Chapter 810
Episode 810 – A Very Strange Day (6)
「User: Han Gain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 9,329
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 1」
— Han Gain
“What do you think?”
The moment I finished speaking, Seungyeop raised his hand, looking flustered.
“Uh? Did you always have a… notebook in your hand?”
A notebook without a title appeared in Seungyeop’s right hand as if it had been there from the start.
With that, I could consider it an answer from him.
“Seungyeop, pass the notebook over here.”
The boy, despite the confused expression on his face, obediently extended the notebook.
I also handed over the ‘exchange gift’ I had brought from the room.
“What is this?”
Seungyeop needed an exchange gift to get the notebook he brought from Room 302.
The demon side had directly informed me of this fact, but choosing a gift was no easy task.
Most of the items in Room 105 were hotel property, not mine.
It wasn’t like I could offer an inheritance as an exchange, so I had very few options.
At first, I was drawn to a ‘pen that can be used anywhere,’ but that felt too precious.
After all, it was the only writing tool that could be used to take notes in the status window.
Moreover, the value of the pen increased further with the separation of the Observatory and Cursed Room on Level 3.
Once I ruled out the pen, there was really only one possession left.
“It’s a doll.”
“I can tell just by looking at it… It looks like you.”
A doll resembling me.
It was an item I obtained while saving the maze suffering in Ice Hell long ago.
“Here, let’s trade the notebook.”
Not too long ago, Seungyeop had a disgusted expression.
It’s only natural since he had just been called out to be toyed with by some unknown demon.
However, now he had a curious look.
Seeing how things were turning out, it seems I had almost resolved the demon issue.
“So, we’re exchanging my notebook for the doll, right?”
“…”
“So, the demon contained in the notebook will transfer over to your side?”
“Right. Can I have the notebook?”
“Yes.”
The notebook came my way, and the doll passed over to Seungyeop.
“Uh… Is that it?”
“Probably.”
“Then what do I do now?”
“Go inside and rest. Don’t forget our appointment time.”
“Okay.”
Now alone in the corridor.
I stared at the seemingly ordinary notebook and fell into thought for a moment.
In fact, I had worried that the exchange might not properly take place.
This was because of what the demon that had possessed Seungyeop had said.
‘Could you prepare one appropriate gift? It should have meaningful value.’
Based on the expression ‘meaningful value,’ it seemed I shouldn’t bring something meaningless and trivial.
Only when presenting a special item would the ‘exchange of tools between participants recognized by the hotel’ be established, right?
If you think of it this way, the reason a normal exchange was established here is quite simple.
The doll given by Santa wasn’t an ordinary item. Perhaps I should have carried it around normally?
“The doll is starting to feel a little precious…”
At that moment.
— Flap!
The notebook opened up on its own, and strange text appeared.
Do not cling to the past.
I don’t know what kind of object the doll is, but I will be far more helpful.
“Wow, you’re quite skilled, huh.”
There had been quite a few ups and downs along the way, but looking at the result.
One of the demons trapped in Room 302 had invaded the hotel, right?
Considering that the King of Is had been destroyed when invading the hotel, it was really not an ordinary matter.
I couldn’t help but admire the demon’s ingenuity.
Of course, one must consider that the demon side knew the hotel rules like the back of its hand due to the strange background of ‘Unfathomable Liberation.’
For example, the recent tool exchange between participants.
I discovered today for the first time that there was such a system in the hotel.
It meant that the demon knew hotel rules that even I, as a participant, was unaware of.
Given this, the conditions were much more advantageous than that of a typical Great Being.
This was a big gamble.
Heavenly rules have many gaps, but that doesn’t mean they are easy to breach. Quite the opposite.
The hotel’s rules have many gaps.
However, it is challenging to exploit those gaps.
— Creak!
The door to Room 105 opened again.
Out came Ari.
“Ari? What’s going on?”
“Gain, what are you doing here? The black rain is still falling.”
“I had something to do with Seungyeop for a moment.”
“Really? Hmm…”
“Why did you come out?”
Ari tilted her head as she answered.
“I just saw the blessing flickering.”
“What?”
“You might remember, but for me, the hotel’s hidden element appears like a sort of status window.”
Ari had often talked about this.
In her eyes, there was an opaque window that was invisible to others, and the content read as follows.
# Hidden Room
1. Paradise
2. Room of Succession
# Hidden NPC
1. Unfathomable Liberation
2. ???
“Hidden NPC item 1 is Unfathomable Liberation, and it suddenly got much bigger.”
