Escaping the Mystery Hotel

Chapter 159: Room 201, The Cursed Room - The Cube (8)

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 82

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)

Sage’s Advice: 1

- Han Kain

We spent a long time brainstorming ideas on how to safely enter the research lab.

Eunsol-noona suggested going in while invisible using her badge's power, while Jinchul-hyung proposed running in with his eyes closed. Other ideas included Songee’s belief that her bracelet's mental protection would work, and Ahri thinking she could endure it, though it would consume a lot of blood.

There were also some more unconventional suggestions, such as wearing white lab coats like the researchers or, in an even more extreme case, removing our eyes to prevent us from seeing the source of the madness.

Despite all these ideas, we eventually reached one conclusion: there's no way to know if these methods will work until we try them.

At this point in the conversation, Eunsol-noona offered a completely different perspective, “Let’s just split the party.”

“What? What do you mean—”

“We talked about this before, remember? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It’s basic risk management when doing something extremely dangerous where failure means death. What if we all go into the TV and none of our methods work? That’s instant annihilation.”

She has a point. There’s no need for everyone to risk their lives on a route where failure means certain death.

“So, some of us will go through the TV’s research lab route, and the rest will follow the original plan?”

Songee asked with a blank expression, “We had an original plan?”

“It wasn’t explicitly stated, but our usual approach is to secure an escape route first. From what I’ve heard, it seems like we enter several rooms inside the Cube, and when we find a room that we can escape from, we stop. Then, We wait in that room until the ‘Move!’ message appears on some mirrors. Behind that mirror is the escape route, but it’s also where the demon girl lies in wait.”

Grandpa Mooksung summarized the plan, “Then, we should preserve our strength as much as possible until we reach that location, then we’ll fight the demon. While we’re fighting, one person will escape.”

Jinchul-hyung seemed uneasy by the suggestion.

“If securing the escape route means fighting the demon, isn’t it risky to split our forces? Shouldn’t we all be there to fight?”

Eunsol-noona responded in a slightly bitter tone, “Well, we can send the less combative members through the research lab route. Honestly, what help will I be in front of that demon girl? The butterfly might not even work. It’s a weapon with clear weaknesses.”

Songee was curious.

“The butterfly has a weakness? I was impressed when I saw it take down the gorilla in one hit.”

Noona smirked, opened her brooch, and summoned the butterfly.

“Fwoosh!”

She blew on it, and the butterfly struggled as if caught in a storm.

“See? It is still an insect at the end of the day. It couldn’t even get close if it got swayed by a breeze. The only reason it worked on the gorilla was that, strangely enough, it was acting strange and reached out to it slowly.”

Grandpa Mooksung agreed.

“I’m with her. If that demon can treat bullets like BB pellets, there’s no point in me trying either.”

Jinchul, with his Star, Ahri with her Ancient Blood, Songee with her bracelet, and Elena with her Justice all seemed capable of facing off against the demon.

Seungyub might not be able to fight, but he’d be perfect for securing the escape route while the others kept the demon occupied.

We divided our group into two: the "Research Lab Party" (Eunsol and Mooksung) who would enter the TV, and the "Escape Party" (Ahri, Seungyub, Elena, Songee, and Jinchul) who would proceed through the Cube and secure the escape route while confronting the demon girl.

I felt like the research lab party was too weak, and I regretted not having someone like Songee or Ahri, who could probably resist the madness. But it couldn’t be helped. Everyone prioritized securing the escape route because it was a matter of life and death, and I understood their decision.

We concluded our discussion on how to proceed with the second attempt.

“Does anyone have anything else to add?”

…Actually, I do.

Listening to how my comrades conducted their first attempt, I felt like there were several points where things seemed off. I didn’t say anything yesterday because I was sidelined by the Hotel’s seal and didn’t want to criticize those who fought hard while I did nothing.

But this was a matter of life and death, so I decided it was necessary to speak up.

However, I also had to be mindful of Ahri’s earlier advice.

“There’s something I’d like to say. But first… Seungyub?”

“Yes?”

“Sorry, but could you step outside for a moment? I’m going to talk about your Blessing.”

When discussing Fortune, it’s better if Seungyub doesn’t hear it.

He understood that too, so he left without a word.

Everyone’s curious eyes turned to me.

“I noticed something that may have gone unnoticed. Since I wasn’t involved and only listened to your reports, I managed to see an issue.”

Eunsol-noona seemed intrigued.

“I like this feeling. Sometimes, it takes a step back to see the problem as a whole.”

“Thank you. Don’t you think everyone relied too much on ‘Fortune’? For instance, we’ve identified ‘Mimic Rooms’, ‘Trap Rooms’, and, ‘Escape Rooms’ right? How do we differentiate between them? There must be a way.”

“Sure, there must be. Otherwise, Elizabeth wouldn’t have led us into a trap room.”

“But it seems like instead of trying to figure out how to tell them apart, you just had Seungyub choose randomly. Isn’t that why you fell into Elizabeth’s trap so easily?”

Jinchul-hyung responded defensively, “Well, once you wait a bit in a room, the ‘Move!’ message appears, and it rushes you. We didn’t have time to figure things out.”

