### Chapter 419 – Room 104, The Curse Room – ‘Preparatory Elite Hotel High School’ Re (18)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 282
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104 – Curse Room ‘Preparatory Elite Hotel High School’
Sage’s Advice: X]
—
— Han Kain
—
I came to my senses on a dim staircase.
The status window flickered with the date, and in front of me, Miro looked frightened as she stared at me.
Time travel? Here?
“Doesn’t seem like we’re in a battle right now, huh?”
“Yeah! It’s not that!”
“Fill me in.”
Miro frantically explained the situation.
We had already entered Room 104 a while ago, and Ari and Miro had snuck into the sanctuary.
The problem was that Aurelia, who seemed to have absorbed Arima, told Miro to go down alone.
Fighting a saint underground was way too risky.
So Miro was pretending to accept the saint’s words while heading down, and just then, she called me.
“What’s going on? Why can’t Ari go and I’m the only one—”
“Just be quiet for a second. Let me think.”
“Okay.”
What’s down there is probably the Sacred Sun, the avatar of our lord.
“The reason only you can go underground instead of Ari is because of your blessing. The invulnerability grants you strong resistance against supernatural powers, it seems.”
“Then I should go down alone?”
“Hold on a second.”
All the mysteries of Room 104 revolved around what the Sacred Sun was about.
So I need to face the Sacred Sun, even if it means taking a risk.
But should ‘Miro’ really be the one to go?
“… No way.”
“Kain! Did you figure something out? Something—”
“At first, I thought this: Is it possible that the lord chose you instead of me?”
“He chose me instead of you?”
Let’s think back.
Why did the lord choose me in the first place?
That’s where I went wrong since the lord didn’t actually choose ‘Han Kain’ in the first attempt at Room 104.
I killed Aurelia underground to fulfill the conditions for the Sacred Sun to appear, and the lord descended upon me.
Did the hotel party expect ‘Han Kain’ to kill Aurelia from the moment we entered Room 104?
That’s way too deterministic.
No hotel could perfectly predict how we’d escape the Curse Room, and for the prisoners, that was obviously impossible.
The lord didn’t pick ‘Han Kain’; he selected whoever summoned the Sacred Sun from underground first.
The lord expecting Han Kain to win started from the second attempt.
“The more I think about it, the less it seems like that. His choice was probably made when the descent occurred. Maybe only I, who have used the descent, can fully utilize the Sacred Sun.”
“Then why tell me to go down?”
“It’s not you she told to go down. Aurelia learned our information through Arima, right? Naturally, that information was conveyed to the lord as well.”
Miro’s eyes widened.
“Oh! She realized the existence of the time-space shift!”
“So from now on, I’m going down.”
As if understanding the incomprehensible situation, Miro’s eyes brightened, and she smiled joyfully.
“Have a great trip! I’ll wait here!”
“Sure.”
I didn’t mention this to Miro, but truthfully, I also considered this thought.
Is it possible that the lord truly chose Miro as the new master of the Sacred Sun?
I came up with various possibilities regarding this but…
I decided to let it go.
I must acquire the inheritance of Room 104.
— Click!
The door leading to the sacred ground opened.
I arrived in paradise.
—
…
—
—
— Click!
“Kain! What happened—”
“Gah!”
My head feels like it’s about to explode.
A world filled with light, a land unreachable while alive!
The nausea produced by paradise felt like it would crush my brain.
“Kain?”
“This, this bastard is definitely bizarre, I knew it from the start—”
“C-Calm down! We don’t have much time!”
Time, right… time!
I’m Miro’s summon, so I can’t remain here for more than an hour.
“How much time has passed?”
“54 minutes!”
Just 5 minutes and a few seconds left, no time to hesitate.
“Give me—”
“Sorry, it’s hard to explain to Miro.”
I saw, felt, and understood.
I grasped the reason for the existence of the Sacred Sun, the lord’s purpose!
I understood everything about Room 104.
I also realized what the lord meant by making a game everyone could win.
He proposed a deal that I couldn’t refuse.
The transaction was made.
“Kain?”
I finally understood the secretive nature of the Administration Bureau.
Not everyone needs to know what I discovered.
The truly horrifying wisdom is enough for only a few chosen ones to know.
“Is that a pen?”
I wrote and wrote about everything in Room 104.
“What on earth did you see?”
Suddenly, I thought this.
I came back to this room to acquire the Sacred Sun.
But could I write all this while being aware of the horrifying truth of this abominable entity?
“Huh? Are you erasing it? Did you write something wrong?”
Horrific truths are enough for a select few to know.
There’s no need for ‘Han Kain’ to be included among those few.
“Miro. Deliver this note to Aurelia.”
“What did you write?”
“Just pass it on. Don’t read it.”
“… Got it.”
As the hour ended and my consciousness began to blur, I thought.
At last, I was liberated from painful memories.
The Han Kain left behind in the old main building would never know what I saw today.
I decided to gift myself the paradise of ignorance.
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 282
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104 – Curse Room ‘Preparatory Elite Hotel High School’
Sage’s Advice: X]
—
— Han Kain
—
In the empty classroom of the old main building, I was resting.
“Uh? Uh? What is this?”
A multitude of text began to appear on the status window.
Only ‘me’ summoned by the time-space shift could do such a thing.
—
“…”
The content wasn’t that surprising.
The eternal paradise promised to the believers existed.
Those who had served the lord for many years transferred to paradise inside the Sacred Sun after their death.
The faithful, filled with devotion to the lord, are like a single point.
Those countless points merged to create the ‘avatar of the lord,’ which is the Sacred Sun.
