Chapter 759 – Room 302, The Curse Room – ‘Brave New World’ (29)
—
– Cha Jinchul
Comparing this room of curses to the observation station isn’t exactly fair; they’re both not the most comfortable places to be.
Why? Because at such an unexpected moment, Kain went and summoned everyone!
“It seems the post-apocalyptic world is about to begin soon.”
Still, I hadn’t received any notification from the hotel about the apocalypse starting just yet.
So, this judgment must be Kain’s conclusion drawn while observing the inside of Room 302.
Or maybe it’s a message delivered through the status window from the summoned Kain, pulled in from the time zone by Miro.
“Let me briefly explain what’s been happening inside. As you know, ‘Brave New World’ is a type of magical ritual and a form of chaos disaster utilized by the Administration Bureau.”
The setup of ‘Brave New World’, this movie theater, is somewhat of a facade.
The reality of it is more like a shelter aiming to preserve pure humanity.
“In the theater, wicked chaotic beings are sealed in as audience members. In short, ‘Brave New World’ is both a sanctuary for humanity and a sealing facility for demons.”
Elena and I were both well aware of this.
“One important fact: the Son of Dawn didn’t destroy the theater not because he lacked power, but rather he found the release of the demons rather unfitting.”
Everyone agrees with that.
Absurdly, this so-called Son of Dawn, this bizarre god, loves humans—though surely in a way we can’t begin to comprehend.
During the process of subduing the demons, the mortal souls twist, and he didn’t want the creation of heaven to be delayed, which is why he left the theater be.
“To put it another way, if the Son of Dawn changes his mind to take a loss, he could demolish the theater anytime he wants. It seems he’s involved with ‘Brave New World’ this time….”
“Huh?”
“He forcibly awakened Soyeon into an angel. She apparently temporarily regained her memories from the first attempt.”
This much was easy to understand.
As I discovered in that initial attempt, if ‘Brave New World’ collapses, the Son of Dawn descends.
I didn’t know why back then, but now I do.
There’s a mysterious treasure known as the ‘Twilight Feather’ within ‘Brave New World.’
“Was the prisoner planning to extract the Twilight Feather from that girl?”
“Indeed.”
According to Kain’s explanation, the prisoner’s plan was simple.
To establish a starting point and forcefully awaken Soyeon.
When that happens, the persona of the last guardian of Paradise from the first attempt would return, making Soyeon serve the Son of Dawn again.
If they could get the Twilight Feather from angelic Soyeon, the prisoner would win.
“The problems arising from forcing an intervention in the theater…”
“If everything went according to plan, the Son of Dawn would have dealt with it himself.”
In this process, it wouldn’t matter if the theater got destroyed.
As long as the Son of Dawn intervenes personally, simply driving out the demons would suffice.
Thus, the prisoner’s strategy had shifted between the first and the second attempts.
Judgments may have changed, or perhaps this method used in the current attempt was just not available during the first try.
Injecting Soyeon with first attempt memories wouldn’t have been possible then.
“The interesting part is that this attempt failed.”
“What?!”
“Huh?”
This was a twist I didn’t see coming.
“According to the records I left inside Room 302… heh!”
Here, Kain let out a slight chuckle.
“It seems Soyeon loves Seungyub quite a bit.”
“What?!”
While I was flustered, Elena understood immediately.
I guess women have a quicker sense when it comes to this kind of topic.
“Right? If she gives the feather to her father, her lover dies, and if to her lover, her father’s plans fail.”
“So what did she do?”
“She destroyed the feather.”
“…”
“This is exactly what it means when they say ‘a foolish person creates a game where all seated lose.’ That foolish person is likely the lovestruck girl.”
“The hotel is really calling love foolish!”
“That’s how it is here. Seungyub really is something else. Is he a professional at tempting angels or what?”
I couldn’t help but wonder.
Did the Son of Dawn really not foresee this development?
