Chapter 803
Chapter 803 – The Sorcerer’s Research (5)
— Maze
— Plop!
With a hazy feeling, I returned and plopped down beside Ari.
As I sat there, feeling confused, the gaze of a black-haired girl who looked just like me turned towards me.
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
“Didn’t you have fun playing with Gain?”
“… Miro, didn’t Ari tell you to go to the library and meet me?”
As I recited Gain’s words, Ari let out a chuckle.
“Was that what Gain said? She’s quite perceptive.”
“My intuition has always been sharp! The flow of conversation is seriously annoying.”
“Why?”
“Why do you ask why! It feels like you wrote me off as some human mail!”
“That’s not true. I just thought you seemed too absorbed in your research, so I sent the cute Miro over.”
“…”
“It seems you really focused on your research even with me beside you. So infuriating.”
Now I finally began to understand the subtle discomfort I had been feeling.
Gain and Ari were too… too…
What expression would fit after “too”?
“Miro, what’s up?”
Too close?
But it sometimes felt awkward.
Just look at what happened earlier. Ari sent me over instead of going herself, right?
“You and Gain…?”
“Yeah?”
A vague suspicion.
It seemed Ari and Gain had shared various thoughts that were hidden deep in their hearts.
They had grown closer in the process, but…
It seemed they had also drawn some lines.
Having gotten to know each other well enough, they understood there were lines that were hard to agree upon.
“A lot has happened.”
That seems to fit the best.
“What did Gain say to make you think so much? It doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m not a fool.”
“Of course, of course. You’re definitely not a fool but you might be lacking in experience. Maybe not anymore though? You’ve been awake in Room 302 for three years.”
“… Gain said something strange.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she was researching immortality.”
“Right.”
“And um, she thinks her research could be the answer to all problems.”
Ari sighed lightly as she replied.
“Just like before.”
“… Did she say that before?”
“Yep.”
“What exactly is she researching? Immortality…?”
“I don’t know precisely. Perhaps…”
“Perhaps?”
“…”
“Hmm, what’s the next ‘perhaps?’”
Just as Ari fell into sudden silence, an unexpected voice came from across.
“Perhaps, isn’t it true that Gain doesn’t know exactly either?”
“Elena, I thought you were sleeping… did you wake up because we were noisy?”
It was Elena.
“No. I couldn’t really sleep either.”
“What was that just now?”
“Um, I had a little chat about research with Gain two days ago.”
It seems Elena had heard a bit about Gain’s research too.
“What did you talk about?”
“Similar to what Miro heard.”
“Immortality?”
“Yep. Why do people die? The death of the body, the extinction of the soul, is it really an insurmountable problem? That kind of talk.”
“That sounds a lot like what I heard.”
“Only, there was a bit more vague talk afterward.”
“What was it?”
“… I think they had already reached some conclusion a long time ago. But, it seems they forgot it themselves because they couldn’t bear it.”
Combining what I and Elena had heard,
It seemed Gain’s research topic was immortality, eternal life, and such.
They had obtained some sort of result a long time ago but forgot it because they couldn’t handle it.
It seems that now Gain doesn’t even know the exact details.
“What? This is getting more confusing.”
“Indeed.”
At that moment, Ari, who had been silently leaning against the wall, spoke up.
“Listen.”
“Yeah?”
“I met with the Benefactor yesterday and heard various things. It might relate to my room somehow.”
“Oh, so you met the Benefactor too?”
Elena sat beside us, looking curious.
“Ari, what did the Benefactor say?”
“… In a repeating world, the reasons for decisions are forgotten, leaving only the fact that decisions were made. Future generations will blindly follow the past. What has the Seer realized? What does the silent one silence?”
As Ari finished her story, Elena and I exchanged awkward glances.
Both of us were thinking the same thing.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Ari’s Benefactor sounds just like Ari. She seems to enjoy difficult discussions.”
Ari shrugged her shoulders.
“If you strip away the embellishments, it’s a simple sentence. There is information A. It must be a very important piece of information related to the entire world.”
“A, important information. Got it.”
“A long time ago, the Seer knew A. That’s why they are called the Seers, the ones who realized first.”
“Uh-huh, I got that far.”
“Afterward, the silent ones decided to hide A. That’s why they’re the silent ones.”
There’s critical information called A.
The group that realized A started calling themselves Seers.
After a long time passed, the group that decided to hide A began to call themselves the silent ones.
“Understood?”
“Yeah. But if it’s something the Benefactor said, isn’t it about your room, Ari?”
“That’s right.”
“What does your room have to do with Gain’s – Ah! Could it be that they’re in the same room?”
Ari immediately shook her hand.
“No. Gain’s room is very likely to be the ‘Room without a Nameplate.’ Mine is not.”
“How do you know that? Did the Owl tell you about the room?”
“He didn’t say directly, but he enjoys speaking in a roundabout way.”
“…”
“It’s結論 from 25 years of Gain’s use of advice, so you can trust it. What I mean is…”
While Ari hesitated, Elena, who was listening attentively, nodded.
“They’re not the same room, but structurally they might have similarities?”
“Exactly.”
“The Management Bureau learned some secret a long time ago and forgot it themselves. Gain seems similar.”
As the conversation wrapped up, Ari tilted her head in thought.
“One question remains. Both the upper echelons of the Management Bureau and Aleph from long ago… what did they forget, and why?”
