Escaping the Mystery Hotel

As we headed to the third mansion, I shared my deductions in the Chat Window.

It seemed that the space beyond the doors of the mansion was twisted, and it even appeared to be in a state of perpetual change.

It didn’t seem like there was just one mansion.

I decided to keep my messages brief to conserve characters in the Chat Window and entered the third mansion.

This time, we entered through the back door.

The mansion looked almost identical to the previous one.

After witnessing the tragedy that befell Oliver with the carpet earlier, we were too scared to step carelessly.

Eventually, Elizabeth began giving orders, “Let’s not split up and instead search the rooms in sequence, starting with the drawing room. Move cautiously and be ready to react immediately if a monster attacks. Let’s go!”

The mansion wasn’t very large, so the search didn’t take long.

We soon passed through the drawing room and headed toward the living room, where Cha Jinchul was the first to notice something unusual.

“Cha Jinchul? Did you find something strange?”

“Everyone, come here! The TV is acting weird.”

As soon as we approached, we understood what he meant.

The TV was flickering in a bizarre manner.

First the carpet in the second mansion, then the TV in the third mansion…?

Everyone tensed up, grabbing their guns, ready for a monster to appear when suddenly—

The TV turned on.

- Bzzz! Bzzz! Pop!

“Huh? Oh! It turned on by itself!”

“What? Did someone touch the remote—?”

Suddenly, the music from the “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag” that we all remembered from elementary school began playing.

Doo— Doo— Doo Doo Doo! Doo— Doo— Doo Doo Doo! The pledge will begin shortly. All toy participants, please stand by in a proper posture.

Toys?

As soon as the message played on the TV, an inexplicable force froze us all in place.

I pledge.

I am a slave.

Though I have eyes, I cannot see the truth, so I am unworthy of sight.

Though I have ears, I cannot hear distant sounds, so I am unworthy of hearing.

I offer everything to the Great One.

I pledge, please neatly carve out my limbs, fry them half in soy sauce and half in plain batter, and enjoy them to your heart's content!

After that absurd pledge echoed, our mouths moved involuntarily, reciting the words.

Everyone has pledged. Shall we fry up some half-and-half chicken now? Ding-dong-dang!

With that insane voice, the TV screen displayed a bubbling cauldron of oil!

Suddenly, a black hand reached out from the screen, grabbed Elena, and started dragging her toward the TV.

- Whoosh!

Suddenly, Jinchul summoned the Star.

He couldn’t move, but he could still summon the Star?

But that was a mistake!

Jinchul himself couldn’t move.

Of course, the Star, which had no homing ability, couldn’t move either and just stayed in front of Jinchul.

The Star was closer to us than it was to the TV.

Before the TV could mutate, Songee’s skin, who was standing nearby, began to turn inside out, and I started feeling the horrific sensation of my hair turning into flesh.

Realizing the situation too late, Jinchul quickly dismissed the Star.

In the end, the hand that had emerged from the TV continued to drag the immobile Elena into the screen!

Inside the TV, a giant cauldron filled with boiling oil was bubbling violently.

Everyone’s face turned pale in anticipation of what would happen next.

- Bang! Bang!

With the sound of gunshots, the screen shattered.

Immediately, the force binding us was released, and Elena, who had been halfway pulled into the display, was thrown back out.

Turning my gaze, I saw Mooksung’s hand floating in mid-air.

The remote hand gloves could still be operated even when the body was immobilized!

“Mooksung! Well done! That was almost a disaster,” Elizabeth exclaimed in relief.

My heart nearly stopped.

If Mooksung hadn’t used his gloves to shoot and destroy the TV, Elena, who was being dragged into the TV while we were all frozen—

“…”

I shouldn’t imagine it.

Just thinking about it makes me sick.

Jinchul, belatedly noticing the reddish patches on Songee’s skin, frantically apologized to Songee, who reassured him that it was unavoidable due to the urgency of the situation.

My hair had turned into tentacles as well.

Well, the hotel will probably fix it once we get out.

I quickly ran over to Elena.

“Are you okay? Elena?”

Elena, who had been pulled into the TV and then thrown back out, was silent.

“Elena?”

Elena looked at me with a dazed expression.

By then, the others had also gathered around.

“Elena? Are you okay?”

“Elena-unni?”

Elena opened her mouth.

“I saw… I saw it…”

“What did you see?”

“There were eyes inside the TV.”

“Eyes? What are you talking about?”

“Eyes.”

“Elena? Are you okay?”

“Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes.

“Look at the eyes glimmering in the crevices. Look at the eyes peering down from above. Have you ever felt someone watching you from behind while walking down a dark path? Have you ever felt the gaze of another while typing on your keyboard alone in your room? Children can’t sleep because they believe that the doll rolling around is watching them. In the sky at dawn, there’s a gaze that looks down on those who head out early for work. On the ground at noon, there’s an eye that silently observes the bustling world. Ah! The entire world is filled with eyes. I saw 3,000 gazes covering the horizon. The greatest eye captures everything from the abyss to the sky, so of course, we are also within its sight.”

““...???””

Suddenly, Elena stopped speaking, widened her eyes, and looked up at the ceiling.

“You’re here too. No, you’re everywhere in this place. Farewell, everyone!”

- Bang!

In a moment of utter madness, while everyone was stunned at the bizarre words pouring out of Elena, she suddenly shot herself and committed suicide.

We were all too stunned to react to the sudden turn of events.

