Chapter: 46
Chapter 46 – Room 104, Cursed Room – ‘Selective Prestigious Hotel High School’ (6)
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 18
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104 (Cursed Room – Selective Prestigious Hotel High School)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
It’s overwhelming.
Late at night, the surrounding area was nothing but an empty flatland, vacant of any buildings. Even in this seemingly desolate space, the charisma of the being that descended from the heavens filled the void with an inviting presence.
My head is pounding. This is the same thing my teammates said when they met the ‘Guider’. I finally understood the meaning behind the phrase ‘my head hurts.’ A hymn echoed within my mind.
Lord has sent the heavenly waves down to the land; His son now stands upon the soil. Kneel, you humble ones, for the paradise of heaven has been prepared—
Thwack!
“Get a grip!”
“What on earth was that?”
“You still don’t know how to use ‘Wisdom’ properly. Those kinds of beings are like the sun—look at them directly and you’ll go blind. Use the ‘Status Window’ to see!”
Through the Status Window? Upon hearing that, I immediately grasped what she meant. The translucent display had always been sitting in the corner of my view.
If I shift it to the center of my line of sight—
Just as I thought to place it directly in front of me, the Status Window obediently began to shift forward.
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 18
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104 (Cursed Room – Selective Prestigious Hotel High School)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
What a weird sensation. I dimmed the text, peering at the angel through the Status Window, like gazing out at the world through foggy glass. The headache vanished; the hymn that had been ringing in my ears fell silent.
I’ve uncovered another way to utilize the Blessing of Wisdom!
*
Child. Why have you piled up so much sin? Though the Lord is generous towards children, there are always limits in place.
“By what right do you get to speak of sins? You’ve slaughtered countless individuals within the Old Main Building, and now you’ve used the living to kill your sister and grandfather!”
Your words are not true. At the Old Main Building and the Altar, I have never taken a life. I merely guided them into the embrace of the Lord. How could salvation be a sin? These teachers are nothing more than corrupt shepherds, leading children astray. I have slain the fallen shepherds in my quest to guide you back to the right path. This too is not a sin.
“So your kind of ‘salvation’ involves stealing free will, switching people around, and then flat-out killing them? Is that what counts as salvation? Just slap a label on it and call it good? In that case, I’m ‘saving’ you now!”
Can your fragile balance dare to judge me? Can the scale of humans lift one who has descended from the skies?
“Don’t act like you’re some sort of angel. There can’t possibly be gods or angels in this bizarre place!”
The scale began to swirl around again as the ‘weight of sin’ that Elena perceived pressed heavily down upon the angel.
A divine song echoed through the air around her.
Raaaaaaaaaaaa!
The immense note shook the earth, while the light from Elena’s scale brightened the night as if it were midday!
*
“Let’s make a run for it!”
“Huh? What?!”
“Don’t ‘huh’ me! If we get dragged into that wild fight, we’ll be dead before we can catch our breath!”
It was a battle between a near demi-god version of Elena—a product of some fulfilled conditions—and an authentic angel. No matter how I looked at it, we were entirely outmatched compared to the powers of Ahri and me.
I scrambled out of the car and started sprinting blindly, chaos fueling my legs.
“It seems like I’m still sane thanks to the Status Window, and I reckon you’ll be fine even if you fall into the depths of hell, but how is Elena staying so composed?”
“Easily put, because she’s in the midst of ‘enforcement.’ Once the enforcement kicks in, all aspects—voluntary or otherwise—are suppressed, locking everyone in a state where no one can stop her. Also, cut out the snide remarks.”
“Snide remarks? I’m just bewildered by how you know my blessing better than I do!”
“Anyway, no matter how I see it, that doesn’t look like a human, yet Elena’s blessing seems to be working on her.”
Ahri blatantly changed the subject. Nonetheless, I was also curious, and given how urgent the situation was, I decided to roll with it.
“Well, she does resemble a human overall.”
“Resemble? Sure, she’s pretty, but she’s flying with wings! Plus, she’s even larger than normal humans. Even in a world filled with peculiar individuals, that doesn’t pass as human!”
“That’s your criterion? To me, the wings could’ve been given by freaking ‘the Lord’ or some divine being. Remember ‘Sir’? He was human but lacked a body. They wield such power; a pair of wings shouldn’t be impossible!”
“You think the Guider is just a powered-up human? Hmm… I’ve got a different theory.”
*
I was out of breath, struggling as the cold night air sliced through my lungs.
“You knew about my blessing, but you didn’t know about Justice?”
“I told you—Administration only knows a tiny fraction of what’s out there. Now let’s just stop talking!”
Suddenly, Ahri came to a halt.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you moving—”
“I think the fight’s over. If Elena won, there’s no need to run; if the angel won, then fleeing would be pointless. Let’s catch our breath.”
“…Okay. Since we’ve stopped, I want to share something—I’ve actually had a brilliant thought.”