*
— Kim Sang-hyun
Evil whispers piercing my insides.
‘As your room approaches, old memories and emotions return. It’s a phenomenon shared by you and several colleagues, and will continue to be experienced.’
‘Could such a phenomenon only happen to you?’
Gain might return to Aleph, that cunning voice said.
I furrowed my brow, trying to block my ears, but it was no use.
If I have to listen, perhaps arguing against it would be an answer.
“Gain’s room is unlikely to be the one that comes next. His room is probably the last room on the third floor.”
Gain’s room is the last room on the third floor.
This isn’t a conclusion I pulled out of thin air; Gain learned this information directly or indirectly through the Benefactor.
The Benefactor of Wisdom didn’t explicitly say so, but we can make reasonable deductions.
It’s not time for Gain’s room to appear yet.
So, there’s no way Gain would recover old memories already—
‘The last room? Who decided that? It’s not the last room. It’s the room without a nameplate.’
‘Room 301 is followed by Room 302. Room 302 is followed by Room 303. Order only exists when there are numbers.’
‘The room without a nameplate has no order. Therefore, his awakening is not related to the proceedings of other rooms on the third floor. It will merely return to the past as time flows.’
Whether the content is right or wrong, it was hard to comprehend.
What kind of entity knows this hotel’s system so well?
The Great Being who ruled over Room 302 – the Son of Dawn has already vanished.
No matter how great the entity remaining on this earth may be, they are nothing more than insignificant spirits compared to prisoners.
How can such a spirit understand the workings of this hotel?
It doesn’t make sense.
So I realized.
The voice that has been shaking my heart wasn’t coming from outside.
“You are a seduction of my heart…”
The evil being does exist.
It is also true that an unknown magic influences the entire Antarctic Base.
However, the content of the whispers in my ears was something I conjured myself.
Which means, I had been looking at Gain uneasily for some time.
Gain’s room is the room without a nameplate.
The lack of a nameplate means there’s no order.
Thus, Gain will gradually regain ancient memories as long as absolute time flows, regardless of the progress of other rooms on the third floor.
All of these thoughts were mine.
“…”
A few comrades, including Lady Ari, tease me by calling me Gain’s loyal subject.
I didn’t particularly mind.
Honestly, I felt the same way about myself.
I didn’t think it was an issue.
After all, Gain’s opinions were mostly rational.
So, in many cases, ‘Kim Sang-hyun’ has followed ‘Han Gain’s opinions.
On the other hand, the dreadful memories of the past whisper to me.
They tell me to think about what tragedy can unfold when an extraordinary superhuman can’t be checked by anyone.
In that sense, the maze of the Deep Sea Hotel is no different from my lifelong master.
She is the one who taught me how low the depths of humanity can sink.
…
I don’t think Gain is like Aleph.
There is too large a temporal gap between their lives to begin with.
The sins committed not in their last life, but in a million lives before?
I believe such things cannot be held against them.
However, this is a story told when Gain is currently suppressing Aleph’s ego.
If the front and back of the coin were flipped…
“…”
Preparing a countermeasure for that time wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
For everyone’s sake.
‘Ha ha! Don’t you know that the distinction between front and back is utterly useless? Or do you know it vaguely but choose to turn a blind eye?’
— Ding!
— You have reached Basement Level 15.
“Phew… We’re almost there.”
I wonder if Seung-yeop is doing well?
I don’t know who the master of the magic shaking the Antarctic Base is, but it can’t be someone that Seung-yeop can’t handle.
I just need to trust my comrades and do what I need to do.
Ahead, a hazy light and a black bag came into view.
According to the procedure, I need to place the strange fragment David gave me on top of that bag.
Then, the ‘Dagger that Slays the Demon King’ hidden inside the bag will reveal itself—
“Hmm?”
There’s a strange notebook on the bag.
“What is this?”
It’s odd.
I had a detailed conversation with David over several hours, but he didn’t mention anything about a notebook like that…
My whole body froze because of a seemingly trivial old notebook.
This is a place where one of the treasures the Management Bureau holds in high regard lies dormant.
If I make even the slightest mistake, I could die before I take a breath.
However, I can’t remain completely still indefinitely.
I closed my eyes and picked up the notebook.
“…”
Fortunately, nothing happened as a result of breaching security procedures, like poisonous gas filling the dark room.
Although the notebook felt strangely familiar.
It was designed similarly to the notebook labeled ‘Ancient Records’ that David showed me recently.
— Whoosh!
At that moment, a sudden cool breeze swept through.
In a place completely isolated like Basement Level 15.
“Whoa!”
For a moment, I was startled and looked around.
— Flap!
The notebook flipped over suddenly.
…
There is knowledge A.
When you learn A, responding with A1 is the most rational choice.
But, what if everyone picks A1, and everyone ends up losing?
The only way to prevent everyone’s loss is to forget the knowledge A together.
Some knowledge is indeed better off unknown.
…
I tilted my head, wondering what that meant, and the page naturally turned again.
…
However, if just one person in the world can take the optimal strategy A1…
Then that person must be me. It must not be anyone else.
…
“Unbelievable—”
At that moment, I heard someone’s voice.
“Is it not amazing?”
“Who are you?!”
“In a way, I admire your companion.”
This voice! It sounds oddly familiar!
