### Chapter 318 – Miro (3)
—
– Han Kain
I could hear Elena and Miro’s conversation from a distance. Since we were in the middle of a dangerous experiment, only a few could get close. Luckily, I was one of those few.
“Miro, what do you think of this child?”
“… Why does Elena call this monster a ‘child’?”
“To me, it looks like a cold-hearted little creature. What do you see, Miro?”
The caterpillar-shaped monster that Elena had created a couple of times in the past was slowly wandering near the table.
It’s the kind of being that can deal a severe psychological blow to a human simply by being observed, which is why people like Jinchul, who lack resistance to such things, have gone up to the second floor.
“It looks too scary. A caterpillar with a human head?”
“That’s a pretty similar response to Kain’s.”
It’s clear that the Immutable Blessing gives Miro tremendous resistance. After Elena wiped the monster away, she slightly revealed my grimoire.
“Ugh!”
I quickly caught Miro, who looked like she was going to topple backward.
In that moment, she seemed to experience a nosebleed and a significant headache, but the fact that it ended there was proof of her considerable resistance. Normally, anyone seeing the grimoire with their naked eyes would become instantly catatonic.
Soon, Eunsol approached and calmed Miro with the power of her flute, and Grandpa came over to organize the experiment results.
“She possesses considerable resistance to supernatural forces. However, I’m unsure about her physical capabilities. Should we check that too? It might be tough to test…”
Then, Ahri spoke in a calm voice.
“We still have to do it. You need to know what your own strength is. We’re likely entering Room 203 next, and Miro will have to hold her ground alone at first.”
“Ugh!”
Hearing that we had to do something else made Miro pout and throw a tangerine. Ahri showcased her talent by catching the tangerine mid-air.
“Don’t worry Miro, I’ll enjoy this.”
A bit later, Grandpa returned, looking somewhat worried.
“She’s physically no different from other girls her age. No strength to speak of, and not particularly tough either.”
Ahri reacted with slight disappointment.
“Does the Immutable Blessing not affect physical capabilities?”
“If we strengthen the blessing, it might help with her physique.”
“We’re already halfway through the second floor. There aren’t many chances to strengthen…”
“What can we do, right?”
It seems that people who joined midway through have limited expectations from blessings, since they’ve come in with characteristics suited for growth.
But it’s all good! Miro seems incredibly strong beyond her blessings!
“Let’s check the Time Redeemer. Just hearing the explanation earlier was ridiculous.”
Ahri nodded and took Miro with her.
The girl, who had just been looking displeased, switched to an excited expression upon hearing about the Time Redeemer.
I worried whether Miro would unnecessarily hide details about her inheritance from us, but that didn’t appear to be the case.
At least Miro didn’t have a personality that seemed ‘like an Administration Bureau agent’ to think of such things. Due to the nature of the Time Redeemer, users, as well as the ‘target,’ need to understand precisely how to use it correctly.
“Let me explain it again simply! Can you see the letters on the pocket watch?”
The Time Redeemer looked like a pocket watch but was entirely different in detail. It had only one hand and no numbers from 1 to 12.
Instead, it had four words: ‘Midnight’ on top, ‘Morning’ on the right, ‘Noon’ at the bottom, and ‘Evening’ on the left.
“With this, I can borrow your time. I can store up to 1 hour of time for one person in each section.”
“When Miro wants it, she can call up that time?”
“Yep.”
“Miro, I think it’d be good to show us, since I heard bits about it earlier.”
After hearing Grandpa’s words, Miro turned to Seungyub.
“You! You said your name was Seungyub? Come here for a sec.”
“Yes.”
“From now on, you need to lend me 10 seconds. Got it?”
“Uh… okay.”
In that instant, the watch flashed, and Seungyub vanished somewhere. I’d heard bits before, but it felt particularly fascinating now.
Ten seconds later, Seungyub reappeared.
“Wow!”
Grandpa asked, “How did that feel?”
“It felt like my body was stretched and then shrunk? I have no memory of that time.”
“How interesting.”
“Look at this!”
When Miro pointed the pocket watch, the word ‘Morning’ was bolded.
“Does that mean Seungyub is stored in the morning section right now?”
“Yup! Just for 10 seconds though.”
Eunsol then asked a question.
“Do you have to get permission from the person you’re borrowing time from?”
“Hmm…”
Miro hesitated for a moment, looking confused, stating she wanted to check this part first.
