“Who do you think will get an enhancent this ti?”
On the first day of Party Ti, during breakfast, Songee posed the question. Unfortunately, no one had an answer. After all, no one really understood how the contribution was evaluated in this hotel.
At least we knew the criteria for qualifying for an Inheritance.
Every ti the Mont of Choice began, the Hotel provided a notification stating that eligibility was based on survival in the last attempt and contribution during the final battle.
But when it ca to contribution to enhancent, there wasn’t much explanation.
“We don’t know the exact criteria, but we can estimate how much we’ve accumulated so far. The Gate Room gave us an indirect hint before, rember? Does anyone recall the order back then?”
Ahri’s words triggered a mory. In Room 107, the third Gate Room trial, the Jekyll and Hyde Ga, Hyde had possessed us in order of contribution.
I roughly rembered the sequence.
“I do, but since then, we’ve gone through Rooms 201 and 202, so the rankings must have changed significantly.”
The Gate Room itself wasn’t a place where contribution was counted, so it didn’t need to be considered.
“What was the order when we finished the first floor?”
“It was sothing like this:”
Han Kain / Yu Songee / Park Seungyub / Kim Ahri / Elena / Cha Jinchul / Kim Mooksung / Lee Eunsol
Writing it down on the whiteboard, I felt a little pleased seeing my na at the top. anwhile, soone else wasn’t so happy.
“Ugh… I’ve never been last at anything in my life…”
“U-unni.”
“Since then, we’ve gone through Rooms 201 and 202, so the ranking must be quite different now. There’s no way to know the current order. But maybe the Hotel will give us another indirect hint.”
As she studied the list, Ahri offered a slightly different perspective.
“Rather than looking at total contribution, it’s better to consider when soone last got an enhancent. For example, Kain, you probably still have the highest total contribution, but you also spent a huge amount when you got the Teammate Location Information and the incredibly powerful Scenario Comprehension enhancent, right?”
“Yeah. So I probably don’t have much left at the mont.”
Elena had a different opinion.
“Uh… I don’t think so? Sure, when you first got Scenario Comprehension, you were probably down to zero. But in Room 201, you were the one who reached the end. And in Room 202, you and Ahri played key roles in taking down the Administration. I think you’ve built up quite a bit again.”
“Thanks, but even if I’ve accumulated a lot, I still don’t think I have enough for the next enhancent.”
When I had received Scenario Comprehension, the Owl had warned that I might not be able to upgrade it again until I left the hotel.
That ant my next enhancent was still a long way off.
There could be multiple reasons for that.
Just like in gas, the more one leveled up, the more experience one needed.
The hotel’s enhancent system might follow the sa logic.
Since I had basically used two enhancents for Scenario Comprehension, I had technically received three enhancents.
Or maybe the next enhancent was just that powerful.
It definitely wouldn’t be my turn this ti.
Ahri continued, “As you know, contribution is cumulative. If soone last received an enhancent a while ago and played a big role in recent rooms, they should be due for one soon.”
With that, Ahri walked up to the whiteboard and listed the rooms we had cleared, the people who had received enhancents afterward, and the nas of their abilities.
Room 103: Han Kain (Teammate Location Information), Yu Songee (Telepathy), Park Seungyub (Fortune Control)
Room 101: Han Kain (Saving), Kim Ahri (Compass), Elena (Lie Detection), Cha Jinchul (Regeneration)
Room 102: Han Kain (Scenario Comprehension), Kim Mooksung (Vivid Communication), Lee Eunsol (Hand of Greed)
Room 201: Park Seungyub (Saving), Elena (Calmness and Tranquility)
Room 202: ?
Eunsol-noona looked at the board and chuckled.
“Looks like I’m out of the running this ti. I got my last enhancent pretty recently. Though it feels like it’s been forever.”
Songee, on the other hand, had the exact opposite reaction.
“Unni, I don’t even rember when I last got an enhancent.”
Looking at the list, I could start making so guesses about who might be up next.
Three people were almost certainly not getting an enhancent.
Like I said earlier, I wasn’t due for one anyti soon. I probably wouldn’t be eligible until later on the second floor.
Elena was also unlikely.
