Escaping the Mystery Hotel

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Dxme : Zot 129

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Azxd’e Dpvlewꏠ : X

- Han Kain

We all could feel the overwhelming presence of the “Legion” approaching from the sky.

Facing it in silence, we made a decision.

If necessary, we would all join forces to take on Elena.

It wouldn’t be easy.

Even if Jinchul-hyung were at full strength, there was no way we could handle that many with force alone.

However, if Elena had lost her blessing and could no longer use Calmness and Tranquility, then she would have no way to resist my Grimoire.

But the memory of possessing Elena when she had been driven mad by the Eye of the Zero Dimension held me back.

If I possessed someone who had been consumed by madness beyond a certain threshold, that madness would seep into me as well.

In the end, I resolved to use possession only as a last resort and approached Elena.

Her condition is… truly bizarre.

***

“I’ve missed you all so much!”

Elena, who had flown in from the sky, approached us as if nothing was wrong and hugged each of us in turn.

Since none of us had ever received an embrace from such a beauty, it was the kind of situation that would normally make faces flush with embarrassment.

But instead of embarrassment, cold sweat trickled down from sheer tension.

The Elena I knew was not the type to impulsively hug people out of joy, and the insect-like wings twitching on her back were deeply unsettling.

More than anything, what made the situation even more dire was the presence of roughly three hundred grotesque, moth-like creatures waiting behind her.

“…Nice to see you.”

“Elena, you must have been through a lot.”

After exchanging brief greetings, we started a casual conversation, as if this were just another normal day.

Of course, rather than talking about ourselves, we focused on Elena.

“When I first woke up, I was completely shocked! Can you believe that the whole world was made of writhing flesh? Even the sky was purple, and I was standing on a giant tongue!”

“A purple sky… and writhing flesh…?”

“Yes. Kain, weren’t you surprised?”

“O-of course I was. Anyone who wouldn’t be shocked by something like that isn’t human.”

“Elena, do you still see the ground as writhing flesh? The ground is—“

“Jinchul, right now, it looks fine. My ‘fairies’ have purified everything. But before I arrived, when I looked from afar, it was still writhing.”

“Elena! You’re mistaken! The ground is made of normal soil and stone, and the sky is blue. We are in a perfectly normal world!”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Just now, the atmosphere turned cold.

Without refuting Jinchul-hyung’s words, Elena suddenly spoke in a childish tone, “Kainnn! Be careful of that old man. I think he’s a little crazy. This world is dangerous, you know. It’s a place where it wouldn’t be strange for people to go crazyyy~”

“…Elena, that’s not true. I’m fine. Tell me more. What else have you been through?”

“Octopuses~! Wriggling octopuses came out by the dozens! I tried to run away, but they kept chasing me—it was terrifying… I cried and begged for someone, anyone, to come save me. But why didn’t you help me?”

The atmosphere shifted instantly, and the moths behind her lifted me into the air.

Right now, Elena was seriously asking me why I hadn’t come to save her when she was in danger.

I could feel the murmuring tension around me.

Jinchul-hyung hesitated, wondering if he should attack.

Sanghyun seemed deeply focused on Elena’s words.

Grandpa was slowly moving his hand toward his gun.

And yet… strangely, I felt like I knew exactly what answer was needed at this moment.

“I’m sorry. I was busy running from the octopuses, too. I didn’t even think about saving anyone.”

I merely shut my mouth and apologized.

It didn’t matter that we were on a vast, primitive continent and that I had no way of knowing where she was or that she was in danger.

And even if I had known, it wasn’t like I could have found and saved her.

That kind of logic wasn’t going to work here.

- Thud!

Ironically, my response seemed to satisfy her, and she let me go.

The conversation resumed, “Next time, don’t make that mistake! But I’ll let it slide this once because while I was alone, I figured out how to create fairies! Look! Aren’t they beautiful?”

As we listened to Elena’s bizarre, twisted fairy-tale-like story, everyone’s expressions grew darker and darker.

