WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 101: Party Time (3) - Grotesque, Counseling

──────

* Party Time, Day 1, Dawn

- Yoo Song-i

---Beep!

I woke to a chirping sound. When I turned on the lights and checked the clock, it was three in the morning.

I went over to the nest made from towels scattered around the hotel and found that Pero had already finished all the food.

I need to make more food.

When I moved toward the door, Pero began staring at me intently.

Remembering the warning not to leave it alone, I deliberately opened the door to Room 105 wide so Pero could keep watching me.

The parrot food Eun-sol had ordered was piled up outside the room.

I made a generous meal from the food and eggs I'd brought in. Pero, who'd been watching beside me, immediately buried its beak in the bowl and began eating.

...

It seemed to have hatched only yesterday evening, but its growth was already noticeable after just a few hours.

It had grown to about the size of a small parrot, and it no longer needed to be fed by syringe. It came over and ate on its own. It had even started eating the nuts in the parrot food.

Its intelligence was surprisingly high too. It disposed of droppings and the like in a designated spot by itself.

At this rate, wouldn't it be easier to raise than a dog or cat?

The only exhausting thing was its enormous appetite.

Was it because it was still growing?

It was only a little bigger than my hand, yet it ate as much as a young child.

Naturally, with such a small beak, even eating all day wasn't enough for it.

Watching it, I got sleepy again and fell asleep.

.

.

.

---Creak

.

.

.

---Bam!!!

An enormous crash and impact!

My body was sent flying into the wall in an instant.

“Ah! What was that?”

“What the hell?”

“Huh? What's going on?”

Once I came to my senses, I saw our entire team sprawled around the room.

Elena, who'd been wearing only a negligee, and Jin-cheol, who was shirtless, hurriedly grabbed clothes from around them in embarrassment.

---Bam!!!

Another deafening boom rang out as the already-tilting door to Room 105 was completely torn off and sent flying.

I stared at the doorway in horror.

There stood a gigantic monster I'd never seen before in the hotel.

At least four meters tall?

It looked like an enormous, vicious ostrich, but its beak was big enough to swallow my head whole.

Hard, sharp bristles that looked like a mixture of feathers and scales covered its entire body. In place of wings, masses of flesh that seemed to blend tentacles and horns rose from its back.

It looked like something straight out of a monster horror movie!

Everyone stood there with their mouths hanging open.

The monster entered through the space where the door had been, staring right at me.

The moment it approached, its emotions flowed into me.

Happiness. Relief. Joy.

...

Could that possibly be...?

But it was already too late.

“Everyone, be careful!”

Before I could stop him, Jin-cheol shouted and charged forward.

He punched the giant bird's beak, then kicked it in the body.

The monster was sent tumbling backward.

What? Why was he actually that strong?

“Wait! Everyone, calm-”

---Piyooooo!

A harsh roar burst from the monster that had been knocked outside, no, from Pero.

The next moment, terrible emotions began to boil up inside me.

Fear, disgust, rage, a total mess of negative emotions all mixed together!

Pero could do that too? Why now, of all times?

I belatedly used the bracelet's power to protect myself, but the others had already become extremely agitated by the roar's power.

Jin-cheol shouted and ran toward the bird.

A human was charging at a monster, but the situation was obvious.

Pero was in danger!

That one punch and kick had sent Pero flying, hadn't they?

This wasn't a fight Pero could win just because it was bigger.

The one fortunate thing was that Pero instinctively realized that too and began fleeing like mad.

As I stood there in panic, someone grabbed my shoulder.

“That monster, is it the bird that came out of the Golden Egg?”

“A-ri? Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“Yes. It's Pero, the bird that came out of the Golden Egg.”

“Why did it turn out like that? Come with me and stop Jin-cheol before he beats it to death.”

I rushed outside Room 105.

Was this supposed to be fortunate?

Jin-cheol seemed to have come to his senses. He was leaning against the wall, clutching his head.

But Pero, who had already been beaten badly, looked frail... No, honestly, it didn't look frail. Either way, it was terrified and completely out of control!

