Escaping the Mystery Hotel

While I was organizing my thoughts, a gruff voice rang out, "Cough. Ahem. Let me say something."

"Go ahead."

"Although I'm not entirely neutral in this matter, I appreciate the trust you’ve shown by including me in this discussion. First, let me share what I know about Ahri's mother, Miro.

“As you might have guessed, Miro was a senior agent, far more experienced than I. Unlike an ordinary human like me, she was clearly superhuman before even entering the hotel. Her physical abilities—strength, agility, endurance—were all far beyond human, and she also possessed various supernatural powers."

Jinchul-hyung asked a question, "Hearing this, I'm curious. Where did these superhuman abilities come from? If she was already superhuman before entering the hotel, did she get these powers from the Administration? But Ahri mentioned earlier that the Administration has no means of bestowing supernatural powers."

"The Administration has no such capabilities. I'll answer the same way I did before. If the Administration could grant supernatural powers, why would I still be an ordinary person? If that were the case, I, as a veteran agent, would have some powers. I don't know the exact route through which Miro became superhuman. Perhaps Ahri knows."

Eunsol-noona asked another question, "What about her personality? I heard that she had regressed to a childlike mental state now."

"I heard that she was somewhat arrogant and had a tendency to look down on ordinary people. However, she wasn’t entirely without ethics and had a fundamental mindset of wanting to protect the world as an agent. Of course, I’m not sure if this information will be relevant to analyzing Miro after she entered the hotel."

A person who was already superhuman before entering the hotel, with a somewhat arrogant yet principled personality.

At this point, I had organized my thoughts enough to share my opinion.

"When considering the resurrection of another, I believe there are two key factors to consider. The first is obviously their abilities. They must be someone who can be of help to us. The second is control. The person we resurrect must be someone we can control."

"Control, huh…?"

"Is there anyone among the people we’re considering resurrecting who we know well? No, right? We only have fragmentary information about Miro, and we know nothing about the others. We can’t be sure of who we can trust until we bring them back. But we can somewhat judge whom we can control."

Eunsol-noona agreed, "It would be problematic if they were too powerful"

"That’s exactly what I wanted to say. Someone who’s too powerful would be difficult for us to control. So Songee, do you think we could control Estavio?"

"Absolutely not. I still have nightmares about the time I saw Estavio single-handedly massacre several aliens in the facility. I believe he was one of the strongest among the Anathasia. If he decided to attack us, he could probably kill us all before we even knew what hit us." Songee responded decisively.

"Then let's exclude someone like Estavio. Maybe in the distant future, when we’re much stronger, we can reconsider him.

Elena looked a bit disappointed.

"If someone that powerful were with us, we could practically have a free pass to get through almost any trial!"

Eunsol-noona, who seemed to have made up her mind, answered firmly, "That’s just our wishful thinking. Estavio might think that the best course of action is to slaughter these lowly primates, hoard all the Inheritance, and break through the hotel himself. He’s an alien, after all, and one who used to see humans as livestock. We can’t predict how he thinks. Let’s exclude him."

"From the standpoint of 'control’, doesn’t Miro also seem like a risky choice?" Jinchul-hyung cautiously added.

"Miro is at least better than Estavio. At the very least, Ahri might be able to control her."

Songee voiced her concerns, "If we decide to resurrect someone other than Miro, won’t Ahri vehemently oppose it? What if that causes a rift between us?"

“...”

Everyone fell silent at that.

- Thunk!

The door opened, and a clear voice broke the silence.

"Do you really think I'm that immature?"

"Wha—?!"

"Ack!"

Ahri suddenly barged in!

Everyone was shocked and looked at Grandpa Mooksung in surprise.

Grandpa waved his hands, startled.

"It wasn't me! It wasn't me! No private messages here!"

After chuckling for a moment, Ahri spoke up, "Don't get the wrong idea. In a hotel with only eight people, wouldn't it be suspicious if everyone but me disappeared somewhere? Isn't this ‘secret meeting’ a bit too sloppy?"

Feeling embarrassed by our poorly executed secret meeting, we all just lowered our heads.

In the awkward atmosphere, Songee asked, "So... how much did you hear?"

"I heard what you said. The part where you mentioned that if we resurrect someone other than Miro, I might oppose it and cause a fight."

In the end, we told Ahri everything we had discussed.

Jinchul-hyung’s opinion about saving the ticket for ourselves.

Grandpa Mooksung’s brief explanation about Miro.

The criteria I suggested: abilities and control.

After quietly listening, Ahri shared her thoughts.

