WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 103: Party Time (5) - A-ri's Escape Experience, Sanctuary of Blessings
──────
* Party Time, Day 1, Morning
- Han Ga-in
Could we escape using a parachute made from materials obtained through the HP Market?
This was the answer.
[Try it if your life isn’t precious to you.]
Silence fell over the group after I relayed the answer. At first glance, it sounded like it was mocking us. Still, Sage’s Advice had given vague answers before, but never one that seemed to be mocking us.
Jin-cheol asked me, “Just in case, it’s not making fun of us, is it?”
“I don’t know... It’s never done that before.”
After thinking it over, I offered my own interpretation.
“Rather than saying it’s impossible or possible, it said, ‘Try it if your life isn’t precious to you.’ Doesn’t that mean it’s extremely dangerous, but it might still work?”
Eun-sol looked uncertain.
“You could read it that way. This is confusing. I think the only one here with escape experience should interpret it.”
Everyone naturally turned toward A-ri. She tilted her head before answering.
“Hmm. I’ve mentioned it indirectly a few times, and some of you have heard it directly, but...” A-ri looked at Elena. “I escaped through luck.”
“Can you tell us what happened in detail? How did you escape, luck or not?”
“When I was born, the area outside the hotel’s front gate wasn’t sky like it is now. It was the deep sea. Opening the gate meant dying from the water pressure. So I never even considered something like this. You could make a rough imitation of a parachute with materials you found somewhere, but there was no way to make something like a submarine that could withstand deep-sea pressure.”
Silence settled over us again. Seung-yeop spoke up for the first time in a while.
“This might sound too much like a game, but I think this whole idea of ours is a kind of exploit.”
“An exploit?”
“The Wing Boots you can get somewhere on Level 2 are the hotel’s official escape tool, right? But escaping with something Eun-sol could have made as soon as she entered the hotel feels too much like an exploit.”
Mook-seong wrapped up the topic.
“Let’s say it’s technically possible, but the odds are incredibly low. What good is thinking about it any further? We can’t hear something like that and try jumping off right now.”
I had a slightly different thought.
Should I possess Pero and fly out to check?
I should probably practice flying by regularly possessing Pero.
* * *
Party Time, Day 1, Afternoon
- Han Ga-in
The path to the hotel opened. I entered the Sanctuary of Blessings and checked who could enhance their blessing.
Kim Mook-seong, Lee Eun-sol, and Han Ga-in can be enhanced. Proceed? (Y/N)
Mook-seong, who had been unable to enhance his blessing despite participating in the Common Sense-Altering Media event all the way through the Time of Choice, Eun-sol, who had only now received her first chance at an enhancement, and I, who had obtained an Inheritance, appeared on the more or less expected list.
I selected yes. The Sanctuary of Blessings’ radiance descended, and my consciousness faded away.
* * *
- Han Ga-in
The Owl felt almost familiar now.
“I got an Inheritance this time!”
I shouted as if showing off. The Owl’s expression turned somewhat complicated.
“You did well. But try to make fewer mistakes from now on.”
“I regret using Descent too.”
I cautiously tried to see whether it would explain Descent. The moment the word came up, the Owl shut its beak. It clearly had no intention of saying a thing.
With no other choice, I changed the subject.
“It’s time for me to receive a powerful enhancement this time, right? What kind of ability is it?”
“As I told you before, it is a power that will greatly aid in resolving Curse Rooms. You will be able to understand a room’s scenario.”
“And about Sage’s Advice itself-”
“Enough.”
...
The Owl firmly cut me off before continuing.
“I will give you advice for your own sake.”
“I’ll listen carefully.”
“The purpose of Sage’s Advice is, above all else, to progress through Curse Rooms. Using it to learn about the hotel, blessings themselves, methods of escape, and such is a misuse that somewhat strays from its intended purpose.”
“But it usually answers those questions, doesn’t it?”
“It did. By reducing your Contribution.”
!
That was genuinely shocking.
