### Chapter 472 – Room 206, The Cursed Room – ‘Demon King Revives After 100 Days’ Re (31)
—
– Han Kain
The moment the ultimate being dove into the Sacred Sun, I felt an absurd spiritual mass.
“What the heck! How many souls is this?”
I’ve had my fair share of experience stuffing 100,000 souls into the sun, but the spiritual mass he pushed in while merging with it was shockingly enormous.
Really, just how many? Not just ‘a mere’ 100,000, right?
A million? Ten million? Or even more?
It was such an absurdly large number that I couldn’t even fathom it.
“… What’s this? A bit strange—”
This is weird.
The ultimate being’s ‘merging’ subtly diverged from the soul devouring I’ve been doing with the Sacred Sun.
If I had time, I would have checked what kind of trick this ultimate being was up to—but,
No time to think here!
— Krrrrrrr!
“Ugh! The Demon King is awakening!”
The underground city that had started crumbling in an instant, Ari was wobbling uneasily, losing balance.
I quickly moved to fly with Ari—
“M-Miro is still down on the floor!”
“…”
I used my avatar’s power to control Miro’s body and manipulated the city control device deep within.
Right now, Miro lay unconscious on the ground.
… There’s no time to spare.
“Let’s meet Miro outside. If our plan goes off without a hitch, we won’t need Miro anymore.”
“… Let’s go.”
We instantly took to the skies.
—
— Rumble!
All of humanity’s efforts to prevent the apocalypse were packed into the collapsing underground city.
Luckily or unluckily, the ceiling was also collapsing, so I didn’t have to make the way myself.
As I dodged the falling concrete chunks with acrobatic flying, I sensed that time was returning to normal.
The date change that had been speeding past every ten minutes had finally stopped.
This meant we had escaped the depths of Paradise.
— Gooooooo!
A nightmarish roar echoed from the abyss.
The Demon King was surely rising up towards the surface now.
I bit back the urge to look over my shoulder and kept flying.
Upward, higher, and higher!
As the crumbling scenery of Paradise came into view, Ari, flying nearby, approached.
“Is there, um, any other—gasp!—person visible?”
Her breathy words hinted that she was tired from testing the limits of her wing boots, so I briefly scanned around.
Finding our comrades wasn’t hard; they had all transformed into golden statues.
“There they are.”
“Gasp! Over there? Where? I can’t see with my eyes—”
— Snatch!
I quickly reached out and grabbed Ari before moving.
Just then, something resembling a writhing viscous liquid brushed past where we had been.
“Uh, uh—”
The Demon King was starting to seriously affect the ground.
Nowhere is safe anymore.
“We need to go higher. From now on, hold my hand.”
Upward we must go.
We were escaping not only the depths but aiming beyond the Earth itself!
Soaring even higher, I found myself caught in an unavoidable dilemma.
What’s the plan we’ve set for our fourth attempt?
Kill off humanity temporarily before the Demon King devours their souls, then resurrect them after it realizes there’s nothing left to eat.
This plan had way too many logical gaps.
My comrades had pointed out problems from various angles.
For instance, what about other cities beyond Paradise?
While they had restricted entries and cut off water, there’s no guarantee that’s wiped out all survivors.
What if the governing body over there hoarded the remaining water?
That’s an issue in itself.
Let’s say a fair number of survivors remain scattered across the planet; the Demon King would still find the ‘prey quite lacking,’ meaning it wouldn’t lead to total failure.
A tiger isn’t satisfied just because a few rabbits are still hopping around.
The real serious problem lies with the Demon King’s actions.
Would the Demon King actually leave just because Earth’s food supply ran out?
I can’t be certain about that.
… Are my comrades safe?
「Comrade Location Data(*)」
“They’re still alive.”
I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
Of course they’re alive since I’ve used the hourglass, right?
Not at all!
The hourglass creates an absolute inviolability of a week.
This is undoubtedly the ultimate wisdom, the miracle humanity can never reach.
Even as cosmic despair devours the surface and engulfs the earth, the magnificent Demon King cannot breach this little miracle filled with childlike faith!
Only the Demon King? That’s unlikely!
It’s the stage of Room 206 that’s causing the Demon King’s embarrassing predicament; it would be the same for any other prisoner.
The Head Director, Dragon of Nebula, Devourer, Lord, Eye of the Zero Dimension, Sea God, or even someone pitiful in Room 205.
No matter how grand a prisoner may be, they cannot pierce the hourglass’s inviolability.
How could such a thing be possible?
The answer is exceedingly simple.
This is not reality but a vast simulation, and the architects of this simulation bestowed that sort of power upon the hourglass.
No matter how powerful the god in the simulation is, they can’t breach the developer tools.
Let’s not forget.
As evidenced by that crazy tool called the hourglass, the Cursed Room is not reality but a sort of advanced exam question devised by the hotel.
What matters is the hotel’s evaluation.
To resolve the Cursed Room, we don’t need to find a ‘perfect answer.’
In fact, it’s impossible to find one, nor have we ever come up with such answers before.
Looking back, even the answers we found in other rooms were vague or shrouded in future anxieties.
