WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 104: Party Time (6) - A Night Full of Lies
──────
* Evening, Day 2 of Party Time
- Han Ga-in
The change that occurred immediately after enhancing my blessing.
[Companion Status Information(*)
Kim A-ri(???) - ???. Chaos Disaster Management Agency Grade 1 Agent]
First, I compared it with my own information.
[Han Ga-in(20) - Wisdom. Freshman at K University]
The first ??? was her age, and the second ??? was her blessing.
In other words, A-ri's age and blessing were unknown.
Honestly, I wasn't surprised about her age.
I'd long suspected that her apparent age differed from her actual age.
The hotel was a place where time and space were twisted beyond recognition.
If she'd spent a long time in a place like this, it would be hard to say exactly how old she was.
Two things were truly surprising.
First, her blessing wasn't Suggestion.
She'd repeatedly demonstrated an ability similar to hypnosis. Was that not the power of her blessing?
Was it a separate supernatural ability of her own? I didn't know.
Then what was her real blessing?
Second, the fact that she could deceive the Status Window.
In a way, that was even more important than the first matter.
The Status Window was an authority created by the hotel, yet she could deceive it?
It had openly displayed different information before, and even now, it was hiding the real information.
I had no proof, but a vague guess came to mind.
I couldn't believe an ordinary supernatural ability gained outside the hotel could deceive the Status Window.
Everything I'd experienced inside the hotel was far too transcendent to believe that.
Maybe this was the power of A-ri's ‘real blessing.’
What should I do now?
Go ask her right away? It'd be pointless. All A-ri had to do was lie.
Bring Elena along and interrogate her? That would be an outright declaration of war.
After our conflict in the past, we'd reached an unspoken agreement not to press the Management Bureau team for answers.
Right now, we were facing the enormous challenge of the Gate Room.
Did we need to fight before taking on something like that?
Still, what they were hiding might harm me.
In the end, amid my confusion, I decided to use Sage’s Advice.
‘Is there a way to resolve my doubts while avoiding conflict?’
[Sage’s Advice: 3 -> 2]
[Why are you giving up the psychological high ground? Make the other side worry.]
What was that supposed to mean? I thought about it for a long time.
At first, I had no idea what it meant, but after considering it, I realized it was unexpectedly useful advice.
I wasn't the only one who wanted to avoid conflict.
Maybe in the early days of Level 1, but now my abilities were no less than A-ri's.
A-ri also wanted to avoid conflict before the trials that remained.
In a situation where we were equals, did I need to be the only one agonizing and watching the other side's reaction?
I decided to shift the burden of worrying onto A-ri.
The more I thought about it, the more it felt like I'd truly received Sage’s Advice.
Feeling lighter, I opened my door and headed for the dining table.
* * *
- Han Ga-in
The moment I came out, everyone welcomed me loudly, and we began eating.
Naturally, the topic of conversation was the effects of our newly enhanced blessings.
Grandfather Mook-seong drank beer while continuously uploading videos to the Chat Window.
...
Why was he constantly uploading pictures of wriggling earthworms?
The heavy, mysterious image I'd had of him at first had long since shattered the more I got to know him!
It felt like being bombarded with disgusting images online.
There was no way to avoid the videos or images that appeared in the Chat Window.
In response, Song-i diligently uploaded nothing but pictures of Pero.
Only after sitting there blankly for nearly ten minutes, unable to take a single bite amid pictures of earthworms and parrots, did the Chat Window finally hit its capacity limit.
And A-ri was eating just fine through all this.
“...It feels like the Chat Window's capacity has increased quite a bit too.”
“I think so. I didn't know we'd be able to mess around for this long.”
“Please, Grandfather. I'd appreciate it if you stopped doing this now....”
With a sigh, Eun-sol began talking about the power she'd received.
“Honestly, I don't really know.”
“Huh?”
“Even the name is vague. It's not something clear like Lie Detection, it's called ‘Greedy Hand.’”
“Wouldn't you find out if you tried using it?”
“That's exactly the problem. After getting this power, something like a Status Window appeared for me too, a hologram that only I can see, just like Ga-in's.
It says [Greedy Hand: 1]. When I tried to use it, I got this notification. [You shall obtain what you desire.]”
“A power that gives you what you want? That's difficult.”
Seung-yeop, who'd been listening, immediately answered.
“Inheritance! Escape! Try saying you want things like that!”
“Of course I did, but [Impossible] appeared right away.”
“Hmm.... It must have limits. Let's think about it some more before using it.”
“Sure. What about you, Ga-in?”
The talk slowly turned to my blessing.
Now was the time.
“I don't think I can use it, but I'll try checking.”
I held up my hand in the air and pretended to touch something.
Since only I could see the Status Window, nobody would notice.
“It does seem like the contents are a little different from usual.”
“The contents?”
After saying that much, I widened my eyes, glanced at A-ri for a moment, then immediately looked away.
I saw A-ri's expression stiffen for an instant.
“What? Did something change?”
“No.... No, nothing in particular has changed. I think I can only use it inside a Curse Room.”
“Since you mentioned inside a Curse Room, you don't mean you can't use it in the Gate Room, right?”
“Of course not. Isn't the Gate Room an enhanced version of a Curse Room? I think it'll definitely work there.”
Since Grandfather Mook-seong was the only one who could properly use his power, the discussion about blessings ended quickly.
