Chapter: 646 – The First Wish (2)
—
– Kim Ahri
—
A mysterious train of unknown identity.
— Clang! Clang!
Where is this place?
It’s a location lingering in the hazy memories of the past.
— Bwooo!
A resounding horn echoes from afar.
As I sit in a plush chair and gaze out the window, an involuntary admiration escapes me.
In my not-so-short life, I’ve ridden countless trains and seen many beautiful landscapes, but…
Even for me, the view outside right now is truly astonishing.
Who in the world gets to ride a train that endlessly crosses the Milky Way?
“…”
I gather my thoughts and try to clear my fuzzy consciousness.
First, not long ago, I was at the Delight Hotel, taking the elevator to the Pioneer’s Third Floor.
Next? I remember someone pressing the 〚3rd Floor: Heaven〛 button, but after that, everything gets hazy.
I must have lost consciousness shortly after pressing the button…
Secondly, this place—the train running through the Milky Way—I’ve ridden it once before. What specifically happened back then?
Suddenly, the air ripples, and Kain and Mooksung appear.
“Ahri! There you are!”
“How did you—oh, Dream Kingdom?”
“Exactly.”
I always feel that the Dream Kingdom is an incredibly useful tool.
*
“Did you understand?”
“Yeah.”
After listening to Kain’s explanation for a few minutes, I grasp the situation.
“The outside world is already the Third Floor, and besides you and Mooksung, everyone else is dreaming.”
“Right.”
“According to the Manager’s hint, the reason for the dreaming is to realize each person’s wish?”
“Probably.”
“So this place is connected to my First Wish.”
“Did you realize something?”
Kain and Mooksung’s eyes turned to me simultaneously, but I couldn’t provide a satisfying answer.
“… It’s strange.”
“What’s strange?”
It was when I heard the previous Wisdom speak about the First Wish.
During our conversation, I suddenly had a vague realization of what my First Wish was.
*
What wish did I make?
If I think normally, it would be the revival of the Labyrinth or stability in the world, right?
Then, a thought crossed my mind.
Sure, I wished for those things, but there was also something else.
A somewhat personal wish.
Not for the world or the Labyrinth, but something for ‘myself.’
It feels like there was a moment I forgot even about myself.
*
“If the question is whether I realized what my wish was, I originally knew.”
“…”
“It naturally dawned on me at some point.”
After all, it’s my memory, right?
Even if I forgot, I could recollect it with the right trigger.
After a brief silence, Kain and Mooksung’s gazes were fixed on me.
“Why? Are you curious about what my wish is?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s nothing spectacular. It’s not about world peace or anything, just a slightly personal desire.”
“A personal desire?”
“I’ve seen and experienced the world’s mysteries countless times while working as an agent. At some point in that process, I started thinking. I want to uncover the mysteries of everything.”
At that moment, Kain’s eyes sharpened noticeably.
“That statement can also express wanting to know the mysteries of all things.”
My First Wish – I want to know the secrets of everything.
“What’s the difference?”
“I rephrased it by including the word secret.”
Secrets seem to indicate my blessings.
“Is there a connection between each person’s wish and their blessing?”
“That’s my guess. I need to check other people’s wishes too.”
— Clang!
Just then, Mooksung asked in response to the noise made by the train.
“Ahri, you said you already knew what your wish was?”
“Maybe…”
“Then why is the hotel showing you this memory?”
The question of why the hotel shows me this memory after realizing my wish.
The answer came to me quickly.
“It seems what the hotel calls ‘wish realization’ is a complex concept.”
“A complex concept?”
Kain provided the next answer.
“Simply knowing what you wish for isn’t enough. It seems they want you to understand the background from which the wish originated.”
“…”
“For example, when I say, ‘I wanted to become a god,’ knowing those seven letters doesn’t equate to wish realization. I have to understand all the experiences Aleph went through.”
“What does that mean?”
“To understand your wish, you must also understand this train. Where are we?”
“A train running through the Milky Way.”
“What does that even mean? I’ve never heard of it before.”
“… It’s not the first time. You probably saw it once before.”
“What?”
