Escaping the Mystery Hotel

- Ring ring! Ring ring!

I woke up to the sound of my alarm.

Dazed, I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, washed my hair, and freshened up.

In the mirror, I saw a stunningly beautiful girl who looked like she had stepped straight out of a painting.

...Time to go out.

I touched the pendant hanging around my neck and stepped out of the bathroom.

I got dressed.

The house was filled with the savory smell of frying eggs.

“Are you awake? Set the table, please.”

Mom is acting like an adult…?

I had a strange thought for a moment.

Of course, my mom is an adult. She’s not a child.

Fried eggs, a few side dishes, and rice.

A simple yet hearty breakfast.

As I was about to leave, my mom lightly hugged me and patted my head.

“Have a great day!”

“Mom! I told you not to do that.”

“Just teasing.”

Her silver hair cascaded down to her waist, her red eyes, and her softly curved eyebrows…

Despite being my mom, she looked unbelievably beautiful…

As I stepped out of the house, for some reason, a tear trickled down my cheek.

While running to school, I heard a familiar voice call me.

“Ahri!”

Who could it be?

Oh, it’s Daseul.

I chatted with Daseul, my childhood friend, as we walked to school.

Seo Daseul should have died long ago, though?

I had another strange thought.

What am I thinking… Daseul is alive right next to me.

Classes at school were as dull as ever.

In the decades that have passed, smartphones surpassing the performance of old supercomputers have fallen into our hands, and the Administration has advanced civilization to the point of sending people to other worlds.

Yet school classes have remained nearly the same for decades?

...The Administration?

I thought something strange again.

The bell rang, ending the class.

As I stood up, friends gathered around me.

We chatted and laughed uncontrollably.

We laughed and talked for ten minutes about a caterpillar climbing a branch outside the window!

Students at this age seem to even find falling leaves amusing.

While moving to the hallway, I noticed the kids taking out their lunchboxes and gathering them near the heater at the back of the classroom.

Maybe I should have brought a lunchbox to put on the heater?

...Lunchbox?

We have school meals nowadays, so why did they bring lunch boxes?

Realizing this, I looked around and found the design of the school uniforms odd.

Jackets and pants resembling Japanese school uniforms, and hats similar to berets.

Isn’t this style of uniform something that was worn back in the 80s?

My head hurts.

I felt like I was on the verge of understanding something.

Unconsciously, I fiddled with the pendant.

Just as I was about to sit back down and ponder, Daseul grabbed my shoulder.

“Ah...”

“What’s with the ‘ah’? What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“Just, for a moment, everything around me felt strange…”

“Strange? Did you have a dream or something?”

“Maybe.”

“Did you watch ‘You Who Fell from the Sky’ yesterday?”

“What’s that?”

“Eh? You didn’t see it? Everyone’s talking about it! It’s a huge hit!”

“A drama?”

“Yeah! The female lead is such a goddess! Look at this!”

Daseul took out her phone and showed me the actress playing the heroine.

Flowing golden hair like molten gold, emerald green eyes full of Amazonian vitality.

She looked like a celebrity, so much so that I instinctively exclaimed, “Wow, a celebrity!”

She looked very familiar.

Have I seen someone like her before?

Throughout lunch, we only talked about “You Who Fell from the Sky” and the new actress playing the female lead.

The strangest event of the day happened during the seventh period.

- Flap!

Suddenly, with a loud noise, the window opened, and a parrot flew into the classroom.

Everyone screamed in surprise, and the teacher was at a loss, plunging the class into chaos!

The parrot ignored everyone else and flew straight at me.

I was too shocked to react.

The parrot flew directly to me and aimed its beak at the pendant hanging around my neck, trying to bite it off.

“Ah! Why are you doing this? Get off! Get off!”

I tried to push the parrot away with my book, but it didn’t work.

Despite hitting it with a book much bigger than itself, the parrot didn’t budge and shook me with its beak.

Are birds usually this strong?

This parrot is way too strong. Can a normal bird be like this?

My friends and the teacher rushed to help pull the parrot away from me.

- Whistle!

A sharp whistle pierced my ears.

The parrot immediately raised its head and responded to the whistle.

“Perro! Come back now!”

A girl’s voice, sounding angry, came from somewhere.

The parrot, “Perro”, reluctantly flew away.

In the chaos, the class ended awkwardly.

As soon as the class was over, a second-year senior approached me.

She was a cute girl with charming features that complemented her short hazel-brown hair, reminiscent of hazelnuts.

She wore a mysterious, opaque bracelet on her right arm.

Her name tag read “Yu Songee”.

For some reason, this girl also seemed very familiar.

