bookandnovel Chapter 201: Party Time - The Ninth Comrade (3)
Chapter 201: Party Time - The Ninth Comrade (3)
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 95
Current Location: 2nd Floor, Frozen Hell – Room of Resurrection
Sage’s Advice: X
- Han Kain
The moment Kim Sanghyun recognized “Miro”, everyone was taken aback.
No one had expected him to recognize her. Even Ahri seemed visibly shocked.
In the awkward silence that followed, Ahri was the first to speak, “Kim Sanghyun-ssi1, just to clarify, I’m not Miro.”
Hearing that, Kim Sanghyun’s expression shifted as if he realized something, and he adopted a more cautious attitude.
“I-is that so? If I’ve misunderstood something, could you explain it to me?”
Ahri briefly explained that she was Miro’s daughter and that there seemed to be some mystery surrounding her birth.
“I see. I understand the situation now. I’ll be more careful moving forward.”
“Careful?”
“I’ll act more naturally.”
That sounded a bit strange, didn’t it?
As we all silently thought something felt off in the conversation, we continued walking for about three minutes before Ahri abruptly stopped us.
“Oh, come on! Stop, everyone, stop!”
With an annoyed expression, Ahri turned to Kim Sanghyun.
“Kim Sanghyun! Come here!”
She was using informal speech now, but Kim Sanghyun didn’t seem to mind.
“Yes?”
“You still think I’m Miro in disguise, don’t you?”
“...Even your tone sounds just like what I remember.”
“Huh? Really?”
...So that’s what was off about the earlier conversation.
Kim Sanghyun hadn’t really understood that Ahri and Miro were two different people.
He seemed to think Miro was disguising herself for some reason.
I could understand Kim Sanghyun’s confusion.
Having seen both of them, I could confidently say that aside from the hair color, Ahri and Miro looked nearly identical, as if they were twins.
When Miro regained her mind in “Miro’s Hell”, she immediately said that it was the hotel’s tricks that made it hard to recognize Ahri.
Anyone with normal intelligence would easily mistake them for the same person at first glance.
Perhaps realizing this, Ahri softened her tone and spoke more kindly, “Kim Sanghyun-ssi, I know it might be hard to believe through words alone, so please follow me for a bit. It’s freezing here, but there’s something important you need to see.”
I could guess what it was.
We all waited as Ahri took Kim Sanghyun to show him Miro’s ice statue.
When they returned, Kim Sanghyun still looked shocked but finally spoke.
“I apologize for earlier. From now on, I’ll address you as ‘Young Lady’.”
“Huh? Young Lady? That’s a bit—”
“I didn’t expect your mother to have a daughter, but life is full of surprises.”
What does that even mean?
No one said anything, but it was clear that everyone had a lot of questions swirling in their minds.
For now, though, we needed to get to a warmer place.
As soon as we reached Room 105, the interrogation about Kim Sanghyun began.
Perro, who somehow understood my joke, dashed off somewhere.
Songee looked incredulous.
“Oppa in Perro’s body flying to space? I don’t think he could even manage 10 meters in a straight line.”
“...”
Sensing the tension easing, Kim Sanghyun continued, “Compared to you all, my accomplishments are meager at best.”
It was clear that Kim Sanghyun was nervous.
Every gesture he made hinted at his fear of provoking our distrust.
His self-deprecating tone wasn’t pathetic; it was pitiful, reflecting his deep anxiety.
Noona seemed to pick up on this and joined the conversation.
“Okay, Kim Sanghyun? You don’t have to be so tense. We’re not choosing companions anymore—we’ve already chosen you. We used the ticket for you.”
“Once again, thank you for—”
“We’re not looking for thanks. The point is that we’ve already invested a significant amount in you, so we can’t just give up on you. So, let’s relax a bit.”
The conversation paused as everyone settled down to drink tea and coffee, with some snacks.
“This is delicious.”
“The food in the hotel is always good. Was it like that before too?”
“It was. Everything was of top-notch quality.”
“Given your impressive background, you must be good at many things. As a former doctor, I assume you’re skilled in emergency care, and you probably shoot well too. Does your astronaut experience help in the hotel at all?”
Seeming more relaxed, Kim Sanghyun chuckled and replied, “Becoming an astronaut was one of my lifelong dreams, but once I entered the Hotel, I realized it was the most useless experience I had. But who knows? Maybe one day we’ll come across a space environment on the second floor.”
“If that day comes, we’ll count on your help. Also...”
Suddenly, Noona hit him with a piercing question.
“What was your relationship with Miro? Be honest.”
Elena’s eyes glowed golden once more.
Tension returned to Kim Sanghyun’s face.
“What... what do you mean specifically?”
Ahri cut in, “Was your relationship antagonistic? Or were you allies? I’ve heard that my first party split into two factions and fought. Since you were dead, I never heard much about you.”
After a long pause, Kim Sanghyun began to answer, “I’m sorry. Young Lady, but it seems that the information you received was incomplete. Just as I don’t know what happened to you and Miro after the second floor, you don’t know exactly what happened to me on the first floor.”
“...That’s true. The people who told me about it probably just gave me a summarized version of events since it was all in the past. Also, being called ‘Young Lady’ feels weird.”
“Would you prefer I call you ‘Ahri’?”
“...Just stick with ‘Young Lady’.”
“The conflict within our party didn’t unfold as simply as you might think. To begin with, we didn’t fight from the start. In fact, we initially united under Miro’s leadership.”
“My mother?”
“She had a natural charisma. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that we didn’t just follow her—we practically worshiped her.”
Miro’s supernatural abilities—having experienced them myself, I could understand.
Even as a teenager, she was difficult for an average person to resist.
After honing those abilities for years, I couldn’t imagine how powerful she’d become.
She likely could control ordinary humans with a single word.
From that perspective, the Administration’s decision to lock Miro in the Hotel was justified, and it was surprising that any conflict arose at all.
“The real issues started in Room 104. We spent an extraordinarily long time in that room. Unfortunately, Miro was one of the first to be eliminated. The rest of us spent months surviving before we finally escaped.”
Ahri’s expression was one of disbelief.
“Miro died, and it took you all months to come to your senses?”
“That’s right. After Miro disappeared, a month or two passed before everyone realized she had been manipulating us with some kind of unknown power.”
After taking another sip of tea, Kim Sanghyun continued with a careful tone, “As soon as our faith in her crumbled, all that remained was anger and betrayal. The leader who had guided us with such exceptional skill, whom we had believed to be an Administration agent protecting the world, was now seen as a suspicious witch.”
1. A bound noun used to address or call out to a certain person deferentially.