WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 106: Party Time (8) - Confession (1)
──────
* Party Time, Night of Day 2
- Han Ga-in
When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a place that looked like a neat conference room. A-ri's clear voice rang out.
“The target under management is the ‘Dream Eater.’ According to records, it was discovered near London in 1924. It burrows into a host's mind, aggravates their trauma, and eats away at their body and mind. Its preferred hosts are humans who are young, creative, and emotionally sensitive. To avoid having its ‘meal’ interrupted, it turns the host's trauma into physical manifestations and spreads them around. While the people nearby fight those manifested traumas, the Dream Eater ravages the host's body and mind until they are utterly ruined.”
...
“The highest-priority procedure is destruction. The method is to put an agent with traits more appealing than the host to sleep nearby. The Dream Eater will soon leave the host's body and move to someone who looks tastier. Then, it is starved within the agent's mind. Once the weakened Dream Eater leaves the agent's body, it is dealt with.”
“...”
“How was that? Did I sound like an agent?”
“Was that a Management Bureau-style briefing?”
“That’s right.”
“So you’re saying you picked me because I looked more ‘delicious’ than Seung-yeop?”
“Actually, it didn’t have to be you. Seung-yeop was practically half-dead already. To the Dream Eater, or rather, the Nightmare Butterfly, he was a meal that was almost finished. It would’ve moved to anyone who slept nearby. I chose you because I have something to tell you.”
Something to tell me. I could guess what it was.
But did we have time for that? Seung-yeop was still dying, wasn’t he?
“You don’t need to worry about Seung-yeop. The butterfly has already moved into your body. In fact, you and I talking here right now is part of the process of dealing with it.”
“This is part of the process?”
“Can you see anything around us?”
“There’s no one here but you and me.”
“It’s highly technical, so it’s hard to explain, but let’s just say the power of Old Blood has isolated your mind and mine in this place. The butterfly is still searching for us. It’s expending energy every moment, and soon it’ll leave your body exhausted.”
“Old Blood?”
“My information changed in the Status Window, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah... So this time really has come.”
A-ri sighed, then came over and plopped down beside me.
“You probably have a lot of questions. Ask away.”
“What’s your real blessing? It showed up as ‘???’.”
“Open your Status Window.”
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 34
Current Location: Basement Level, Hiking Room
Sage’s Advice: 1]
A-ri lightly waved her hand.
[How does it look?
This is the power of my blessing.
The power to uncover the Hotel Secrets and conceal my own secrets.
My blessing is ‘Secret.’]
Honestly, I was surprised. To think such a power... existed!
“Secret?”
“Yeah.”
“The fact that there’s a blessing like that is strange enough... A blessing meant to deceive ‘Wisdom’ doesn’t make sense. The fact that there’s an ability meant to deal with other participants rather than Curse Rooms-”
“The fact that you find that strange is what makes this party so remarkable.”
“What?”
“The power of a blessing is heavily influenced by its owner. The reason your blessings don’t have powers to keep other participants in check is because you never intended to do that in the first place. If someone among you had obtained ‘Secret,’ it wouldn’t have gained the ability to deceive ‘Wisdom’ in the first place.”
“...”
“Let me tell you an old story. The first party I experienced was, objectively speaking, an incredibly talented group. Half were Management Bureau agents, while the other half were former special forces soldiers, doctors, university professors, and so on. Physically and mentally, they could easily have ranked among the top 0.01 percent of humanity. With such exceptional people gathered together, do you think they escaped the hotel?”
“...”
“Before they even made it past the first floor, two died. On the second floor, their progress stopped altogether. I escaped in the middle of it through luck, but after that, no one returned to Earth for a long time. They all died. What do you think the problem was?”
“...”
“They were people who had stood out from a young age. Their competitive drive and desire for achievement were much stronger than those of ordinary people. I’m not saying they had terrible personalities. Back on Earth, they were all kind, law-abiding citizens who contributed greatly to society. But in a hotel without order, where crises struck without end, their hidden natures came out. I don’t need to explain what happened in detail, do I? The two who died on the first floor were both killed by members of their own party.”