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, I'm fine now. What the hell was that roar? My head suddenly got hot, and I was filled with anger.”

A-ri cut in from beside him.

“You came to your senses pretty quickly for that.”

“Hasn't this kind of thing happened countless times in this hotel? Something felt wrong, so I stopped without even thinking... That's the bird from the Golden Egg, right?”

“That's Pero!”

“Pero?”

“Looks like Song-i named it Pero. Anyway, how do we calm it down?”

---Bam! Boom! Crash!

This felt like a scene from a monster movie.

Everyone had gotten used to strange things, and they all knew about the bird from the Golden Egg, so they regained their senses quickly.

Pero, though, had been terrified ever since it was struck and sent flying, and was now smashing everything around it.

At least it seemed afraid of Jin-cheol, the one who had beaten it up and sent it flying, so it didn't come near us.

As everyone watched helplessly, Ga-in walked forward.

“I'll calm it down. It won't get hurt.”

What?

...

Ga-in stopped and stared at Pero.

The next moment, the bracelet detected a change in sensation.

I couldn't possibly explain the feeling, but I just knew.

At that moment, Ga-in's consciousness had taken over Pero's body!

... At the moment Pero's consciousness faded.

I felt an indescribable, overwhelming terror rise from Pero's mind.

The situation was resolved quickly.

Once Ga-in entered Pero's body, Pero naturally returned to its original cute appearance.

Then Ga-in tried to fly.

“Don't do anything weird! Stay still!”

... He tried to fly, hit the wall three times, then suddenly fell backward and flailed around like he was dancing.

Even if a person entered a bird's body, flying seemed very difficult.

I picked up Pero's body, and soon afterward Ga-in returned to his own body.

“You knew I'd entered the bird's body?”

“Maybe because I was paying attention to it the whole time, but I felt it right away.”

“The bracelet really is amazing. Hmm.”

“What's wrong?”

“No, it was my first time actually trying Possession, and I learned something unexpected.”

A-ri seemed intrigued as she cut in.

“Something unexpected?”

“I'll try it a few more times before I tell you. I might be mistaken.”

Ga-in began thinking about something alone in the corridor while the rest of us tried to figure out what had happened.

The full story behind the major early-morning incident!

Using Telepathy, I examined the mind of terrified Pero, which was pressing itself against me, then checked the traces nearby. The facts I uncovered were somewhat absurd.

At dawn, I opened the door in front of hungry Pero and scooped some parrot food from the supplies stored outside the room.

Seeing that, Pero realized there was food outside the door. It woke up again during the night and went looking for food on its own instead of looking for me!

For some reason, Pero could leave Room 105 but couldn't come back in.

After being left alone outside for hours, terrified Pero transformed into a monster and smashed down the door.

...

Eun-sol spoke in disbelief.

“So it went outside because it was hungry, then started this whole rampage because it was scared of being alone?”

“I think so.”

“Ha... Fine. It's a birdbrain, what can you do? But how did a bird even open the door and get out in the first place?”

Mook-seong carefully touched the handle still attached to the remains of the door before answering.

“There are quite a few marks where it bit at it with its beak. Looks like it held the end of the handle in its beak and flapped until it pushed it down. Goodness, it's strong.”

“Why did it go through all that trouble just to get out?”

“How would I know what a bird is thinking? Parrots are curious animals, so it probably wanted to go outside too. It probably never imagined it wouldn't be able to get back in.”

Why not, though?

“Why couldn't it come back in? If it figured out how to turn the handle, couldn't it have just turned it again and opened the door? This hotel doesn't even have keys.”

“I only thought about it for the first time just now, but Room 105 is made up of countless overlapping spaces, isn't it? We can't even meet one another unless it's mealtime. It seems that a being who isn't a participant can't properly enter Room 105 unless they enter with a participant.”

Seung-yeop rubbed his sleepy eyes and sighed.

“So what do we do now? Pero destroyed Room 105.”

A-ri answered.

“Well, Ga-in already broke it once, didn't he? They'll probably tell us to go to the campground while they do some ‘major repairs’ again.”

Two hours later.