Naturally, how could mortal beings with a sprinkle of powers perfectly stave off an apocalypse after deliberating for just a few weeks or months?
Wouldn’t that mean the natives of that world were total dimwits?
“…”
It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should at least be plausible.
It could have loopholes but should convey a sense of direction, or at least be considered reasonable at our level.
Are we writing some plausible answers on the exam paper?
“Gasp! K-Kain…”
Ari’s breathless voice caught my attention.
She had seemed to struggle since a while ago, and it looked like she was just about at her limit now.
“I…I think I’m at my limit.”
Sorry to say, but at this point, I really didn’t think Ari’d be much help.
Neither would anyone else, for that matter.
“Just hold on a little longer, just a bit more.”
Still, I suppose it’s better to have two rather than one.
— Raaaaa!
The Earth was no longer a domain for humans.
An unfathomable radiance and waves of impulse engulfed the entirety of the stars.
The mad creator, a famished beast, rose up.
“Ari, I’m going to carry you now, so close your eyes.”
If she sees that with her naked eyes in her weakened state, she might drop dead on the spot.
I soared even higher.
Beyond the depths, beyond Paradise, beyond the sky—
「Comrade Location Data(*)」
“Kim Ari: Outer Space”
“Ah.”
The location changed to ‘Outer Space.’
So, I arrived in outer space flying without clothes.
“…”
In that moment, I forgot everything.
The agony endured in the hotel, the longing for family, the musings over the grimoire and Sacred Sun, what the heck to do about Room 206? What about the Demon King—
The convoluted thoughts from just moments ago evaporated in an instant.
“A-Ari! We, we made it to outer space! I got here, bare-bodied, to outer space!”
Sadly, Ari had long since fainted from oxygen deprivation and couldn’t share this exhilarating moment.
“A, a, a…”
From the highest point on Earth, I gazed down at the stars.
Though the state of those stars was far from the Earth I knew, the fact that I arrived in outer space remained unchanged.
At this moment, I truly knew I had attained a ‘great state’—arriving in outer space in my birthday suit!
Even the despair the Demon King hands out couldn’t rob me of the indescribable omnipotence flooding over my soul.
Tears streamed down my face without my knowing.
And then, from the universe, I heard a voice.
“I’m envious.”
“… You.”
“I can feel your current emotions.”
“…”
“I’m truly envious. What does it feel like?”
“…”
“As far as I know, no human has ever reached this realm. No, the term ‘human’ feels awkward for you now.”
“…”
“You are a Taoist immortal, a Buddhist Bodhisattva, and a Christian angel.”
How ridiculous, the moment I realized the ultimate being revealed its final card, my emotional high faded back to reality.
“I knew you were up to something, but are you actually going to spill it now?”
“Haha! Up to something, you say?”
Although it claimed that, I really didn’t feel like it might try to harm me.
I didn’t trust the ultimate being, but I did trust the Owl that recommended I accept its offer.
Still, I was curious.
What exactly was the scheme behind this scenario?
“Wow, the view is splendid. Let’s gaze down at Earth. Oh look, there’s the Demon King.”
“…”
“Do you know what the Demon King is pondering over?”
“The Demon King’s dilemma, huh.”
I gazed down at the Demon King, like a wave of insatiable hunger.
Once, it definitely showed an intellectual side, communicating with followers.
“…”
Character, rationality, intelligence.
In short, all those traits cloaked in the word ‘rationality’ began to peel away from the Demon King.
In that void, endless emptiness and hunger filled the space.
“What do you see?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Anything else?”
“Simply hunger and emptiness. That’s all.”
“Right now, my god has shed the mask to seduce humans and returned to the primeval state.”
“…”
The primeval state that the ultimate being was describing.
In fact, I too had seen that form when I faced the Demon King using the Deicide in my first cycle.
“What should you do now?”
The ultimate being spoke as if it had pierced through everything.
“You didn’t imagine such things until we mentioned it, did you?”
“I admit that.”
“Then why act so knowledgeable now?”
“Haha! It’s said empty carts make the most noise, you know? You see, I had plenty of insights about the Demon King but hadn’t thought from a ‘completely different perspective’ like yours.”
“…”
“Seeing through your perspective, I realized something—”
“Ah. You didn’t—”
The realization struck me in an instant.
According to the Owl’s advice, this guy’s purpose was also ultimately survival and salvation.
And yet again, the essence of the Demon King hit me.
Now I knew what was about to unfold!
I knew how to conclude the imperfect plan!
— Whoosh!
It ignites.
The souls unified with the Sacred Sun shone brilliantly as they filled that gaping void of the universe!
At that moment, the Demon King’s gaze turned towards space.
At the very end of that dreadful gaze, there I was.
The perfect feast of 18 million souls gathered was now within sight for this endlessly ravenous beast!
“Damn—”
“Aaah… O great Bodhisattva, please, may you be the salvation of all—”
“Shut your mouth, you bastard!”
— Krrruuuuuh!
Finally, the Demon King rose from Earth and soared towards space.
Specifically, it was heading for me!
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