Escaping the Mystery Hotel — Episode 551
EP.551 — Alone at School (1)
— Park Seung-yeop
There are countless reasons why I hate school.
I hate being forced to spend time in the same classroom with kids I am not even close to, and I hate being forced to study things that give me a headache.
— Ziiip!
“If schools didn’t exist, someone like you would probably be closer to Australopithecus than human.”
What even is that—informal or polite?
And I hate Sophia too, because she throws poisonous lines like that whenever she gets the chance.
“I don’t like you either.”
— Ziiip!
And her personality is childish on top of that.
Yumi was never like this!
You said you were Yumi’s disciple, so what did you actually learn?
“I learned as much from Lee Jaseong as you did.”
“...Khh!”
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
She has never even met the Master, so why act like she knows anything?
— Ziiip!
“Pretty sure you just mis-marked something.”
“I don’t make mistakes.”
Anything that appears to be a mistake is merely the guidance of fortune—
“Quiet during the test!”
The difference between Yumi’s and Sophia’s magical abilities is significant.
Sophia does not have body manipulation abilities like Yumi did, but in exchange she can do things Yumi could not—such as “mental conversation”—which is extremely convenient.
The only issue is that I am not yet fully accustomed to it, so I sometimes slip up like right now.
“Question 17 looks like 3, no matter how I see it.”
It’s 4.
“You’re literally guessing, so why are you so confident?”
I believe in myself.
“No, seriously, you are just guessing!”
I am a child of fortune.
— Ding-dong!
“Everyone, hand in your papers!”
The pop quiz for Korean History ended.
The result was 70 points.
My assessment of that—
“What?
It was that easy and you got 70?
The questions came straight out of the textbook.”
This is the highest score I have ever gotten on a history test in my life.
“Are you secretly Chinese or something?”
“Hey!”
I could not hold back and shouted, and the nearby students stared at me in surprise.
Because of that, I had to awkwardly laugh it off and step outside the classroom.
I am still far more used to speaking with my actual mouth than mentally.
“That was rude!
I scored higher than the class average.”
“Actually, when I think about it, this is impressive.
Other kids solved the questions properly, but you guessed.
You guessed on a five-choice test and got 70%?
That is impressive.”
“Exactly—”
“And you are proud of getting 70% purely by guessing.”
“Of course.
Blessings are also a form of capability.”
On this point, there is not even a millimeter of hesitation in me.
A true master never concerns himself with the jealousy of the ordinary.
“So your lifelong dream was to excel at guessing test answers?”
That one caught me slightly off guard.
The ability to guess correctly has nothing to do with my dream; it comes purely from my blessing of fortune.
Any of our companions would understand that instantly.
It has been about ten days since Sophia and I returned to reality, and Sophia still does not know much about my power.
“No, that’s just my blessing.
My real wish is something else.”
“No… don’t tell me!
Your wish was to become rank 1 at Bangbae Middle School—”
“Absolutely not!”
Sometimes Sophia treats me like I’m some kind of idiot!
Are you insane?
Why would I waste a wish on becoming rank 1 at Bangbae Middle School?
I made two major wishes.
First—my parents’ resurrection.
This was fulfilled perfectly.
Second—
“Heh-heh…!”
Just thinking about the abilities I gained made me proud already.
At that moment, a small voice brushed against my ear
.
“Why did you not resurrect the Master?
He is my Master, but he must have been your beloved as well.”
“...”
Around lunchtime, I headed to Class 3-5.
I was not the only boy standing on tiptoe outside the classroom, peeking in.
There were quite a few others, and I had a good idea why.
There was someone quite famous in Class 3-5.
“Hey, hey, did you hear?”
“They said she’ll soon debut as an idol trainee!”
“Huh?
I heard she was going to be an actress.”
Hearing rumors about idols and actresses already made me let out a dry laugh.
From what I know of “her,” she is not the type to train diligently in dancing anywhere.
At that moment, something strange happened.
The boys suddenly lost focus, blinked as if waking from a dream, and dispersed to the sides.
It was the power of the perception-interference barrier, a mysterious function inside the “Bureau Smartphone.”
And as if she had been waiting, a girl stepped out of the classroom.
“Yaaaaawn.”
“...”
“You idiot, go eat lunch.
Why are you lurking here?”
Bangbae Middle School Rank 2, Miro—
“Did you even ask if she agreed to that whole ranking thing?”
“Ahem, let’s go.”
As we headed toward the school cafeteria, students began murmuring again.
Miro’s looks are far too flashy for someone trying to live unnoticed.
“Ugh, what a hassle.
See?
This is why life is painful for someone special like me.”
What kind of random princess-syndrome line was that?
I want to tell Ga-in-hyung exactly that sentence later.
“I’ll just chase them off—”
— Tap!
Miro took out the “Bureau Smartphone” she received from Ari, but I quickly snatched it away.
“Wah!
What the—!”
“You idiot.
Didn’t Ari-noona tell you not to use that thing too often?”
“...”
“You used it just now, and you were going to use it again?”
She really acts however she wants.
Is she dumb?
Not exactly.
It is slightly different.
She knows that using the perception-interference barrier too frequently has negative effects on regular people, but even knowing that, she seldom cares.
In other words—
“She’s not stupid, just a terrible person.”
Sophia’s poisonous remarks often carry sad truths.
— Click!
“Okay.
Now nobody can barge in.”
I did not bother to ask what she did.
It was clearly Sophia’s unique magic, and I would not understand even if she explained it anyway.
Either way, thanks to it, the three of us gained some peace inside an empty classroom.
“Ugh!
I seriously hate school!”
“Same….”
Miro and I voiced our honest thoughts.
And the blond young lady let out a sigh.
“Sorry, but you two need at least ten more years of school before you can call yourselves human.”
“Seung-yeop, why does she always say things that ruin the mood?”
“There’s an expression—tadpoles don’t remember what it was like to be frogs.”
“What do tadpoles have to do with frogs?”
“Tadpoles grow into frogs.”
“No, they don’t.”