She had probably built up a lot of contributions from Room 202, especially since she had a successful solo escape in an earlier attempt.
But since she had received an enhancent in Room 201, she likely didn’t have enough yet.
And, of course, the doctor, who had just been revived recently, wasn’t due for one either.
On the other hand, there were two people who seed very likely to receive enhancents.
Seungyub was the strongest candidate.
He had delayed his enhancent in Room 201 to save up contributions for a better ability, so he had a large stockpile.
In Room 202, he played multiple important roles—uncovering Liringanau, the Sea God’s hidden pawn, and killing Director Park to help Elena escape.
Jinchul-hyung also seed likely.
His last enhancent was after Room 101, and since then, we have cleared Rooms 102 and 201, aning quite a bit of ti has passed.
In Room 202, he had taken in the Conductor Rudah and led the battle against the Administration, a role that only he could have fulfilled.
His contribution had been imnse.
As for the other four… it’s uncertain.
Songee and Ahri had both gone a long ti without an enhancent, but their roles in Room 202 were a bit ambiguous.
If we had to pick, Ahri was probably the more significant contributor, given how crucial her plan to bring down the Administration had been.
Eunsol-noona and Grandpa had received enhancents more recently, and while they had participated in Room 202, their contributions weren’t overwhelmingly crucial. Noona had gotten the Inheritance, but that was only because the others had stepped aside—it didn’t necessarily an her contribution was the highest.
With this in mind, we headed to the Sanctum of Blessings.
***
Park Seungyub, Cha Jinchul, and Kim Ahri are eligible for enhancent. Would you like to proceed?
Yes/No
The results weren’t too far off from our expectations.
Seungyub and Jinchul-hyung, whom we had guessed were due for enhancents, were included.
Among the ones we were uncertain about, only Ahri was eligible this ti. The ones who didn’t get chosen would likely be up next after we cleared another room.
“Oh~! It’s finally my turn. If not for , there wouldn’t have been a way to open the door and shake the Administration, right?”
Ahri’s cheerful voice rang out as Jinchul-hyung nodded.
“It’s true. You and I played the biggest roles in bringing down the Administration.”
“When will it be my turn…?”
“Don’t worry. Your ti will co soon. Maybe even after the next room.”
Those who had received enhancents relatively recently—Elena, Grandpa Mooksung, and Eunsol-noona—didn’t seem to have any particular expectations, so they didn’t react much.
In the end, the only one visibly disappointed was Songee, who had gone a long ti without an enhancent.
As she sulked, the Sanctum’s light descended.
***
- Cha Jinchul
The scenery had changed since before.
Back then, wasn’t it a vast plain with countless spears and swords stuck in the ground?
Now, molten lava was bubbling up from all directions.
Massive iron plates floated on the lava, and I was precariously standing on one of them.
“Ugh… Patron… Sir, why do you always have to be in such a deadly place?”
- Rumble!
A giant, clad in armor as if it were its own skin and with shields for eyes, rose from the seething lava.
At so point, I realized I was now standing atop the iron-clad giant’s palm.
“Your recent performance has been comndable.”
“Recent…? You an in Room 202?”
“Life is a struggle. A mortal’s existence is akin to a fleeting fla… Let that fire consu all.”
“I’m starting to notice a pattern here. No matter what I say, you just keep talking in riddles. Now that I think about it, you were like this last ti too…”
“Burn brightly. Do not fear your own flas. The courage to charge into an overwhelmingly powerful enemy despite knowing death awaited was admirable. However, since you died as a result, you could not receive an Inheritance. So Patrons might tell you to flee like a coward and survive until the end to claim the reward.”
“…”
“But I will never say such a thing. Inheritances are rely a consequence of struggle. What value does a treasure hold if obtained through cowardice?”
“Thanks for the kind words, I guess.”
“But there is sothing that concerns .”
“…What is it?”
“The impurity that has seeped into you. You feel it too, do you not?”
…I hadn’t ntioned it to my comrades since I didn’t want them to worry, but ever since I left the Gate Room, I had developed a bizarre affliction.
A strange illusion of a girl—or perhaps a woman—had been appearing before . No one else could see her, not even Eunsol-noona with her supernatural vision.