“Oh, me too! I can guess what you’re about to say!”
“If the angel won, let’s just surrender without resisting. I’ve got a hunch that’ll work.”
“Great! The angel has said Lord is benevolent to children several times, so if we bow our heads and show submission, maybe she’ll let us live.”
Without warning, Ahri pulled out a small syringe and jabbed it into herself to draw blood.
“What the actual—”
“I’m just preparing for the worst. Drink it.”
…
Could it be that what I drank in the Mansion of Fear was indeed Ahri’s blood, as I suspected?
“What’s the purpose of this? I feel fine!”
“This time it’s not for stamina; it’s to prepare for ‘if the angel wins.’ Just drink it!”
If it wasn’t for stamina, what was it for? I complied and drank it. It had a metallic, salty taste—not particularly delicious, and a bit warm. It wasn’t something I’d want to drink on the regular, but now that I had, it felt as if I’d be forced to indulge in it more often.
*
About three minutes later, the angel descended before us.
With practiced ease, I activated the Status Window to filter mode and stared at the angel.
Did you surrender? How could weak lambs like you possibly escape from my grasp? I shall reflect on your foolishness and guide you back on the right path.
“Is Elena… dead?”
The sin of attempting to balance me on a human scale is as deep as the abyss. The Lord shows kindness to children, but even that has its limit. You are punished. What path will you choose?
“We shall kneel before the Lord.”
“Please excuse us before the Lord~”
The angel didn’t appear to be in the best shape. Her wings were tattered and dripping with golden blood, and one eye looked crushed. As I glanced at her feet, I noticed several toes had conveniently vanished.
It was genuinely remarkable. What could this ‘Justice’ force be that could bring such a surreal existence near its breaking point?
Of course, that was a discussion for later, outside when we could breathe freely again. Even if this angel had sustained three times her injuries and lost both arms, I had a nasty feeling she could still defeat us with just a flick of her finger.
Now was the time for humility. We should leave here, become stronger, and settle the score later on.
Ah, how tragic. This land echoes with screams. More than thirty faithful souls have breathed their last here today. O Lord, your young daughter Aurelia pleads for you. Allow another chance for your faithful believers.
The angel bowed her head towards the sky, praying earnestly.
And then, a miracle unfolded.
The exploded bodies of the heretics that Elena had dispatched began to rise from nothingness. Breath returned to the lifeless, and the wounds began to heal.
This was… genuinely some overwhelmingly absurd power, right? To resurrect dozens of people with a single prayer? Was there truly any doubt that this was not a god or angel?
It’s not that I suddenly felt like worshiping; it was just the realization that we really had to defeat beings like this at some point—it was unsettling.
*
As heavenly light poured down, the angel turned to regard us.
Ahh—
The hymn bloomed anew in my mind. I could instinctively tell that this was a power that transcended the limits of the Status Window’s filter.
Did she think stronger mental control was necessary upon witnessing our calm demeanor? My consciousness began to drift as I levitated above my body.
I saw myself kneeling before the daughter of a great being.
???
I… I saw it.
I could see myself kneeling before her.
What was happening? It felt as if I were playing a third-person game, observing my own self.
Was this some sort of astral projection?
*
The police finally arrived. Absurdly enough, the ones dealing with the surreal incident of the night were the police.
Who called them?
Though it was uncertain, the police methodically collected the dead from the traffic accident; Kim Mooksung, Lee Eunsol, and Elena’s bodies. They began questioning the resurrected heretics about what occurred. Under the guise of protecting the ‘shocked students,’ the heretics stuffed us into a police car, keeping a tight watch as they escorted us back to the dormitory.
And I—watching it all unfold while feeling completely out of body, as if it was happening in another world. I clearly experienced “myself” being outside my body, yet still, my body moved as instructed by the heretics.
So they really did spare us.
To be honest, I wondered if bowing my head would truly be enough for their mercy, yet miraculously, it worked. It was a far cry from when they swiftly shot the teachers trying to flee. They didn’t even yell at us; instead, they recited passages from some odd scripture, as if to guide us back to a righteous path.
Did they think everything was fine now that the angel had drawn back her mental grip?
It seemed that the phrase they uttered about the Lord being gentle with kids wasn’t just empty words. Children like us apparently wouldn’t be punished unless we committed serious sins, like Elena tearing the wings off an angel. Maybe that was part of their doctrine.
Whatever the reason, the key detail was that Ahri and I managed to survive until the end, and I was still witnessing everything while floating in the air.
At this point, it clicked.
The contingency in case the angel won!
There must have been a special effect tied to the blood Ahri gave me. Waiting just a bit longer would clarify its true impact, so I decided to focus for now.
I mused on the clear operational principles of this religious group we observed today, matched by the arrival of the police, which solidified my hypothesis.
Tomorrow night, we will escape for sure!
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