Chapter 3 - Hotel Exploration
[User: Han Ga-in (Ji-hye)
Date: Day 1
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Rest Room)
Sage's Advice: 2]
It was an excellent meal.
I only earnestly ate the spaghetti and steak, so I'm not really sure about the other food, but those two were definitely delicious.
Just before the meal, my head was spinning with confusion, fear, and anger, but after eating my fill of delicious food, I figured, well, at least the food is good, so it'll do for now.
Seeing this, I guess humans are ultimately animals...
Looking at everyone's expressions, they didn't seem to think much differently from me, wearing satisfied looks.
Around then, I checked the clock just in case. Lunch time was from 12:00 to 1:30, and the current time was around 1:24.
There were only about 6 minutes left until meal time ended.
I wasn't the only one who checked the time.
"Um, it seems like everyone has roughly finished eating, so shouldn't we move to another location?"
"Hmm... Eun-sol unnie, how about we just continue our conversation here? It feels like they might bring out coffee or something."
"We all experienced it earlier, right? When meal time ends, we'll become invisible to each other again like before.
Because it's such a 'great' hotel that protects our 'privacy.' I don't know why such a 'great' place kidnapped us... but anyhow, we still have a lot to say to each other.
We need to change locations. What do you think, Jin-cheol-ssi? Is your arm okay now?"
"It's fine now. It was just a scratch. And I agree with you, ma'am.
We still have a lot to decide. Starting with what we should do right now... let's move."
"I agree that we should move, but where do we go? If we go outside, that monster will be there again, and at 1:30, we'll all disappear into our own rooms again..."
At that moment, a notification appeared.
Dear beloved guests! Did you enjoy your meal? Hotel Pioneer prepares fresh ingredients every day for your wonderful dining experience, and our carefully selected chefs craft these dishes with their exquisite skills.
We hope you always have an enjoyable meal.
Today's Surprise Event: There Are No Bad Animals in the World. has ended.
We were all temporarily speechless.
"They send such timely notifications for our conversations."
"Very... timely. At this point, it practically feels like something in this hotel is watching us every moment.
We talk about the monster, and as if they were waiting for it, the event ends... Does that mean it's safe outside now?"
"My ass there are no bad animals. If a monkey running amok with a sword trying to eat people isn't a bad animal, then what the hell is a bad animal?
This hotel is truly insane. How did I even end up in a place like this?"
"Animals can sometimes be a bit violent out of fear when they see humans.
It's not necessarily that they are purely evil and violent, but rather an aggressive defensive behavior coming from their own fear? Something like that..."
Does she like animals? Song-i's answer was somewhat out of the blue.
"No, does the 'defensive behavior' you're thinking of, Song-i-ssi, include a monkey stabbing my arm with a sword? Is there such a thing as 'defense' in this world?"
When Cha Jin-cheol, who was already intimidating just by his size, raised his voice, Song-i, who originally looked timid, shrank back significantly like a turtle.
Seeing that, Cha Jin-cheol couldn't hide his fluster.
"Ah... no, I just meant it as a figure of speech. No... well, first of all, my voice was a bit loud.
I'm sorry. I got stabbed earlier, so I get a little angry whenever I think of that monkey... I wasn't trying to scold you, Song-i-ssi."
This guy seems to have a better personality than I thought.
"Alright, alright! Now we really only have about a minute left. Let's all get up and go out! We need to go out and talk."
Eun-sol unnie shouted confidently, looking completely like the leader of the group before anyone realized it.
It was very natural, and I didn't feel any resistance to it. This wasn't simply an issue of her being the oldest among us.
It felt like... this person was originally used to taking charge and leading others. That was the vibe I got.
At Eun-sol unnie's shout, everyone naturally stood up, stepped out of the dining room, and opened the door to Room 105.
[You have gained a slight understanding of your companions.]
It was clean.
Ridiculously, the outside was extremely clean.
I was sure we fought the monster this morning, throwing all sorts of things at each other...
Did the 'Shy Employees' already clean it all up in that time?
Actually, the traces of that brawl seemed to require major repairs rather than just 'cleaning.'
It's nothing new. There's no need to question every strange thing anymore.
As we walked toward the front desk, we saw beverages and refreshments set up on a table on the opposite side of the lobby.
The number of cups perfectly matched our headcount, and there was a mix of coffee, juice, and carbonated drinks. As if they were considerate of people with different tastes.
"Haha... These people are so meticulous~. For such meticulous folks, just how much shame do they have that they don't even show a single hair?
I have more than one or two things to grab them by the collar and shake out of them the moment they show up."
"Beyond absurd... it's almost chilling, this taste."
"Does the taste seem weird? Eun-sol unnie?"
"It's not that it's weird, it's exactly the taste I love. The sugar ratio, the amount of milk... probably even the type of coffee beans.
As soon as I saw it, the color was exactly the color I know, so I doubted it. You guys should take a look too.
