Chapter 287: Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (10)

– Kim Sanghyun

As the door to my quarters opened, a small wooden table was brought in. Seeing the rather fine-looking meal on it, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was far too obvious.

Rather than obvious, it might be because Songee showed it once. Due to the movie’s characteristics, boring scenes were being skipped without hesitation, so why would a meal scene suddenly appear?

Songee felt something was off when a “travel scene” that had never appeared before suddenly showed up.

I hope the others who come after will also take note of this. I could bet money that there’s poison in the meal in front of me right now.

“Hmm… Guys, please don’t talk like Sanghyun in the future.”

“Regardless of how ridiculous this guy’s acting is, his advice is sound, so keep it in mind. An event that is usually skipped over is played out? That itself is a warning sign.”

Songee answered confidently, “There are no boring scenes in movies! Everyone, just remember this.”

After finishing my conscious explanation, I called the outside servant to check the meal again.

Sure enough, in less than a minute, the outside started to become noisy. After blocking the “assassination attempt event”, the next order of business was wall patrol and a meeting with the generals.

“Tomorrow at the Triran Plains…”

“Murtanie’s forces have crossed the hill…”

“There were opinions to rotate…”

“You fool! Not thinking about defending the wall…”

The generals were in an uproar. The old man sitting in the seat of honor, likely the commander-in-chief, wore a tired expression.

The story was simple. The enemy general Murtanie had come up with a cowardly, or rather excellent, strategy to cut off the supply line and block communication with the motherland.

Given this situation, opinions were raised to engage in a decisive battle to annihilate Murtanie and the nomadic forces before things got worse. Of course, there were also many opinions that it was more reasonable to defend the wall and wait for support from the motherland.

From time to time, the surrounding generals turned their heads towards me as if they wanted to ask for my opinion.

Given the circumstances, it seemed that if I opened my mouth at this juncture, I could lead the meeting. As the movie’s protagonist, I had been given the role of a general who had the firm trust of those around him.

But I kept my mouth shut.

What would I know about pre-modern warfare in the first place?

If it were modern warfare, I’d be confident to talk for three days and nights. However, warfare with swords and spears was too different from modern warfare to be lumped together under the same category of “war”. While I remained silent, the meeting solidified towards engaging in a life-or-death battle with Murtanie before it was too late.

Is this decision truly wise?

I wasn’t sure.

I didn’t know anything about pre-modern war strategies and tactics, and the same probably went for the others. However, since I had chosen rotation among the options of “rotation and defensive warfare”, if this failed, it might be good for the others to try defensive warfare.

As the old man sitting in the seat of honor slapped the table, the space shook and moved to the next scene.

When I came to my senses, I had fallen into the middle of the battlefield, mounted on a large black horse!

WHAT IN THE EVER-LOVING FUCK IS THIS?! I’VE NEVER SEEN SUCH A CLUSTERFUCK OF A PLOT DEVELOPMENT. HEY, YOU SHIT-FOR-BRAINS HOTEL BASTARDS, IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE?! HOW ABOUT A FUCKING HEADS-UP BEFORE TOSSING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHITTY WAR!

Calm down. Calm down!

I hurriedly turned the reins to head towards the hill behind—

– Whizz!

“Urgh! YOU MOTHERLESS SONS OF WHORES! SHOOTING FUCKING ARROWS FROM BEHIND—“

Despite wearing sturdy armor due to my rank as a general, I almost cried from the sudden pain. Moreover, the large black horse I was riding seemed more excited and ready to charge in.

You’re not acting like an animal at all, you shit-for-brains bastard! Go ahead and die on your own if you want.

In the first place, I didn’t even know how to ride a horse, so what use was there in being on a horse that I couldn’t properly control and was about to charge into enemy lines? I got off the horse and started running towards the back.

I thought it might not be “general-like behavior”, but in this situation, riding a horse I couldn’t control towards the front would just be suicide, so it was better to live a bit longer.

“General! Where are you going without leading us—“

How would I know?

I ran frantically to climb a hill-like place and caught my breath while looking over the battlefield. The clearly evident situation among the shaking flags was—

I don’t know, you bastards!

How would I know just by looking when I’ve never experienced such a stupid old-fashioned war in my life!

Just a dusty landscape, screams filling the whole world, the sound of metal clashing from all directions, and the pungent smell of blood.

That’s all there is.

“S-Sanghyun?”

Everyone was speechless at the excited voice and curses constantly erupting from the giant screen.

