Escaping the Mystery Hotel

[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 21

Current Location: Floor 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 0]

Where should we go?

Grandpa Mooksung opened his mouth.

“I think we already somewhat have an answer to that question. But before that, I would like to mention something about our interpretation of the clues.”

“What is it, sir?” I asked.

“I’m not saying your interpretations are 100% wrong. However, the Hotel’s clues are all pointing in the direction of, ‘Do not have a bias,’ and if we are overly dependent on your current analyses of the clues, that in itself could become a ‘different form of bias’.”

“You do have a point.”

“As for your interpretation of the Strange Family as [The family is not the origin of the curse], I can’t think of any other word to fill the blank either. Besides, I haven’t even been to it yet so I will move on.

Your view of the Mansion of Fear clue was [Don’t fall into the bias that you must go towards the mansion], but how about we think a bit more on that? There are a few other places that could fill in the blank that we had a bias of. I can already think of the ‘cathedral’ and the ‘study’.”

“…”

Ahri continued on from grandpa’s statement.

“I can think of more. The ‘basement’ and the ‘lake’.

We thought we had to go to the cathedral to use the bell, and thought we had to go to the study to know more about the room. We went to the basement thinking that we had to see what was inside, and we have also been to the lake because we thought we had to go through the lake for an escape. There are too many locations that could be inside the blank that we can’t be sure whether it’s talking about the mansion or not.

In fact, I feel like the two of you are so caught up by the concept of ‘having a broad look at the stage’ that you came to the conclusion of ‘not going to the mansion itself’. I actually think we should still go to the mansion.”

The two people from the Administration both came up with a different opinion, but the commonality between them was that the clue of the Mansion of Fear couldn’t be interpreted to ‘don’t go to the mansion’ just yet.

…

They had a point. We needed to think about it a bit more.

“Hmm. Let’s talk more about the mansion later on,” said Eunsol-noona. “I think sir has already decided on where we should go. Can you please tell us?”

“I think we should definitely go to the Strange Family. What’s the most important element that we should consider when retrying a room?

It’s the difficulty of the escape.

For re-entries, we must always be certain of the escape. As long as we can escape 100%, that’s no different from solving the room already, because we would eventually resolve it after numerous attempts. Of course, I did hear that there was some kind of limit.”

Limit – while saying that, Grandpa Mooksung glanced at Ahri.

“Keep in mind I don’t exactly know this either,” said Ahri. “From what I heard, it’s apparently fine until the 4th attempt, but it starts to turn strange after the 5th attempt.”

…

Everyone turned silent for a bit.

“Ahri. Is that…?” Eunsol-noona asked.

“Unni, it’s something I heard during my first time at the Hotel. I didn’t experience it myself, and I don’t exactly know what it means to turn strange either.”

This was her second time coming to the Hotel, so it was safe to assume that it was trustworthy. That meant 4 attempts were okay with things turning strange after the 5th attempt. 

I made a mental note of that and decided to try to resolve the rooms within 2~3 attempts.

“Going back to what I was saying,” Grandpa Mooksung continued. “We must always secure an escape before attempting to resolve a room.

Compare the two rooms again from the perspective of an escape. Escaping from the Mansion of Fear could be extremely difficult. The escape method was to stop ‘Sir’ from sacrificing 6 people. Since we’re 8, 3 suicides at the start could secure an escape.

But think about it again. Ahri and I are now in the group. Would they make us into NPCs again?”

“What do you think will happen then?” 

It was Ahri who replied to my question.

“I’m not sure about that either. They could make us back into NPCs, or could fill them up with other people. If it’s filled up with other people, that means ‘Sir’ has 10 people to play with.”

I see.

Now that Ahri and Grandpa Mooksung were on our sides, the Hotel might add new people as the butler and the maid which would result in 10 candidates for the ritual.

In order to secure an escape from that situation, we needed more than 3 suicides. Even if 3 of us killed ourselves, there would still be 7 remaining and ‘Sir’ could still win after killing 6 of the 7 people.

“Five of us might have to kill ourselves then, instead of three.”

“That means we need to resolve the room with just three people, which is going to be very hard.”

“Let me continue from before. I’m sure everyone now understands that escaping from the Mansion of Fear is not an easy option. 

On the other hand, have a look at the Strange Family. All you have to do is stop coming into contact with the family and physically distance yourselves from them, right?

During your first attempt, it was because you didn’t know what was happening but as long as you’re prepared, you don’t even need any mental defence mechanisms or the likes. You just have to close your eyes, block your ears and start running.”

“I understand what Grandpa is saying but there’s been a question in my mind for a while.”

Something I noticed every time was that Ahri tended to mix in polite and casual language regardless of who she was talking to. No-one bothered to nitpick on her tone of voice in a strange place like this though.

“Grandpa and I don’t have a family. What happens then?”

…

I had a feeling that Ahri wouldn’t have a family but this was the first time I heard that Grandpa didn’t have a family either. 

That was a valid question though; what would happen to them?

“Maybe they’ll make you a family?”

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

“Anyway, let’s go with re-entering the Strange Family then. Does anyone have other ideas?”

No-one raised an objection. It seemed that everyone was persuaded by Grandpa Mooksung’s argument.

More than anything, the thing that we had to do to escape from the Mansion of Fear might have been what stopped us from going with that option.

Regardless of the exact number at hand, ‘a few of us’ had to kill ourselves from the start and even though no-one mentioned it, that would lead to a very painful choosing process.

Rationally speaking, those with the comparatively lower values in our group would have to kill themselves to increase the likelihood of a resolution. Thinking about ‘who’ that would be was a painful process already.

In any case, we decided to re-enter the Strange Family.

After a strategy meeting, we had a little chat and went off to sleep early.

Lying on the bed, I thought to myself.

