Chapter 36 - Room 103, The Cursed Room - 'Athanasia's Human Ranch' (5)
[User: ㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁ
Date: Day ㅁㅁ
Current Location: Layer 1, Room 103 (The Cursed Room - Athanasia's Human Ranch)
Sage's Advice: 3]
The true nature of this 'ranch' grasped through the 'Diverse Perspectives' bracelet.
I originally thought it was some kind of laboratory.
A massive laboratory built on solid ground like structures created by humans, with spaces inside for extracting the intelligence of various sentient beings.
And the speculation that there was an overwhelmingly huge room underground where the 'Teacher' was confined.
It was completely different from reality.
This facility was absurdly a giant alien spacecraft!
Dozens of rooms were revolving around the room where the 'Teacher' was confined, and the collection of those rooms was endlessly advancing through a massive space.
It was like simulating the form of planets, including Earth, orbiting around the sun while the sun endlessly races through the outer galaxy.
In this massive spacecraft, the 'Teacher's' role was not some experimental subject or research object, but the 'Engine' that powered the entire spacecraft.
I also understood the meaning of disabling the control device.
Separating the two rooms that control the 'Engine' from the engine itself was the disabling of the control device.
But...
On a spacecraft flying through space, what would happen to a connected room if you detached just one?
Wouldn't that room become an orphan of the universe, with no engine and no means of survival left?
I looked at Estavio in dismay.
"What happens to this room if I detach the control device?"
You're asking something obvious. It will become an orphan of the universe. It might collide with something somewhere, but before that, it will die of starvation.
No need to worry. For the 'Faces' in this room, even death is salvation, and you just need to move through the bracelet.
"What about you?"
What are you worried about? Did you feel some affection for me in that brief moment? If so, that's fortunate for me.
It's nothing. Just... a brief rest will come...
Even that won't last forever. Someday this room's nightmare will begin again, and the 'Swallower' will restore my ego once more.
"Affection for you... putting that aside, how can I get out of here without your help?"
Even without me, the Swallower will help you somehow. In the end, overcoming the ordeal is something the participant must do themselves, isn't it?
You can't know by asking me. Actually, it's laughable from my position. I am already a defeated loser who couldn't overcome the ordeal.
Do you seek help from a loser while still being a participant with possibilities remaining? Believe in yourself...
Estavio didn't accept any more conversation. I didn't hope for any more help either.
--------Click
A tremendous noise echoed throughout the facility. In the middle of space, the connection to the engine was severed.
The future of this room...
Let's not think about it anymore. I'm too busy taking care of myself.
I just fiddled with the bracelet, which I was now becoming familiar with using. It was time to leap to the room with the second control device connected to the engine.
What could possibly be there?
There's one last thing to do.
"Didn't you say there would be no more help?"
Before that, didn't I say I could intervene 'twice'? I must keep my promise...
The moment Estavio's tentacles swirled through the air, unidentified knowledge flowed into my mind.
The identity of the space where the second control device was located. Along with realizing its identity, I also understood what I had to do.
Ah... this hotel really drives me to the extreme. But... there's not much left now.
*
This place is truly different.
This room was completely different from the nightmare farms that had embodied the imaginary hells I'd seen on the 'spacecraft' so far.
An interior with a gentle atmosphere felt despite being built by a species with entirely different aesthetic sensibilities, a warm temperature.
Soft carpets and various devices that looked like toys.
Naturally. This place was a space to protect and educate Athanasia's larvae, that is, children.
I came here to turn this place into hell.
As I stepped inside the room, small starfish-like creatures wriggled toward me with an air of looking at a strange animal.
Can't Athanasia walk upright when they're larvae?
Come to think of it, human babies crawling when they're young might be similar. Even though they were larvae, they were already bigger than me.
I thought as I passed through the larvae. Why specifically do the 'Farm of Pain' and the 'Kindergarten' control the engine? The conclusion wasn't difficult to reach.
Those two places were what Athanasia considered the 'safest' locations.
The other rooms were mostly ranches for gathering and exploiting alien sentient beings from Athanasia's perspective,
so they must have considered the possibility of alien sentient beings rebelling, just as I am doing now.
On the other hand, in the Farm of Pain, the sentient beings other than Athanasia had only their heads left and were being tortured eternally, with no bodies to resist.
In the kindergarten, there were only Athanasia larvae, so there were no risk factors.
