Chapter: 91
Chapter 91 – Room 102, The Cursed Room – ‘Mansion of Fear’ Re (4)
6 hours ago
– Kim Ahri
Before the third attempt began, I had been contemplating something during our meeting.
Why did the Hotel divide us into the ‘Exorcist Team’ and the ‘Village Team’? It can’t simply be because we look young. After all, the Hotel could change the participants’ appearances at will.
There must be a role for me and Park Seungyub within the ‘Village Team.’
To gather some clues, I’d need to leave the house first, but…
“No! Ahri! I told you, you can’t go outside!”
As soon as I got near the door, my ‘mom’ appeared out of nowhere to stop me.
Four children were already missing, so homes with kids were protecting their children like a fortress.
Did I really have to just sit here and waste time?
Ding dong!
With the sound of the doorbell, the kids entered the house.
Ever since the child disappearances began, a kind of ‘joint parenting’ culture emerged in the village. Adults had to keep an eye on the kids, but they couldn’t avoid their jobs, which led to this phenomenon.
Today, it was our turn to take care of the kids from the neighborhood.
“Ahri!”
I looked up to see Seungyub and a bunch of kids approaching. Pretty soon, they started playing together.
…
Sitting there blankly, staring at the ceiling, I noticed that the kids were playing well together. Seungyub was having a great time too. Isn’t he in middle school? He’s playing with the elementary school kids, yet he fits right in.
As I waited, the problem child, ‘Lee Siwoo,’ finally showed up.
“Siwoo oppa! Come here!”
“Siwoo hyung! Help me fix this~”
It looked funny from the side, but just like his father, even this little dude was quite the celebrity among local kids. More like the older brother figure of the neighborhood.
Usually, kids around that age would be off to middle or high school, but because of health issues, he was being homeschooled, making him the oldest kid in the area.
The adults seemed to trust him to watch the kids since they gradually began to leave as soon as he showed up.
“Ahri! Come over and play with us.”
He called me over as if he were an older brother looking after his siblings. I couldn’t keep ignoring him, so I walked over, and out of nowhere, he started patting my head.
In that moment, I almost couldn’t stop myself from throwing a punch! This little twerp was really asking for it!
I held back somehow, but there was someone who couldn’t.
Thwack.
Seungyub suddenly came up and swatted Siwoo’s hand away. Seemingly startled, Siwoo awkwardly smiled before rejoining the other kids.
What are these kids up to? Seungyub? Now you’re making me feel embarrassed.
About 20 minutes passed when Siwoo announced to the kids.
“Hey guys~ It’s nap time. Let’s all take a nap.”
Nap time? Even if they are kids, they don’t look like they need a ‘nap time’ yet…
Gasp!
Finally, something strange started to unfold.
As Siwoo waved his hand lightly, all the kids suddenly began to look sleepy. He started moving them one by one onto the couch and mats.
Noticing something was wrong, Seungyub hurriedly leaned in to whisper to me.
“A, Ahri-noona. What in the world—”
“Don’t call me ‘noona’.”
“Ahri…”
“Just stay still and don’t worry.”
“Okay.”
Don’t worry, Seungyub! The worst that could happen to us is… death! Right?
Just as I was about to open the conversation tab, I realized something.
We were too far apart!
The Exorcist Team had said they would meet Lee Sehyun at the mansion and head straight to the village, but they seem to still be at the mansion.
The conversation tab was still inactive.
Siwoo came over to us and did ‘something’ after grabbing Seungyub by the arm. Shortly after, Seungyub began to follow him with a dazed expression.
I could probably do that too, right?
But first, let’s leave some trace behind.
*
… This is too much!
It took us nearly two hours to walk from the village to the back mountains of the mansion.
It felt like a quick drive, but with the kids, it was a solid two-hour trek.
This distance was hard to bear for kids, but Seungyub was probably hypnotized, and I was just pretending to be, so we trudged on without a complaint.
Should I keep following? It feels uneasy.