Contrary to how she had been when she controlled the parrot with just a whistle and a sharp command, she fidgeted in front of me and spoke, “Um! I’m sorry. My friends were begging me to show them Perro, so I brought him to school. I made sure to put him in a cage, but my friends were messing around and he got out. He suddenly flew off and did something strange. I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. Birds can do that.”

“He’s usually not a troublemaker like today. Perro’s a very smart parrot, but today, as soon as the cage opened, he flew off at an incredible speed, and I couldn’t stop him.”

“Really, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“...”

“...”

We stared at each other for a moment and then tilted our heads at the same time.

I spoke first, “Doesn’t it feel like we’ve met before?”

“I had the same thought. Where do you live?”

We talked for a while, but our neighborhoods and backgrounds were completely different.

Yet, we both felt a strong sense of familiarity and closeness.

Maybe we met somewhere by chance and just forgot?

That was the end of any unusual events for the day.

***- Yu Songee

I had a strange experience.

Due to my friend’s insistence, I brought Perro to school, resulting in a big incident!

I was scolded for a long time by the teacher after managing to fix the situation.

The strange thing happened when I went to apologize to the first-year student Perro had bothered.

First, I was shocked by her appearance.

Her hair was like the night sky, her features were distinct, and most strikingly of all, her eyes seemed to flash red like flowing blood!

Her appearance was unforgettable.

Isn’t this just a regular high school?

How could there be someone like that here?

I felt so overwhelmed by her appearance that I struggled to speak.

Next, I felt an inexplicable familiarity and friendliness.

She seemed like a princess from another world, the furthest thing from the word “familiarity”.

Yet, strangely, she felt familiar and even friendly.

It felt like we could comfortably joke with each other.

The most surprising thing was what happened next.

That girl, “Kim Ahri”, said she felt the same familiarity and friendliness toward me!

After that, we talked about whether we lived in similar areas or attended the same elementary or middle school, but everything was completely different.

Pondering this puzzling experience, I walked across the schoolyard.

- Screech! Clunk!

“Hey, hey! Watch where you’re going!”

“Ah! Sorry!”

I almost ran into a motorcycle because I was lost in thought.

But isn’t this the schoolyard?

A delivery guy, clearly speeding illegally, shouted at me despite being at fault!

As I puffed my cheeks in delayed anger, someone called me from behind, “Wow~ Songee, I thought you were going to get hit just now.”

Turning around, I saw one of the friends who insisted I bring Perro, Yeonah.

“I was scared too.”

“Be careful. I heard a third-year senior got hit by a motorcycle and ended up in the hospital.”

“A third-year senior?”

“Yeah. Haven’t you heard? Senior Kain.”

“I’ve never heard of him. Is he famous?”

“Not really, but some girls like him because he’s handsome.”

“Really?”

I turned away, thinking it wasn’t a big deal.

“…”

“Yeonah…”

“Yeah?”

“Is that senior’s surname ‘Han’? Han Kain?”

“That’s right. Do you know him?”

“No… It just suddenly came to mind.”

It really just came to mind.

Nothing special happened at school after that.

Returning home in the evening, I was greeted by the usual tranquility of my home.

As soon as I arrived, Happy, who looked like a white fluffball, and Somi, who probably spent half the day sleeping, came to nudge me.

After dancing a joyful spin with Happy and Somi, a voice rang out,  “Do you dance like that every time you come home, Songee? Can’t you see Perro is bewildered?”

“What does it matter? Perro can join in too.”

Perro immediately flew to his room upon hearing that.

“Mom! Where’s Dad?”

“Your dad is working late again today. I don’t know why he’s been working overtime so much lately. I know his job at the hospital is busy, but he should pay more attention to home.”

Mom felt sad about Dad not being able to come home often due to his busy hospital work.

For some reason, just seeing this scene made me happy.

In the past, it felt like Mom didn’t care whether Dad was home or not…

I must be mistaken.

My parents have always had a good relationship.

Just then, Dad posted in our family chat group.

I’m sorry for being late, my beloved Songee and Yeon~!

Seeing the cheesy message, I teased Mom like crazy. She got embarrassed and kicked me while we finished dinner.

We planned a short family trip during a rare extended holiday.

After dinner, I went to my room and suddenly felt tears well up.

...Why is this happening?

Strange memories suddenly surfaced.

My parents used to shout at each other every day.

They started openly seeing other people and contacted lawyers.

Such a strange memory. My parents have always gotten along.

Those things couldn’t have happened.

After washing away those strange memories in the shower, I went to bed.

“…”

“...”

- Clunk!

I woke up startled by the sensation of the bed shaking.

In front of me appeared an incomprehensible monster, unlike anything I had ever seen before.