Ahri, who barely regained her senses, opened her mouth, “Calm down. It’s just narration for us, but for the person inside, it’s ‘thoughts’. The situation is confusing, and being on a battlefield, it seems even he can’t control his thoughts.”

“You motherless sons of—ahem. The talk about parentless children came out as a voice though?”

“…”

Mooksung showed an attitude, as if it was nothing.

“Well, isn’t it a battlefield? If you’re not excited in that situation, you’re not human.”

I ran and ran again.

A moment ago, I stepped on something squishy like jelly under my feet, but I decided not to check. A moment ago, some viscous liquid splashed on my cheek, but I didn’t bother to wipe it off.

…I feel like I’m going crazy. What’s the point of just running away like this?

Finally, I leaned against a nearby tree and turned back again.

I now understood the battle situation I couldn’t comprehend earlier. Not just me, but even the low-ranking soldiers around probably all knew. It had already reached a stage where one couldn’t not know, even if they wanted to.

Incomprehensible shouts were heard from all directions. East, west, north. Enemy soldiers blew on horned flutes.

Was it a mistake to come down outside the wall?

It was impossible to know now.

A huge shadow appeared. He approached this way, slaughtering countless soldiers as if he were a farmer harvesting crops.

The great general of Durkai, Murtanie. More than ten heads were dangling from the horse he was riding. I could recognize some of them. They were the heads of the generals who had attended the meeting earlier.

He had come to behead me. No matter how much I ran away after getting off the horse, it was impossible not to know that I was of no ordinary status. My armor alone was different from that of common soldiers.

Taking a deep breath, I recalled the abilities I had.

Medical skills?

Useless in the current situation.

Marksmanship? Astronaut skills?

Even more useless.

…I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. I thought I had trained many skills throughout my life, but in this situation, not a single one was useful.

“Aaaaargh!”

Screams erupted. I decided not to run away anymore. For the sake of my companions, shouldn’t I at least see how the enemy general fought before I died?

The combat power of Murtanie, which I observed by focusing my mind, was simply ridiculous.

A dark blue energy erupted from Murtanie’s spear as it rotated in a spiral. When he thrust his spear into the air, the dark blue energy pierced through the air, grinding up the soldiers.

What is he, a Jedi? Does he have the Force?

That wasn’t the end of it. With a light shout, his spear struck the ground, and in an instant, the ground in the area shook, causing hundreds of soldiers to lose their balance and stagger.

“Taaaah!”

A lion’s roar that shook heaven and earth burst from Murtanie’s mouth. The soldiers who had been staggering and losing their balance began to collapse, bleeding from their ears.

This is why we lost! This is why we lost! With such a monster rampaging on a pre-modern battlefield, how could an empire or anything else win!?

“How boring. Is there no one in Jincheon who can receive this Murtanie’s spear? Did you speak of empire and walls with only this much strength?”

It was a provocation that wasn’t even funny, but there was a general who fell for it. In fact, at this point, with defeat imminent, it was a time when something had to be done.

The general who charged in bravely with a shout didn’t even last long enough to take a sip of water, his whole body being cut into pieces with just two thrusts. The spear, rotating like a drill, burst the horse with one strike, and with the second, crushed the general’s armor and torso.

“…”

I’m sorry. I showed an unsightly appearance. Honestly, I didn’t know the movie would be this extreme.

The second movie, The Guardian of the Wall, is quite different from Taming the Crown Prince. It’s just power. Power. Remember how I said earlier that whether to rotate or defend the wall might be important?

Thinking about it again, it doesn’t matter. What’s the point of hiding behind a wall against such a monster? He’s the type who would split the wall with his spear to get in. No matter what choice we make, we’ll end up clashing with Murtanie.

Someone who can defeat that guy needs to come in.

“Pathetic. You call yourself a general? The day Jincheon Empire falls is not far off. My spear is wasted on you.”

Murtanie lightly stretched his hand into the air and clenched his fist. At the same time, my whole body started to be crushed.

“Ugh, aaaaargh!”

In the pain of being crushed alive, I begged and begged.

Ah… Father in heaven. What sin have I committed to suffer such pain? I have lived diligently all my life and saved many people.

So please, grant me salvation. Let me out of this hell. If that’s impossible, then please, just kill me.

“…”

“…”

In the theater filled with silence, in an atmosphere so different and horrific from the previous movie, everyone was at a loss for words. Hearing Kim Sanghyun’s plea, who lost his “poker face” in pain at the last moment, his colleagues felt a heaviness in their hearts.

“Huu-uk!”

