Escaping the Mystery Hotel

Chapter 139: Room 107 - The Gate Room, The Final Trial (30)

After starting to think about how to wake up Kain, Songee suggested an idea.

"How about we try pushing Kain-oppa off a building too?"

"I did consider killing him as an option too, but we’d need to be careful."

"What’s dangerous about it?"

"Think back to when I woke you up. In this trial, we gain superpowers to fulfill our wishes, right? Kain will probably have something similar."

"Hmm. It feels strange to call it a superpower. When I used it, it didn’t feel like I was using a power."

"I know what you mean. It’s more like we desperately wished for something, and the universe grants it! Kain likely has that kind of power too. But unlike you, he might not be able to control it."

"Control it?"

"When you threw me out, you were already half awake, right? So, you instinctively controlled your power. You probably wished that I wouldn’t die while you were tossing me."

"..."

"Maybe I did it subconsciously."

"Let’s say you did. Anyway, you recognized me and controlled your power to the point where I wouldn’t die, but Kain might not. If we try to harm Kain, he might end up wishing for us to die."

"That’s really scary… Let’s take it step by step and plan more carefully."

"It’s probably best to come up with a plan that doesn’t involve us showing up directly."

And so, we carefully devised a plan to assassinate Han Kain.

We decided to start the plan around lunchtime.

***- Han Kain

- Ding dong deng dong!

"Ugh, I’m so sleepy I could die."

"Come on, it’s not like you paid attention during class. You were just dozing off, and now you’re complaining about being sleepy?"

"Shut up, dumbasses! Let’s just go eat lunch."

"What’s for lunch today? Sweet and sour pork?"

"That’s tomorrow. Today’s fried pollack."

"Oh, damn it—"

My ears were hurting from the noise.

As soon as lunchtime started, the entire classroom became chaotic.

But I wasn’t really thinking about anything.

Since I still had a cast on my leg, it was difficult to get to the cafeteria, and the hospital had told me I needed to stick to a special diet for a while, so I had brought my own lunch.

As I pulled out my lunchbox, a few friends approached me.

"You’re still eating that stuff?"

"I’ll probably be eating packed lunches for at least a month."

"That must suck."

"You picking a fight? I hurt my stomach, so this is all I can eat."

Just then, there was a loud noise coming from the classroom door.

"Hey! Someone call that bastard Han Kain over here!"

"If that jerk didn’t have a cast on his leg, I’d beat the shit out of him right now!"

What the hell?

Before I could even take a bite, people dragged me over to the door.

There stood a very cute-looking second-year student.

“...”

Ha! I’m quite popular!

I couldn’t help but raise my hand in admiration of my irresistible charm—

- Smack!

"This asshole is at it again, huh?"

"Hey, idiot! Look at my leg before you shove me."

Amid the noisy atmosphere, the girl who introduced herself as “Songee” shyly handed me a small note, and disappeared.

I pushed away the dimwitted guys who tried to peek at the note with me and checked it alone.

It said to meet on the rooftop of the new building, where the cafeteria was, after class.

After that, I couldn’t focus on the lesson at all.

***

- Han Kain

As soon as class ended, I shook off my friends who were watching me like hawks and headed for the new building’s rooftop.

What should I do? What should I do?

I’m in my final year of high school, is it okay to get a girlfriend now of all times?

Isn’t it better to date in college?

But she’s cute!

Hah, I don’t want to hurt her feelings!

Why did she ask to meet on the rooftop?

My leg is still injured.

Is that okay?

Should I play hard to get?

Nah, I should just say yes right away.

What if we fight after we start dating?

If there’s enough love, small conflicts are nothing!

But what if she has a strange personality?

That would be a big problem, right?

“...”

In a short time, my brain spun faster than ever before, spewing out a flood of wild thoughts.

If this kept up, I’d probably start thinking about names for our second daughter, so I forced myself to stop thinking and headed up to the rooftop.

“…??”

What the...?

I arrived, but there was no one on the rooftop.

I wandered around the rooftop looking for her, but Songee was nowhere to be seen.

Did I come too early?

With my leg in a cast, I didn’t think I had moved that quickly…

But then I understood.

She probably needs time to prepare for her confession!

Thinking that made me feel better, and I couldn’t help but smile.

As I chuckled to myself and went to lean against the railing—

- Ping!

Suddenly, something yanked me toward the rooftop’s edge!

A white wire I hadn’t noticed, laid out on the floor, tightened and pushed me toward the edge.

"Aaah!"

In an instant, I hit the outer wall of the railing and fell over.

Already struggling with my leg in a cast, the impact made my body collapse.

But what happened next was even more shocking.

- Rumble! Crash!

Suddenly, the railing wall collapsed!

How could this happen?

How does reinforced concrete crumble like that?!

There was no time to think.

With the wire pushing me over the edge and the collapsing wall…

The outcome was clear.

I was pushed outside the building, teetering on the edge of death.

Desperately, I clung to the remnants of the railing with all my strength.

"Help!!! Somebody help!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, holding on for dear life.

I couldn’t even dare to look down.

Time passed, filled with pain and fear, and I heard strange voices from somewhere.

"Why is he holding on so well?"

"Should we just wait?"

"If we give him too much time, he’ll survive in some weird way."

"Why won’t he just die?"

"Kain, please just die!"

What the hell? Why are these voices wishing for my death?

One of the voices was definitely the girl who called me here earlier!

Why is this happening?

My mind was a chaotic mess.

And then, I heard a sound that made everything worse.

- PIYOOOO!