The horrifying “wriggling octopuses” she spoke of were actually primitive humans.

And when she said her fairies had “purified” them, we finally understood what she meant.

Grandpa, realizing what was being said, let out a long sigh and started reaching for his gun.

But before he could, the doctor stopped him, smiled, and then casually joined the conversation, “Elena, would it be alright if I borrowed Kain for a moment?”

“Huh? Of course! But… is it something I shouldn’t hear?”

“Haha! Let’s just say it’s a private matter.”

The doctor left Elena in the care of the others and pulled me aside.

“What were you thinking during that conversation?”

“She’s completely out of her mind. Feels like she’s totally lost it.”

“Your responses were good. Rather than contradicting her, you just accepted her words. Are you used to having conversations like that?”

“Of course not.”

“You handled it well. She’s caught in extreme delusions. It’s like… she’s in her own reality. If you try to shatter it, she’ll react aggressively. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

“So you’re saying I should be the one talking to her?”

“Neither Senior nor Jinchul seem like they’d be able to soothe her and subtly guide her actions. You’re the best fit for the job, Kain.”

I had no idea what I was supposed to say, but I did notice one thing—the doctor’s expression wasn’t grim at all.

If anything, he looked surprisingly cheerful.

“I thought this was a completely hopeless situation, but you seem oddly optimistic.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? The situation has improved tremendously. Sure, her mind’s a little off, but she recognizes us and—most importantly—we now have a powerful ally who can stand against the mountain’s robots.”

***

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Dxme : Zot 129

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Azxd’e Dpvlewꏠ : X

Three days had passed.

During those three days, the responsibility of keeping up with Elena’s madness fell about 80% on me.

The others found it burdensome to even stay near her, with only the doctor occasionally checking in to assess the situation, handling the remaining 20%.

Of course, that didn’t mean the others were just sitting idly. Grandpa and Jinchul-hyung had their hands full training the tribespeople, preparing them to lure the robots’ attention as planned.

Once training began, Elena expressed a strong desire to “purify” the tribespeople, darkening our expressions.

Thankfully, the doctor—who could communicate with Elena better than anyone besides me—managed to convince her by saying, “These ‘octopuses’ are highly intelligent and have been trained to follow our commands.”

With that, Elena seemed to understand and backed down.

“Kain, I have a simple request.”

“What is it?”

“My fairies seem to be starving these days… Look at them. They’re practically just bones now!”

“Really? The moths—no, the fairies—all seem quite plump to me.”

“There are so many ‘octopuses’ around. Can’t we spare just a little for my fairies? Maybe around 300 of them?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Come on, with that many, you can’t spare just 300? My fairies are way more capable!”

“I said absolutely not. Those ‘octopuses’ all have a role to play.”

“And what role is that?!”

“…Emergency rations for when we climb the mountain? If we eat them now, there won’t be anything left when we need them later.”

“Ah! So Kain had a plan all along?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, I’ll tell my fairies to hold out a little longer.”

With that, Elena left the tent, seemingly to pass the message along to her “fairies”.

The moment she was gone, a gray-skinned boy sitting across from me let out an exclamation of amazement.

“Wow! If the tribespeople heard that conversation, they’d freak out. I wish I could record it and play it back for them.”

“There’s no such thing as a recorder in this world, so it’s fine. By the way, Seungyub, how have you been holding up?”

“I’m doing fine.”

“…Are you really fine?”

“If I weren’t, could you change me back?”

“Not me, but maybe the Hotel will fix everything once we get out.”

“That’s why I’ve decided to just think of myself as fine.”

I didn’t have anything else to say.

The boy sitting next to me—whose body now looked like stone had replaced his skin—was surprisingly calm.

I supposed it was because he still believed that everything would be restored once we escaped.

I could still vividly remember the moment I reunited with Seungyub two days ago.

Elena had led me to a massive cocoon, saying she would show me someone I knew.

When that cocoon burst open and Seungyub, now transformed into a stone-like boy, emerged, I almost screamed.

