Chapter 38 – Party Time! - What on earth did you go through?
Chapter 38 – Party Time! - What on earth did you go through?
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 13
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105
Sage's Advice: 3]
With a sensation now familiar to everyone, the process of waking up together in front of Room 103 and returning to Room 105.
No tears of emotion or embraces—everyone just wore blank expressions.
What on earth happened.
Only one person could answer, and the rest had lost consciousness while playing "animal games," so no one had anything to say at all.
Glancing sideways
The single person who could answer—Song-i—I kept observing. Something... had changed.
Due to the hotel's nature, no matter what horrific things one experienced inside, returning outside restored one to a perfect state, but there was an undeniable shift in atmosphere.
Her always timid, cowering appearance had vanished, replaced by an endlessly exhausted expression.
Moreover, right before waking from the "sleep." The status window displayed a clear message to everyone:
Final Resolution. Acquisition of Legacy 'Diverse Perspectives'
Whatever it was, I at least understood that while everyone else had lost their minds, Song-i alone had gone through some tremendous adventure and obtained a "treasure."
In a manner of speaking, it felt like she had instantly risen to the top of the food chain among us.
Everyone kept stealing glances at Song-i as we headed to Room 105 for lunch.
Surely she'd tell us something once we started eating something delicious.
*
----Pop!----Pop! Clap clap clap clap clap! Clap clap clap clap clap! Clap clap clap clap clap! Clap clap clap clap clap!
As soon as we entered Room 105, the sound of firecrackers erupted, and despite no one being there, applause filled the entire room!
/Beloved guests! Congratulations! The entire hotel staff sincerely congratulates you on finding the first treasure.
Endless trials! Vanished comrades! Despairingly powerful enemies! You who overcame all those trials and reached the treasure! You have proven beyond doubt that you are the hero we awaited.
Of course, we have no doubts about the others either.
All who have been invited are those worthy of seizing the treasure. We are happy to witness the heroic saga you will write.
However, as the treasure possesses great power, it is very difficult to use.
How about everyone takes a rest for the next 3 days while becoming familiar with how to use the treasure?
Sometimes rest is necessary for greater strides forward. Today's surprise event: Party Time! has begun.
# Party Time lasts for 3 days, during which no dangerous events will occur.
Also, they say the hotel holds secrets that only reveal themselves during Party Time?/
A truly flamboyant announcement flashed across the entire display of Room 105.
Everyone was speechless for 30 seconds-
"Clap clap clap clap clap clap! Everyone shout 'Thank you, Song-i!' Hurry!"
Only then did the atmosphere burst open, and everyone started celebrating uproariously!
Song-i, who initially had a mix of bewilderment and exhaustion on her face, also flushed red and returned to a somewhat familiar appearance.
Amidst the boisterous atmosphere, we "summoned" food and finally started eating before-
The hearing began.
"So, Lady Black Song-i. Please explain what exactly happened."
"Unnie! What's with that weird way of talking since earlier. Lady Black Song-i, what even is that"
"Then let's go with Corrupted Song-i. Until just now I was too scared of Song-i to even speak."
The bundle of stories Song-i slowly unraveled was truly shocking.
A human farm created by aliens using mind control devices to extract human intelligence.
A spaceship containing the farm. A divine transcendental being in charge of the spaceship's engine.
The process of escaping with that transcendental being's help and obtaining the legacy.
And... the trial.
The story of meeting a collaborator in a place where countless intelligent beings were eternally tortured with nothing left but their heads.
The story of slaughtering those avatars in a place full of 'Athanasia' avatars to bring down the administrator.
At this point, everyone was already holding their breath, but the final trial was none other than fighting 'us' who were dominated by the aliens.
Everyone was rendered speechless.
Song-i didn't say much about how she overcame that 'trial,'
and we didn't really want to pry into 'how Song-i killed us,' so we glossed over it.
Come to think of it, even in the 'Mansion of Terror,' Song-i was the one killing us.
She's the Party of Terror's butcher herself.
Of course, I didn't say this out loud...
As the atmosphere became extremely awkward, as always, Eun-sol unnie sorted out the situation.
"Alright! Whatever happened, let's leave the past in the past. Let's organize what we need to do from now on!"
"According to the announcement, we'll rest for the next 3 days. The first thing we need to do, as the announcement says, is take time for all of us to understand that 'Legacy.'"
"That's OK. Anyone else besides Ga-in have thoughts?"
"During 'Party Time,' dangerous things disappear, and there are secrets that only reveal themselves during 'Party Time.'
This is basically telling us to explore the hotel outright, isn't it? We should rest a bit and then go explore the hotel..."
"Our schedule is tighter than I thought. We need to understand the legacy, and we need to explore the hotel. Besides that, is there anything else we should all think about together?"
Points to consider.
Actually, there was one thing that puzzled me as soon as I woke up and saw the status window.
"It's not much... but the date on the status window says 'Day 13.' It was Day 10 when we went in, and the last day as animals was Day 13.
After that, the date wasn't counted at all. I'm not sure what significance the date holds, though."
"Well, if you think about it simply, couldn't it be because you went down at that point, Ga-in?
In the first place, only 'you' can see that status window, not us.
The time calculation might not reflect 'after you died or failed' either."
Is that so? It's somewhat vague yet plausible.
"At this point, let's organize everyone's 'Blessings' once more. For me, I get stronger and have better stamina.
Very simple and clear, but some people seem ambiguously complex..."
"Mine is 'Status Window.' A status window that also sends alerts during crises."