“Got bigger?”
“It became bold and sparkly. According to past experiences, this indicates that we have found a hidden element.”
“…”
“It seems someone has encountered Unfathomable Liberation. Who could it be? Eunsol?”
As Ari tilted her head, I felt a sudden realization and said with a dizzying feeling.
“Let’s go in for now. We still have about five hours until the appointment time.”
“Okay. See you later.”
— Thud!
*
An astonishing realization I gained while listening to Ari’s story just now.
“… You, do you know?”
The notebook that had naturally appeared on the bed.
I stared at the notebook in a daze as I explained my earlier realization.
“Hidden NPC item 1, Unfathomable Liberation had already been disclosed even before we entered Room 302.”
So…
Before the demon invaded the hotel.
Not only before the invasion but also before it even made plans to invade.
In fact, even before it met me for the first time.
That means the hotel had already assigned that guy as a hidden NPC on Level 3.
“…”
The hotel is the most transcendent realm in the world.
Even Great Beings who can crush stars with one hand consider those who shed tears for the three thousand worlds as gods.
The gap between those who shed tears for the three thousand worlds and Great Beings may be greater than the gap between us and the Great Beings.
I had already known facts like the above.
I was well aware of it all…
However, the moment I feel fragments of that transcendence, I often find myself speechless.
— Flap!
The demon’s thoughts hidden in the notebook were also not that different from mine.
This is quite the sight, like a monkey on the Buddha’s palm.
*
The appointed time to meet with my companions.
I arrived a bit early and began to wait, and soon my companions began to gather one by one.
Having gotten enough rest, everyone was in a livelier mood than earlier.
“Let’s go to the snack table.”
As soon as we seated ourselves at the table, Older Brother Jin-cheol spoke up.
“Who currently has the Dream Kingdom?”
Ari nodded her head.
“That would be me.”
“Ari, just to check, have you tried to approach Elena and Eunsol in the Dream Kingdom?”
“I tried earlier, but it didn’t work. I couldn’t make contact.”
“Ugh… I kinda thought so, but it’s definitely not working.”
“Looks like it.”
Maze, who had been listening, complained.
“Blocking companion location info and blocking the Dream Kingdom! Why block everything? Why is the hotel being so petty?”
Older Brother Sang-hyun smiled wryly as he said.
“Maze, this isn’t being petty; rather… do you know it’s the intent of the creator?”
“Intent of the creator?”
“I heard you went through school until middle school back in reality. The teachers would have said this during class. When solving problems, you need to consider the creator’s—”
“I didn’t pay attention in class.”
“…”
“I quit because I found it boring after a few times.”
As the baffled Older Brother Sang-hyun started to fluster, Ari sighed and continued to explain.
“Maze hasn’t really received public education. That’s why they don’t have the answers.”
“Ah! Again—”
“Anyway, what Sang-hyun means is simple. Approaching companion location info? Dream Kingdom? That kind of approach is pointless.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the creator’s intent. This method goes against the hotel’s intent.”
Approaches that disregard the hotel’s intent do not work.
In many cases, the hotel interprets the rules as they wish.
If we move according to the hotel’s intent, the rules apply generously.
If we go against the hotel’s intent, the rules are applied extremely narrowly.
The Mirror Room is a good example.
Participants wishing to make a wish must first unify their hearts, and that is the hotel’s intent.
Using mental manipulation tools like Original Human to unify the mind unnaturally?
Reading the underlying ‘genuine impulses’ while ignoring all manipulation tools.
In this way, bypassing the hotel’s rules was nearly impossible.
“In this problem, the creator’s intent is clear.”
Older Brother Sang-hyun nodded his head.
“Indeed. In fact, I think this time the hotel has been rather kind. Didn’t it clearly state the intent from the beginning?”
He gestured towards the display hanging near the snack table.
“It’s still written there. That’s the hotel’s intent.”
There is darkness in the hearts of five among you.
That darkness is casting ominous shadows over the hotel!
The day won’t end until everyone’s delusion is dispelled.
What about having a sincere conversation with each other?
“Darkness in the heart, remove the delusion. I think it’d be good to have a sincere conversation with each other.”
After a moment of silence, Grandfather lightly tapped the table and spoke up.
“I was confused a while ago, but now that I’m lying on the bed and thinking carefully, I feel something. In my opinion, I think everyone else feels similarly as well.”
Grandfather’s gaze turned towards me.
“Gain.”