“Was your mother, then...?”
“I know what you’re thinking. Since she gave birth to me in a place like that, it does invite all kinds of speculation. No. My mother was one of the Management Bureau’s elite agents, incredibly strong. She was more likely to hurt others than be hurt herself. And my mother didn’t ‘give birth’ to me.”
“What do you mean, she didn’t give birth to you?”
“That’s one of the things I’m trying to find out. By the time I was born, my mother was already in a state where normal communication was difficult. Anyway, that’s what happened to the first party. It was a terrible experience for me too, but wouldn’t it also have been quite unpleasant for the people running this hotel? At the very least, the hotel operators’ goal probably isn’t to bring in humans and have them die meaninglessly. Then they chose all of you. A party that seems to have reversed the strengths and weaknesses of the first party I experienced.”
“Reversed the strengths and weaknesses...”
“Individually, you’re honestly much worse. There’s an ordinary middle schooler, a high school girl, and Jin-cheol isn’t much different. Sorry, but he’s basically a physical education graduate with no clear career path, right? And you’re just a first-year university student.”
“...”
“But all of you get along incredibly well. Once you learned that the condition for obtaining an Inheritance was practically determined by how much you contributed near the end, you might have tried to hold each other back and take the Inheritance after bringing one another down. Yet none of you think that way.”
“Did they pick us because we’re nice...?”
“Being nice alone isn’t a strength. What’s important is whether you think as a group. This party is exceptionally strong in that regard. Even a middle school student won’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves if they believe they must die to learn something for the team. And someone overwhelmingly strong might try to seize control of the party with their fists, but instead, they give the initiative to someone with better judgment. I don’t think people like that are common in this world.”
That was A-ri’s assessment after experiencing two parties. The strength of our current party.
Silence hung between us for a moment.
Let me organize what I’d heard. A-ri’s blessing was Secret. It gave her the power to uncover the Hotel Secrets and protect her own secrets. It included an ability to keep other participants in check because of A-ri’s experiences. The first party A-ri had experienced was a hellish party that fought among themselves instead of fighting the hotel, and A-ri had entered this one already thinking about how to guard against her fellow party members.
“What’s your next question?”
“I understand your blessing. Then what were all those supernatural powers you’ve used? Did the Management Bureau teach you those?”
“If the Management Bureau were an organization that could teach supernatural powers, Mook-seong would be Superman by now. That’s the power of an Inheritance. The Inheritance my mother and I share, the power of Old Blood.”
“Old Blood?”
“I heard she got it after beating some vampire-like being to death on the first floor. In the hotel, she became something called the Blood Witch.”
A vampire.
Come to think of it, many of the abilities A-ri had shown so far resembled the powers commonly associated with vampires. Gliding through the sky, shaking the hearts of those who met her gaze, using blood for all kinds of little tricks. They were all vampire powers I’d seen in some work of fiction or another.
“For something like that, you handle sunlight just fine.”
“That’s what makes the hotel amazing. It can create a miraculous treasure that gives you only the power of a vampire without any of the restrictions. Real vampires would be sick with envy if they knew. Of course, compared to a real vampire, it has weaknesses too. I can’t use anyone else’s blood. I can only use my own.”
... More than anything else, the words ‘real vampire’ stood out to me.
So there were real vampires in the world. I’d lived in such a confusing world without knowing anything about it.
“Anything else you’re curious about? I feel like I’ve told you almost everything.”
“Why did you come back into the hotel?”
“I never lied about that. I already told you, didn’t I? Personally, I want to resurrect my mother. As an agent, I want to find the ‘power that stabilizes reality.’”
“I understand wanting to resurrect your mother because she’s your mother, but what exactly does ‘power that stabilizes reality’ mean?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. We only entered after hearing a ‘revelation.’”
“A revelation?”
“Let’s say there’s a Prophet. If you become an agent, you’ll meet them someday. They’re the being who could be called the beginning and entirety of the Management Bureau. Any more questions?”
