WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 107: Party Time (9) - Confession (2), Strategy Meeting

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* Party Time, Day 3, Lunch

- Han Ga-in

I spent the entire morning thinking about how to tell everyone.

At lunchtime, I entered Room 105. As expected, Seung-yeop wasn't there.

The doctor was probably treating him. It was time for confession.

“Everyone, please pay attention. I'd like to tell you something important today.”

The moment I set the tone and spoke, everyone looked at me with slightly puzzled expressions.

A-ri let out a small sigh and lowered her head.

I started first.

The secrets I'd hidden. The Escape Route through the elevator. The Protective Suit and the password.

The nature of Sage’s Advice, which consumed Contribution if I asked questions unrelated to progressing through Curse Rooms.

How my growing Wisdom had led me to discover A-ri's secret.

I was about to explain A-ri's secret next, but she said she wouldn't act like a coward and began speaking for herself.

The power of her true blessing, Secret. Her Inheritance, Old Blood. Her memories of the first party, and so on.

After A-ri and I had both spoken honestly, silence filled the room.

Then came a response I hadn't expected.

“So I wasn't the only one with complicated thoughts.”

Eun-sol noona spoke with a sigh. Not the only one? What was that supposed to...

“It seems there were many with complicated thoughts, but only one person with the courage to speak up.”

It was only after hearing Mook-seong grandfather's words that I understood.

There were more people hiding something besides A-ri and me!

Eun-sol noona began speaking in a somewhat sentimental tone.

“Listening to A-ri made me realize something too. This place isn't somewhere we should hide things. We should come clean and pool our strength. I have two things to say as well.”

The first was about a note she'd bought from the Strange Merchant before.

Apparently, the bottom of the note said that someone was hiding Escape Route 1.

I was flustered when noona said she'd naturally assumed it was the Management Bureau team.

The second matter was more serious.

Something she'd learned after actually using Greedy Hand.

Greedy Hand granted the user's wish.

It didn't grant wishes by immediately placing the desired item in their hands. Instead, it created a situation where they could obtain that item.

There was a limit to the wishes it could grant, and the situation it created could be dangerous.

Up to that point, it sounded like a monkey's-paw sort of power. But there was one huge difference.

“The user is never placed in danger!”

My mouth fell open the moment I heard that.

When I looked around, everyone else was just as unable to hide their surprise.

Eun-sol noona continued bitterly.

“I didn't know that feature before I used it. Once I found out, I understood why the Dragon bragged that it was such a powerful ability. It's a power with no risk to me, only rewards. You all bear the risk.”

I muttered without thinking.

“You decided to tell us about something that dangerous.”

Honestly, wasn't that the kind of thing you'd want to hide until the very end?

“After hearing you and A-ri talk, I didn't want to hide it anymore. Just looking at this blessing tells me what my Sponsor is like. An extremely selfish being. I don't want to live like that being.”

Jin-cheol hyung replied.

“It sounds like a big deal, but does it really matter whether I bear the risk or someone else does? If any one of us gets hurt, it affects everyone in the end. Looking at it that way, it's the same as Ga-in using Descent. Let's use it when we need it.”

“Thanks for saying that. Like you said, Jin-cheol, we'll have to use it well in a crisis. At least it doesn't seem like the kind of power I should use every time the cooldown ends.”

Mook-seong grandfather spoke up too.

“Well, if I'm saying something too, I can actually open a Personal Chat Window. In that case, one of the participants in the conversation has to be me.”

A Personal Chat Window. Had the Management Bureau team been communicating separately through that all this time?

The atmosphere had suddenly turned into a confession session, with everyone revealing the facts they'd hidden.

After A-ri and I, Eun-sol noona and Mook-seong grandfather had spoken too.

Everyone's gaze naturally turned clockwise toward Jin-cheol hyung.

“Huh? Huh? I really don't have anything!”

That seemed likely.

“It's not a secret, but don't you think I've gotten a little bigger lately?”

Everyone looked at hyung, wondering what he meant.

He had already looked like a giant over 190 centimeters tall. Besides, since we saw him every day, it was hard to notice a slight change in build.

Mook-seong grandfather examined him carefully before replying.

“Huh? I think you're right. Maybe three centimeters taller? You also seem a little broader overall.”

“Is this the power of Courage too?”

Courage enhanced the body. It was entirely possible that making his physique larger fell within its scope.

Still, someone who was already over 190 centimeters getting even bigger.

Would he be over two meters tall by the time we got out of the hotel?

Elena spoke up.

“Since we're talking about growth, I think my blessing has grown too. The amount of time I can use Lie Detection has increased, and I can use it more discreetly than before. I'm actually using it already. Has anyone noticed?”

!

I stared at Elena in surprise. Sure enough, her eyes were glowing faintly.

Instead of radiating light like before, they had simply turned a faint gold.

It would've been easy to notice if I'd been observing Elena directly...

Honestly, it was hard to stare at Elena too closely.

As if something had gone down her throat the wrong way, Eun-sol noona said,

“Um... no, right?”

“Yes. No one is lying right now.”

Terrifying.

At last, everyone's eyes turned to Song-i.

“I hid this too because I thought it would sound crazy, but at some point, I became able to talk to Pero.”

Mook-seong grandfather shouted in disbelief.

“What, are you Doctor Dolittle?”

“Pardon?”

“Doctor Dolittle. The one who talks to animals-”

A-ri poked grandfather in the side.

“Grandfather. Do you think anyone here would know that?”

“... Wasn't it famous?”

“It was famous when you were young.”

A-ri seemed to know it very well herself.

Still, being able to speak with animals was fascinating, and I was curious.

