Chapter 705 – Someone’s Rest, Someone’s Hardship (1)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 18
Current Location: Floor 3, Lobby
Sage’s Advice: 3
—
Han Kain
After overcoming the trials of Room 301, the hotel’s notification popped up:
Your adventures will soon be your reward!
“…”
Shouldn’t a boy manga protagonist be crying tears of joy by now?
— Tap tap!
Suddenly, a flustered colleague came running in. It was Seungyub, one of my safety nets still hanging in the celestial realm.
“Hyung! The notification just came in!”
“…”
“But isn’t this notification very different from usual? Adventures as a reward? Really?”
“Seungyub.”
“Yes?”
“The experiences we’ve had, the bonds we’ve built through challenges, and the growth we’ve achieved together—those are the real rewards.”
“… Is that so?”
“…”
“Ha, haha! I see now! You’re right, it really is about the adventure, the comrades, and our growth—”
At this moment, the only way to express my feelings was straightforward.
“Shut the hell up!”
“Hyung—”
“Hey! Don’t you dare mess with me! Are you joking? Should we go on strike?”
As I carefully shared my opinion with the hotel, trying to maintain some decorum—
— Wheeeng…!
The entire space trembled, and my vision blurred with peculiar mechanical sounds. Soon, an impenetrable darkness descended, making my heightened senses useless.
“Oof! What’s that noise?”
“…”
In the past, I wouldn’t have recognized it, but now I had a sinking feeling.
The celestial time axis was being separated from Room 301 again!
— Pahh!
As my sight brightened, familiar faces appeared.
“Uh? Did it just end?”
“Looks like it?”
“What? That earlier notification was real?”
Returning to the hotel didn’t bring joy; rather, there was a sense of confusion among my colleagues. They felt as lost as I did.
Something was off.
Let’s break it down one by one—the content of the hotel’s notification itself felt strange.
So…
“Didn’t the notification format seem a bit off?”
Elena’s exclaimed, and Grandpa nodded along.
“Right! Shouldn’t there be the usual distinctive phrase when the cursed room is resolved?”
While the hotel notifications are haphazard, they usually have specific formal phrases included in particular situations.
For instance, there’s always a line that states this when a cursed room is resolved:
“Final resolver confirmed among the comrades! Congratulations! All members return safely!”
In some cases, they also add:
“Decide who gets the treasure and what to receive yourselves.”
But none of that was there.
“Um… Why does everyone look like that? Was there something wrong with the notification?”
At her words, everyone’s gaze turned toward ‘Lee Eunsol.’
Since my sister was already dead when Room 301 was solved, she must’ve missed the notification.
In fact, many were worried about her resurrection.
According to our plan, she was supposed to die in the celestial realm – on the third floor of the hotel.
What happens if a participant dies when the cursed room is in progress?
Would she resurrect after escaping and resolving it, given she died during the cursed scenario?
Or can she not be resurrected because the death occurred in the cursed room?
There was no certainty.
This had never happened in similar situations on the first or second floors.
All we had was one remaining ticket, which made us suggest reviving her as a last resort.
Thankfully, she resurrected without any issues.
Isn’t the condition of revival upon resolution and escape somewhat a top priority?
That all seemed fine until…
“Ta-da~!”
Ari spun in and cheerfully announced, as if to say she had revived, not just Eunsol.
Normally, this would elicit some applause, but the vibe was a bit off.
“What? This kid also came back? Is it really over?”
Seungyub’s incredulous voice caught Ari off guard momentarily.
“… Is my being back that disappointing?”
“Huh? Uh…”
“Honestly, this stings a little—”
“Ah, no, Ari! That’s not—”
“Pfft!”
What a comic duo these two were!
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter, realizing our dead comrades’ resurrection confirmed that Room 301 indeed ended for good.
Finally, Grandpa voiced the thoughts lingering in everyone’s minds.
“Hey, hey! It’s great to have compliments thrown around, but what’s this all about at the end? What? Your adventures are your reward?”
In the chilly air, Sanghyun muttered.
“… It should be possible to enhance blessings at the Sanctum.”
“What about the inheritance! Hey! Where’d the hotel hide our inheritance?!”
“Technically, there weren’t any items that could be considered candidates for inheritance in Room 301, right?”
“Well, that’s…”
An astute observation.
I often thought about that while observing Room 301.
By the late stages of the cursed scenario, something should’ve popped up that made you think, ‘Ah, this is the inheritance!’
But there were no specific tools or abilities present in 301.
Sanghyun sighed and continued.