Soyeon had facilitated the collapse of Paradise out of love for Seungyub even in the first attempt.
…
I suppose he thought it didn’t matter either way.
If successful, it would mean a win for the prisoner instantly; if things didn’t go as intended, the ‘possibility of resolution’ could still be eliminated.
Even if it just wasted one attempt, it’d still be beneficial to the prisoner.
A win-win for him.
—
– Miro
What in the world is happening?
I came to the theater with Kain.
Looking at the screen, Seungyub and Soyeon were on it.
I understood until here, but why did Soyeon suddenly become an angel?
What’s with these feathers? Why did they just vanish?
Can someone explain this to me!?
…
Feeling completely lost somehow eased my mind.
Thinking about it, whether I understood the situation or not didn’t really matter.
It was a problem that Kain needed to grasp—Wait! Why does Kain look confused too?
Why are you making that bewildered expression?
I can afford to be clueless, but you can’t!
In that moment, Seungyub, staring at the window that had transformed into a screen during the fire, wore a grim expression.
—Sudden wave!
“Whoa! Th-th-this is the outside—”
Soon enough, Seungyub burst out of the screen.
This seemed to be some sort of starting point.
Kain’s eyes illuminated again.
“Kain!”
“Close your eyes!”
Unlike my constant state of stoicism, Seungyub has little mental resistance.
Seeing the audience in the theater could be dangerous.
At that moment, Kain murmured with a serious look.
“Let’s get out of here?”
“Excuse me?”
Before I could finish, Kain moved like lightning.
He snatched Seungyub by the neck with one hand and wrapped the other around my waist.
What’s going on? Did the Owl just warn him to get out?
The reason for the alarm was about to become clear.
—Bang!
“Yikes! T-the screen—”
Is the great one forcing his way in?
The theater’s screen shattered.
This signifies ‘the end of the movie.’
… It means the audience is now freed from the cinematic bond.
—Woooo!
At that moment, a sound split the air as we were trying to escape the theater.
—Swoosh!
An indescribable presence blocked the entrance, accompanied by a disgusting stench.
A humanoid head, black and red.
A writhing amorphous body.
Breathing like a sulfurous flame.
One of the audience in the movie theater!
Soon, a mocking voice echoed.
“Why are you running? You look much closer to our side than that way.”
With the radiant divine light shining behind him, Kain spoke threateningly.
“Step aside, demon, no one who has blocked my path has lived.”
Hearing that made it clear Kain’s words were a bluff.
Right now, Kain is just a summoned entity, not the main body.
He has little time left, just a few minutes at best.
It doesn’t matter who wins in a fight; there’s no time to fight at all.
Fortunately, the demon didn’t realize that fact.
Or perhaps it didn’t seem like it was gonna fight at all.
The demon jokingly bowed down, playing around.
“Haha! How could I not know? You’re basically the gold medalist of wicked deeds, here to occupy the front row in Hell!”
“…”
“I have no intention of blocking you. I just wanted to catch a glimpse of your famous face.”
The demon naturally stepped aside.
Kain cautiously eyed the demon and exited the theater.
As I felt the outside air, a strange story echoed in my ears.
—
“You worshipped beings that deviate from the natural order and prevent liberation, calling them demons.
But who set the standard for nature and counter-nature?
In a world with a beginning and an end, this world we live in was created this way.
Do you understand?
The beings you worship desire liberation for all sentient beings.
Liberation means the end of the cycle of reincarnation.
Those who shed tears for the three thousand worlds want to halt the universe’s cycle.
Ultimately, they wish for a single universe to maintain its eternal infinity.
How could that not be counter-nature?
From my perspective, we are the natural ones, while the beings you worship are the ones going against nature.
We will soon meet again.
Let’s revisit today’s story seriously next time.”
—
“Hah, hah…”
By the time we reached the outside, I was completely exhausted from the ordeal of escaping.
