Chapter 723 – Room 302, The Cursed Chamber – ‘Brave New World’
—
– Miro
「…You…」
…
The first sensation I felt as I regained consciousness was the cold.
It felt like it was either autumn or winter; the heating seemed to be off.
“Ugh, Ahri, why is it so cold—”
Instinctively calling out to Ahri, it dawned on me.
Oh right, I’m all alone right now.
“…”
The first thing I wondered was which country I was in. Room 301 was managed in Korea because both Songee and Eunsol were Korean, and the prisoner was also in Korea. But there’s no rule saying the setting must be Korea.
The doctor must have awakened in America, of course.
He never lived in Korea, and he probably made his first wish while living in the States.
For the same reason, Seungyub probably awakened in Korea.
So, what about the others? Where did my teammates wake up?
There was no way to know that before entering.
“…”
After about three minutes passed, I figured out a few things.
First, this place is Korea.
The reason is simple! The doctor is smart and does well on his own, but Seungyub is too daft to go solo.
Second, I thought my house was pretty big, but it’s actually a massive standalone house, and I seem to be living alone.
Is it reasonable for a minor like me, especially a pretty girl, to live alone in a gigantic standalone house on the outskirts of Seoul? I have some common sense!
I guess my parents are overseas on a business trip, but they are probably just there for the sake of it. Ahri in Room 301 had a similar situation.
I thought the hotel was a bit lackluster in this regard.
Well, I got a rough idea of the situation; time to get to work.
The stars of Room 302, the owners of wishes, are the doctor and Seungyub.
Why am I included as the only teammate to help those two?
It’s because of the Time Rental Device.
I plan to summon Kain to ensure he exists in both the progressing party and post-apocalypse party.
「…wanting…」
“Hmm?”
I thought I heard a barely audible sound; did I mishear it?
— Clunk!
And there he was, past Kain appearing.
As soon as Kain appeared, he greeted with a bright smile.
“Hey. There’s no immediate crisis right now, is there?”
“Yeah. Just like I said yesterday, I summoned you right after waking up.”
He checked the information appearing on his status window and began to explain to someone.
“First, the room’s title is Brave New World – ah, I guess you already know that.”
“…”
“Second, the scenario understanding… hmm, as expected, it states that those who made the first wishes must awaken. It also mentions that sometimes help can hinder, so we should be cautious.”
“…”
“Just as we predicted in the meeting. During the first attempt in Room 301, we used a stroke of luck to determine who should enter, and as confirmed, it was concluded that only Eunsol and Songee should go in.”
“…”
“When we initially thought the first attempt would fail anyway, we interpreted it as meaning we needed to leave as much force as we could in the post-apocalyptic realm.”
“…”
“Looking back now, we were correct in our initial reasoning. However, we need to add one more point.”
“…”
“The first attempt meant to become aware of your wish without the help of teammates – no, it was to not be disturbed. If a teammate helps, it can actually hinder the realization of the wish.”
I realized then that Kain was mistaking me for the one who made a wish in Room 302.
He thinks the teammates are observing me.
Actually, Room 302 isn’t mine, so they can’t observe me through a telescope.
The teammates are probably watching the doctor or Seungyub.
The Kain in front of me is the past Kain from before entering Room 302, and he doesn’t know this.
Until the meeting yesterday, many believed that Room 302 was my and Seungyub’s room.
“Heh!”
A laugh escaped me without realizing it.
There was something amusing yet delightful about this situation.
He used to stand above me, toeing the line of greatness…
And now, he’s beneath me!
“According to the teammate’s position info—oh?”
It seems like Kain finally started to feel the oddity.
If the wish-makers are Seungyub and me, it had been heavily suggested that Ahri be included as an aide, right?
Seeing that Ahri isn’t listed in the positional information but the doctor is is shocking him.
“Kain~!”
“Miro? What’s up?”
“There’s no one watching us right now.”
“What?”
“Kain, Room 302 is Seungyub and the doctor’s room.”
“…”
Kain furrowed his brows for a moment before looking baffled.
“…Why are you only saying that now?”
“I just realized that you were misunderstanding a little while ago.”
He lightly shook his head and spoke with a more relaxed demeanor than before.
“Explaining remains the same. The audience is just you now.”
“Why, is it not enough if it’s just me?”
“…You remember, right? From now on, the goal of the first attempt on the third floor is becoming aware of the wish. Solving any issues comes after.”
“So, what do I do?”
“You don’t need to help Seungyub or the doctor. Helping could actually be a hindrance. Just try gathering information on your own.”
“Hmm…”
“You have a smartphone, right? Oh, there’s a computer over there too. While wandering around is fine, it’d be better to utilize the internet actively.”
After quickly mentioning a few caution points, Kain smiled and said.
“Got it? It’s already been over 5 minutes. Just in case, I wrote down Seungyub and the doctor’s addresses. Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
In other words, he was saying not to waste the time of the device saved at the Time Rental Device and send me back.
“Uhm…”
“Yeah?”
“From now on, isn’t it like I’ve just fallen into Room 302 all alone?”
“Well, kind of. If possible, proceed alone as much as you can…”
Going about… and Kain trails off at the end of his sentence.