The results from several tests were simple. The specifics didn’t matter much, but Miro had to express her intention to borrow time from a person, and they had to consent before she could use the Time Redeemer.
Ahri had a somewhat ambiguous look.
“It’d be tricky to use against an enemy since you can’t just suddenly whisk them away. It doesn’t seem to be a tool intended for that use…”
“Now I’ll try to call up ‘Morning’s Seungyub!’”
Just when Miro was about to joyfully activate the watch again, Ahri seized her arm immediately.
“Wait! The ‘real Seungyub’ is right here.”
“Uh?”
Miro didn’t quite understand what that meant, but I instinctively sensed Ahri’s apprehension.
The Time Redeemer allows you to borrow someone else’s time, storing it, and then summon that time later. So, if at 3 PM I borrow 1 hour from Seungyub, he will disappear during that time and reappear at 4 PM.
If Miro then activates the watch at 4 PM to summon the ‘Seungyub stored in the watch,’ there will be two Seungyubs in the same place!
Two identical individuals in the same location?
There are so many urban legend-like horror stories that could arise from that scenario that it makes my head spin!
Giving a glance at Ahri, I immediately used my advice.
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
“What happens if the person originally at that time meets the one summoned from the Time Redeemer?”
[Avoid situations where they confront each other.]
“They say to avoid collisions?”
“Conversely, that means as long as you don’t run into each other, it’s fine. Seungyub, you need to go into Room 105 for a bit.”
“… Yes. It’s been feeling scary since a while ago.”
After Seungyub entered Room 105, Miro activated the watch again.
Another Seungyub appeared out of thin air. The boy who showed up confused everyone.
“What, what’s going on? It feels like my body is being pulled—”
Before he could finish that thought, he vanished again. The borrowed time was just 10 seconds, after all. But during those 10 seconds, there were definitely two Seungyubs.
Through multiple experiments, we were able to grasp the Time Redeemer’s abilities concisely.
First, Miro must express her intention to ‘borrow time’ to the other party, and they must consent. The maximum time borrowable is 1 hour per person. Since there are four sections on the watch, up to four individuals can be borrowed for one hour each.
Second, the consenting party disappears for that duration. That doesn’t mean they’re considered dead. According to the status window, allies would still be indicated as alive.
Third, Miro can summon the one who lent their time whenever she desires. She can only summon one at a time, with a maximum summoning duration of 1 hour a day.
Miro can split that hour up. For example, she could summon Ahri for 20 minutes, send her back, and then summon me for a total of 40 minutes of support.
“It’s a complicated heirloom, but in simple terms, it allows Miro to summon us for a total of 1 hour per day whenever she wants.”
Eunsol nodded in agreement.
“It’ll be useful in a room like 203. Miro can call us for help when she needs it.”
Grandpa warned us.
“Now, everyone’s casually calling it ‘summoning,’ but remember, that’s not truly accurate. The real us are in a different location while a ‘stored’ being is simply emerging from the watch.”
“The moment of ‘summoning’ means both the real us and the one drawn from the watch exist simultaneously. Additionally, we must avoid them crossing paths.”
Miro added a remark.
“Stop saying ‘us.’ That power doesn’t only belong to hotel comrades. It can be used on anyone!”
Ahri, while agreeing, pointed out the risk.
“That’s true, but you should use it on us whenever possible. Most beings you’ll encounter in the Curse Room won’t understand the principles of the watch, so we don’t know how they’ll react.”
“Got it.”
There were a few precautions.
First, as confirmed, avoid situations where the real us meets the one summoned from the Time Redeemer.
Second, the summoned beings cannot be controlled by Miro. This is why Ahri advised Miro to use the Time Redeemer on our group whenever possible.
Wanting to clarify something, I made the request to Miro.
“Borrow 10 minutes of my time.”
“Sure! Kain, can you lend me 10 minutes?”
“Absolutely.”
…
For a brief moment, my consciousness faded, then awoke again. My comrades were staring at me with curiosity.
“Did 10 minutes really pass?”
Elena nodded.
“Yes. We didn’t talk about anything particularly important. We only mentioned Room 203 briefly.”
I looked back at Miro.
“I’m going to go into Room 105, so try summoning the stored me.”
“Okay! But what are you planning?”
“I’ll check and let you know.”
With that, I returned to Room 105 and stared at my status window.