“Yes, they do.”
“Seung-yeop, you’ve never raised tadpoles, have you?”
“Uh…”
“Idiot.
I have.
Tadpoles wriggle around in the water for about a month and then they all die.”
“Maybe that was because you raised them weirdly?”
“Ha!
You’ve never raised them once and—”
— Clap!
Sophia clapped her hands, cutting us off.
“Please.
Both of you.
Be quiet.”
She looked like she was about to cry.
“Tadpoles really do become frogs.
What Seung-yeop meant was that frogs don’t remember being tadpoles.
He was criticizing me for being out of touch because I’ve been out of school too long.”
“Haha!
Exactly!
You heard that, Miro, you idiot—”
“I beg you.
Please shut up.”
“...”
Silence fell over the classroom.
Then, just as Sophia was looking exhausted, Miro grumbled.
“Her personality is so weird.
Her tone keeps changing too.”
“I always intend to be polite with you all.
Sometimes you just break my spirit.”
“I miss Gai-n.”
It was always a little surprising when Miro said she missed Gain-hyung.
There were plenty of people who liked him, but few said it out loud like Miro did.
Meanwhile, Sophia frowned subtly.
What did she think of Gain-hyung now?
Still an object of reverence?
Or something else…?
Hard to say.
But that was not why we were here today.
“I have updates from Ari!”
Both Sophia and I turned toward Miro.
“First, the answer to Sophia’s request.”
Sophia’s request.
After arriving in reality with me, Sophia recognized her condition inside the “Soul Casket” and asked:
“Could you take me out of the Soul Casket?”
For NPCs, the Soul Casket is essentially a “ship that crosses dimensions.”
It allows non-participants to enter the Cursed Rooms or exit them into reality.
Now that she was already in reality, there was no reason to remain trapped in that ship.
To be honest, it was a request that I was grateful for as well.
Keeping Sophia in the Soul Casket was deeply uncomfortable for me too.
Above all, it was not where she belonged.
“They said it should be possible.
The soul in a Soul Casket can be replaced, so they can extract your soul, seal it inside a ‘special tool,’ and then transplant it into a physical body prepared by the Bureau.”
Listening to it alone was already overwhelming.
To be honest, it sounded slightly terrifying.
“But they asked if you are willing to ‘serve’ the Bureau afterward.”
“...I will think about it.”
“Next!
This message is for you, Seung-yeop.”
“Huh?”
“They said you need to be careful how you act.
Ari and I were ‘collected’ by the Bureau the moment things started, and you started at the same school as me.”
“That’s true.”
“We are all already exposed to the Bureau’s eyes.”
“...”
“So don’t approach other companions who have not been exposed yet, not recklessly.”
“I understand.”
Miro and Ari entered Bureau surveillance immediately.
Since I go to the same school as Miro, I must already be under surveillance as well.
Sophia’s existence has likely been revealed too.
Although in Sophia’s case, she wants the Bureau’s help to escape the Soul Casket, so she may not care.
In short, we are discarded pieces.
Therefore, we must avoid reckless contact with companions not yet exposed to the Bureau.
Sophia responded calmly.
“How interesting.”
“Huh?”
“Ari, I mean.
She joined the Bureau the moment we began, which suggests an extraordinary level of loyalty to the organization, yet…”
“...”
“When I hear conversations like this, it feels as though she prioritizes you all over the Bureau.”
“Ah, and the next one is from Grandpa.”
Grandpa’s question?
“Ahem!”
Miro suddenly imitated an old man’s voice playfully.
“Seung-yeop, why did you not resurrect Yumi?
I thought you would revive her through the dream.”
“...”
It was the second time I heard that question today.
The others will probably ask me the same thing when we meet.
Why I did not “summon” Yumi through a dream.
“...Because it’s a one-time thing.”
“What?”.
“The merchant said that overwriting reality through dreams works only once per loop.”
“...”
“I don’t want that kind of resurrection.
If I ever wake Yumi again, I want it to be a reunion that never ends.
No more farewells.”
I did not even realize my face was heating up.
Oh no.
Did those words really just come out of my mouth?
While Miro’s face reddened alongside mine, Sophia asked sharply—
“For someone who says that, you did bring your parents back.
Is your lover—your master—more important to you than your own parents?"
“…”
“It’s possible.
They say once kids grow up they stop recognizing their parents anyway.”
Savage even at a time like this!
“More importantly… you’re already considering the possibility of moving to the ‘next loop,’ aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
What’s she talking about?
“Not so much considering it… more like a feeling?
And if it’s a feeling, it’s an extremely ominous one.”
The short meeting of the three ended there.
…
Back in 7th period—Math class.
As usual, I fell into a deep sleep.
…
I woke up feeling completely refreshed.
That was the first sign something was wrong.
Sure, sleeping like a log during class is normal, but waking up refreshed?
That’s not supposed to happen.
Normally the teacher or the kid next to you shakes you awake before you’ve had enough sleep.
I felt refreshed.
Because no one woke me up.
Because there was no one left to wake me up.
In other words…
“W-what the hell is this?!”
In Bangbae Middle School, every single human being except Park Seung-yeop… had disappeared!
*****
Episode 552 – Alone at School (2)
—Park Seung-yeop
My very first thought was, “The hotel tricked me!”
“They told me… they told me to rest for one whole year….”
They spoke through the merchant’s mouth and told me to take a full year off, and they made it sound like nothing would happen!
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.
There was no point blaming anyone now that things had already gone wrong.
“You’re oddly calm in a crisis.”
Hearing Sophia’s level voice eased me in a subtle way.
Regardless of how close we were, it was a relief I wasn’t the only one swept into this bizarre phenomenon.
“What happened while I was asleep?”
“No idea.”
“...What?”
“I said I do not know.”
“I wasn’t correcting your tone—I’m asking why you don’t know.”
“Because I was also asleep.”
“...”
And that left me with nothing more to say.
So you can sleep inside the Soul Vessel too, apparently.
But then… was it just coincidence that something happened while both Sophia and I were dozing?
