Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 52: A day at the Camping Grounds, Meeting a Strange Merchant (2)

[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 20

Current Location: Basement, Camping Grounds

Sage’s Advice: 3]

Trading for a weapon with 2 limbs. Was Ahri really going to do such a crazy thing?

I opened my mouth.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t forget the fact that we still have to stay in this place for more than 10 hours. If you stay without your limbs for that long, you will die before we can even go to Room 105 for the doctor.”

“…”

“Ahri.” Grandpa Mooksung followed up. “I haven’t stopped you for anything after coming to this place but this time it is quite worrisome. Is there a need for you to go through so much pain just for a weapon?”

His words were slightly strange – it sounded as if there would be no risk to her life despite her having to go through some level of pain.

“We haven’t had access to any proper weapons ever since we came to this place. Even though Songee did obtain a powerful Inheritance, it’s not good for simple and straightforward fights. I think it’s about time for us to get one.”

Struck speechless, everyone stared at Ahri with their eyes wide open.

“But I am still scared of pain. Can you help me out, Songee?”

“Y, yes. But I can’t perfectly stop another person’s sense of pain. The pain will come back in 10 minutes.”

It had been a while since I last heard Songee stutter like that. She changed so much after coming out of the ‘Farm’ and had turned into a cold and sharp lady, but she was now showing a timid attitude like the shy high school student she was on the first day.

“That’s more than enough.”

Ahri nonchalantly ‘ripped out’ her left arm and left leg using some supernatural strength. There was not a single drop of blood as if those were the limbs of a doll.

Everyone was speechless from the common-sense-defying scenery in front of their eyes when a hearty laughter echoed from somewhere.

“Hahahaha! Looks like it’s not the worst day for me after all! I am very glad to serve one customer. Well then, here is the ‘Weapon Supply Box’ but I do not know what’s inside the box either! By the way, I recommend you open the box at Room 105 because sometimes, you might get some ‘violent weapons’.”

Songee hurriedly walked up and used the power of the bracelet and Ahri took the box and sat down with the support of Grandpa Mooksung. After some time, she started to sweat buckets out and fainted, while we had no choice but to watch on with no way of helping her.

Despite her fainting, the proposals of the mad merchant did not stop.

“Now for the next item! It’s a shame that everyone is only looking for cheap items, and this is the last cheap one I have. The 2nd Item on the list is ‘Secrets of the Hotel’. What kind of secrets? I do not know, but let me tell you that these secrets will be very helpful for your survival and your escape! The price is also very cheap. 5 fingers will be enough!”

5 fingers was cheap? It was dumbfounding but considering how some items cost people’s lives and limbs, 5 fingers was indeed comparatively cheaper.

Jinchul-hyung said with a trembling voice.

“N… no we don’t want it. Just go. Go away!”

“Hmm… Does nobody want to buy it?”

“Do all the fingers have to be from one person?” Eunsol-noona raised a question.

“Noonim! What’s gotten into you?”

“Be quiet. Do they have to be from one person?”

“Haha! Unfortunately, that is indeed the case. Of course, you might think it is less dangerous for 5 people to each share their finger, but think about it from a different perspective. That means I need to tell the secrets to all 5 of you, right? You need to remember that secrets lose value when shared.”

“Does that matter? We are going to be sharing all the secrets about the Hotel between ourselves though?”

“That is up to the customer to decide after having a look at all the secrets. Unfortunately, my offer stays firm. All 5 fingers must be from one single person.”

…

“I will do it,” said Eunsol-noona as Jinchul-hyung raised his voice in return.

“Noonim!”

“Young miss, you should sit down. I think it’s better for an old man like me to take care of horrible things like this.”

“What’s wrong with you now, sir?”

“Just listen to me. Cutting fingers? Pain is the only problem because the Hotel will put the fingers back together as long as we go to Room 105. Now, ‘Secrets of the Hotel’ – don’t you think we know way too little about the Hotel? We won’t be getting anything if we are scared of making sacrifices. A life isn’t something we can pay but fingers… They’ll come back anyway so what’s the issue there?”

“You are absolutely correct! Even if I take your fingers, your fingers come back after a good night’s sleep anyway, don’t they? This is why I’m telling you I am making a loss here!”

“Can you please shut your mouth.”

“I do agree with what you said, Miss Eunsol.” Grandpa Mooksung said. “The secret is worth going through pain, but is there a need for a young lady like you to go through that pain? As I said already, I believe it is better for an old man like me to do this.”

“There is no need to feel guilty or anything from this sir, because I am not trying to cut my fingers out of some self-sacrificial mindset. Let’s think this logically. Where’s the guarantee that there won’t be anything dangerous happening after this ‘transaction’ is over? Who knows if there might be more monsters? Ahri was the only one that could survive after cutting her limbs so that’s why she had to be the one, but cutting fingers is something anyone can do, so it’s correct for someone with a comparatively ‘lower value’ to do this. Jinchul and sir, you are the best fighters of our group. Songee has her bracelet, Ahri is already unconscious, Elena can fight with the Blessing of Justice and Kain is our last resort. My fingers have the least value.”

“U, umm, in that case noona. I can’t do anything either so how about I—”

“Sorry, but kids should stay out of this. Seungyub, just stay seated.”

The campsite turned silent. What this made me realise once again was that this noona had a stronger mindset than normal people. Even if she wasn’t born into a wealthy family, I had a feeling that she still would have led a life that was different from others.