The faint remembrance of the hotel flashed in my mind. Room 107, the fourth trial of the Door Room – the secret of the Esper.
“It must be from the fourth trial of Room 107.”
“The secret of the Esper?”
“Back then, I was like, ‘Oh, that happened?’”
“Hmm… I don’t remember.”
“Oh, were you fainted then?”
Mooksung frowned as he said.
“A train running through the Milky Way. I feel like I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s a pretty famous phenomenon.”
At that, Kain smirked.
“It’s really odd that there’s a note saying ‘famous’ attached to a phenomenon. It’s like a combination of a famous secret organization or something. Anyway, so what does this train do? Ahri, you look like you’ve been here before.”
“… It periodically appears around Earth. It usually takes the form of existing trains or subways.”
“Does it kidnap people who thought it was an ordinary train they got on?”
“Exactly. And then it disappears suddenly. After this happens a few times, we narrowed down the places where the Milky Way train could appear and sent in agents.”
“Was that you? What happened next?”
“… I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I mostly forgot my memories on the train.”
“Did you have some sort of memory-erasing treatment from the Administration Bureau?”
“No. I was already in a forgotten state when I came out of the train.”
“Hmm… Don’t you have anything faintly memorable?”
“I fought against something unidentified?”
“…”
— Clang!
After Mooksung’s words about fighting, the sound of ‘clang!’ echoed, making Kain glance around with a meaningful expression.
However, nothing particularly jumped out, only the noise was heard.
“It seems they’re not going to tell us the next scene.”
“That’s hotel style. At first, they give you a hint, and for the detailed part, you have to figure it out yourself.”
“… So a secret related to the train is hidden in one of the Curse Rooms on the Third Floor?”
“Probably…”
“Let’s move on to the next person’s dream.”
*
The next person was Cha Jinchul.
“What’s up? How did you guys—oh, you drew something?”
Cha Jinchul, like me, was in a conscious state, but his expression wasn’t very bright.
“Yeah. Hyung, where is this? Is that a gym?”
“… As you know, I used to be a mixed martial artist. I’ve had a few real matches.”
“…”
“This memory… I think it’s from when I had that four consecutive losses.”
“I see.”
The clouds overhead seemed to mirror Cha Jinchul’s mood.
Though it was a past event, he probably still felt some bitterness about it.
As Kain explained the current situation, Cha Jinchul nodded shortly afterward.
“So, am I seeing a memory related to my First Wish?”
“Exactly.”
“I feel like I understand something.”
Unlike me, it seemed he didn’t have the feeling that he knew it from the beginning but rather realized it now.
“Wanting to succeed, wanting to grow. Would that be it?”
“That flows naturally. To put it more convincingly…”
“A convincing expression?”
“The courage to overcome fear and move forward?”
Once again, Kain connected this interpretation with blessings, but Mooksung tilted his head.
“It’s just that Jinchul lost because he didn’t have the talent, so what’s this about overcoming fear?”
At those words, Cha Jinchul slightly frowned and replied.
“Listening to you, I feel like Kain has a point. During that time, I was indeed consumed by the thought, ‘I must win at any cost.’”
The phrase ‘at any cost’ made everyone flinch.
Of course, Cha Jinchul at that time wasn’t a hotel participant or bureau agent, so what he could do was predictable.
“Hyung, don’t you have any other memories?”
“Other memories?”
“Supernatural memories. Like a train appearing in the sky, a purple glow filling the arena, or tentacles in the mouth of the opposing fighter—”
“Stop, stop! That’s not it at all. Before coming to the hotel, I almost never experienced anything supernatural.”
“Really?”
“I’ve only seen chaotic disasters on the news. The most I did was get beaten up in a few matches and sulk while drinking soju.”
“Hmm…”
Is that really true?
It seems like Jinchul remembers that period of time as entirely ordinary, but there’s one question.
“It’s strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“Jinchul, you’ve been beaten up more than once or twice.”
“… That statement is a bit much.”
“Sorry.”
“You don’t look sorry at all.”
“You also must have had several moody days near the gym.”