“Don’t tell me sleeping together is some kind of trigger condition?”
“Possibly…
Let us investigate our surroundings first.”
Looking around the classroom revealed more oddities than just the fact that everyone else had vanished.
“This is subtly different from the Bangbae Middle School I know.”
“I see the same.”
For example, there were no air conditioners mounted on the ceiling.
Instead, several outdated fans were hanging from above—so old they looked like half-scrap.
“Look at that!
Those are fans you turn on by pulling strings.”
“...”
“I’ve never even seen those in real life.”
“Those are quite old even among mechanical fan models.”
It didn’t take long for my suspicions to reach a conclusion.
The desks, chairs, and even the lockers lined at the back of the classroom had all turned into aged wood.
“Sophia, I think this place is…”
“...”
“Bangbae Middle School—except from several decades ago.”
--- Clatter!
“It will not open.”
Not just the main gate—every exit leading out of the school was blocked, including the back entrance near the teachers’ office.
Locked with a padlock?
It didn’t look like that at all.
Even when I rammed into the glass door, it didn’t so much as tremble.
“Fortuna, can’t you force it open?”
Sophia was still bound to the Soul Vessel.
Using destructive magic would drastically shorten her remaining time.
That was why she asked me.
“I told you, I’m not Fortuna anymore!
Move.”
With a shallow breath, heat surged from my heart and vigor flooded my body.
Phase one—drawing out Aksha’s soul!
“Hup!”
“What are you doing?”
“In the past, my success rate at even reaching phase one was like twenty percent!”
“...You call that mastering it?
That is merely apprenticeship.”
“True.”
Looking back, it’s embarrassing to say I had ‘mastered’ any martial technique back then.
Like Sophia said—it was just apprenticeship.
“Haa!”
The moment my lightning-like hand struck the glass—
--- Rumble!
An intense shockwave shook not only the entrance, but the space around us for several meters.
Yet the glass door didn’t even crack.
“...What?”
That was unnatural.
Forget padlocks—this was plain opaque glass.
There’s no way glass could withstand that level of physical impact!
“There must be a magical barrier.”
My gaze instinctively shifted toward the corner of my vision.
My second wish granted by the Dream.
[Awakening]
Just once.
I could become the strongest under heaven—dividing the sky itself!
“Do not use it.”
“...What is with you all of a sudden—”
“I said do not use it.
It’s a one-time power, yes?
Do not waste it on something so trivial.”
“I-I wasn’t going to use it.”
“Let us continue investigating inside the school.”
We searched everywhere from the first to the third floor.
From faculty rooms to classrooms.
We even fiddled with our phones, but they couldn’t detect any signal.
Sophia and I were doing our best to escape from an inexplicable phenomenon best summarized as:
“We fell asleep and woke up in a decades-old version of our middle school.”
Eventually, we reached the staircase leading up to the fourth floor rooftop.
“...That smell.”
“Urgh!
It’s incredibly acrid!”
What in the world was that smell?
Secretions from the human body combined and fermented?
Describing it in more detail would have been terrifying.
“There must be something on the rooftop.”
Sophia looked tense.
I gripped the wooden stick I’d picked up during our search.
It might be nothing special, but with my martial arts behind it, I could beat even a gorilla to death with it.
--- Squeak!
The door to the rooftop was not locked.
--- Rustle!
The first thing we saw was endless garbage.
Snack bags, empty PET bottles, cooking foil—a mountain of mixed trash.
It was so extensive it covered nearly the entire rooftop.
Quite a number of the PET bottles and plastic bags contained ‘human bodily fluids,’ and I had no desire to look any closer.
At the center of the rooftop stood a shabby tent or makeshift hut.
From what we had seen so far, the conclusion was obvious.
“Someone’s been living here.”
“For a very… very long time.”
The stench filling the rooftop was simply the accumulated trace of human life.
I tapped the trash aside with my wooden stick, clearing a path.
“Oh~!”
“What now?”
“I expected you to gag and flail around, but you’re surprisingly composed?”
“...”
What does Sophia think I am, exactly?
I’m the strongest under heaven, after all.
Besides, for someone who looks like a classical blonde beauty straight out of an old film, she was remarkably composed herself.
Then again, she’s a centuries-old witch—makes sense.
“Hm.
Poor brain, decent initiative.”
“Stop defaulting to insults…”
Even Ari-noona isn’t this bad.
I tapped the tent with my stick.
“Hrrr… hrrr…”
A frail groan came from inside.
“Whoever it is, they sound unhealthy.”
“In this environment, being healthy would make you a monster, not a human.”
We pulled aside the shabby tent and stepped inside.
For a moment, I lost my words.
“...”
A frail elderly man.
His limbs were thin as sticks, dark spots dotted his skin, and one of his eyes seemed clouded from cataracts.
Even left alone, he didn’t look like he would last much longer.
“Excuse me?”
“Hrrr…”
The clearer eye sluggishly turned toward me.
Five long seconds passed in silence.
Then the old man’s eye widened.
“Fi… finally!”
“...”
“You’ve come…!
You’ve finally come to rescue me from this hell!”
“...”
What was I supposed to say?
Telling him we weren’t here to rescue him but were trapped too would disappoint him—no, he might die from shock.
“N-No!
This is no time for idle chatter!
What… what time is it?”
“Time?
Well… it’s almost evening—”
“Come inside!
Quickly, over here!”
“...”
The tent was barely large enough for one person.
I was already inside, but Sophia stayed leaning against the entrance.
“Y-You there, Agent!
Close the door!”
Sophia forced an awkward smile.
Beyond the fact that we weren’t “agents,” the old man reeked so intensely that the heaps of trash outside might as well have been a flower garden in comparison.
It took serious resolve to stay sealed in an enclosed space with him.
“Wh-When the sun sets!
Once the sun sets, it becomes dangerous!
The entire school—no, this entire world—becomes—”
—Shhhhhhh…!
Right on cue, an eerie breathing sound drifted in from somewhere.
