WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 127: Room 107, Gate Room - Fourth Trial (18)

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Episode 127: Room 107, Gate Room - ‘The Secret of the Esper’ (18)

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 45

Current Location: Level 1, Room 107 (Gate Room)

Sage’s Advice: 0]

- Han Ga-in

[Sage’s Advice: 1 -> 0]

[Immediately stop your companion’s disturbance and apologize to those around you.]

I immediately used the Chat Window.

Han Ga-in: Sage’s Advice activated. Get down now.

I climbed onto the table and grabbed Grandpa’s arm.

After checking the Chat Window, Grandpa got down without resisting and began pretending to have passed out.

We pretended to apologize to those around us for Grandpa’s drunken behavior.

While pretending to support him, a belated realization struck me.

Unlike Sage’s Advice, which answered questions, the Crisis Alert that warned me of danger only activated when my life was at risk.

... A chill ran down my spine. I cautiously watched the people around us.

They weren’t simply looking at a pathetic drunk.

Even without any special senses, I could feel killing intent so strong it made my skin sting.

Several members of the Esper’s crew had even drawn revolvers.

Considering the Crisis Alert had activated, would they have opened fire if Grandpa’s disturbance had continued?

It was an abnormal reaction.

No matter how much someone acted up at an upper-class party, the normal response would be for the staff to drag the drunk outside.

Preparing to shoot wasn’t normal.

After spending a long time apologizing and calming everyone down, we returned to our room.

* * *

The moment we arrived, Grandpa spoke.

“My prediction was right.”

“You mean your prediction that the party is the enemy’s sore spot? I agree.”

A-ri, Song-i, and Elena all agreed in turn.

“Grandpa did some crazy things. He beat up an employee, threw food at passengers, sang at the top of his lungs... Wait, now that I list it all out, he really did every damn thing possible, didn’t he? Still, people don’t normally pull guns over something like that.”

“The passengers’ reactions were stranger than the crew’s. The crew has a responsibility to restrain people causing a disturbance, so I could understand them acting threatening. But every passenger was glaring at us with their eyes wide open. It was so scary I could barely lift my head.”

“It’s definitely strange. Usually, passengers would avoid us with the attitude of, ‘Do you avoid shit because you’re scared of it? No, because it’s filthy.’”

One concern began to take shape in my mind.

“Judging by their reaction, ruining the party does seem to be some kind of trigger. If we get the chance, let’s ruin another party. But our immediate crisis isn’t the party the day after tomorrow. It’s midnight tonight. We have at most an hour left.”

Grandpa smiled as if he found it amusing.

“I’ve made a plan too. In a way, it’s connected to today’s disturbance.”

“A plan?”

“They’ll come looking for us at midnight too, right? Pero isn’t here this time, so they’ll try to take one of us. I’ll let them take me.”

Everyone stared at Grandpa in surprise. A-ri looked as though she had already expected it.

“What do you mean by that?”

“After getting on their nerves this badly today, they’ll most likely take me, won’t they? I even gave them my personal information so they could take me easily. It was only my age and where I’m from, but those two things seem to be important.”

Song-i cried out, even more startled.

“You prepared everything step by step so they could take you?”

“That’s right.”

I was beginning to understand Grandpa’s intentions.

“Don’t tell me... You’re planning to use the Chat Window while they take you?”

“You finally caught on. That’s right. What’s our biggest problem right now? If they come at us in an emergency, we have no proper way to fight. Pero disappeared somewhere, so aside from Elena activating Justice, we have no power to respond. The problem is that Elena can’t use Justice because she has no evidence.”

A-ri added, “When you enhanced Communication before, you gained the ability to upload videos. Are you planning to use that?”

“Exactly. I’ll share what’s happening while they take me. They’ll obviously do something evil, won’t they? Once Elena sees the evidence, she can use Justice. At that point, I think the fourth trial will be practically solved.”

Song-i asked, “When we got too far away during Common Sense-Altering Media and House of Horror, Chat Window sharing was blocked. Won’t that be a problem?”

“That only happened because the distance between us grew to several kilometers. The ship may be big, but it isn’t big enough to block Chat Window sharing.”

I understood the plan. It connected back to the disturbance earlier.

He would deliberately provoke them, lure the enemy into taking Grandpa away, then use the Chat Window’s video attachment feature to secure proof of their evil deeds. Once Elena activated Justice, everything would be solved.

It sounded convincing. Still, Elena pointed out one concern.

“Will you be safe, Grandpa?”

“You have to use Justice and come save me, Elena.”

“Even if I use Justice, it’s not like I can use Teleportation. No matter how fast I go, it’ll still take some time.”

“What choice do we have? There’s no such thing as a risk-free operation in a place like this. If it comes down to it, I can fall while the rest of you move on to the fifth trial. If four of you go, surely at least one will clear it.”

A-ri spoke bitterly.

“The moment Elena can use Justice, we’ll come save you.”

Grandpa snorted softly and handed his pistol to A-ri.

...

Until midnight, we couldn’t come up with a better plan.

* * *

- Elena

--- Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

At midnight, the cuckoo clock rang.

Soon, the one remaining Decoy Music Box began to chime as well.

