Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 260: Party Time - Reflections on the Mirror Room, Meeting for the Next Room (6)

Chapter 260: Party Time - Reflections on the Mirror Room, Meeting for the Next Room (6)

- Han Kain

“I can’t believe there’s only one day of rest left.”

“That’s why we’re relaxing today.”

We lay in a hammock we found while exploring the second floor, lazily swaying back and forth while gazing at the extravagant scenery of the Hotel—it was surprisingly fun.

I felt like I could do this for ten hours straight.

Ahri, watching me drift leisurely, reached out toward the hammock—

“Don’t flip it!”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“But you were going to.”

She chuckled, but then, suddenly, she brought up something serious.

“Have you talked to Seungyub?”

“A little. Seems like he got some bizarre enhancement.”

“Do you understand what it is?”

“Not at all.”

I really had no idea.

Even Seungyub himself didn’t fully understand what kind of power he had gained.

He kept talking about some mystical visions his Patron showed him, but none of it made any sense.

Normally, the easiest way to figure out an ability would be to use it.

But apparently, his Patron explicitly warned him not to use it when his teammates were around.

So, we gave up trying to figure it out.

“I have a feeling his Patron deliberately made it difficult for him to understand.”

“Like, so he doesn’t get weaker if he understands it?”

“Exactly. The more he understands, the weaker he gets. It’s like... the opposite of normal logic. Like saying, “The more you study, the dumber you become,” or, “The more you train, the weaker you get.”

That was pretty absurd.

The stronger one trained, the weaker one became.

The more one thought, the less they knew.

How was that even possible?

“Well, judging by what Seungyub said, he’ll probably end up using his new ability in the next room. When that happens, we’ll naturally figure it out.”

“That’s true. Oh, by the way, while talking to Songee earlier, I realized something interesting.”

“About the Mirror Room?”

“Yeah. That place shows all sorts of desires a person has, right? But as I was listening to Songee, I started wondering about something.”

“What’s that?”

“In Songee’s case, she saw dozens of different reflections of herself, each showing a different version of her desires. What does that tell us?”

“That the human mind is complex?”

“Well, yes, but I mean something about the Mirror Room itself. Here’s my conclusion: the Mirror Room doesn’t just pull thoughts from the surface of the mind—it digs deep into the subconscious.”

“Explain.”

“Think about it this way. Of course, people have all sorts of desires. But not all of those desires are present in their conscious thoughts at the same time. The human brain isn’t built for multitasking like that. At most, we can juggle one or two thoughts at a time.”

That made sense.

Songee had mentioned wanting success, wanting rest, longing for a simple life, and chasing transcendence.

But she wouldn’t have been actively thinking about all of that at the same time.

“So, the Mirror Room doesn’t just reflect a person’s current thoughts—it dredges up everything from their mind, even the subconscious desires buried deep inside.”

“That’s what I think. And that makes it even harder to use properly because most of the tricks we rely on won’t work there.”

“The tricks we use...?”

“For example, my suggestion ability would be useless. It only affects surface-level psychology for a short time—it doesn’t wipe out deep-seated desires. If it did, the side effects would be horrific.”

“What about Calmness and Tranquility or the Flute?”

“They don’t matter here. Both remove the effects of magical insanity, but desire itself isn’t a mental illness. The human mind is built on desire—it’s not something that can be erased with a simple cure.”

The real problem with the Mirror Room wasn’t the magic or the supernatural elements.

It was simply human nature.

Desire itself.

No amount of mental resistance would change that.

Slowly, I began to get the picture.

“We need a much more powerful form of mental control.”

“Exactly. A power that can completely reshape a person’s mind. Honestly, if we had a robot with a soul, that would be the perfect candidate to use the Mirror Room safely.”

Ahri went silent for a while.

Sensing the pause, I filled in the gap.

“We’ll figure it out later. Right now, we don’t even have a Ticket to revive Miro.”

“It’s not just about Miro.”

“There’s something else?”

“The Administration’s goal—the power that can save the world. What if that power is inside the Mirror Room? We could wish for it.”

That did seem plausible.

But honestly, with how the Mirror Room worked, anything would sound plausible.

“So, by your logic, we need two Tickets. One to save your mother, and another to wish for this ‘world-saving power.’” freeweɓnøvel.com

“There’s also the free wish. Since Songee refused to use it, the next person who enters will get it.”

“That’ll probably be used to fix Miro’s mind.”

“Miro’s mind, huh...?” Ahri muttered, looking somewhat dazed.

“Why did Miro go insane in the first place?”

“Didn’t she pay a price for making a wish in the Mirror Room?”

“That’s what I thought too, but Songee insists that’s not the case.”

