- Han Kain
Four days have passed since I started idly drinking coffee daily at the cafe near Gangneung Coast.
Will Songee’s plan to appeal to Elena’s sensitivity really work?
I wasn’t sure, but since I couldn’t think of any other approach, I went along with it.
For the first two days, Songee and Ahri seed to be preparing sothing.
But from the third day onward, they just started playing on the beach as if they were on vacation.
I found it a bit absurd, but at the sa ti, I understood.
Can you really say people shouldn’t rest, even in a precarious trial like this?
Ever since we entered the Hotel, it had been a constant series of crises and a daily march through hardships.
Even during a war, people needed to sleep and eat.
And of course, they also needed to relieve stress.
The idea that we shouldn’t rest because today was a crisis didn’t make sense in the Hotel.
Tomorrow will be a crisis, and the day after will be a crisis too.
As I pondered these thoughts while sipping coffee, the person I’d been waiting for finally arrived.
***As soon as I heard the sound of soone entering, I turned my head toward the cafe entrance.
Despite the hot weather, the person was completely bundled up, with their face covered by a mask.
But even so, it wasn’t difficult to recognize them by their overall physique and flowing blonde hair.
There was no need to worry about how to call her over to my table.
As soon as Elena entered the cafe, our eyes t, and Elena’s eyes widened in surprise.
Elena, as if in a daze, ordered a cafe latte and sat down in front of .
“...Do you have sothing to say to ?”
“I think it would be better for you to say what you want, Elena.”
“You recognized right away, despite all the clothes and the mask.”
“...”
“I’ve been having strange dreams lately. I dreamt of eting unknown people and wandering through a strange place full of monsters. The only thing I knew was that the place was so kind of hotel. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She seems to be almost fully awake.
Our plan to create conditions that would allow her to recall on her own, rather than provoking her, seed to be working.
“I understand. Please, go on.”
“I used to think they were just vague dreams, you know? I’ve been interested in the occult since I was young, so I thought those aspects were just reflected in my dreams. But recently, I had an unbelievable experience. I saw a bird that seed to have descended from the sky and a girl who felt like a witch. After seeing them, the content of my dreams beca clearer. That bird and that girl started appearing in my dreams. And...”
“And?”
“And I saw you too. You looked a bit different than you do now, but...”
“You’re starting to rember everything.”
“So, it wasn’t just a dream, was it? What is this? Please explain.”
Wow~! It looks like the Final Trial is almost over.
Elena seed ready to accept the truth, so I explained everything in detail.
I told her how we’d been climbing through a strange place called the Hotel, fighting against unexplainable, otherworldly beings.
I also explained that this place was a trial set up by the Hotel and that this world was a reflection of Elena’s own desires.
As she listened, a sense of emptiness appeared on Elena’s face.
“…”
Is it because she realized that all the success she had achieved as a celebrity was a re illusion?
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be in a mood of disbelief.
We silently drank our coffee, looking out at the beach.
Outside, Ahri, whom Elena called a “witch”, was shoveling sand into Songee’s mouth, only to be kicked over by Songee.
The bird, which supposedly ca down from the sky, was stealing chicken skewers from a street vendor at the beach and being chased by said vendor.
...What are they even doing? Why am I the only one working?
“They sure are having fun out there.”
“Indeed. Seeing what they’re doing, they really seem like middle schoolers and that bird is acting just like a pigeon.”
Elena’s reaction was different from mine.
She was gazing outside with a sowhat wistful expression.
“Could you please listen to for a mont?”
“Haven’t I been listening to you all along? There isn’t a man in the world who wouldn’t want to listen to you, Elena.”
Elena smiled faintly and then began a rather lengthy story.
“Actually… My parents were very successful when I was young. I vividly rember the sumrs we spent together at our villa in the countryside.”
Elena’s story was sothing I had vaguely heard before.
Elena’s father was on the fast track to success in governnt when she was young.
Her family was harmonious and wealthy.
At that ti, there wasn’t a single hint of misfortune in Elena’s world.
But one day, things began to unravel in inexplicable ways.
Suddenly, her father lost his job, and their villa and house disappeared overnight.
But losing his job and property was only the beginning.
Suspicious people started lurking around her father every day.
The more often her father t with journalists, the more incomprehensible things began to happen.
Finally, when the people close to her father started going to jail or being admitted to hospitals one by one, a long period of exile began.
I didn’t have much to add, so I listened in silence.
Honestly, it was the kind of story one would hear on the news.
I had often heard about how the dictator in Russia, who so say had practically beco a Tsar, was purging his opposition.
But seeing a real-life example of it in front of , I didn’t know how to react.
Should I just vaguely say that things will get better in ti?
But that would be a lie.
