Chapter 19 – Room 102, Room of Curses - 'Manor of Terror' (5)
[User: Han Ga-in (Ji-hye)
Date: Day 6
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Room of Curses – Manor of Terror)
Sage's Advice: 3]
"Unnieeee! Sob, hic... "
"Noona! Are you okay? Can you see me!"
The crying, groaning, and screaming filling the entire manor deafened my ears, making me lose my mind as well.
Song-i is crying as if her eyes might burst, just like she did in the morning.
The others weren't in much better shape either.
What in the world happened?
Was it about 2 hours ago? I had no idea things would turn out like this when Noona went into the study alone.
Aside from the manor being ominous, everyone was glancing from behind when she went in because...
The study was clean, and it was a comfortable place that even felt somewhat stable and safe.
So we promised that when Noona came out of the study, we'd all talk about what she had found out.
And... it was almost 12 o'clock, and Noona showed no signs of coming out.
Thinking of Elena, everyone called out to her periodically out of anxiety.
"I'm busy right now!"
"It's going to take a while!"
"Just go to sleep first. Let's talk tomorrow."
Like this, several neurotic replies came back, telling us not to interrupt because she was busy to death.
Eventually, everyone gave up, and since it was late, we decided to talk tomorrow.
Besides, Jin-cheol hyung and I were so exhausted from going to the cathedral in the storm earlier that it was hard to endure.
In the end, the two of us who were exhausted, along with young Seung-yeop, went into our rooms, leaving only Song-i to wait for Noona. About an hour passed...
A tearing groan filled the manor.
Since no one was deeply asleep to begin with, we all scrambled up and came out.
Song-i was crying her eyes out while supporting Noona,
and Jin-cheol hyung was frantically shaking her body, seemingly trying to make her collapse faster.
A sharp—awl. Or a skewer.
A horrifying object to even look at had pierced halfway through the back of her neck.
A fountain of blood surged upward, and the screams in the manor showed no signs of subsiding.
Ari, who had rushed over at some point, was pacing around not knowing what to do, and the butler tried wrapping her neck with bandages, but...
Everyone present instinctively felt that it was useless.
Is there anyone in the world who can live with a finger-sized hole in their neck?
Fortunately, it seemed the artery wasn't completely torn by a hair's breadth, so she was still breathing,
but it was obvious it was only a matter of time.
At that moment, Noona reached out her arm and pointed at 'me'.
How hard must it have been to make such a clear motion with a hole in her neck?
Feeling a lump in my throat, I hurriedly approached her.
She was already in no condition to speak, nor could she even look at me.
She just... held my hand tightly.
Was that her last ounce of strength? In less than 3 minutes, Noona's body went limp.
The manor—was filled with tears.
It's still not over.
How many nightmares and tragedies is this manor, and by extension this hotel, hiding?
Leaving the others behind, I returned to my room.
My heart feels like it's freezing.
I want to cry like Song-i. I want to vent my anger like Jin-cheol hyung.
I want to hide and shiver like Seung-yeop.
But I can't.
I can clearly feel that the others are no longer capable of 'rational thinking', so if even I let my guard down and start crying, screaming, and hiding...
Who will survive until the very end, and who will overturn this tragedy and create a happy ending?
That's why—Noona must have grabbed my hand at the very end.
Sitting on the bed, I opened my hand.
A small note. There wasn't much written on it.
Creak
S Cathedral, Maid, Bell.
S Is the single 'S' written there a mistake from trying to write Cathedral?
Creak
Anyway, I understood at least two words. I'd been to the cathedral, and there was only one maid in the manor.
But what did 'Bell' mean?
Creeeak
If she was going to leave a dying message like this, it would have been nice if she had written it a bit more specifically.
However, judging by the extremely scribbled handwriting, she might have written it in a great rush.
First, I need to figure out what 'Bell' means.
And for tomorrow's schedule...
I need to sleep.
Elena died in the morning. Eun-sol noona died in the evening.
The mirrors are busy having staring contests with me, the clock has been drenched in blood more than 10 times,
the dolls tilt their heads whenever they see people, and the cups walk on their own—a crazy manor.
Crash! Hisss!
Nevertheless—
In order to survive to the end and escape this manor with everyone,
In order to build up stamina for tomorrow's exploration and survival...
I must sleep.
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
"So I said shut the fuck up, you son of a bitch!!!!!!!"
I stabbed under the bed with the silver dagger in my pocket.
It didn't stab anything in particular, but I heard the noise of something slithering away.
At this point, I don't even want to know what was under the bed or where it went...
[User: Han Ga-in (Ji-hye)
Date: Day 7
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Room of Curses – Manor of Terror)
Sage's Advice: 3]
"Tell me the truth! Do you think I'm an idiot? Don't you know it's been weird since you were grinning like that yesterday!!!"
"Sob... Hyung, please stop. Ari doesn't know anything either."
I woke up from sleep to the sound of a roaring voice ringing through the entire manor.
What in the world now. This manor never has a single quiet moment.
Without even washing up properly, I rushed out to the living room, and saw Jin-cheol hyung, his face flushed red, holding onto Ari and screaming at the top of his lungs.
The somewhat funny thing in all this was that Ari herself looked surprisingly calm, while Seung-yeop next to her was crying.
Is Seung-yeop really shooting a Romeo and Juliet scene all by himself?
