Chapter 4 - Hotel Exploration (2)
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom) Date: Day 1
Current Location: Floor 1, Hallway
Sage's Advice: 1]
Finally, after walking for about 10 minutes from the front desk in the opposite direction of the main entrance, an elevator appeared.
"Ah, this feels kinda sketchy. The information board said the elevator was out of order. What if it's broken and some ridiculous monster pops out again?"
"That makes sense. Ga-in, you've been pretty sharp since earlier. Everyone, let's stop for a moment. I'll go grab something to use as a weapon."
No one objected because everyone knew that this man alone accounted for about 90% of the party's combat power.
Not long after, he returned carrying something... quite incredible.
"Huh? Hyung, what in the world is that? Some kind of spear? Is there something like that here?"
"Yeah, Seung-yeop. I spotted it while walking earlier. There was something like a flagpole, probably a decoration or something. If you strip off the flag, it's just a steel pipe, a steel pipe."
"Um... Jin-cheol-ssi, isn't it too heavy? Even at a glance, it definitely looks like it's over 10kg."
"What's with 'Jin-cheol-ssi'? Ga-in, you just call me hyung too. And didn't I tell you during lunch? Originally, I wouldn't be swinging something this ridiculous either... But now I think I can. That's how it feels. It's probably thanks to the Blessing of Courage. Saying Superman might be an exaggeration... but it feels like I'm around Captain America's level?"
"Ah... Then I'll call you hyung. Either way, it's reassuring. If any monster gets hit with something that absurd, even they'd be surprised."
Captain America. For some reason, it felt incredibly fitting. Since he's Korean, should it be Captain Korea?
I thought, just a little, that this hyung might have become more of a monster than your average monster.
Since the person in charge of the team's combat power had become so reliable, everyone headed toward the elevator with much more confident steps than before.
Creak-
The elevator doors opened. Fortunately, there wasn't any sort of monster inside, and surprisingly, it was quite clean.
The meaning of "out of order" became clear once we looked at the control panel.
The buttons for the 2nd and 3rd floors were unlit. Just in case, Song-i immediately pressed the buttons, but as expected, there was no response.
"Does this mean we can't go to the 2nd and 3rd floors yet? Then the basement? Should we try going down there?"
"Let's just go and see! We need to check everywhere we can to see what's there and what isn't. With Captain America in our party, what could possibly go wrong?"
Eun-sol noona, who seemed to have gained a lot of confidence, shouted confidently, and Jin-cheol hyung, who was standing next to her, smiled awkwardly. And just as Song-i was about to press the basement button—
[Going to the basement right now is extremely dangerous.]
Grab-
As if lunging from the realm of pure instinct, I reached out and grabbed Song-i's arm. It was such a sudden action that everyone was startled.
Not knowing how to react, everyone just stared at me going, "Uh, uh, uh," and Song-i was trembling like a rabbit.
"I'm sorry. But right now, that notification just popped up. The 'Status Window' notification I mentioned at lunch."
"The one only you can see? The one that told you to come to Room 105?"
"That's right."
"What does it say? I can guess roughly, but..."
"It says that going to the basement right now is extremely dangerous."
"Hah, seriously... This damn hotel thinks everything is dangerous."
"Then let's do as it says. It guided us to Room 105, so it must be trustworthy. And Ga-in? I think you can let go of her arm now. If you hold on any longer, Song-i is going to pass out."
"Ah, I'm sorry. I was startled too, so..."
"No, no, it's fine..."
"Ga-in hyung, according to the explanation we heard earlier, how many of those 'Sage's Advice' do you have left now?"
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom) Date: Day 1
Current Location: Floor 1, Elevator
Sage's Advice: 0]
"It says 0."
"0? Ah, did it decrease earlier when it told us not to open the main gate too?"
After a brief silence, Eun-sol noona, who had been acting as the leader, spoke up.
"Then let's stop exploring for today. Anyway... wandering around this perilous, bizarre place without any of Ga-in's 'notification' charges left is just too dangerous."
"Is there no way to refill those charges?"
"Hyung, usually, that kind of thing resets to full after a good night's sleep. It's the golden rule that mana, stamina, and stuff like that all recharge when you sleep at an inn."
Golden rule. It was a gamer mindset, but honestly, there was no other way. And somehow, I felt the same way.
Everyone agreed that exploring without the Sage's Advice was dangerous, and soon, we all returned to the front of Room 105.
"So now... the moment we go in here, we automatically split up again? And then later, during dinner, we'll pop up like we teleported again?"
"It seems like it."
"Then let's all go in and get some rest. It'll be mealtime again in about an hour. We can rest, wash up, and that'll be it. We finished looking around for today... Though honestly, I still don't know what we're supposed to do."
"I don't think we'll need to worry about that part for long."
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't you all felt it since earlier? Whether it's a person, a monster, or a ghost, something is constantly 'managing' us. The drinks came out exactly right, and thinking about it now, the food was probably whatever each of us likes. Something that 'manages' us to this extent probably won't just leave us alone when we don't know what to do. It'll probably say something like, 'Dear valued customer,' and tell us to do this and that."