"Mine is the Market. I bought Tonfa and Capsaicin and bandages. I was just about to mention it! According to Ga-in's status window, it's Day 13, right?
It seems my Market time also operates according to that date.
What I mean is, I can buy 3 items per week, and tomorrow is Day 14.
Between today and tomorrow, I'll definitely buy 3 useful items.
For now, I'll buy Capsaicin again for one of them. Think about the other two yourselves."
"My Luck hasn't triggered anything since 'Bizarre Family'... Maybe it's a Blessing with a long 'cooldown.'"
"I understand 'Affinity' now. It's probably the ability to gain favor from non-human beings..."
"Everyone knows mine, right? Communication"
*
Roughly, the general nature of 6 Blessings had been revealed.
Han Ga-in (20) - Wisdom -> Status Window. Warnings during crises
Cha Jin-cheol (31) - Courage -> Physical ability enhancement
Yu Song-i (17) - Affinity -> Gaining favor from surreal beings
Park Seung-yeop (14) - Luck -> Literally luck. Perhaps a long cooldown?
Lee Eun-sol (32) - Wealth -> HP Market
Kim Muk-seong (64) - Communication -> Mental KakaoTalk. Severe limit on conversation volume
2 Blessings with unclear identities.
Elena Ivanov (23) - Justice
Kim A-ri (16) - Suggestion
I think I understand 'Suggestion.'
A-ri herself pretends not to know, but I clearly remember the fact that she hypnotized me in the 'Mansion of Terror.'
Isn't that probably 'Suggestion'?
After organizing the rough information so far and finishing lunch, we agreed to check the Legacy first before the hotel exploration.
*
The fact we discovered as soon as we tested the function of 'Diverse Perspectives,' or rather the bracelet.
Only Song-i could use the bracelet.
Song-i took off the bracelet and gave it to others, but on anyone else's arm, it showed no special properties.
Only the rightful owner who obtained it can use it.
Will this be a characteristic of future treasures as well? Or is it unique to the bracelet?
When Song-i started using the bracelet on us in earnest, we were collectively astounded.
*
What on earth is this. We've been taking turns experiencing the bracelet's power for hours, but we're amazed every time.
Eun-sol unnie's face suddenly tripled in size before my eyes, then Eun-sol unnie disappeared and Jin-cheol hyung appeared.
In a daze, I tried to touch Jin-cheol hyung and then realized.
Actually, there had been nothing there from the start.
Flustered, I turned around and this time saw myself standing in a forest out of nowhere.
When I turned again, this time it was the sky. Clouds filled the surroundings.
The power of 'Diverse Perspectives.'
Just as the name suggests, it recklessly shook up our senses of perceiving the world!
No matter how I try to 'resist,' I have no idea how to go about it.
Did those Athanasia or whatever beings all carry around such absurd items...
To us, it was an utterly preposterous surreal object, but Song-i's reaction was ambivalent.
"Something about it is different from when I used it on the spaceship."
"Different? What do you mean?"
"Much more... restricted feeling."
???
"No way, this is the 'restricted' state?"
"There was already a big difference between when Athanasia used it and when I used it... but that was probably the user's issue.
Putting that aside, even by my standards of using it, it's become much harder. The movement function is also blocked."
"The movement function might have been the spaceship's function."
"That could be true."
"What do you mean by much harder?"
"When I started using it, the concentration consumption is too severe. It's almost impossible to use for more than 10 minutes."
"Noona! Isn't that probably a nerf?"
"Nerf?"
"In games too, when a boss uses it, it's a weapon with incredible specs, right?
When you defeat the boss and obtain that weapon, they sometimes nerf it massively so it doesn't break the game balance."
"..."
"It's funny but seems like a pretty fitting explanation."
"I'll test it one more time. This time... A-ri?"
*
Fascinating. And enviable.
An alien species' mind domination device.
Its performance is completely incomparable to those 'shoddy toys' used by the Management Bureau.
The most astonishing point is that despite such absurd performance, there's virtually no cost.
The 'crude toys' used by the Management Bureau are nothing but items that use 1 liter of blood just to show a person a 10-second illusion, or shave off their lifespan, or have machinery the size of a building.
The item that girl obtained is bracelet-sized, has performance capable of toying with an intelligent being for over 10 minutes at will, yet the only cost is a slight headache.
Because they scatter such outrageous items, the Management Bureau can never let go of their greed and has no choice but to cram agents into the hotel.
Even while having these thoughts, chaos was erupting all around.
Suddenly it became a sea of fire, then dropped into a frozen snowfield (I could even feel the cold), then only my comrades' faces were flying through thin air.
Should I try to resist?
The thought occurs that it might be possible... but let's not.
If I needlessly provoke wariness from someone with such abilities, it'll be exhausting for both of us.
Is the bracelet experiment slowly coming to an end? Whoosh! And then I returned to the room.
Text strings appeared in thin air.
What on earth are you?
I remember everything.
What are you hiding?
I'll keep watching you.
Ah, wariness is already at MAX. I really wanted to avoid this kind of situation.
But what can I do. In that 'farm,' if I hadn't forced myself to use my power, I would have killed you and ruined everything.
It's so exhausting when someone who's gained such strong abilities is wary of me...
Should I try some action to lower their guard?
*
Gradually A-ri's gaze also steadied, and from the atmosphere, I figured Song-i's bracelet experiment was roughly coming to an end.
Just when I was thinking we should slowly start planning the hotel exploration together-
Suddenly A-ri tightly hugged Song-i.
"Unnie! I love you~~!"
I was rendered speechless.