I have a feeling that the drinks are exactly customized to what each of you wants the most!"
For me, anyway, being able to immediately drink Pepsi Zero Lime flavor made this situation not entirely bad.
Regardless, eating and drinking delicious things is a good thing, isn't it? I don't want to think too deeply about it.
After slowly having a drink and relaxing, Cha Jin-cheol was the one to start the conversation, as expected.
"I still don't know what exactly is going on... but first, my phone hasn't been catching a signal since earlier. Is it the same for everyone?"
Everyone nodded.
"As I thought... I think I've only seen this kind of thing in articles related to the Disaster Management Agency, but I never thought I'd be involved.
For now, isn't everyone's goal to get out of here somehow?
Let's start by going to the main entrance. Honestly, it doesn't look like they'll let us leave easily in this kind of situation, but we need to check what we can."
Fortunately, there was a rough structural map of the building next to the front desk, and it wasn't too complicated.
We all went down half a flight from the front desk, turned left, and walked straight down the hallway until we saw the main entrance across from us.
And when we arrived at the main entrance, we all lost our words once again.
It was the sky.
Truly, it was the sky. Outside the door, the deep blue sky just stretched out endlessly, with clouds visible far below. The ground was so far away that it was almost invisible.
The moment I tried to open the door and slightly check below, an alarm popped up.
[Opening a door in the sky without equipment is suicide.]
"Ah... uh... it says we shouldn't open the door."
"Ga-in, were you really trying to open the door? You can't even open windows on a plane, so obviously you can't open a door in the sky. I thought you were just going near the door."
"Hahaha... right. It was such an absurd situation that I did it without thinking."
"No, seriously... is this damn hotel flying in the sky? I've lived a long life, but I've never imagined something like this."
Eun-sol unnie, with a dumbfounded expression, also agreed.
"In my own way... up until this age, I've eaten well, lived well, traveled abroad a lot, and prided myself on having seen many amazing and fun things, but I lived for nothing. To see something so absurd."
"At the very least, we won't be able to get out through here. Unless we have wings attached to us. Haha, I never imagined Jeju Island was such an incredible island, to have a flying hotel of all things."
"Over there! Something is written here!"
At Song-i's voice, everyone turned around and saw a bizarre graffiti engraved on the wall to the right of the main entrance.
What could it be? Escape Route 2? Then does that mean there's a 1 too?
No, more importantly, the main entrance is actually one of the ways to escape? And what is this 'special tool' mentioned afterwards?
Unless it's a tool for flying in the sky, is it even possible to go out into a place like this?
Furthermore, who engraved this text? I don't think it was the hotel.
Judging by their methods so far, the hotel didn't convey information 'like this.'
Is there someone else in this hotel besides us? It started to feel a bit chilling.
I immediately shared the thought that crossed my mind.
"It says Escape Route 2. That means there's definitely a 1, and well, couldn't there possibly be a 3, 4, or 5 as well?
At the very least... it seems like there will be an easier method than finding a way to fly."
I decided to hold back the question of who made the graffiti. There were already too many chilling things, and I didn't want to make the atmosphere horrific all over again.
"Hearing that makes me feel a bit better. Let's go back to where we drank coffee earlier. The shy employee makes a damn good cup of coffee."
I had guessed to some extent, but with the quick escape falling through, everyone felt a sense of emptiness as they returned to the table.
As if it were natural, the table where everyone had eaten and drank was neatly set up with drinks and refreshments again, as if nothing had happened.
This time, no one said anything about it being newly surprising or amazing.
This time, I was the first to bring up a topic.
"First of all, how about we look around the hotel and inspect its structure? There was something strange when I looked at this floor plan earlier."
"I didn't notice anything. What was it?"
"There are no stairs. The floor plan shows the basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, and even a gym? A swimming pool, and all sorts of facilities, but absurdly, there's not a single stair.
There are only elevators. Well, it's rare to use stairs in a hotel, but usually, there are emergency stairs, right?
They're strictly required because of fires, earthquakes, or whatever, and those emergency stairs should be on the floor plan, but I don't see them."
Cha Jin-cheol, who immediately stood up to inspect the floor plan, responded right away.
"It's true? There are no stairs at all. The green marks shaped like a running person indicating 'escape here in case of disaster' are missing."
"Hmm... whatever we do, we need to at least know the general structure of this hotel. First, if you've finished your drinks, let's get up and walk around to check for anything unusual.
Oh, and if possible, let's stay together while doing it. Something... feels off. It doesn't seem like a place to wander around alone."
With Eun-sol unnie's summary of the situation, everyone stood up and decided to search the hotel.
After about 1 hour and 30 minutes of searching, the following conclusions were reached.
1. The basement contains various convenience facilities, the 1st floor has the front desk, and going down a bit leads to the main entrance and 'small' rooms, the 2nd floor has 'medium rooms', and the 3rd floor has 'large rooms'.
2. There are no stairs in this building.
3. The elevator is the only means to move between floors.