Chapter 86

After going down to the 1st floor.

I reunited with a staff member wearing a clown mask.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Pierro, h-hi!

【Handsome Licker】─LOL, why are you greeting through chat? *lick*.

【Maehwa Tree】─Se-hoon. I’ve been curious, is that a real mask?

【Qkrnfl892】─Of course it’s a mask. You think that’s his real face?

【Maehwa Tree】─Can’t we just take it off?

『‘Maid’ has left the chat.』

【Jujijoa】─It does seem a bit odd to me too. You’d know if you saw it up close.

【Drifting AI】─I’ll say it. It’s not a mask.

【Yoho】─So that’s his real face?

【Min Ji】─Maybe it’s just makeup?

『‘Geurjiripsa’ has entered the chat.』

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Warkyarphya! I can’t even tell the gender! Doesn’t seem human!

【Geurjiripsa】─Warkyarphya! I have no gender!

【Reverse Rape Mania】─The maid changed their nickname to something stupid.

The mask didn’t matter much to me.

Whether it was real or fake, I wasn’t that curious.

What I was curious about was something else.

I took my eyes off the chat and slowly approached the staff member, asking a question.

“Excuse me. Can I ask you something?”

“No.”

Without even hearing what the question was.

The staff member firmly refused.

‘Damn it. This guy’s a real hardass. I wanted to ask about the illusion I saw on the 2nd floor….’

The illusion I saw on the 2nd floor.

Was it cutting-edge technology?

Or some supernatural power?

How did it recreate my past?

Was I being called a sinner because of that past?

And also.

Was the invitation text sent to just anyone?

What is the true identity of this hotel?

And so on.

There were so many things I wanted to ask.

Thinking about it now.

This place definitely didn’t seem like an ordinary hotel.

‘Well, he doesn’t seem like he wants to answer, so what can I do.’

I decided to swallow my questions.

I couldn’t make the staff uncomfortable just to satisfy my curiosity.

Just as I approached right in front of the staff.

Another staff member’s voice started coming from the speaker on the ceiling.

<The final trial begins…>

And at that moment.

“Ahhhh!”

“What?”

The clown staff member suddenly screamed.

Because of that, the voice from the speaker was drowned out.

That strange behavior didn’t stop at just once.

<Violence meets greater violence…>

“Ahhhhhh!”

<Fight the Pierro…>

“Ahhhhhh!”

He seemed like a crazy bastard.

Because of that staff member, I couldn’t hear a single word from the speaker.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Why is that guy like that?

【Min Ji】─He must’ve lost his mind.

【Qkrnfl892】─Damn, he’s so loud, crazy bastard.

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Warkyarphya! He suddenly went crazy!

【Geurjiripsa】─He’s a lunatic!

“Ahhhhhh!”

“…What are you doing right now?”

I asked in a dumbfounded tone.

The staff member then took a step to the side, pointed behind him, and answered.

“You’ve passed all the trials, so you can leave through the door behind me.”

“Wasn’t there still the final trial left?”

“There must’ve been a system error. The 2nd floor was the final trial.”

If the staff says so, then it must be so.

It felt a bit off, but I decided not to press further.

“Ah, by the way, can I rest at the hotel for a bit before leaving? I don’t have anything to do until evening.”

“No.”

“I’ll pay.”

“No. Please leave quickly. Please.”

For some reason.

The staff seemed eager to kick me out as soon as possible.

Did I do something wrong?

I thought about it, but I couldn’t figure out why.

Other than breaking all the obstacles, I had no memory of causing any trouble at this hotel.

It just seemed like a hotel with terrible customer service.

“Customer?”

“Yes. I’ll leave.”

Urged by the staff.

As I was heading to the exit, I checked the chat for a moment.

【Maehwa Tree】─That’s it? Kind of anticlimactic.

【Jujijoa】─Why no prize? Se-hoon, didn’t you come in first?

【Qkrnfl892】─Right. First place gets a special reward, right?

“That’s right… They said the first to escape gets a reward. I forgot about that.”

Reading the chat reminded me.

They said the first to escape would get a special reward.

I stopped walking and called out to the clown staff member behind me.

“Excuse me.”

“…What is it now?”

“Aren’t you going to give me the reward? It looks like I came in first.”

“Ah.”

A small sigh escaped from behind the staff member’s mask.

It seemed like they had forgotten about the reward too.

“The reward… Well, um…”

The staff member started stammering, seemingly flustered.

Judging by their reaction.

It seemed like they hadn’t prepared the reward from the beginning.

‘What kind of joke is this?’

Realizing there was no reward, it felt like all my effort had been for nothing.

“I’m sorry. We didn’t expect you to come down so quickly, so we haven’t prepared the reward yet.”

The staff member made a lame excuse.

‘…Whatever. Let’s just not take it.’

It was a bit disappointing, but.

I decided to be magnanimous and forgive them.

Considering I destroyed all the facilities on my way down, I’ll just consider the repair costs as the reward.

***

I opened the door and stepped outside.

