Chapter 22 - Room 102, The Cursed Room - 'Mansion of Terror' (8)
[User: Han Ga-in (Ji-hye)
Date: Day 8
Current Location: Layer 1, Room 102 (Cursed Room - Mansion of Terror)
Sage's Advice: 3]
It's harder than I expected.
It's obvious that hiking in the rain would be difficult, but this is no joke.
Even if the storm has weakened somewhat, it only went from tempest level to merely heavy rain.
The still considerable raindrops blurred my vision, and the ground, soaked with moisture, sucked at my feet with every step, making it hard to even take a single stride.
Moreover, when I tried to avoid sinking into the mud by stepping on solid rock, I slipped completely and ended up tumbling down the slope.
Meanwhile, is the butler ahead of me using some kind of qinggong?
No matter how much more hiking experience he has and how well he knows this mountain's terrain, can there really be such a difference?
He advances without a single waver even in the pouring rain.
He even kindly helped me up and brushed the dirt off me when I started struggling.
By the time we reached the halfway point, my stamina had hit bottom and I started panting.
"I think... we need to rest for a moment."
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. My stamina is lacking."
"Not at all. It's only natural that climbing a mountain in the rain is difficult. Come this way, under the tree.
The leaves and branches are quite dense, so less rain gets through."
The butler, with an expression showing no exhaustion at all, said it was natural to find it difficult while leading me under the tree.
"Yesterday, you took Ari to the cathedral."
"There were things to find... and things to confirm."
"Did you find and confirm them well?"
"In my own way, I found what I needed to find, and confirmed what I needed to confirm."
I sense a subtle tension in the air.
"Did you hear various stories from Ari?"
About how things changed after hearing the bell, or about hearing the 'hymn.'
Should I answer?
As I hesitated without responding, the butler didn't press for an answer and simply started walking again.
"That child has been good since she was young. After losing her parents at such a young age, she could have easily fallen onto the wrong path...
But she never strayed from the right way."
"She really does seem so bright and kind that you'd never know she'd lost her parents."
"Thank you. Also... I'm not saying this just because she's my granddaughter, but isn't she quite a lovely child?
But more than her face, her heart was even lovelier.
She was a pure child who believed that if you conveyed something with sincere heart, everyone would accept it."
"Showing sincerity. There's no better way to persuade someone."
"But... there are people in this world who don't respond to sincerity."
"It seems you've encountered such people."
The butler closed his mouth.
We walked, and walked, and walked again. About 30 minutes to the summit? With the rain constantly slowing our pace, it was hard to be certain.
More than that... I'm curious. The butler seemed to want to say something about Ari.
How can I draw more words out of him? Should I probe a bit from my side?
"Just endure a little more. The summit is gradually approaching.
Once we reach the top, we can scan the paths below and check if there's a safe route."
"That's somewhat of a relief. Honestly, my legs are really trembling now."
"Did you find the bell at the cathedral?"
A continuation of our earlier conversation. This time, let me try answering a bit more.
"Yes. It was there on the bell tower. Just like before, for a place where no one lives, the cathedral seems well-maintained. The bell was in good condition too..."
"No one lives there, but the building itself still serves a purpose. The mansion's ship is also still anchored..."
"So, is that why you've been maintaining the cathedral all this time? Father?"
Once again, a brief silence descended.
"It's been a long time since I heard that title. Did Ari tell you?"
"Ari didn't specifically say anything like that...
I just had that thought at some point. Even though it's been empty for a long time, the cathedral is quite neat.
Who keeps maintaining it? The only person who would is you, Butler.
But managing the mansion alone must be difficult enough, so why do you also maintain the cathedral so carefully."
"Did you deduce that from just that one thing?"
"Actually, I also attended church when I was young.
It might be different from a cathedral, but honestly, to my young mind, church wasn't particularly fun.
At most, meeting with the other kids was the fun part...
But hearing that Ari has been diligently attending the cathedral alone since childhood, in a place without even friends, a thought occurred to me.
Perhaps she didn't really attend the cathedral, but simply lived with her grandfather."
"That's also less of a deduction based on solid evidence and more of a guess. Ultimately, it feels like you just probed to see."
"That may be true, but... it seems I guessed correctly."
The rain started to get heavier again.
Our pace slowed even more, and now my legs were trembling so much that it was hard to move.
Through the rain, I hear clear words.
"The old man was a cruel person. It started with outrageous demands.
Surrender the land, if you ring the bell one more time, I'll tear down the bell tower.
He didn't care. Even after learning that the old man had fallen into corrupted faith, he didn't care.
Since the Lord is in heaven, what is there to fear?
As time passed, the area became desolate.
People near the mansion left one by one, or disappeared.
Ari couldn't endure it."
"The person who doesn't respond to sincerity... could it be..."
"Ari went to the mansion alone. With sincere heart, she hoped the old man would have kindness toward the world.
Ah... that child was young. Truly young.
It's my fault for not teaching her earlier that there are people in this world who don't respond to sincerity.
From the day after she visited the mansion, she suffered from a fever.
Like her soul had left her, she couldn't even hold a proper conversation.
She just trembled, saying only that the old man had 'kindly' shown her something.
Strange songs. Strange poems. That child no longer sought the Lord..."
The mountain summit approaches.