Tomorrow, immediately after re-entering the room, I would block my sight with filter-mode and run out of the house.

*

After filling our belly up with some nice breakfast, we allocated our items. It was a rather humble lineup of items with nothing but the gun and the red capsule, but in any case, Grandpa Mooksung took the gun while Jinchul-hyung took the red capsule.

Before entering Room 101, we had a brief last-minute strategy meeting.

“We all know what we have to do, right? For starters, we are only going to focus on escaping. The few of us that can easily escape will continue escaping in our next attempts, and the rest will proceed with the room.”

“Okay!”

*

Second Attempt

*

– Han Kain

[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 22

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 101 (Cursed Room – A Strange Family)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

Immediately after coming to myself, I covered myself with the filter without even wasting a single second. Unravelling before me was the hazy sight that I was now accustomed to.

As expected, I was able to think normally after putting on the filter. There were a few static noises ringing in my ears, but I ignored them and left the room.

When I squinted my eyes on top of that, I could only see faint traces of my so-called ‘family’. They appeared to be saying something but I ignored them and shouted instead.

“I’m gonna go buy something at the convenience store!”

I gave an excuse so that they wouldn’t chase after me.

Opening the door, I left the house, and immediately after leaving the house, I sprinted as fast as I could!

After running for about 10 minutes,

A notification popped up.

/You have successfully escaped!/

That’s it? That was way too easy!

Everyone should be able to escape at this rate. All we had to do was run to escape after all!  The only reason it was hard at the start was because we had no clue how the Hotel worked.

Feeling relaxed, I waited for the re-encounter with everyone.

What I found out later on was that it wasn’t that easy for everyone else.

*

– Park Seungyub: Successful Escape

– Cha Jinchul: Successful Escape

– Yu Songee: Successful Escape

*

– Elena Ivanova 

This was so unfair.

That was the impression Elena received of Room 101.

The plan was to run away immediately from the start, but what about people who had to start in the same room as their family?

With her older sister starting from the same room as her, her mind was starting to go hazy before she could even do anything.

Shouldn’t they have been separated at the very least?

Ah, looking back, she realised that it was because their family had become too poor due to running away and seeking asylum all the time. Their house was small, which was why she was still using the same room as her older sister.

A discrimination against families with low socio-economic status? This was too much. The one who designed this room must be a capitalist pig that must be speared to death.

Her mind went distant over time.

/You have failed!/

*

– Lee Eunsol

— Kung kung kung!

“Miss!”

Ah, this was horrible. The perfect escape plan of Room 101 that everyone came up with during the strategy meeting was obviously not working.

Operation: ‘Close your eyes, block your ears and run out of your house from the very start.’

That simple mission was proving to be very difficult for her, and the reason for that was very simple.

She was too rich.

Everyone was saying as if they could leave their house 3 seconds after leaving their rooms.

But…

Going out of her bedroom, she would find ‘her living room’, and after ‘her living room’ was ‘her dressing room’ after which was the ‘real living room’. From there, she had to go through the ‘dining room’ and the ‘garden’ in order to reach the exit and it was impossible not to come across anyone during that process.

There was another problem at hand. Everyone else was talking as if all they had to escape from were their parents and siblings, like 2 or 3 people at max.

But…

What about people who had more than five security guards and employees moving around their house all the time?

That was why Eunsol couldn’t do anything from the start. Blocking her eyes and ears with clothes to run forward?

— Kung kung kung!

“Miss! Are you inside?”

Unfortunately, this was the result of that.

The ‘young miss’ of the household was suddenly trying to run out like she had gone crazy while covering her face with something so everyone came to her in fright and in the end, she had to retreat back to her bedroom.

Unlike Seungyub, she didn’t even think about leaving through the window. Her house had exceptional preventative measures against robbers and she didn’t want to get scorched to death.

Sorry, guys.

I don’t think I will be able to do anything in this room.

The reason for that was because she was too rich. A discrimination against rich people? That was too much right?

The one who designed this room must be a communist.

Guys, I will leave everything in your hands!

/You have failed!/

*

– Kim Mooksung

There was something he had been curious about from the moment they decided to come into this room.

What would happen to ones who didn’t have a family? After having the answer to that question unravel before his eyes, Kim Mooksung was lost for words.

“Father? Are you unwell?”

“Grandpa? Why are you standing still doing nothing?”

The answer was to ‘Pretend like the dead family members.’

Ahh.

He knew ‘this’ wasn’t his real family. His son and his grandson were already long gone. He had to escape from them immediately and if need be, he even had to shoot his gun at them.

…

He felt very apologetic to the ‘real teammates’ outside.

However… Mooksung just couldn’t take his eyes off of his son and his grandson, whom he was seeing for the first time in 20 years.

His consciousness went further away. A mistake like this wouldn’t happen again.

…

The last line of thought in his mind was that Ahri would have a very hard time.

/You have failed!/

*

– Kim Ahri.

I woke up.

Immediately after looking around, I was shocked. Before entering the room, I was curious how the Hotel would materialise my family and my house.

My mother was supposed to be dead and my houses were just things that were always provided by the Administration.

I was born in the Hotel.

And according to the Hotel, my house seemed to be the ‘Previous Hotel’.

As a result of that, I had a funny experience of entering Room 101 and waking up at Room 103. By the way, the Room of Rest during my 1st time at the Hotel was Room 103.

In any case, I had a feeling about something after seeing that the Hotel had put me inside the ‘Previous Hotel’.

It was a very bad and ominous feeling.

— Kwang kwang kwang!

“Ahri! Are you there? I’m hungry!”

It was the exact same voice as me, which still contained a hint of childishness. That was the person who was born before me and shaped me into existence, who at the same time was still younger than me.

My mother;

She was someone who was already crazy without the Hotel having to do anything to her.