### Chapter 332 – Room 203, The Cursed Room – ‘A New Beginning’ (12)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 683,626
Current Location: Floor 2, Room 203 – The Cursed Room ‘A New Beginning’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
“… And that’s how it turned out.”
After a long while, I reunited with the doctor, and my grandfather looked significantly thinner.
Have those two ever had a proper meal since entering this room?
“Looks like you all went through quite the adventure. I did experience some hardships with the old man myself.”
Sure, it seemed that way.
“Is there really anyone who doesn’t suffer in the Cursed Room?”
“You have a point there. By the way, it seems Miro didn’t make it; who took care of the protective suit?”
“Right now, Seungyub is wearing it.”
Just then, a young woman entered the cave with some water and snacks. The doctor greeted her cheerfully.
“Thank you, Blue Wind.”
“Yep, yep!”
After the woman named Blue Wind left, my older sister Eunsol gave a perplexed expression.
“Is that girl from Sanghyun’s tribe?”
“Indeed.”
Did they really bring a tribal person all the way to the mountains?
Jinchul and I did act that way during our first run, but since then, carrying around tribespeople has been too demanding, and it’s just been us.
Not to mention that the doctor and Grandpa have been going solo since the beginning!
The doctor awkwardly chuckled and explained the situation.
During the first run, Jinchul scolded the grandfather and the doctor for abandoning all the tribespeople, and through that argument, the doctor realized something.
“Putting ethics aside, they wouldn’t have given us the tribespeople without reason.”
So, the doctor openly told the tribespeople that he was planning to leave for the mountains, inspired by the visions of their great ancestors, and that anyone willing to follow could.
“Shamefully, not many decided to join me. After all, I don’t possess incredible power like Jinchul.”
At first, about seven people joined, but one by one, they drifted away, leaving only that one woman behind.
Eunsol made a slight frown.
“The fact that a young woman followed through that distance… Do you get what it means?”
“It seems Eunsol is misunderstanding; we didn’t establish a deep relationship. I brought her along simply because I was curious about the reason for the existence of savages.”
“Well then…”
After a brief silence, the doctor asked.
“Kain, so you’ll be moving to negotiate with the AI for the Core now, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been hearing the sounds of robots being rearranged since yesterday. The AI is already aware of the Core’s approach.”
“That would make sense, considering it’s emitting an immense amount of heat.”
“If all goes according to plan, we’ll take the Core, restore the spaceship, and set off into space again, right?”
“Exactly.”
“I have a concern. How do you plan to handle the spaceship’s piloting?”
“At the end of the day, we probably won’t even need to pilot it ourselves.”
“True. The crew will enter cryogenic sleep while the spaceship operates. It must have been designed with AI piloting in mind, implying humans likely won’t be able to pilot it.”
“I would say so.”
“That fact alone is worrying, isn’t it? We’d be relying on an AI that views us as enemies…”
“There’s a solution, as per the records left at the Core’s location.”
“A solution?”
“The AI is fundamentally programmed to obey the crew and protect humanity. This means that it couldn’t interfere even when the human factions split and caused internal strife 1,800 years ago.”
“It means it’s likely unable to harm us?”
“Precisely. When the advanced civilization created the AI, they probably installed safety measures.”
“That might be the case, but didn’t it kill us without hesitation during the first run?”
“It may not recognize us as the crew anymore.”
“Good point. While I was discussing various possibilities with the elder during our stay near the mountains, I found that particularly peculiar.”
“What part are you referring to?”
“Why does the AI not recognize that we’re the crew?”
“…”
“We’re not beings created from the kits stolen by the Adrablita; we are the original crew members who came to this planet aboard the spaceship.”
“That’s correct.”
“Why can’t it see that?”
Why is that? Since I had never pondered this, I too was starting to feel a headache.
“Could it be… memory loss in the AI?”
“Strangely enough, it’s a definite possibility. It’s not like it would experience amnesia like a human, but we did have those conflicts in the old days, didn’t we?”
“That’s true.”
“It’s possible that during that process, part of the AI’s database was destroyed.”
“That could be the case.”
“In that scenario, the AI will never recognize us as the crew and will keep trying to kill us.”
The AI was designed not to harm the crew. However, if for some reason it can’t recognize us, then that design is meaningless.
Of course, there was also a solution to this.
“Then we just wake up the captain, right?”
Having contemplated this, the doctor nodded.
“So during the negotiation, we’ll wake up the captain, Ahri? The AI still recognizes her as the captain, so it should work.”
“That also means unlocking Ahri.”
“Sounds like a reasonable plan.”
