Chapter: 3
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 1
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Sage’s Advice: 2]
It was a marvelous meal.
To be honest, I can’t comment on the taste of the other dishes since I went all-in on the spaghetti and steak, but I can definitely say those two were delicious. Just before the meal, my head was spinning from confusion, fear, and anger, but after indulging in the satisfying food, my grievances simmered down.
Seeing this, I can’t help but think—aren’t we humans just animals at the end of the day…?
Looking around at everyone’s faces, they don’t seem to be thinking much differently from me; all of them were wearing satisfied expressions. Around that time, I glanced at the clock just to check.
Lunch was from 12 PM to 1:30 PM, and the time now was about 1:24 PM, which meant we only had around 6 minutes left until mealtime ended.
I wasn’t the only one who checked the time.
“Um, it looks like everyone has more or less finished their meals. Shouldn’t we move to another place?”
“Hmm… Eun-sol unni, why don’t we just continue the conversation here? Seems like they might serve us coffee or something,” replied Songee.
“We all experienced it earlier, right? If mealtime ends, we won’t be able to see each other again because this hotel protects our ‘privacy.’ A fantastic hotel like this has abducted us for reasons unknown. But regardless, we still have a lot to discuss. We should move! What do you think, Jinchul-ssi? Is your arm alright now?”
“I’m fine now. Just had a bit of a scratch. Additionally, I agree with what unni said. We still have many decisions to make, starting with what to do right now. So, let’s change the scene.”
“Moving is a good idea, but where should we go? If we step outside, that monster will be there, and after 1:30, we’ll just vanish into our respective rooms.”
Just then, an announcement appeared.
“Dear valued guests! We hope you enjoyed your meal!”
“Hotel Pioneer prepares fresh ingredients daily and crafts your meals with the utmost care from our esteemed chefs. We wish for you to always have delightful dining experiences!”
“Today’s surprise event: There are no bad animals in this world, has concluded.”
Suddenly, we were all rendered momentarily speechless.
“What perfect timing for this announcement,” I said.
“Very… timely indeed. It’s as if this hotel is watching us every moment. Just as we mention monsters, they give us this announcement about events concluding. So does this mean it’s safe outside now?”
“Not a bad animal, my foot! If a monkey swings a sword trying to eat people isn’t considered a bad animal, then what on Earth is?” Jinchul-ssi exploded with frustration. “This hotel is insane! How did we even get here?”
“Animals can sometimes act violently out of fear when encountering humans. It’s not necessarily that they’re evil or hostile; it’s more of a defensive reaction to their own fear…”
Is she fond of animals or something? Songee’s remark felt oddly out of place.
“Hold on, Miss Songee. Are you suggesting that when the monkey stabbed my arm with a sword, it was being defensive? What kind of defense is that?”
As Cha Jinchul-ssi, who was already imposing with just his size, lifted his voice, the already timid Songee shrank back like a turtle. Jinchul-ssi noticed and quickly scrambled to cover his blunder.
“Ah, no, I mean, I was just saying that casually. Ahem… My voice got a little loud there. I’m sorry! It just angered me a little thinking about the monkeys stabbing me. I wasn’t aiming that at you, Miss Songee.”
Honestly, it seems this big guy might have a better personality than I thought.
“Alright, alright! We’ve got about a minute left. Let’s stand up and head out! We need to have a discussion,” Eunsol-unni boldly declared, assuming a leadership role effortlessly. It felt natural and posed no awkwardness. It wasn’t merely her age; there was something about her that made it seem she was accustomed to rallying and leading.
Responding to Eunsol-unni’s exclamation, we all stood up and exited the dining room, opening the door to Room 105.
[You have gained a bit of understanding about your teammates.]
It was clean. In an absurd way, the outside looked surprisingly spotless, considering how everything had been thrown around during the monster fight. Were those shy employees actually so efficient?
Honestly, the aftermath of that scuffle warranted more than just a cleaning; it seemed like a serious repair was in order.
But whatever, it was no use fretting over every little thing.
Walking towards the front desk, we spotted a table laden with drinks and snacks near the reception; it was perfectly prepared for the number of us. There was coffee, juice, and soft drinks, seemingly tailored to suit everyone’s tastes.
“Well, well… These folks sure are thorough. They’re so meticulous, yet they muster up enough shyness to hide without a trace! I could take them by the collar and shake the secrets out of them!” Jinchul-ssi scoffed.
“This taste… It’s more unsettling than absurd at this point.”
“Is there something off about the flavor, Eunsol-unni?”
“It’s not off; it’s just dangerously perfect—it’s my favorite drink. The sugar to milk ratio, even the coffee beans…I mean, the color’s exactly the one I know! You all should try this! It’s like everything you’ve always wanted to drink is right here!”