The flight only lasted about 2-3 minutes, but it was one heck of a bumpy ride.
Seungyub anxiously shouted.
“Hyung! There are two unni’s in the movie! Ari unni and Songyi unni—”
Seungyub, who was about to say we need to rescue Ari and Songyi, promptly shut his mouth.
Kain hadn’t acknowledged it at all.
It was a cold attitude, but maybe that’s how everyone starts trusting him.
—Boom!
A nightmarish sound shook the world.
Hideous dark clouds dyed the darkened sky with ink.
Feeling an ominous urge, I asked.
“What’s… happening? I really have no clue.”
Kain’s explanation was simple.
“The Son of Dawn forcefully intervened in ‘Brave New World,’ and in the process, the theater was destroyed.”
“I-I understand that! So, do the demons get released?”
“If it went as the prisoner wished, the Son of Dawn himself would have resolved the problem. But…”
“But?”
“It didn’t go as he intended. Or maybe this was part of his plan too?”
“…”
The Son of Dawn did not descend.
However, with the movie ending, demons began to release from their bonds in the theater.
—Gooooooooo…!
An echoing noise returned once more.
With an immense speed, a terrible cloud expanded, threatening to cover the entire world.
A quick revelation popped up.
“Seungyub, I just renewed my understanding of the script again.”
“What does it say—”
“It says we failed to uncover Soyeon’s greatest secret. Hence, your story hasn’t reached a conclusion.”
“Greatest secret?”
“Do you know what it is?”
“… I’m sorry.”
“Nothing can be done about it.”
Calm demeanor.
By the way, that girl still has her ‘greatest secret’ left?
Is she a person or an onion?
“How much time is left, Miro?”
“A little under a minute.”
Even at the brink of destruction, seeing Kain scribbling down frantically on his status window felt so very him.
Earlier, he coolly abandoned Ari and Songyi, focusing on ensuring that Seungyub and I made our escape—all else be damned.
Now, it looks like he’s leaving a message for his outside self since he judged that we couldn’t save ourselves either.
Harsh, indeed.
But I thought this cold side of him was cool too.
…
In the last moments, Kain turned around with a bittersweet expression and lightly patted me and Seungyub’s heads.
“I’m sorry.”
… It wasn’t entirely heartless after all.
—Click!
Kain vanished like a mirage.
What remained were the confused expressions on me and Seungyub’s faces.
“Ah… so we’re dying now, huh?”
Accepting my fate, I gently closed my eyes.
“What? Dying? Why?”
“Hah… you idiot! Don’t ruin the mood and just be quiet!”
“…”
“Didn’t you understand what Kain meant? The demons of the theater will come out and turn the world into hell—Ahhh!”
Before I could finish, Seungyub lightly tapped my head.
“Hey!”
“What do you mean ‘hey’? This is my line. Don’t blabber and think of a hiding spot instead.”
“Wait, are you actually a fool?”
Just because Kain, who is much smarter than you, rationally thought we were dead, doesn’t mean you have the right to—
—He was relying solely on luck, wasn’t he?
“Umm, where’s a good place to hide?”
“Let’s just run for now!”
—
– Kim Sanghyun
By the time we reached the outskirts of Texas, a notification from the hotel popped up.
“Failure to resolve the situation. Therefore, ‘the post-apocalyptic world’ will commence.”
“…”
“…”
“What’s going on?”
We just started diving into the situation!
“What the heck is this?”
“If it’s not a problem on our side, then it’s probably with Seungyub’s group—”
Right.
To resolve the issue, both my party and Seungyub’s party needed to succeed.
If one side is certain to fail, the other side’s progress becomes irrelevant, and resolution is impossible.
I understood the situation logically.
But my heart couldn’t process it.
“No, you bastard hotel! What the heck is this? We only just began, you lunatics!”
I totally empathized with Mooksung’s shabby curse.
The hotel was, as always, a real jerk.
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