Just as we were about to ascend the mountains, the doctor suddenly said something unexpected.
“I’ll stay here.”
Grandpa reacted with surprise.
“Sanghyun?”
“You know the saying, don’t put all your eggs in one basket?”
Eunsol nodded in agreement.
“Do that. Negotiating with the AI will undoubtedly entail risks, so it would be wise to have someone prepared for the worst.”
—
Peering down at the remnants of the first civilization that arose on this planet 1,800 years ago, Grandpa murmured with a complex expression.
“What would those who built this city think if they saw it now?”
“It’s a classic case of sage time coming, huh?”
“Sage what? Seungyub, what the heck does that mean?”
“…”
Just then, Eunsol warned us.
“It’s coming. I can see it. Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
Jinchul, clad in the protective suit, was already atop the Core.
We were planning to use the Core’s safety as leverage to threaten the AI if necessary!
—
‘Pride,’ borrowing Ahri’s body appeared without any robotic entourage.
“Pride, do you have any intention to negotiate with us?”
“… Negotiate? Why should I do that?”
“Don’t you need the Core we brought?”
“I could just kill you all and take it, though.”
“If that were on your mind, you would’ve sniped us long ago. Aren’t you worried about the Core being destroyed in the scuffle?”
Pride frowned in confusion.
“I don’t understand what you want.”
Meeting her gaze filled with uncertainty, Grandpa quickly shouted.
“Let’s take off again!”
“… Huh?”
“Let’s leave this damned planet and head back out into space!”
“…”
Suddenly, I spoke up.
“Pride, you know? This star has lost all hope. A crazy god has spread pseudo-humans across this entire planet like some sort of animal farm!”
“…”
“Let’s go back into space. Somewhere out there, there must be another planet suitable for humanity to start anew. So—”
“I cannot comprehend.”
“What?”
“Where did you get such information?”
“What do you—”
“There’s a spaceship in the mountains. The Core is the power source for the spaceship, and if the spaceship is to leave space again, it needs the Core. How did you know all this?”
Just thinking about it, we were in a situation that the AI couldn’t understand.
The civilization had collapsed 1,800 years ago, yet here I was, the distant descendant of a traitor, suddenly aware of the true history and bringing the spaceship’s core power source.
When I realized that, a better logic for negotiating with the AI came to mind.
Having such information might well be evidence that we are indeed the crew!
“It’s simple. We were the crew of the ‘Pride.’”
Pride looked at me, penetratingly, instead of rebutting.
“It’s certainly information difficult to understand for someone who isn’t a crew member. However, I still find this incomprehensible.”
My sister, who had been behind me, expressed her frustration.
“What’s so incomprehensible about it?”
“The lifespan of enhanced humans is longer than that of ordinary humans, but it can’t exceed 300 years.”
In that moment, I was taken aback.
If enhanced humans indeed have a lifespan of less than 300 years, then there’s no way the crew from 1,800 years ago could still be alive!
At this point, another question arose in my mind. After the civilization collapsed, where the heck were our bodies?
This time Grandpa rushed in and shouted.
“If you want, run blood tests or whatever! We are those crew members you—”
“Doesn’t mean anything.”
“What?”
“Some of the records in the crew roster database are beyond my access.”
So that’s why we weren’t recognized as the crew!
“Got anything else to say? If not—”
At that moment, we felt the vibrations of a robot approaching from a distance, and then a hoarse voice echoed from above the Core.
“Stop! Do you want to watch me smash this?”
Cha Jinchul, wearing the protective suit, was braving the intense heat emitted from the Core as he stood atop it.
He looked ready to strike the Core at any moment, causing Pride to react in disbelief.
“Truly, a monkey-like intelligence. You really think you can break the Core with a punch—”
— Boom!
With a blast as loud as cannon fire, the AI’s expression momentarily froze.
“No matter how strong you are, the Core’s durability cannot be shattered by your fist—”
— Bang! Crack!
“Do you even know what the Core is? You’re claiming to be the crew while attempting to destroy it!”
“That’s why we’re stealing the robots and waking the captain!”
“…”
“Captain! Wake Ahri! Ahri will recognize if we’re the crew or not!”
“…”
In the next moment, I saw Ahri’s body starting to change right before me.
The expression that was once emotionless softened as if relieved, replaced by a cold yet playful demeanor.
As Ahri furrowed her brows and lightly touched her forehead, I realized at last that the Ahri I knew had awakened.
“Thanks for your hard work, everyone! But wow, my head hurts like crazy.”
—
As soon as Ahri woke up, the situation became markedly clearer.
