Escaping the Mystery Hotel

Chapter 156: Room 201, The Cursed Room - ‘□□□ □□□□’ (5)

- Crash!

When I turned to look toward the sound, it was already too late.

A monstrous girl had burst out from the shattered mirror!

With wild, disheveled hair and twitching grotesque eyes that only showed the whites, the girl had killed Ahri in a single blow.

She then grabbed Ahri’s severed head and started approaching us.

[I let her live because she's pretty~! But you all will have to play with me for a very long time.]

Before she even finished speaking, Grandpa and Eunsol-noona started firing frantically!

The bullets rained down on the girl as if she were taking a refreshing shower.

The bullet couldn’t even pierce her skin, uselessly dropping to the floor.

The girl staggered for a moment before emitting a voice that sounded like metal scraping together.

[What’s this? You’re using some strange power?]

- Clap!

With a clap, eyes sprouted from the palms of her hands!

Ugh! What on earth is that?

Just looking at it made me feel disgusted, but more importantly, when she started using the new eyes to gather information, my bracelet's influence was blocked.

But I’ve seen my fair share of monsters by now! No other high school girl is more experienced with dealing with monsters than I am!

...Is that really something to be proud of?

Anyway, I expanded the range of my bracelet with all the power I could muster.

"Do you think having four eyes will stop me?"

As soon as I expanded my bracelet’s range to include the eyes on her hands, the girl suddenly burst into laughter.

[You're pretty strong, aren't you?]

At the same time, the mansion itself began to writhe as if it were a living creature.

Eyes sprouted from the walls, the floor, the clocks, the tables, the chairs—everywhere!

The entire mansion had become her eyes.

I gritted my teeth and, for the first time since leaving Room 103, I used “Diverse Perspectives” with everything I had.

My consciousness felt like it was floating in the air.

The power of “Diverse Perspectives” spread throughout the entire mansion.

***- Lee Eunsol

I can't breathe.

Honestly, I don’t have some kind of animalistic instinct, but even an idiot could sense it in this situation.

That girl!

She’s the ruler of this hellish space!

We have to defeat her, no matter what.

The monstrous girl, holding Ahri’s severed head, was treating our bullets like BB pellets.

The Butterfly was used on the gorilla, and our bullets were treated like toys.

It was hopeless.

Songee was putting up a fight I couldn’t even begin to understand, it felt like it was happening in another world.

Grandpa Mooksung had the same look of helplessness on his face.

“…”

This isn't the time to be like this!

Just as I was about to dash toward the front door, hoping Songee would buy us some time—

[Stop being annoying and stay still.]

With those words, hands shot out from the walls and grabbed my legs.

I tried with all my might to pull them off, but my strength was no match for it.

This girl... she’s completely toying with us.

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She didn’t even seem to be going all out in her fight with Songee.

She must have been observing our progress through the various mansions and concluded that we didn’t pose any real threat to her.

While Grandpa and I struggled in vain, Songee's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth began to bleed profusely.

"Songee!"

A chilling voice filled the room.

[Is that all you’ve got? How disappointing.]

"What are you... What is this place?" Songee muttered as she slid to the ground.

The demonic girl slowly walked toward Songee with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Just before her heart was torn out, Songee uttered one last word, "Window—"

A window? What window?

Before she could say anything else, Songee died!

I frantically looked around, but as I had confirmed from the first mansion, there were no windows in this mansion.

With even Songee, who was our best hope, dead, everything was over.

Tree roots, hard as iron, shot out from the walls and completely restrained Grandpa Mooksung.

[Don’t any of you have something interesting?]

***- Park Seungyub

Looks like I’ll have to use it.

I watched through the helmet of the Protective Suit as Ahri-noona and Songee-noona fell one by one, and Eunsol-noona and Grandpa Mooksung were bound by the walls.

Yet the monster wasn’t paying me any attention, seemingly thinking I was already dead or unconscious.

“…”

I’m not stupid enough to be unaware of what will happen next.

This monster clearly intends to torment the rest of us mercilessly.

I concluded that it was finally time to use the Escape Button.

The one hope that will save us from every crisis!

We had talked about saving it for as long as possible since it was a one-time-use item but now felt like the moment.

Just as I reached for the button that Grandpa had placed next to me—

- Thud!

My hand accidentally hit the table beside me, making a noise that drew everyone’s attention to me.

At the same time, the TV suddenly turned on!

With a static buzz, my body froze like stone.

Why now?!

I panicked before regaining my composure.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that the TV turned on at this exact moment.

That girl controlled all the monsters in this space.

- Ting! Clatter...

The awkward timing caused the button to slip from my hand, and slide under the table.

Pledge!

Once again, that cursed pledge started blaring from the TV with its nonsense.

Our response was the same as before. Grandpa Mooksung’s glove flew over and shot the TV, shattering it.

[Oh! Right. You guys did this earlier, too. My bad, my bad~ I’m so forgetful!]

Eunsol-noona ignored her words and instead fired at the hand that was holding her leg.

The gunfire shattered the hand and simultaneously destroyed her own leg.

Even in that state, Noona threw herself towards the button.

