Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 253: Moment of Choice (1)

- Lee Eunsol

Elena, standing at the center, took a moment to gather her thoughts before beginning her explanation.

“I’ll start with the Rudah. First, we need to identify what kind of entity this is. As you know, Rudah can be categorized into three main types. First, the ‘common entities’ found in regular merfolk. Second, the ‘queen entities’ that resided in the daughters of the Sea God. Lastly, the ‘conductor entities’, which was artificially created through various experiments by the Administration.”

“This one doesn’t seem to be a conductor.”

“No, it’s not the right size. Besides, if it were a conductor entity, everyone except Jinchul would die the moment they received it, making it pointless. This is a ‘queen entity’.”

So one of the two Inheritances, Rudah, was identified as a queen entity.

“So, what abilities does one gain upon implanting a Rudah? They can be broadly divided into two categories. The first is an overall enhancement of physical abilities.”

Grandpa asked, “Is it similar to the enhanced humans the Administration created in Room 202?”

“It’s similar. Extended lifespan, strong resistance to disease, increased muscle strength—it’s an overall enhancement that can’t be defined by a single attribute. However, it’s not an explosive boost. And secondly, those who receive a ‘queen entity’ like this one gain control over other merfolk.”

“Is that even relevant? There aren’t any merfolk outside of Room 202.”

Elena’s expression turned slightly cryptic.

“Didn’t I mention before that Rudah’s ecological characteristics resemble those of bees or ants?”

“…No way!”

“A Queen Rudah entity can create subordinate entities. Of course, Rudah has its own form of ‘reproduction’, but.”

After saying that, Elena approached the wriggling Queen Rudah.

“This one is already ‘prepared’. If someone acquires it, they can immediately start creating subordinates.”

Grandpa muttered with a slightly uneasy expression, “So you could implant that Rudah into NPCs in other rooms.”

“Exactly.”

Seungyub, who had been listening, raised his hand. “Didn’t all the Daughters of the Sea God have supernatural abilities? Wouldn’t that be part of the Inheritance?”

Elena smiled slightly before answering, “That’s a good question. As you pointed out, the Daughters of the Sea God and the Saintess of the Deep Sea all had unique supernatural abilities.”

In Room 202, each Daughter of the Sea God and the Saintess of the Deep Sea possessed various extraordinary abilities.

Serenade could paralyze anyone who met her gaze, and Lee Suho wielded strange runes.

Elena’s Ominous Imaginations were also treated as a similar phenomenon within the scenario.

Liringanaur, however, seemed to have inherited all three types of abilities because she was effectively the Sea God’s final contingency.

However, Elena quickly dismissed that idea.

“Unfortunately, the ‘supernatural ability’ part isn’t something granted by the Rudah. The fact that Jinchul, who received a stronger Rudah in the form of a conductor entity, didn’t gain any special abilities, and that Liringanaur, who was otherwise no different from me or Serenade in terms of Rudah, had access to multiple abilities—this proves that point.”

It seemed that supernatural abilities were granted directly by the Sea God.

Now that Room 202 had collapsed, the Sea God no longer existed anywhere in the universe.

As a result, obtaining this Inheritance wouldn’t involve the Sea God interfering with the user’s mind, but it also meant that no additional supernatural abilities would be granted.

With that in mind, the abilities granted by acquiring the Queen Rudah were as follows:

Firstly, a slight overall enhancement of physical abilities, including lifespan extension, disease resistance, and strength. Honestly, this didn’t seem like a particularly significant advantage. Extended lifespan and disease resistance would only matter after escaping the Hotel, and unless the strength boost made someone as powerful as Jinchul, minor physical enhancements wouldn’t make much of a difference in a place like the Hotel.

Secondly, the ability to create and control subordinate Rudah entities. If these subordinate Rudah were implanted into NPCs within the Cursed Rooms, they could be used like loyal minions. This seemed to be the core function of this Inheritance.

“Elena, what are the potential drawbacks?” Grandpa asked.

“Well… perhaps the fact that Rudah is an intelligent, sentient creature? There could be some uncertainty regarding one’s sense of identity. Other than that, I’m not sure.”

Compared to inside Room 202, Rudah’s weaknesses seemed significantly reduced.

Within Room 202, major concerns included being controlled by a stronger Rudah and interference from the Sea God, but neither of those was relevant outside.

There was no stronger Rudah out here, and the Sea God no longer existed.

After wrapping up the discussion on Rudah, the topic shifted to the flute.

“The flute, as I mentioned before, is an artifact personally bestowed by the Sea God. It’s called the ‘Flute of Peace’. Its function is quite simple and somewhat similar to my Calmness and Tranquility. It’s a tool for alleviating mental distress or recovering from psychological damage.”

“There’s an important difference, though,” Grandpa pointed out. “Your Calmness and Tranquility and Kain’s Status Window are abilities that only affect the user, but this flute seems like it can be used on others.”

“That’s its greatest advantage. Another key feature of this flute is…”

Elena’s expression turned curious.

“This object works even on gods.”

