Chapter 90: Room 102, Cursed Room – ‘Mansion of Fear’ Re (3)
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 28
Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
As I walked toward the table, I pondered over three pressing questions.
1. Why didn’t the lie detection work on Lee Sehyun?
2. Why did Lee Sehyun suddenly commit suicide?
3. What does it mean that the escape option appeared when he killed himself?
The sage’s advice displayed in the status window seemed necessary to consult now.
In my clueless state, I wouldn’t be able to provide a normal answer, but I had gathered some information that I couldn’t quite connect yet.
I really needed that advice.
Staying calm, I recalled the questions. Suddenly, the advice appeared.
[“Escape the prejudice that Lee Sehyun is the Enemy.”]
That one line unlocked all the mysteries.
Upon reaching the table, I indicated that I had written down the advice and began to explain.
*
“We were mistaken from the beginning about one thing. It’s a fact we confirmed during our first attempt that the ‘Enemy’ has the ability to possess, right?
We were aware of this, yet we fell into the misconception that the Enemy was Lee Sehyun.”
At that moment, something seemed to click for my sister, and she gasped.
“Was Lee Sehyun also possessed?”
“That’s correct. There is a real culprit, a different entity that uses the grimoire’s power to possess. That being can take Lee Sehyun’s body whenever they want. Thinking of it this way solves all our questions.
First, about how he resisted the lie detection.
It’s actually quite simple. The ‘real Lee Sehyun’ who spoke with us really knew nothing. Since he didn’t know, he said he didn’t, which is why he wasn’t caught by the lie detection.
Second, regarding the reason why Lee Sehyun committed suicide.
His answer within the basement provided the clue, didn’t it? The one who possessed Lee Sehyun said, right?
‘Killing you will only prompt the Vatican to send a bigger army.’
The culprit gave up the moment we discovered him. Killing us would only invite more forces to hunt him down, so he decided to lie low and plan for a later time.
In this scenario, Lee Sehyun is just a marionette. His true identity is hidden. He’s simply using Lee Sehyun as bait while remaining concealed.
Third, about why the escape option appeared.
As we’ve confirmed, escape is acknowledged simply by ‘breaking away from the current crisis.’
Now that the Enemy has cast away Lee Sehyun and is hiding, there will likely be a peace period of quite a while. He might actually hide for ten years or even longer. Alternatively, he could be conspiring elsewhere. Either way, we have escaped from the ‘current peril,’ which is why the option appeared.
Does everyone understand?”
Everyone began to think deeply. Soon enough, questions erupted.
Surprisingly, the first query came from Seungyub.
“Hyung. So, who is the actual culprit then? Is it someone from the village?”
“Given that the culprit can freely shift between bodies, it’s impossible to pinpoint their identity based on the ‘current body’ alone. Whether it’s Lee Sehyun or someone from the village, they are all just pawns in the eyes of the real Enemy.”
Eunsol added a bit more clarification.
“I see what you mean, but isn’t there an initial body to consider? If the Enemy is human, they surely wouldn’t have possessed before being born.”
“That’s a valid point, but I feel like we can’t glean that from our current findings.”
Next, Jinchul posed a question from a different angle.
“Regarding the suicide, could it be that he did it to increase our trial attempts? That’s what worried me the most because the escape made it seem like our second attempt was prematurely forced to an end.”
That was something I had also thought in the moment. Just as I was about to respond, Ahri jumped in with a rebuttal.
“I consider that impossible. The fact that the Enemy faintly perceives the ‘Hotel’ is a penalty set for the fifth attempt, meaning they couldn’t figure it out before that.”
Jinchul asked again, “Even if the Enemy doesn’t realize it, can’t the Convict inform them?”
At that point, I felt ready to answer.
“If the Convict could convey the truth about the Hotel to the Enemy, then the latter would end up committing suicide at the beginning of each attempt to force us out, wouldn’t they? They would benefit by getting to the fifth attempt by always committing suicide.”
“Hmm. I get it. That would definitely be a blocked loophole.”
As we discussed, another question popped into my mind.
“It seems like the Enemy can freely share bodies. They don’t seem to die even if their host does, so how can we even kill the guy?
