Escaping the Mystery Hotel

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 95

Current Location: 1st Floor, Room 105 - The Room of Rest

Sage’s Advice: X

- Han Kain

The past events that took place in the Deep Sea Hotel were far more interesting than I had anticipated.

Everyone focused intently on Kim Sanghyun’s words, committing the stories of the past to memory.

“…”

“There were three factions that formed, excluding Miro. First, the two Administration members who had already known about her ability and thus felt no betrayal. Second, three people who were shocked by the truth and began to oppose her. And third, two people who, despite the shock, felt that strong leadership was necessary in such a dangerous place. In total, there were seven of us.”

“I was a part of the third faction. Has anyone here experienced war? Of course, I’m not referring to those from the Administration, who have probably experienced hell beyond war.”

Except for Grandpa and Ahri, none of us had been in a war, so everyone remained silent.

“In extreme environments like the battlefield, strong leadership is essential. Fear and excitement numb people’s rationality, so in such situations, you need someone capable of making cool-headed decisions to lead others. The military’s strict hierarchical structure is no coincidence.”

I’d never been in the military or participated in a war, but I understood what he was trying to say.

“So, I believed that Miro’s attempts to exert strong control over everyone were a necessary evil. However…”

“However?”

He glanced cautiously at Ahri before muttering, “I thought her approach was misguided. Instead of relying on suspicious supernatural powers, I hoped she would lead us based on proper discussions and the expertise she’d gained as an Administration agent.”

Was it because I was also a “civilian”?

Honestly, I understood what this man was saying.

Kim Sanghyun carefully spoke again, “However, it seems Miro’s thoughts were different. She preferred a more… ‘forceful method.’”

One could hear a collective gulp.

Did Miro suppress her companions at the time?

Judging by the numbers, it seemed like Miro and the other two Administration members would have been outnumbered five to three.

But considering her inheritance and supernatural abilities, it was more than possible for them to overpower the others.

Grandpa cautiously asked a difficult question, “This might be a tough question to answer, but I’d appreciate it if you could.”

“Please, ask.”

“How exactly did you die on the first floor? From what Ahri told me, it was due to internal strife, but…”

A complex emotion briefly flickered across Kim Sanghyun’s face.

His expression of gritted teeth suggested anger, while the brief sigh that escaped him hinted at regret.

“It’s a simple story. I thought I was mediating between the two conflicting sides, but when conflicts escalate, those who remain neutral often find themselves attacked by both sides.”

“…That’s unfortunate.”

“I still don’t know who killed me. One day, after a particularly heated discussion—perhaps even a confrontation—I found myself in that hell when I woke up.”

Ahri muttered softly, her expression showing that she didn’t know what to say, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Silence filled the room for a long while.

After contemplating for a moment, Kim Sanghyun closed his mouth and shifted the conversation to another topic.

“If I may, I’d like to say something unrelated to the questions.”

“Go ahead. As Eunsol said earlier, we revived you to be part of our team, so you should certainly speak your mind.”

“I’ll gladly answer any further questions about what happened with Miro. However, in the end, all of that is just past history.”

“It’s all in the past?”

“Of course. Is there any point in dissecting what happened at the first party at this stage? I want to be your ally in the ‘present’. Just to be clear, I have no intention of bringing any past grudges from my previous party into this one.”

Grandpa summarized his point clearly, “Are you saying you won’t take out your frustrations with Miro on Ahri?”

“That’s correct.”

It seemed Ahri was uncomfortable bringing up something important, so I decided to step in.

“Kim Sanghyun-ssi, this may be a bit of an uncomfortable topic.”

“Please, go ahead. I still owe you a great deal of gratitude, Han Kain.”

“There’s a possibility we may revive Miro since we believe she’s an exceptionally capable person.”

Given the conversation so far and the fact that Miro’s daughter was here, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t seem too shaken by this news.

“If that’s the case…”

“If?”

“Even if Miro was the one who killed me, I won’t seek revenge here in the Hotel. I truly want to escape this place. That’s my sincerest wish. For that goal, I’m willing to let go of all grudges and do whatever it takes.”

“You won’t seek revenge here?”

“Well, with the beautiful lady watching, I’d prefer not to lie. If I have the chance after escaping the Hotel, I’d like to settle the score. But once again, I don’t even know if Miro was the one who killed me in the first place.”