“The witch from the Gate Room, apparently. She hasn’t spoken to yet.”
“She is an unnecessary impurity. Eventually, she will beco an obstacle to you. However, if you overco this, it could serve as a stepping stone for your growth. Ultimately, it is your burden to bear. But today, I am here to inform you that your ti has co.”
“…My ti?”
“You have reached the mont when you, too, will receive a powerful enhancent.”
A powerful enhancent.
My heart pounded uncontrollably at those words.
“By powerful, what exactly does that an…?”
The giant paused as if choosing its words carefully.
“You will gain the ability to perceive ti split into fractions.”
As the words left its mouth, my consciousness blurred.
…Wait, a second. I heard that when it was Seungyub or Kain’s turn, they were at least given a choice—whether to accumulate more contribution points for a better enhancent or take an upgrade imdiately.
Why don’t I get that choice?
***
- Park Seungyub
I woke up in a breathtakingly beautiful place.
A mysterious world where a river of stars flowed like a Milky Way stream.
My Patron had always seed completely deranged, so I braced myself for another round of absurdity—
“Could you, for once, at least try to show so basic respect?”
“…Huh?”
“Respect, my ass! Just now, you were thinking that I’m so lunatic.”
“…Can you read my thoughts?”
A useless idiot who sucks at LoL but always talks big—
“Stop right there! Just co over here already.”
The boy led to a strange orb floating in the air.
“So, am I eligible for an enhancent this ti? I worked really hard in Room 202!”
“Barely. Honestly, you almost didn’t make it. I had to cover the gap for you.”
“What? Patrons can make up for a participant’s lack of contribution?”
“If a Patron is willing to take on significant losses, they can intervene. The biggest investor among us right now is the Owl.”
“Kain-hyung’s Patron?”
“He must see so kind of potential in the participant he’s supporting. Perhaps the possibility of reaching the end of this hotel…”
“Oh! Then does that an you saw so kind of potential in ? Enough to take a loss on my behalf—”
“No, you just seem like the kind of idiot who’ll end up dead on the streets if I didn’t step in.”
“…”
That felt like an unnecessarily harsh critique.
The boy reached out and gently touched the orb.
With each movent of his hand, countless bubbles surged and burst all around us.
“Have you ever thought about the true nature of luck?”
“The… true nature of luck?”
“Consider this: Is there really such a thing as luck in this world? What if all the events we perceive as ‘coincidences’ are simply the result of our ignorance about the actual causes behind them?”
“…”
“Oops. My bad. I forgot who I was talking to.”
Even though I didn’t understand a word of what he was saying, the fact that he noticed my confusion felt kinda insulting.
“What I an is this—let’s say you’re walking down the street and suddenly get struck by lightning. Most people would say, ‘Wow, what terrible luck,’ but from a transcendent being’s perspective, was that really a random occurrence?”
“…”
“That lightning strike didn’t just happen out of nowhere. The conditions leading to it had been forming long before it hit. Lightning follows precise physical laws. And the fact that you were standing in that exact spot at that exact mont had also been determined by countless factors.”
I was starting to get a vague idea of where this was going.
“So from an omniscient perspective, there’s no such thing as luck. The creation of the universe predetermined every subsequent event. Humans just call it ‘luck’ because they don’t understand all the causal links at play.”
“Well… I did hear sothing about this once. I don’t really get it, but isn’t that why we have concepts like the uncertainty principle or quantum chanics—?”
“OH! WOW! WOOOOOW!!!”
“Uh… What?”
“I’ve never been this shocked since eting you! Did you really just say that? Those advanced words ca out of your mouth?”
“…?”
“I’m just ssing with you. Of course, I know about those theories too. But we’re not here to debate the laws of the universe, are we?”
“…Right.”
“I bring up determinism because understanding this concept is crucial to grasping the power you’re about to receive.”
A strange feeling of unease crept over .
From my past experiences, I knew one thing for sure—when my Patron started explaining things in elaborate detail, it usually ant I wasn’t going to understand a damn thing.
“Good observation. You’re becoming more self-aware.”
“…”
“Don’t worry. I accounted for that issue too. This enhancent should help mitigate that problem to so extent.”
***
sko-fi/genesisforsaken
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