“Do you talk to Pero often?”

“Yes.”

“What do you talk about? Anything interesting?”

Song-i thought for a moment, then began writing something on a sheet of paper.

/Pero's One-Line Reviews/

“What is this?”

“Pero talks about us almost all day. This one's good because of this, that one's bad because of that.”

... I learned about an animal's instinct to gossip behind people's backs, something I hadn't wanted to know.

/Pero's One-Line Reviews

1. Yoo Song-i: So good. Mom.

2. Lee Eun-sol: Brings food. Big food bowl.

3. Elena: Shines. Sparkly.

4. Kim A-ri: Red blood. Smells nice.

5. Park Seung-yeop: Stupid. Beneath me.

6. Kim Mook-seong: Noisy. Nesting material.

7. Cha Jin-cheol: Monster. Hits me.

8. Han Ga-in: Evil demon. Don't come near me!/

...

Everyone was speechless. Song-i's explanation continued.

“Pero somehow knew that Eun-sol unni orders its food. It likes Elena because it says she sparkles whenever it sees her. Also, I think Pero can sense our blessings and Inheritances. I didn't understand why it kept saying things like ‘red blood’ and ‘smells nice’ about A-ri, but maybe it sensed the Old Blood merged with A-ri's body?

“As for Seung-yeop... It's a good thing he isn't here. I think Pero looks down on him a little. Pero's assessment of Mook-seong grandfather is because of Communication. When we talk through the Chat Window, Pero seems to feel that grandfather is the one talking.”

...

Song-i? Why stop there? The things after that were pretty concerning.

Mook-seong grandfather responded immediately.

“No, what does ‘nesting material’ mean? I'm asking because I have a bad feeling about this, but that little bird keeps pulling out my hair whenever it gets the chance.”

“I think Pero considers white hair very good nesting material.”

“I'll boil the water, so bring me that bird.”

A-ri replied, looking entertained.

“Wow, Jin-cheol oppa is a monster because he hit Pero from day one, and Ga-in is amazing. Evil demon! What do you even do to Pero every day?”

“...”

“Ga-in oppa keeps possessing Pero to practice flying through the sky. He can't even fly for three seconds before crashing into something.”

A-ri laughed herself breathless before replying.

“That's fine. If he practices for another month, he'll probably be able to fly for about ten seconds. As long as Pero doesn't lose all its feathers from stress before then!”

That was how lunch ended, with everyone laughing together.

I went looking for Pero to practice flying. Pero had to understand too!

How helpful would it be for the party if I could fly through the sky in Pero's body?

* Party Time, Day 3, Evening

“All right! It's finally time for the final meeting. We decided to rest easy on the last day like before, so today's meeting is important.

“Of course, only one of us knows anything about the Gate Room or the second floor! Professor A-ri will be handling today's lecture, so everyone clap. Hurry up.”

After everyone gave a few perfunctory claps, A-ri began her explanation.

“First, keep in mind that my explanation could be wrong. These are old memories, and this hotel constantly changes things to begin with. The Gate Room is structured as a series of multiple Curse Rooms. There are brief breaks in between, but only enough to catch your breath.

“Those eliminated don't resurrect while the Gate Room is in progress. They resurrect after at least one person clears the entire room. I don't think there are beings like Prisoners. The reward doesn't seem to be an Inheritance either.”

“If it isn't an Inheritance, what's the reward?”

“I don't know. Someone from the first party cleared the Gate Room and got the reward, but hid what it was.”

Unbelievable. The person who got the reward hid it, so she didn't know what it was. It had been quite a party if they'd somehow made it to the second floor.

“What was the second floor like?”

“Keep in mind that it could have changed too. The second floor basically has Prisoners, Adversaries, and so on, like the first floor, but there were two differences.

“First, the scale felt larger than on the first floor. The first floor had entire worlds manifested too, but the main places where we operated were limited, right? Rooms, the broadcasting station, the area around the mansion, the spaceship, the school, things like that. On the second floor, even the main locations became larger, and there were more people involved.

“Second, Sealing and Release. Starting from the second floor, one person gets sealed the moment you enter.”

I asked in surprise.

“Sealed? Does that mean they can't act in the room at all?”

“That's right. The reason within the room is different every time. They might be trapped alone in a prison, or fall into a sleep they can't wake from. Even if the sealed person has two or three Inheritances, the hotel itself suppresses them, so they can never get out by their own power.

“It's possible to clear the room without the sealed person, but usually it's easier if you release them somehow. The person sealed is the one with the most useful ability in that room. And that's why the previous party stopped progressing on the second floor.”

“What do you mean?”

“The previous party worked by having whoever got an Inheritance first use their powerful ability to interfere with others and monopolize everything. In the end, only two people became much stronger. But when they reached the second floor, one of those two people would always get sealed, so half their fighting force was effectively tied up. They escaped by luck, but they couldn't progress through Curse Rooms anymore.”

...

I realized something.

A-ri had said her mother was one of the Management Bureau's elite agents, a powerful person. Someone who harmed others rather than being harmed.

A-ri's mother had been one of the two people who interfered with others and monopolized the treasures.

When I'd seen her through the mirror at Hotel Land, she resembled A-ri and had looked very beautiful and gentle. Still, you could never know a person by appearances alone.

I thought I understood why she had “created” A-ri too.

If either she or the one other powerful person was sealed, there was no way forward. Had it been an attempt to create another powerful person?

Eun-sol noona, who had been listening intently, cut in at that point.

“The second-floor story is interesting too, but let's leave it there and focus more on the Gate Room. You remember A-ri's explanation, right? Now let's come up with a strategy.”

Footnotes:

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