### Chapter 336 – Room 203, The Cursed Room – ‘A New Beginning’ (16)
—
– Park Seungyub
—
As Ahri noona and I came down from the mountains, we were met with a grand welcome.
I’m a bit shy to say this myself, but unless the doctor or Pero told everyone “This is a newb!” you’d have a hard time distinguishing me and Ahri noona from the local kids.
It was impossible not to be dazzled by the beauty and mysterious aura emanating from us, captivating the soldiers waiting below the mountains in no time.
By the time noona passed by, there were more and more people kneeling and praying.
In the evening, the long-awaited hotel party meeting began after 300 years.
—
Noona shared her thoughts on how to resolve the room’s curse.
“What is the curse of Room 203, and how can we resolve it? Long ago, Kain found the answer to this question in the title of the room.”
“A New Beginning!”
“Right. The situation where humanity has fallen into a primordial quagmire itself is the curse, and Kain interpreted that rescuing humanity from this situation is the solution.”
“But wasn’t that conclusion based on the fake records left by the prisoner?”
“Your point is valid, Seungyub. But have you heard this? Skilled con artists don’t lie 100% of the time. They mix 90% truth with 10% lies.”
“I have heard that.”
“The records left behind aren’t completely false. Plus, Kain has the power of ‘Scenario Understanding.’ If the prisoner left utterly nonsensical records, it would contradict the content arising from ‘Scenario Understanding,’ causing Kain to feel uneasy.”
“So what you mean is…?”
“I believe Kain’s interpretation is indeed true. The curse lies in the ruin of humanity’s future, and ending this situation is the solution. It’s just that the methodology of ‘escaping in a spaceship’ was incorrect.”
After saying this, noona slightly bowed her head toward the teacher.
“Fortunately, our great priest, the new progenitor of humanity, has resolved about 80% of this problem. Thank you.”
It was the first time I saw noona compliment someone like that. The doctor, feeling that, gave a slight smile.
“Ha, this is quite unlike you, Ahri.”
“Even though I haven’t seen the ‘City of Light,’ just looking at the armor and weapons worn by the soldiers outside makes it clear. This certainly qualifies as a civilization. I doubt anyone expects to see an industrial revolution happening in a hotel, right?”
“But there are still significant dangers ahead.”
In the City of Light created by the teacher, there was a serious threat that they could not overcome alone.
“Does everyone remember the starting point of the maze, the hatchery?”
“Yes.”
“300 years ago, we thought that location merely produced new beings, but over the long years, we learned much more.”
The new beings born in the hatchery were transported across the entire continent by monstrous wasps. It was an impressive continental transportation system.
Was it necessary to transport only the new beings?
“The hatchery is not just where new beings are born; it is also the source of monsters that fill the continent.”
Kain hyung had discovered interesting information during the process of dealing with the monsters using the power of possession. Specifically, the fact that parasitic tentacles inhabited the bodies of intact beasts, turning them into monsters.
How did those tentacles spread across the entire world?
“I have verified it countless times over the long years. On dark nights, the wasps descend from the sky, spreading writhing flesh across the world. That flesh crawls on the ground and burrows into nearby animals.”
To solve Room 203, we need to raise civilization in a primordial world and destroy the hatchery, the source of the civilizational threats: the monsters.
The former task has already been completed; we only need to handle the latter.
At that moment, Ahri noona spoke up.
“Let’s wake everyone else up.”
“Are you talking about Eunsol and Elder Mooksung? Of course, that’s necessary, but… it’s quite a distance away.”
As I looked at the ‘continent map’ that the teacher unfolded, my and noona’s eyes went wide. It showed where noona and grandpa were still in cryogenic sleep.
We need to move at least hundreds of kilometers.
“Just to clarify, this room isn’t the 21st century. We can’t import food from the U.S. or China for a march of hundreds of kilometers.”
I understood this point. If we wanted to lead an army, we’d have to go back to the city, endure for a year or two, and gather supplies.
“No need to bring an army. I’ll go alone.”
With that, noona simply raised a finger. A bluish light flickered slightly at her fingertip.
“Then, while waiting for that—”
“No, don’t wait; you all head to the hatchery. It’s not urgent, but it’s better to move efficiently. Anyway, Pero can find your location. And—”
Noona was about to say something while looking at the teacher but suddenly fell silent.
But it was clear to everyone present what she was implying.
During the meeting, the teacher had spat blood three times.
Perhaps the teacher didn’t have much time left.
—
As the meeting came to a close, noona asked the teacher.
“When Seungyub came to wake me up, he was in a protective suit. Where did you find that suit?”
“I approached the mountain range three times to wake Ahri. But I couldn’t breach the robot’s defenses, so I always came back… but it wasn’t completely unfruitful.”
“Really? Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“This is a personal curiosity… Do you have something like a ‘history book’?”
“Such a thing does exist.”
“Could I get one?”
The teacher tilted his head in confusion.
“Are you interested in that?”
Noona spoke with an unusually sentimental tone.
“I suspect that when we leave this room, the city you’ve built will also be destroyed with the room.”
“….”
“Before that happens, I want to engrave it in my mind. This great achievement, so that I can remember it for a long… long time.”
The teacher trembled as if struck by lightning. Pale droplets flowed from his aging eyes.
“Goodness, you’re saying things that don’t suit you today.”
I almost cried alongside her. I never knew noona had this side to her!
