Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 254: Moment of Choice (2) - End

- Lee Eunsol

After considering Sanghyun’s concerns about the “darker uses” of the Inheritance, everyone began sharing their thoughts.

The first to speak was Grandpa, “The flute still seems like the better choice. Its near-perfect mental recovery effect is already impressive, but more importantly, if we manage to take it outside, it would be an invaluable treasure.”

The Administration had fought against the demons and monsters lurking in the shadows of the world for a long time.

How many victims had lost their minds, consumed by madness from seeing the moonlit world?

The flute could be a way to bring salvation to those suffering souls.

On the other hand, the Rudah, which could transform people into merfolk and control them, seemed like a potential disaster waiting to happen.

Still, Songee seemed reluctant to give up on the Rudah.

“I don’t know if the potential misuse of the Rudah is such a serious problem. Can’t Kain-oppa or Elena-unni counteract its control with their own abilities? Like I said before, we could just choose not to implant it ourselves.”

“Songee, if we all implant it and trust each other not to abuse it, that’s one thing. But avoiding it entirely because of the risk of misuse? That’s like refusing to make soybean paste because you’re afraid of maggots. Look, the Queen Rudah’s abilities boil down to two major things: enhancing our physical abilities and controlling NPCs. If we’re going to ignore the first one completely, then we might as well discard the Inheritance and go with the flute.”

As the discussion between the two continued, I had another important realization.

“In this Hotel, danger is something that needs to be spread out among everyone. We all know that random accidents happen out of nowhere here. Sudden deaths, people getting possessed by demons, and other unpredictable threats—it’s all part of our daily lives.”

Elena agreed, nodding.

“The sealing was a perfect example. When I first broke free, I almost hurt all of you.”

“In that sense, the Rudah is dangerous. The problem isn’t just that the person who owns the Queen Rudah might have bad intentions. What if they’re controlled by an outside force and end up attacking us? That would be devastating.”

Elena added, “And if we’re too afraid of that side effect and refuse to implant the Rudah in anyone, we’re essentially weakening the Inheritance ourselves. I think the flute is the better option.”

With most of the group leaning toward the flute, Songee eventually gave in.

Just then, Sanghyun spoke up with another unexpected opinion, “I’m also voting for the flute. And I’d like to add one more reason.”

After the last discussion, everyone immediately turned their attention to him.

“I have a feeling that, at some point, you’re all going to revive Miro. Probably as soon as you get the next ticket, right?”

“...”

Silence fell over the group. Honestly, I thought the same thing.

Whether or not Miro was truly necessary was a secondary issue.

If we were still struggling to obtain a ticket, it might be a different story.

But now that we had one, and we had a way to address Miro’s mental instability, how could we not bring her back?

Choosing not to revive Miro would basically mean picking a fight with Ahri, who had returned to the Hotel solely to save her.

Not just Ahri—Grandpa would likely turn against us too.

Besides, ever since our time in the Frozen Hell, Kain had also seemed increasingly in favor of bringing Miro back.

He often reminisced about how intelligent and well-behaved Miro had been as a child, which suggested that he wasn’t entirely opposed to her return.

“I have no intention of stopping it. If that’s what everyone wants, I’ll follow along. But... we can’t ignore that she has ‘some’ dangerous traits. And I believe the flute could be a way to counter her abilities.” ƒrēenovelkiss.com

The more I thought about it, the more unsettling it was.

The flute didn’t sound like a tool meant for progressing through Cursed Rooms—it felt like a tool designed for controlling each other.

Still, Sanghyun had a point. If the flute’s power was strong enough, it could likely neutralize Miro’s “Words of Power”.

Seungyub, thinking in a different direction, suggested another possibility, “Miro’s biggest problem is her mental instability, right? What if we use the flute to heal her?”

That didn’t seem likely.

“We could try, but relying solely on the flute to fix Miro’s madness is a bad idea. Her instability seems to be linked to that strange place, the ‘Mirror Room’. The answer to her condition is probably in that room.”

The decision was made—we would choose the flute.

Even Songee, the only one who had been advocating for Rudah, had stepped back.

Now, the only question left was, “Who gets the Inheritance?”

Maybe because Sanghyun had already withdrawn himself, the others quickly followed suit.

“I think it’s better for me to focus on training with my bracelet,” Songee said.

It seemed like there was an unspoken agreement within our group: those who didn’t get an Inheritance this time would be prioritized for the next one.

The whole “sealing” system provided a convenient excuse for this approach.

Is this... a bit of a communist mindset?

It was kind of funny for the daughter of a chaebol to be thinking like this.

But since this meant the selection would come down to me, I kept my mouth shut.

“My Blessing doesn’t really fit well with the flute,” Seungyub added.

I had expected that.

Because of his “Fortune” trait, Seungyub often acted unpredictably and naturally ended up being in charge of escape plans.

The flute, however, was purely a support tool, making it a poor match for his playstyle.

Also, Seungyub’s biggest weakness was that, as a young boy, he was physically weaker than the rest of us.

The flute wouldn’t solve that problem, since it didn’t enhance individual strength.

“”...””

Grandpa and I exchanged an awkward glance.

Everyone else had stepped back, seemingly deciding that this wasn’t their problem.

“Ahem. My Blessing is ‘Communication’, after all. It’s meant for support, so it fits well with the flute.”