At the same time, Grandpa’s glove also flew toward the button.

At this point, the demonic girl shouted with curiosity.

[What’s so important about that thing that you're going to such lengths?]

Another hand sprouted next to the button, grabbed it, and sank back into the floor.

Despair washed over Eunsol-noona and Grandpa Mooksung’s faces as the roots from the walls engulfed them completely.

- Squish... Squish...

The floor was already soaked in blood

The girl approached me, her every step squelching the blood, with the button in her hand.

I felt my breathing became labored.

Her grotesque fingers touched my helmet.

[This suit of yours is pretty sturdy, huh?]

"..."

[No answer? That Eunsol-noona is still alive, you know? Should I pull out her fingers one by one?]

"What do you want to know...?"

[I’m curious. You guys have just been testing the waters, haven’t you? Suddenly throwing so many superhumans into the mix. What’s the reason? It’s a shame that the one who was supposed to report it all is dead.]

What is she talking about?

I couldn’t understand. Testing the waters?

Suddenly throwing in superhumans?

Since we’re supposed to be agents of the Administration in this setting, is she referring to the Administration?

The girl quickly noticed my confusion.

[You don’t know anything, do you? You’re just a pawn.]

- Creak. Creak.

[What an interesting suit. A suit that can withstand Kongi’s punches, huh?]

My whole body felt hot again.

And I was filled with resentment.

What on earth is 'Heaven's Luck' doing?

Since it activated, there hadn’t been a single moment of good fortune.

In fact, just when I was about to use the Escape Button, I hit the table, drawing attention—

“…”

What is that?

"Not having fun anymore?"

[Yeah, it’s getting a bit dull. Too weak, too predictable.]

"Sorry about that. I’ll make it more interesting this time."

[Oh! That—]

Finally sensing something was off, the girl quickly turned around.

Ahri-noona’s head, body, and blood, which had been scattered all over the mansion, began to move on their own!

A strange light gleamed in Ahri-noona’s eyes.

Her blood swirled into a vortex, binding the demonic girl!

Witnessing this incomprehensible scene, I almost threw up.

At that moment, the line between a demon and my comrade from the Hotel blurred!

Isn’t this just a fight between two demons?

In the chaos, I scrambled to get up.

My mind was working faster than ever, continuing the thoughts I had earlier.

Right now, I’m someone protected by “the energy of the universe” under Heaven’s Luck!

There’s no way I could be experiencing misfortune.

The moment I tried to use the Escape Button and hit the table, causing it to fall, It wasn’t because of bad luck; it was because of good luck!

The reason it fell was because I didn’t need to use the one-time-use item to escape… I could escape without it!

The word “window” that Songee-noona had uttered right before she died.

The windowless strange mansions.

But these mansions did have a window.

It was a peculiar window that couldn’t be seen from the inside but could be seen from the outside.

It simply didn’t look like a typical window, so it went unnoticed.

I stood in front of the shattered mirror where the demon had emerged.

I threw myself into the mirror.

I felt an overwhelming gaze.

I felt it.

From the sky, the earth, the sea, the air, the mountains, the rivers—

I felt the gaze of the entire world.

The great eyes were present in every object in the universe.

My beginning was as insignificant as a mere insect—

- Thud!

As I fell endlessly, I hit a protruding window frame and regained consciousness.

What was that? What did I just see?

In my confusion, my body continued to spin as I slowly descended.

I kept falling into the endless darkness, looking back at the mansion—no, the "collection of mansions" where I had just been.

The endlessly shifting mansions were filled with rooms that housed absurdly monstrous creatures inside.

As I fell, I continued to think.

The Cursed Room, Room 201.

The true nature of this wretched place.

The Cube.

That was my last memory of Room 201.

You have escaped!

***Did he escape by sheer luck again?

How long can he keep getting by on luck?

If he doesn’t have the talent, he’ll be finished in Room 203.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 81

Current Location: Floor 2, Corridor

Sage's Advice: 3

- Han Kain

I suddenly awoke from a deep sleep.

The moment I regained consciousness, my skin tingled as if it were being pierced by icy blades, sending shivers down my spine!

I hastily threw on a makeshift cold-weather outfit made of blankets scattered around me.

“Ugh! It’s so damn cold. What’s wrong with this weather? Did anyone find out anything?”

My comrades who worked hard in my place!

Of course, they must have made great progress, right?

Are we on track to resolve this in the next attempt?

Am I just here to deliver the final blow?

Wow! It would feel a bit wrong to take the Inheritance just for landing the final blow!

But it didn’t seem like it.

The atmosphere didn’t look good at all.

Some people seemed so lost that they didn’t even feel the cold, just sitting there blankly.

I approached Elena, who was shivering.

“Are you okay?”

“...”

Did she not hear me because of the blizzard?

As I moved a little closer—

- Whack!

Elena roughly shoved me, and I fell into the surrounding snow.

“…”

Aren't we past the point of needing to practice social distancing?

Oddly, the moment our “eyes” met, Elena looked like she was about to faint.

It seemed like something was seriously wrong with everyone.

I thought I should head to the first floor and have a serious talk with everyone.

Of course, I feel completely refreshed after my nap.