Thinking about it, the flute was originally created by the Sea God to soothe itself.

It had already been proven to work on divine beings.

Unlike the Queen Rudah, which required a lengthy explanation, the flute’s function was simple and clear.

After summarizing the powers of the two Inheritances—Rudah, which granted slight physical enhancements and control over NPCs, and the flute, which could heal the party members’ mental wounds—we began a serious discussion about which Inheritance would be more useful.

Grandpa, observing the flute with interest, gave his opinion, “Wouldn’t the flute be the better choice? From what I’ve seen, more than half of the attacks we suffer in this hotel involve mental interference. Sure, we have countermeasures like Elena’s Calmness and Tranquility, Kain’s Status Window, and Songee’s bracelet, but except for the bracelet, all of those abilities only work on the user. Ahri’s blood can also help, but it’s not something we can use anytime we want.”

I had a slightly different perspective.

“Grandpa, if you look at it from another angle, don’t we already have quite a few ways to achieve similar effects to the flute? Elena’s Calmness and Tranquility, Kain’s Status Window, Songee’s bracelet, and if necessary, even Ahri’s blood all serve similar purposes. But the biggest power Rudah offers is the ability to control NPCs.”

“So that’s something hard to replace with other means?”

“Exactly.”

“But, Eunsol, aren’t you overlooking the fact that the flute’s effects work even on gods? Ordinary humans might go their whole lives without meeting a god, but in this damn hotel, we run into them as often as the guy at the corner store.”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

Grandpa was right—we constantly encountered malevolent gods and demons on an almost weekly basis.

Looking back at our past experiences, we had managed to resolve every Cursed Room without directly fighting the Convicts. However, things didn’t always progress so smoothly.

We had already encountered plenty of insane divine beings—like the moth in Room 102 and the wrathful Sea God who descended in Room 202.

In situations like those, could the flute serve as our last resort?

Just as we were all putting our heads together in thought, Sanghyun, who had been silently observing, gave a bitter smile.

“…It seems like I need to point something out before any of you realize it.”

“What?”

“At first, I assumed you all knew but were avoiding the topic. But now I see that’s not the case. You genuinely haven’t even considered ‘that possibility’. Honestly, I’m a bit impressed.”

“That possibility?”

“From the moment I heard the explanations of these two Inheritances, I got chills. The Hotel’s intentions in preparing them were too obvious.”

“Hey, Sanghyun. We all know you’re smart, an elite astronaut and all, but could you stop showing off and—”

“That’s really not my intention. Let me get straight to the point. Doesn’t it strike you that both Inheritances are designed to establish control over the party?”

Silence fell over the group.

“Let’s start with the Rudah. It’s too obvious. Why do you assume that the Queen Rudah’s offspring can only be implanted into NPCs?”

“What?”

“Of course, they can be implanted into us as well. And if you think about it that way, the supposedly ‘slight’ physical enhancement it grants is actually a massive benefit. It would allow us to strengthen the bodies of the entire party. And once everyone has received a Rudah offspring for the physical boost, the person who possesses the queen entity could effectively become our ruler.”

The enhancement provided by the Queen Rudah wasn’t just for the owner—it could benefit the entire group.

Songee, flustered, spoke up, “If we’re worried about being controlled, we just won’t accept the implants, right? Besides, we’d never use it that way.”

“Songee, I already see a contradiction in your statement. You say we’d never use Rudah to control each other, yet you also suggest that ‘if someone is worried, they don’t have to receive it.’”

“…”

“Let’s imagine a scenario. You all trust each other. I trust everyone here too. Since we all trust each other, there’s no reason for suspicion, right? So someone obtains the Queen Rudah. If there’s no reason for doubt, why would anyone refuse a free physical enhancement? Everyone gets implanted. And now, the person with the Queen Rudah has the power to manipulate the minds and bodies of the entire group.”

As the room fell into silence, Sanghyun continued, “I’ve only talked about Rudah so far, but I think the flute has a similar issue. The flute’s power is incredibly straightforward—mental recovery. When it comes to specialized abilities like this, they tend to be extremely powerful within their field, just like in a game.”

The flute’s effect was limited to mental recovery, but within that scope, it was so powerful that it even worked on divine beings.

I was beginning to understand where Sanghyun was going with this.

“I believe the flute could neutralize several of your existing abilities. It could dispel Songee’s illusions, expel Kain’s possession, and since Elena’s Ominous Imaginations requires her to be consumed by madness during activation, it could completely block her abilities.”

As everyone’s thoughts grew increasingly tangled, Sanghyun wrapped up the discussion, “I debated whether or not to bring this up, since none of you had even considered this possibility. But I figured it’s better to know before choosing than to realize it too late.”

“You did well. It’s important to be aware of these things before deciding,” Grandpa agreed.

“I’m withdrawing from the selection process.”

Grandpa, slightly surprised, asked, “Sanghyun?”

Kim Sanghyun gave a small smile as he stepped back.

It wasn’t hard to guess his reason.

After all, most of us still referred to him as “Doctor”.

***

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