Chapter 38: 37

Chapter 36 – Room 103, Cursed Room – ‘Athanasia’s Human Farm’ (6) FIN

[User: ▢▢▢▢▢▢
Date: ▢▢
Current Location: Floor 1, Room 103 (Cursed Room – Athanasia’s Human Farm)
Sage’s Advice: 3]

Elena grabbed onto my arm with a sniff.

“Elena-unni. Did you just wake up at the facility?”

“Uhuk…Nn. I was a dog but I suddenly came to myself. The other four also came back.”

“The other four… Seungyub and Eunsol-noona died already, so I guess that’ll be Kain-oppa, Jinchul-oppa, Grandpa Mooksung and Ahri.”

“Nn. Everyone’s very confused. This place is scary. I have no idea what’s happening… Have you been searching through this place by yourself, Songee?”

“I woke up a long time ago. Too long ago for me to remember.”

“I see… Let’s hurry up and meet everyone else.”

— Stab!

In the middle of the conversation, Elena took out the knife hidden in her clothes in the blink of an eye and stabbed through Songee.

There was nothing else she could do, because Songee was being mind-controlled by an alien!!

Ending her life like this should be the best way to go.

Her mind turned fuzzy.

*

In front of my eyes, Elena fell on the ground after stabbing herself with the knife.

There was no other option.

And to be honest, it was way too obvious. 

Hotel teammates waking up at a time like this was very questionable. Besides, that didn’t seem like Elena at all. I had no idea why the Athanasia controlling Elena had interpreted her like that.

At least the Elena I knew wouldn’t cry like a child while grabbing onto my arm. 

But even so, I couldn’t undo the command, ‘Kill Songee’ that was embedded into her mind. I realised as soon as I touched my bracelet, that the one controlling Elena-unni was a being who was overwhelmingly more skilled than me at mind-control. 

It was most certainly an Athanasia.

I couldn’t dispel the mind-control itself, so all I could do was modify her five senses and induce her into killing herself.

I guess this was my second time killing Elena-unni. It actually didn’t feel that repulsive. 

The first time I killed her was when I possessed, and the second time was when I was sober. Would it happen the third time?

I used to grow up outside the Hotel hearing that I was so shy and timid that I wouldn’t even be able to kill an ant, and…

Even though I didn’t like hearing that, I really wasn’t expecting myself to do a 180 degree turn and kill a close acquaintance twice.

I wasn’t able to lift the mind-control that was cast on Elena, but she probably was not lying when she said that the 4 of the others excluding the dead Seungyub and Eunsol-noona had woken up.

What was strange was that the Teacher should have ‘paused’ the Athanasias of the ‘engine room’. How were they controlling the humans to attack me?

Was there an Athanasia that was stronger than the rest? 

Whatever the case, I walked forth to meet the final trial that the Hotel had in place for me.

*

– Kwang!

How could a person’s fist sound like a hammer? Would I be able to survive after being hit by those fists?

– Kwang!

For approximately 3 minutes, I mindlessly rolled and rolled.

Jinchul-oppa was absurdly strong.

– Slam!

Ah, I ended up allowing a hit from Kain-oppa. I’ll definitely take my revenge outside.

Even though Jinchul-oppa was strong, the main problem was that there was one more person.

The reason I could survive for over a few minutes from the combined attack of Jinchul-oppa and Kain-oppa, who was as strong as a normal adult despite not being at the superhuman level of Jinchul-oppa, was simple.

As soon as I saw them, I instinctively modified their sense of sight to change their focal points. I had no time to change anything else, because unlike Elena, they immediately dashed in to kill me!

Thanks to their twisted sense of sight, they attacked each other around 2 times. After that, they changed their course of action and started dashing forward one at a time, so it was somewhat avoidable but…

How long would I last?

As soon as I was too exhausted to move, Jinchul-oppa’s ridiculous punch would come flying in.

Even the aftershock of a near miss might kill me, and it was meaningless to buy time because the opponents had better stamina than me. 

All I needed was one split second. It would work as long as I could hold someone back for just 3 seconds…

In the end, I had to make a decision.

– Kung!

My left arm was crushed in an instant. It fell down and dangled like a piece of string. Normal people might have fainted from shock but fortunately for me, I was now rather used to mental manipulation through ‘Diverse Perspectives’, and I had already blocked my own sense of pain. 

It’s just that… looking at my arm dangling like noodles was a strange sight to behold.

My left arm was destroyed due to the punch but I managed to buy 3 seconds. Using my right arm which was still okay, I grabbed onto Jinchul-oppa’s body and looked into his eyes. 

It didn’t even take that long. In just 3 seconds, I erased ‘myself’ from his sight.

I then overlaid Jinchul-oppa’s perception of Kain-oppa as myself.

