Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 268: Room ???, Cursed Room - ???? (6)

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- Han Kain

Four days had passed since I reunited with Jinchul-hyung.

On the first day, after much discussion, we concluded that we had to combine our strengths to head for the mountain range.

It might seem like a sudden decision, but the time given to participants in a Cursed Room was never long.

If we hesitated for too long, we could suddenly find ourselves being killed for the simple reason of being too late. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Of course, the tribespeople begged us to reconsider, kneeling at our feet, and Old Wolf Fang even clung to my legs in tears.

But Jinchul-hyung and I insisted that we had both received a prophetic dream granted to us by the ancestors.

There was an old saying: If three people said a tiger existed, the nonexistent tiger became real.

Today, I added a new saying of my own...

If two Divine Ones insisted on a lie, a nonexistent ancestor could be created from nothing.

No evidence was needed.

No logical explanations were necessary.

It wasn’t as if these people would understand if I told them the truth about the Hotel, anyway.

So we just kept insisting.

Hyung and I had received a prophecy. There was a paradise beyond the mountains, and we had to go there.

If they didn’t want to follow us, we would go alone.

In the end, they were persuaded.

Many of them genuinely started to believe we had received a prophetic dream.

And even those who thought it was nonsense reluctantly followed, unable to bear the thought of wandering the wastelands alone.

And so, four days passed.

“No matter how I think about it, not many people in the party could pull this off.”

Hyung had said this at least five times by now.

There weren’t many among our party who could force the tribespeople to march toward the mountains like this.

“The power of your Grimoire invokes a deep, supernatural fear, and my physical strength and Star are visibly overwhelming. That’s why they’re willing to close their eyes and follow us.”

“You mean, even if a real demon jumped out of the mountains, they believe that we could kill it?”

“Something like that. And on top of that, they wouldn’t even dare to resist us. No matter how I think about it, the others—like Eunsol-noona, Grandpa Mooksung, or Sanghyun-hyung—probably couldn’t do what we’re doing. Maybe Elena or Ahri could.”

Elena could probably push them even harder than us—if she was still in her right mind.

Ahri, I had no doubt, would be able to pull it off as well.

The forced march had continued for four days, but honestly, I wasn’t all that exhausting.

Ironically, this only made me more anxious.

“We’re moving too slowly. It’s comfortable, but...”

I had never even seen Jinchul-hyung sweat.

“Well, with so many elderly, women, and children, it’s impossible to go any faster.”

For a moment, a cold thought crossed my mind.

What if we left the tribespeople behind?

If it were just me and Jinchul-hyung, we could move three times faster.

But could these primitive people even survive in a world crawling with monsters without a Divine One to protect them?

Just in the past four days alone, we had to fight the Flashing Bird and the Blood-Drinking Tree.

Hyung, who had been watching me closely, suddenly spoke up, “Kain, don’t get ahead of yourself. I can see what you’re thinking.”

“What? I’m not—”

“I’m not dragging them along just to act like a nice guy. I believe these tribes’ people serve a purpose in this room.”

“A purpose...?”

“I’m sure they have a role to play in this Cursed Room.”

Could that really be true?

Or is Hyung just convincing himself it’s true?

A flood of thoughts filled my mind, but I decided to drop it.

I didn’t entirely agree with him, but it wasn’t as if I could suddenly say, “Screw them, let’s just go by ourselves,” and expect him to go along with it.

And deep down... I could feel a tiny part of me didn’t want to leave them behind to be devoured by monsters.

That tiny part had just shifted, like a small gear turning inside me.

By evening, we had stopped at a slightly murky waterhole.

I was about to discuss what we might find beyond the mountains with Hyung when someone shoved open the tent flap and strode in without hesitation.

“Lord Kain! Isn’t it boring spending all your time with the Boar God?”

It was Winter Flower—the same girl who had barged into my tent last time.

Among the tribe, she was practically my betrothed.

It didn’t matter how many times I ordered the warriors to stop people from entering my tent—because who among them would dare block the betrothed of a Divine One?

“...Winter Flower, I’m busy right now—”

“You’re always busy! You were busy yesterday, busy today, and you’ll be busy tomorrow!”

At that, Jinchul-hyung chuckled.

“Oh, so it’s her again. Listen, Miss, I hate to interrupt, but we’ve got some serious business to discuss. I’ll make sure it doesn’t take long, so could you step out for a bit?”

“I... I understand.”

Unlike when she spoke to me, Winter Flower lowered her head respectfully and stepped out of the tent.

“Why the hell does this scenario have a forced fiancée setting?”

It wasn’t as if I planned to stay single my entire life, but I had zero interest in forming deep attachments to anyone inside a Cursed Room.

Why?

Because the moment we cleared this place, we would never see them again.

“If I had to guess, the original history of this scenario had a fiancée character in it,” Hyung said.

“But hey... have you ever thought about something?”

“Something?”

“Why aren’t ten naked women crawling into your tent every night?”