— What the hell happened to you?

— Hyung, if I start explaining everything I went through, we won’t have enough time even if we stay up all night. This room is seriously insane. Even before I met Elena, it was pure hell.

— I figured. As soon as I understood the state of this place, I was the most worried about you. And hearing Elena keep saying that she ‘saved’ you made me even more anxious.

The gray stone boy let out a dry chuckle and answered simply.

— Surprisingly, that part is actually true.”

— What do you mean?

— Elena really did save me. If she hadn’t arrived when she did, I might’ve died in a much worse way. Compared to that, having slightly tougher skin isn’t that big of a deal.”

I froze for a moment in shock.

So Elena had actually saved him?

Now that I thought about it, didn’t she mention that when she found Seungyub, he had been hanging from a pole?

“What exactly happened to you?”

“Let’s talk about it after we get out. I have so much to say. But from the looks of it, we’ll probably be heading into the mountains tomorrow.”

“Yeah… By the way, do you think the others are doing okay? Eunsol-noona, Songee-noona, Ahri-noona… I wonder how they’re holding up.”

“I get the feeling we’ll find out once we get out of here.”

***

Seeing Elena fly through the sky had initially filled everyone with unease, but in the end, the doctor’s assessment that her presence had improved our situation proved to be true.

The biggest advantage was that we now had someone capable of fighting the robots.

Over the past three days, I had done my best to explain to Elena that there were enemies in the mountains who posed a threat to us.

She had accepted this and steeled herself for battle.

Additionally, the faith of the tribespeople had deepened significantly.

This was thanks to the doctor deceiving them into believing that Elena was an angel sent by their ancestors.

Since the tribespeople had no idea that this so-called angel had tried to “purify” them, nor were they aware of the true nature of the moths flying over the plains, they accepted the lie without a shred of doubt.

A stronger fighting force, a sound plan, and heightened morale.

It felt as if everything was working in our favor.

We all resolved to climb the mountains at dawn.

Even Elena, who usually spouted nothing but nonsense, happily cheered, “Fighting!” with a bright smile.

That was when Seungyub voiced an ominous thought, “This gives me a bad feeling. Things tend to go wrong when they seem to be going too smoothly.”

“Agh! Seungyub, why the hell would you say something like that right now? I’d smack you, but your head’s gotten so damn hard I’d just end up hurting myself!”

Everyone burst into laughter at Grandpa’s scolding.

Meanwhile, the doctor subtly glanced at Elena before leaning in to whisper in my ear, “By the way, Kain.”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind giving a short speech early tomorrow morning?”

“A speech?”

“More than half of the tribespeople here used to follow you, didn’t they? Your words would carry weight. No matter how you look at it, the fact that we have to perform a ‘strange ritual’ near the Crimson Mountain seems to be making them uneasy.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

***

“Hear me! The ancestors have delivered a revelation last night! At last, the march of suffering has ended, and the time of glory has arrived!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

“There were many hardships after we were cast out from paradise. A thousand years of starvation! A thousand years of being hunted by monsters! A thousand years of falling asleep each night, exhausted by fear! How long and cruel those years have been! But rejoice, for you shall now be freed from despair!”

As the tribespeople erupted in cheers loud enough to shake the heavens, a few observers watched in awe.

“Wow! Kain-hyung is really good at giving speeches!”

“If you ignore the fact that everything he’s saying is complete nonsense.”

“But doesn’t that make it even more impressive? How can he sound so natural while spouting nonsense about prophetic dreams from the ancest—mmph!”

Jinchul swiftly clamped a hand over Seungyub’s mouth.

He, too, agreed that the speech was nothing but nonsense, but since Elena was right next to them, visibly moved to the point of tears, there was no need to stir things up unnecessarily.

Senior chuckled and muttered to the group, “Alright. But that guy definitely isn’t normal either.”

“Isn’t it strange to still be ‘normal’ in a place like this?”

“You’re not wrong about that, Sanghyun. Now, let’s move out.”

***

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