Sophia immediately shut the tent entrance and stepped inside.
“Is this enough?”
“F-From now on… silence….”
“...”
I thought in silence.
An elderly man who appeared to have survived here for years.
Food and water sources were a mystery, but more importantly—how had he survived?
“Hm…
The rooftop, and using this shack to avoid direct exposure, I assume?”
“Hrrr…”
The brief exchange had already exhausted the old man.
“Hey…
Seung-yeop.”
“Don’t call me with honorifics, it doesn’t suit you.
Go back.”
Sophia retreated into the Soul Vessel—likely unable to endure the stench.
We didn’t seem to be in immediate danger, so it wasn’t a big problem.
“Hrrr… hrrr…”
It was just miserable being left alone in a reeking shack with a man on the verge of dying.
—Kim Ari
“Miro!
You understand what I’m saying, right?
Seung-yeop—”
“I understand.
Stay home and wait.”
—Click.
That was already the third call from Miro.
Same content every time.
It seemed he had lost his composure.
Well… he was never the calm type to begin with.
“...”
Seung-yeop and Sophia had vanished out of nowhere.
The school was already in chaos, and the parents Seung-yeop summoned with his Dream ability had arrived on campus as well.
Even the teachers and his own parents suspected he had simply run away from home.
I couldn’t help laughing—he really was a boy who inspired little confidence in others.
“Ha…
This isn’t the time to laugh.”
Seung-yeop and Miro probably didn’t know—but this wasn’t the first time.
First it was Ga-in and Eun-sol.
Next it was Seung-yeop and Miro—well, I suppose Miro hasn’t been taken yet.
Point is: within just one or two weeks, multiple teammates had been swept up in chaotic disasters.
Could that really be coincidence?
Was reality always like this?
Impossible.
Chaotic Disasters are like traffic accidents.
On a national scale, dozens occur every day, and from an agent’s point of view, the world might seem full of them…
But for an average Korean citizen, experiencing even two or three in a lifetime is rare.
“...”
Is there some unseen hand attacking us?
I didn’t know.
If someone wanted us dead, they’d just poison us or shoot us—how do you purposely throw someone into a chaotic disaster?
And if there really was some hostile entity meddling, the hotel would not have told us to “rest for one year.”
“...Haa.”
My teammates complain that I, as a Control Bureau agent, hide everything from them—but moments like this are hard on me too.
Everything is just too confusing.
At that moment—
—Beep!
My Bureau-issued smartphone flashed with an emergency alert.
“Escapee ‘Lucky Boy (M-3274)’ has made contact with the Sacrifice!”
“...Seung-yeop.
You already caused something in that short time?”
It was so like him that I wasn’t even surprised.
“‘A breach in the Pale Breath containment procedures is possible.
In such case, the Lucky Boy is to be terminated—’”
Terminated.
Terminated!
I immediately called someone.
The Director of the Korean Branch of the Control Bureau, Park Hyun-min.
—Click.
“Agent Kim Ari, did you see the alert?
We will be dispatching a strike team—”
“Cancel it.”
“What?”
“Cancel the termination order.
Cancel the strike deployment.”
“...If the Pale Breath containment fails—”
“I’ll go handle it myself.
So just do as I say.”
“...”
I could hear his discomfort.
Director Park Hyun-min was the Korean Branch Director—meaning only a tiny number of people technically had authority to issue orders to him.
I certainly wasn’t one of them.
But I know this man well.
Like many in the Bureau, he dreams of climbing higher, gaining more authority, more secrets.
His signature trait: he can’t defy anyone currently above him—or anyone about to be.
“…Fine.
But Agent Kim Ari, have some courtesy.
Even if your name is on the ‘The Silent’ candidate list!”
Time to move.
I’m going to save my teammate.
*****
Escaping the Mystery Hotel — EP.553 / Chapter 553 – Alone at School (3)
Park Seung-yeob
A world where no one exists except me, Sophia, and a dying old man.
Enduring inside a crude hut with only the old man was honestly not easy.
The stench he gave off?
That was not the real issue.
Among human senses, they say smell tires the fastest.
So even an intense stench stops registering once you smell it long enough.
But no matter how long I stayed with him, I could never get used to the suffocating gloom that seeped out of him.
— Haaaa…!
“Hrrrgh!”
A chilling sound echoed from outside, and the old man reacted instantly.
As though afraid to make even the slightest noise, he covered his mouth with both hands, though that did nothing to hide the terror on his face.
“Agent….”
“Yes.”
“Are you cold?”
“Not particularly.”
It was a bit chilly, but hardly worth complaining about.
I am a martial arts master, after all.
“Hmm.”
Judging from the old man’s reaction, something monstrous must be nearby, but I could not sense it clearly.
When I disembarked from the Gateway Train, I discarded most of Room 207’s memories.
Because of that, I reverted back to my ‘pure self’ and lost much of my martial prowess, but not all of it.
Heaven-Seizing Style Secret Technique — Razor-Edge Senses!
...
Nothing unusual outside.
I could not detect any movement of a wicked beast or anything of that sort.
Of course, the enemy could be a ghost-like entity, so I could not be careless.
‘Heaven-Seizing Style?
Secret Techniques?
Since when did he have that setting?’
“Should I go take a look outside?”
“N-no, you must not!”
His voice was desperate.
The old man was still trembling with fear.
“B-being outside is dangerous!”
“I know.
But I can’t sit in this trash heap forever, can I?
We’ll starve.”
“...
The refrigerator on the first floor is periodically refilled with food.”
“Refrigerator?
Ah, the one in the teachers’ office?”
The teachers’ office refrigerator gets refilled periodically?
So that’s why there’s so much trash on the rooftop.
“...
Agent.
Are you not cold by now?”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
Either way, the hotel taught me one important lesson:
Sometimes you need to take dangerous risks to survive.
If staying still guarantees death, then you must act, even if the action itself is risky.
The moment I started to stand, a cold hand shot toward me.
“H-hold still!”
The old man suddenly tried to grab me from behind.
Instinctively, I slapped his wrist away.