Because to resolve this room and acquire the inheritance, we need to take him out.”
With that question out, my gaze fell on Ahri and Grandpa Mooksung.
Given their expertise, I expected they might have insights into matters supernatural. As I anticipated, Grandpa Mooksung began responding.
“I’ve dealt with entities that transcend physical bodies multiple times. Their types are varied, but fundamentally, it’s a matter of how to stop the possession.”
“How’s it usually accomplished?”
“It differs each time. Sometimes we destroy the source of magical power, other times we temporarily block possession through other means before killing them. There are times we have to do both in sync.”
“Destroying the source of magic power or killing while blocking their possession is indeed a strategy.”
“When you mention the source of power, are you referring to the demon in the basement of the mansion? Can we take it down? And is there a way to block possession?”
“Right now, I can’t offer you a solid answer. However, I don’t think we’re expected to handle the demon ourselves. We didn’t even meet the Convict in Room 101, and wasn’t the Convict in Room 103 our ally?”
Considering the circumstances, it seems fighting the Convict may not be necessary. There has to be a link between the demon and the Enemy, possibly through the grimoire, a contract, or an altar. Destroying those could be our answer.
As for preventing the possession, I have no clue now. We still have no understanding of the scope and limitations of his power. If, hypothetically, he could possess any human in the world at any given moment, then stopping him would be an impossible task.
Talking through this was helping to gradually clear my thoughts.
It was now characteristic of Ahri to bring the discussion to a close.
“Let’s proceed in the next attempt with two main objectives.
First, discover the truth behind the identity of the Enemy.
Second, figure out how to kill him and find ways to suppress his possession abilities.”
I also offered a word of caution as everyone dispersed.
“Let’s avoid touching Lee Sehyun rashly before we find a way to block the possession. Rash actions might lead to a forced escape on the second attempt. The Enemy is more cautious than anyone else we’ve faced.”
The following day, we re-entered Room 102 once again.
Third Attempt
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 29
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Cursed Room – Mansion of Fear)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
Upon re-entering Room 102, we made some adjustments to our plans. Staying in the mansion and pressuring Lee Sehyun could potentially provoke the ‘hidden culprit’ into another suicide.
Thus, right after arriving in the village, we went to the mansion, greeted Lee Sehyun briefly, and left behind only Eunsol, who played Lee Sehyun’s sister, along with Priest Jinchul, for contingencies, while the rest of us exited the mansion.
The core of this scenario, the mysterious disappearance of children, was occurring in the village itself.
We needed to investigate the village further, so we made our way to the cathedral.
…
“Is there really no information gathered regarding the missing persons cases?”
“Sorry, Your Eminence. I thought reporting to the police would swiftly resolve it.”
“Do you think the Vatican sent you here just to press some buttons and ring the police?”
Thud!
“I-I’m sorry!”
Why was the Cardinal picking on that poor priest?
It took just 20 minutes into the conversation for us all to realize something.
The priest here, likely a younger version of the shady butler we spotted during our first attempt, was entirely normal.
He had no more information on the missing cases than the common villagers, and when we started discussing grimoires and demons, his eyes almost popped out.
As an actual ‘ordinary priest,’ it seemed a bit unfair for him to be scolded by a cardinal without any cause. What could he really do about people going missing except to call the police?
That being said, Cardinal Mooksung seemed to have more points to make.
“Didn’t you hear anything upon your assignment here? This cathedral wasn’t built for no reason! Surely, there must be some old documents around!”
“Old documents…”
Only after pinpointing that did the priest seem to remember something and stepped into the cathedral to search for clues.
Wait, did the Cardinal suddenly remember something?
“Cardinal Mooksung. Did something come to mind?”
“No. If I had information, I would have told you already.”
“Didn’t you just mention that this cathedral wasn’t built for no reason and requested old documents?”
“I was just taking a wild guess,” he countered. “Think about it. Doesn’t it seem strange to find such a grand cathedral in a sparsely populated area?”
Considering it, the Vatican here did resemble our world’s Administration Bureau in a way, didn’t it? That thought struck me like a lightning bolt.
“What hypothesis came to mind?”
“I’ll share when the time is right.”
