### Chapter 325 – Room 203, The Cursed Room – ‘A New Beginning’ (5)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 683,615
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
– Han Kain
After exchanging information, everyone went their separate ways to process the overwhelming amount of details that had just been dumped on us.
By evening, when we all gathered again, my sister had written in big letters on the whiteboard:
1. Why were we forcibly extracted?
“Let’s hear what everyone thinks is important. As for me, this is my main concern.”
Everyone nodded in agreement; it was indeed a significant question.
Next, Jinchul approached and wrote down number 2:
2. What is the purpose of the prisoner?
“I just had a brief chat with Songyi, and I want to discuss this part.”
This was about the conversation we had right after exiting the room. What was the suspiciously cooperative Adravita’s goal?
Then, Ahri added number 3:
3. What are the identities of the deities, primitives, and us?
“I felt this was essential while talking with Miro.”
This was something I had been pondering as well, and since Ahri had already written it down, I saw no need to add a different item.
Gradually, we started gathering opinions in order.
First: Why were we forcibly extracted?
The first to speak was Eunsol, the one who wrote the topic.
“Unlike the resolution of the room’s destruction, the extraction typically requires individual assessment, right? Even if Jinchul met the exit conditions and left the room, it doesn’t mean I’d go out with him.”
“That was a tactic used by the prisoner in Room 104,” I added.
“Certainly, but why did we all exit at the same time this time?”
There was a similar event that took place before.
“Was it in Room 102? When ‘Lee Sehyun’ suddenly committed suicide in the terrifying mansion, didn’t we all escape at that moment? It feels like a similar situation.”
“Yes, it seems so… Back then, the adversary felt threatened by us and hidden before things escalated, right? So, did we all meet the exit conditions simultaneously?”
“Doesn’t that seem likely?”
“So what were the exit conditions for Room 203?”
Naturally, everyone’s gaze shifted toward Miro and Ahri, as we shared similar thoughts.
When a summoned being dies in the time-lapsed zone, the original entity also dies. On the second attempt, the Ahri that Miro summoned fought to protect Miro and died.
At that point, Ahri’s original body must have died too, but it was presumed the AI was controlling her in Room 203.
“Could it be that Ahri’s death in the mountains is the exit condition?”
“That seems plausible. I can’t think of any other possibilities.”
If the Ahri summoned through time dies, so does the Ahri in the mountain, resulting in an exit for all of us.
This alone was quite a significant finding. We had discovered a perfect way to escape Room 203 at any moment.
My sister finished a cup of coffee and spoke again.
“You all probably guessed why we were extracted. I had a gut feeling as soon as I heard Miro’s story. But why is it an escape and not a resolution?”
“Maybe there’s something more to it?”
“Exactly. I wanted to discuss that. While I haven’t grasped the entire scenario of Room 203, at least one thing is clear: killing the Ahri in the mountains doesn’t end Room 203. There’s something more.”
*
Moving on to the second topic.
Why is the prisoner in Room 203 helping us? What is his purpose?
Jinchul was the first to share his thoughts.
“This isn’t the first time a prisoner has been cooperative. Didn’t the teacher in Room 103 openly help Songyi wipe out the Athanasia?”
Grandpa nodded.
“Didn’t Gaen help that creature near the late stage of Room 102? The Sea God from Room 202 seemed similar.”
My sister tilted her head slightly.
“The teacher in Room 103 and the creature from Room 102 fit that mold, but isn’t the Sea God from Room 202 a bit ambiguous?”
It was hard to say the Sea God was on our side. Right from the first attempt, the moment the Sea God resurrected, we almost got wiped out.
Instead of siding with us, it seemed more like he used us to achieve his own desired outcome.
In fact, seen in that light, the behavior of the creature from Room 102 was a bit ambiguous too.
“I think the creature from Room 102 is shady. If you remember, the progress in Room 102 received quite a bit of criticism in the hotel? There were several mistakes that led to a de facto failed scenario, but it was forced through with the power of ‘descent.’”
“Oh, I remember now!”
“If the hotel had proceeded normally, the creature would likely never have appeared. That makes it a bit tricky to determine whose side it is on.”
As if referring to the prisoners in other rooms, Jinchul cleared his throat to regain attention.
“Ahem! Let’s focus on Room 203. It’s clear that the Adravita in Room 203 is the most cooperative prisoner we’ve encountered since the teacher in Room 103.”
Adravita, right from the beginning, woke me up and informed us that Room 203’s origin was a ‘planetary expedition spaceship.’
Additionally, upon summoning due to the time lapse, with Ahri in the mountains dying suddenly, he showed Miro the ‘mysterious machine.’