“PUH–”

I choked on my water and spat it out.

For a second, I thought it was some crude joke, but when I looked up, I saw that Hyung’s face was completely serious.

“Does it sound weird to you? Because to me, it seems too obvious. What do you think you are? To these people, you’re the descendant of a god. You’re their king, their emperor. Your spouse would be their queen. Your offspring would be their princes and princesses.”

“...That’s true.”

“Under normal circumstances, a ton of girls from the tribe should be throwing themselves at you, hoping to change their fate. But that’s not happening. Instead, it’s just that one girl lingering around you. Doesn’t that seem strange?”

Now that he mentioned it... it was kind of odd.

“The answer is simple. Divine Ones are not an existence that are born”

“...Huh?”

Hyung gestured between himself and me.

“The ‘Divine Ones’—that’s our role in this world, but what exactly are they? I did some digging, and I found some interesting pieces of information.”

I leaned forward, intrigued.

“All Divine One—including you and me—were not born into the tribe.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know? Did you think Divine Ones were born like normal humans? Surprise! They’re not. Every single Divine One descends from the heavens.”

For a moment, my mind blanked.

Divine Ones fall from the sky?

“Specifically, one day, the tribespeople just wake up and find a child in their midst, radiating divine energy. The child has no memory of a past life, and the tribe accepts them as their own.”

“...”

“That doesn’t mean marriages are meaningless,” Hyung continued. “Since the Divine Ones are honored while they’re alive, their spouses gain status, and their children are treated well. But those children? They’re not divine. Divine Ones only come from the sky.”

After confirming with Old Wolf Fang, we learned that it was all true.

The old man was shocked that I had forgotten something so obvious.

The Divine Ones descended from the heavens.

Which led to a new question—

Who’s sending them down?

And why?

Five more days passed.

On the ninth day—

We finally reached the mountain range.

And at last, I reunited with two of my long-lost comrades.

***- Elena

The deeper we went, the worse it got. There was really no phrase more fitting than “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.”

How do these Cursed Rooms keep getting more horrific every time?

Even Room 202 was bad enough—I suddenly found myself as a merfolk princess, going through the mind-breaking experience of transforming into a fish.

But this place... this place is even worse.

The moment I regained consciousness, I screamed like a madwoman.

And for good reason—because the very first thing I saw when I woke up was beyond horrifying.

The entire world was pulsing flesh.

The ground beneath me was covered in lip-like meat, writhing as if it was breathing.

The sky was a deep, unnatural purple, and the surface I had been lying on—was a massive tongue.

If one didn’t scream after waking up to that, they weren’t human.

I kept screaming, and soon, dozens of octopus-like creatures with wriggling tentacles emerged, surrounding me.

I was on the verge of completely losing my mind.

“That was really scary... I wonder what would’ve happened if you guys weren’t here?”

“Pii?”

“No, no! I mean it, I’m grateful.”

They say that humans grew the most when faced with a crisis.

In that moment of utter despair, Happy Imagination bloomed, creating beings of pure radiance—creatures that fluttered through the air with wings like emerald leaves, their eyes shimmering with starlight.

Did they respond to my fear?

The fairies began to work their mystical magic, purifying the horrific creatures around me.

Those grotesque, nightmarish monsters were gradually washed clean of their madness, their forms growing more beautiful with each passing second.

That was right—the number of fairies kept growing.

The corruption of this world slowly faded.

The radiant manifestations of beauty I had summoned from my own hands brightened the twisted, grotesque landscape.

“Still... it was a bit lonely. Fairies can’t talk, after all. That’s why I’m really glad to see you, Seungyub.”

“Hic!”

For some reason, Seungyub had been hiccupping nonstop ever since we met.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah! I-I’m fine!”

“Seungyub, you’re not sick, are you?”

“Noona! I’m really fine!”

Lately, I’ve been having a lot of thoughts—human bodies are just so weak and inconvenient.

They’re not strong, they’re not durable, and worst of all—they can’t even fly!

And weakness is something that must be overcome.

“What do you think?”

“H-huh?”

“Don’t you think your body is a little too weak?”

“Hic!”

As Seungyub hiccupped again, I gently touched his skin.

So soft... too soft.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with his delicate human flesh, but wouldn’t it be better if it were as sturdy as a beetle’s exoskeleton—

“AAAAH!”

“Hmm?”

Strangely enough, the area where my fingers had touched him had hardened.

And then—Seungyub fainted.

I calmly stood up and looked outside.

At this rate, we’d reach the mountain range by the day after tomorrow.

And once we arrived, I’d surely reunite with the others.

I knew this for certain.

A few days ago, I had interrogated one of the tentacled creatures before making it “beautiful,” and it had told me that Grandpa had abandoned them and headed for the mountains.

Of course, I still wasn’t sure why they felt such intense betrayal toward him.

I turned my head, looking down at the unconscious Seungyub.

The thought crossed my mind again.

He’s far too weak.

Perhaps I should help him... a little more actively.