“Huh? But when we met Miro in the Frozen Hell, she said, ‘I went there with many purposes in mind but lost everything in return.’”

“When I told Songee that, she said Miro never actually understood how the Mirror Room worked.”

That was... surprising.

Miro lost herself because of the Mirror Room, while Songee made it out in one piece.

If anyone had authority on this matter, it was her.

“Why does she think that?”

“The Mirror Room doesn’t demand a ‘price’ like that. The first wish is free. After that, it only asks for Tickets. That rule is absolute. It doesn’t steal anything like Miro described.”

I didn’t even need her to finish the thought.

The Mirror Room never demanded intelligence or sanity as a cost.

The first wish was free.

After that, it required a Ticket.

So if losing her mind wasn’t a price... then why did it happen?

Miro wouldn’t have wished for it.

The more I thought about it, the more complicated it became.

Just then, I remembered something else.

“Wait, didn’t you get an enhancement? What kind of ability is it?”

“I’ll show you later.”

“Show me?”

“It’s a fun ability!”

Ahri’s face was far too excited. I had a bad feeling about this.

Just then, a message came in.

Lee Eunsol: Come to the tea table.

Tomorrow was our last day of rest. It was time to start discussing which room we would enter next.

***Everyone gathered around the table, which was filled with a variety of drinks and snacks.

As always, Eunsol-noona was the first to speak, “Honestly, I didn’t think we needed a meeting. I assumed we’d go to Room 203. There’s no specific reason we have to go there, but there’s also no reason to choose another room either.”

That was true.

The reason we originally planned to go in order—201, 202, then 203—was simple: we didn’t have any reason to skip ahead or switch rooms.

“But Ahri had a different perspective, and I found it pretty convincing.”

“I’ll explain it simply. First, among the remaining rooms, there’s at least one that isn’t a Cursed Room. It’s probably a Mission Room, but we won’t know for sure until we check. Second, the final Cursed Room is harder than the others. And now—Activating ‘The Unnoticeable Girl’!”

Ahri’s explanation was intriguing.

According to her Patron, there was a non-Cursed Room still remaining, and the last Cursed Room was significantly harder.

“This means we have to reconsider the order of the rooms. Oh, and from what I can tell, Room 207 is another Gate Room.”

With that, she wrote the numbers 203, 204, 205, and 206 on the whiteboard.

From across the table, the doctor, sipping a cocktail, spoke up, “So, either Room 205 or 206 is likely to be the difficult room.”

“Wait, Sanghyun, what if neither 205 nor 206 are Cursed Rooms? Remember how Rooms 105 and 106 weren’t Cursed Rooms back on the first floor?”

— Seungyub, middle schoolers aren’t supposed to drink coffee.

“Hmm... But I don’t think there will be another Room of Rest on this floor.”

I agreed with that.

In a hotel where we could move freely between floors using an elevator, having two separate resting areas seemed redundant.

“Huh? Why is my cup suddenly empty...?”

“I agree with Sanghyun’s assessment. There’s no need for two resting areas. There’s probably just a Mission Room. Though there could be some third type of room we have yet to encounter.”

— Eunsol, drinking during a meeting? I’ll be taking that.

“Kain and Sanghyun both think there’s only a Mission Room. If that’s the case, then the final Cursed Room must be in either Room 205 or 206. We should avoid—wait, where did my cocktail go?”

While there was no set order for the rooms, it was obviously better to delay the hardest room as much as possible.

That meant the last few rooms, particularly 205 and 206, were risky.

“We should delay 205 and 206 as much as we can. That leaves only Rooms 203 and 204 to consider. But we did get some warnings about 203, didn’t we? Seungyub?”

Seungyub, who had been fidgeting with something, took a second to respond.

“Huh? Oh! Right—uh, back in Room 201, some unknown presence warned me. It said if I lacked the qualifications, I’d break in Room 203. And also—”

— Seungyub, you’re too distracted peeling those peanuts. I’ll take them. You did a good job peeling them.

“Oh! I remember! My Patron also said that Room 203 was both a crisis and an opportunity for me and that I needed a special enhancement to handle it. Wait, huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah... No, it’s nothing. Where did my peanuts go...?”

“The special enhancement—that must be the ability you just gained, right? Whatever it is.”

“Yeah.”

As I listened, something struck me as odd.

“The information Seungyub and Ahri received is slightly different. In Room 201, both the unknown presence and Seungyub’s Patron warned about Room 203. But Ahri’s Patron warned about the final Cursed Room instead.”

— Oh! I can explain that! The warnings Seungyub and I got had slightly different nuances—

“What do you all think?”

— ...Huh? Are you guys just ignoring me? This is getting annoying. Kain, stop drinking so much cola. Do you think that’s water? Tch—whatever!