Chapter 690 – Room 301, The Cursed Room – ‘The Origin of Species’ (28)
—
– Observatory
“Guys, over the past few months – no, even years, have any of you seen the other two brothers, even once?”
The moment S’s words sprang forth, Eunsol froze like a statue.
The halted time felt as short as a few seconds.
However, Kain instinctively knew that Eunsol was currently experiencing ‘a very long vision.’
Having had a similar experience in the past, Kain could guess the situation.
Unfortunately, Kain had no way of seeing that vision himself.
The observatory’s telescope didn’t exactly have a feature for peering into someone’s heart.
As Eunsol reflected on the past, Kain found this scenario incredibly ironic.
When they first arrived at S’s mansion, it seemed like Eunsol made her very first wish.
Moreover, at the point of Room 301, the prisoner had blatantly led Eunsol to S’s mansion.
“So, S was the minion of the King of Is?”
Such was the response from Sanghyun after a quick explanation.
This analysis somewhat made sense, but Kain couldn’t help but ponder something a bit more bittersweet.
“I think he genuinely believes he’s saving people he’s close to.”
“Oh no! He’s a mere pawn who doesn’t even realize what he’s doing?!”
A cruel thought flashed through Kain’s mind.
Eunsol recalled her memory of Chairman Lee Seok-hwan.
After realizing the true identity of his ‘wife,’ the chairman seemed shocked and sought out S to erase his memory.
Thanks to that, the chairman lost his despairing memories and gained freedom…
But in reality, wasn’t S exposed to the chairman’s memories and caught in the prisoner’s grasp?
The timeline didn’t quite match up, but roughly, it seemed to unfold like that.
Anyway, it was a meaningless story now.
“… I’ll refocus on the observation.”
*
– Lee Eunsol
…
The shock-filled recollection about the very first wish was drawing to a close.
Naturally, Eunsol’s consciousness began to awaken once more.
It felt as though she might be overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the information, but she resolved to understand the situation.
First, the reason why her eldest brother and youngest sibling didn’t exist.
They were sacrificed in their mother’s experimental process to artificially create participants.
Second, the reality of her mother.
Not human. Beyond monstrous, she was a cosmic evil deity, the very essence of the ‘King of Is’ standing at the center of Room 301!
Third, the timing of when the wish was made seemed different from when she entered the hotel.
Based on circumstances, the time of her wish was during her mid to late teens.
In contrast, her entry into the hotel was after crossing thirty.
This wasn’t particularly strange. Think of Kain’s case.
He made his wish during the first life known as ‘Aleph,’ but his entry into the hotel came after repeating countless loops.
It seemed that the first wish and hotel entry were separate processes.
Why was that?
A reason naturally surfaced in her mind.
Consider what ‘Lee Eunsol’ was according to the hotel.
A background of ‘wealthy origins.’
A nature described as ‘greedy.’
Both had a high potential for conflict with others.
So her mind was perhaps brought to maturity – in other words, it was deemed better to bring her in after she’d turned thirty.
Of course, this was ultimately just speculation.
The truth was known only to the hotel, along with no one else, including her mother!
As she delved into these thoughts, the ‘child version of me’ fading from her recollection raced towards her mother.
Naturally, there was no explosive twist like the past me taking down a prisoner with a single punch.
Just because the past me made that first wish didn’t mean I could suddenly achieve enlightenment and trigger a big bang or something.
The mother effortlessly subdued her past self without lifting a finger.
However, she couldn’t conceal her astonishment.
Compared to her sonorous cosmic evil form, her past self was utterly insignificant.
It seemed that she didn’t expect her small, innocent being to dare to show its teeth.
The surprise was accompanied by an expectation.
If this daughter is like this, if this creation is like this, then perhaps this tool might be chosen by the Buddha.
Incredibly, the past self that had fallen through the curtain did not disappear.
Instead, in a peculiar sensation, where an unknown harmony stroked her feelings, she slowly closed her eyes.
Watching this scene, her mother caressed her affectionately…
Suddenly, shifting her gaze to ‘me,’ she spoke!
“Have you realized now?”
*
— Paaah!
The vision shattered, and my consciousness returned anew to reality.
“Have you realized now?”
The voice I had just heard resonated again.
It was as if the past recollection and the present were woven into a single flow.
The only person standing unharmed was me alone.
Just moments ago, S, who had been warning of the disappearance of my eldest brother and younger sister, lay unconscious on the floor, and my foolish little brother had also fainted.
“…”
In that moment, what crossed my mind, now aware of many secrets in Room 301, was a sense of ‘absurdity.’
Was the secret of my birth incredibly grand? Okay.
I had never doubted that my mother was a prisoner. Okay.