“‘Wealth’ is similar. My role is to supply the team with the necessary resources and use various tools. Also, I’m sort of the navigator of our group, right? I don’t usually charge into the front lines, so a support-focused Inheritance makes sense for me.”

“...You do realize that my communication ability now lets me upload ‘video or sound’ into the Chat Window, right? That seems like a perfect match for the flute. I could upload the flute’s sound and remotely heal everyone’s minds.”

“Oh, come on! That’s a stretch. If the flute’s supernatural healing could be reproduced just by recording its sound, then why did the Administration even bother creating the ‘Living Flute’? They could’ve just recorded the flute’s sound and played it.”

“We won’t know unless we try!”

“It’s obvious that won’t work. Actually, doesn’t the flute pair better with my badge? I could hide undetected and heal everyone’s mental state with the flute.”

“I’m an agent of the Administration. Do you have any idea how many people have suffered from madness because of demons? If I take this back, I could help so many of them.”

“Senior, if I join the Administration after we escape, wouldn’t that solve the problem? Let’s be real, we’re never going to live our lives completely separate from the Administration. Besides, in case you forgot, my family is kind of rich. That money could go a long way in funding research on the flute.”

“That’s your family’s money, not yours.”

“Ha! Once I get out of here, small details like that—”

“You two should have some coffee.”

Elena suddenly appeared, handing each of us a cup.

“...”

Crap.

This is getting out of hand.

The tension between Grandpa and me was escalating too much.

And why did I even bring up the Daeyang Group?

That was completely unnecessary.

The others were watching us with worried expressions, realizing this was something they couldn’t easily interfere with.

It was a bad situation.

Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, Grandpa and I both fell silent and quietly sipped our coffee to cool our tempers.

“Ah, I think I just said something foolish,” Grandpa muttered, clearing his throat.

“Even at my age, I still find my heart wavering when a treasure is placed in front of me.”

“It’s okay.”

As the tension in the air dissipated slightly, Grandpa changed the subject.

“In truth, I have no real desire for most of the items in this Hotel. My goal has always been simple.”

Grandpa’s goal... I knew he hadn’t entered the Hotel for some personal reason.

“You remember, don’t you? The means to stabilize reality.”

“I think I heard about it a long time ago. That was the reason why you, Ahri, and even the Administration sent agents into this place, right?”

“That’s all I need. If I can obtain that, then nothing else matters. I thought that way all this time, and yet, I still showed such a disgraceful display just now.”

“...”

“Rather, considering that there’s something I must obtain in the future, it would only be right for me to step back when it’s not that crucial. So, I’ll withdraw. But in exchange, I want you to promise me one thing.”

“You want me to help you when the time comes for you to obtain what you need?”

“As expected, you catch on quickly.”

“It’s obvious from the flow of things. Besides, if it’s something the Administration needs, then it must be something beneficial for the entire world. Even without you asking, I believe everyone would naturally cooperate.”

As it became clear that our conversation was wrapping up, Elena subtly stepped in.

“So that means Eunsol-unni will be the one taking the flute?”

Silence settled around us.

No one objected.

I slowly approached the floating flute.

As the object came into view, my heart began to race.

Why am I feeling so nervous?

This wasn’t even my first time experiencing this.

Many of my Hotel comrades had gone through this process before.

Once I grab this, then I, too—

- Thud!

“Ah! S-Sanghyun?!”

“Apologies. Something suddenly came to mind.”

“Something came to mind?”

“Think about it—once you grab that flute, the ownership of the Inheritance will be finalized, and this space will collapse.”

“Well... yeah?”

“But haven’t we forgotten something?”

“Forgotten something?”

“Eunsol, you saw the message when the room was dissolving, right? It seemed like the Hotel was pleased with the resolution you came up with.”

“Ahri did mention that the answer was likely to be something that fits the Hotel’s standard.”

“And thanks to that, according to the message, there’s supposed to be an ‘additional reward.’”

I finally understood why Sanghyun had stopped me.

The “extra reward” promised by the Hotel as compensation for the happy ending we had created in Room 202.

He was wondering if that reward might be hidden somewhere in this space.

- Beep!

You will be able to check the additional reward once the selection process is complete.

“...Guess not.”

“I see. The Hotel hides things so often that I thought it might be worth checking.”

With no further interruptions, I stepped forward again and grabbed the flute without hesitation.

This time, no one stopped me.

Countless streams of text flooded into my mind, detailing how to use the flute.

At the same time, I felt something unfamiliar grasped in my right hand.

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)Date: Day 108Current Location: Floor 2, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 3

- Han Kain

“Ugh!”

I stumbled, barely keeping my balance.

Had we completed it?

No way—we didn’t have to go through it again, did we?

No.

As I turned to look at my comrades’ expressions, I immediately understood.

I had left Cursed Rooms enough times to recognize the feeling.

Seeing the old, slender rod in Eunsol-noona’s hand, I instantly knew which Inheritance had gone to whom.

“Noona! Congratulations!”

Everyone was smiling and approaching Noona with cheerful expressions, but she stared down at her own hand in confusion.

“Noona?”

“...This.”

“Huh?”

“This is the additional reward.”

Perhaps because of her shock, something lightly fluttered from Noona’s hand and fell.

Reflexively, I reached out and caught the falling paper.

What landed in my palm was a torn ticket—split in half.

“...A half-ticket? Does that mean if we find another, it’ll become a full one?”