Chapter 562 – The World I Can’t Remember (1)
—
– Lee Eunsol
I’ve been losing sleep for the past few nights.
The aftershock of my impromptu wish from another realm, “Please let Hotel Delight become Korea’s number one hotel!” is scaring the life out of me!
What on earth does that wish even imply?
Are they going to cause an earthquake at one of the so-called top three hotels?
What if it results in thousands of people dying? Would that be my fault?
Yikes!
What if the Administration Bureau gets furious and sends out a hit on the “Mass Murderer Lee Eunsol”? Shouldn’t I just meekly present my neck and say, “Go ahead, take me out!”?
“Director, you’ve been looking rather glum lately. I think you should visit a hospital.”
How bad must my expression be if even my secretary is telling me this?
“… I’m fine.”
I was still okay.
Because nothing had happened yet.
“… ”
I mean, I should be fine, right?
It’s normal for nothing to happen after I made a wish, right?
Shouldn’t the stock prices at least be rising for some silly reason?
It can’t be possible that nothing is going on.
There must be something happening that would significantly elevate Hotel Delight’s rank in Korea!
I just didn’t know about it.
So, while I spent my days awake with anxiety, one morning, I arrived at the office early only to find a stranger waiting for me.
“Lee Eunsol, participant. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I’m here from the Korean branch of the Administration Bureau.”
They sent someone from the Administration Bureau.
And surprisingly, I wasn’t startled.
Given that they knew I was a participant and that an unidentified entity had shown up, this additional encounter was somewhat expected.
“I didn’t think you’d show up at my office like this.”
“I apologize. With my line of work, it’s better to stay under the radar of the public.”
“Are you an agent?”
“No, not quite. To put it simply, I’m a high-security staff member.”
His polite demeanor was oddly unsettling.
Of course, if he had threatened me like that previous guy, I’d be even more annoyed.
“Participant Lee Eunsol, Director Park Hyun-min wishes to see you. Shall we head out immediately?”
He outright calls me a participant. It gives off a vibe like, “We know everything about you,” and frankly, it’s discomforting.
“…”
I thought it over, but the conclusion was already drawn.
If I were wandering aimlessly in this world, it might be one thing. But since I’m running a business, avoiding them altogether isn’t exactly wise.
After demonstrating during the clash from the other world that “I’m not someone to be trifled with,” I assumed they wouldn’t cross the line so easily.
“Let’s go.”
*
The man waiting for me was middle-aged, wore glasses, and had the weariness of countless bureaucratic meetings written all over him.
That was my first impression of Park Hyun-min, the head of the Administration Bureau’s Korean branch.
At first glance, he looked just like any ordinary person outside.
After all, having someone as conspicuously strange as Ahri working undercover makes him seem rather ordinary.
“Participant Lee Eunsol, I’ve heard about our ‘unavoidable contact’ recently. How unfortunate.”
“Unavoidable contact.”
Is he referring to the clash that happened in the other world?
“Isn’t ‘how unfortunate’ a bit insufficient? It seemed like you wanted to brainwash me.”
“Brainwash? Ah, so you think of the Oath Scroll as that kind of thing?”
“The Oath Scroll.”
Based on the context, that must be the scroll summoned by that previous participant I encountered.
It has a name that straightforwardly conveys its purpose.
“If I write a contract on that scroll, it can never be broken? Is that the idea?”
“Exactly. You’ve caught on quickly, as expected of a hotel escapee.”
“But that can’t be everything.”
“…”
“Doesn’t it have some secret capability? Like the owner can break the contract without penalty?”
“Nothing to discover there. I don’t know myself. You’re welcome to use any truth detection method you have.”
He seemed ready to consider all sorts of supernatural powers.
“Can I use it?”
“If you do, it might make me trust you, even if just a little. Go ahead.”
— Click!
The ‘Dream Butterfly’ opened, and a butterfly gently fluttered and landed on the head of the Korean bureau chief.
A power to detect the truth?
Honestly, that’s something Elena possesses, not me.
But it should make my opponent a bit nervous to have a mystical butterfly hovering around, right?
“Just bluffing, huh? Don’t have a truth detection capability?”
“… ”
Caught immediately!
“Feel free to bring along a colleague with related abilities. I’d like to have at least some trust during this conversation.”
What’s his intention here?
Is he trying to sniff out hidden allies? That seems a bit too direct—
“I don’t have any hidden intentions. If you want, I can have Agent Kim Ahri sit in as well.”
“…”
I hadn’t said a word, yet he seemed to read my thoughts entirely.
For a moment, I almost doubted this guy had telepathy.
“If you’re suspicious that I’m reading your mind, that’s just an illusion. I have no need for that.”
“… What do you mean?”
“It’s not our first time dealing with hotel escapees. Well, it might be my first, but not for the organization.”
Experience built up at an organizational level?
Still, I felt uneasy as if I were caught in a psychological game.
“I’ll cut straight to the point. Lee Eunsol, would you consider joining the Administration Bureau?”
“Let’s be straightforward. I’m open to a necessary level of cooperation, but beyond that, I have no intentions—”
“Here, I present to you this agent ID.”
What’s this?
Wait, when did they make an ID with my photo on it?
“Hey, did you not hear what I just said?”
“You said you would cooperate at a necessary level, didn’t you?”
“What does being an agent and pledging loyalty to the Administration Bureau have to do with that?”
“You have some misunderstandings about agents.”
“What?”
“Agents aren’t loyal to the Administration Bureau. They simply make use of it.”