The torturous deaths of my brothers and sister? Okay.
My father, and my life, having been toyed with by that devil? Okay.
I understood it all.
Got it, and though I was amazed by my mother’s intricate design and felt a lot of anger.
But I could endure it.
I could suppress my emotions and assess rationally.
If I were still a teenager, it might have been hard to bear, but I’m a grown-up who has seen it all now!
But one thing I genuinely couldn’t accept.
“… There’s a prisoner freely acting right next to me from the get-go.”
Hotel! What on earth do you expect me to do with this?!
At a loss for words in just how absurd this was, my mother smiled sweetly and extended her hand.
“Eunsol, don’t you have anything?”
“…”
“When you were young, you rushed at me barehanded, yet now you’re not even trying…”
Back then, I was practically on the brink of hopelessness!
Who knows?
Having a right next to me who’s free from the start totally throws me off regarding how to proceed in this damned room!
At the same time, I had this thought as well.
“… You must have.”
“Hmm?”
“You definitely have a weakness.”
“Really?”
“There can’t be none. This is the hotel. There must be a weakness, a fatal one. If I can exploit that, you won’t be able to move.”
My mother answered with an easy smile.
“However, it seems you haven’t found it yet.”
She didn’t deny the existence of a weakness.
But her nonchalant attitude suggested it didn’t mean anything since it hadn’t been discovered yet.
Despair overwhelmed me with the realization that I had no allies here…
But soon, I felt a sense of relief in being alone in this situation.
After all, it wouldn’t matter even if anyone else was here.
As her hand approached leisurely, I saw.
The surroundings were practically her territory, and without her permission, I couldn’t even breathe.
“The time is short, so let’s get started. It’s a moment I’ve been waiting for a very long time.”
— Swaaa…!
In my heart, from the depths of my soul, I felt an obscure will awakening.
A dizzying sensation that felt like everything about to fragment!
Unknowingly, I kept retreating and summoned the flute, playing it desperately…
Yet my mother merely gazed at me with a compassionate smile.
“Is that the legacy you’ve inherited? It’s a treasure worth a thousand times more than this stone on the ground.”
“Ugh…!”
“Why? Is the flute not working right?”
It should have been the destined item that came to me in response to my wish!
‘May my loved ones and I never again be toyed with by demons,’ that should’ve been the treasure to realize my wish!
But the flute couldn’t use any of its powers.
If only I didn’t know the reason, I might have grumbled about the hotel again, but knowing why made it all the more despairing.
It felt similar to the tale I stumbled upon while climbing Seoraksan about ‘system recovery.’
When a computer – or even a person – breaks down for complex reasons, reverting back to a previous state is the solution.
Such responses can solve nearly every issue, but there is one clear weakness.
If you can’t pinpoint the ‘pristine time’ itself, there’s no way to revert.
Just like me right now!
I, Lee Eunsol, was crafted from the moment I was born through intricate planning.
There’s never been an instance since my birth where I’ve been in an ‘intact state.’
No, to the resting flute, my current state might be the very pristine state.
“Ah…”
This is the moment when all those long-standing designs operate intricately.
Within me, a voice of unknown origin awakens!
…
I felt a loss that felt like my soul was melting away while desperately crying out.
“Mother… Mother…! Just one thing, only one thing I want to ask.”
For a moment, the pain stagnated.
Not a pause, but a postponement – her last mercy.
The elegantly smiling woman gazed at me as if allowing the final wish of a successful daughter – or a successful ‘creation.’
Forcing my lips, which had become like stone, to move, I shouted.
“What is your purpose?”
Why did you create me exactly?
What on earth are you really trying to accomplish by stepping into this cursed room?
Now you even plan to invade my body – what’s your endgame here?
How does consuming me and driving the hotel party to ruin serve your purpose?
…
In that instant, my mother looked up at the sky with a truly complex expression.
As if gazing at something other than me.
“… Those with power lack qualifications, and those with qualifications lack power. I sought to overcome that contradiction.”
“Huh?”
“Just once would be enough. I would gladly be turned to dust for that. I could endure even falling into the eternal abyss of hell.”
“What the—”
“So, just once, please…!”
For the first time, I felt the most ‘human’ emotion from her.
At least at this moment, it felt like the mask of elegance was peeled away.
“I will bear witness to the one who cries out for the Three Thousand Worlds. I will speak before him. Heaven…!”
As consciousness crumbled to dust in that moment.
I understood my mother’s purpose.
Those with power lack qualifications, and those with qualifications lack power.
She aimed to overcome that contradiction.
My mother was…
To unite the qualifications of the participants and the strength of the prisoners!
This was my last memory from the second attempt.
— Goooon…!
—
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