### Chapter 298 – Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (20)
—
– Lee Eunsol
As I burst outside, the darkness was like a pitch-black void. The absence of any streetlights in this rural area put the city’s darkness to shame.
This condition actually worked in my favor. If I used a badge now, would they stand a chance? It’s already tough to find me in daylight; in this darkness, they’d be left fumbling around like fools.
But wait, I had a thought. As much as I toyed with the idea, using a transparent badge wasn’t the best plan. I could argue the chef’s hat could be explained away as an elegant lady suddenly cursing, but the invisibility thing would have the storyline spiraling out of control, leading to some nonsense twist where Park Sumi is revealed to be a Vatican agent or something.
Just then, a muscular arm suddenly reached from behind, grabbing my head and knocking me over!
I tried to swing my knife, but since they seemed ready for a fight, they were dressed in thick clothes, and the blade just slipped off.
“Grrrk!”
“Dear lady, wouldn’t it have been better if you stayed quiet? Why is such a… such a pretty woman like you causing a ruckus?”
My awareness started to fade. Great, my sister-in-law was stronger than me! I really should have just used the badge! –
— Splat!
Suddenly, a thick liquid poured down on my head. I didn’t scream about getting blood on my face again, but boy, was I startled when my sister-in-law’s head burst like a water balloon!
Behind her was a young man gripping a hefty lever. He began trembling as if he realized he had killed his own sister. But now was not the time for that!
“Hide!”
“Uh, wh-what?”
“Idiot! Can’t you hear your brother and father coming?”
Finally, he dumbly ducked behind the building. I grabbed a stone from the ground and rubbed it against my sister-in-law’s exploded head, playing dead.
Moments later, two men appeared.
“Hye-young! How dare that crazy girl!”
“Hah… hearing you guys calling someone crazy is just comical at this point.”
Unlike my agitated father-in-law, Park Sang-ho had a cold, piercing gaze.
“I had no idea who you were after living together for months.”
“I didn’t know you either.”
Well, to be precise, the owner of this body didn’t know you.
“My goodness… so you’re a mad witch!”
“Hey, even so, it’s not cool for you to say such things!”
I was stalling for time with wordplay while peeking around back. Please tell me they’re not that spaced out to miss anything now?
“I tried my best to spare your pretty face, yes, I was going to fix it up beautifully!”
“Are you telling me to be grateful for that?”
“I wanted to preserve your most beautiful moments forever! I’ll fry you alive! You think it’s a joke? Pour hot pig fat into a frying pan, and you’ll know what that smells like!”
“Hmm, maybe it smells like soondae?”
“Ha! Trying to bluff—”
— Splat!
Park Sang-ho’s second sneak attack was nerve-wracking. From my position across him, I clearly saw him approaching and even heard him crunching on fallen leaves underfoot.
Fortunately, the two men, too wrapped up in their insults, didn’t notice the young man sneaking up behind them.
“Grrwck! D-damn—”
— Splat!
The young man swung the lever again and again. It didn’t take long for Park Sang-ho’s head, already teetering on the edge from the first blow, to become a busted watermelon.
Of course, the father-in-law didn’t just stand there watching this. As he turned to attack the young man, he exposed his back to me and ended up getting stabbed.
“Why’s the old man in such a hurry? If you want to go, just go already. Honestly, you could leave anytime.”
“Majin! What are you—”
“What about me?”
Clearly, with everything reaching this point, the young man wasn’t going to listen to the old man.
… The long, manic night was finally coming to an end.
The young man stood there, looking completely zoned out.
“Uh, Young Master, I mean, Majin.”
“Grrrk…”
“I know you can’t speak. Here, take this pen and write. Right, you supply the sacrifices in this house, right?”
‘Yes.’
“I figured most things out, but there’s just one thing I don’t get. Who are you?”
‘… I was dragged here with my mom a long time ago.’
A memory surfaced of the tale Song-yi once shared. The bizarre happenings at the hotel were supposedly adaptations of real events. Had such horrific things happened in reality too? Just thinking about it made me want to retch.
Calm down. There’s still work to do.
I confirmed the messy kill of the mother-in-law, who was still sputtering blood at that moment. Now, together with Majin, we dragged the bodies to the countryside house and set it ablaze. As I stared at the blazing house, the young man hurriedly scrawled something on my hand.
‘Are you a witch? Or an angel?’
“Sorry, but neither. My friends far away have turned into versions of those, but I haven’t yet. More importantly… come with me. A bus will arrive in the morning.”
Watching the young man stumble away… I hugged him lightly without realizing it.
“Grrrk!”
“Have sweet dreams. You’re leaving here with me. I’m sure something good awaits you outside.”
I fervently wished. I truly hoped he could find salvation in reality. If not, I prayed to the Buddha for him to receive it in the afterlife.
*
“… and that’s how it went. I struggled to walk the countryside road with Young Master and finally made it to the bus stop, though my legs felt like jelly.”
I recounted the events just as they happened, and Park Sumi explained it. Doh In-ho nodded attentively.
“Really, you’ve had a tough time. Can I ask how Park Myung-jin is doing now?”
“Well, I guess it’s a happy ending? The word ‘ending’ feels a bit off for someone alive, though.”
Park Sumi beamed instead of answering. Just seeing her smile soothed my heart, making me feel that the young man was doing alright.
“It was fascinating! But while listening, there’s one thing that puzzled me; may I ask?”
“What part?”
“You mentioned that when you hurled insults at the murderers, they froze like stones. Could something like that happen ‘naturally’?”