“Why is he helping us so much? The destruction of the room would mean his own demise, after all.”
Songyi chimed in.
“I came to a conclusion while talking with my brother Jinchul earlier; we think Adravita wants to die.”
I gathered what she meant. This aligned with a conversation I had with Jinchul during our time in the room.
“In this cursed room, he’s been stuck for too long and just wants everything to end?”
“My brother and I have come to that conclusion.”
The atmosphere around us fell silent for a moment.
If Adravita truly wanted to die out of some kind of depression, I could understand why. It was all right there in my status window.
[Day 683,615]
Every time Room 203 starts, nearly 1872 years pass. We don’t feel it since we’re in cryosleep. Having already entered Room 203 twice, it must seem like about 3750 years for Adravita.
Is that all there is to it?
No, there must have been other participants before us, some of whom must have ventured into the scenario of Room 203.
If they too spent 1872 years each time they entered, thinking about how many years Adravita has spent in this cursed room already is horrifying. It’s likely he endured a time close to eternity.
I turned to observe how the Administration Bureau staff would perceive this, but Grandpa shared a somewhat ambiguous response.
“I’m not sure. Among divine beings, there are those who have experienced eons. If that’s the case, I don’t think the mere 1872 years would make them want to die.”
Ahri simply replied.
“Why don’t you ask? Your owl there probably knows better than me or Grandpa.”
Would they answer if I asked about the prisoner’s condition? Let’s give it a shot.
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
“Is Adravita truly wishing for death?”
[Even great beings have aspects similar to mortals, so their hearts can become ill.]
That answer seemed vague. As I relayed it, Ahri chuckled lightly.
“That’s just a ‘maybe.’ Even your owl seems unsure about this.”
“That might be true…”
If the question concerned a divine being’s mental state, there’s a chance that even the owl wouldn’t know.
At that moment, Eunsol’s eyes filled with curiosity.
“His heart could be ill! I have a good feeling about this!”
“A good feeling?”
“A prisoner with a sick heart? Maybe it’s time for my flute to shine again!”
Thinking back, my sister’s Pendant of Rest really had the potential to affect divine entities.
Songyi made a more rational point.
“What if Adravita has spent too long in Room 203 and fallen into depression? Maybe the Flute of Rest could help cure him.”
“That’s what I’m saying!”
“Is it necessary to cure him?”
“Huh?”
“If the reason he’s aiding us is that he wants to die, we don’t have to alleviate that desire, do we?”
“… That’s true.”
If the prisoner has gone mad and is helping us, it’s reasonable not to bother trying to cure that madness. It’s cynical, but it makes sense.
While my sister was somewhat disappointed, Ahri began discussing the third topic.
“The deities, primitives, and our identities! Has everyone thought about this? I had a bit of an insight combining what Kain got from the spaceship and what Miro found in the hatchery.”
With those words, Ahri began a lengthy explanation.
“First, regarding the identity of the deity. According to Kain’s info from the spaceship, there are crew members aboard. What role do they play? At minimum, not controlling the spaceship.”
While the crew would be in cryosleep during the ship’s journey, they couldn’t possibly be managing anything. That duty must fall to the AI.
I ventured a guess.
“They are probably meant to wake up upon arrival and pioneer the planet. All of them must be enhanced humans, likely to facilitate colonization.”
Ahri nodded.
“I see the ‘deity’ as just enhanced humans like the crew.”
“So they are enhanced humans… Is the superpower that the deities have simply a product of their enhancement?”
“Exactly. And this context clarifies what Miro discovered about the cocoons and the hatchery.”
Grandpa slapped his knee.
“A human cultivation kit!”
“That’s right. The artificial womb for creating enhanced humans.”
Just as we were delving into some head-scratching sci-fi talk, Elena raised a question.
“But we’re deities too, right? So… were we created in that cultivation kit?”
“That’s a good question. I think Adravita provided the answer to that.”
I started to understand.
“Are we the crew themselves?”
“That’s it. That’s our identity in Room 203. We are the very crew members who arrived on this planet aboard the spaceship 1872 years ago.”
With that, Ahri wrote it down on the whiteboard.
Deities: Enhanced humans created from a human cultivation kit.
Our Identity: The original crew members who arrived on this planet 1872 years ago.
Whether it was true or not would require further investigation, but it sounded plausible. However, one critical point was missing.
“So, what about the primitives?”
“I don’t know.”
“Eh?”
“I don’t know. Are they even humans? It seems pretty clear from the issues raised that primitives aren’t humans…”
The doctor nodded in agreement, conveying that their physical structure differed from humans’.
Elena claimed, in a fit of madness while she was changing the primitives, she recognized the primitives as something other than humans.
