Chapter 25 – Interlude – Just Who Are You People?
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 8
Current Location: Floor 1, Hallway
Sage's Advice: 0]
"Ah, that looks mighty tasty. Young friend there! Hand over one of those big pig's trotters this way."
"... I don't think this is pig's trotters, it's probably that Schweinshaxe thing."
"Right, hand over some of that Schawe-whatever trotter."
Just as I was about to pick up the large chunk of Schweinshaxe to hand it over, the piece of meat vanished.
"Whoops, this looks really delicious."
Without hesitation, Jin-cheol hyung next to me snatched it up first.
There was no reason for Jin-cheol hyung to suddenly pick a fight with me... It was clear who he was trying to provoke.
"Heh, aren't you being a bit too prickly since a while ago? I believe I gave a rough explanation..."
"Haha, prickly? Aren't you a great Bureau agent? I just felt sorry for you, having to eat pig's trotters."
"Ah, why is this little bastard, who looks like a wild boar, running his mouth so lightly?"
"Hoh, for someone who has lived long enough to know better, your words are quite—"
"Please, let's stop this while we're eating. Jin-cheol, you shut up too. And you too, old man."
Having gone through such an arduous ordeal, I thought we'd be embracing each other in tears. The atmosphere of the meal was vastly different from what I had expected.
The two newly added people.
The two that everyone had secretly considered enemies back at the Mansion of Terror had joined us, making the situation this exhausting.
"Ari noona... this is fried eggplant, it's really delicious. You should try some."
"My, thank you, Seung-yeop."
Of course, there were also those who couldn't care less about the war of nerves happening around them.
Letting out an inward sigh, I checked the companion information on the status window.
1. Han Ga-in (20) - Wisdom. K University Freshman
2. Cha Jin-cheol (31) - Courage. Former martial arts fighter
3. Yu Song-i (17) - Affinity. Raises multiple animals.
4. Elena Ivanov (23) - Justice. Child of an exiled diplomat. Aspiring actress.
5. Park Seung-yeop (14) - Luck. Tempestuous boy.
6. Lee Eun-sol (32) - Wealth. 3rd daughter of the Daeyang Group Chairman.
7. Kim Muk-seong (68) - Communication. Chaos Disaster Management Bureau Agent.
8. Kim Ari (16) - Suggestion. Chaos Disaster Management Bureau Apprentice Agent.
Absurdly, the two newly added people were an agent and an apprentice from the Bureau.
Of course, the Bureau was an organization whose actual purpose wasn't even known to the world.
At the level of an ordinary person, all they knew was that...
somewhere on Earth, there were things like demons and ghosts that normal people would never have to deal with in their lifetimes.
And that there was an organization that handled them.
Since what we were experiencing fell precisely into that category of bizarre occurrences, was it only natural that agents were present?
Eun-sol noona, having finished her meal quickly, began to summarize the general situation.
"So, from what I gathered earlier, you two were trying to prevent the civilian disappearances caused by the hotel... and somehow ended up captured by the hotel, is that correct?"
"That's right. To be more precise, we used our own means to enter, but the moment we stepped in, the hotel dragged us away as characters of Room 102. We consider it to be a sort of 'punishment'."
"The hotel's own punishment for illegal trespassers?"
"Something like that. A punishment where you are trapped in your role, unable to do anything, only able to pray that the legitimate participants clear it. It was quite tough."
"Well, we can put that aside for now. Anyway, granpa and—"
"Hey, Cha Jin-cheol!"
"Ahem, doesn't the gentleman possess the means to enter the hotel along with that apprentice young lady? Is there no way to use that to get out?"
"I'm sorry, but that method is gone."
"What exactly was that method?"
... The old man's mouth instantly clamped shut. Was it a sensitive question? Even so, for the sake of escape, we had to know what we could.
Just then, Ari spoke up.
"I think it'd be best to just tell them, Grandfather. The hotel has been kidnapping people for a long time, and occasionally, those armed with luck and skill manage to escape, having acquired various powers in the process. When a successful escape occurs, the hotel lets them out while handing them an 'Entrance Ticket'. Essentially, an invitation to come back if the need arises."