"That makes sense. Honestly, we don't have anything else to do anyway."
"Right. And... I'm telling everyone this just in case, but whether it's today or some other time, there will be days when you just don't want to eat. At times like that, even if you skip the meal, don't go somewhere else; just come to the dining hall during meal times and show your face. In a... weird place like this, I think we need to consistently check if everyone is alive."
Meal times. Come to think of it, in this place, communication with each other was much harder than expected. The only space that could be called safe was around Room 105, and once you entered that room, there was no way to meet each other except during the three daily meal times. In reality, something like this could be solved with a quick KakaoTalk message, but our phones had been dead for a while.
I felt that we needed to gather together periodically.
"I'd like to make a suggestion as well. Once we go into Room 105, we have no way to meet each other. Our phones don't work, and outside of meal times, we can't even see each other. But I think we need to share information outside of meal times and, as noona said, check on each other's survival. So... how about we step out of our rooms at the top of every hour until we go to sleep? If we're talking about today, excluding meal times from 7:00 to 8:30, we should all come out at least once at 6:00, 9:00, 10:00, and around 11:00 to check if anything's wrong or if there's anything we need to do."
Surprisingly, Song-i and Elena were the first to react.
"That sounds like a really good idea! Honestly, being alone in the hotel this morning until meal time was just... so, so terrifying. It would be reassuring to confirm that we're all here, even if just for a moment."
"I agree too. Honestly, in a weird place like this, there's no need for privacy or whatever, so I'd rather we just stay together... Let's force ourselves to meet up often."
Naturally, everyone agreed with the proposal, and we established two rules for living:
Come out and report your survival even when not eating.
Unconditionally gather in front of the entrance to Room 105 at the top of every hour to check on each other.
After setting these rules, everyone headed to their respective rooms through the single entrance.
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom) Date: Day 1
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Sage's Advice: 0]
The same ridiculously huge, extravagant bedroom of a grand mansion as when I left this morning. Even a second-generation chaebol somewhere would probably have a hard time living in a house like this.
Having this absurdly extravagant grand mansion all to myself, and the food is incredibly delicious. Isn't this paradise on earth?
I tried to force myself to believe that, but it didn't work well. Paradise on earth wouldn't have cannibalistic monkeys or extreme dangers.
Just what great sin did I commit to be locked up in this unidentified, hellish place...
Confusion, fear, worry, anticipation for adventure? Amidst the vortex of countless turbulent emotions, as I smiled emptily, I noticed the status window blinking since a moment ago.
Shouldn't the Sage's Advice be at 0? Looking closer, it wasn't the Sage's Advice.
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom) Date: Day 1
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)
Companion Info (*)
Sage's Advice: 0]
With a similar sensation to earlier, I stared at that section with a strong thought of 'Open!', and the window popped open with a click.
The moment it opened, an enormous amount of text flooded my vision.
Ah, if I open this in a pressing situation later, it'll be a disaster.
Come to think of it, there was no such blinking at all when exploring outside.
It seemed there were functions that only activated when in a safe place.
This was... everyone's profile, summarized in very short words.
1. Han Ga-in (20) - Wisdom. Freshman at K University.
2. Cha Jin-cheol (31) - Courage. Former martial arts fighter.
3. Yu Song-i (17) - Affinity. Raises many animals.
4. Elena Ivanov (23) - Justice. Child of an exiled diplomat. Aspiring actress.
5. Park Seung-yeop (14) - Luck. A boy in his stormy youth.
6. Lee Eun-sol (32) - Wealth. 3rd daughter of the Daeyang Group Chairman.
Ah. This felt like it was telling me the 'facts related to the impressions' I received from observing my companions today.
I instantly understood the nature of the 'Blessing of Wisdom'.
It turns vague information I acquire into certain facts, or warns me when an unknown danger approaches.
[You have gained a slight understanding of the Blessing!]
Seeing the notification pop up as if it had been waiting, I knew I had understood correctly. The information about my companions mostly gave me a 'Ah, I figured as much. But still, impressive.' kind of impression.
Jin-cheol hyung, who had been hearing grand expressions like Terminator and Captain America, was indeed a former martial arts fighter. Song-i, who had been flustered during our earlier conversation, really did love animals. It felt completely natural that Elena was an aspiring actress. If I had been born with her looks, I would've had the same dream. As for Seung-yeop... aren't all boys that age in their stormy, rebellious phase? Obvious statements were written down.
However, Eun-sol noona honestly surprised me. If it was the Daeyang Group, it was a major conglomerate that no one in South Korea wouldn't know. To think she was the 3rd daughter of such a family... She was an unbelievably wealthy person, even more so than I had imagined.
At the same time... I honestly wondered what meaning it held. What difference did it make whether you were a chaebol heir or born with a dirt spoon in a hotel where monsters popped out? The most meaningful spec was probably 'former martial arts fighter.' Thinking that I should get closer to Jin-cheol hyung, I blankly fell asleep.
Ah, I should have set an alarm before sleeping...
Fortunately, aside from getting a little nagging for being slightly late to the meal time after that, this long, long day came to an end without any further issues.