Considering the excessive friendliness shown to Songyi in response to her blessing and the AI in the mountains treating the primitives as non-humans, it began to dawn on me.
It’s very likely they aren’t humans.
“Are the primitives a completely distinct group that didn’t come with the crew?”
No one could answer that question. However, the doctor had a skeptical view.
“That seems implausible because their appearance is too similar. They aren’t likely alien creatures that evolved in entirely different environments…”
“Then what could they be?”
“I’m not sure.”
It looks like we need to dig deeper. I went ahead and made a second attempt at a query, but as expected, the answer was vague.
[Advice: 2 -> 1]
“Are the primitives in Room 203 humans? If not, what are they?”
[It’s a question of how you define humanoid beings.]
As I relayed the response, everyone clutched their heads in frustration, some complaining.
“Why can’t they just say it plainly? Why is Kain’s sponsor so unhelpful?”
Miro’s perplexity was probably a question I myself had asked 3000 times by now.
“Perhaps they have their own restrictions. Still, it’s irritating.”
The doctor cautiously contributed a viewpoint.
“I think they provided a meaningful response. If those beings were merely trying to imitate humans by wrapping themselves in a human guise, then they likely wouldn’t respond by claiming they’re not humans.”
Ahri nodded.
“If you define human widely enough, it seems the primitives could indeed be categorized as human in some way.”
*
As our discussion about the three topics began to wind down, Seungyub, who usually barely engaged in meetings, finally offered his opinion.
“Let’s just think about this simply.”
“Simply? The scenario of Room 203 has my head about to explode!”
“No, but Ara, what I mean is, let’s not dig too deep into the scenario. How about thinking of it like a game?”
“Like a game?”
“When I play games, I skip all the story.”
“…”
In a moment of silence, everyone turned to stare at Seungyub, wondering what he was talking about.
“Alright! Where’s the final destination we need to reach? The mountain, right? Because that’s where sealed-up Ahri is!”
Miro twitched slightly at his oddly energized demeanor.
“Is that so?”
“Why can’t we go to the mountains now? Isn’t there a bunch of robots up there? Strong ones, correct?”
This time he emphasized the risks posed by the robots while looking at me. That was indeed a significant problem.
Unlike the first attempt, we had blessings now and more teammates, but those mountains filled with robots remained a huge barrier. Most of our heritage and abilities would be virtually useless against them.
Neither my divine manuscript nor Songyi’s various perspectives held any weight in front of the robots.
“That’s true.”
“The machine device that the prisoner showed Miro at the end! Isn’t it similar to a spaceship component?”
With the label ‘Pride of Humanity’ on a component, it might relate to the spaceship.
“Alright! We have a conclusion!”
“We have a conclusion?”
“Did we reach a conclusion?”
Seungyub shouted decisively.
“Let’s take that component and charge toward the mountains.”
“Why?”
“Because! Ara, why do you think that part is there? In game terms, it’s like a key to safely enter the area where the final boss resides!”
“Eh? Why?”
“No, it’s so frustrating! That important item was shown to us for a reason!”
“What are you talking about?!”
…
As everyone fully processed what Seungyub was echoing, Eunsol, who had been deep in thought, suddenly broke into a smile.
“I mulled over what Seungyub said, and it does sound plausible. Think about it. Perhaps that component is crucial to the spaceship, and the AI in the mountains wouldn’t want it destroyed.”
Finally, it started to make some sense.
“If we bring that with us to the mountains, the robots won’t attack us?”
“Exactly. They wouldn’t attack at random because they wouldn’t want to destroy the part.”
Listening to my sister’s interpretation made it clear. It certainly seemed to flow convincingly, and I asked a follow-up question.
[Advice: 1 -> 0]
“What do you think about the plan to take the component and head to the mountains?”
[Think about how to reach that location.]
Afterward, everyone offered various opinions as we developed plans for what our third attempt should look like.
*
When the meeting wrapped up, and as we were about to leave while rallying each other’s spirits for tomorrow, a sense of inexplicable unease washed over me.
I couldn’t easily explain where it was coming from, even to myself.
…
Late at night, as I lay on my bed, I finally realized the source of my anxiety.
Where did a significant portion of our understanding and the basis for planning concerning Room 203 come from?
Adravita.
There was far more information shoved down our throats by Adravita than what we gathered from personally scouring through Room 203.
Could it be that we’ve become a version of Sun Wukong atop Buddha’s finger?
Of course, if Adravita desires death, there’s ample reason for him to help us. But what if the very hypothesis of Adravita wanting death was molded by his own intent?
I felt frustrated. Even if that were the case, I had no idea what to do next. As a result, I tossed and turned until late into the night.
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