Chapter 298: Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (20)

– Lee Eunsol

As I ran out of the house, the outside was truly pitch black. The darkness of the countryside without a single streetlight was on a different level from that of the city.

Actually, this condition was quite advantageous for me. If I used the badge in this situation, would they be able to counter it? It was hard to find me even during the day, so in this darkness, they’d be helpless.

I changed my mind. No matter how I thought about it, the badge was a bit too much. I could try to insist that anyone would be surprised if an elegant young lady suddenly cursed, like with the chef’s hat, but I couldn’t get away with invisibility. Inevitably, the story would twist strangely again, like Park Sumi turning out to be a Vatican agent.

At that moment, suddenly, a thick arm from behind grabbed my head and knocked me down!

I immediately tried to swing the knife, but they had come out wearing thick clothes as if prepared for a fight, so the knife slipped.

“Urgh!”

“Miss, it would have been better if you had stayed quiet. Why are you making such a fuss? Such… such a pretty person, why are you doing this…?”

My consciousness was fading rapidly.

This woman, this damn sister-in-law is much stronger than me! I should have just used the badge!

– Thud!

“…”

A thick liquid poured over my head. I didn’t scream just because some blood got on my face at this point, but I was surprised by how suddenly the sister-in-law’s head burst.

Behind the sister-in-law was the young man holding a heavy lever. The young man started trembling, perhaps shocked by the fact that he had killed his sister with his own hands. But now was not the time for this.

“Hide!”

“Uh, eh, urgh.”

“Idiot! I said hide! Can’t you hear your brother and father coming?”

Only then did the young man dazedly hide behind the building. I picked up a rock from the ground and rubbed it on the sister-in-law’s burst head, pretending I had killed her.

A moment later, two men appeared.

“H-Hyeyoung! This crazy bitch dared!”

“Haa… It’s a bit funny hearing you call me crazy.”

Unlike the father-in-law who couldn’t calm his excitement, Park Sangho’s eyes flashed coldly.

“Living together for months, I didn’t know you.”

“I didn’t know you either.”

More precisely, the owner of this body didn’t know you.

“This… To think you were such a crazy devil woman!”

“Hey, no matter what, it’s a bit much for you guys to say that.”

I looked behind while stalling for time with wordplay. Surely he wasn’t still dazed at a time like this?

“I was going to peel you as beautifully as possible, saving your face as much as I could!”

“Are you telling me to be grateful for that?”

“I was trying to preserve your most beautiful moment forever! I’ll fry you alive! Do you think I’m bluffing? Do you know what smell comes out when you heat up pig fat in a frying pot?”

“Well. Sausage smell?”

“Ha! Pretending to be brave—“

– Thud!

Brothers’s second surprise attack was worrisome. From my position opposite Park Sangho, I could clearly see Brother approaching, and I could even hear the sound of leaves being stepped on.

Fortunately, the two men who were excitedly hurling insults at me didn’t notice the young man approaching from behind.

“Urgh! What the—“

– Thud!

The young man struck down with the lever repeatedly. It didn’t take long for Park Sangho’s head, which already had his right eyeball half popped out and dangling from the first hit, to turn into a broken watermelon.

Of course, the father-in-law watching this scene didn’t just stand still. He immediately turned to attack the young man, but this time he ended up showing his back to me, so he just got stabbed with the knife.

“Why are you so busy at your age? Let’s just go, those who need to go. Honestly, you can go now, right?”

“M-Myungjin! My—“

“What do you want me to do with you?”

Of course, with things having come to this point, the young man didn’t listen to the old man’s words.

…The long, long night full of madness is finally coming to an end.

The young man stood dazedly with a soulless expression.

“Brother, no, Myungjin.”

“Urgh…”

“I know you can’t speak. I’ll give you a pen, so write. ‘Park Sangho’ was the one supplying victims to this house, yes?”

“I roughly understood everything else, but there’s just one thing I don’t know. Who are you?”

I recalled a story I heard from Songee long ago. She said that the bizarre stories unfolding in the hotel were adaptations of things that actually happened in reality.

Could such a horrible thing have happened in reality too?

Thinking about it made me feel so disgusted I almost vomited.

Let’s calm down. There’s still work to do.

I went around and finished confirming the kills, including the mother-in-law who was still foaming at the mouth. Next, together with Myungjin, we gathered the corpses into the countryside house and set it on fire. As the young man stared blankly at the burning house, he wrote on my hand.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not anything like that. Some of my friends far away have become half like that, but I’m not yet. More importantly… let’s get out of here together. The bus will come tomorrow morning.”

As I watched the young man turn away staggering… I found myself hugging him lightly without realizing it.

“Urgh!”

“Have happy dreams. You’re leaving here with me. I’m sure happy things will be waiting for you outside.”

I prayed earnestly. I hope he was saved in reality too. If not, I prayed to Buddha that he would be saved in the next life.

“…That’s how it happened. I walked and walked the countryside road with difficulty together with Myungjin. My legs were trembling so much I thought I would die, but we were able to reach the bus stop.”

Park Sumi explained exactly as I had proceeded. Writer Do Inho nodded attentively.

“You really went through a lot. May I ask how Mr. Park Myungjin is doing now?”

“Well? Happy ending? Is the word ‘ending’ appropriate for someone who’s still alive?”

Instead of answering, Park Sumi smiled brightly. Just seeing that smile made me feel slightly relieved, thinking that the young man must be living somewhat well.

“It was an interesting story. However, as I listened, there was just one thing that puzzled me, may I ask?”

“Which part?”

“You said that when you hurled insults at the killers in the middle, they froze like stones, but can such a thing happen ‘naturally’?”