***The shocking second incident that happened in an instant: Elena’s suicide; driven by madness.

Ever since entering the hotel, it had become commonplace for teammates to die.

We had experienced it many times—someone died, and we’d later meet once we left the room.

At some point, even the seemingly delicate Songee and Seungyub had become accustomed to seeing their comrades die.

But…

This death was one of the most “bizarre” among all the deaths we’d witnessed in the hotel.

Seungyub’s mental state began to falter.

“Didn’t we choose the room based on Fortune? Then it should have been a safe room! Why did this happen in the room I picked—”

How could he mention the Blessing right in front of Elizabeth?!

I was taken aback, fortunately, she seemed too preoccupied with examining the shattered TV to pay attention.

Fearing that Seungyub might break down and start crying, I quickly went over and patted his head.

“Keep it together. Sometimes things just don’t work out. Besides, it wasn’t an active skill—we’ll call it ‘Heaven’s Luck’ from now on. Anyway, you didn’t use Heaven’s Luck; you just made a guess.”

I tried to console him in a low voice but Seungyub was still trembling.

Jinchul also came over and added, “It’s not your fault, Seungyub. It’s not like things would have been safe if someone else had chosen.”

Eunsol approached as well.

“Everyone, get a grip! I think we’re starting to understand what’s going on. When we move through a door, a new mansion appears. The new mansion has the same elements as the others, but with one object that’s slightly different. That object is where the monster is. Isn’t that right?”

“And it also seems like we’re given a bit of time before the monster attacks. It never attacked us immediately.”

Songee responded, “Is it like a game of ‘spot the difference’? Find the difference within the time limit?”

“We did find the difference this time. The only mistake was not shooting the TV as soon as we found it. When I shot the display with the handgun, the monster disappeared immediately, didn’t it?” Mooksung muttered regretfully.

“Next mansion, let’s shoot the odd object as soon as we find it.”

Songee suggested a more aggressive approach, “Why don’t we just shoot everything around us with the rifle as soon as we enter the mansion?”

“Songee, what you’re holding is a rifle, not a missile. Trying to shoot and destroy every object in the mansion would take too long, and more importantly, we’d run out of bullets. But the idea of smashing things as we go isn’t bad. It’s just… I’ve had an unsettling feeling that we’re playing right into the enemy’s hands,” Mooksung immediately countered.

While I agreed with the idea of smashing the mansion, I suggested using something other than the rifle.

Elizabeth had been wandering around since earlier, and Cha Jinchul quickly approached to share his thoughts.

“Let’s use the Star to destroy everything around us. We can knock that woman out if needed.”

“She seems fine as is. She didn’t even question Mooksung when he used his remote-controlled hand. I think she believes we’re just some kind of superhumans. Besides, doesn’t the Star have a time limit?”

“A time limit? Ah, if I use it for too long, my body might not hold up. But I believe the mansion will collapse before I do.”

Songee replied with concern, “But there isn’t just one mansion. What if there’s another mansion after we get out?”

Mooksung responded as if he had been waiting for this, “If we move through the mansion’s set paths, like the front door, back door, or the basement passage, we’ll end up in another mansion. But if we use the Star to destroy the mansion and ‘create our own door’ to escape, do you think another mansion will appear? I don’t think so. I believe we could escape outside the stage that our enemies have prepared.”

It seemed that Mooksung and Jinchul were leaning toward using the Star’s power to destroy the mansion.

The logic made sense.

Moving through the predetermined paths within the mansion was playing right into the enemy’s hands.

So instead, they proposed smashing the mansion to break free from that control.

However, they were overlooking one crucial point.

“There’s always an Adversary ¹ in the Cursed Rooms. Usually, we have to defeat the Adversary to escape. Right now, that Adversary hasn’t even appeared yet. If Jinchul uses up the Star’s limited time to destroy objects and then the Adversary shows up, we could be wiped out easily.”

Eunsol joined in, “I agree. Don’t forget that Kain, who has Descent, is missing. The Star and Jinchul make up 90% of our combat power. Using that power to destroy objects seems risky. And here’s what I think.”

Eunsol briefly turned to check Elizabeth’s position before continuing.

“If we could solve this by destroying the mansion with the Star, they would’ve sealed Jinchul instead of Kain. The fact that Jinchul wasn’t sealed is evidence that destroying the mansion with the Star won’t solve this.”

There was a moment of silence.

There were those who supported smashing the mansion with the Star, and those who didn’t think it was the right approach.

As usual, Cha Jinchul, who often followed Eunsol’s lead, conceded, “Let’s go with what Noona suggests. But once we escape, let’s revisit this discussion.”

It didn’t seem like Cha Jinchul was entirely convinced.

He just didn’t want to openly oppose Eunsol’s opinion in a dangerous situation, especially when Eunsol held significant sway within our group.

However, he strongly insisted on discussing it again once we were out.

But something about Elizabeth had been… off since earlier.

Songee also noticed it.

“What’s she been doing all this time? It’s like she’s giving us space to talk.”

I had a different thought.

What if she isn’t giving us space, but rather has her own plans?

From Elizabeth’s perspective, it might seem like we were the ones being considerate, discussing things among ourselves while she did her own thing.

My head was starting to feel overwhelmed.

There were too many factors to consider.

I found myself missing the simplicity of that unreliable guy.

1. In the previous chapters this was translated as Enemy (With capital E). However it can quickly get confusing to distinguish between enemy and Enemy, thus from this chapter onward, we decided to change the term into "Adversary".