What greeted my eyes was an empty lot.

And a group of women dressed unusually.

“What? When did that guy show up?”

“Right? He wasn’t there a moment ago.”

“He must’ve come from behind that building.”

Ignoring those women for now.

I looked around to figure out where I was.

‘This seems to be where the hotel was…’

The hotel had completely vanished.

Even the door I just came out of had disappeared.

It really didn’t seem like an ordinary hotel.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Where’d the hotel go? What the hell?

【Handsome Licker】─D-D-D What’s going on? Was it a ghost hotel?

【Reverse Rape Mania】─I’m scared.

【Qkrnfl892】─What the hell is this?

【Min Ji】─Maybe it’s another surprise event? Heh.

【Yoho】─Min Ji, you’ve decided to just accept whatever happens now, huh?

【Min Ji】─I’ve decided to accept everything except Yoho.

【Yoho】─K.

Anyway.

Even though there were so many incomprehensible things and I didn’t get a reward.

Well, still…

It was a pretty unique and fun experience.

***

After confirming that Gye Se-hoon had safely returned.

Big Girl and Seong Sori turned around and spoke to Team Leader Park.

“Let’s go back.”

“Huh? Director, shouldn’t we teach those rude girls a lesson? They dared to call us aunties!”

“Team Leader Park. Didn’t you say you served in the military? You must’ve heard ‘aunty’ a lot there, why are you getting so angry now?”

“I don’t like hearing it in society.”

“…Anyway, don’t make a big deal out of nothing. It’s not good to have trouble with celebrities.”

“……You’ve really mellowed out a lot, Director.”

“So you don’t like it?”

“No. It’s just… It seems like you don’t belong in this line of work anymore. You should really retire…”

“Team Leader Park.”

“Yes.”

“Stop with the unnecessary talk and let’s go.”

“Yes…”

Team Leader Park gave the order to withdraw to the lower-level staff.

Then, sticking close to Seong Sori, he quietly asked.

“By the way, is that man who suddenly appeared the boyfriend you’ve been looking for?”

“Something like that.”

“Then why didn’t you say hello and just left?”

“I just came to make sure he was safe.”

“Safe…? No, more than that, isn’t it a bit odd to not even greet your boyfriend and just leave…?”

“There are circumstances, so stop asking.”

Seong Sori had mentioned before on Gye Se-hoon’s broadcast that she had a job where her face couldn’t be revealed.

But that was just an excuse.

In truth, she was worried that Gye Se-hoon would find her left eye disgusting.

And it was the same now.

Even though Gye Se-hoon was right in front of her.

She couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge him because she didn’t want to show her disfigured face.

‘…I should get plastic surgery later. And get a more natural-looking prosthetic eye.’

With that thought.

Seong Sori left, pretending not to notice while stealing glances at Gye Se-hoon.

After the entire Daehanseoul Group had withdrawn.

“The young lady just called. She said we can return now.”

“She suddenly told us to investigate a hotel early this morning… We haven’t even found the hotel yet, and now she’s telling us to just go back?”

“She said it’s fine even if we don’t find it.”

“Sigh… What kind of dog training is this? At least explain why we were sent to investigate, seriously…”

“What can we do? If the fifth young lady says jump, we jump.”

The special security team of the Ohsung Group also left the area.

***

Except for the group with colorful hair.

Everyone else left in an instant.

‘They disappeared so quickly… And why were they gathered here in the first place?’

I thought they might’ve been gathering for a gang fight, but unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

‘…Looking at all the cigarette butts on the ground, maybe they just gathered here because it’s a good spot to smoke.’

Making a plausible deduction.

I nodded to myself.

At that moment.

“Ah, hello? What a coincidence. Meeting in a place like this…”

A red-haired woman suddenly greeted me.

Her attitude was friendly, as if she knew me.

Could she be another viewer of my broadcast?

While pondering that unlikely question, chats that seemed to know about her started popping up.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Oh shit! It’s the Red Clown!!!

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Se-hoon, get her autograph quick! Take a photo too!

【Handsome Licker】─Why are you freaking out, Guburi? Are you a fan of hers? *lick*.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Yeah, I’m a huge fan.

【Handsome Licker】─You have weird tastes. Isn’t that bitch some middle school magician with chuunibyou? *lick*.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─I’ll kill you. Don’t insult the Red Clown.

【Reverse Rape Mania】─Wow. That circus troupe is really famous.

【Min Ji】─Gasp! Did Se-hoon invite them? This content is gonna blow up!

【Maehwa Tree】─Se-hoon wouldn’t have invited them.

【Jujijoa】─Right. They must’ve just run into each other by chance.

【Drifting AI】─I’ll say it. Se-hoon Defense Team, say hello.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─?

“Defense Team?”

I looked up at the woman.

She was currently bowing her head and fiddling with her phone.

Checking the chat again, a message from the Defense Team had just popped up.

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Guburi, I told you yesterday. I’m the Red Clown. LOL.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Huh? Huh? Huh?