“Did that part feel strange to you?”

“A little bit. It’s as if you used some kind of superpower—“

“Hey! You fucking son of a bitch!”

“”…!””

For a moment, silence fell over the entire coffee shop. As vulgar words burst out of the elegant lady’s mouth at an unexpected timing, Do Inho froze completely like a stone.

Soon, Park Sumi smiled elegantly again and answered, “I think that answers your question. I’m sorry. Seeing is believing, so showing you directly is the most certain way.”

“…I-I was surprised. I can imagine how surprised the killers must have been. I understand. Good, good. This story is very ‘complete’ at this level. I also like that the ending is a happy one. I’ll ‘confirm’ the first story here.”

Before uttering the last sentence, Do Inho strangely turned his head in a different direction.

– Theater

“I’ll ‘confirm’ it here.”

“…”

“…”

“Kain. That line, no matter how I look at it, was meant for ‘us’, right?”

“It seems so. It looks like he’s saying the first story is confirmed with Eunsol-noona’s scenario.”

“Confirmed… Then does the next person skip the first story?”

“We’ll know when we go in.”

“By the way, Eunsol seems to have been really immersed in that story. At the end, she was even crying a little while hugging that Myungjin kid tightly?”

Kain nodded and answered, “I think that’s what drove Noona to successfully complete the first story.”

– Lee Eunsol

Without even a moment to catch my breath, Han Yuri opened her mouth and the second story, “The Girl with Demonic Charm”, began. I didn’t see that title inside, it was the title Grandpa saw when he first went in, but…

“The title makes me want to curse. What the hell is ‘demonic charm’?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

As the lunch break bell rang out, I naturally moved towards the shoe locker while thinking.

What should I do?

Grandpa showed us the first crisis when he died. There was a weirdo hiding nearby who stuffed slime into the shoe locker as a confession.

I looked around but the weirdo was well hidden and couldn’t be seen.

What’s the best way to handle this? Should I just ignore the shoe locker? That doesn’t seem right either, does it?

– Thud!

While I was pondering, Saerom casually reached out to Han Yuri’s shoe locker, so I stopped her in surprise.

“Y-Yuri?”

“…Shouldn’t I be the one surprised? Why are you suddenly reaching for my shoe locker?”

“S-sorry. But you always told me to open it when there was something strange in your shoe locker.”

I sighed. Even if I didn’t open the shoe locker, someone else would open it. If I stopped Saerom, another person could open it. It seemde that what was meant to happen would happen, anyway.

I just opened the shoe locker. Sure enough, the slimy slime and the “I love you” note inside were visible. Immediately, Saerom frowned.

“Eww! What kind of idi—oop!”

This kid has been a problem from the start. Is she some kind of crisis-generating machine?

“Saerom, it’s just a bit clumsy confession, there’s no need to curse.”

Saerom, I’m sorry. I would have cursed too. But if the one confessing is a crazy person, isn’t it better to reject “kindly”?

I forcibly peeled off the sticky slime, pulled out the note inside, and read it earnestly. I spoke as if for the person who must be hiding somewhere to hear, “I appreciate the feeling, but… I don’t have any thoughts of dating anyone yet. I’m sorry to the person who confessed.”

Did you hear that? Did you hear that, you idiot? Just wash your feet and go to sleep!

– Crash!

At that very moment, the fucking idiot who had been hiding behind the shoe locker like a ninja jumped out and shouted excitedly, fire extinguisher in hand.

“Liar!”

“…”

Is this bastard really crazy?

“D-don’t lie! It’s not that you don’t have thoughts of dating anyone, it’s that you don’t want to date me, right? Right? Surely with some other guy—“

Did Yuri promise to date you without me knowing? But why are you acting like this?

Fortunately, when this idiot jumped out, there were already many other students around, and anyone could see that a crazy person shouting while holding a fire extinguisher was threatening.

“Ah~! That loser is at it again?”

Soon, other students around dragged away the idiot holding the fire extinguisher.

Phew… With this, I’ve overcome the first crisis.

The difference from Grandpa’s progression was that I bought time by being kind until other people came around?

Fortunately, there was no crisis during lunch time. However, I felt it countless times during just about an hour or so.

The girl I had entered, “Han Yuri”, really had an enviable life.

I really want to live like her too!

If I sighed once while walking, everyone looked at me and asked what was wrong.

The corridor was full of high school students looking at me with shy expressions.

When I sat by the window in the classroom and looked outside, I could even see students from other schools who came to see me.

So this is the life of the most beautiful girl in the province!

Elena and Ahri must have lived like this!

Actually… come to think of it, Elena was busy running away and Ahri grew up in the hotel.

Wow! Growing up in the Hotel is really something. Sorry, but I grew up better than you two.

“Eunsol?”

“Oh, Unni!”

The second crisis came after lunch time ended. Just as I heard a commotion outside the classroom, the girls started squealing.

“Wow! He’s here again! He’s here again!”

“What?”

“Yuri, are you going to receive a confession from Senior Jiho this time?”

“…Senior Jiho? Who was that again?”

“Come on… You’re pretending not to know again! He’s from the baseball team! I heard he even got scouted by the pros.”

I didn’t even have time to say anything. The girls had already practically dragged me out of the classroom.

Outside was a boy with a sturdy build, and just seeing me from afar, his face was already as red as a ripe persimmon. Thanks to that, I could sufficiently guess what cheesy event was about to unfold.

…If a prospective athlete went crazy, it could really be tough.

This Han Yuri kid really is something else.

I understood the meaning of the title “The Girl with Demonic Charm”. It was scary just thinking about who else might be left.