“What the—”
“Consider it. Those who regard the complete destruction of the world as simply a ‘long sleep’ are those chosen beings; their very existence is a miracle.”
“…”
“They’re little kings boasting of their inflated egos. What loyalty could kings possibly hold in their hearts?”
In that moment, I was momentarily speechless.
If I wasn’t mistaken, this guy, Park Hyun-min, the head of the Administration Bureau’s Korean branch, seemed to harbor some jealousy towards agents.
Comparing agents to little kings seemed to reflect Park Hyun-min’s personal opinions.
Would Ahri have a completely different story to tell?
In any case, I understood at this moment.
While Park Hyun-min’s jealousy is real, revealing it to me is also part of his strategy.
“I have no intention of demanding loyalty.”
“…”
“I want you to use us. Just as your predecessors did, like the other agents, utilize the Administration Bureau.”
“…”
“My hand is starting to ache. Is this small badge so frightening?”
— Tap!
The ‘Agent Lee Eunsol’ badge found its way into my hand.
“Can I ask one question?”
“If it’s something I know, go ahead.”
“A few days ago, I met that person, a previous participant.”
“Unfortunately, it seems you might have more questions than answers. Still, go ahead and ask.”
“There are many previous participants, right? Several of whom must be in leadership positions within the Administration Bureau.”
“True.”
“That person tried to overpower me and failed to put me in chains.”
“How unfortunate.”
“Now, you’re in a position where you seek cooperation from me without any controlling means…”
“And?”
“Can you trust me?”
This was what I was curious about.
“An easy question. If you, someone untrustworthy, betray us, that would also be important information.”
“Excuse me?”
“The next time we come to this world, we won’t repeat the same mistakes. So, remember this, Lee Eunsol. You’re no longer a mortal, and neither are we.”
That conversation weighed heavily on me.
As I was about to part ways after discussing future contact, I nervously asked.
“One more question, if I may.”
“Ask.”
“What needs to happen for Hotel Delight to suddenly become the number one in the industry?”
“…”
For the first time, I saw the Korean bureau chief’s composed expression falter with confusion.
I didn’t resolve my curiosity, but it was certainly entertaining.
*
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 35
Current Location: Jongno-gu, Sajik-dong, Seoul
Sage’s Advice: 3
– Han Kain
I took a sip of Americano and started thinking.
The events have already unfolded.
I’ve escaped from reality.
Chaos has erupted around various colleagues, likely due to the scheme of previous participants who seek to find and test us.
The hotel merchant had foreseen this and instructed us to “act like normal people.”
A few were caught in this process, but thankfully, I haven’t been detected yet thanks to the content of my wish.
What’s going to happen next?
Considering the merchant’s advice, it seems something significant is bound to happen in six months or a year.
Afterward, I wouldn’t need to try to hide myself like this anymore.
Also, there’s a light that can bring about an end at an unspecified point in time, and Ahri and Grandpa’s goal is to stop this.
Could this phenomenon’s cause be the same as in Room 207? I can’t be sure just yet.
So, what should I do now?
“… ”
Should I just close my eyes and cover my ears like a normal person for five months?
That seems more difficult than I imagined.
How easy can it be to lounge around knowing that something terrible might happen?
Yet, darting around recklessly feels off, as if the previous participants lurking somewhere might try to use me for their schemes.
“Geez, these guys are unbelievable.”
That’s when a voice responded immediately.
“Who are you talking about?”
It was Grandpa Mooksung.
After forcibly ending Ahri’s contact a few days ago, she had relayed an interesting tale through Eunsol.
“If the Administration Bureau is keeping an eye on me and doesn’t want to contact me, fine. But instead, you can reach out to Mooksung. He’s no longer an agent of the Administration Bureau.”
Grandpa said he retired from the agency.
Thanks to my wish, all information the Bureau had on him was erased, making him a colleague who enjoys as much freedom as I do.
“Those previous participants! Think about it. Is it possible for a normal human being to escape from a place like a hotel? You can bet those guys that are practically human debris saved themselves and fled….”
“Gah! Just hearing you say that makes me sigh involuntarily!”
“Why?”
“Wouldn’t they be thinking the same about us?”
“… ”
There can’t be trust, but calling these previous participants outright enemies seems a bit suspect.
Eventually, it looks like I’ll need to break this ambiguous deadlock and establish relations somehow.
“So, are you saying this, Kain? You’re scared that if you act actively, you might fall into the ominous schemes of the previous participants, yet if you stay still, you fear the light that calls forth the impending doom?”
“Exactly.”
“You’re trapped in this dilemma where both acting and inaction feels perilous.”
“Precisely.”
“What does the sage advise?”
“It’s not proving to be all that helpful. It seems at least one of those previous participants possesses ‘wisdom.’”
Thanks to that, every plausible question receives a warning for ‘rule violation.’
“Hmmm….”
After a brief silence, Grandpa offered his thoughts.
“You should come with me on a journey.”
“Excuse me? Out of the blue –?”
“You know the concerns you have, especially about the Administration Bureau’s surveillance and schemes. I understand that better than you do. Got it?”
“I guess so.”
No matter how insightful I may be, someone with experience working within the Bureau would understand it even more.
“Just trust me this time. I’ve got a good idea.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s gather information outside the realm of the Administration Bureau.”
“Outside the Bureau’s domain.”
“Is there such a place?”
“It’s not an ordinary world.”
“Pardon?”
“Right, you’ve been in the exorcist line of work for a few weeks now, haven’t you? That’s good.”
*
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