The frail old man rolled across the floor.
— Thud!
“Oh!”
T-that was not intentional.
It was just instinct.
The instinct of a martial master.
“Ah!
I’m sorry.
You startled me, trying to grab me from behind all of a sudden.”
“...”
“Are you alright?”
“Hrrrgh…
I am fine.”
Right before I stepped outside, the old man asked again:
“Are you not cold?”
“I’m fine.
You seem cold, so I’ll bring back something to warm you up.”
“...”
His pupils lost focus in a strange, unsettling way.
“You will need a bit more cold yet….”
What a bizarre thing to say.
Feeling a vague chill down my spine, I stepped out of the hut.
If necessary, I was ready to call out Sophia and go all out, but there was no battle, no dramatic confrontation.
The mysterious monster the old man feared so badly was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, a chilling cold gripped the entire school.
“Wow…
Anyone seeing this would think it’s the dead of winter.”
Wasn’t it early fall at most?
Then again, when everyone disappears overnight, there is no point talking about seasons.
While heading toward the teachers’ office—where the fridge supposedly replenished food—Sophia’s voice rose sharply from within the Soul Vessel.
‘Kill that old man.’
“What are you talking about?”
‘You didn’t feel it?
I’m telling you, that old man is either a demon or possessed by one.’
“I didn’t notice anything.”
‘How can you not?
You didn’t feel how chilling his presence is?’
“Because he smells bad?
Fool.
A frail man trapped in a weird place like this would obviously have health issues.”
‘Ugh—seriously!
Even for someone as slow as you, I didn’t expect such an emotional, brain-dead reaction—’
“Sophia, for once, try having a warm heart.
Stop trying to kill anyone who looks suspicious.”
A brief quarrel.
Then Sophia fell silent, seemingly disappointed by my attitude.
“Sophia?”
‘...’
“Sophia?
Don’t tell me you’re sulking?”
‘...’
Having Sophia stuck inside the Soul Vessel was uncomfortable for both of us.
When the time came, she would be better off freed with the Administration Bureau’s help.
— Clack.
“Found the fridge!
Whoa, this thing’s fully stocked for real.”
Who replenishes the food?
Was the fridge under some supernatural influence as well?
‘Hmm….’
I considered heading back immediately, but changed my mind.
The school was cold as if a blizzard had hit, and the food was cold too.
Bread or sandwiches fresh from the fridge are normally cold, but eating them in this weather was painful.
“Isn’t there some way to make fire?”
I checked the alcohol lamps in the science lab, but they were all empty.
Maybe the old man used them up over the years.
‘Feel the pale breath.
Let your hands crack, let your food freeze solid, and know that water itself will not flow down your throat.’
“What was that for?”
‘…That was not me.’
“Hah!
You must not know who you’re dealing with.
To the world’s number-one master, nothing is impossible!”
After pumping myself up, I grabbed a nearby book and tore it to shreds.
‘What are you planning now?’
Heaven-Seizing Style Secret Technique — Sammae Fire Ignition.
— Rustle!
“Hyah!”
‘…’
— Scrape scrape!
“Hah-yah!”
At that moment, Sophia burst out of the Soul Vessel.
“Don’t tell me you’re trying to light a fire by rubbing book pages together?”
“Yes.”
“T-that’s Sammae Fire Ignition?”
“I saw it online.
You rub paper like this and—”
— Snap!
Sophia flicked her fingers and instantly conjured fire.
“...”
“How about that?
The Archmage’s Miracle: Fire-Starting.”
“...I could’ve done it without you.”
“Sure.
If that makes you feel better.
By the way, what exactly is ‘Heaven-Seizing Style’?”
A small campfire crackled in the empty circular courtyard between the teachers’ office, the administration office, and the first-year classrooms.
Sophia lit the spark, and since we were in a school, there was no shortage of books to use as fuel.
“Ohh, that’s nice.
Hey, this is a history textbook?”
Straight into the fire.
“You just threw a history textbook into the fire without hesitation.
You’re really not Chinese, right?”
“I’m burning math textbooks too, see?
Now keep an eye on the fire.
Don’t let the food burn.”
“Are you going to bring the old man here?”
“He must be freezing.”
“...”
Just as I stood to head back to the rooftop, a faint scraping sound brushed across the floor.
A brief tension.
Fortunately, when I saw the shadow descending the stairs, I relaxed.
Honestly, my nose noticed him before my eyes did—the stench arrived first.
“You came.
Here, warm yourself by the fire.”
Strangely, Sophia vanished the moment the old man arrived.
Did she leave because of the stench too?
“Bread and milk are warmed up.
Please eat.”
“...
Thank you, Agent.”
“You’re welcome.”
Warm bread and heated milk.
Warm food had a way of warming the heart.
I no longer felt cold at all.
The old man’s condition must have improved at least slightly.
Time to gather information.
“Sir, how did you end up trapped here?”
“...”
“Sir?”
“It was when I was young.
Whenever the cold wind blew, mountain climbing was my hobby.”
“Is that so?”
“When one thinks of winter mountaineering, most imagine danger and cold.
But tell me, Agent, have you ever shouted at the summit of a winter mountain?”
“I can’t say I have….”
“When the chill creeps into your heart, and cold air floods deep into your lungs!
Driving that cold out with a single shout—nothing is more exhilarating.
That was the charm.”
What does this have to do with being trapped inside a school?
Better to keep listening.
“But once…
I became stranded.”
“Goodness.
That must have been rough.”
“I remember it vividly.
First comes the itch.
The fingertips begin to tingle, and the itch becomes pain.”
Frostbite?
“But the frightening part is not the pain.
At some point, even the pain disappears.
The hands disappear.
They are still attached, yet the sensation vanishes.
Then the feet.
Then the wrists and ankles.
By then, the ears are long gone.”
“...That sounds horrifying.”
“I was cold and terrified. ‘So this is how I die in the cold,’ I thought.
All I could exhale was pale breath.”
I understood his struggle, but I could not see how this related to our current situation, so I cut in.