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 137
Current Location: Level 1, Room 105 – ‘Room of Rest’
Sage’s Advice: 2]
…
[Sage’s Advice: 2 -> 1]
I hadn’t done anything, just standing there staring at the status window, and my advice count dropped. About 30 minutes later, I went outside.
As I stepped out, my comrades had bewildered expressions while looking at a small piece of paper.
“How was it?”
Ahri said with amusement.
“Miro just summoned ‘Noon’s Kain—”
“Noon’s Kain?”
“The entity summoned with the watch is being called that. Morning Ahri, Noon Kain, in that way.”
“Sounds good.”
“Noon Kain used advice and immediately wrote down the questions and answers on the paper. And he told me to avoid running into you in Room 105, immediately dispelling the summoning.”
When I unfolded the paper, I saw the questions just as I thought.
“Does the frequency-limited ability of a summoned being affect the original’s counts?”
It was a simple curiosity. Now I had the answer too.
[It varies by power type, but blessings are included.] It was a very brief response, and the count listed in my status window also dropped.
Ahri let out a chuckle.
“Did you come up with such a scheme so fast? Using the watch to summon and writing advice, while checking if you can use it separately?”
“Of course! This place is about playing tricks with strategies. But what does it mean that it varies by power type? So it seems there are some cases where my schemes might work?”
“You’ll find out as you use it. But I think I understand why blessings don’t apply.”
“Why?”
“The individual from whom Miro borrowed time is ‘us,’ not the sponsor. The root of the blessing lies with the sponsor.”
I understood what she meant. Blessings are powers given by the sponsor and have their roots in them.
For example, from the perspective of the Owl giving advice, it would count the same whether I used advice or the other ‘Kain’ summoned by Miro’s watch, consuming the same power from the Owl. So their counts would also share.
—
By around 11 PM, everyone finally had a hazy understanding of the Time Redeemer’s functions.
It was getting late, and there were no advice counts left. More importantly, Miro, who had cooperated actively in the somewhat painful experiments, showed considerable fatigue.
Given that we would be entering the Curse Room tomorrow, it’s appropriate to consider some decent rest. Eventually, I decided we should wrap up for the day.
“Let’s talk about the next room bright and early tomorrow! Got it?”
Finally, the tiring day came to a close.
…
“Kain!”
“Hmm?”
“Can you lend me an hour?”
“Are you planning to use it in the Curse Room, so you need to borrow ahead of time?”
“… Yep.”
“Sure.”
“Ari too!”
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 137
Current Location: Level 1, Room 105 – ‘Room of Rest’ (Miro’s Room)
Sage’s Advice: 0]
– Han Kain
“What the heck….”
“Oh! It worked!”
When I snapped back to consciousness, I found myself in Room 105, ‘Miro’s Room.’
“…?”
In 105, everyone usually uses separate spaces aside from meal times.
“Does that mean if you use the watch to summon us, it’s an exception….”
“How cool!”
I had a meaningless time there. Miro rambled on about things that happened in Ice Hell and asked various questions about the hotel. We also talked quite a bit about Ahri.
“That girl is kind of creepy! She keeps calling me ‘Mom, Mom’ and teasing me.”
“Teasing? More like in reality—”
— Bang!
Before I could finish telling her it downright felt like she was her mother, Miro suddenly headbutted me, knocking me out of the couch.
“Don’t say bad things! I haven’t even had a boyfriend yet!”
“… Right. It’d be pretty funny to suddenly call you daughter in that situation.”
“How am I supposed to say it?”
“Well, we can just treat each other as sisters.”
How to define the relationship between Ahri and Miro!
I really have no idea. I just thought when Ahri called her mom, it seemed like they were mother-daughter, and since Miro absolutely disagrees, I guess that’s how it is.
“Well, Ahri treats everyone like that, not just you.”
“… She doesn’t go that far! Plus, she ate all my bacon earlier!”
“You also ate all her ham in Ice Hell.”
“That’s one thing, this is another!”
“Bacon and ham are basically the same!”
— Bang!
She knocked me off balance again with another headbutt. Is she a human or just a headbutting dinosaur?
Suddenly, I realized. Just as we had a tiring day with Miro joining us, Miro must have experienced a terrifying and chaotic day herself. Calling me late at night might just be her way of wanting a comfortable time for herself.
Around that moment, Miro approached, holding the watch.
“Um… I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“It’s really scary.”
Did she have something she wanted to say?
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.