Chapter 21 - Room 102, Room of Curses - 'House of Horrors' (7)
[User: Han Ga-in (Ji-hye)
Date: Day 7
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Room of Curses - House of Horrors)
Sage's Advice: 3]
After returning from the cathedral, I laid Ari, who had fallen asleep as if she'd fainted, in one of the rooms.
Various complicated thoughts.
The deaths of two people, the mansion filled with bizarre phenomena, the girl with many secrets.
A devil resurrecting by consuming offerings.
How on earth can we escape?
The more complicated things are, the simpler I need to go. I can't solve every problem at once.
Hasn't one certain escape method already been confirmed?
For now, let's focus on the boat. I made up my mind.
During dinner, I'll gather all four of us and say that if the weather clears up even slightly, we should take the boat and leave immediately.
Even if the lake is somewhat rough, I judged it better to brave some danger and break through the lake by boat than to stay in this mansion.
And... one more thing I'm worried about. That part—Jin-cheol hyung should be able to suppress it sufficiently.
One hour later, my plan collapsed in the most horrific form possible.
"Cough... Kkeeeeg... Kkuh-heooooough..."
A lump of blood spewed from hyung's mouth, and sounds filled with agony filled the entire mansion.
A scene of someone dying—I'm almost used to it by now.
From the morning of Day 2 when we arrived at the hotel, to the evening of Day 3.
In just two days, the third time. Blood began pouring from a person's mouth.
We were all gathered to discuss escape plans.
While I stood still, recalling the details of my plan, Seung-yeop asked the butler to prepare light refreshments,
Song-i prepared beer and beverages, and hyung kept his eyes wide open, watching if anything suspicious was approaching the two of them.
Sitting at the simply prepared table, before I could even speak about the plan—let's take a bite of snacks first—in just one minute, only hyung was rolling on the floor.
I can't understand it.
The possibility of something being wrong with the food was something I had worried about from the start.
At the very least, we had to avoid everyone dying from eating the food at the same time.
Therefore, using the excuse that the taste was off, I had the butler eat the refreshments first.
As for the drinks, before I could even come up with an excuse, Seung-yeop had already chugged them down.
Both of them were perfectly fine, so why did this only happen to hyung?
The scenery of death, which I'm growing increasingly accustomed to.
I don't even want to recall how Song-i cried again or how Seung-yeop trembled.
Even so... at the very least, I wanted to hold his hand.
I quietly walked over and grabbed the hand of hyung as he rolled on the floor.
His trembling eyes turned toward me.
"Ga-in-ah... Kkuh-heok, Ga-in-ah... I should be helping you more..."
I decided to give him the comfort I couldn't provide to the previous two.
"Hyung. Let's go outside and see."
"Ah... Hehe... Right. It's nothing. Let's go outside and see, Ga-in-ah."
Just like that, 90 percent of our group's fighting power vanished in vain.
Standing by the mansion window, I gaze at the night sky. The storm raging even into the late hours.
Even through that, the eerily shining moonlight grazed the curtains and filled every corner of the room.
What should I do?
Even the person I could at least discuss various plans with, and our reliable fighting power, have both disappeared.
Aside from me, the only people left are a girl who has cried for two days straight until even her tears have dried up,
and a boy who closes his eyes to everything out of a psychology of escapism and runs toward love.
With our fighting power gone, is attempting to escape by boat still a wise choice?
Honestly, I'm not confident I can suppress danger. While staying up through the night with complicated thoughts, I heard footsteps.
Could it be coming for me too?
Without hesitation, I grabbed the silver dagger and stood next to the door.
If it's the person I'm expecting... maybe if I strike first, something might work out.
The person who entered was different from who I expected.
"Ari? It's late... No, more importantly, are you awake?"
"No. Ari is sleeping. That's why 'I' could come see you."
For a moment, my breath stopped.
This isn't the Ari we've seen since the first day. It's the 'other Ari' I saw at the cathedral yesterday.
Wasn't she only supposed to appear in the special location of the cathedral?
If not, then is the cathedral simply something like a place that unsealed the 'other Ari'?
"What are you..."
"Want to play a game of cards?"
What is she talking about?
"At this hour? I'd appreciate it if you explained a bit more?"
"That explanation is exactly why I'm saying we should play cards."
The 'other Ari' spoke casually without honorifics, and it felt so natural.