"I feel like Jinchul’s suggestion doesn't hold much weight. The biggest threat in this hotel is the Cursed Rooms, right? The nature of those rooms means it’s usually all or nothing—either everyone survives, or everyone dies. The idea of saving the ticket for ourselves doesn't seem very relevant."

"I thought about that too. As you said, when it comes to the Cursed Rooms, saving the ticket for ourselves is pointless. If someone dies, it usually means everyone dies, and in that case, there’s no one left to use the ticket. But the hotel’s threats aren’t limited to the Cursed Rooms. There are also places like the Mission Rooms, where you can choose to give up if it gets too difficult, and sometimes the hotel hosts special events. Not everything is about the Cursed Rooms."

Ahri quickly countered, "Not everything, sure, but around 90% of the threat is from the Cursed Rooms. There was only one Mission Room on the entirety of the first floor, and who knows if there will even be one on the second floor. Special events by the hotel don't usually happen if we keep entering the Cursed Rooms. We need to focus on the biggest threat—the Cursed Rooms. Adding more allies will strengthen us, which means we can reduce the danger in those rooms."

Eunsol-noona cut in, "Let's leave the debate about whether to save the ticket here. We’ll discuss it again when we find the Room of Resurrection. If someone from our group has already died by then, the first priority for resurrection will naturally be that person."

"So we’re discussing this under the assumption that we’ll resurrect someone else?"

"Right. I'm curious about your opinion, too."

Ahri looked at each of us before answering.

"I agree with Kain's criteria of abilities and control. The terms he used are appropriate. And I think everyone’s misunderstanding me on one point: I don’t plan to insist that the first ticket must be used on Miro."

“...???”

Everyone was momentarily surprised.

She’s not planning to use it on her mom?

While we were all taken aback, Noona caught onto Ahri’s use of the phrase “first ticket”.

"'First ticket'... So you think there will be more? You’re not fixated on using the first one on Miro because you believe there will be more tickets later? That as long as you resurrect her before we leave the hotel, it doesn’t matter if it’s not the first one?"

"Is this also based on your past experience?" Jinchul-hyung quickly followed up.

"It’s unclear. Back then, we didn’t get more tickets. But there was talk of a way to obtain more."

Ahri then provided some reasons for her speculation, such as the fact that the ticket had multiple uses and vague memories from the past.

I decided to get a more definitive answer.

Advice: 3 → 2

Can we get more tickets?

The Gate Room exists on the second floor as well.

This was typical of the Owl’s cryptic responses.

But I understood the meaning immediately.

We can get more tickets from the Gate Room on the second floor.

At the same time, I understood the basis for Ahri’s vague speculation.

Ahri had mentioned that someone in the past also possessed Wisdom.

They likely asked the Owl directly and got the same answer I did.

However, since their party was falling apart, the information wasn’t properly shared, and others could only make vague guesses based on observing the previous user of Wisdom.

I don’t need to be vague.

I immediately shared the Owl’s answer with everyone.

Understanding Ahri’s reasoning, we relaxed slightly, and Ahri continued, "I think Kain's criteria of abilities and control are very appropriate, and if we apply those criteria to the potential candidates, I believe only one person really stands out. First, let’s talk about Cha Seungjin, who saved Seungyub. Sorry to say, but I don’t think his abilities are particularly necessary for us.

“Estavio, and unfortunately, even my mother Miro, have issues when it comes to whether they can be controlled. An alien with extraordinary powers speaks for itself, and my mother is no different. I can’t be by her side 24/7. So, if we exclude those three, who’s left?"

In the end, it was the person I had also been considering.

A doctor with exceptional healing abilities, someone who isn't overwhelmingly powerful enough to be uncontrollable.

Dr. Kim Sanghyun.

On the fifth day of our break, our discussion at the cocktail bar concluded that if we were to resurrect someone, the first candidate should be the doctor.

***- Lee Eunsol

After the discussion ended, everyone left the cocktail bar one by one.

“...”

In the end, it was just Ahri and me left.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about? You signaled for me to stay behind," Ahri asked in a curious tone.

"Yeah, there are a few things I want to ask."

"Like what?"

"First, I wanted to consult you about my eye, but before that, let me ask about something else. Your attitude towards Miro... it was different from what I expected."

"..."

"What you said earlier was very logical, which made it strange. You love your mom so deeply that you willingly returned to the hotel, fully aware of how dangerous it is, right?? Given how much you care about her, it’s odd that you’re so calm when it comes to resurrecting her. If there’s something you’re hiding, just come out with it. It’s about time you got over your habit of keeping secrets, don’t you think?"