As people started crying, Kain felt the need to calm the situation.

“C-calm down, everyone. The doctor isn’t completely dead. His last words were just because the pain was too severe. Let’s… Let’s comfort him while we all have a meal together later.”

If only the guide had come out making that “Dun-dun-da-da” sound, this gloomy atmosphere might have stopped. Unfortunately, the minimum condition for success in Hotel Cinema was “’survival”.

Even though it was a failure, Elena was able to receive the judges’ evaluation because she survived until the end, but because Sanghyun died, the judges didn’t even come out.

Instead, the screen became opaque and sent a signal for the next person to enter. Ahri, instead of worrying about others, put her hand on Jinchul’s shoulder.

“Do you think you can win?”

“…That Murtanie guy?”

“Yeah. This movie is completely different from Act 1. Sanghyun accurately grasped the situation at the end. It’s not a movie about devising strategies or anything. If we had to classify the genre…”

“It’s a martial arts movie, an action movie. There might be aspects where we need to use our heads, but basically, we need to face and defeat a strong enemy.”

Kain pointed out an important point, “There’s an even more terrible point. Do you know that only about 30 minutes have passed since the movie started?”

“More than two hours left.”

“Would the final boss appear 30 minutes into an action movie?”

“…There must be an even more terrifying monster waiting later.”

Kain muttered, turning to Ahri, “We made a big mistake.”

“Huh?”

“I think Elena should have gone in here. The combat power of Murtanie shown on the screen was impressive, but not to the extent that Elena couldn’t subdue.”

“Let’s stop talking about what’s already passed. More importantly, seeing the situation, it’s just a waste of attempts for any ordinary person to go in.”

Kain nodded. For this type of movie, for example, Mooksung or Eunsol’s entry would be meaningless. It wouldn’t be strange if they both died, skewered by one thrust of Murtanie’s spear while he was half-asleep.

It wasn’t much different for Seungyub either. Although Fortune sometimes exerted bizarrely powerful effects, it wasn’t a power without limits. If it were truly infinite, Seungyub would have already obtained a couple of Inheritances.

Among the members who still had chances left, only Han Kain, Cha Jinchul, and Kim Ahri were capable of facing such a being. Moreover, considering that an even more powerful being was likely waiting behind that one, the situation was even more threatening.

After pondering for a moment, Kain cautiously offered an opinion, “My ability is similar to a kind of instant death skill. If it works, I win unconditionally, and if it doesn’t work, I lose unconditionally. So everything depends on whether possession works or not.”

“Do you think possession won’t work on Murtanie?”

“No. Honestly, that’s not it. Unless it’s a being with a rank comparable to a demigod, they can’t resist possession, and Murtanie didn’t seem to be of that high a rank. What I’m worried about is the being that will appear after him.”

At that moment, Jinchul spoke up, “I’ll go.”

“…”

“Well, just from watching the video, I’m not sure, but whether it’s a martial arts master or whatever, isn’t it still human in the end? If I take my blessing and grit my teeth and fight, I think I can kill them.”

“When he swung his spear, black whirlwinds were flying around, you know?”

“I’ll just dodge them.”

As everyone’s gaze focused on Jinchul, he jested, “Why are you all like this? Isn’t this the movie best fit for my abilities? I find the horror movie side more burdensome and dislike the idea. In a horror movie, some ridiculous monster will probably appear and cast strange curses. Rather than dying without even getting to throw a punch at such a thing, I want to face off against that Murtanie guy.”

With those words, Jinchul looked around. Some had apologetic expressions, others worried expressions. It was as if they were reluctantly entrusting him with something too difficult and painful.

In the midst of that, Jinchul felt the memory of madness, long forgotten, bubbling and boiling up.

The first experience of Room 101, Common Sense Renovating Media. The memory of struggle filled with flesh, blood, and bone.

Wasn’t there a time when his hands broke the neck of the Adversary and crushed their limbs?

Wasn’t there a time long ago when he pierced the enemy’s Adam’s apple with a broken tonfa?

Strangely, he didn’t feel bad. Rather, an inexplicable sense of elation welled up. He wanted to enter the movie right away. He imagined himself dodging Murtanie’s spear and twisting his neck.

“I’m going in. Guide! I’m taking my Blessing. I can’t use the Star without my Blessing, anyway.”

As he entered towards the screen, a strange laughter reached his ears.

A throne full of swords, lava, and skulls. He felt the illusion of a giant sitting on it—and its delighted laughter in the face of the fighting spirit of the warrior it had chosen.