What happens outside the Hotel isn’t something I can involve myself in.

I just hope whoever killed Kim Sanghyun wasn’t Miro.

After this long conversation, we all felt mentally exhausted and needed time to process the flood of new information.

Anyway, Kim Sanghyun was already a part of our group.

There would be plenty of opportunities to talk further.

After briefly explaining the Inheritance and Blessings we had obtained, we each took some time to rest.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]

Date: Day 95

Current Location: 2nd Floor, Snow Globe Tundra

Sage’s Advice: X

After the conversation with Kim Sanghyun, I returned to the snowfields of the second floor, ready to resume the Grimoire training I had postponed earlier.

- Smack!

“Hey! Why can’t you dodge better?”

“…How am I supposed to dodge something thrown from behind?”

“Didn’t Ahri and Grandpa say your hearing is better than a rabbit’s?”

“Even with enhanced senses, they won’t help me avoid snowballs. What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on the earlier conversation. I asked the others too. Took me a while to find you up here on the second floor.”

“Was there anything strange? In terms of his abilities, he seems more versatile than we expected. Considering his Blessing, I’d say his versatility goes beyond the realm of normal humans.”

“We’ve already confirmed some of that. He’s an excellent shot, and his medical skills are practically supernatural.”

“Supernatural?”

“He’s in the middle of diagnosing someone right now. Why don’t you come with me? By the way, any thoughts on the other aspects?”

“Other aspects? In terms of interpersonal relationships, it seems he didn’t get along well with Miro in the past. But he seems genuine in his desire not to bring those issues into this party.”

“That sums it up.”

“I don’t think he was lying. Elena said it was all true.”

“I believe him too. He’s competent, intelligent, and seems capable of separating personal feelings from duty. But there’s something else I want to discuss.”

“Something else?”

Noona glanced around as if to make sure no one was listening, then leaned in closer.

“His attitude. What did you sense from it?”

I recalled the most prominent feeling in his words earlier—one he couldn’t hide, no matter how hard he tried.

— I truly want to escape this place. That’s my sincerest wish. For that goal, I’m willing to let go of all grudges and do whatever it takes.

“…Desperation.”

“I felt it too. That man is full of desperation. He bends over backward to avoid offending us, almost to the point of being servile. Just look at how he talks—how easy do you think it is to call the daughter of the person who might have killed you ‘Young Lady’?”

“He said he wasn’t used to Korean.”

“That applies to his pronunciation, sure. Anyway, I believe everything he said is true. His competence and intelligence are believable based on his extraordinary background, and I don’t think he’ll bring past conflicts into this group. But his desperation worries me.”

“You’re concerned about his desperation?”

“He doesn’t strike me as someone who would act recklessly out of old grudges. Right now, those seem like things he can easily forget. The only word that fills his mind right now is ‘escape’.”

“‘Escape’, huh?”

“He’s different from us. He’s already failed once. As a result of that failure, he was dragged into hell and suffered unimaginable torment. He understands better than anyone what failure in the Hotel means.”

Hearing all this, I finally understood what Noona was getting at.

“Are you planning to keep the escape tools a secret from him?”

“Is there any point? He’s not a newcomer to the Hotel—this is his second time here. He might already know about the escape tools. Even at a glance, the Protective Suit is clearly no ordinary item. And we’re likely to obtain a second tool soon through the Mysterious Craftsman.”

“What should we do?”

“I talked it over with Grandpa. The elevator escape requires both the suit and the code, right? Do you remember the code? Don’t say it out loud.”

87439124.

I’ve never forgotten it.

“We’ve decided not to share the code. The suit’s already under Ahri’s control most of the time, so that’s not a big issue. As for the ‘Winged Boots’, we might get them from the Mysterious Craftsman, we’ll decide what to do with them when we actually obtain them.”

“…”

“Any other thoughts?”

“Not at the moment. But this approach seems like a temporary solution. We can’t spend the rest of our time here in the hotel playing psychological games with him.”

“I agree.”

With that, our conversation ended. We both headed back to the Hotel to observe Kim Sanghyun’s “diagnosis”.

Whoever we revived would have brought their own set of challenges, but with Kim Sanghyun’s revival, it felt like the cohesion of our party had weakened a bit.

How should we handle this?

I’ll have to think about it more.