“This isn’t that important, but...”
“Just ask. I’ll answer you now.”
“... How old are you? Your age still keeps showing up as ???.”
She didn’t answer.
...
After hearing at length about A-ri’s real blessing, the broad outline of her past, her Inheritance, and her purpose, my head started to hurt. Maybe she was hiding something else even at this very moment...
I didn’t think so.
A vague realization simply came to me. We sat there blankly, sorting through our thoughts as time passed.
“So what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to tell the others too?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been pretty tired lately too.”
She seemed tired of lying.
Why had she started lying in the first place?
Looking back, I could guess. The first party she’d experienced had been terrible, so she probably wanted to hide her abilities from the start. To hide her Inheritance, she hid her blessing. To hide her blessing, she deceived my Status Window. Then, as she kept lying, she hid her age and identity too. One lie led to another.
It wasn’t someone else’s problem.
Wasn’t it exactly the problem I had begun to face?
Hiding the elevator, hiding the conditions for Sage’s Advice, and lying about the contents of that advice too.
What should I do?
When I looked at the Status Window, I saw [Sage’s Advice: 1]. One left.
If I asked, the Owl would give me its own answer again. I could even guess what that answer would be by now. It would probably tell me how to lie.
I wouldn’t ask.
Since when had I relied so heavily on the words of some mysterious bird? At first, I only asked questions about progressing through Curse Rooms, but I gradually began asking all kinds of questions. Eventually, I had even started seeking advice about relationships.
With every question I asked and answer I sought, the Owl had gradually seeped into me.
Let me think for myself.
What was the greatest strength of our party?
The fact that we could all trust and cooperate with one another.
I made my decision.
* Party Time, Morning of Day 3
The moment I came to my senses, I realized the date had changed. My Possession time and Sage’s Advice uses had been replenished. Someone must’ve carried me while I was asleep, because I woke up on a sofa near the hotel’s refreshment table.
“Is everything taken care of?”
“Huh? Ga-in, you’re awake. You worked hard.”
The others, who had been chatting nearby, came over. Dealing with the butterflies had been more uneventful than expected. As soon as A-ri and I fell asleep, dozens of blue butterflies flew out of Seung-yeop and moved into me. After about an hour passed, the butterflies left my body, moving sluggishly.
The moment they came out, Eun-sol sprayed them with insecticide she’d ordered in the meantime.
...
Ridiculously enough, despite being such supernatural beings, they really were ‘butterflies.’ The event was over, and an unidentified item had appeared as well.
“Is the accessory you’re wearing on your head the item?”
“That’s right! Does it suit me?”
Honestly, an old-fashioned butterfly-shaped brooch like that looked as though it would only suit a grandmother.
“It suits you. Does it have some kind of ability?”
Eun-sol held the brooch out to me and opened it as though splitting it apart. A tiny chrysalis wriggled in the space inside.
“What’s this?”
“Can’t you guess? When this chrysalis hatches, that butterfly will probably come out. Maybe the butterfly flies to whoever I want and eats away at their body and mind? It’s still a chrysalis for now, though.”
When she mentioned eating away at someone’s body and mind, I thought of Seung-yeop.
“Is Seung-yeop all right?”
Eun-sol’s expression darkened.
“I put him to sleep in Room 105. I don’t know if he’s specifically injured anywhere, but his body has withered up, and he was talking nonsense as though his mind had been badly strained too.”
“The doctor will fix him. He’ll probably come out fine by tomorrow.”
“I hope so. Ga-in, you should rest a little more. We decided on the schedule while you were asleep. Starting today, A-ri said she’ll tell us everything she knows about the Gate Room and the second floor.”
“A-ri did?”
“Yeah. A-ri volunteered to explain it, which is unlike her. I was planning to ask her anyway.”
The Gate Room. The second floor.
The greatest obstacles left for us now. It was time to seriously analyze the next stage.
Of course, before that, I had decided to speak honestly with everyone.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