"Did you use that Entrance Ticket to get in?"
"If we had used that, the hotel wouldn't have deemed it an 'illegal intrusion'. That ticket can only be used by the escapee themselves. We... came by 'replicating' it in our own way. That's why the hotel treated it as an illegal intrusion."
Was it because there were many other people around?
Ari... appeared far more polite, refined, and well-mannered compared to my memories of her in the mansion.
Come to think of it, her age here was also a couple of years older than her appearance back in the mansion.
I felt like the issues regarding the two people's identities had been roughly resolved.
"Next, let's share some feedback on how things played out in the mansion. We'll be facing plenty of life-threatening situations in the future, so we need to go over this before we move on. Naturally, the ones who stayed until the end will know the situation best. Ga-in, take it from here and summarize it for us."
The floor was passed to me. Thinking I should organize my thoughts calmly, I began writing on a whiteboard I had scavenged from somewhere.
1. The Timing of Song-i's Possession and the Progression of the Murders
"Then, let's summarize the events in the order they occurred. First, exactly when was Song-i possessed?"
As soon as the topic shifted to her, Song-i hung her head low.
"I... actually have no memory after touching the puzzle piece..."
"So touching the puzzle piece was the trigger. If we ever go back there, we shouldn't even lay a finger on the pieces. OK."
"Let's also discuss how everyone died. In the order you died, Elena?"
"Song-i came to my room at night saying she was scared... We chatted for a while and fell asleep. Then, I suddenly woke up in excruciating pain, but by the time I woke up, I was already being strangled, so it was over in an instant."
"I'm so sorry..."
"My, it's not your fault, Song-i."
"Am I next? It's nothing special. I came out after sorting through various documents in the study, and saw Song-i was still up late. But honestly, I felt it then. Deep down... I had a feeling Song-i was the one who killed Elena. When I found the documents, I even braced myself for death. But when we actually bumped into each other, she acted so naturally that I thought, 'Maybe not?' Then the moment I turned my back, *thrust*."
"Unni, I'm really sorry."
"Let's stop apologizing. We all know it wasn't you, anyway."
"I really don't know. I just suddenly died while we were all eating, right? What the heck was that?"
"I think I know about that. I didn't realize it at the time, but thinking back, I personally checked the food and juice beforehand, but I didn't check the beer that only hyung drank. She must have slipped something in it."
"Hah, seriously, is even having a drink dangerous now?"
"Noona called me over to take a walk by the lake, and she suddenly pushed me..."
As everyone vividly recounted how they were murdered by Song-i, Song-i herself was reduced to a state where she looked like she would burst into tears at the slightest touch.
2. The Meaning of the Memo
"This is something I really wanted to ask once I got out, but why did you write it like [S, Cathedral, Maid, Bell]? Was it because you didn't have enough time? It was incredibly difficult to figure out if this meant I needed to take Ari to the cathedral and ring the bell."
"Uh... did it turn out like that?"
"Pardon?"
"Um, I actually didn't write it with that specific meaning in mind. If it had meant that, I would have written it more comprehensibly, as you said. That memo was just a list of keywords from the documents I read. I didn't even know there was a bell in the cathedral. I simply saw texts that conveyed the 'old man's' hostility toward the cathedral and the bell, so I jotted those two words down, and I also saw a passage about the maid being brainwashed, so I wrote that down too. I wrote garbage, but you deciphered it perfectly."
"What about the 'S'?"
"I was going to write 'Song-i,' but I wasn't certain, so I stopped. At the time I wrote the memo, the only clue regarding the killer was 'someone Elena would let into her room at night, sit by her bed, and sleep with.' Song-i came to mind first, but Seung-yeop is also still young... I didn't want to instill a misguided prejudice when I wasn't even sure myself."
"The fact that you left a memo means you thought you might die?"
"I had braced myself for it, and among the texts in the study, there was a mention of a 'grimoire that drives ordinary humans insane just by looking at it.' I figured it would be somewhere in the study... but I couldn't actually find it. Is it somewhere else?"
