Escaping the Mystery Hotel

- Bang!

The floor bounced like a spring, and Kain was flung toward the wall.

Both Songee and I were startled.

I immediately pulled the trigger, and Songee commanded Perro to charge at Harrison again.

- Bang! Bang!

- Screeech!

With a loud explosion, Grotesque Perro’s huge beak tore into Harrison's remaining flesh.

But it was meaningless.

The transformed Harrison was beyond the point of distinguishing himself from the ship.

Indeed, Harrison effortlessly reformed, reshaping the flesh on the floor into a hideous face-like shape.

Do we need to destroy the entire ship?

There's no answer.

It's not like we can set off a bomb, and using a gun is pointless.

It’s impossible, even with Perro’s power.

It’d take something like Cha Jinchul summoning the Star to handle this.

A brief lull occurred.

After Kain was knocked out in one blow, Harrison didn't press a direct attack.

Recalling the details of the contract, the reason started to become clear.

"Hey, you two beautiful ladies. Won't you listen to me?"

"Are you suggesting we offer Kain as a sacrifice and the rest of us become the staff of the Esper Ho?"

"…"

"Is my assumption incorrect?"

"Miss Ahri, was it? You seem to read my mind from the beginning."

"Isn't it obvious? Whatever power you gained by merging with the ship must be demonic. To maintain it, you need to uphold the contract with the demon. To do that, you need to offer sacrifices and hold feasts, right? Even if you offer Kain as a sacrifice, you can't hold a feast by yourself. You've turned all the other staff and passengers into the ship's furniture. They can't dance in such a state. You need staff members for the Esper. Staff members who will eternally sail with the ship, enjoy the feast, and offer sacrifices all in the name of the demon."

"My, you're too clever. It's a bit worrying. I don't fancy smart staff members."

"Do you have an alternative? Do you think you can suddenly find a staff in the middle of this vast ocean?"

"An intense psychological battle could be fun. So, are you considering my offer?"

"Let's change the terms. I'll be the sacrifice."

"Eek!"

Songee let out a sound in shock, and the entire ship shuddered.

Is that Harrison's way of expressing surprise?

"What on earth are you saying? He's going to die soon anyway, so why take such a risk?"

I laughed at that.

Why take a risk for someone who’s about to die?

Because I’m confident we could end this trial immediately if we succeed!

How Harrison interpreted my laughter, I didn’t know, but he suddenly made an absurd statement, "Aha! Is this the pure love I've heard of? If you become the sacrifice and this young man becomes a staff member, the contract's power will revive him even if he dies. Are you planning to save him at the cost of your life? How touching."

I stayed silent out of sheer disbelief.

Harrison, after pondering for a bit, made a decision.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. I’ve been annoyed since you read my mind earlier, Miss. Although I'm not thrilled about sparing this brat, having him will make it easier to control the other ladies."

With that, wires from all over the ship moved like living tentacles and lifted me up.

Time to initiate Plan Z.

I had kept it as a last resort because of the uncertainties, but the moment of truth had finally come.

"Don't worry too much. I won't give you the same pain as those bugs glued to the floor. I'll end it cleanly. Just tell me your age and origin."

"I don't know my age. My origin is Hotel Pioneer."

Harrison laughed at my answer and replied, "Is that your final gambit? Lying to deceive me?"

"…"

"Or maybe it's not a lie, and you genuinely don't know your age and exact origin, so you can only say 'Hotel'? Not knowing one's roots is indeed a sorrowful fate. How sad. But if your last plan was to be unofferable as a sacrifice because you don't know your age and origin… that's disappointing."

This captain sure yaps a lot.

He must have been very lonely while he was trapped in the basement.

He seems convinced I’m trying to deceive him.

"…"

"Haha! If you thought I was like those bugs, you underestimated me. Even if you lie, I have ways to find out."

At those words, strange symbols began to appear all over the ship.

Soon, black hands emerged from beneath me.

The hands slowly climbed the wires and started to grip my body.

I looked around as I took a deep breath

I saw Songee looking at me with a fearful expression, the still-unconscious Elena, Perro, who was cleaning the flesh stuck in his beak, and Kain, who was inching ever closer to death.

A large mirror appeared before me.

Is it a means to find out my age and origin?

The mirror reflected me, reflected countless versions of myself.

Somewhere, I was trembling behind a brick wall in a battlefield filled with flying bullets.

Somewhere, I was fighting an invisible enemy on a train speeding beyond the Milky Way.

Somewhere, I was running among the earliest humans, searching for the First Seed.

Somewhere, I was a strange wanderer in a bizarre star, lost in time and space.

Somewhere, I was hearing a confession in the middle of an endless barley field.

Countless events from my not-so-short life flashed before my eyes like a panorama.

Harrison, who was processing this information, gasped in shock.

"What is this? How can this be so strange… Did you time travel?"

That wasn't the end.

The mirror kept going back through my past until it reached a grand Hotel.