“It seems the third floor operates differently from the first and second floors.”
“….”
“There’s blessing enhancement, but no inheritance.”
And then, a moment of silence fell.
“….”
The hotel had hoped for us to be heroes or something.
But honestly, aren’t heroes those who do good without expecting a reward?
Plus, Room 301 was in essence a world where Eunsol and Songi had lived—that’s kind of like a home, isn’t it?
We were just solving issues in our own hometown, not demanding rewards from the hotel for it.
In fact, it might make more sense for us to thank the hotel for helping solve hometown issues.
Despite my efforts to calm my feelings, eventually Seungyub broke the silence.
“Something… feels off.”
“…”
“It’s like, in a game, enhancing blessings feels like leveling up! I’m level three, and Hyung is level four!”
“… So, what about the inheritance?”
“It’s the treasure chest! After defeating a boss, a treasure chest appears, and you should find items inside when you open it.”
“…”
“No treasure chest, just leveling up…”
Seungyub’s next words captured everyone’s unspoken feelings.
“Something feels off.”
And then everyone chimed in.
“Yeah, feeling off.”
“Feeling a bit disappointed.”
“You’re right.”
“Isn’t this a bit much?”
“Even if it’s not an inheritance, I wish they’d at least give us something small…”
As everyone felt more of a sense of loss toward the hotel than happiness over resolving the room…
The next notification popped up.
—
“Final resolver confirmed among the comrades! Congratulations! All members return safely!”
—
Before we could digest the content, chaos erupted!
“This is it!”
“Haha! I knew there was something more!”
“Wait, why are they sending notifications in separate batches this time?”
“Are they seriously messing with us?!”
“—
Room 301 has been purified. Starting tomorrow, the owner of wishes can freely descend to Room 301 via the observatory. Room 301 is now closed. However, you are aware that chaos and glory still remain from the loop. Please take whatever you wish at your discretion.”
—
Purification of a loop filled with chaos, and descending…
This signified the true reward of the third floor.
*
Yu Songee
As soon as I left the third-floor lobby and arrived at Room 105, the party time notification appeared.
Interestingly, unlike usual, this time there was no mention of when party time would end.
Could it mean we can rest for as long as we want until we want to leave?
Something about it didn’t feel right.
There are definitely benchmark points for when party time would end, but they couldn’t put their finger on it, and that felt unsettling.
Anyhow, with the party time notification up, I relaxed, thinking it was really all over now.
Naturally, it turned into a fun time where everyone was eating and drinking on the second floor.
In the evening, I told my colleagues I was stepping out for some fresh air and headed to the snowy area.
“Wow… It’s beautiful!”
Lying in the snow and gazing up at the sky filled with gorgeous auroras, I could only marvel for a moment before bursting into laughter.
Think about it! The second floor is technically inside a snow globe, right? There’s no outer space beyond the snowy sky on the second floor.
So, having auroras here doesn’t make sense.
Still, it was stunning.
— Swoosh!
Just then, I heard footsteps approaching. It was Eunsol.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just admiring the auroras.”
“Auroras? Oh, they’re beautiful!”
Her eyebrows perked up slightly in admiration.
“Wait! Why is there an aurora in a snow globe?”
“Maybe it’s some type of hotel lighting service?”
“Lighting service? Ha! That makes sense.”
Soon, Eunsol leaned a little beside me.
“…”
“…”
We sat in silence, thinking.
To the others, Room 301 was merely a strange cursed room.
But to me, it was a bit different.
Room 301 was the world I lived in, my hometown.
A place where real family and loving parents exist.
The person leaning next to me was the only comrade who could understand my feelings.
“Songee, congratulations.”
“Yeah?”
“You saved Mom and Dad, right? Plus, from tomorrow, you can descend to Room 301. That means you’ll be able to meet them.”
Without realizing it, I smiled brightly.
“But it doesn’t mean I’m the only one going, right? You can go to Room 301 and see your family too—”
At that moment, I panicked.
Unlike me, Eunsol didn’t have an entire family alive.
Two of her siblings had long passed away.
With their souls obliterated and not being hotel participants, there’s no way to revive them, not even with a ticket.
“Uh, um…”
Seeing my flustered face, Eunsol smiled sweetly.
“What’s up? I’m actually happy thinking I might get to see my Dad and Bro again.”
“Y-Yeah! Congratulations!”
“…”
A moment of silence passed before Eunsol changed the topic.
“When I woke up in the hotel, I had this thought.”
“What kind of thought?”
