Escaping the Mystery Hotel

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 92

Current Location: Floor 2, Frozen Hell — Room of Resurrection

Sage’s Advice: 3

Before us appeared Miro, frozen in the ice.

Ahri collapsed, blankly staring as if her spirit had left her.

The rest of us just stood there, mouths agape at the revelation of the true nature of this room. We had no idea what we should even do.

At that moment, a voice echoed from above, “Welcome to the Frozen Hell, participants!”

A welcome?

I looked up, dumbfounded at the absurdity of it all.

There it was, that same mysterious drone we’d seen in the Gate Room.

“What are you?”

“Participant Han Kain, I have been assigned the role of guiding you through the Frozen Hell. You may call me the Guide.”

As the “Guide” introduced itself, my companions gradually snapped out of their daze and began gathering one by one.

The still visibly shaken Ahri was brought over by Songee.

“What are we even supposed to do here? Why are we being put through such a horrific place—”

Jinchul-hyung’s bewildered question was abruptly interrupted by the mechanical voice.

“Participants, please take out your ticket.”

Noona, looking confused, pulled out the ticket.

“You can use your ticket to resurrect one of the souls trapped in this hell. Would you like to proceed?”

A heavy silence descended on the group. Everyone was aware of Miro’s situation by now.

She wasn’t in her right mind and was absurdly powerful.

We weren’t certain if we would be able to handle her if we brought her back immediately.

Even Ahri had agreed it was best to not resurrect her until we could find a way to restore her sanity.

But now, staring at her frozen form, writhing in pain, could Ahri really say the same?

Could we persuade her to let her mother remain trapped in this agony while we saved someone else?

Eight people, and yet not one of us had anything to say.

The silence was as icy as the hell we stood in.

“…”

Noona was the first to break the silence.

“I’ve got some questions about this whole resurrection thing. There’s something that’s always bothered me.”

“Please ask your questions.”

“From what I’ve heard, Miro possessed multiple Inheritances before she died, is that right?”

“Former participant Miro possessed three Inheritances at the time of her death.”

“Okay. If she’s resurrected, does she come back with all three?”

“When a former participant is resurrected, they may choose to recover one only of the Inheritances they had in life, but no two participants can possess the same Inheritance. Therefore, if participant Miro is resurrected, she can only recover one of the remaining two Inheritance, excluding the ‘Ancient Blood’, which is already claimed by another participant.” R̃

In other words, if Miro were brought back, she would only recover one of her inheritance, and since the Ancient Blood was taken, she’d have to choose between the other two.

Noona followed up with another question, “What about her blessing? It’s not confirmed, but I’ve heard Miro had the Blessing of Justice.”

Noona briefly glanced at Elena as she asked this.

“Since participant Elena Ivanova is the current owner of the Blessing of Justice, former participant Miro cannot recover it. However, it is a rule of the Hotel that all participants must have a Blessing, so a new Blessing will be assigned to her.”

In summary: Miro could come back with one Inheritance and a brand-new Blessing.

Given that her Blessing would start from scratch, it might mean her power would be limited.

I started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, we could handle her after all.

Apparently, Jinchul-hyung had the same thought, “Ahem. The situation feels different from when we last discussed this. We postponed Miro’s resurrection because she was too strong, right? But the core of her strength was having multiple Inheritances.”

Songee chimed in, “Yeah! But according to the Guide, she’d only have one now, and her Blessing will be reset. She wouldn’t be so overpowering that we couldn’t handle her—”

Noona’s sharp voice cut through the conversation, “Hold on. This isn’t something to decide on a whim. Miro’s strength wasn’t just about the Inheritances. Have you all forgotten she was a superhuman even before she came to the Hotel? Grandpa?”

Noona’s questioning tone was directed at Grandpa, who hung his head as he responded, “…That’s right. Miro was a superhuman even before entering the Hotel. She had powers that defied common sense.”

“See? We can’t underestimate how dangerous she is just because her Inheritances are reduced. And the real problem isn’t her strength—it’s her mental state. Guide!”

“Participant Lee Eunsol, please ask your question.”

“Miro wasn’t in her right mind when she died. Will she recover her sanity when resurrected?”

“Former participants are resurrected in the same mental state they were in at the time of death.”

“So there’s no recovery for her mental state?”

“That is correct.”