She acted as if nothing mattered in the mountains, but upon coming down and seeing the teacher, aged, and the traces of the newly risen civilization, it seemed even noona’s cold heart was shaken.
Soon, she declared she wouldn’t waste any time and would start immediately.
“Oh, Seungyub, you come too.”
“Yes.”
—
Walking under the dark night sky, Ahri noona was so enchanting that I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Was she trying to enhance that mysterious aura?
Suddenly, Pero appeared from the sky and perched on noona’s shoulder.
“Pero! Where have you been? The teacher wanted to see you!”
— Beep!
“So, Pero hasn’t been around in the city?”
“Yes. Parece que Pero always goes off somewhere and doesn’t return. Perhaps he was looking for ways to wake us up?”
“Could be. It’s no coincidence he was right by your side when you woke up from cryogenic sleep.”
Pero must have also waited for us for hundreds of years. Just thinking about that made my heart swell.
—
Just then, noona suddenly spoke to me.
“I don’t know.”
“Huh?”
Noona’s expression began to change color like a kaleidoscope.
First, the bright expression from when we first met in the ‘Mansion of Horror’ appeared, then her usual emotionless doll face.
Just a moment ago in the meeting hall, an emotional literary girl’s expression flashed by, followed by a playful look that came out often when she was with Kain hyung.
Seeing her face shift so dramatically, I intuited that noona was caught in a complex train of thought.
“What’s going through your mind?”
“… Many thoughts. For example, can I leave alone, leaving you behind?”
“Haha! You don’t need to worry. The doctor is here too! Don’t worry about me; focus on Eunsol and Elder Mooksung—”
“I won’t be bringing both of them.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s no time for that. Did you see Sanghyun coughing?”
“… So, who do you plan to bring?”
“Eunsol. I felt it during the meeting. There will definitely come a moment when we need Eunsol’s flute.”
Felt it during the meeting? Was there a topic like that?
“I feel like something got discussed without me knowing.”
“That can happen.”
“Can you just explain it to me?”
“Sometimes not knowing is better.”
“But they say knowledge is power.”
“The more you know, the weaker you get.”
“…”
The complex expressions on noona’s face suddenly solidified into one. The emotion behind that expression was ‘concern.’
Noona worries about me. But why?
— Pat!
A gentle hand brushed through my hair.
“Stay safe. I’ll come back as quickly as possible.”
“Have a safe journey.”
Soon, noona vanished into the darkness.
—
After I, the teacher, and the army of the City of Light began our advance toward the hatchery, we encountered monsters almost daily.
What had been mentioned during the meeting a few days ago felt all the more real. Without burning the source of these monsters, a new future for humanity could not bud.
“Defense formation!”
— Clank!
When a gigantic bull, as big as a house with six legs, charged through raising dust, the ‘great general,’ who looked like a descendant of the teacher, bellowed the beginning of battle.
The soldiers didn’t falter at the monster’s charge and robustly pushed their wheeled, massive shield forward.
Soon, with a tremendous crashing sound, the shield was pushed back significantly.
But it merely shifted; the shield remained intact, while the bull groaned in pain and stumbled back.
Immediately, the soldiers began hurling sharp spears, and before ten minutes had passed, the bull was reduced to chunks of meat.
“Wow…!”
“How’s that, Seungyub?”
From a hill, I was watching the glorious scene alongside the teacher, and I could see undeniable pride on the teacher’s face.
“Impressive!”
“What’s so impressive about it?”
It made me laugh instantly. Wasn’t that a direct request for a specific compliment?
They say people get younger as they age; maybe that’s true.
But for someone who had built such a civilization over centuries, it was impossible not to feel moved watching that majestic scene.
“Creating a shield that could withstand the monster’s charge is impressive, and the soldiers who face such monsters without fear are great too.”
“You wouldn’t know the time it took to reach that level….”
“Teacher….”
“You’ve once again shown your sentimental side. I’m embarrassed, but it’s been my dream to lead the soldiers I raised alongside you into battle! I’ve been dreaming of this moment for 300 years!”
After that, the forces of the City of Light advanced without interruption.
Be it the worm with rock-hard skin that emerged from the soil, the boar with six tusks as big as a car, or the oversized pigeon with four wings.
No monster could stand against the legion.
The only thing that could delay the legion’s advance was supply—food and water. It’s obvious that even the world’s greatest army can’t move without sustenance.
—
What was I doing during this grand time?
… Absolutely nothing. Truly.
From the start, the teacher didn’t expect me to fight monsters and always insisted I remain close by while keeping me in the cart.
The fighting was only done by soldiers who came out from the city.
“This is just great! Noona was worried so much but I guess she didn’t foresee this situation.”
“Is Ahri concerned?”
“Yes. She said she was worried about leaving me behind.”
“I see… She probably didn’t have faith in the legion’s strength. I can understand that.”
Three days later, the scouts finally reported that they had entered the domain of the fallen god. The legion halted and began to rest.
“Now we just wait for Ahri and Eunsol. It shouldn’t take too long. Once they join, we can burn that dreadful land to the ground.”
I felt a strong yearning in the teacher’s eyes as he spoke in an uncharacteristically harsh tone.
“Teacher.”
“What is it, Seungyub?”
“Is this room about to end soon?”
The teacher, who had struggled even to lift his body from the cart, finally stood firm and landed a thump on my head.
“Ow!”
“Seungyub. Never, I mean it, never say such a thing again.”
—
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