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Idiot. LOL.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─?????

【Qkrnfl892】─Is she really the Defense Team? Guess she wasn’t lying. D-D-D

【Jujijoa】─What? So it wasn’t a chance meeting, she was stalking him. Crazy bitch.

【Maehwa Tree】─Disgusting. Is she a criminal or something?

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Warkyarphya! Stalker, go die!

【Geurjiripsa】─Warkyarphya! Trash!

I looked up at the woman again.

She was smiling at me.

It seemed certain that the woman in front of me was the Se-hoon Defense Team.

“You crazy bitch.”

I started with a curse.

It felt like she had come here on purpose to see me.

***

The Defense Team spent a long time explaining the situation.

To summarize.

The Defense Team is a member of a circus troupe and works as a magician. While moving to the performance venue with the troupe members, she happened to run into me here. She absolutely wasn’t stalking me. Why would she bring the troupe members along for stalking?

She kept saying the same thing.

‘I’m too tired to argue about this…’

I decided to just believe her.

After all, it didn’t seem like she was stalking me to that extent.

‘Well, whatever… If a streamer you watch is nearby, you might want to see them in person.’

In the end, I decided to let it go and apologized for cursing at her.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─I’m so confused. The Red Clown being the Defense Team doesn’t make sense… Fuck, sex, pussy, bagelbagel…

【Handsome Licker】─Stop making up weird words. *lick*.

After that, I greeted the other troupe members one by one.

They were acquaintances of the Defense Team, so I couldn’t just ignore them.

By the way, the blue-haired woman I met on the subway was also there.

I sincerely thanked her for helping me back then.

While I was greeting the troupe members.

“Mr. Se-hoon, right? Your hand is all scraped and the bone is showing… Let me heal you, can you turn the camera away for a moment?”

A pink-haired woman with a gentle appearance, conscious of the camera, spoke to me in a low voice.

What kind of healing is she going to do?

Is she going to bandage it?

I had those questions, but I turned the camera away as she asked.

And then.

“■□■■□□■■□■□□□■.”

The pink-haired woman held my hand and chanted something like a spell, and a white light enveloped the injured area.

Soon, the light scattered and disappeared, and the wound on my hand was completely healed.

‘…What the hell?’

Witnessing a miracle right in front of me was just astonishing.

I didn’t know how she did it, but I decided to thank her first.

“Thank you…”

“No problem. It’s only natural to heal someone who’s injured right in front of you. Anyway, we’re a bit busy, so we’ll head out first. It was nice meeting you.”

The pink-haired woman smiled brightly as she spoke.

She looked like a saint.

After that.

As if they really were heading to the performance venue, they quickly left after saying their goodbyes.

“I, I want to stay with Se-hoon a bit longer…!”

“Stop being ridiculous and come on.”

“Se-hoon!!!!”

The Defense Team was dragged away by the troupe members, calling my name.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─There’s no way my Red Clown is the Defense Team…

【Handsome Licker】─Are you in the denial stage now? *lick*.

【Yoho】─Finally, one stalker is gone.

【Min Ji】─Right. Hehe.

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Warkyarphya. Se-hoon, what are you gonna do now?

【Geurjiripsa】─What are you gonna do!

“Huh? Ah, I’m planning to rest at a motel until the appointment time. And, Maid, change your nickname again. Unless you want to die.”

【Geurjiripsa】─Warkyarphya…

After answering the viewers’ questions.

I found a nearby motel and booked a room.

I planned to sleep for just 10 more hours.

I woke up early in the morning.

And with all the incomprehensible things happening one after another, my head was spinning and I was exhausted.

***

Hell Escape Hotel control room.

This place was currently.

Filled with the corpses of Pierros who had been burned, frozen, cut, and pierced…

In every possible way.

Se-hoon Defense Team.

The circus troupe Han Yu-i belonged to had entered the hotel, and this was the result after just 10 minutes.

“What about the people inside the hotel?”

“Not a single one in sight. They must’ve all fallen into that abyss of hell or something.”

While Han Yu-i and the blue-haired woman were sitting on the corpses and talking.

“This one’s still breathing? Let’s heal them.”

The pink-haired woman healed one of the Pierros.

Then, grabbing the Pierro by the hair, she asked.

“Excuse me. There’s something I’m curious about. Why did you bring people from other worlds to a place like this?”

“…We only invited… sinners of violence today.”

“Sinners? What’s the criteria for being a sinner?”

“The resentment of those who suffered violence piled up and gathered…”

Thud!

An ice blade pierced the Pierro’s head.

It was a blade thrown by Han Yu-i.

“Stop babbling. Sinners, my ass… You just wanted to have fun.”

“Ah! Han Yu-i! What if you kill them instantly?! I wanted to keep healing them and play around!”

“Stop being a psycho. We have to go to another world, so don’t waste your energy and rest.”

“Huh? Another world? Where are we going now?”

“The abyss of hell. Yura contacted me, saying she found the world coordinates.”

“Why

---