“Ahem.
But you survived, didn’t you?
The rescue team must have arrived in time.”
“...Back then, yes.”
“Back then?”
“Agent, are you not cold?”
“There’s a campfire right in front of me.”
“It will go out soon.”
“There are plenty of books—”
“Two, maybe three days at most.
And you cannot leave the school grounds.
Soon the fire will die, and you will be swallowed by unbearable cold—”
— Clap!
I clapped lightly to break the growing gloom before it dragged me down too.
“Sir, I am not a normal person.
You know that.”
I might not be an actual government agent, but I was not normal either.
I was a martial arts master.
“This level of cold is nothing to me, and fasting for a bit won’t kill me.
You said food appears periodically in the fridge.
We’ll be fine.
I’ll find a way out soon enough, or the rescue team will—”
“Lies!”
The old man’s voice suddenly tore open, ragged and harsh.
“We will freeze to death here, yet you still deceive people standing before death!”
“I-I said we won’t—”
“Death!
Cold!
You will die, and I will die.
There is no ‘next’ for us.
Luck will not strike twice for someone who already survived the winter mountain—”
— Slam!
I drove my fist lightly into the wall.
The sound it made could have been from a sledgehammer, and the old man’s eyes widened.
“...”
I tried calming him politely, but it was not working.
I recalled something a doctor once told me:
Being endlessly gentle to someone with a wounded heart does not always help.
Sadly, people often mistake kindness for weakness.
Sometimes, to lead the fragile, you must show dominance:
I am stronger than you.
I am above you.
Therefore, trust me and follow.
“Do you see this strength?”
“...”
“I’m not you.
I’m not some guy who cries on a winter mountain and waits for rescue.”
“...”
“Cold?
Stop whining.
I’d survive even if you dropped me in Antarctica.”
Probably for a day at least.
“Hungry?
I can go a month without eating.”
That was completely untrue.
“So don’t treat me like you.
I don’t die.
And if you listen to me, you won’t die either.
Got it?”
“...”
— Slam!
“I said, got it?”
Perhaps a bit more disrespectful would work.
“No answer?
Old age finally hit your brain?
Is age an excuse now, you bastard?!”
“S-sorry!
Agent-nim, I…
I was so stupid.”
“…I’m counting to 60 now.”
“Huh?”
“You said it earlier, right?
Luck won’t come twice?”
“That was—”
“It comes twice.
Not twice—three times, four, ten, twenty.
Because I am fucking luck itself!”
“Uh—”
“One!
Two!”
「Heavenly Luck: 1 → 0」
Click!
“Six!”
I used Heavenly Luck—don’t tell me nothing happens?
“Seveeeen—”
“…”
“Eiiiiight—”
“…”
“Niiiiine—”
Goddamn it!
Something happen already!
I used Heavenly Luck!
Is the output weaker outside the hotel?
“Teeeeen—!”
—Booooom!
As expected.
As always.
Like it always fucking does!
Luck was on my side.
—Thud!
The front gate that wouldn’t budge no matter how much qi I poured into it flew open in one go.
And beyond it—
The person I wanted to see most in the world.
“Ari-noona!”
“Ugh~ So cold.
I brought a bunch of hand warmers—take some.
Grab some for grandpa too!”
The hand warmers flying toward me were luck.
Hope.
“Let’s get out.”
Finally—outside the school gate.
A car, probably the one Ari-noona drove here in.
“Noona, where the hell even is this place?
I woke up and everyone was just… gone.”
“…A kind of quarantine zone.”
“Quarantine zone?”
Quarantine—like they were containing something?
Containing what?
“Don’t worry about it.
What you should worry about is your parents outside.”
“Uwaaah!”
“They were both freaking out.
Go make up a good excuse.
Or just say you ditched because classes sucked.”
“…Dad’s gonna murder me.”
“If it’s just a spanking, take it like a man.”
“Urk!
If I use Cheonseungmun Secret Technique, Diamond Indestructible Body—”
“Cheonseungmun?
What even is that?”
While we talked, Ari-noona started turning the wheel nonstop.
The car swerved wildly across the school grounds like it was drawing a pattern.
Feels like you can’t just walk straight out.
The fact that noona knows exactly how to escape this place…
“Is this space something the Bureau made?”
“…Who knows.”
That’s a yes.
So I accidentally stumbled into a Bureau-made ‘quarantine zone’?
I was tilting my head, still trying to process, when the car finally broke free of the bizarre world.
“Uwa… it’s already evening outside.
Oh right—what about grandpa?”
The old man is asleep in the back.
He was already weak, and my aggressive attitude might’ve shocked him a bit.
“Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“We’ll send him to his family.
He’s suffered enough—let him spend whatever time he has left in peace.
We’ll take care of his living expenses, so no need to stress.”
“Ah!
That’s a relief.”
—Screech!
The car stopped.
“Well…
I’ll head out then.”
“Go on.”
My phone—miraculously working again.
—Ring ring!
Click!
“Uh, um…
M-mom—”
“YOU LITTLE—!!!!”
“…”
“SEUNG!
YEOP!
YOU—!!!”
Oh shit.
This is gonna be bad.
Even the greatest martial arts master in the world is powerless here!
“Mom…!
H-how worried I was…! sob”
Sophia, please!
What do I do right now?
‘Dunno.’
Help me!
‘After today, it seems you don’t actually need my help.
Believe in yourself~’
“Hey!”
For once, I genuinely wished a monster clown would jump out in front of me instead.
Kim Ari
“S-sorry!
Mom, I-I’ll explain everything—”
Seung-yeop’s panicked voice carries all the way over.
His mom has some lungs on her, damn.
He’ll figure it out.
It’s her precious son—no way she’s actually beating him to death.
“…”
Now it’s just me in the car.
Someone might ask why I said “alone” when there’s an old man in the back, but no—I’m alone.
“Huuu…”
“You’re awake.”
“My mind… is clearing.
Where did the Agent-nim go?”
“Agent?
If you mean Seung-yeop, don’t worry about him.”
