Escaping the Mystery Hotel

Chapter 203: The Power of Incarnation (1)



User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 95

Current Location: 1st Floor, Room 105 – Room of Rest

Sage’s Advice: X

- Han Kain

It didn’t take long for me to understand Noona’s claim that our ninth companion, Kim Sanghyun, possessed medical skills beyond mere excellence, verging on the supernatural.

“Did you say your side hurts every time you straighten your back?”

“It doesn’t hurt immediately, but when I twist my torso left and right after stretching…”

- Rip!

“Gahhh!”

“It seems like the muscles in your side were slightly twisted. I’ve adjusted them. How do you feel now?”

“It’s much better! So much better!”

With just a few vague words from the patient and a couple of quick examinations, Kim Sanghyun was able to immediately pinpoint the problem and its cause.

That alone was impressive, but what followed was even more astonishing.

Whenever Kim Sanghyun performed “treatment”, his hand would sink into the patient’s body and come back out as if it had merged with them.

Those who witnessed this scene couldn’t help but let their jaws drop.

I might not have gone to medical school, but one thing was clear: no matter how prestigious the institution, they wouldn’t teach this kind of medicine.

This could only be a supernatural power granted by the Hotel.

This wasn’t just medical skill, but a divine healing ability befitting a legendary healer.

This healing prowess was sequentially extended to Grandpa with his back pain, Seungyub with his budding hunchback, and Songee, who had been struggling with headaches for some time.

Ahri, who had been watching with curiosity, asked, “How on earth does your hand go in and out like that?”

“Not even I know the answer to that, Young Lady. It just started happening at some point.”

“It could be useful for combat, too. Like reaching in and pulling out a heart or something.”

“It’s possible.”

“Oh! It is?”

“However, for killing, pulling the trigger from a distance is generally more practical than approaching and using my hand.”

“Most of the time, yes, but there could still be moments when it comes in handy.”

“I hope it proves helpful for our future endeavors.”

The next patient was Eunsol-noona.

“You said it’s a bit difficult to close your eyelid?”

“Yes. In fact, wasn’t it you who attached this eye for me, Sanghyun? Did you really have to do it so crudely?”

“My apologies. As I mentioned before, most of my memories from when I was an NPC have faded, so I don’t know why I attached it this way in the past. It shouldn’t be difficult to make it look like a normal eye.”

It seemed like Noona was quite bothered by the appearance of her eye, though I hadn’t noticed because she usually didn’t make much of a fuss about it.

As Kim Sanghyun examined her eye, Noona’s tone softened, now addressing him as “Sanghyun”.

“Hmm… Looking at the structure of your eye, it’s a bit more complicated. You mentioned it was an artificial eye, correct? This unusual eye has three tiny pupil-like structures or lenses inside it, almost like a specialized camera.”

“That’s what Ahri explained to me.”

“All three lenses need to be exposed externally for optimal functionality. This requires you to open your eye much wider than normal, which is likely why my former self adjusted the eyelid so drastically.”

“Is it difficult to fix?”

“Fixing it would be easy, but the eye’s performance might be reduced afterward.”

“That would be foolish. Maintaining the eye’s performance is obviously more important.”

“Then, let’s take our time to find a better solution. I’ll think of ways to improve it.”

“That’s reassuring to hear! Thank you.”

“…”

Watching from afar, I could tell that Kim Sanghyun had already started fitting in well, even though only a few hours had passed since his resurrection.

His skills as a doctor, or rather a divine healer, were enough to impress all of our comrades.

Seungyub and Songee were already calling him “Teacher,” and Eunsol Noona was naturally addressing him as “Sanghyun.”

It seemed there wouldn’t be any immediate issues.

At this point, I felt ready to return to the snowfield.

As I began making my way back to the snowfield, numerous concerns started to flood my mind.

How can we manage Noona’s apprehensions about the doctor’s uncontainable desperation to escape?

What exactly is the “Winged Boots” that the Mysterious Craftsman will create?

What secrets lay hidden within Room 104?

What is the meaning of the last clue we have yet to decipher?

What scheme is “the Lord” plotting?

What is the significance of the “board” that will benefit everyone?

“…”

With each step, I tried to forget all these concerns.

Let it go.

I need to let it go.

This isn’t the time for me to worry or to ponder the next room.

Honestly, the others will have to take care of those worries.

Sometimes, personal growth is the best form of teamwork.

Now is one of those times.

I cleared away all the minor concerns from my mind and focused on a single word.

Incarnation.

***Despite my lofty determination, I didn’t achieve much for quite some time.

I flipped through the Grimoire, but the writing still appeared as incomprehensible symbols or an alien language.

I was sure the Owl’s advice was aimed at the Grimoire, but why did I still feel no change?

I had a vague idea of what might be causing it.