Once morning came, everyone learned that A-ri's prediction had been correct.

We had to go to the campground again.

* Party Time, Day 1, Morning

- Han Ga-in

Since it was already our second time, everyone comfortably gathered around at the campground.

Someone brought meat over and began grilling it, and it somehow felt fresher and more fun than resting inside the hotel.

That aside...

As I sat there thinking, A-ri approached me.

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

“The bird and the Grimoire.”

“Pero? It won't get off Song-i's shoulder over there. Are its abilities just transforming into a monster and making cries that stir up people's emotions?”

“There may be more.”

“Even that much makes it an incredible asset. So what's strange about the Grimoire?”

“I used the Grimoire for the first time, and something strange happened.”

“The Grimoire... I heard on the way here that it allows Possession and Avatar, right? You said you still don't understand Avatar, so you must have noticed something strange while using Possession.”

“That's right.”

“What was it?”

“If I wasn't mistaken, my Status Window disappeared. And a strange number appeared in the bottom right corner.”

“Hmm.”

After thinking for a moment, A-ri made a quick decision.

“Use it on me now.”

“Are you sure?”

“This is the fastest way. Hurry up and use it.”

...

My second attempt.

Looking at A-ri, I recalled the sensation of leaving my body and putting on A-ri's body.

It felt as though my consciousness was being sucked somewhere.

Then I found myself gender-swapped into a beautiful girl in her mid-teens!

Why was that suddenly exciting?

Still, I should check what I needed to check first.

[59:52]

[59:44]

...

It was the same as when I'd possessed Pero.

My Status Window disappeared, leaving only a small number. Its meaning was obvious too. A one-hour timer.

Could Possession have a time limit?

But the Apostle hadn't had that limitation.

Just as the Grimoire's third authority, Sacrifice, had been edited out, had Possession been given this restriction too?

Even if there was a restriction, why had my Status Window disappeared?

I was confused.

Hmm... Suddenly, there was something I wanted to do.

I felt like I'd seen a scene like this in a movie before.

I lowered my hand slightly toward my chest.

---Thump!

With a feeling of being bounced away, my consciousness instantly returned to my original body.

“Hahahaha! What was that? You seriously looked like an elementary school kid just now. You wanted to touch them that badly?”

...

Ah! Why had I even tried to do something like that?

Overwhelmed by sudden self-loathing, I lowered my head...

I didn't care why I'd been bounced out.

Thinking back, when the Daughter of Heaven hypnotized us at Hotel High, A-ri had somehow woken up on her own. She seemed to have used a similar method.

“Do you still want to touch them?”

“... Sorry. It was just a moment of weakness.”

“That was really funny. So, did something similar happen again?”

“My Status Window disappeared. And a one-hour timer appeared. What do you think that means?”

“The latter is simple. There's a time limit. The bracelet and star fragment both work differently inside a Room and outside it, right? The Grimoire must be the same.”

“That's disappointing... I thought I'd gained immortality by getting this Grimoire.”

Immortality.

At that word, A-ri looked up at the sky with a distant expression.

I felt this every time, but how old was she really?

I hadn't asked, but I had guessed that she was at least not the age she appeared to be.

“You probably did gain immortality. Maybe someone other than you did too.”

“What do you mean? If Possession has a time limit, then you can't enjoy immortality by changing bodies. And what do you mean, someone else?”

“Have you ever seen Jin-cheol regenerate?”

“...”

“His skin burns, bullets tear through his body, and it all regenerates. Would a body like that really age?”

“...”

“Your Grimoire is the same. If the hotel intended to weaken the Grimoire itself, wouldn't it have simply edited Possession itself, the way it edited Sacrifice, and left signs of the edit behind? But according to what you said after reading the Grimoire, there was no sign of Possession having been edited.”

“What are you saying?”

“The timer appearing means it has nothing to do with a change in the Grimoire's performance. View your Status Window disappearing and the timer appearing in the same context.”

“The same context?”

“You said you wanted counseling about Descent too, right? What I'm about to tell you is connected to every problem you're experiencing. It may take a while, so listen carefully.”

Footnotes:

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