Escaping the Mystery Hotel Chapter 22: Room 102, Cursed Room – ‘Mansion of Fear’ (8)

[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 8

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 102 (Cursed Room Mansion of Fear)

Sages Advice: 3]

It was even harder than I thought. I knew hiking in the rain would obviously be difficult but it was seriously no joke.

Although the rain was weaker than before, that was only in comparison to the previous storm. There were still dense drops of rain clouding my vision, and the humid ground was caving in with each step so it was also difficult to even walk forward.

When I stepped on a piece of rock to stop my feet from sinking in, I slipped from the wet rock and landed on the floor.

That butler though; was he using so kind of magic? Sure, he had more hiking experience and knew more about the mountain than , but was it possible for us to be so different? He did not wobble a single ti and continued walking powerfully through the rain.

He even helped stand back up when I was thrashing my arms around and dusted off.

My stamina was gone when we were half-way up the mountain, and after hearing gasp for breath, he opened his mouth.

I believe we should take a quick break.

So, sorry. My stamina is not very good.

Please dont worry about it. It is natural because we are trying to climb the mountain in the rain. Please co over to this tree. It has thick leaves and branches, so there will be less rain here.

With a face that did not seem tired in the slightest, he told it was natural to be tired and led to the tree.

I believe you took Ahri to the cathedral yesterday.

Yes, there were things to look for and things to check as well.

Have you finished finding and checking everything?

I found what had to be found, and confird what had to be confird.

I felt a slight tension rising up.

Have you heard enough stories from Ahri?

Ahri changed after hearing the sound of the bell, and there was a hymn after that was I supposed to tell him everything?

I was silently hesitating to myself when the butler started walking again without asking any more questions.

That child used to be a kind girl ever since she was young. It wouldnt have been strange for her to fall to the wrong path after losing her parents at a young age but she always kept herself on the right path.

Shes very energetic and kind. I could have never expected such a backstory.

Thank you. And, Im not saying this because shes my granddaughter, but she is a very pretty child is she not? But whats more beautiful than her face was her heart. She was an innocent girl who believed everyone would lend her an ear as long as she showed her sincere heart.

Being sincere is definitely the best way to persuade people.

However, there are people in the world who stay unmoved at the face of it.

Sounds like you saw soone like that.

The butler closed his mouth.

We walked and walked again. In around 30 minutes, we would probably arrive at the peak, but we were constantly being slowed down by the rain and it was hard to say how long it would exactly take.

More importantly I was curious. The butler seed to be wanting to say sothing about Ahri.

What did I have to do to force it out of him? Did I have to prick deeper in?

Please hold on a bit more. We are close to the peak. If we head to the peak and scan underneath, we should be able to see if there is a safe path.

Thats so good news. Actually, my legs are starting to fail .

Did you find the bell at the cathedral?

It was a sudden continuation from the previous conversation. This ti, I decided to delve deeper in.

Yes. It was at the bell tower looking fine. There is sothing I noticed, but the cathedral looks quite well-managed even though there is no-one living inside it. The bell was in good shape too

There is no-one living there, but the building itself is still useful. We have our boat docked there as well, after all.

I opened my mouth.

Is that why youve been taking care of the cathedral until now, Mr. Priest?

There was a brief silence again.

It has been a long ti since I heard that na. Did Ahri tell you that?

Ahri didnt say anything, but there was this line of thought that I had. Even though the cathedral has been empty for a long ti, its still quite clean. Is there soone whos still cleaning the building? There is no-one else but the butler. But why would he take care of it even though looking after the mansion should be hard enough already?

Did you figure it out with just that?

Actually, Ive been to a church when I was young as well. It might be different from a cathedral, but honestly, the church wasnt that fun as a kid. The only interesting thing was eting other kids. So I had a doubt after hearing how Ahri used to diligently go to the cathedral by herself in a place without any friends. I thought, maybe she wasnt going to the cathedral, but was instead living there with her grandfather.

That too is more like jumping to a conclusion instead of a speculation with great evidence. In the end, it seems like you were just throwing it out there.

To be fair, thats true but it seems that was correct.

The rain started to turn thicker again. Due to that, we had to slow down even more and my legs were wobbling so much that it was now hard to move properly.

A clear voice reached my ears through the drops of rain.

Sir was a cruel person.

At the start it began with a ridiculous request.

Give your land. I will break the bell tower if you ring the bell one more ti.

I did not care. I paid little regard even after realising that Sir had fallen into a corrupt faith.

We have the Lord in the sky so why should I fear anything?

Ti went by and the lands beca barren.

People near the mansion started to leave one by one.

And Ahri could not endure that.

When you said there was a person who was unmoved at the face of a sincere heart. Was that

Ahri went to the mansion alone. With a sincere heart, she wished Sir had a gentle mind towards the world.

Ahh, she was young. That girl was too young.

It was my fault for not telling her beforehand that so people were immovable even with a sincere heart.

She suffered from a fever starting from the next day. As if she was soulless, she couldnt even speak properly.

All she did was tremble, while saying Sir kindly showed her sothing.

A strange song. A weird poem. After that, she no longer sought the Lord

We approached the peak of the mountain.

The butler no longer used respectful language to . He was no longer the butler; he was just a priest whose granddaughter was kept a hostage.