A-ri had held onto the Decoy Music Box and fiddled with it for a long time before saying its magical power was gone.

I’d been worried deep down, but it was true. Listening to the Music Box no longer made me sleepy.

Everyone lay against the walls or on the floor, pretending to be asleep.

...

Gasp!

Even though Mr. Ga-in had warned me beforehand, I almost screamed. I could never get used to human faces suddenly rising out of a wall.

An ominous voice spoke.

“Are they all asleep?”

“I think so. The Music Box sounded a little quiet, so I wondered...”

“Looks like there’s only one working Music Box. What happened?”

“Seems the others broke. We should tell the Captain. One is still working, so these bastards are asleep. And that monster bird is gone now.”

“Who should we take?”

“Ha!”

“Kuhuhuh! Do we even need to think about it?”

“Wasn’t the answer obvious? Let’s take that old man we should tear apart. We’ll show him what hell is like today.”

As they spoke, faces rose from the walls and four people emerged.

They were all faces I had seen at the party. Three broad-built men and a somewhat slender woman appeared.

The men began dragging Grandpa away.

“Why is he so heavy?”

“He looked sturdy, but this is no joke. Why are his arms so thick?”

“Still, he’s destined to become a meal for Marcas.”

The name Marcas sounded significant.

... With the sound of footsteps, Grandpa, the crew members, and the passengers all left the room.

After some time passed, the Chat Window activated.

Kim Mook-seong: There’s a limit on video length, so I’ll upload it shortly.

Kim Mook-seong: Keep following the corridor to the end. At the stairs to the second floor, don’t go up. Turn right.

Kim Mook-seong: Keep going right and you’ll find a maintenance room. To the left of the maintenance room-

For a long time, Grandpa guided us along the route to where they were taking him.

It was more complicated than I’d expected. Fifteen minutes? Twenty?

Only then did Grandpa’s audiovisual feed begin appearing in the Chat Window.

It was a place like the Colosseum. The center was wide and flat, enormous pillars rose from it, and tiered seating surrounded it.

Had everyone on the ship gathered there? The space was packed with enough people to fill hundreds of seats.

Grandpa’s visual ability had its limits, so we couldn’t see the entire area, but even through the video, I could feel the excitement filling the place.

Several huge pillars stood in the center, each wrapped in velvet cloth. A man in a square cap appeared in the middle of the platform.

“Beloved crew and passengers of the Esper. The time of celebration you have all awaited has come once more. You all know who this bastard is. He is lower than a worm, daring to ruin our banquet.”

Kim A-ri: Look at that hat. Is that the Captain?

Han Ga-in: Quiet. Focus on the video.

“As the great Marcas watches over the Esper, eternal glory shall be with us! First Officer!”

After the Captain shouted, the first officer appeared at his side, also wearing an impressive uniform.

The first officer gave the crew several instructions. They tightly bound Grandpa to another nearby pillar.

Yoo Song-i: It looks like they’re about to do something! Elena?

Not yet. Justice was slowly beginning to activate, but I needed to see a little more to be certain.

Once Grandpa was tied to the pillar, the Captain began chanting an ominous incantation again.

“The Sacrifice is sixty-eight years old, born in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea, occupation-”

The Captain went on at length about Grandpa’s age, birthplace, and other information while writing and drawing something around the pillar Grandpa was tied to.

At that moment, the cloth covering the pillar beside Grandpa’s was pulled away.

... My breath stopped.

Light flooded the dark interior of the ship.

The Scales of Justice appeared, spiraling through the air.

* * *

- Han Ga-in

Ah, fuck! The moment the cloth covering the pillar was removed, all of us let out groans.

The remains of the man hanging from the pillar, probably the “reserve” who had been taken instead of us yesterday, were too horrific to look at.

His skin had been peeled away, and vicious torture marks covered his body as though he’d been burned all over.

The moment clear proof of evil appeared in the video, even the Chat Window feed, which had remained steady through all that horror, shook violently.

Grandpa, who had been sending us his visual information, must have found it hard to remain calm in the face of that sight.

Golden waves immediately spread around Elena like surging tides.

--- Boom! Ba-ba-boom!

The Scales, spinning like a whirlwind, crushed the ship’s interior to pieces in an instant.

Elena began to fly, and the rest of us hurriedly ran after her.

What was the route to the Colosseum again? It had been pretty complicated. Turn right at the second-floor stairs-

--- Craaash!

The route didn’t matter. Elena started making a straight path.

She flew forward, smashing through the ship’s interior and breaking through the floors as though she intended to pierce straight through the vessel. All we had to do was run after her.

If anything, the floor was shattered so badly that it was dangerous to find somewhere to step.

Yoo Song-i: Grandpa! Hold on a little longer. Elena has started flying!

...

Grandpa didn’t answer.

Instead, a photo appeared in the Chat Window.

Was it the Colosseum’s ceiling? A huge object like a clock hung from it.

Only the numbers 0, 1, 2, and 3 were displayed, and it had just one hand. The hand pointed to 0.

What was that clock? It had to mean something.

Still, this was a relief. Something appearing in the Chat Window meant Grandpa was still alive, at least for now!

Footnotes:

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