Escaping the Mystery Hotel

Chapter 217: Room 104, Cursed Room - Preparatory Selective, Hotel High School Re (11)

- Lee Eunsol

“I have dedicated my entire life to serving you, Father. Please, grant me a moment of audience.”

Aurelia’s heartfelt plea sounded so pitiful that even my ears ached with sympathy.

Anyone with a heart would feel moved by those words.

But the Lord was not human, and that juvenile Saintess seemed to have missed out on any decent upbringing.

“The best thing you can do is offer your neck here and now.”

The young girl, with a grin so wide it seemed to split her face, raised her hand as if wielding an invisible sword and swung it horizontally.

In the next moment, Aurelia, who just seconds ago had appeared resigned to her fate, rolled across the ground at lightning speed, dodging the invisible blade, and lunged at the young Saintess!

The young girl staggered back in shock, but it was too late.

Faint trails of light shimmered like ripples behind Aurelia.

I thought she had exhausted all of the Lord’s bestowed power, but some must have remained.

Could it be that her mastery of power was so great that even a sliver of it was enough for victory?

“H-hic! W-what is this?!”

“You never learned how to use your power. You merely channel it through your fingers, but your reaction time and mental speed are that of an ordinary human.”

“…”

“What is Father thinking? A new Saintess to replace me? Sure, he can appoint one. I wasn’t the first Saintess anyway. But why appoint an untrained child like you? That, I cannot fathom.”

I could guess, even if Aurelia couldn’t.

To the Lord, the cult was merely a cake to be devoured, it wasn’t something he planned on maintaining in the long run.

He likely thought an untrained child would suffice against me or Grandpa.

Elena, with her blessing of the Justice, wouldn’t have been able to act against the terrifying young Saintess.

So where did the Lord’s plan go wrong?

The failure lay in the fact that Aurelia had allied with us.

As Grandpa and I stepped forward, Aurelia’s sharp eyes turned toward us.

“Stay back.”

“…”

“I only need Father’s promise now.”

Perro Kain responded.

“Art thou going to ask this child to arrange an audience with the Lord?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t understand, but a Saintess has—”

“A right to question and receive answers from a god or something like that. But what if thy god simply ignores thou?”

“Father isn’t some common vagabond; he’s above all others. His words carry the weight of gold and cannot be dismissed as easily as you suggest. If you disagree, then strike me and this girl down now.”

At this, Grandpa couldn’t hold himself back any longer and surged forward!

Well, he tried to. If Aurelia negotiated with the Lord and left, Grandpa and I would be stuck fighting this unreasonable Saintess alone, with no chance of winning.

But a loud peck sound came from above Grandpa’s head.

- Peck!

“…You—”

“Grandpa, have patience.”

I understood what Kain was thinking.

“Thou cannot let go of thy god, correct? Thou shall soon pay the price for this poor decision.”

Everything unfolded quickly after that.

The Saintess’ body shimmered as she pledged, under the name of God, to grant Aurelia one conversation, and the Lord, in some unknown way, permitted it.

The intent was obvious: to separate Aurelia, the only one who could threaten the Saintess, from us.

I don’t want to recall what happened after.

Unfortunately, neither Grandpa nor I were combatants.

Thankfully, the Lord valued speed, so the young Saintess didn’t have time to toy with us.

Amid the excruciating pain of a gaping wound in my abdomen, I watched as Kain “flew” toward the Saintess, transformed grotesquely, and got split apart.

In that moment of death, knowing that hope was realized allowed me to forget the pain for a moment.

***

In a long corridor, a young girl, and a woman in her twenties walked together.

- Tap. Tap.

“…Don’t get any ideas.”

“Get any ideas?”

“I-if you’re planning to beg Father for forgiveness!—”

“Sungah, I have no intention of asking Father to reinstate me as the Saintess, so don’t worry.”

“Who said anything like that? Stop assuming things on your own!”

“Is that so? Then I apologize.”