“I did try to look around. But I couldn’t spot any differences. But you’re right, there must be a way to tell them apart. Otherwise, Elizabeth wouldn’t have been able to fool us,” Ahri added.

I offered a more assertive opinion, “There are other things that don’t add up. For instance, is it a fact that escape rooms and non-escape rooms are distinctly separate? Didn’t you say the word ‘Move!’ appeared even in the first room? Maybe if you had broken the mirror in that room, there could have been an escape route behind it. Yet, you all just assumed that only certain rooms could have escape routes—”

“Because Seungyub collapsed after the sixth or seventh room.”

“Exactly. Seungyub collapsed, and even that collapse was interpreted as part of Fortune’s choice, and then Ahri found the escape route in the mirror. But isn’t that interpretation too convenient? There might have been an escape route behind the mirror in the very first room.”

They all paused to think.

I continued, “The interpretation of Fortune is too retrospective. If even the collapse was part of Fortune’s choice, then wouldn’t you also say it was a choice when Seungyub didn’t pick a room before Elizabeth did? But no one thinks of that as Fortune’s choice.”

Ahri responded after some thought, “I see what you’re saying. You mean that only successful outcomes are attributed to Fortune’s choice, while failures are seen as unrelated?”

“Exactly. By attributing all good outcomes to Fortune’s design, you start to see it as an omnipotent ability, which leads to an overreliance on it.”

Grandpa Mooksung nodded in agreement.

“Now that you mention it, I’ve got something to say too. We only realized after escaping that there was a research lab behind the TV, thanks to Elena’s memories. If Fortune is as close to omnipotent as we think, shouldn’t Seungyub have taken some action that hinted at the research lab when choosing where to go next?”

Songee replied, looking pained, “But Seungyub did avoid the trap room with the absurd gorilla. That was Fortune’s doing, wasn’t it?”

“Of course, that part is undoubtedly Fortune’s contribution. I’m not saying Fortune is useless.”

“Can you simplify it a bit?”

“What I’m saying is this: rolling a die normally gives you a 1/6 chance of rolling a six, right? But when Seungyub rolls it, he’ll roll a 6 seven out of ten times. That’s clearly supernatural, and an incredible ability. But it’s not 100%, right? Three times, it wasn’t a six.”

“So you’re saying Fortune fails often enough that we shouldn’t trust it completely?”

“Exactly.”

Ahri sighed deeply and summarized, “This was something I thought about in the Cube as well. Interpreting Fortune is really tiring. Depending on your perspective, it can seem like an incredibly powerful reality-altering ability, or, to a skeptic like you, it might seem like a faulty machine that breaks down frequently.”

“…”

“On a different note, I get why Fortune wasn’t given to you, Kain. It’s a power that really doesn’t suit an analytical person. Don’t share this analysis with Seungyub. This kind of skepticism is harmful to him.”

“Are you saying I’m like radiation?”

Unlike Ahri, who seemed unsure, Eunsol-noona agreed with me.

“Kain’s got a point. During the second attempt, let’s not rely solely on Seungyub’s choices to pick the next room. Let’s also try to figure out how to distinguish the rooms. I think if we interrogate Elizabeth properly, we’ll find something. At the very least, she seemed to know how to differentiate the rooms.”

Eunsol-noona summed up the long discussion about Fortune simply: ‘Let’s properly beat down Elizabeth.’

Noona was clearly deeply affected by her encounter with the gorilla, and her anger towards Elizabeth, who led them into that room, was strong.

After the morning meeting, Eunsol-noona organized the plan on a whiteboard:

1. After entering the cube, interrogate Elizabeth for information.

2. Proceed until reaching the TV room. The research lab party will enter the TV and explore the research lab.

3. The escape party will proceed until reaching the escape room. Seungyub will escape, and the rest will fight the demon girl.

“Anything else to say?”

I carefully thought about what to ask with my last Sage’s Advice.

How to distinguish a trap room in the Cube?

A tip for unsealing myself?

There were so many things I wanted to ask to the point of it being hard to choose.

While I was indecisive, my comrades’ concerns were clear.

“Kain.”

“Yes, Elena?”

“You still have one Advice left, right? Ask for tips on how to deal with the demon.”

Everyone nodded and looked at me.

It struck me that those who had firsthand experience were indeed different from someone like me, who had only heard about it.

Since yesterday, I could sense the fear and wariness my comrades felt towards the gorilla and the demon girl.

I had been vaguely reassured that since the demon was humanoid, Elena’s Justice would take care of it without any issues…

But they’re worried even Justice might not be enough?

“All right.”

Sage’s Advice: 1 → 0

Please give us advice on how to deal with the demon girl behind the mirror.

Seeing the finger, but not the moon.

“…”

“What is it?”

“It gave the same advice as earlier, ‘Seeing the finger, but not the moon.’”

“So… Don’t look only at one part but look at the whole?”

“Something like that.”

After discussing the final advice, we set off for Room 201 once again.

Seeing everyone tense made me nervous too.

Will they be okay?

This is the first time I’ve just been on the sidelines.

Strangely, I felt like a parent sending their child off to a college entrance exam.

As I anxiously watched them set out, the second attempt began.