Leaving Seung-yeop's love aside, it seemed clear that this chaos needed to be calmed down.
Regardless of suspicions, if simply grabbing someone and screaming at them was enough to make all the secrets spill out, it wouldn't have earned the grand name of 'Manor of Terror'.
"Hyung. That's enough. More importantly, why are you doing this?"
I was inwardly worried. I feared that the extremely agitated Jin-cheol hyung might start rampaging like a wild boar at me too.
Honestly, that would be scary...
Fortunately, Jin-cheol hyung at least had enough rationality to recognize an ally.
"You came at a good time. I'm not holding this kid for no reason. Do you think I wanted to grab a little girl and scream at her?
I was going to grab that dog-like old man and confront him... but that old man suddenly disappeared!"
"Grandpa didn't disappear. I told you he's usually not seen in the mornings because he's organizing the manor or the garden."
"In this storm? Organizing the garden? This kid is really making a fool of—"
"Doesn't it occur to you that I'm making a fool of you because you're stupid? It seems like you wouldn't be able to get out even if it took 10 years."
?
What?
Just now... Ari seemed like a completely different person.
Of course, since she was being yelled at for something that wasn't really her fault, she must have been angry... but was she the type to throw words this harshly?
From her way of speaking to her voice, it was completely different from usual.
Even Jin-cheol hyung, who heard those words, was more dumbfounded than angry, not knowing what to do.
Click
"I apologize. With the storm raging, I wondered even more if there might be a shortcut somewhere...
I ended up wandering around, and it seems I've caused you all to worry."
As the butler returned at an impeccable timing, the atmosphere became extremely awkward.
Even Jin-cheol hyung, who was planning to confront the 'old man', couldn't hide his panic when he was caught screaming at his granddaughter in front of that very 'old man'.
"And... Ari, apologize to the guest immediately. I will also apologize.
She is still young, so it seems she couldn't hold back her anger for a moment. Please forgive her."
Could the person who was yelling at his granddaughter in front of him say 'I cannot forgive her' on the spot, just because the child couldn't hold back her anger?
Hyung isn't that heartless.
"No... It's not like I was trying to get mad at her in the first place. It's just, um... the situation, um..."
It felt like it would drag on endlessly. It was an unproductive conversation. So I just cut in.
"The situation in the manor hasn't been good since yesterday, so it seems everyone is on edge. Let's leave it at this.
So, did you find any shortcut, Butler? It seemed like you were also thinking about repairing the boat yesterday."
"Unfortunately... I couldn't find any shortcut. So it seems we do need to repair the boat after all.
Could you help me? I've prepared the tools for the repairs."
"Well then, I'll just change my clothes and—"
"Hyung, it'd be better if you stayed here."
Jin-cheol hyung looked at me with bewildered eyes. I gestured with my chin toward Seung-yeop.
It meant: are we going to leave Seung-yeop alone in this extremely dangerous manor? Fortunately, hyung understood and stepped back.
Of course, he must be anxious about leaving Seung-yeop alone...
But more than that, I didn't think this hyung could control his emotions while roaming around with the butler.
And... I also had something I wanted to hear from the butler, preferably 'alone'.
"Since yesterday... tragic things have been repeating, so I am also extremely bewildered.
Mr. Ga-in, you don't get agitated easily even in this kind of situation, so it seems your mental discipline is remarkable."
"Well, what kind of discipline could I have? I just think about how to survive.
By thinking only about that all day, I naturally pushed away other thoughts."
"That itself is mental discipline. Nothing else is."
Is he pointing that out by bringing up Jin-cheol hyung, who couldn't control his emotions?
I couldn't care less about the subtle tension between the butler and hyung. It was time for my question.
"Butler. Is there perhaps anything related to a 'bell' in this manor?"
"A 'bell'? Hmm... I'm not sure where you heard that."
Should I tell him? It's probably better to make something up.
"Ah, I thought I heard something like a bell sound while I was sleeping. With all these ghost-like things running rampant all over the manor since yesterday..."
"A bell sound... I didn't hear it, but the manor did have issues related to the bell as well."
"Issues, you say?"
"The cathedral you went to yesterday. Actually, there was quite a decent bell in that cathedral.
There was a time when the clear sound it made morning and evening was somewhat of a local attraction.
However... at some point, the old master came to despise that sound immensely.
Every morning and evening, whenever he heard the bell, he would clutch his head in pain."
"Hmm... Could it be that the relationship between the manor and the cathedral started going bad because of that?"
"That's correct. Because of that bell sound, the old master tried to drive them out, even if it meant buying the cathedral's land...
I am ignorant and don't know much about lawsuits, but the dispute didn't proceed exactly as the old master wished at the time.
Still, somehow or other, the cathedral ended up half-ruined, and the people to ring the bell disappeared...
In the long run, you could say the old master's wish was fulfilled."
"Then, is the bell still in the cathedral now?"
"Of course. The ownership of the bell also belongs to the cathedral, so the old master didn't bother to touch a bell that no one was going to ring anyway.
If you climb a ladder to the upper part of the cathedral, there's a small bell tower, and I believe the bell is still inside it."
I learned two facts.
The old master extremely hated the sound of the bell.
The bell is still in the bell tower on the upper part of the cathedral.
While I was racking my brain, recalling the newly discovered facts and the ones I already knew,
I arrived at the cathedral before I even realized it.