—Vroom!
I step on the gas again.
“…Where are we going?”
“Your house.”
Seung-yeop’s business is finished.
Mine isn’t.
The Pale Breath containment procedure is still in progress.
*****
Escaping the Mystery Hotel – Episode 554
EP.554 – Alone at School (4) Fin
554 – Alone at School (4) Fin
Kim Ah-ri
“Agent, are you not cold?”
“…”
I did not answer.
Instead, I recalled what I knew about the entity called “Pale Breath.”
“‘Pale Breath’
Serial Number: C-2213
Threat Level: C
A phantom-like existence that appears on cold winter nights.
It manifests before persons on the verge of freezing to death, whispering temptation.
‘I will release you from your agonizing death.
Offer up the one you love, and in return, you shall receive a frozen heart capable of enduring the harshest midwinter.’
Containment Procedures: Contain
The infected host must be confined within a secured isolation area inaccessible to civilians.
----”
According to the records, that elderly man became “infected” by Pale Breath, then sacrificed someone precious to him to extend his own life.
Therefore, I hold no sympathy for that host or that offering.
--- Whoooo…!
A faint, icy exhalation began to fill the air.
The temperature plunged without limit.
Despite the heater operating and the season being no later than early autumn, frost began forming on the window.
Seung-yeop had also mentioned how unbearable the cold had been.
He boasted that he lit a campfire inside the quarantine zone using ‘Sammejinhwa’ to chase the cold away…
But in truth, it was not the campfire that saved him.
He only believed so.
“Agent, where are we going?”
“I told you.
To your house.”
“My house?
Well, my son and his wife live in Gangneung, but—”
“To be precise, they lived there.
Your son and daughter-in-law died 22 years ago.”
“…”
--- Crack.
The sound of ice creeping across the windowpanes.
It was becoming difficult to bear, but it was fine.
We were almost there.
--- Screech!
“We have arrived.”
“This place is….”
We stopped before an old apartment complex.
Its name was “Rainbow Apartments,” or something like that, though it hardly mattered.
After all, we were not quarantining him in the real Rainbow Apartments.
“Your name is Kim Dong-ho, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Mr.
Kim Dong-ho, you will be living here from now on.
This is… an elderly welfare housing unit provided by the government—”
I spouted whatever nonsense came to mind as we climbed the stairs together.
And then—
--- Clang!
The entrance door of the building locked shut.
“…The door has locked.”
This was Bangbae Middle School’s “Isolation Zone.”
Seung-yeop seems to hold the National Administration responsible for the fact that no one could physically escape once the main gate locked.
Incorrect.
The Administration’s role is to restrict access to the quarantine space itself; the inability to leave once inside has nothing to do with the Administration.
That is the power of Pale Breath.
“So it seems.”
The old man smiled coolly.
As if to say that I, too, would never escape this frozen world now.
“…”
As someone who makes a profession of quarantining anomalous entities, I occasionally feel a dangerous curiosity.
A desire to have a genuine conversation with a monster steeped in madness.
Are you pleased when you imprison victims in places like this?
Do you understand the situation that led to your confinement?
What were you thinking when you fed your son and daughter-in-law to an anomalous entity?
Finally—
Are you still human?
Or are you ‘Pale Breath’ itself?
“…”
If you gaze into the abyss for too long, the abyss, too, will gaze into you.
Therefore, never attempt to converse with monsters.
This is one of the Administration’s oldest proverbs.
I unfurled a drawing.
--- Flutter!
“Hm?
Agent, what is that dr—”
And then no one was there.
The old man would, until his final breath, exhale Pale Breath into a frozen world.
Once he dies, Pale Breath will be freed and will seek a new host.
And we will once more track down Pale Breath and its sacrifice, and quarantine them.
That is how the world turns.
--- Splash!
The moment I awoke beside Muk-sung, a cup of water hit me in the face.
“Urgh!”
“…”
“Kukukuk!
Look at you, like a soaked little rat— oof!”
Silencing Muk-sung required only a single punch.
He scowled at me and offered a flimsy excuse.
“Hey, hey.
Do you know how bored I was?”
“…”
“You were going to escape to the Dream Kingdom, so I had to take a nap, but I had to know when you’d finish!”
Which meant that Muk-sung had to doze off on a bench until I finished using the Dream Kingdom.
He probably took sleeping pills or something.
I understood his boredom, but splashing water on me the moment I woke up?
Was his mind still stuck in middle school?
“Oh, right.
Seung-yeop called you.”
“He got home fine?”
“So he said.
And he bragged nonstop!”
“Yeah?”
“While listening, I realized something…
That idiot actually discovered the most perfect countermeasure to ‘Pale Breath.’”
“…”
Serial No.
C-2213, Pale Breath’s most perfect countermeasure:
Even when the world freezes and the body stiffens from the cold, one’s ‘heart’ must not freeze.
A heart warm enough to withstand even the polar cold.
It is the perfect solution, yet ironically the most difficult for an agent to use.
Think about it.
How could anyone maintain a warm heart after learning that an old man sacrificed his own son and daughter-in-law for survival?
“I also talked briefly with Sophia.
She said Seung-yeop looked even dumber than usual.”
“…”
“If you overthink or calculate too much, the warmth melts away.
Maybe luck guided him.
Anyway, enough of that…”
“You have something else to say?”
“Cha Jin-cheol contacted me.”
“…”
“He says it is time to begin.”
Before returning to reality, our team had shared many conversations aboard the Gateway Train.
Among them was Jin-cheol’s peculiar request.
“A-ri.
I’ve thought it over… and I want to become an agent.”
“An agent?
That’s easy.
You’re a special-grade talent the Administration cares about.
If I just report—”
“I don’t want that.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to report me.”
“What are you—”
“Can you do that for me?”
Some would have attempted to persuade me with elaborate wordplay or airtight logic explaining why I must not report him.
Jin-cheol chose neither, relying instead on a simple, earnest request.
It was ridiculous, sentimental even.
“I never thought you would grant that fool’s request.”