I glanced over at Ari. Ari flashed a sweet smile, as if asking what was wrong. Was it not her?
3. How Did the Two Agents Wake Up
"Now, let's resolve the most crucial question. The hotel has manipulated our minds multiple times, and we've never once managed to resist. Yet... you two from the Bureau clearly snapped out of it at a certain point. How?"
"Firstly, it's because we are fundamentally trained to resist such mental manipulation, and secondly, it's thanks to my Blessing."
"Your Blessing? 'Communication'?"
"I'll put it simply. My Blessing is 'KakaoTalk'."
For a moment, everyone was speechless.
"KakaoTalk out of nowhere... what on earth do you mean?"
"It's a metaphor. Just as the word 'Communication' implies, it's an ability optimized for, well, communicating. It's better to show you than explain it. Everyone, come hold my hand one by one."
With bewildered expressions, everyone took turns holding the old man Kim Muk-seong's hand.
Muk-seong: Can you hear me?
Eun-sol: ...
Ga-in: ...
Song-i: This! What is this? Something is popping up in my head!
Muk-seong: This is my Blessing. It allows us to communicate through our thoughts. Normally, it's no better than just talking. However, it allows us to converse even when our bodies are out of our control. By chatting through this every now and then, Ari and I were able to maintain our sanity.
Ga-in: That is... a remarkable ability. It seems like it could be incredibly useful.
Seung-yeop: Wow! Can we chat like this all day?
Eun-sol: For instance, during non-meal times in Room 105?
Muk-seong: I'm sorry, but there is a limit to how much we can talk. Right now, we've already used up half of it. It's not an ability meant for casual conversation. It has to recharge over the passing of a day.
Ga-in: Understood. Any other limitations?
Muk-seong: I haven't discovered any yet. Ah, and it can also do this. Jin-cheol? Say something.
Stupid Wild Boar: What are you saying all of a sudden? Wait, what is this?
Muk-seong: The room host can set the display names.
Eun-sol: ... Since there's a chat limit, let's leave it at that.
After a brief moment of wondrous experience, we returned to our verbal conversation in the real world.
It was undoubtedly a highly useful ability.
However, the fact that a conversation lasting less than a minute consumed more than half of the daily quota meant its restrictions were just as significant as its utility.
"Come to think of it... what kind of Blessing did you receive, Ari? Ga-in mentioned it said 'Suggestion'."
"I was locked in Room 102 as soon as I entered, so I'm not really sure."
Not sure?
She seemed perfectly capable of casting a hypnosis-like spell on me for someone who didn't know.
It was a somewhat dubious answer, but I didn't press her on it.
"Well, I think we've pretty much covered everything we needed to say. And... you all truly worked hard. I want to say something inspiring, but I'm honestly just too exhausted. Everyone feels the same, right? For now, let's all get some rest. Starting tomorrow, we'll have to dive right back into the cursed rooms. See you all in the morning."
With that, dinner time came to an end, and we were transported back to our respective spaces.
I should probably just get some comfortable rest for the time remaining... I'll worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow.
...
Ari: Can you hear me?
Ga-in: ...
Ari: We don't have much chat quota left.
Ga-in: What are you trying to say? Playing the innocent?
Ari: My! I have no idea what you mean. The last thing I saw in the mansion.
Ga-in: Why didn't you bring this up during dinner?
Ari: Because it's better if no one else knows but you.
Ga-in: What exactly—???
Ari: You really don't know much about your own Blessing.
'Wisdom' helps humans accept knowledge that they would otherwise be unable to comprehend.
I'll show you right now. If you combine my Blessing with Grandfather's, you can do things like this.
Gazing at something from an impossibly distant vantage point.
An image that seems to melt the brain.
An endlessly deep pit.
A pit resembling entrails stretching out infinitely.
A horrific figure crawling its way up.
An unbearable headache struck me.
I'm going to have a terrible nightmare tonight. Why did she have to show me this right before bed...