As soon as my name was called, everyone’s eyes naturally gathered towards me.
At this point, I realized one thing.
“It seems everyone has something to say to me.”
“…”
“I heard Older Brother Sang-hyun and Ari both say their introductions were long and noisy. Go ahead and speak.”
“The two missing people, Eunsol and Elena. Based on the circumstances, they must have gotten caught in the same anomaly. I was thinking about the connection and, naturally, it’s you, isn’t it?”
Ari shrugged her shoulders.
“I mentioned it before, right? The commonality between Eunsol and Elena. They both disappeared after trying to tell you something.”
Others began to chime in one by one.
“Brother, I think similarly.”
“… I think so too.”
“Mm, me too. I only mentioned the Dream Kingdom as a shot in the dark.”
“I feel the same as Ari.”
“What? I didn’t know that!”
“Older Brother, I also didn’t know.”
“Both of you are bragging. You two are dumber than Pero!”
“What?!”
“Grandfather, Pero is usually smart.”
“Dumber than Humpty Dumpty!”
“Aren’t those words a bit much?”
“Oh, come on! All three of you quiet down. Anyway, it seems everyone has reached the same conclusion. Let’s write it on the whiteboard.”
4. Han Gain
Darkness: ???
Anomaly: The sudden disappearance of Elena and Lee Eunsol.
“Gain, one more thing to say…”
Ari’s gaze was directed at me.
“I don’t think you’re unaware of what we’ve realized.”
“…”
“What do you think?”
Deep thoughts crossed my mind.
So… should I think from the beginning?
First, the information I obtained while solving issues related to the Management Bureau, the Ark, and the Moon in reality.
Aleph’s evaluation in the Management Bureau.
*
“Considers most humans as tools, except for a few.”
“Just a typical Management Bureau agent.”
“Sees words like faith, trust, conviction as trivial.”
“…”
“Has explored the secrets of the world more deeply than anyone else.”
“I’ve got many questions too.”
“A person who has gained the power to resist the Spiritual Destruction.”
“… That’s quite something.”
“There were also lots of negative records, and there wasn’t any good content.”
*
A person who gained the power to resist Spiritual Destruction.
First, I doubted something but brushed it off for now since I was focused on the issues of the Moon and the Ark at that time.
Secondly, something strange happened in Room 301.
I had my head cut off by a Duke and still didn’t die.
That had never happened before.
It felt like an old power sleeping was awakened when I surpassed a certain level.
Third, the existence of the nameless room itself.
Clear evidence that there is some story left related to me.
…
After researching for 25 years, I vaguely realized.
I had already conducted this ‘research’ long ago.
I had reached the end and obtained results.
The immortal soul that cannot be destroyed even by the power of the Management Bureau is the evidence of that.
At the end of the research, there was something incomprehensible.
I got results but shouldn’t remember the process.
Thus I forgot the process and left only the result to taint my soul.
…
And I explained the facts up to this point to Elena.
“From here on, it’s my speculation.”
“Go ahead.”
“A long… long time ago, I went all the way to the northern end and arrived in Hell.”
“…”
“Upon arriving in Hell, I collected something. And then, I deleted the memory of that direction.”
Everyone was paying attention to what I was saying.
“I vaguely explained this part of the story to Elena…”
“Explained it?”
“… It seems Elena passed this story onto Older Sister Eunsol.”
“So?”
“It seems Older Sister Eunsol vaguely realized something while listening.”
At this point, my companions wore puzzled expressions.
“What?”
“It’s not something grand. If I had to specify, the realization Older Sister had was something like ‘The direction seems to be north?’”
There’s no need to overinterpret this.
Sister hasn’t done the same research as I have.
She doesn’t know that there’s something unimaginable at the end without knowing the way.
Perhaps she merely threw it out as a joke while hearing my story from Elena?
‘It feels like the direction’s north?’
“… So?”
“It seems this was the trigger.”
Ari displayed a perplexed expression.
“No, no. Gain, I understand what you mean, but at the same time, I have no clue.”
“Go ahead.”
“So, what you’re saying is, while you were researching, you explained a minor idea to Elena, and Elena then passed it to Eunsol, right?”
“Right.”
“Eunsol, upon hearing that explanation, realized a fascinating idea or keyword?”
“Right.”
“How is that related to the two people who went missing?”
I shrugged my shoulders and said.
“Past me didn’t plan to share my research with anyone.”
“…”
“With anyone. Because only I needed to know under the heavens.”
