely use my legacy as well.
— Crack!
My arms as the Abras warrior were fine.
Ironically, the appearance of my right hand had transformed into that of a delicate young woman’s elegant arm, yet with it, I gently gripped something, causing the bathtub to burst.
After easing Park Sang-ho’s concerns outside, I initiated the conversation.
“Sumi, you haven’t mentioned much about your parents in a while, right?”
The moment I heard the word ‘oppa,’ I felt a chill go down my spine, and I nearly slapped him. After desperately maintaining my composure, I managed to avoid the Abras warrior’s furious fist exploding Sang-ho’s head right away.
Focusing on this idiot’s story.
Sang-ho recounted how he moved to Seoul from his hometown during his childhood. Since then, he claimed to have done his best to forget his hometown and embrace city life.
Fortunately, he seemed business savvy enough to accumulate quite a fortune and meet a stunning wife like Park Sumi along the way.
… Should I have been blushing and squeaking “Oh my! You’re so great!” in response just now? As I continued to listen silently, Sang-ho’s slightly disappointed reaction showed he wanted something more from my demeanor.
“However, as time passed, the blood flowing within me kept insisting on returning home. Isn’t it weird how mysterious people are?”
“…”
“Sumi?”
“Wow, you’ve turned into quite the philosopher, haven’t you?”
“S-Sumi?”
“… The bottom of my foot’s prickling! Sorry, go ahead!”
One day, suddenly, Sang-ho began to reminisce about his childhood home.
Of course, it’s not like he completely cut off contact with his family for the last decade. He said he sent a couple of letters after settling in Seoul. But how can letters compare to meeting in person?
“So, I planned the vacation schedule to visit my hometown.”
“You’re going to see your parents?”
“Right, but…”
Come on! Don’t leave me hanging here!
“Just spill it out! Speak it out loud!”
“I-I think you might be surprised when you meet my parents. They have some… unusual traits. You know, being rural elderly folks and all.”
Sang-ho! I’m by far older than your parents, so stop rambling!
And young people sure love to cling to the prejudice that elderly folks are weird. Usually, those weirdos were just crap when they were younger, too! They didn’t magically become strange just because they got older!
Ahem! Let’s focus on the movie’s content. That’s how my conversation with “the husband” wrapped up. Never thought I’d land a husband someday!
Various thoughts ran through my mind. Having the guide refer to it as a “horror movie” only leads me to believe bizarre and gruesome events will unfold soon. No doubt this Park Sang-ho’s family is going to turn out to be a twisted bunch.
Recalling my experiences with the Administration Bureau, I mulled over various possibilities, but so many scenarios flooded my mind, it was impossible to settle on one. I’d have to see it play out to know.
…
After a while, nothing else happened. I missed the perks of skipping mundane scenes; those benefits had completely disappeared. Three days later, we took a train to Park Sang-ho’s childhood hometown.
The journey to Sang-ho’s hometown turned out to be more rugged than I’d imagined. I thought we’d arrive easily by train in Gangwon Province, but instead, we had to take a taxi and wade through the rural areas. Just as I thought, “Is this really home?” we ended up boarding a bus that came once every three days to travel into the remote valley.
The location itself was threatening. There was absolutely no way to walk out to busy spots. Not with the stamina of a 20-something woman like me.
There were no cars brought by my husband; the bus came every three days. With this dire transportation situation, it was practically an island. If anything happened, nobody from outside could come help. Plus, my phone had zero service, and the electricity would frequently cut out.
At this point, I couldn’t help but chuckle. This setting felt straight out of the 1990s—was there really such a ridiculous rural place left in Korea up until then?
Perfect for conducting a horror movie.
*
“Hello, Mother.”
“Oh, my child! I’ve heard about you from Sang-ho often!”
“Why, Sang-ho! How did you end up with such a pretty and gentle girl? This old man’s eyes are blessed just by seeing you!”
“Father…”
My first meeting with my in-laws was unexpectedly touching.
Contrary to Sang-ho’s description of them as “unusual,” both his parents warmly welcomed me as soon as we met. His mother was teary-eyed, exclaiming, “How did a city girl end up here in this rough mountain dwelling? You must have had a hard time!” His father was busy showering me with compliments the moment he set eyes on me.
Things started to get odd when Sang-ho’s siblings appeared. As I spotted a disheveled young man nearby the barn glancing at me intently, I turned my gaze, and he startled, expressing shock before hastily fleeing.
— Click!
“Um? Who was that?”
“D-Don’t worry about him. My brother Myung-jin is just really shy,” Sang-ho reassured me.
“Who is he?”
Sang-ho gently took my hand—ugh, this guy’s seriously giving me the creeps!—and whispered, “He’s my younger brother. He always acted strange since he was little, and he’s still like that. It’s nothing to be concerned about. I’ll talk to him later.”
The oddity didn’t end with Sang-ho’s brother.
“… Hello, young lady.”
A somewhat dark and cold middle-aged woman—a year six older sister of Park Sang-ho, Park Hye-young, seemed somewhat better than Sang-ho’s brother; at least she didn’t flee the moment she saw me.
Unlike Sang-ho, lost in nostalgia from returning to his hometown after so long, I remained alert, scanning the surroundings. I discovered Sang-ho’s family was in surprisingly high spirits.
As evening fell, I began to sense the “strange points” he had mentioned slowly taking form.
For instance:
“Mother, I’ll handle the preparation—”
“Oh dear! Don’t get your city hands dirty! Just go to your room. Hye-young, you lazy bum! You’ve kept my city girl working, haven’t you?!”
His “mother” objected as soon as I tried to pitch in.
No matter how lovely a daughter-in-law might seem, is that a normal reaction? If all mother-in-laws treated their daughters-in-law like this, the phrase “daughter-in-law struggles” would never have existed.
“Dear, I’m so sorry. Please don’t worry and head inside.”
Park Sang-ho’s sister wasn’t any kinder. Her demeanor seemed more reflective of a servant addressing a noble lady rather than that of a sister-in-law treating a younger brother’s wife.
… Let’s keep observing this.
“Honestly, I’m perfectly fine! Shall I chop the scallions for you?”
— Clang! Ching!
“…”
“…”
“Ah dear, you must have been startled; I was worried you might slip with that knife.”
“A-ah, I guess the blade gleamed, startling you. But really, I’m okay! I’ll prepare dinner just fine!”
What just happened?
The moment my hand brushed against the “knife” in the kitchen, both mother-in-law and sister-in-law’s faces froze in shock. Just a moment ago, they’d treated me like a princess, but now, in a flash, my mother-in-law struck my hand away and snatched the knife from me.
This family is… something’s off.
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