Escaping the Mystery Hotel

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 97

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 104 – Cursed Room ‘Preparatory Selective, Hotel High School’

Sage's Advice: X

- Han Kain

The heavenly light enveloped Aurelia.

We couldn’t move hastily.

It was better to let the opponent strike first rather than rushing in and rendering Elena’s “Justice” unusable.

Ahri, clad in the protective suit, stepped forward to take the initial blow.

Even now, the softly glowing Aurelia was truly a mysterious being.

How could any ordinary human not worship such a figure?

“As the Daughter of Heaven, I declare that none among you shall die here today.”

“”…?”

“Moreover, before proceeding, I must ask the daughter of the newly Risen One: In this moment, to whom does the Scale of Justice tilt?”

“”…??””

“I have not harmed you. No one among the followers here has attacked you. Yet you have slain teachers and cut down followers to reach this place. Tell me, do you truly believe that justice is on your side?”

I could barely breathe from the shock of her words.

Elena, equally taken aback, responded with hesitation, “Do you think we don’t know about the evil rituals you’re conducting here? You’re replacing people!”

“We’re not replacing them, we’re merely saving them. Even if, as you say, they’ve been replaced, has any of the ‘originals’ died? They’re all safe here.”

“You’ve brainwashed and abducted them—“

“A gross misinterpretation of our noble intentions, though I’ll accept your claim. To the eyes of the ignorant, it may seem that way. Even if there was brainwashing and abduction, can you say you are without sin, having killed teachers today? Do you, as sinners, intend to punish us?”

I frowned at her words.

She was deflecting the guilt of the cultists by accusing us of wrongdoing.

It was a classic case of the fallacy of relative privation¹.

Yet the fact that such fallacies work so well shows how effective they are in debates.

Sure enough, Elena hesitated, unable to respond.

“Of course, you are motivated by a desire to protect your comrades, and that in itself could be considered a cause. Therefore, I swear once more in the name of God: I will not kill any of you here today.”

This statement, this conversation—there was no mistaking it.

Aurelia understood the mechanics of “Justice”!

She was pointing out that we lacked righteousness to block the activation of Justice, while swearing on God’s name not to kill us, thus eliminating even the possibility of “self-defense.”

This was astonishing.

Aurelia wasn’t even a Convict, she was an Adversary, the Hotel’s NPC at best.

How did she know the principles of the Blessing?

The principles of Justice weren’t the same for everyone—they changed with each person who gained the Blessing.

Yet Aurelia was countering Elena’s version of Justice as if she knew it intimately.

Think carefully.

During the first attempt, Aurelia never mentioned “the newly risen one” or tried to counteract Justice in this way.

This means she didn’t originally have this knowledge.

Someone must have fed her this information before the “second attempt”.

“Father has spoken…”

The situation was clear. An entity within the scenario couldn’t have independently understood the Hotel’s system.

But “The Lord” could.

It would be strange if he didn’t know.

After all, the Convicts were aware of the Hotel.

The questions multiplied.

It made sense for a Convict to know about Blessings, but how had that information reached Aurelia?

Something was wrong.

If the Convicts could intervene so freely, we wouldn’t be able to solve any of the Cursed Rooms.

If it were possible, other Convicts would have given information about us to the Adversary from the very first attempt.

Why can only The Lord do what other Convicts cannot?

Faintly, I recalled the advice from the Owl.

— The Lord sets the board so that everyone benefits.

Is that board the root cause of this baffling situation?

…I had to stop pondering for now.

If things continued like this, we would be facing a transformed angelic Aurelia while Elena’s Justice remained sealed.

Even though she had sworn not to kill us, that only meant she could do anything short of killing.

The pillar of light descended.

Simultaneously, we all shouted, “Now!”

We were no longer the same as before.

Just because Justice was sealed didn’t mean we had no power!

A wave of pressure spread out as if to crush our very being.

In a flash of white light, the cultist in the front line turned his gun backward.

Ahri rushed forward, treating the bullets as if they were mere BB pellets.

The nightmare born from Ominous Imagination howled from beyond, and the monstrous claw ripped through the air.

And in my hands, a book appeared.

“I-I will move to the rear with Eunsol!”

Of course, not everyone was suited for battle.

Kim Sanghyun moved to the rear.

***In mere moments after the battle started, the cultists who had aimed their guns at us were down.

The power of the Star and the bracelet hadn’t even been fully unleashed.

A bizarre worm beside Elena began to sing, and within three seconds, madness spread like wildfire.

The sight of dozens of cultists collapsing had everyone, even us, looking at Elena in awe.

But there was no time for admiration.

The cultist forces were never really a concern.

Aurelia extended her hand, and burning beams of light sliced through the air.

