Chapter 82 – Party Time (4), Souvenir Shop
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 25
Current Location: Basement, Hiking
Sages Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
“Catch her! Don’t let her go!”
YELL
The sound echoed across the mountain.
KYAAAAAAK!
The entire mountain shook with her screams.
…
What in the world is happening all of a sudden?
A girl had suddenly appeared on the mountain and started running away, so we frantically chased after her.
While running, I wondered: Why is that kid running away from us? Why are we chasing her like this? I didn’t know the answers, but let’s just keep chasing her!
The mountainous terrain was rough, and as we veered off the hiking trail, darting through the bushes and trees, my clothes got filthy in no time. If I’d been wearing regular clothes, I’m pretty sure they would have been shredded by now.
“What’s going on? What’s happening?!”
I heard Eunsol-noona’s voice from somewhere. She seemed to have joined the chase after seeing the commotion.
KYAAAAAAK!
Please, stop screaming! What is wrong with her? She’s making it seem like we’re the bad guys here!
Fortunately, the girl wasn’t quite as superhuman as Ahri, while Grandpa Mooksung moved like a legendary martial arts master. It took him less than ten minutes to catch up, and his voice thundered through the mountains.
“Why are you running away?!”
“Why are YOU chasing me?!” the girl shot back.
“Because you’re running away!”
“I’m running because you’re chasing me!”
…
At this point, I was at a loss for words. After considering it, maybe we were in the wrong here. If I were a girl who accidentally encountered a young man and an old man in the mountains, and suddenly, the young man started screaming while the old man charged at me, wouldn’t I run away too?
*
Just then, as Eunsol-noona joined the chaotic chase, the girl grabbed onto her waist and started to cry.
Why does she keep trying to paint us as the villains?
“Hey! Just calm down. I don’t know if you’re an NPC or what, but stop this unnecessary nonsense!”
With that, the girl’s expression brightened as if it were a joke she enjoyed.
“Did you see through me?”
Grandpa looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Of course I did! What is a kid like you doing in a place like this? So, what’s your role?”
“I’m the clerk of the Souvenir Shop~.”
Upon hearing that, I looked at her clothing and it did resemble the traditional attire of souvenir shop clerks spotted at tourist attractions. Suddenly lively, the girl stood up and began leading us somewhere.
“If you wander around the hotel with less than half your group, you can meet me!”
Less than half?
“It shouldn’t be less than half, though! We came to the mountain as a party of five!”
“Oh.”
Eunsol-noona seemed to have figured something out.
“Noona?”
“Since Seungyub said it was too tiring, I told him to go back. And Songee was just standing around in the middle, so I passed by her; she must have gone outside.”
“Hah! The kids these days are already learning tricks!”
“Grandpa, if you abruptly drag kids to a mountain, it’s normal for them to run away! Honestly, it’s impressive that Kain and I didn’t bolt!”
“Then what about something good coming out of this? Isn’t it always true that if you listen to your elders, opportunities fall like rice cakes while you’re sleeping?”
“If someone overheard, they’d think the elder just brought us to a souvenir shop…”
After about thirty more minutes of walking, a shop unexpectedly appeared, and it was hard to believe it was in the middle of the mountains.
Inside the shop was exactly what you would imagine for a souvenir shop—filled with various stuffed animals, postcards, toys, and simple clothing, just the usual trinkets.
The clerk’s cheerful voice rang out.
“To everyone who found the shop, you get one souvenir each! Please choose your own item. Unfortunately, you can’t pick items for anyone who’s not here!”
I had an inkling but asked for confirmation.
“These aren’t ordinary items, are they?”
“If they were ordinary, it would be disappointing, right? Of course, these are hotel specials! However, you can only discover their specific abilities after you receive your items.”
…
What should I choose? It felt like everything had some unique ‘special function,’ but I had no clue what to pick. Eunsol-noona came up and nudged me.
“I have no idea. Just use your Advice.”
“It probably won’t tell us anything useful when we’re in the dark.”
“Still, give it a shot.”
I focused for a moment and asked, “What should I choose?”
[Choose a familiar item.]
“It says to choose something familiar.”
“That’s a bit too vague, right? Isn’t there more than one item we’re familiar with?”
“If you ask questions without knowing anything, you end up with vague answers like this.”
“Ugh~. Seungyub should have been here. If he activated his luck, he would’ve instinctively chosen the three best items in this shop!”
“Exactly, you should have stopped him from leaving.”
“Who knows, maybe this shop wouldn’t even exist if he had come!”
As we continued chatting without deciding, we both tried to rely on the Advice.