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 95

Current Location: 2nd Floor, Snow Globe Tundra

Sage’s Advice: X

I looked at the translucent screen that always shielded me.

When I first learned how to use the “filter”, I could only manipulate its shape with intense focus, but for some time now, I had been controlling it instinctively.

If I sensed something suspicious, the filter would automatically obscure my view without conscious thought.

Naturally, the filter had been covering my vision since I opened the Grimoire.

“Is this the problem?”

The power of the filter protected me from harmful information invading my mind.

But now, I needed to understand the profound truths embedded in those very harmful words.

I moved the status screen to the side and shifted my gaze back to the Grimoire.

As soon as I removed the filter’s protection, I felt a sharp headache and a heavy sensation pressing down on my mind.

Forcing myself to study the symbols as if I were deciphering them, I concentrated with all my strength.

“…”

Suddenly, I felt myself sinking into a vortex of confusion.

The strange sensation of crackling letters boring into my eyes and tearing through my brain made me want to surrender and let go—

“Ugh!”

Blood trickled from my eyes.

Did my eyeballs get damaged?

I hadn’t gone completely blind.

It was ironic, but in this Hotel, something like this wasn’t a big deal.

More importantly—just now, I saw something.

As I picked up the fallen Grimoire, one phrase stood out clearly.

“Accept that an immutable self does not exist.”

I recalled a conversation I once had with Arima in the Room of Gateways.

— The human mind is like a flowing river, it’s in a constant state of change and flow.

— The unchanging self that ordinary people think of is just a handful of river water scooped up at a specific time and place. Even if you scoop water from the same spot a day later, the river will have completely changed.

I began to grasp it.

Back then, she had truly understood a portion of the profound truth contained within the Grimoire.

But had I reached that elusive truth myself?

The inscription from the Grimoire echoed like a hammer striking my head, and a torrent of knowledge, long locked away, began to flood out.

“The self is like flowing water, never pausing for a single moment.”

What is this supposed to mean?

“If possession is a transfer of the mind, then incarnation is an expansion or division of the mind.”

Please, speak in terms I can understand!

It felt as though I were splitting into two.

On one hand, I was a person who couldn’t comprehend Wisdom.

On the other, I was someone who was shedding the limitations of the human form and ascending.

I could no longer tell which of these versions was truly me.

Perhaps the distinction itself was meaningless.

As I writhed in the snow, clutching my head amid the chaos, a bird approached.

Perro! Ah, Perro!

The child of the Hotel born from the golden egg.

You still hold countless secrets.

Do you have something to tell me?

“Come into me.”

I heard human speech from Perro’s mouth.

Had this mysterious bird, born from the golden egg, finally learned to speak?

Or was my mind, now strained by the Grimoire’s wisdom, conjuring up a delusion?

“A chef can’t cook a good steak without becoming a cow first. Therefore, if you become a parrot, you’ll become smarter.”

“A talking parrot spouting nonsense… I must really be going insane.”

My vision blurred.

The repeated exposure to the Grimoire without the filter finally took its toll on my sight.

It was nothing serious—I’d recover after resting in Room 105.

There was no way I could stop accepting the Grimoire’s Wisdom now.

“Alright. I’ll borrow your body.”

- Piyoo!

Perro turned around and tried to fly away.

Isn’t he the one who asked me to come to him?

Was the earlier talking just my delusion? If it was a hallucination, then why had Perro approached me at all?

It didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered.

- Thump!

As I possessed Perro’s body, I tumbled across the snowy ground.

Despite having done this dozens of times, I still didn’t understand how a bird managed to fly.

Shouldn’t the wings lift the body upward?

Why do I keep tipping backward?

Lost in the stream of random thoughts, I approached my real body and the Grimoire, lying sprawled on the ground.

- Twitch!

“…”

My body twitched. Like a homeless man drunk in the winter, lying collapsed, my body convulsed and shifted.

I felt a fear unlike any I had experienced prior—an overwhelming terror.

If I was in Perro’s body, then what was left in “that” body?

This couldn’t be happening!

I was supposed to be one!

Humans are supposed to be a single entity!

The “human me” slowly rose to its feet as the “parrot me” stared blankly back.

At that moment, “we” or “I” realized something.

We were two, and yet we were one.

Finally, I understood that my consciousness was no longer confined to the human body or the bird’s body.

I could feel that my mind existed “above”.

Like a puppeteer controlling two marionettes with both hands, I could manipulate both bodies simultaneously.

The human saw the parrot. The parrot saw the human.

The human looked toward the Hotel. The parrot looked at the sky.

I saw my comrades rushing toward me from the Hotel.

Amidst the overlapping vision and mingled senses, as the storm of information raged—

I felt my consciousness begin to fade.

I realized I was no longer “one”.

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