I went to the mansion and prayed again and again. I gave up on the lawsuit and the cathedral. I simply begged on my knees, hoping for Sir to show his rcy. Only after I dropped everything was Ahri able to get up from the bed

I had to protect my granddaughter

Is that when you dropped your stance of being a priest?

What else could I do? I spent my entire life to the Lord. When the devil attacked and my child, he did not show us the way out. Your heart is quite firm and that is your downfall. It would have been enough if you spent your last monts while crying by yourself like the other kids of the mansion and yet you are here making it difficult for everyone.

He continued.

I pondered again and again, whether I should do it myself or whether I should wait for Sir to offer you as a sacrifice. However, six is enough. 3 have been offered already with 2 remaining in the mansion, and the throat of this old man is more than enough. There is no need for Sir to bother dealing with you himself

At the peak of the mountain, the priest turned around.

Right, things really were going the hard way. Back when we started hiking the mountain, I thought there would be plenty of easy opportunities during the hazardous process of climbing the mountain in the rain.

However, the priest was always way in front of while I couldnt even control myself and this was happening now that I was exhausted near the peak of the mountain.

Clenching my teeth, I took out the dagger.

As expected, youve been prepared from the start. Were you cautious? Or were you going to kill ? Whatever it is, it does not matter.

In the next instant, the priest dashed towards as if he was flying.

[Imdiately take 3 steps to the left!]

Sages Advice, which had never been activated after entering the Mansion of Fear and had stayed silent even when everyone else was dying, worked for the very first ti.

My body subconsciously took 3 steps to the left upon seeing the alarm without even thinking, as the rotten log in the middle of the priest and I started to crumble.

The priest stumbled when the rotten wood crumbled beneath his feet.

Is it now? I was about to imdiately take the dagger out but,

[Step back right now!]

Another alarm popped up in 1 second and I quickly took a step back. That was when sothing that looked like a pick or a chisel shot out of the priests pocket and grazed past my body.

What was that?

You took a weapon yourself. Did you expect to co empty-handed?

In less than 5 seconds after the start of the fight, I already used up 2 of my Advices. It was clear and evident that this priest was stronger than .

However, I knew he was physically stronger than ever since the first day. Naturally, I had prepared one more thing in secret, but it wasnt sothing I could use in a heavy rain. I had to move to a different place.

It seed that I had been thinking for too long the priest quickly stabilised his body and dashed in again.

That priest must have learned so martial art or sothing. How was he able to run unwaveringly like that in a place filled with rotten logs, slippery rocks and a muddy ground?

Slip

In the end, it was who slipped first. My body fell to the side and rolled across the floor. When I quickly lifted my upper body back up, I saw the priest running in to make the most out of that opportunity.

[Pull the rock on your right!]

That was the 3rd Advice. This ti, I was a little flustered for a split second.

Why was it suddenly telling to pull a rock out instead of dodging to a side? But even though my head was still pondering on the reason, my arms moved by themselves to pull the rock which led to a shocking turn of events.

The rock I pulled had been supporting the half-rotten tree next to it!

When the rock supporting the tree was pulled out, the tree imdiately fell down towards the priest. He quickly turned his feet to avoid the falling tree but in an environnt where you could slip simply by walking, his set of steps were too vigorous and he ended up completely falling on the ground.

Should I run in? I pondered but not for long.

It happened before, did it not? Getting too close to him was far too dangerous. He wasnt even critically injured and I had no confidence to beat the priest who was carrying a weapon in a frontal fight.

Looking around, I found a tree which had dense branches and leaves that were blocking the rain.

There, I would be able to use my secret move.

I quickly ran to the tree while grasping on the tool that I had kept hidden in my clothes.

The mont I arrived there, I imdiately turned around and saw that the priest was approaching after quickly standing back up in a brief instant.

CHIIIIIK!

Uaaaaaaaaaahkkk!!!! Uhuuukk!!!!! You son of a bitch, what have you done!

The priest who had stayed firm in the face of the storm, tempest and the rugged mountain was rolling on the ground like a child. The pick made by sharpening a candlestick was thrown away from his hands, and he was busy rubbing his face while mindlessly rolling on the muddy ground.

2 days before entering Room 102, when the monsters ca out of the pool to attack us, Eunsol-noona displayed her wondrous wits by buying concentrated capsaicin from the HP market to defeat the monsters.

That was when everyone noticed how incredible of a weapon this was. In a place without guns, concentrated liquid capsaicin was in a way a more remarkable weapon than a knife.

Unfortunately, there was only a small amount left at the bottom of the container after a generous pour at the monsters.

It was barely enough to fill the bottom of the perfu spray container which was at the hotel.

After sohow making two of them, noona handed one of them over to without any hesitation.

Why did she give it to ? I wasnt sure back then, but looking back, it seed that she had been sowhat trusting from then.

In any case, her judgent was not wrong.

At last it was ti to end this bloody battle of the rainy mountain.

Clasping on the dagger, I approached the wriggling priest.

Stab!

That was when sothing stabbed onto my thigh.

Ah, if I had one more Advice left, it would have told to avoid the attack.

How unfortunate.

My body was already at the limit and it crumbled in an instant.