About ten minutes later, the priest emerged bearing numerous files.
Upon seeing them, the Cardinal asked him, “Have you even read any of these?”
Though the priest didn’t verbally respond, the expression on his face clearly indicated this might be his first time touching them.
It definitely felt like we would spend some time examining these complicated documents.
The Cardinal sent Sister Songee and Sister Elena to explore the village while diving into the files with me.
*
Around two hours had passed. The Cardinal and I browsed through piles of documents together.
Clap!
“Just as I suspected.”
“What do you mean?”
“This cathedral is, to put it bluntly, like a poorly maintained branch of the Administration Bureau.”
“Could you elaborate? I know nothing about this world’s Vatican, much less the Administration Bureau.”
“It’s quite simple: When this cathedral was established, there was a period of serious supernatural disturbances in this area.
So they set up this branch and must have assigned some powerful individuals here. But suddenly, those disturbances ceased and everything went quiet for decades.”
“Is this similar to what we experienced in the second attempt?”
“Likely. At that time, the real culprit probably decided to wait it out for decades, secure in the knowledge granted by their ability to possess others.”
The Cardinal abruptly fell silent, then began elaborating as if explaining to an ordinary citizen.
“For common folk, monsters can seem like monumental crises, but for the overseeing organization managing the Earth as a whole, the number of monsters is simply overwhelming.
Think about a monster toad that wiped out 2,000 people in a single day, or a cult attempting to transport an entire city to another dimension.
It becomes exhausting to expend energy on petty monstrous beings that hide away, abducting a person here and there over several decades.”
As such, this branch was poorly managed, leading to an ordinary individual being put in charge.
“A monster that killed 2,000 people in one day? A cult looking to move an entire city to another dimension?”
Those were rather specific examples, weren’t they?
What kind of world was I even living in?
Putting aside those murky thoughts, the documents we managed to gather described a simple narrative.
These papers were about the Convict of Room 102, the ‘Demon of the Abyss.’
Piecing together the various scattered accounts revealed a myth.
Once upon a time, dwelling in the cosmic abyss was a transcendent being known as the ‘Nebula Dragon.’ It was not specified how they met their end, but rumor has it that they died while pregnant.
Had they been just an ordinary mother and fetus, both would’ve perished at that moment. Yet, with the mother being a divine entity, the fetus also held divine qualities.
Despite the mother’s demise, the fetus persisted.
It, forever lamenting its fate of never being born, cast curses upon the world.
“Could this ‘unborn entity’ be the Demon of the Abyss that Ahri witnessed?”
“Most likely.”
“Ahri claimed that the demon was sealed in a place resembling the insides of a colossal organism. But it seems rather than being sealed, it was prevented from ever being born. More akin to the womb of the mother than the insides of an organism.”
“It was indeed closely resembling.”
“Now the question is, how might we utilize this information?”
“No clue. I’m actually more interested in what comes next.”
Fortunately, the story concerning the origins of the demon wasn’t that lengthy. The individuals who compiled this information decades ago likely deemed it too mythological to hold validity.
Far more documents discussed the disappearance incidents from sixty years ago.
“This is not the first occurrence of the missing persons.”
“Right. It seems the real culprit isn’t simply from this time either.”
“Could they be from sixty years back?” I ventured.
“Considering the nature of their abilities, it wouldn’t even be surprising if they were from a hundred sixty years ago. At that point, they can hardly still be considered human.”
“This is increasingly becoming more troublesome. We still don’t know the true identity, nor the limits of their powers.”
“Yet, it’s not as if we gained nothing.”
“Did you discover something?”
The Cardinal suddenly stood and peered out of the window towards the mansion.
“Deacon, do you remember the mountain behind the mansion?”
“The very spot where we had that bit of roughhousing?”
“There seems to be something hidden there.”
*
—Clap!
We had gathered all the worthwhile information from the cathedral.
Just before departing, I instinctively turned on the status window to check on Seungyub and Ahri’s status.
[Teammate Location Information (*)
Park Seungyub: Dead
Kim Ahri: Dead]
—Thud!
I collapsed in sheer shock at the revelation!
“What’s going on, Deacon? What happened again?”
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