“You can help me stop my blood, right sir?”

“…I have gone through enough battles in my life to know that…”

“Hey! So how are you going to tell me that secret? Are you going to whisper it to me?”

“Hahaha! There might be people here with abnormal hearing abilities, so of course that is not an option!”

“I am not planning on hiding anything though?” Eunsol-noona asked again but the merchant replied with a smirk.

“Well, that is up to you to decide after hearing the secrets. Please do not worry about the secrets – I will let you know in a way that only you can see.”

“Alright. Kain. You have your dagger with you right? Give it to me.”

I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Did I really have to give her the dagger?

While I was puzzled as to what to do, noona walked up in large strides and snatched the dagger from me.

“I’m not sure if I can cut them myself. Can you lend me a hand sir?”

“…”

“And Songee. I need your help as well. I think 10 minutes of pain relief will still go a long way.”

…

What happened next was something I didn’t even want to think about. Forgetting it would be the best for everyone.

*

After the deal, the unpleasant merchant blabbered about hoping to have another great deal so Jinchul-hyung threw him away and he never came back. Left behind in the campsite was a girl with one arm and one leg gone, and a lady with a fingerless hand.

Everyone was feeling very down like we were in the middle of a battlefield. Without even thinking about touching the meat, we wandered around the two groaning ladies, and waited and waited while wiping off their sweat whenever we could.

We hoped that the ‘Massive Construction Work’ of the Hotel would end soon so that we could hurry back to Room 105. Fortunately, the horrible day came to an end and nothing dangerous happened until the door reappeared near the camping grounds.

*

[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 21

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 105 (Room of Rest)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

I immediately went to the dining room as soon as it was time for breakfast. It seemed that everyone was thinking the same thing as me, and we all gathered at the dining room in less than 10 seconds. We looked around shortly after seeing each other.

Where was Eunsol-noona?

Where was Ahri?

Surprisingly enough, they were both inside the room in one piece!

“Noona! Are you okay?”

“Haha~. You were worried right? Look at this.”

She pushed her hands forward as if nothing happened and fortunately, all her 10 fingers were fine. Everyone then turned to Ahri who also had 4 limbs as if nothing happened yesterday.

“I don’t need to shake mine, right?”

Ahri’s jest loosened the tension in the atmosphere. Seriously, even though they weren’t my fingers and my limbs, I had trouble falling asleep yesterday, and everyone seemed to have thought the same thing.

Elena grabbed Eunsol-noona’s hands with reddened eyes, while Songee silently fidgeted with Ahri’s arms before suddenly giving her a hug.

“Aht! Unni, if you do this, my arm might fall out again.”

“Don’t say that even as a joke!”

It’s not like the guys weren’t feeling anything, and we were just watching them from nearby because it would be a bit awkward for us to go for hugs. I was feeling greatly relaxed and was feeling incredibly happy after seeing them back in one piece, and all the other guys appeared to be under the same impression when I looked at them.

After we all relieved ourselves of the mental burden and pain from yesterday, we started a delightful meal while talking about the ‘items’ that we bought.

*

“By the way, it’s surprising that you both came out in one day. When I was injured, I had to skip a whole day so I thought it would be hard to see you guys today. Especially Ahri.”

“Well, it was only fingers after all,” replied Eunsol-noona. “Someone at the level of a medical god that can heal crushed organs in one day should have no trouble healing fingers in 10 minutes right? I don’t know though. I didn’t even get to talk to the doctor.”

“My limbs are a bit different from a normal person’s. It was probably easier for them to put them back together. And of course, I didn’t get to talk to the doctor like Kain either.”

A lot of things changed in just one day. Ahri was talking about how her body was different from a normal person’s as if it was nothing, and no-one bothered delving into that including Songee, who used to be the most aggressive about it.

The common consensus was to leave it at that.

We couldn’t figure out everything happening inside the Hotel, and we only needed to know what was needed. That was the same for our teammates.

“So, what were those secrets? Ah, of course if you don’t want to share them then–”

“Come on. Please! Are you pretending to be that merchant? I brought the letter itself in case you had any funny ideas about it.”

“Letter?”

“A letter fell on my head when I woke up from my sleep. And the secrets were written there. You can read them yourself.”

She tossed the letter as if it wasn’t important. Instead of a letter, it was more like a memo that only had two sentences on it.

1. Escape Route 2 is to jump out of the Main Entrance wearing ‘Wing Boots’.

2. You can acquire ‘Wing Boots’ by resolving the request of a mysterious craftsman hidden somewhere on the 2nd Floor.

“Escape route… So the main entrance that we saw was indeed an escape method, huh.”

“Honestly, the first sentence means nothing but the second one is quite important, because that means we can go outside if that ‘mysterious merchant’ somewhere on the 2nd floor makes shoes for us that’s called ‘Wing Boots’.”

“Wing Boots. I think I can imagine what they are just by hearing the name. They’re probably shoes that let you fly, right?”

“I would assume so.”

“Hmm. Noonim. This is important information, but it’s not something that we can make use of right now, is it?”

“That’s true. It doesn’t have anything to do with us when we are already having a hard time on the 1st floor of the Hotel. But we should keep this in mind anyway, because we will be going to the 2nd floor one day. Make sure we look for the ‘mysterious merchant’ there. Now! That’s it from me.”

Noona tapped the table once before retrieving the letter.

Then, Ahri brought a box.