A familiar item.
Before coming to the hotel, my biggest challenge was the university entrance exam, and I spent the most time studying. So, would stationery be a good choice?
After entering the hotel, I used a dagger quite a bit, but it didn’t seem to be available. In the end, I picked up a pen that had ‘HP’ emblazoned on it. Was that short for Hotel Pioneer?
Looking back, Eunsol-noona also had a badge that said ‘HP’.
“I just picked it because it’s easy to carry around.”
Meanwhile, Grandpa Mooksung returned with a single glove.
“Doesn’t this look fancy? I chose it because it felt nice.”
And so, with our pen, badge, and glove, we stood before the clerk.
“Are you sure about these items?”
“Do you have any other recommendations?”
“All our items are hotel specials! They’re all top-notch, I recommend them all!”
“What a long way to say you can’t recommend anything! I’ll just take this glove.”
“I’ve decided on the pen.”
“I’ll go with the badge.”
The clerk clapped lightly and pointed towards the door. I naturally started to leave but then hesitated.
…
This clerk must also be an NPC. She was probably one of the ‘failures’ from the hotel trials we never saw. Could I ask her something?
“Can you tell us anything about the hotel?”
The bright smile on the girl’s face instantly froze.
“I don’t even know what to ask. Just anything would suffice, even your ‘real’ name would be fine.”
“That’s actually one of the most unanswerable questions.”
I recalled a long-ago conversation with Dr. Kim Sanghyun. He indicated that a normal conversation wouldn’t be possible if my mind was clear.
Was it impossible for her to talk outside her role as a clerk? The clerk blankly stared at the wall before speaking up.
“The other two.”
“What?”
“Sir and Young Lady, since you’ve already chosen items, how about leaving now?”
What? All of a sudden, the clerk suggested that Grandpa and noona leave. The two looked confused but followed the suggestion, leaving only the clerk and me inside the shop.
“Do you want to get out?”
“Of course! Who would want to stay their whole life in a weird place like this?”
“There are various escape routes within the hotel. You must already be aware of several.”
The girl looked deeply into my eyes as she said this. I instinctively felt that she knew I had the most knowledge about the escape routes among our group.
“You’re wondering, aren’t you? If there is a way for everyone to leave, not just one person.”
“Is there one?”
“The third floor.”
“The third floor?”
“The third floor has a path where everyone can leave without any conditions. You don’t even need to resolve the guest rooms on the third floor; you just need to reach it. Actually, all of you can escape the moment you pass through the gate room on the second floor.”
My heart started racing.
When I learned about the escape route through the elevator, I instinctively hid it. I can’t deny that I had selfish thoughts of wanting to use it just for myself.
However, the primary reason for concealing it was that an escape route for just one person could inevitably lead to conflict. I had to hide it. Knowing there was a way for everyone to escape filled me with a rush of emotions.
The girl lowered her head, as if to signal the end of the conversation. But why? Why did she tell me and not anyone else?
I wanted to ask but stopped myself. Her earlier words gave me a hint about why.
Perhaps the information about escape is only given to those who already know the most about escaping.
Click!
I opened the door and left the shop. When I turned back, the store had vanished as if it were a mirage. Even if I were to bring my comrades back later, we’d never find that shop again.
As I stepped outside, Grandpa and noona eagerly asked what we talked about inside. I told them everything, especially about the escape route on the third floor for everyone.
However, I added that the reason she specifically chose me was likely due to my blessing, Wisdom.
*
As we left the Hiking Room and arrived at Room 105, we ran into Seungyub and Songee, who had already come back to rest. Completely unaware of our experiences, they approached us with guilty expressions, explaining they went back because their legs hurt.
For a moment, Grandpa, noona, and I fell silent. Should we thank those two for missing out and thus letting us meet the NPC that unexpectedly gifted us treasures?
…
After a brief conversation, the atmosphere shifted dramatically. The three of us couldn’t contain our joy and instead tried to console the two who started rolling on the floor.
They were genuinely rolling on the floor. I could understand Seungyub doing that, but Songee really seemed a bit too old for this, right?
“Seriously, what are you two doing? Are you elementary school kids? Are you sulking?”
“I’m really mad! How could you not think of bringing us to such an amazing place!?“
“Guys~. You just vanished on us; how were we supposed to call you?”
“Grandpa could have used the conversation tab!”
Honestly, I had considered that option. But I worried that if I called Songee and Seungyub back, the shop might disappear. After a bit of comforting later, the excitement bubbled back, and we began testing the abilities of our newly acquired tools.
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.