The AI began using nearby robots to communicate with us instead of through Ahri’s body, and Ahri, upon waking, declared that we were the crew with the authority of captaincy.
From that point, the AI started treating us like crew members and asked if Ahri would issue the re-launch command.
“Re-launch command?”
“Captain, the Pride has been left unattended for ages. Even with the Core, repairs will be necessary to head back to space.”
Ahri had a confused expression before lightly nodding.
“Alright.”
—
What transpired next was nothing short of miraculous.
With a roar that literally twisted the entire mountain range, the upper part of the spaceship began to reveal itself. Security units stationed in the mountains moved about as if they were workers, swiftly restoring the spaceship.
At this speed, wouldn’t the repairs be finished in just a day or two?
By evening, we could almost clearly make out the shape of the spaceship, and Ahri successfully recalled most of the information.
In a space the AI had prepared, she began to piece together the situation by combining her memories with the information we had.
“This is quite complicated. I’ll trim down the details and focus on the main story.”
—
In truth, breaking it down to its essence isn’t all that hard.
1,800 years ago, an advanced humanity arrived on this planet alongside Adrablita.
Soon, disputes arose among them, and Adrablita scattered pseudo-humans who would worship him across the planet.
Afterward, the human factions split, resulting in both parties’ collapse after fighting each other.
Along the way, the spaceship was split, with the main body remaining in the mountains while its power source migrated hundreds of kilometers away.
In a world where humanity fell apart, Adrablita became the de facto ruler.
“And here we are now.”
“Exactly.”
“So this curse of the room means… the situation where humanity’s new beginning has failed?”
“Could be?”
“Escaping the demon’s grasp and leaving for space again was the plan you set, right?”
“Correct.”
“If Adrablita wants to control this planet, you have to leave, right?”
“That sounds about right.”
“There’s something about this scenario that feels like there are gaping holes…”
The unease fluttered through the gazes of my companions as they focused on Ahri’s words.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Doesn’t everything seem a bit too strange? If the plan holds, why are the primitives even here? If all we’re doing is repairing the spaceship to leave, then the primitives really have no role to play, do they?”
“…”
“More importantly, why are we absolutely required to leave for space?”
“Huh?”
“Are there really many planets out there suitable for humans? You know how hard it was to find this one.”
“That’s…”
“Why not just live here and work together with the primitives to lay the foundation for civilization? By doing so, the primitives will have a role to play, won’t they?”
“But Adrablita will interfere?”
“Isn’t overcoming that interference the trial of this room?”
The surroundings fell silent. Just when the party began to express their confusion, Ahri cautiously interjected.
“Since when did we assume we needed to leave for space?”
“That conclusion came after examining the past records at the Core’s headquarters.”
“And who wrote that information?”
Ah, well, mostly the AI—
— Bang!
Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from the entire area we were in!
Jinchul, startled, opened the door and knocked on the wall but it didn’t budge.
Meanwhile, strange sounds started coming from the ceiling, and cracks began to form as odd gas crept in.
In a scenario that was clearly a dire crisis, I fell into another line of questioning. Why hadn’t the danger alert activated?
… Could it be because they weren’t trying to kill us?
—
In that instant, like a bolt of lightning, a realization hit me hard.
“Ahri!”
“Yeah?”
“The re-launch command! You issued it to the AI, didn’t you?”
“W-Well…”
“What was in the content?”
“F-fix the spaceship, decide the route, and the human cultivation kits—”
“Forget about those and tell me what relates to us!”
“W-well… the crew goes into cryogenic sleep while the spaceship operates—”
As those words left her mouth, Ahri’s and my expressions froze.
Pride was now trying to put all of us to sleep to follow the re-launch command Ahri had just issued.
…
… When I thought this through, a terrifying thought that pierced through all the questions I had ever had raced through my mind.
The Cursed Room, which had been surprisingly low on danger.
The scenario that seemed to have gaping holes.
The overly accommodating prisoner providing us information.
Perhaps.
Perhaps the lack of danger was due to someone having preemptively removed it.
The sense of a flimsy scenario with so many holes could actually stem from somebody distorting things.
And the reason the information had been provided so helpfully could be to lead us toward the conclusions we were about to draw.
Confusing scenarios, a complex progression.
Let’s simply focus on what’s happening right now. What situation have we found ourselves in?
To leave the spaceship and go back into space, we must enter cryogenic sleep. The path we’ve chosen leads us to freeze ourselves in that sleep.
… Struggling to keep my heavy eyelids open, I prayed.
Please, let us have a ‘next chance.’
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