As for me, I was just glad I could indulge in a nice lime-flavored Pepsi Zero right away. Who could complain? Enjoying delicious food and beverages is definitely a good thing, after all.
I didn’t want to contemplate it too much, though.
Slowly sipping my drink and relaxed, it was Jinchul-ssi who bravely initiated the next conversation.
“I still don’t get what’s going on, but my phone isn’t getting any reception at all. Is that the same for everyone?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Oh, so it’s true…. I’ve seen situations like this in disaster management reports! I never thought I’d find myself involved in one! Anyway, our aim is to find a way out, right? Let’s head for the main entrance. Although it seems they wouldn’t just let us leave this easily, we should check.”
Fortunately, there was a rough layout of the building next to the front desk, and it didn’t seem complicated. We all descended half a floor, turned left, and marched down the corridor until we reached the main entrance.
Upon arriving, once again, we were left utterly speechless.
The sky.
It was genuinely the sky.
Outside the door was nothing but the bright blue expanse, with clouds floating way down below. The ground was so far down, it was nearly invisible!
When I tried to crack the door open for a quick peek, an alarm suddenly blared.
“Opening the door in the sky without proper equipment is an act of suicide.”
“Ah… Ah… Apparently, we shouldn’t open the door,” I muttered.
“Kain, were you seriously about to open the door? You can’t even open windows on a plane; obviously, you shouldn’t open a door in the sky! I thought you were just getting close to it!”
“Hahaha. You’re right! It’s just such a ridiculous situation!”
“But really… Is this hotel floating in the sky? I never thought I’d see something like this in my lifetime.”
Eunsol-unni, looking utterly stunned, nodded in agreement with Jinchul-ssi.
“I thought I’d experienced everything interesting and extraordinary while living well and traveling here and there, but it turns out I was terribly naive; I never expected this!”
“Well, it seems we can’t go outside through here unless we grow wings or something. Hah! I never imagined Jeju Island would be this impressive! Who would’ve dreamed of a hotel floating in the sky?”
“Hey! What’s that written over there?”
At Songee’s call, we all turned our heads and saw some weird scribble on the wall to the right of the main entrance.
[Escape Route 2. Requires a special tool.]
What on Earth does this mean? Escape Route 2? Then does that imply there’s a Route 1, too? And is the main entrance genuinely one of the escape methods? What’s this special tool they mentioned—like some kind of device that allows us to fly out of here?
And more importantly, who was the one who inscribed this? I doubt it’s the hotel. Judging from their prior communication style, they wouldn’t convey information in such a manner.
Does this mean there’s someone else in this hotel? An unsettling chill crept over me.
I immediately shared my thoughts.
“Looks like it says there’s an Escape Route 2. That means there’s definitely a Route 1, and who knows—maybe 3, 4, and 5 exist too! At the very least, finding a simpler method than flying through the sky seems likely.”
For now, I decided to put aside my thoughts about the scribbler’s identity. There were already far too many spine-chilling occurrences; I didn’t want to sour the atmosphere even more.
“That’s a relief at least. Let’s head back to where we were having drinks. The shy staff there are quite good with their coffee, and surprisingly nice.”
As we expected, the dashed hopes of a swift exit left us feeling a bit deflated as we returned to the table. It was as if nothing had ever happened; the table was once again neatly set with drinks and snacks.
This time, nobody commented on how surprising it was; it was me who finally broke the silence.
“First off, how about we explore the hotel and check the layout? There was something odd I noticed while looking at that map a bit earlier.”
“I didn’t notice anything weird. What did you see?”
“There are no stairs. The layout showed a basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor, along with a gym and a pool, yet bizarrely—no stairs at all! Just elevators. While it’s true that it’s not common to use stairs in hotels, there’s usually an emergency stairwell for situations like fires or earthquakes, isn’t there? It must be illustrated in the map, but I can’t see it anywhere!”
Cha Jinchul-ssi immediately stood up, scrutinizing the map before responding.
“You’re right! There are absolutely NO stairs. They usually indicate an emergency exit with a graphic of a running man, but that isn’t here at all!”
“Hmm… regardless of what it is, we need to figure out this hotel’s layout. For now, let’s finish our drinks and head out to check for anything unusual. Oh, and let’s stick together as much as possible. It doesn’t feel right wandering alone here.”
With Eunsol-unni concluding her observations, we all stood up together and prepared for our hotel exploration.
After an hour and a half of patrolling the 1st floor, we came to the following conclusions.
1. According to the layout at the front desk, the front area is on the 1st floor, and a half-floor down is the main door with ‘small’ guest rooms; the 2nd floor has ‘medium’ guest rooms, while the 3rd has ‘large’ guest rooms.
2. There are no stairs in this building.
3. The only means of moving between floors is the elevator.
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