Except for the three of us, all the other teammates are in the party after the apocalypse.
The teammates presumed that the first attempt would obviously fail.
What does that mean?
…
I’m going to die.
Without receiving anyone’s help, I’ll wander around Room 302 and die.
After I die, my teammates will successfully escape and I’ll wake up outside…
But the fact that I’d die alone, lonely, and painfully remains unchanged.
A world drowned in chaos and sorrow.
We, who came down to save the world with the choice of shedding tears for the three thousand worlds.
While entering established a variable in the world marked by despair, it also sealed our firm destiny.
Countless deaths.
I will die without anyone’s help—
Just then, I felt a solid hand.
“Are you alright?”
“…Ah.”
“Hmm…”
“Sorry. I just— thinking about being alone led me to these thoughts.”
Kain’s gaze locked onto me as if he could pierce through me.
Given his abilities, he might really have read my heart.
“Miro, you should know clearly that the Cursed Room is filled with incomprehensible dangers.”
“Y- Yeah.”
“Life and mental stability are often at risk.”
“What… what do you mean?”
“Be cautious. Of course, you have an unchanging blessing, but sometimes in the face of a great one’s intervention, the blessing can lose its light.”
“Am I being weird right now?”
“Miro, don’t forget that I still have time left. If things get dangerous, summon me anytime.”
With that, I sent Kain back.
Fortunately, his words about summoning him if things were dangerous provided me with great comfort.
「…consume…」
“…”
This time, I thought of something else.
If there’s an unknown power shaking my heart…
Even with the unchanging blessing on me, how would others fare?
*
– Kim Sanghyun
– Dust in the wind ~
As soon as I woke up, the first thing I noticed was an immense singing voice.
“Fuck!”
– All they are is dust in the wind
“What the hell – what is this?”
An absurdly high pitch!
Overwhelmed by annoyance, I looked around and saw speakers all over the house.
It took me over 10 minutes to turn off all of them and restore peace.
“What kind of madman made this place so noisy – it’s my house?”
Did I really live this loudly in the past?
…
It had been 30 minutes since entering Room 302 and awakening.
Sipping a warm cup of coffee, I sorted out the things I had understood so far.
First, this place is somewhere near Lakewood Street on the outskirts of Austin, Texas.
Second, the auditory and visual hallucinations that had fatigued me over the past few days had completely vanished.
Thanks to that, my mental condition was exceptionally good.
“This is nice.”
So far, everything had been neutral or positive, but that next point was a problem.
Right when I had awoken, I didn’t realize due to the disorienting noise.
When I simply put on my clothes, I thought it was just a trick of the mind.
It wasn’t until I brushed my teeth and shaved that I began to suspect it.
Third, I have aged.
I wasn’t originally a young man in my twenties, but now I felt like I was over fifty.
“Ugh…”
While it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t to a point I couldn’t accept it.
Wasn’t I already painfully familiar with aging from Room 203?
Moreover, I was still younger than Mooksung.
Thus, the curiosity of ‘Why did the hotel make me old?’ outweighed the discomfort of aging.
…
After experiencing Room 301, we had agreed on a way to proceed.
At least for the first attempt, we would not stress over resolving the Cursed Room’s issues.
We’d leave the escaping to the post-apocalypse party.
In reality, most of the members are in that place.
Mine and Seungyub’s roles involve realizing our wishes.
This is something we confirmed in Room 301.
“Let’s do it as we always have. Let’s do it again as we originally did.”
As I opened the drawer, sure enough, it was filled with Campbell’s clam chowder cans.
“Just like before.”
Creamy, rich, oily, hearty.
Just look at that clam meat packed tightly enough that there’s barely room for a spoon to fit!
It truly signified the abundance of our great nation.
“…”
As I nibbled a few bites, memories from the past naturally flooded back.
Campbell’s canned food is not bad to eat, but only as far as canned food goes.
It definitely wasn’t food fit for the social elite.
If you asked a special forces soldier, it’d be food to munch on in the battlefield. A doctor or astronaut would be less inclined to touch it.
To me, it tasted splendid.
Not that I’m without culinary tastes, mind you.
– All my dreams~ Pass before my eyes, a curiosity~
Wait, is there another speaker hidden around here?
It had been silent before, so I didn’t notice, but it seems the sound times are different somehow.
“Hmm… doesn’t this seem odd?”
I muttered to myself as a question – it wouldn’t be a solitary thought if my teammates were observing me.
Did I really live this loudly?
Setting up speakers all over the house, listening non-stop to old rock music, huh?
Before even thinking of the prisoners or enemies of Room 302, the home environment was bizarre.
“Who knows.”
Finishing my simple meal, I headed to a corner of the living room to throw away the canned containers—
Only to discover a note hidden behind the plastic.
It was a location hard to imagine unless someone truly understood my lifestyle.
In other words…
It was a note hidden by my past self.
1. You are periodically having your memories erased.
2. Do not turn off the speakers. Do not listen to the angel’s voice.
3. Aston 237, Room 403
“…”
「…You…」
I guess I’ll have to turn the speaker on.
– Dust in the wind~ All they are is dust in the wind
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