They probably didn't consider a situation where a crazy 'livestock' would steal the bracelet with the help of the 'Engine'...
It's about time they showed up, right? I wandered roughly among the 'children'.
But of course, how could there be only children in a kindergarten?
Naturally, a 'Teacher' had to come out. A 'Teacher' with 'control authority' over the room had to come out for things to proceed.
Who. Are. You
A sharp voice pierced into my mind like a needle.
Compared to Estavio, who felt almost like conversing with a person, this voice was somewhat awkward.
When I turned around, an adult Athanasia was visible.
"Well now. A lost chicken that escaped from the poultry farm?"
Come. Out. From. There.
"Are you planning to use 'Diverse Perspectives' as soon as the children come out?
I've tried using this thing, and surprisingly, when there are this many sentient beings around, I can't specify a target."
You. Are. Known. To. Teo. Dous. Thing. Turn. Back. And. You. Will. Be. Forgiven.
"It's really hard to understand you. I'm sorry, but I still have a lot to do"
You. Can't. Understand. Words. You-
-----------Wraaaaaaaah!
Once again, the brilliantly colorful voice of the 'Teacher' echoed! How on earth can I feel 'color' from a sound? I just waited for this mysterious sound to echo!
As the sound echoed, the adult Athanasia froze like stone.
There was no being like Estavio here who would guide me right up to the control device as in the 'Farm of Pain'. Therefore-
I now had to break the mind of this kindergarten teacher.
*
----Thwack!
I killed one.
----Thwack!
I killed two.
How many have I killed? I counted up to five, but now I'm not sure.
The only certain thing was that the room was overflowing with starfish to kill.
The attempt to control the adult Athanasia with the bracelet and liberate the Teacher in the 'Engine Room' had failed.
The bracelet's ability was truly powerful, but I, the user, was a complete novice.
With my skill, I couldn't fully deceive the transcendental mind of the adult Athanasia.
But... couldn't I control the larvae either?
Even for Athanasia, they were ultimately mortal creatures only slightly stronger than humans. They weren't divine beings from birth.
After that, it was too easy.
I gently stroked a larva's head, and when I 'educated' the child to see other Athanasia's heads as delicious food, the child happily began its meal.
------Grrrrrk------Rumbleee
An unidentified sound began to come from the adult that the Teacher had frozen.
Mouth? I don't know, but a strange liquid flowed from the holes that sprouted on its body, and the tentacles began to tremble violently.
How must I look to that being?
A chicken that was being raised in a poultry farm until yesterday escaped, suddenly grabbed a gun, invaded a kindergarten, and started shooting the children en masse.
It must feel like seeing a nightmare they couldn't even imagine in their dreams.
"The thing I was most worried about before coming here was, what if we can't communicate?
Before meeting Estavio, I had never had a conversation with you all even once.
But now that I'm here, I see that you could fully communicate with us."
---Thwack! Kyaha!
The head of a friend they were playing with must be quite tasty. I made it that way, but.
"You understand what I'm saying, right? I'd like to go to the control device."
Actually, I don't particularly intend to get help from that adult Athanasia.
Dialogue. Communication. Negotiation. These peaceful means are only used when there's no way to dominate the opponent.
When you hold a tool that dominates the opponent's mind, why on earth would you negotiate?
I'm just waiting for the opponent's mind to collapse so they can't resist even my amateurish control.
---Sizzle!
This time it started tearing off and eating another child's tentacles. I roughly grabbed the largest-looking child and started controlling it, but it's quite violent.
Even in the children's world, there are differences in size.
When a child who looked about 4 or 5 years old in human terms started acting violently, the individuals closer to babies were busy crawling around making strange noises.
Slump-
The sound of something collapsing. When I turned my head, I saw the tentacles of the trembling adult flowing down like overcooked noodles.
I knew naturally. It had collapsed. Finally, within the terrible nightmare, the adult's mind had collapsed.
What followed was a rapid progression.
Without being able to put up any further resistance, the adult accepted my control through 'Diverse Perspectives', and I separated the 'Kindergarten' from the engine.
Now for the last step. Just one more step.
I had to return to the 'Engine Room' again.
*
As soon as I leaped to the outside of the 'Engine Room', I met a very familiar and missed face.
"Song-i! Oh... sob... I missed you so, so much. I've just been waiting for you to come in this terrifying place, sob"