At the end of the corridor stood an ornate door.

As Aurelia reached for the doorknob, the Saintess snatched her hand away.

“What do you think you’re doing? That’s not even the right door!”

“Ah, right. My mind must be clouded.”

“That’s why Father decided to replace you.”

Scoffing at Aurelia’s “mistake”, the Saintess ignored the ornate door and opened a hidden door on the right wall.

The door revealed a mysterious room filled with a gentle glow.

At the end of the room stood an incongruous bed.

When the young man on the bed lifted his head slightly, the Saintess immediately knelt.

“Father! I apologize. It seems my skills were insufficient—”

“Ugh!”

“…”

“Wow, this is absurd.”

“Father?”

“No matter how much I reduce variables—”

With that, the young man’s body collapsed onto the bed as if he had fainted.

The Saintess’s eyes widened in disbelief.

***

- Han Kain

My consciousness floated upwards.

In an instant, the awareness trapped in my body was freed.

As my vision lifted beyond reality, I saw a blazing sun above.

[How amusing. Aurelia was so desperate that this one granted her this favor.]

Favor? Let’s call it what it is. You only acted because you were afraid that an untrained child would lose to Aurelia, isn’t that right?

[A pig sees only pigs; a Buddha sees only Buddhas.]

So, how does it feel to see me again?

[No matter how perfect a plan might be, flaws always remain. This one considered the possibility of thou seizing Aurelia’s body but thought with only a bit of power left in her, thou wouldn’t dare attempt it. Did the last clash finally deplete that power? Such an odd turn of fate.]

I ceased the conversation and summoned all my strength to unleash the Power of Incarnation.

The battle with the Lord to reclaim control over my body began once more!

Threads of shadow and flames intertwined.

Two opposing forces clashed within me, as my Grimoire and the Lord’s power collided, causing blood to seep from my eyes, nose, and mouth, and my skin to split open.

The pattern was familiar.

Though it was my body, I didn’t care if it was destroyed.

The Lord, on the other hand, had more at stake and didn’t want my body to perish.

Despite his overwhelming strength, the Lord retreated because he had more to lose.

[This is rather unpleasant, but also novel. Thy struggle changes nothing. Who shall stop this one while thou struggle to restrain me and destroy my body?]

So, you’re openly calling it your body now?

[How long can thou maintain this pointless struggle? Five minutes, perhaps? Consider it an honor. Thou, a mere human mage, art dueling a god for five complete minutes.]

The Lord’s words were dripping with mockery and derision.

Unlike before, he was confident because most of my allies were already dead.

Amid the bizarre struggle of strings and puppetry, my mind drifted back to the moment we devised the “plan”.

After the Lord seized control of my body and I fled using Perro’s body, I thought endlessly.

Where is the Lord’s weakness?

At first, I felt utterly at a loss against the Lord, who wielded Descent as his own and seemed to mock Elena’s Blessing with his tactics.

His plan appeared flawless, and the Lord truly seemed like a formidable god.

Then, a realization struck like lightning.

You cannot defeat an enemy you believe to be perfect.

To defeat an enemy, you must first recognize their flaws.

To find those flaws, you must analyze their failures.

the Lord had failed once.

According to Plan A, which the Lord originally conceived, the game should have ended when we cornered Aurelia and the “Holy Sun” appeared.

With control of my body and Descent, we shouldn’t have been able to resist.

But his plan failed when we slipped from his grasp, leaving him gravely weakened and unable to move for more than a day.

He was forced to implement a new plan.

Why did he fail?

Because Songee’s bracelet blocked the mental takeover?

Because of the overwhelming power of Jinchul-hyung’s Star?

Because of Ahri’s ultimate move?

All of these factors played a role, but the Lord, who controlled Descent, could have suppressed them rather easily.

The sole reason for his failure was the Power of Incarnation.

It was the only variable capable of disturbing the near-invincible Descent in a non-physical way and derailing the Lord’s first plan.