The conversation tab hadn’t worked the entire time. I doubt Mooksung is dead; I have a feeling he was at the mansion when we were in the village, and after we headed toward the mansion’s back mountain, he went straight to the village.
We kept missing each other, remaining too far to communicate…
It seemed like the ‘culprit’ was possessing the kid in front of us, but should I just keep following him?
For now, I’ll go along with it. Even if it leads to my demise, I need to gather information.
At the very least, I could learn where the ‘missing kids’ had gone.
Nothing particularly special happened, at least not yet.
Not until we reached the halfway point of the mountain, anyway.
The climb, tough as it was with my petite form, didn’t seem different from any other mountain.
I felt something faintly stirring in the air. Life filled the mountain. It’s just that for humans, mountains are often places of fear and silence.
Only when we reached midway did I finally catch sight of something out of the ordinary.
A gigantic door stood before us.
Was this door here all along? I don’t remember seeing it in the future timeline.
Then again, I hadn’t scoured every inch of the mountain, so who knows?
What should I do? Should I turn around and go back? Would I even be able to escape if I did?
I shook my head. If I backtracked now, I wouldn’t find a thing.
Somebody had to go inside and discover what lay beyond this door.
I steeled my resolve. Don’t be afraid. If I die here, I’ll just meet back up with everyone outside. It’s no big deal.
With that thought, I stepped through the door.
And the moment I did, the whole world flipped upside down.
*
– Kim Ahri
I was rolling around like laundry in a washing machine, caught in the swirling chaos like a hamster on a wheel.
Barely managing to stand and take in my surroundings, I was met with a bewildering world.
There were no sources of light in the sky above. Neither the sun nor the moon were anywhere to be found.
Yet down below, there was a soft, luminous glow. Countless flowers bloomed all over the land, radiating a gentle light that enveloped everything nearby.
Where on Earth was this place? The door I just came through was conspicuously missing.
“Don’t panic. You’re in the world of the Nebula Dragon. The master has perished, but traces of this world still linger.”
“Nebula Dragon? What’s that?”
“No need for you to know. She’s been asleep since the time of the ancients, and the world began to crumble with her passing…”
As he spoke, the boy’s gaze shifted around, filled with emotion.
“Did you know I was awake?”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” he replied nonchalantly.
“…Why did you bring me here?”
Instead of answering, he sat down amidst the flowers, gently caressing each one.
“Isn’t this flower garden beautiful?”
“They look like evening primroses. It’s odd that they emit light, though.”
“They can’t compare to Earth’s flowers. Each one of these has a soul within.”
A chilling thought crossed my mind.
I instinctively backed away from the flowers and asked, “Did you… create these flowers by killing people?”
“They lived meaningless lives. Yet through death, they found their true value.”
Now that sounded all too familiar. It’s not like I hadn’t run into a lunatic or two on Earth before. I decided to probe for his intentions.
“So, you’re planning to kill a bunch of people to revive your god or something, huh?”
“Did you think I aimed to resurrect the Nebula Dragon? That’s a misconception. How could someone like me possibly revive a dead god?
My role is simply to birth her firstborn. He’s still consuming his mother’s remains to grow.”
“But it’s still insufficient. Feeding on a dead god’s remains is not enough to birth an actual god.”
“He requires more… You probably think I’m committing a horrendous massacre, but that’s not it. I’m simply aiding in their ‘immigration’.”
“Immigration?”
“The people transformed into flowers will eventually become citizens of the new world. They will undoubtedly obtain a splendid fate far removed from their dreary life on Earth!”
From this brief exchange, I gathered something important.
This lunatic believed demons were ‘unborn gods’ and regarded human sacrifices as a means of immigration into a new world.
“You’re looking to fight me,” I concluded.
“Did you really think I could persuade you?”
“You’re no normal person, are you?” he suddenly asked.
What did he mean by “not normal”?
“Interesting. Today is indeed an intriguing day. When I saw you and Seungyub, I was utterly surprised. Your souls are of a higher caliber than ordinary humans. You aren’t even the Vatican’s exorcists; what gives?”