Sitting quietly together on the bed, I listened to the simple rule explanation.
To put it simply, I use 'attack cards' to destroy Ari's 'defense cards' or reduce Ari's own health.
Ari endures with 'defense cards' and every time she draws a 'sacrifice' card, she destroys the sacrifice card.
In this process, if Ari destroys 6 out of a total of 8 sacrifice cards, she wins. If I reduce Ari's health to 0 before that, I win.
The turns passed several times.
I repeatedly reduced Ari's health, destroyed her defense cards, and tried everything to take Ari down.
It wasn't easy. Ari kept blocking, enduring, somehow drawing 6 sacrifice cards and destroying them, and kept winning.
I lost one game, lost the next, and lost the one after that. Only after accumulating about 5 consecutive losses did I think.
Honestly, isn't the rule itself too advantageous for Ari?
"Do you think it's too advantageous for me?"
I was flustered by the timing, as if she had read my mind.
"No... well, rather than that, isn't it just that I'm not used to it yet?"
"Both. It's true you're not used to it, but it's also true that it's originally advantageous for me."
Casually, the girl who started this strange card game said that this game was originally in her favor.
What kind of answer is she expecting?
"You're not familiar with this game, and even the rules are disadvantageous to you. What should you do?"
"Well, I just need to think harder?"
"The opponent will be thinking too, you know?"
I don't know. I was at a loss for words.
"How about changing your strategy?"
"Change my strategy?"
"I'm telling you to accept that this isn't a game you can win with your current skill level in the first place."
Now—I think I vaguely understand what this girl is trying to tell me.
"Even if I try to change my strategy... realistically, it's just me now.
If we lose, everyone dies. How can I accept that I can't win?"
"Why do you think you die if you lose? You can survive just by drawing."
"I understand what you're saying, and I was trying to just draw too. I was only aiming to escape, but I don't know how to do that. The boat—"
"Don't obsess over the boat. Go back to the card game and think about it.
If you want to win, you have to somehow deplete my health completely.
But if you want to draw, isn't there an easier way?"
An easier way.
Only then did I understand the meaning she was trying to convey.
"Let's play one more round."
In the final round, I gave up on reducing her health. I also gave up on destroying her defense cards.
I destroyed Ari's 'sacrifice cards.'
Ari's victory condition was to 'directly' destroy 6 out of 8 total sacrifice cards.
To prevent this, there was no need to take Ari down.
I just needed to destroy 3 or more sacrifice cards before Ari could destroy the offerings.
After the final round ended, Ari smiled slightly for the first time and went out.
I realized yet another escape method.
[User: Han Ga-in (Ji-hye)
Date: Day 8
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Room of Curses - House of Horrors)
Sage's Advice: 3]
Morning of Day 4 since arriving at the mansion.
When I woke up in the morning, the rainfall finally began to weaken.
I hurriedly washed up and was about to call hyung or noona, but suddenly realized.
There's no one to call. Calling Seung-yeop or Song-i honestly has no meaning.
From now on, I had to be prepared to proceed alone.
When I stepped outside, I saw the butler who always tends the garden in the morning.
"It's still early... but you're up early?"
"The rain finally seems to be weakening. I was wondering if we could finally see a way out."
"It's certainly a relief that the rain is letting up. However, just because the rain has weakened doesn't mean the already risen lake water level will go down.
If you want to take the boat, you'll probably have to wait a day or two."
"That's true for the boat... but is there no route out toward the mountain?
With this amount of rain, it seems like it might be worth trying to climb the mountain wearing rain gear..."
"Hmm, if it were clear weather, there would certainly be a path over the mountain.
However, given the storm that raged until yesterday... the mountain terrain will have become much rougher, so I'm not sure if it's passable.
Honestly, hiking in the rain is an excessively dangerous endeavor."
"Of course mountain climbing in the rain is dangerous, but honestly this mansion seems more dangerous."
"It saddens me that I cannot deny that. Then, would you like to check if there's an escape route toward the mountain?"
"I think it would be best if you and I go take a look together. I'll get ready soon."
"I'll also prepare myself and come join you."
Taking advantage of the lull in the rain, the butler and I decided to check whether there was an escape route on the mountain side rather than the lake.
In my room, I dressed as appropriately for mountain climbing as possible, and stuffed several thick towels inside my clothes.
And
With the silver dagger pushed inside my top, I left the mansion.
Today, I might kill someone.