The butler no longer spoke respectfully to me.
He is no longer a butler. He is merely a priest whose granddaughter was held hostage.
"I went to the mansion and begged and begged again. I gave up the lawsuit, I gave up the cathedral.
I simply knelt and prostrated myself. I only hoped for the old man's mercy.
Only after I laid down everything could Ari rise from her bed...
I must protect my granddaughter..."
"Did you also lay down your position as a priest at that time?"
"What was I supposed to do? I dedicated my entire life to the Lord. When Satan struck me and the child, the Lord did not extend His hand.
You have a strong heart. That is your misfortune.
You make things difficult when it could have simply ended by crying and waiting like the other children left in the mansion.
I agonized until the very end. Whether I should take action myself, or let the old man sacrifice you.
However... six is enough. Three have already been sacrificed, and two remain in the mansion,
For the last one, my old neck will suffice. There's no need for the old man to personally deal with you..."
At the summit, the priest turned around.
Ah... things are truly going badly.
When we started climbing, I thought there would be plenty of easy opportunities during this perilous rain-soaked hike.
But while I couldn't even manage my own body, the priest had drawn infinitely ahead, leaving no openings...
And now that we've reached the summit, I'm completely exhausted and in this state.
I gritted my teeth and drew my dagger.
"As expected, you prepared in advance. Were you wary of me? Or were you planning to harm me? It doesn't matter either way."
The next moment, the priest lunged at me as if flying through the air.
[Immediately step 3 paces to the left!]
The 'Sage's Advice,' which hadn't responded even once during the moments people were dying since entering the 'Mansion of Terror,' activated for the first time.
As soon as I saw the notification, before I could even think, my body moved three steps to the left on its own—
The rotten log lying on the ground along the path between my new position and the priest collapsed.
When the log the priest stepped on gave way, he lost his balance and staggered.
Is now the time? The very moment I raised my dagger and charged—
[Step back!]
Within a second, another notification appeared, and I reflexively retreated.
Almost at the same instant, an awl or pick-like object that shot up from the priest's embrace grazed my body.
"What is this?"
"You brought a weapon too, did you think I would come empty-handed?"
It feels like less than 5 seconds since the fight started, and already two pieces of advice have been consumed.
It's clear. This priest is unmistakably stronger than me.
But... I knew the priest's physical abilities were superior to mine from the first day.
Naturally, I prepared an additional measure.
However, I can't use it in this heavy rain. I need to change positions.
Was I thinking too long? The priest, having regained his balance, charged again.
I've been feeling this since earlier, that old man must have learned some martial art.
How can he run so steadily in a space filled with rotting wood, slippery rocks, and flowing mud?
Slip—
Eventually, I lost my footing first. My body's balance collapsed, and I tumbled across the ground.
As I hurriedly raised my upper body, I saw the priest seizing the opportunity and rushing in.
[Pull the rock on your right!]
The third advice. This time, I was momentarily stunned during that split second.
Not telling me to dodge somewhere, but suddenly telling me to pull a rock?
But even as I had these thoughts, my arm moved on its own and pulled the rock, and an absurd thing happened.
The rock I grabbed had been supporting a tree on the left whose roots were half-rotted!
When I pulled away the rock supporting the tree, the rotting tree immediately collapsed and struck the charging priest.
The priest tried to sharply change direction to avoid the tree, but this was an environment where it was easy to lose balance even while walking normally.
In the end, he completely lost his balance and fell.
Should I rush in? The time for contemplation wasn't long.
Didn't I just experience it? Approaching carelessly is extremely dangerous.
He's not critically injured, and I'm not confident I can win against a priest holding a weapon in close combat.
Looking around, I spotted a tree with dense branches and leaves blocking the rain.
From there, I could use my trump card.
I ran toward the tree while grasping the item I had hidden in my chest.
As soon as I arrived, I turned my head.
In that short time, the priest had risen and was charging at me.
Sssshhhhhh!
"Aaaaaaaah! Uwaaaah! You son of a bitch, what did you—!"
The priest, whom neither the storm nor the wind and rain nor the harsh mountain terrain could break, rolled on the ground like a child.
The pick that looked like it was made from sharpening a candlestick had fallen somewhere, and he was frantically rubbing his face against the dirt ground, completely oblivious to anything else.
Two days before entering Room 102, when the monster from the pool attacked people,
Eun-sol noona showed her resourcefulness by buying liquid capsaicin from HP Market and defeated the monster.
At that time, everyone thought the same thing. That was too excellent a weapon.
In a situation where guns couldn't be obtained, liquid capsaicin was in some ways a much superior weapon to a dagger.
Unfortunately, she had poured it generously on the monster, leaving only a small amount at the bottom of the container.
It was barely enough to fill the bottom of the spray bottle that used to emit subtle fragrance at the hotel.
After barely making two of those, noona gave me one without hesitation.
Why did she give it to me? Thinking about it now, it seems she already trusted me in her own way from that point.
Regardless, that judgment wasn't wrong.
Finally... it's time to end this bloody battle taking place in this rain-soaked mountain.
I firmly gripped my dagger and approached the priest, who was still flailing about.
Thud—
Something pierced my waist.
Ah, if only one advice had remained, it would have told me to dodge. What a shame.
My body, which had reached its limit, crumbled.