“Whenever you use Sage’s Advice for something unrelated to progressing through a Curse Room, a small amount of your Contribution is consumed. Using it that way is not always bad. If necessary, you may need to spend Contribution to uncover the Hotel Secrets. Still, you should refrain from using Sage’s Advice excessively for others.”
“Is that why you avoided answering when I asked about other people’s blessings before?”
“If I had answered, you would not have received an enhancement this time.”
“... Thank you.”
“Do not misunderstand. I do not mean you should only use Sage’s Advice inside Curse Rooms. If that were my intention, your blessing would have been deactivated the moment you left a Curse Room. I am telling you to use it for yourself whenever possible. Remember this. I want you to attain glory at the end of this hotel. Not all of you.”
“...”
“You will not be able to meet me for quite a long time after today. Perhaps not until the very end.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The stronger your blessing becomes, the more Contribution it requires. You will have difficulty meeting me again until you have accumulated enough Contribution to obtain at least two Inheritances.”
With those words, my consciousness began drifting away in an instant.
I carved the Owl’s advice into my mind.
‘Using Sage’s Advice too broadly consumes my Contribution. Therefore, I should use Sage’s Advice for myself whenever possible!’
...
Why did this place demand cooperation from us while constantly planting seeds of division at the same time?
Did I really need to listen to the Owl?
I didn’t know.
* * *
[Han Ga-in - Wisdom -> ‘Scenario Understanding’]
* * *
- Kim Mook-seong
“You certainly have potential! Of course, you may be thinking, ‘What potential could there be at my age?’ But remember this. Now that you have entered the hotel, no one knows how long you will live. In the long epic you may yet experience, the seventy-odd years you have lived could be nothing more than the beginning.”
...
“What is life? A mortal life is short and fleeting. Yet it is that very frailty that proves the greatness of humanity. Because humans are weak, they had to pool their strength. And because they pooled their strength, they were able to build civilization, were they not?”
Ah. This man.
“Then what is most important in cooperation? Your history proves it! The history of humanity began with the invention of writing. By preserving information that vanished the moment it left one’s mouth in the form of letters, and allowing the knowledge of an individual to be shared by many, civilization began. Writing, and language, which lies at the root of writing. What do you think they have in common?”
“Pardon?”
“You were not paying attention to me. Do not disappoint me further.”
Come on, man! You’ve been giving a speech for thirty minutes. How am I supposed to stay focused the whole time?
“What writing and language have in common is that they are tools for communication. In the end, communication is both the beginning and end of human civilization. That is the meaning of the blessing I granted you.”
“Um... I’m sorry, but what enhancement am I receiving?”
“An excellent question! To answer it, one must understand the limitations of writing and language, as well as humanity’s long efforts to overcome them. What limitations did writing and language have? This requires considering the images that humanity’s great invention, the earliest writing, pictographs, sought to represent.”
...
When I first met this enormous giant, I never imagined this would happen.
Who would have thought a giant could talk this much?
Whenever I met someone who babbled on in front of me, I never hesitated to smack them on the head. That was why people had spent my whole life telling me to calm my temper. But even I couldn’t exactly smack the head of a transcendent being who looked over ten meters tall.
In the end, I had no choice but to listen endlessly to a long lecture on the history of human civilization.
The conclusion was simple. Sending only text through the Chat Window had limits, so from now on, I could transmit sensory information itself, like sights and sounds.
This bastard had the talent to spend half a day explaining that I could upload videos to a KakaoTalk chatroom now.
It was even a function we could already imitate by borrowing the power of A-ri’s Old Blood.
After I finally endured the end of the lecture, the giant started giving advice again.
“One final word. Having observed you, I have noticed that whenever you learn something, you instinctively try to hide it. Is it a habit you developed while spending so long in a secret organization? But it is not an appropriate attitude in this hotel. In the end, you can only leave this place by becoming one body. Why not share more of your secrets? My blessing, and this enhancement, will be of great help in that kind of communication as well. The first step toward communication can be frightening. Of course, you may think, ‘What is there to fear at my age?’ But everyone fears new things! Even I-”
Please! You said one final word! What kind of one word is this? Pause once in a while when you talk. I’m suffocating!