A cute parrot appeared, acting as if it were some majestic bird of prey.

It slowly approached the railing I was clinging to.

"No way? It can’t be, right?"

- Peck! peck!

"Ah, damn it! Get that beak away from me!"

- Crunch! Crack!

"AHHHH! THIS CRAZY BIRD IS GONNA KILL ME! STOP PECKING AT MY FINGERS!"

- Piyoooo!

"YOU?! DID YOU JUST LAUGH!? I’M SURE YOU DID, DIDN'T YOU?!"

- Tear!

"AH! PLEASE, GET YOUR BEAK AWAY FROM ME! AH! MY EYES, MY EYES!"

Seeing that I was holding on longer than expected, the parrot started attacking my face with its beak and claws.

I felt a boiling rage.

From deep within, an unbridled fury, unlike anything I’d ever felt before surged up.

At this moment, the fear of death and the pain of clinging to the railing had all but vanished in my heart.

I just want to fry this damn bird!

As all distracting thoughts disappeared and only one wish remained in my heart, the world answered my prayer.

I came to my senses thereafter.

***

- Han Kain

- Piyoo…

"Perro’s really hurt. Is he okay?"

"That’s why we tried to stay out of Kain-oppa’s sight! Perro, I told you not to act on your own."

"Even so, I didn’t expect Kain to suddenly summon hot oil out of thin air…"

"If he was a regular parrot, he would’ve died on the spot. But Perro is special! He’ll be fine."

After listening to Ahri and Songee’s conversation for a while, I couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Is the parrot all you care about? What about my fingers and face that the parrot almost mangled?"

"So what? Once you leave the Hotel, they’ll heal everything. By the way, you woke up in a funny way. Did you snap out of it because the hot oil you summoned out of thin air was about to spill on you?"

"..."

"Wow~ Isn’t it a bit much? Perro did his best to wake you up, and you tried to fry him with oil."

"Don’t lie! That bird definitely bit my finger while laughing at me."

"Oppa! Does it help to say that when Perro is hurt?"

"..."

"Ah~ Songee, cut him some slack. Kain was excited because he thought he’d get a love confession from you today."

Ahri’s words were a critical hit to both me and Songee.

Recalling the wild fantasies I had earlier, I couldn’t stand the embarrassment and just stared at the ground.

"Kain, are you sure you’re fully awake now? If not, how about trying to fly off a building?"

"...The hologram already appeared, so knock it off."

I kind of wanted to push Ahri off the building.

After this chaotic process, I eventually joined the “Wake the Comrades Party”.

Now, the only one left was Elena.

The fact that this long ordeal in the Gate Room was finally coming to an end made me quite emotional.

"Is Elena the one one left?"

Songee immediately gave her opinion, "Yes. But I think waking up Elena-unni will be more difficult. She seems to be the most deeply immersed in the illusion."

"There’s another problem too. She’s already a huge star in this world, right? Elena is probably surrounded by bodyguards. We can’t just lure her somewhere and push her off a building like we did with Kain."

"...Sorry about the ruthless method."

Songee busied herself wrapping bandages around Perro.

The arrogant little bird continued to glare at me, chirping away.

Could a parrot outmatch he who stands at the top of the food chain?

I widened my eyes and glared back at Perro.

Ahri, watching us, spoke up, "Hey! Stop having a staring contest with a bird."

Finally, Ahri called us together, and we started talking.

The main topic was how Ahri and Songee woke up.

As I listened to how Ahri realized something was off, it sounded strange.

"What did you say?"

"Hmm? I said I entered the Administration Bureau headquarters and spoke with Director Park—"

"No, not that part. The part where you said you noticed something was off. You mentioned something about man-eating pigeons and fungal parasites."

"Yeah, I did."

"...I’ve never heard of those things before. Fungal parasites? Man-eating pigeons? I’ve never even heard of such things on the news. I may not know much about bars because I’m underage, but carnivorous pigeons? If such weird creatures spread across the country, there’s no way I wouldn’t know."

"..."

Upon hearing my response, Ahri’s eyes widened at first, but then she seemed to understand something and nodded.

"Don’t just figure it out on your own, explain it to me too."

"It’s nothing. You’ll figure it out if you think about it a bit."

She was clearly dodging the question.

But I quickly caught on. I've experienced this several times in this hotel.

The stage might look like Earth, but it was filled with absurdities I’d never heard of in real history.

At first, I thought the Hotel had just made it up.

But later, when Songee resolved Room 103, she heard from the “Devouring One” that the hotel’s scenarios were recreations of events that actually happened somewhere in the universe.

I’d never heard of these things in the history I knew, but they actually happened?

I’ve seen enough movies to explain that!

It’s got to be a parallel world, right?

Maybe Ahri and I came from different parallel worlds.

If that’s the case, once we leave the hotel and return to our respective worlds, will we never meet again?

The thought saddened me

Sigh

Let’s leave these thoughts here.

For now, I’m too busy worrying about how to survive each day.

***

- Kim Ahri

After the conversation ended, Kain seemed to be deep in thought and then nodded, as if he’d come to his own understanding.

I could easily guess how he had rationalized it.

Something along the lines of parallel worlds, I bet.

Ever since superhero movies from XX Comics took over theaters, the concept of parallel worlds has become common knowledge.

I sighed.

This time, I couldn’t possibly tell Kain the truth.

This time, I had to hide the truth from him, for his own sake.

Someday, when he leaves the hotel, he’ll be in for a huge shock.

But I can’t let him face that shock while we’re still dealing with the Trials of the hotel

He and I live in different phases of the same world.