What does this imply?

The Lord never made mistakes lightly. If he’d known about the Power of Incarnation, he would have prepared a countermeasure.

He didn’t know about it.

He might not have known it existed at all or knew its name but not its power.

Even I only learned about it the day before entering Room 104.

This realization made me understand there was a gap in the Lord’s knowledge of us.

What did he know, and what didn’t he know?

He knew the Blessings thoroughly.

He knew about Elena’s “Justice” to the extent that he seemed to know it better than her.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have used something like the Saintess who was only a minor.

Yet, he clearly lacked full knowledge about Inheritance.

A peculiar asymmetry in information between Blessings and Inheritance.

Thus, a theory formed in my mind.

The source of the Lord’s knowledge about us likely came from our “Patrons”, who also sat at the negotiation table when I obtained Descent in the past.

Given that the Owl was punished by the Hotel for overstepping, it made sense for the Patrons, despite their power, to have limitations.

They could provide information on Blessings but might be restricted from revealing details about Hotel-issued rewards like the Inheritance.

If so, the Lord might not even know about a certain item that we, the Hotel party, all take for granted.

Father, five minutes is more than enough to end this.

***

As the young man collapsed on the bed, chaos erupted in the room.

The young Saintess, paralyzed by fear at the sudden absence of her God, was at a loss.

Amid this, Aurelia, who had been silent, stepped forward.

“Aurelia! Stop right now! I won’t forgive any tricks.”

“Tricks? I assure you, this is no trick. I thought it wise to take Father to a safer place.”

“Safer? There’s no safer place than here!”

“Saintess, you must know about the ongoing battle outside, between the Administration and the demon, right?”

“What does that have to do with anything—”

“The Administration possesses hidden powers. One of those may have injured Father.”@@novelbin@@

“…”

“If you truly are the pillar of this cult, you should have the eyes to discern truth from falsehood.”

A faint light glimmered in the young girl’s trembling eyes.

“Ah, good. You’ve mastered that power. Now, I will speak, and if there’s any falsehood, I’ll offer my life. Just listen for a moment.”

“…Speak.”

“I was gifted an emergency artifact by the great one in the past.”

“Father bestowed such a gift upon you?”

“This artifact ensures no harm comes to his body. It sends it to the safest place imaginable.”

“And that place is?”

“A luxurious hotel-like location with delicious food and a splendid interior.”

“…”

“Did I lie? I don’t think so. But if you won’t allow it, I’ll wait. However, I’m worried. It’s already been three minutes since Father’s silence. What if something irreversible happens while we wait?”

The girl, trembling, stepped aside.

Aurelia approached the unconscious young man with a small box marked “Escape Button”.

“Father, I’ll send you to safety. Please wait a moment!”

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 98

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104, Cursed Room ‘Preparatory Selective, Hotel High School’

Sage’s Advice: X

With Aurelia’s hand guiding mine, I pressed the escape button.

At that moment, my consciousness, which had been outside due to the Power of Incarnation instantly returned to my body.

My whole body began to float!

Unlike the last time when only my awareness lifted, this time my entire body soared into the sky.

The concrete and ground of the underground city became mere illusions as my body passed through them and ascended to the heavens.

As I ascended higher and higher, I sensed an unseen “boundary” at the sky’s end.

Crossing it, a “sun” detached itself from my body.

“Hahaha! Is that you? How laughably insig—”

A sudden burst of intense heat radiated from the sun, and I shut my mouth, startled!

Luckily, the heat couldn’t cross the “boundary” and fizzled out like a match flame.

“Acting so clever for a mere nothing! I win, you piece of trash!”

[Thou! Thou wretch! Next time we meet, This one shall trap thee in an everlasting flame that shall not extinguish for a thousand years—]

“Oh, Father, are you getting senile? There won’t be a ‘next time’ for us. Goodbye~!”

Darkness enveloped my vision.

You have /genesisforsaken