Once the meal was over, Eun-sol naturally approached with the list of questions she'd written in her notebook.
...
Before, I would've used it without hesitation, but after the Owl's warning, my heart felt heavy.
I now knew that questions not directly related to progressing through a Curse Room consumed my Contribution.
For now, I passed off the first piece of advice as something I'd used to learn about my blessing. That was true, at least.
The moment I saw the question at the top of Eun-sol's list, my breath caught.
The first question written there.
‘If Escape Route 2 is the main entrance, Escape Route 1 must be somewhere too. Give us a hint.’
While I was briefly speechless, Jin-cheol cut in from beside me.
“I was thinking this earlier too, but isn't this asking for information about something we don't know? I feel like we'll get a strange answer.”
Eun-sol answered with an unreadable expression.
“There's no guarantee we don't know. Maybe we know it and simply overlooked it?”
What? Did she know I was hiding information about the elevator?
Flustered, I studied Eun-sol closely.
?
Eun-sol wasn't even looking at me. She was glancing slightly toward the Management Bureau team.
What was this supposed to mean?
I didn't know what was going on, but either way, everyone seemed to want me to use the advice.
... After thinking for a moment, I came to a decision.
I couldn't hide information about the elevator forever anyway.
To begin with, anyone could find the elevator Escape Route just by looking beneath the control panel.
I'd only been the one to think of searching the elevator.
Besides, it was a meaningless route without the ‘password’ and ‘Protective Suit.’ It should be fine to reveal its location by now.
Just like before, I pretended to use the Status Window.
“It says to examine a place we've overlooked.”
“A place we've overlooked?”
“Was there somewhere like that?”
Everyone tilted their heads. They'd think of it soon enough.
They'd already searched the basement and Level 1, so it wouldn't take long to realize the remaining location was the elevator.
Thinking about the elevator Escape Route again for the first time in a while, a real question came to mind.
Escape Route 1 could be used by putting on a Protective Suit in the elevator and entering the password.
I'd already figured out that Protective Suits could be bought from the HP Market.
I'd also found the password, ‘87439124,’ by searching the desk in the past.
Did that fulfill all the conditions for escape?
‘Can I escape by wearing a Protective Suit bought from the market and entering the password?’
[Sage’s Advice: 2 -> 1]
[Try it if your life isn’t precious to you.]
It was the same answer I'd received when I asked about parachutes.
... I was starting to understand.
Escape Route 1 was the elevator, and Escape Route 2 was the main entrance.
Both routes had separate ‘official escape tools.’
The escape tool for the main entrance was the Wing Boots, while the elevator's escape tool was the Protective Suit.
These tools had to be obtained inside the hotel, and they were probably supernatural items.
It was possible to attempt an escape using ordinary items obtained through the HP Market, but the chance of success wasn't high.
Maybe only people with exceptionally strong physical abilities, like Jin-cheol, or their own ability to fly, like A-ri, could escape using such ordinary items.
After reaching that conclusion, I headed toward the front desk.
As I lingered near the desk, I had a somewhat gloomy thought.
I'm gradually becoming a liar....
I'd hidden the elevator Escape Route, and now I was starting to hide the nature of my advice as well.
I'd even used the fact that the others couldn't see my Status Window to give them fake advice.
Like clothes dampened by a drizzle, a rain of lies was slowly staining my heart.
Once. Then again. Then one more time, with one excuse or another.
The lies kept piling up.
Could I still call them true companions like this?
It wasn't simply an emotional matter.
As I grew stronger, my hotel companions also gained various supernatural abilities.
If they discovered my lies someday, what would happen then?
With complicated feelings, I let out a sigh.
“Looks like you're worried about something.”
“Gah! Who... Oh, it's A-ri. Can't you make any sound when you walk?”
“I just walked over. You were thinking so deeply that you didn't notice.”
“Is that so? Did you have something to say to me?”
A-ri, who also looked somewhat tired, stood beside me and began looking out at the night sky beyond the main entrance.
“You know.”
“...”
“I just thought I'd tell you some old stories.”
Thank you, Great Sage Owl.
Just as expected! A-ri had come to answer on her own!
Just as my respect for the Owl began to bloom, the hotel's lights suddenly started flickering!
What was going on? Why now, of all times?
* * *
- Lee Eun-sol
After dinner, everyone began resting in different places.
I rolled around on my bed alone and thought.
What the hell was this ‘Greedy Hand’ supposed to do?
The Dragon had confidently said it was a powerful ability that would never disappoint me. If it was that powerful, it could at least explain itself.
Even when I touched it, the explanation remained the same.
[You shall obtain what you desire.]
What did that even mean? And yet, when I wanted something I truly desired, like an Inheritance or escape, it said [Impossible].
...
Something I desired....
It didn't take long to think of it. A weapon, obviously.
In a dangerous place like this, individual combat ability was necessary in the end.
I wanted a useful weapon too! Preferably one that was easy to use.
[Greedy Hand: 1 -> 0]
?
[It has been granted.]
???
What was that supposed to-
---Whaaaaaang!
A massive notification sound suddenly rang throughout the entire hotel.
As I sprang to my feet in shock, a notification appeared on the display inside Room 105.
/At a participant's request, a surprise event will occur despite it being Party Time.
.
.
.
Surprise Event: Nightmare/
... This wasn't my fault, right?
Footnotes:
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