Apart from that, various information was written down.
“Wow~ As expected, Han Kain! Kain is incredibly capable! Honestly, there’s no one I can trust as much as I trust myself!”
The contract I made with the lord was a bit peculiar but not bad.
At least there was nothing that would cause me harm.
I can naturally fulfill the conditions while progressing through the remaining Room 206.
Having roughly figured out how to wrap up Room 104, I decided it was time to head out.
— Tick!
As I was about to turn off the classroom lights, a strange thought crossed my mind.
“…”
The writing style in the status window was none other than my handwriting.
Of course, by looking at the word choices and the font, I could faintly feel the emotions contained within it.
“What was so scary?”
There was no one to answer that.
—
The next day, my colleagues gathered at the old main building from early morning.
After listening to my explanation for a while, Ari summarized with a look of understanding.
“So, the Sacred Sun is like a vessel containing the souls of the believers, right?”
A vessel. That’s a fitting analogy.
“Exactly.”
“Believers filled with devotion to the lord are like Lego blocks. Countless blocks gathered to form the Sacred Sun.”
“Spot on.”
“The process of the inheritance, the Sacred Sun escaping the Curse Room. This is the escape of the lord, but also of the believers trapped in the purgatory of the Curse Room.”
Hearing this, Eunsol-noona nodded as if impressed.
“I almost shed a tear just now.”
“Really?”
“Wow…. I had always wondered how wicked the lord was with all the fuss, but that doesn’t seem quite right.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s a good existence. After all, how many lives has he taken?”
“That’s true, but at least he valued his believers, right?”
According to the records I left in the status window, that’s how it was.
At that time, Song-yi spoke up.
“In the past, the concern regarding this place wasn’t how to solve it but how strange the reward was, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Do we not need to worry about that? The Sacred Sun is an inheritance with a sort of consciousness, and I was worried it might try to brainwash its owner.”
In that moment, I was at a loss for words.
While I reached an agreement through the ‘deal’ with the lord regarding this, it felt tricky to bring it up with my friends.
Not everyone needs to know what I discovered.
Some knowledge is sufficient for only a select few to know it.
“That part seems to be fine. I’ve already confirmed it.”
With that, everyone’s expressions brightened.
Eunsol-noona wore a joyful expression.
“Then let’s wrap up Room 104 right away!”
Jinchul-hyung chuckled and said.
“Noona, are you suggesting we just kill all the cultists? They were calling for Miro and the saint, right?”
Eunsol-noona was slightly flustered.
“You know that’s not what I meant! Why would we resort to violence when we’ve planned to resolve Room 104 without shedding blood?”
That plan is simple enough.
The solution to Room 104 is the collapse of the cult, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be achieved through violence.
Wouldn’t convincing them to believe in ‘another religion’ also be one method?
Interestingly, I asked the lord directly regarding this, and he said it sounded plausible.
When all the plans to resolve the room were complete, Seungyub raised his hand shyly.
“When are we going to use the Soul Vessel? Originally, we planned to contain Arima’s spirit in Aurelia’s body…”
The others were currently speculating that Arima had devoured Aurelia.
Is it acceptable to contain Aurelia in the Soul Vessel?
“I think we need to observe the situation for a few more days.”
Jinchul-hyung nodded immediately.
“I agree. Arima’s form was sluggish and seemed to linger in my body for quite some time.”
“Is that so?”
“It took him quite a while to pop out like a human. If we think of Arima as a virus, it means it requires time for the virus infection to complete.”
“Now that everything has become certain, let’s continue!”
—
What followed was, in a way, the tiresome repetition of simple tasks.
Some colleagues continued to fill the old main building with fear, while Miro steadily expanded her foothold within the department.
As if waiting for the perfect moment, the grandfather utilized the power of ‘crowd psychology’ to spread new doctrines.
About three months passed, and one day Aurelia came to see me.
“It’s been a while.”
She seemed quite exhausted.
“There are hardly ten genuine believers left in the cult now.”
“We’re close to resolving the room.”
“Impressive individuals indeed. I thought the believers who have witnessed miracles would be hard to sway.”
Turning former believers, not mere ordinary cult members but those who’ve seen countless ‘miracles’—that was no easy feat, as Aurelia said.
“Since our side has also wielded countless miracles.”
Using supernatural means like crowd psychology or Miro’s voice on our side, it could be entirely feasible.
“I see.”
The saint wore an expression of quiet resignation.
A heavy silence fell.
I decided to ask honestly.
“Who are you right now? Arima? Aurelia?”
Of course, I did not naively think she would tell me the truth.
From behind, Elena was activated with ‘lie detection’ as she looked at Aurelia.
“…”
“Honestly, it doesn’t really matter which. What’s important is whether you’re cooperating with us.”
She has awakened to the truth of this world.
The god she had believed in her whole life was merely a prisoner trapped in this hotel, and NPCs like her were also beings confined in this hotel purgatory.
The Soul Vessel could serve as an escape route to pull her into the real world.
Breaking her silence, Aurelia finally spoke.
“Actually, I was thinking of committing suicide.”
“…”
“It felt hollow; the world was unclear, and my life felt empty…. I just wanted to die and go to paradise.”
Paradise.
The Sacred Sun.
The afterlife prepared by the lord for the believers.
“But then, you left me this note.”
“Hmm?”
I? A note for Aurelia?
What’s this about? That wasn’t on the status window!
She presented me with a note she had.
In clear handwriting that was certainly mine, a sentence was visible.
“I will show you mercy. Never go to paradise. Escape this room contained in the Soul Vessel. This is my last conscience and humanity.”
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