Ahri dove in, using her body to block the beams!

In that moment of distraction, I rushed toward Aurelia, attempting to possess her, but a sharp pain, as if dozens of needles were stabbing into my skull, overwhelmed me.

Did I fail?

Is Aurelia, who wielded celestial powers, too powerful to possess?

But no—it wasn’t entirely ineffective!

Aurelia’s body shuddered violently as if experiencing the same pain.

Taking advantage of that moment, Cha Jinchul struck Aurelia with the Star, and the radiant light around her body dimmed.

“Who are you people? Are you all the apostles of the newly Risen One?”

Ahri responded in disbelief, “Sorry, but we don’t even know who that is.”

Just who was this “newly Risen One” she kept mentioning?

Without answering, Aurelia forcefully kicked the ground, cracking the concrete, and delivered a punch that sent Ahri flying over 10 meters like a rubber ball.

But even this wasn’t enough to kill Ahri.

We needed to keep up the pressure.

Ahri got up, brushing herself off as if nothing had happened.

I took a moment to scan the surroundings.

The cultists who had been exposed to the power of the Star and the eerie imaginings had all fallen into madness.

…Ordinary humans couldn’t survive the aftermath of a battle between superhumans.

None of us had deliberately targeted the cultists, but the collateral damage from our attacks and the waves emitted by the Star had already turned dozens of them into mangled bodies.

Seeing this, fury filled Aurelia’s eyes.

“How dare you! I will—“

“Kill us?”

“…I won’t kill you.”

Once again, the ominous song filled the square.

The strange worm beside Elena sang its eerie tune, and Aurelia’s brows furrowed deeply.

Could that song specifically target Aurelia?

No matter.

I seized the opportunity to try possession again!

As if on cue, Songee’s bracelet flashed from her position.

“You bastards, how dare you!”

“For someone who claims to be a daughter of a god, you’ve got quite a foul mouth. Take this!”

Cha Jinchul, seeing Aurelia stagger, swung the Star like a war axe and struck her.

Aurelia screamed in rage, delivering a punch powerful enough to send a car flying, but Ahri intercepted it once again.

In that gap, Cha Jinchul moved in and struck Aurelia again with the Star.

The once brilliant light surrounding her body began to dim further.

While I, Elena, and Songee restrained her, Ahri blocked her attacks, and Cha Jinchul used the star to land the decisive blows.

Then, suddenly, I felt a strong sense of unease.

Without Justice on our side, I had expected this battle to be far harder, more painful, with most of us dying in the process…

But now, as six superhumans waged this desperate battle, there were others, standing apart from the fight, deep in thought.

Lee Eunsol: Something’s off. Why isn’t she flying?

Kim Sanghyun: Could she originally fly?

At the same time, everyone’s face was filled with doubt!

This was the strange feeling I’d had all along.

There was enough space in this underground city for her to fly, so why was Aurelia staying grounded, engaging us in hand-to-hand combat?

If she simply flew into the air, a good chunk of our fighting power would be reduced.

It wasn’t just the lack of flight.

Where was the overwhelming power that could raise the dead with a single prayer, or the strength that had crushed Elena even when her Justice was active?

Only five minutes had passed since the battle began, yet the tide was already turning in our favor.

I had believed we could win if we all worked together, but I hadn’t expected to be on the verge of victory this quickly.

Confusion aside, we couldn’t just stop fighting!

I attempted possession again. Aurelia’s posture broke, and this time, Ahri fully tackled her, holding her in place as Cha Jinchul tried to shove the Star into her mouth.

- Boom!

Is this her last resort?

Aurelia unleashed a sudden burst of immense strength, tossing both Ahri and Cha Jinchul aside, and fired scorching beams from her fingers.

I had to roll across the floor to avoid them.

A brief distance had been created between us.

Both we and Aurelia took a moment to catch our breath.

Aurelia’s condition was a mess.

The light that had enveloped her body had dimmed significantly, and her clothes were more than half torn, the exposed areas now tainted by the Star’s corruption, turning her appearance grotesque.

She had no escape.

The only way out of this underground city was behind us. Aurelia’s face was filled with despair. But now, as doubts clouded our minds, we couldn’t yet claim victory.

Where is “The Lord”?

“F-Father….”

“Father? You mean ‘The Lord’? What the hell is that bastard doing?”

Could she no longer hear me?

Aurelia didn’t seem to register my words as she muttered in despair.

“Why… Why won’t you answer… Why have you forsaken me…?”

As her anguished cries echoed through the underground city, flames began to appear in midair, devouring the corpses of the cultists scattered on the ground.

1. Rejecting an argument by stating the existence of a more important problem.