…I began to piece it together.
While we believed the Enemy was possessing characters, from the Enemy’s perspective, it seemed we had suddenly become the characters possessing the villagers!
Given that he could perceive souls, he was astounded by the presence of higher-status souls among the participants.
Having seen the Vatican exorcists before, they were likely already considered exceptional beings in his eyes.
But to him, Seungyub and I were just regular humans until yesterday, and that was why he was so intrigued by this sudden shift.
“We were sent from the heavens to take you down.”
“Seriously? Was it a being the Vatican worships that sent you?”
Sorry, just blabbering nonsensically. It wasn’t from ‘the heavens,’ it was from ‘the Hotel.’
At this point, I felt no need for further conversation.
I called forth my ‘Ancient Blood.’
Slit!
In a split second, I narrowed the distance by over ten steps and lunged, my blood-tipped claws aimed straight at him.
The boy stumbled back, yelling something strange.
Instantly, dark chains shot out from all directions, intercepting my icy spirit before coming straight for me.
I spun on my heel and leaped up, evading the chains. I flicked my fingers in the air.
BOOM!
Blood exploded from Siwoo’s chest as he crumpled to the ground, screaming.
I aimed to drop down onto his chest with my knee, but just then, chains burst forth from the ground, wrapping around my legs.
Without hesitation, I severed my legs.
The shock on his face was one I hadn’t anticipated.
Then—like steel, his arm lunged and pierced through Siwoo’s neck.
.
.
.
Did I win?
After all, he was an entity that transcended physicality. There’s no way ‘Siwoo’ was anything but a puppet, so this couldn’t be the end.
For now, let’s stick my legs back on. I could manage to do it cleanly, so it shouldn’t be a problem. As I reattached my legs, I was using the powers of the Ancient Blood to seal the wound.
It was then.
“Noona!”
Seungyub, who had woken long ago and was hiding, screamed out.
BAM!
A sharp chain struck my back without mercy.
I bore the pain, managing to get up, only to find a mysterious figure emerging before me.
It looked like a boy.
His skin looked impossibly thin, almost like paper; I could see the veins and the movement of his insides. Instead of pupils, swirling vortexes glowed from his eyes, his features large and defined.
At first glance, he resembled a mystical boy, but upon further inspection, the differences from any normal human were so pronounced that it sent shivers down my spine.
Was this the ‘culprit’? The denizen of this realm created by the so-called ‘mother of demons,’ the Nebula Dragon?
His voice came out in a languid tone.
“You fight incredibly well. Are you truly an angel sent from the god of Earth, beautiful Lady Ahri?”
“Spare me the cringe. I’m actually older than you might think.”
“That’s quite amusing. I’m older than I look, too.”
“Doesn’t make a difference for round two.”
“I concede; to be honest, I wouldn’t be able to beat you with just my power. Seeing you reattach your legs gave me chills. However, this is my hometown, so I have someone watching over me here.”
With those words, a colossal power began to manifest throughout the world. The demon was bestowing an overwhelming force!
Without hesitation, I grabbed a syringe filled with my ‘Allusion’ and handed it to Seungyub.
“Run.”
“Huh?”
“Use the blessing and just run. If you keep running, you’ll eventually find your way out.”
Our experiences hadn’t been for nothing; Seungyub didn’t waste a moment to question me and immediately took off with the syringe.
From a distance, I could hear mocking laughter carried by the wind.
“I can sense an extraordinary soul in that boy, but in the end, he’s just an ordinary kid, right? Do you really think he can escape?”
“Yep.”
“Now you’ve piqued my interest. What’s your basis for that?”
“Do you really think the grave of a dead god is flawless? There should be holes somewhere, which is probably why you yourself can go back and forth, right?”
“You’re not wrong, but what if you don’t know where—”
“Wherever it is, that boy is bound to find it.”
The luckiest boy in the world will definitely unearth a way out of this hell.
So, let’s see how today ends between you and me.
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