“To be honest, that’s true. It’s probably over a hundred times.”
“Then why do you think the hotel is only showing this one ‘special day’ from those hundred gloomy days?”
“…”
Only then did Cha Jinchul start to frown and look around.
It seems he’s re-examining the ‘special day’ he couldn’t even realize was strange back then.
And then—
Suddenly, the dream reset, and the surroundings began to fade away.
“Whoa!”
“They’re blatantly hiding the next scene.”
The atmosphere seems to say, “This is all you get for now!” just like what I experienced earlier.
The next scene or information seems to suggest that we need to enter the Curse Room to discover it ourselves.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s move on to the next person.”
“Let’s head to Sanghyun’s dream right next to us.”
*
— Clang! Clang!
Kim Sanghyun’s dream was unfolding in a place I had experienced once before.
“Another train here?”
“Another? Was the last one a train too?”
“Oh, Ahri’s dream—”
As Jinchul and Mooksung talked, I frowned and looked at Kain.
“What’s up?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“I’m not sure.”
“… This was the place where time for choices began after Room 203.”
“Oh yeah?”
Since it was one of my most shocking experiences, I vividly remember it, but Kain seems to have forgotten everything as he got off the train.
“This is where Kim Sanghyun made his wish.”
Just then, Mooksung noticed something and exclaimed with interest.
“Wow! There’s Ahri over there! Oh, and Kain too, huh?”
As he said, there were reflections of my past self and Kain, while sitting across from me was Kim Sanghyun.
I naturally heard Kim Sanghyun’s voice.
“I have a wish.”
“…”
“Since entering the hotel, I’ve developed a wish even more desperate than escaping.”
After saying this much, Sanghyun stood up from his chair and walked over to us with an awkward smile.
“Do you remember what I said afterward?”
“Of course.”
After escaping Room 203, Sanghyun had expressed that he wished to rescue the people he had shared the room with in front of me.
“It seems this is your First Wish.”
“First Wish?”
Sanghyun tilted his head, and Kain filled him in on the current situation.
As he was speaking, Kain suddenly fell silent, sensing some curiosity.
“Kain?”
“Wait a minute.”
Soon, Sanghyun also seemed puzzled and frowned.
“Isn’t it strange?”
“What?”
“Kain, Mooksung, Ahri, Jinchul—all of you made your wishes before entering the hotel.”
“That’s obvious—wait?”
“Why is my wish only after entering the hotel? Didn’t I make a wish before coming in?”
Another strange point.
While other people’s wishes had something to connect with blessings, Sanghyun’s wish had no connection to ‘Diligence’ at all.
Wishing to rescue the people is a characteristic of a diligent king, right?
Honestly, that interpretation seems like a forced narrative.
At that moment!
— Splash!
With a clear sound of water, the surroundings instantly changed.
*
In an instant, a completely different landscape appeared.
The sky was full of a pale blue hue, and the ground was covered with ice and mist, seeming as hard as stone.
Also, what are those unidentified spires rising all around?
It looks just like some alien planet, leaving me speechless.
“Where on earth is this…?”
“It doesn’t seem like Earth, but it’s not hard to breathe.”
“Because it’s not real, it seems like an illusion?”
“…”
Kain silently pointed ahead.
“It’s Sanghyun.”
Just as Mooksung was about to walk towards Sanghyun, Kain quickly stopped him.
“Let’s observe for now.”
“What?”
“Unlike before, it seems he’s lost consciousness now. He’s deeply immersed in a dream.”
“Is that so? But why are two completely different dreams appearing for my older brother?”
“Because he’s experienced the hotel twice.”
“What?”
“His first hotel wasn’t the Pioneer.”
“…”
Is that wish empty before me, that his second wish was made at the Pioneer?
Was that his First Wish made at the Deep Sea Hotel?
— Gooo!
A massive sound echoed from the spire.
Also, the pleas of a man engulfed in fear and despair could be heard.
“Please… please… Father in Heaven! Anyone, whether it’s God or Allah, just rescue me… us…!”
What came next was substantially meaningful.
“Don’t make the tower humanity has built utterly worthless…”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.