If Jinchul-oppa still had the intellectual ability, he wouldn’t have been deceived by such a straight-forward manipulation.

However, the two of them blindly dashed towards me without even trying to carry out a conversation. Their intellects were clearly being suppressed which was why I thought that even a straight-forward manipulation like this would work.

My prediction was on point.

Wow, it took less than 10 seconds for Jinchul-oppa to bash Kain-oppa to death.

After that, I unhesitatingly made Jinchul-oppa think that he had to dive outside from his current location, which was about as high as a five-storey building, in order to catch Songee who was floating in the sky.

Everything worked out well.

…What was I even doing here?

It seemed that my humanness, which appeared to have been parched a long time ago, still had some leftover moisture, as water drops left from my eyes.

I wanted to leave this place. It was – way too painful.

*

I couldn’t move my body properly.

It must be because I had been bashed a few times by Jinchul-oppa and Kain-oppa. I wanted to take a merciless revenge after going outside when I was getting hit but…

I killed both of them with my own hands so there was probably no need to do anything else.

Although the pain had been obstructed with the bracelet, the bracelet was a tool to deceive the mind and not a healing device. I couldn’t force my ruined body to move the way I wanted it to.

Would I be able to defeat Grandpa Mooksung and Ahri in this state?

Leading my crumbling body forward, I almost reached the central engine room where the Teacher was imprisoned.

That was when something flashed.

Ahri ‘flew in’ like a lightning bolt and grabbed onto my neck!

What was going on?

My brain couldn’t process what was happening. The bracelet was just a device that could control the mind and was not a tool that granted super powers! There was no way commanding Ahri to ‘Fly!’ would let her fly, so how was this even possible?

Unless Ahri could fly regardless of the bracelet—

My throat contorted and I couldn’t breathe properly. The bracelet didn’t work on her either.

What in the world was with this girl?

Was this the end? After weeks and perhaps months of suffering, was this seriously how it was going to end?

Ah—–

“Oops, sorry.”

?

“I was a bit late at waking up. It’s a bit hard for me to control this properly, you see. But at least I woke up before killing you, unni.”

“W, what are you…”

“But what is up with this facility? I did wake up from my sleep but I have no idea. Not a single clue. But what I do know is that you’ve been progressing the story all by yourself while we were playing like animals. Am I correct? 
From the look of things, it feels like you have almost reached the final resolution by yourself…”

“…”

“Looks like you have many questions. That’s the same for me. I have a loooot of questions for you, unni. But now is probably not the time. I don’t like doing this but this time, I will trust your judgement as someone who managed to reach the resolution all alone.
Unni. What do you think I should do?”

Doubts, upon doubts and doubts. Countless question marks appeared in my head.

What in the world was this girl?

But whatever the case, she was correct. Now was not the time to worry about my curiosity.

“Sorry but – please kill yourself. If you get mind-controlled again, there’ll be nothing I can do.”

“I just woke up and you’re telling me to die? What a scary person you are, unni. Is that the same for Grandpa Mooksung?”

“Yes. The Athana–, I guess you don’t know their names. Anyway, the ‘enemy’ has the power to control your mind, so if you can’t keep yourself sane like this, then please just die.”

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“…It was a short conversation but I felt something. You are like a totally different person, aren’t you, Missy? You… didn’t seem like someone who could make such a harsh judgement in a short period of time before.”

“…”

Ahri tilted her head while looking at me. 

It seemed that Kain-oppa was correct when he said there was something strange about her manner of speech. 

At the start, she said ‘unni’ and now, she was calling me ‘missy’.

After that, Ahri turned around.

But before walking away, she left behind her final words of this room.

“Great work. I will trust in you to reach the resolution and die first. Grandpa Mooksung and I will never be your obstacle.”

*

You are here.

“…”

I have been waiting for you.

“Have you freed yourself already?”

Pretty much.

“I thought I had to remove all three devices though.”

When you defeated all of your teammates, this man realised there was nothing else it could do and its mind crumbled down. That was why I could remove the 3rd one by myself so… if we consider the cause and effect, it is no different from you removing all three by yourself.

The special Athanasia that I saw a few days ago.

The one with no legs whose large body was filled with nothing but tentacles – the entity who appeared like a brittle starfish that had been amplified millions of times was lying powerlessly in front of the ‘Teacher’s’ water tank.

“Is this Athanasia… the one that had been controlling the minds of my teammates?”

Yes. This entity had been recently ‘invented’, so it took some time for me to realise its abilities. It’s a reinforced entity that could even retaliate against my ‘suspension’.

The Athanasias might have prepared it as a countermeasure for myself.

“But it still died in the end.”

It is mostly thanks to you.

Lifting my head, I looked at the ‘Teacher’ – or rather, the ‘Devouring One’.

How did I not notice this until now?