“…”
Deceiving the Administration regarding hotel matters is easy.
Because the Administration knows almost nothing about us.
They do not even know the exact headcount of the hotel party.
If we go as far as blessings, inheritances, and personal conditions, they know less than they don't.
I withheld a great deal of information.
“Is that safe?”
“…”
“Did they press you?”
“Not really.
In fact, there’s a rumor I might be promoted.”
“Promoted?”
Our conversation returned to Jin-cheol.
“I really don’t understand that kid.
What does he even like about being an agent…?”
“From the outside, it probably looks mysterious, honorable, and well-paid.
Hard not to like.”
“People really see it that way?”
“What I don’t understand is why he’s being such an idiot.”
“Idiot?”
“I mean, if I just informed the Administration of his intentions, he’d receive an agent badge on the spot.”
“That’s true.”
“But he doesn’t want that.”
“Hm…”
Muk-sung pondered for a moment, then offered a theory.
“Maybe it’s like a chaebol heir who wants to succeed on his own merit, without relying on his parents.”
“That’s completely different!
Becoming an agent doesn’t require skill in the first place!”
“Is that so?”
Muk-sung looked disinterested.
Regardless of what happened, this was not his concern.
I understood.
Before leaving, I looked at my former colleague one last time.
“Rest well.”
“…”
“Spend happy time with your son and grandson.”
“Don’t speak like we’re saying farewell.
It’s just a vacation!”
Muk-sung’s ‘dream wish’ was the resurrection of his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson, and…
Retirement.
This meant that, in this loop, the Administration had lost its record of Muk-sung.
An old man who served the world for decades was finally allowed to rest.
I had not informed the others yet.
…
For agents, there is no such thing as “retirement while alive.”
One’s final breath in this world is the only exit.
There are no exceptions.
When the clock completes its cycle, Muk-sung’s brief vacation will end.
Cha Jin-cheol
--- Ring!
Ring!
A phone vibrated urgently.
On the screen appeared a familiar name:
“Senior Sang-hyun”
“Good grief…
I explained everything yesterday…”
--- Ring!
Ring!
If I ignored him, he would scold me later.
He is deeply affectionate yet holds grudges.
I answered.
“Senior, long time no—”
“You have not started yet, have you?”
“…Not yet.
You can speak freely.”
“After our call yesterday, I thought long and hard, and no matter how I view it… no!
Jin-cheol, you must avoid joining the Administration.”
Senior Sang-hyun dislikes the Administration.
Likely because the Deep-Sea Hotel’s labyrinth scarred him.
He concealed his feelings inside the Hotel because A-ri and Muk-sung were present.
Now outside, he no longer hid his disgust.
“After observing the imitation organizations that sprouted inside the Cursed Rooms, I am convinced!
They are vicious to the core—”
“They are an organization that protects the world.”
“…I do not deny that they are a necessary evil.
But it is not a place for you to belong.”
Everyone holds different opinions about the Administration.
Just as Senior has his reasons, I have mine.
“Senior, there is a saying: If you wish to hunt a tiger, you must enter the tiger’s den.”
“…”
“I will observe from up close.
That is why I asked A-ri not to report me.”
I did not want the Administration forming preconceived notions about me.
Only then would they reveal their true face.
Silence followed.
Having spent so long together at the Hotel, I could sense his thoughts.
He was not persuaded; he merely realized he could not persuade me.
“Ahem.
How are Miss Baram and Jin-sol doing?”
Seo Baram.
Kim Jin-sol.
They were the family Senior summoned through Dream.
Did Senior perceive them as identical to the ‘real family’ he created on the 203rd floor?
I did not know.
I, for one, did not believe the deceased mother I saved through Dream could ever be the same.
Naturally, I did not intend to say such things to colleagues who had painted family over strangers.
Part of social life is knowing what to say and what not to say.
“…They are well.
Jin-sol’s grades are excellent.”
“He takes after you.”
“Yesterday, Eun-sol came to my hospital.”
“Is that so?”
“Although the previous incident tarnished Hotel Delight’s reputation, she said it is slowly being resolved.”
“How is Gae-in doing?”
“I heard she intends to become an exorcist of some sort during her promised period of rest.”
“An exorcist?”
I laughed, though thinking about it, it suited her strangely well.
We had been back in reality for about two weeks.
I had a general idea of how the others were living.
Eun-sol became the CEO of a hotel chain.
Senior Sang-hyun opened a rather impressive hospital.
Gae-in suddenly began exorcist work.
Elena and Song-yi seemed to be enjoying life enviably.
A-ri and Muk-sung appeared to have returned as agents, though I had not contacted them personally.
I had been warned that reckless contact could expose others to Administration surveillance.
For similar reasons, I had not met Maze or Seung-yeop individually either.
“…”
And lastly, there is me.
“Jin-cheol.”
“I’m listening.”
“If you ever need help, call immediately.
Any one of us will come.”
“Your words alone are enough.”
--- Click.
I had practically interrogated A-ri aboard the Gateway Train until I figured out how to become an agent without anyone’s help.
The condition was singular:
One must be aware of the loop.
In simple terms, one must be a regressor.
Naturally, there is no public recruitment process or government examination for agents.
There is no need for any.
Because regressors always reveal themselves eventually.
I turned on the TV.
“Now, we will begin the drawing!
Please press the button with our Golden Hand!
The order does not matter as long as the numbers match!
Beginning the draw!”
“…”
“Number 17!
43!
10!
30!
35!
22!
Now the bonus ball for 2nd place!
Number 44!”
“Seventeen, forty-three, ten, thirty, thirty-five, twenty-two… and the final is forty-four.”
Perfect.
Not a single number wrong.
Which meant—
As of today, I was now a billionaire worth 12.7 billion won.
I had taken the first step toward becoming an agent.
Of course, there were a few more steps to take.
“…”
Do people of the world know?
The lottery is rigged.
Truly rigged.
Mother, your weekly dreams and hopes… were nothing but a scam orchestrated by those bastard administrators.