As Noona whipped her head around, everyone fell silent again.

Her argument was compelling.

Even if Miro’s strength is reduced, her unpredictability makes her extremely dangerous.

If her mental state is the same as before, how can we expect her to cooperate?

Worse, if she loses control of herself inside the Cursed Rooms, who can possibly handle her?

Maybe Ahri?

But what if Ahri dies in the process of clearing a Cursed Room?

We would be doomed.

The more I thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed.

Even Ahri had insisted we shouldn’t bring her mother back until we could fix her mind.

“…”

As my thoughts spiraled, I noticed around me began to rise.

Someone criticized Noona for being too harsh, while she shot back that their thinking was too impulsive.

The argument grew heated, and Grandpa stepped in to mediate.

Everything felt chaotic, and it hurt.

If it were my own parents trapped in that ice, suffering endlessly, would I just stand here?

Wouldn’t I break through anything in my way to free them?

Strangely, I admired Ahri’s restraint, standing there quietly despite the torment her mother was enduring.

…And then it hit me. I had a way to help in situations like this.

Is there a wise way to resolve this?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Advice: 3 → 2

Take a coffee break and relax. The answer is in your mind.

“Ah, this damn bird. Is it messing with me?”

“Did you use Advice?”

Ahri, who hadn’t said anything until now, suddenly asked, “…Yeah. It said to drink coffee and relax because I already know the answer.”

“Really?”

Without another word, Ahri handed me a thermos of coffee from her backpack.

“…”

“Take a sip.”

“Thanks.”

In the middle of this hellish, frozen hellscape, where the chorus of agony from countless frozen souls echoed, the brewing conflict between my companions all but vanished, leaving only me and my relaxing cup of coffee.

I took a deep breath and let the warmth of the coffee calm me.

What’s going on here?

…

The answer is in my mind.

I replayed everything I knew.

What had the doctor, Kim Sanghyun, said when he first told us about the Room of Resurrection?

“If you happen to gain a chance at the Room of Resurrection, or if you see Buddha, please don’t forget me…”

He had mentioned the Buddha as another possible chance at salvation.

Then there was what Elena and Seungyub had told us…

The Patron said the issue with the cold isn’t something I need to handle.

I was told not to push myself.

Their Patrons had given them specific instructions not to involve themselves with the cold.

Suddenly, everything began to click.

There was another way to save the Hotel NPCs besides resurrection.

And, we had something else to do in this space.

It wasn’t just about using a ticket to revive someone.

If it were, the Patrons wouldn’t have told Elena and Seungyub that they didn’t need to get involved, or that I needed to work with experienced people.

“Wait! Everyone, calm down for a second. Guide!”

My sudden outburst silenced the argument.

The drone turned towards me.

“Participant Han Kain, please ask your question.”

“Is there something else we can do here besides using the ticket to resurrect someone?”

The Guide remained silent.

“Why aren’t you answering? Can we do something else to stop these people’s suffering?”

Grandpa was the first to respond, “Now that you mention it, this whole situation feels strange, doesn’t it? Before we came, it felt like we were being set up for something grand. Something about some of us being told not to get involved and others being told to work with experienced people. So why is it that now, all we hear about is this ticket?”

Noona added, “Why is it ignoring our questions? Hey! Guide! Are you hiding something from us?”

Finally, Ahri spoke up, addressing all of us, “I think it has a ‘no lies’ rule.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it can’t lie, but it doesn’t have to tell us the whole truth either. It’s waiting for us to figure out the ‘right keyword’ to ask about.”

The moment she said “keyword”, something clicked in my mind.

“If we need a keyword, then maybe it’s ‘Buddha’? Guide, do we need to make a wish to the Buddha?”

“Not that? Then… Do we need to break the ice?”

“Can you stop suggesting we break things all the time? Guide, can we ‘buy’ Miro’s freedom?”

“…Eunsol, that sounds worse than breaking the ice… what do you mean ‘buy’ her freedom?”

“Perhaps we can trade Miro for someone else? Maybe the merchant?”

“Why do you have it out for the merchant, Grandpa?”

As we continued throwing out random questions, Seungyub spoke up quietly, “Guide, do we need to pray?”

- Beep!

“Participants, would you like to offer a ‘Prayer of Rest’ to the Buddha for former participant Miro?”