Why had I been considering that existence as an infinitely beautiful, mystifying and benevolent organism? Only after being able to protect my mind with the bracelet was I able to recognise his true appearance.

The one in front of my eyes was the most ominous symbol in the entire universe.

An endlessly vicious storm of energy was being condensed into a dot, and the screams of an innumerably abundant number of intellectual beings swirled from inside. 

I finally realised the reason why Athanasias had been domesticating and extracting the intellect of countless intellectual beings.

It was to offer a sacrifice to the Great Evil in front of my eyes!

My body shivered.

Seems that you are afraid of me.

“I can finally see your horrendous true body.”

True body, is it. Are you sure about that?

“What do you… mean?”

We still have time, so let’s have a short conversation. It should be okay for you to see something interesting.

My consciousness soared without an end.

The vast and expansive outer space broadened in front of my eyes.

Flying amidst space were dozens of small rooms that rotated around the ‘engine’ where the ‘Devouring One’ was.

The things that were happening in each of those rooms seeped into my brain.

Unidentifiable hands were reaching out from the walls of the rooms and were squeezing all the Athanasias dry.

From babies to adults – without any discrimination, the ‘hands’ thoroughly grabbed, ripped and squeezed the Athanasias and appeared like a scene straight out of hell.

“This…”

Is this not a delightful sight?

“Why are you doing this?”

It is a simple story. This might be boring for you, but please listen to a little banter of your ‘Teacher’. 
The puppet shows created by the ‘Tower of Trials’ are in fact not completely made-up.

They reenact events that really happened in the history of the real universe despite some modifications. 
Before being locked in the Tower, I was actually imprisoned by the Athanasias for epochs.

That is why I am returning the favour to them.

“Estavio told me you cannot leave this place, and that you had a different objective. Is ‘revenge’ your goal?”

You can say that. You seem quite discontent. Do you feel sympathy for the Athanasias? Are you not already aware of what they had been doing to countless other intellectual beings? You humans weren’t an exception.

Besides, did you not massacre the Athanasian babies yourself?

“I… That’s because…”

I am not trying to blame you. I am merely commenting on the imperfectness of humans.

“Imperfectness of humans?”

Humans can never escape from the frames of their senses and their nature. Why do you feel displeased after seeing this?
Are you whole-heartedly considering their pain to be unjustified? You know better than anyone else that that is not the case.

Your innateness is simply feeling fear from the brutal scenery in front of your eyes.

“Are you saying it’s wrong to feel fear and displeasure when looking at a brutal scenery?”

Child. I am not talking about what is right or wrong. I am trying to talk about the mental attitude you should have to endure through the Tower of Trials.
You told me before. That you saw my true body and realised my horrendousness.

Look again.

My mind floated back down and I was back to standing in front of the Devouring One.

Before my eyes was the Teacher who I had met when I first woke up at the farm. 

He was the most beautiful organism in existence. His body was sparkling like starlight. Small wings covered with ambient radiance were behind his back and the divine majesty of the heavens was in him.

Do I still look like a horrendous existence to you?

“I have no idea. But I do know that you are shaking my thoughts.”

Child. Do not be deceived by the sight in front of your eyes. Beauty, unsightliness. Divinity, wickedness.
All of your judgements are based on the beauty and ugliness before your eyes.

Close your eyes and think about it. Have I ever caused you any harm?
I have not changed once, and yet your evaluation of me flips like your palm just based on my outer appearance.

That is the weakness of humans, and that is what I wanted to tell you.

Be freed from the limitations of your senses and hold an unclouded rationality inside you. That is why I have bestowed the bracelet onto your hands.

My senses floated up once again.

No – this time, it was my entire body that soared into the sky instead of my consciousness.

What was going on?

The spaceship crumbled down – the space crumbled and so did the ‘stage’.

Left behind was the one and only truth. The true form of Room 103 was unravelled before my eyes.

A door appeared.

My body trembled as I held onto the door knob.

At last, my long nightmare was reaching its end.

My consciousness faded away as I thought to myself. So what exactly was the Devouring One? Was he the god? Or a devil?

Hah! That was a stupid question. I knew the answer to that question from the very beginning.

He was my Teacher. There was no need to place any other unnecessary titles under his name.

/You have succeeded!

A hellish and brutal human farm! But humans also domesticate lower existences depending on the necessity, do they not? Discussing the right and wrong of things like this might be meaningless.

In any case! The neutralisation of all of your teammates, and infinitely stronger foes! You were able to overcome all those trials to reach the final conclusion. 

By freeing the Devouring One, you have successfully removed all the Athanasias and have resolved the root cause of the curse. Congratulations.

…

…

…

…

One of your teammates has successfully resolved the issue! Congratulations! The successful resolution allows everyone to return safely./

…

You have obtained the Inheritance, ‘Diverse Perspectives’.

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