I’d heard that the dictator was still going strong and that his approval ratings within his country were still incredibly high.
While Elena was telling her long story, Songee and Ahri snuck into the cafe, both wearing swimsuits with light clothes thrown over them.
When they saw Elena and I talking, they quietly sat down in the booth opposite us, trying to hide.
...What are they even trying to do?
Do they really think they’re hidden like that?
Elena had already noticed them as soon as they walked in.
Thanks to the two of them, Elena’s story paused for a mont, “Aren’t they funny?”
“Indeed. I wish I had a ti like that too.”
“A ti like that?”
“When I get out of this... ‘Hotel’ and return to the real world, I’ll probably pursue my dream of becoming an actress. If I do my best and get lucky, I might be able to achieve success that no one could rival.”
“I’m sure you’ll be successful.”
I ant it.
Even though I had only experienced Elena’s acting in brief glimpses, I thought it wasn’t bad.
And above all, she has stunning looks!
Isn’t that the greatest weapon in the world of acting?
It would be stranger if she didn’t succeed.
Honestly, Elena must know this too. It would be a lie if she didn’t.
But Elena’s expression didn’t brighten at all.
“Even if I achieve great success in the future, there are things that can never be undone.”
“What do you an?”
“I’ve lost a lot of ti while hiding and running. What about you Kain? You ntioned that you’re a high school student, right?”
“I was caught by the Hotel right before I was admitted into college, so I consider myself to be more of a half-college student…”
“I imagine you must’ve had a very enjoyable teenage life. You must have made a lot of friends and built a lot of precious mories.”
“The life of a middle schooler and high schooler in Korea isn’t that fun in all honesty. My mories of that ti are just filled with studying, and preparing for my college entrance exam.”
“But… At least you used that ti for self-developnt… I’ve spent over half my life running away, wasting ti hiding in closets, fearing the possibility of my parents being killed whenever they ca ho late.”
Sothing’s wrong.
Sothing’s definitely wrong.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.
I could feel the emotions in Elena’s voice growing stronger by the word.
Even Songee and Ahri, sensing the uneasy atmosphere, looked back at us in alarm.
Ahri frantically gestured at to “do sothing!”
What am I supposed to do?
Elena started talking by herself and then just slipped into this emotional tunnel, “I know, I’m not that old, and older people who have struggled all their lives might say, ‘What do you know about hardship in your twenties?’ But so what? My heart is filled with despair from having wasted more than half my life running away!”
“Uh... Elena? Maybe you should calm down and—”
Elena wasn’t listening to anymore.
“Why is my life like this? I wanted to live happily too. Like Ahri! Like Songee! I wanted to go to the beach in the sumr! I wanted to go skiing in the winter! I wanted to watch movies with my family on weekends and raise a dog or a cat. I wanted to go to school and make a lot of childhood friends. I wanted to hear stories about my parents’ friends’ sons and daughters!
“Have you ever crossed five borders in a month? Have you ever been terrified of sitting down to enjoy a cup of tea? Have you ever run into a man wearing a hat on the street, and then realized that he was the sa man you saw two months ago before crossing a border, and felt a chill down your spine? Do you know what it feels like to see the man who ruined your father’s life and forced you to run endlessly being hailed as a national hero on the news?”
Ahri, flustered, tried to intervene.
“Um! I think you might be misunderstanding, but I didn’t have such a happy teenage life either—”
“No, you idiot! Say sothing that might actually be convincing!”
“E-E-Elena Unni? Please calm down. You can swim or ski at the Hotel, you know?”
“Do you think that’s comforting?”
“Then you say sothing, Oppa!”
“Well, maybe that dictator will eventually get shot and die?”
“Wow! So comforting! And you have the gall to lecture us?!”
Elena looked at us with a wistful expression as we bickered.
“...???”
Just now, I felt sothing indescribable.
Elena is… drifting away from us.
Even though she was right in front of , Elena seed to fade like a mirage, slipping away to a place where I couldn’t reach her.
Ahri’s face paled as she felt sothing similar.
Elena made a wish to the world once again.
And the world granted it.
***- Han Kain
I was swept away in an overwhelming shock that felt like the entire world was being turned upside down, like a person being carried away by a tsunami.
Only after barely regaining my senses did I realize it.
The literal creation of the heavens and the earth had happened once again!
I looked around in a daze.
Every sign hanging around , every detail, was filled with foreign scenery.
Around , foreign-looking children were hurrying along, entering stark white buildings.
...Seeing the looks of the kids around , I had a strange thought, so I glanced at my reflection in the side mirror of a parked car to confirm it.
In the world that Elena’s wish had created for the second ti,
I had been turned into a young teenager.
And In front of was a golden-haired girl with a smile as radiant as the sun.
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