A Hotel that rose from the seabed in the middle of the vast, endless ocean, still unknown to humanity.

I was born from the sea.

- Clang!

The ominous signal resonated through the ship.

The Clock of Contracts' hand ticked toward 3.

At that moment, the flesh forming Harrison's face contorted with all its might, screaming.

"No! No way! This can't be! W-what are you… born from the sea and ageless? You’re not a fucking mermaid! What kind of human are you!"

"I've always wondered about my age too."

- Gooooooong!

A colossal sound, almost palpable, echoed from the entire deep blue sea.

Harrison, in his rage, tried to impale us with the ship's wires like tentacles, but it was far too late.

Upon the contract’s termination, all the demonic powers granted to him began to wither.

The wires drooped like the arms of a powerless old man, and the flesh mixed with the ship began to separate and fall off.

As soon as we landed, we moved towards where Songee and Elena were.

Apparently, Perro had brought Kain as well, so everyone was in one place.

Songee immediately spoke, "How did you do that?"

"It's nothing much. I just guessed that if Marcas hates the land and enjoys sacrificing land-born humans, then perhaps those born at sea couldn't be sacrificed. I also thought that the ambiguity of my age might be another condition. It matched perfectly."

"To think of that in the middle of all this—"

- Boom!

The entire ship shook, and suddenly, parts of it began to disassemble!

"Ahhh! What's happening?"

"Ah! Just as I suspected! With the flesh of people absorbed into the ship disappearing, the ship is collapsing."

A song, vast enough to cover the whole world, resounded from the sea.

Is it Marcas's hymn?

Since time immemorial, fishermen and sailors who made the sea their home feared and revered the sea's ferocity and unpredictability as a cruel goddess.

Marcas, the demon who embodied the terror of the sea, cruelly twisted and instantly collapsed the Esper Ho.

We desperately clung to Perro.

Though he seemed to complain, he didn't revert to his parrot form.

Instead, he held Kain and Elena with his wings and tentacle-like arms.

I clung to Perro's neck to remain afloat.

Surprisingly, despite being a bird, Perro could float on the water after transforming.

We hung onto Grotesque Perro like hamsters on a giant duck's back.

"Please, please save us!"

...Miserable-looking people appeared from all sides.

Harrison, who had completely lost his human form, seemed to have died upon the contract's termination.

But those who maintained a vaguely human shape while conjoined to the ship managed to swim to us even in such a state.

Fortunately, Perro pushed each one back into the sea before they could reach us.

The sailors, who had feared death more than anything and made a contract with the demon, returned to the sea’s embrace as destined.

Congratulations to all participants! You have passed the fourth trial, 'The Secret of Esper Ho'.

The space began to collapse.

***- Kim Ahri

As soon as we entered the familiar resting space, Songee and I urgently checked on Kain.

We examined his breathing and assessed his external and internal injuries.

Songee, with a tense expression, kept looking at my face.

"Is Oppa okay?"

"He won't die immediately. But if we leave him like this, he will surely die."

"Then what should we do?"

Instead of answering, I immediately drew my blood with a syringe. Seeing my actions, Songee quickly moved Kain's arm closer for a transfusion.

I drew my blood repeatedly and injected it into Kain.

"Will this help Oppa recover?"

"It's not enough. The healing power in my blood only strengthens when I'm near death. It’s not that potent otherwise"

As I spoke, a chilling thought crossed my mind.

What if Songee commands Perro to nearly kill me to extract stronger blood?

...Fortunately, Songee showed no signs of such an intention.

It was just my needless suspicion.

My paranoia, nurtured from growing up in and around the Hotel and my experiences with the Administration, was akin to a chronic disease.

"Then what should we do?"

"I don't know. If the next trial stage has a hospital, we might save him. Otherwise, we need to finish the last trial ourselves."

Next, we checked on Elena.

Unlike Kain, Elena didn't seem to have any physical injuries.

Did the staff of the Esper Ho use a sedative on her?

She was just peacefully asleep.

With Kain in a critical state and Elena deeply asleep, Songee and I sighed and waited for time to pass.

Eventually, the Final Trial of the Gate Room began.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 46

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 107 (Gate Room)

Sage's Advice: 0

- Han Kain

- Clunk! Clunk!

- Click!

My mind was foggy.

I heard urgent sounds as I was being moved.

“...”

Ah, I'm the one being carried.

Realizing that I vaguely heard the sounds outside.

Is it a hospital?

I hear people in white coats moving the stretcher I'm on, talking frantically.

Is that my mom beside me? How did Mom get here?

It seems we've moved on to the Next Trial. What's going on now?

Even in this state, the Hotel displayed its notifications diligently.

Despite everything around me being blurry and my condition being a wreck, the Hotel's notifications were clear and vivid.

Congratulations on reaching the Final Trial!

Soon, your Inheritance and Blessing will be sealed.

Don't worry. You won't need them in the Final Trial.

The Final Trial, 'Perfect Life', begins now.

Perfect Life…

With those words, my consciousness faded away.