“Wondering if this is truly the end of Room 301.”
“…”
“Did we actually stop the apocalypse? Well, yes, we did. The Is race will leave Earth eventually, and Mom has turned into a weak spirit, so she can’t use her powers anymore.”
“Right.”
“But there are still danger factors left in Room 301.”
“…”
“The Is race will eventually leave Earth. But when exactly is that going to be? How many more people will suffer at the hands of those angered aliens until then?”
“…”
“Mom, who has turned into a spirit, can’t wield blessings anymore. However, the spirit of a great one is not fundamentally different from a mere mortal ghost. It’s entirely possible for it to unleash some form of nightmare.”
“… Right.”
“Even so, the hotel gave the verdict that the issue was resolved. It’s not that surprising, really.”
Just as she said, it wasn’t too shocking.
For instance, at the end of Room 101, we retrieved a piece of star from another dimension and defeated the root of the problem—the enemy.
Still, the world was in shambles.
It was a post-apocalyptic scenario, and naturally, there were colossal issues remaining.
What about Room 103, where humanity’s fate became something even we couldn’t fathom due to the extermination within Athanasia?
Or Room 201, which met an ending where sacrifices had to be made eternally to the prisoners?
The hotels never required us to completely fix the issues within each room before.
But…
“It’s not so surprising, yet the ending of Room 301 felt a bit… unsatisfactory.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I was dragged in without knowing the full plan, but once I did, I felt like saying, ‘Guys, is this really all there is?’”
This sounded a bit funny.
“Pfft! Eunsol, about that plan—”
“Eh! You’re about to say ‘It was your plan, right?’ again?”
“Yeah.”
“That was not me!”
“Kick!”
“Ahaha!”
After a lighthearted laugh, Eunsol’s expression turned serious.
“I think Songee has similar thoughts.”
The notion that Songi would also feel unsettled about the ending of Room 301.
Honestly, I agreed.
The presence of the aliens, who toyed with humans in the world where my real family survives, filled me with unease.
This issue isn’t separate from the cursed room resolution.
“In other words, the ending of Room 301 was sufficient in resolving the cursed scenario, but—”
“—It lacks the salvation of the hometown.”
“… Yeah, that’s it.”
Just as Eunsol said, I felt anxious.
With such enormous problems remaining, it felt like we just solved the biggest issue and rushed away.
I was still uneasy about the residual evil of the aliens remaining on Earth.
Even if she were merely a spirit, I even felt a pang of fear towards Eunsol’s mother, who once was great.
It wasn’t over.
Due to scarce resources and time, we merely put out a quick fire.
And so, the hotel was saying this to us:
You guys handle the remaining issues in your hometown yourselves.
This is the descent.
The cold breeze of the snowy land swept over as Eunsol muttered.
“Maybe this is the fundamental theme of the third floor?”
“Fundamental theme?”
“Save yourself.”
“…”
“You extinguished the urgent fire with the hotel’s help, now descend and solve what’s left on your own.”
“I understand that part, but…”
“You comprehend, huh?”
The next words slipped out before I could stop myself.
I genuinely felt a twinge of fear!
“Ah, according to the notification, it means only the two of us are heading down, right?”
“It seems so. The owner of wishes can freely descend to Room 301 via the observatory. It probably refers to you and me.”
Going down to a place where the evil aliens and the spirits of wicked gods remain with just the two of us?
I felt… uneasy… uneasy!
Isn’t Eunsol also secretly anxious? Doesn’t she lack confidence?
Of course, the fear of alien creatures harming Mom and Dad was real, but going just the two of us is a whole other level of discomfort!
At that very moment.
Eunsol’s expression twisted slightly.
“To be honest, I’m kind of looking forward to it.”
“What?”
“Looking forward to it?”
“When Room 301 ended, I had this idea of the reward that was supposed to come my way?”
“R-Really?”
“I didn’t get it. I felt like, ‘What is this?’ and was secretly disappointed, but, as expected, there seemed to be a next step!”
“…”
Eunsol’s next words were something I couldn’t understand.
“Rip apart the devil’s power… and grant it unto me.”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
In that instant, I felt a chill.
I saw a swirling mix of insatiable greed and an endless thirst that could never be quenched.
It was as if something dormant within the life of ‘Daeyang Group Executive’ had awakened after a long slumber.
“When we return to Room 301, I feel like there will be a lot of exciting things to discover. Don’t you think?”
“…”
“Think of it like a game; we’ve taken down the boss, but we’re facing the situation before looting. We need to loot!”
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