The giant, who clearly had Major League experience, only let me go after talking for another thirty minutes.
* * *
[Kim Mook-seong - Communication -> ‘Vivid Communication’]
* * *
- Lee Eun-sol
Wow.
The moment I entered the Sanctuary of Blessings, I was stunned.
What the hell was this place?
There was gold everywhere, and jewels in every direction. I had no bad intentions. The instant I instinctively grabbed some jewels and gold, a tremendous voice filled the space.
“Do you like my treasure?”
I turned around and saw a dragon almost as large as a building.
...
Wealth, dragon. The image fit, at least.
“I’m sorry. I was momentarily captivated by the glittering gold coins.”
“Why apologize? Being drawn to valuable things is a human instinct.”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem angry. I moved closer to the dragon.
“I have felt somewhat sorry for you, watching you struggle.”
“Honestly, I was a little disappointed in my blessing.”
“It was a bit underwhelming, wasn’t it?”
Even my Sponsor seemed to agree. My voice rose without me realizing it.
“Isn’t this too much? Everyone else has these grand supernatural powers, while I can only get a few ordinary real-world items. I can’t even get a gun or a proper melee weapon. On top of that, you gave me the ability in the form of an app installed on my phone, so I can’t use it at all inside a Curse Room. I don’t have that phone inside the room.”
“I feel a little sorry about that. But this is my strategy.”
“Your strategy?”
“Let me tell you something interesting. Which Level do you think has the lowest chance of participants clearing it?”
“Um... Wouldn’t it get harder as you go up? Level 3?”
“Wrong.”
“Then Level 1? Because we have neither information nor stats when we first face it?”
“Wrong.”
“Level 2?”
“Yes. Let me explain. Didn’t the Shop Girl explain Level 3 to you? Once you reach Level 3, you can leave no matter what.”
“I heard that.”
“What kind of people would continue even though they could leave no matter what?”
“People confident they can clear it?”
“Correct. Only people who have already obtained multiple Inheritances while progressing through Levels 1 and 2, and who are confident in their abilities, continue. Naturally, the success rate is higher than you might expect. Also, Level 1 has quite a few measures in place to keep you from being eliminated right at the very beginning.”
“I never got the impression there was any such kindness...”
“You will understand how kind Level 1 was once you experience Level 2.”
...
I could barely breathe. The dragon continued.
“In practical terms, Level 2 is the most difficult place in this hotel. So when designing your blessing, I devised a tailored strategy. I concentrated great power so it would activate when you reached Level 2. The power you receive this time will not disappoint you.”
The dragon sent me back after that conversation. As my consciousness rose, I thought:
My Sponsor, the dragon, was like...
Someone playing a game.
Were we their game pieces?
If we were pieces, what did the Sponsors hope to gain?
* * *
[Lee Eun-sol - Wealth -> ‘Greedy Hand’]
* * *
Party Time, Day 2, Afternoon
- Han Ga-in
My consciousness returned to my body, and I came to on a bed in Room 105. The first thing I did was check my Status Window.
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 34
Current Location: Level 1, Room 105 - Rest Room
Sage’s Advice: 3
Scenario Understanding(*)]
Yes! A new ability appeared!
I felt a rush of excitement. What kind of ability was it?
...
Something was strange.
The ability was displayed faintly. The moment I tried to activate it, an alert appeared.
[Cannot be used outside a Curse Room.]
Thinking about it, that was only natural. It was a power for understanding scenarios, wasn’t it? The trait itself was specialized for clearing Curse Rooms. It didn’t function at all outside a Curse Room.
I understood, but I was still disappointed that I couldn’t immediately test my new ability. I fiddled with my Status Window for a while.
?
What was this?
[Companion Status Information(*)
Kim A-ri(???) - ???. Chaos Disaster Management Agency Grade 1 Agent]
Footnotes:
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