“Was that part weird to you?”
“A bit, yes. I almost thought you’d used some supernatural power or something.”
“Hey! You damn motherfreaker!”
“!!!”
“!!!”
An eerie silence blanketed the café at that moment. The elegant lady’s expletive caught Doh In-ho completely off guard, leaving him as still as a statue.
Soon, Park Sumi resumed her graceful demeanor and replied.
“That seems like an answer. My apologies. Seeing is believing, so it’s best to show directly.”
“… I’m amazed. I can only imagine how startled the killers must have been. I get it now. This story’s ‘quality’ is definitely high. I also like that it ends happily. I will confirm the first story here.”
Just before finishing that line, Doh In-ho nonsensically turned his head away.
*
– The Theater
—
“I’ll confirm it now.”
“….”
“….”
“Han Kain, that line was definitely directed at ‘us,’ right?”
“Looks like it. It means the first story has been finalized as Eunsol’s script.”
“So, if it’s finalized… does that mean from the next person, the first story gets passed on?”
“Guess we’ll find out.”
“By the way, it seems like Eunsol was really immersed in that story. She even hugged Myung-jin at the end and teared up a bit?”
Kain nodded and answered affirmatively.
“I think that’s what powered her through successfully completing the first story.”
*
– Lee Eunsol
Without a moment to catch my breath, Han Yoori began speaking, and the second story, ‘The Enchanting Girl,’ kicked off. I hadn’t seen that title inside, but it was mentioned when Grandpa first ventured in—
“Just from the title, it makes me want to swear. What on earth does ‘Enchanting’ mean?”
“What?”
“Forget it.”
As the lunch bell rang, I naturally moved toward the shoe cupboard, pondering what to do.
How will I handle this? The first crisis was shown to me when Grandpa died. There was some weirdo who put slime in the shoe cupboard while confessing—he’s probably hiding nearby.
Looking around, it seemed like the idiot was good at hiding since I couldn’t spot him. What should I do? Ignoring the shoe cupboard completely? That doesn’t seem right either.
— Tap!
While I was ruminating, Saerom, not caring at all, reached for ‘Han Yoori’s’ shoe cupboard, and I hastily stopped her.
“Y-Yoori?”
“… Isn’t it obvious? Why are you suddenly getting into my shoe cupboard?”
“I-I’m sorry. But you always asked me to check if there’s something weird in there.”
A sigh escaped me. Even if I didn’t open the shoe cupboard, someone was bound to. If I block Saerom, another person will just do it. Looks like what will happen will happen.
So I opened the shoe cupboard. Sure enough, a slimy mess with a love note inside awaited. Instantly, Saerom wrinkled her nose.
“Eew! What the hell—”
Seriously, she’s the problem here. What a crisis generator!
“Saerom, don’t you realize that this is just a clumsy confession? No need to curse!”
Sorry, Saerom. Had I been in your shoes, I’d definitely be swearing too. But if the guy confessing is a lunatic, wouldn’t it be kinder to decline nicely?
I pried off the gooey mess to extract the note and read it thoroughly. I practically wanted to shout it out for the guy hiding somewhere to hear.
“Thank you for your feelings; however… I’m not ready to date anyone yet. I do feel sorry for the person who confessed.”
Heard that? Did you hear that, you idiot? Just clean up and get some sleep!
— Thud!
At that very moment, the idiot hiding behind the shoe cupboard jumped out like a ninja. Is he seriously insane? Shouting with a fire extinguisher in hand, he looked dangerous to anyone watching.
“Liar!”
“…”
“Don’t lie! It’s not that you don’t want to date; it’s that you don’t want to date me! Right? You must have plans with someone else—”
Did you somehow get a promise from Yoori to date you in secret? Then why this tantrum?
Luckily, when this moron jumped out, many other students were already around, and the crazy dude with the fire extinguisher looked very threatening.
“Ah! That nerd is acting up again!”
Soon, other students pulled the fool with the fire extinguisher away, dragging him off somewhere.
Phew… That’s the first crisis averted. Trying to manage things differently than Grandpa, I kindly bought time until more people arrived.
Fortunately, lunch hour passed without any further incident. However, that one hour felt like an eternity to me.
That girl who came in, ‘Han Yoori,’ really lived a life I envied. I wanted to live like her for real!
Just walking around, if I sigh once, everyone stares and asks me what’s wrong.
If I glance down the corridor, I see high schoolers gazing shyly at me everywhere.
Sitting by the window in the classroom, I could even see students from other schools admiring me.
This is the life of the savviest beauty in the province!
Elena and Ahri had lived this kind of life—oh wait, no. Elena had been too busy running away, and Ahri grew up in a hotel.
Wow! Growing up in a hotel sounds a bit much. No offense, but I turned out better than them.
*
“Eunsol?”
“Hey, noona!”
*
The second crisis came after lunchtime ended. I heard murmurs outside the classroom, then girls started squealing.
“Wow! He’s back! He’s back!”
“Who?”
“Yoori, are you going to get a confession from Jiho this time?”
“… Jiho? Who’s that again?”
“Come on… surely you know! The baseball team! They even got a professional offer!”
I didn’t even get a chance to say anything. The girls practically dragged me out of the classroom.
Outside was a tall boy with a solid build, already blushing as he stared at me from afar. Now I had a fair idea of the cringy event that was about to unfold.
… If a future athlete goes wild, it’ll really be intense. Han Yoori is something else. I now understand the title ‘Enchanting Girl.’ Just thinking about who’s left to encounter is terrifying.
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