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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 129: Room 107, Gate Room - Fourth Trial (20)

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Episode 129: Room 107, Gate Room - ‘The Secret of the Esper’ (20)

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 46

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

Sage’s Advice: 2]

- Han Ga-in

We had learned the shocking fact that we were in a state of having gone back in time.

For a long while, I organized the notes left by my past self in the Status Window.

I couldn't know at this point, but it seemed that the me who wrote these notes had been in an extremely urgent situation.

They weren't written to be easy to understand. They were closer to a chaotic collection of information jumping from one subject to another.

After listening to my explanation, A-ri sighed.

“It feels like you wrote it almost exactly as your thoughts came to you.”

“I must've been in a huge hurry. The handwriting is practically flying off the page. I'll summarize it based on what I understood.

“An evil ritual using humans as sacrifices is taking place somewhere on the ship, and Grandpa Mook-seong was taken there and died. Elena used Justice to kill all the crew and passengers, so a demon turned back time. I think that's where we are now.”

“And the ritual requires information about our ages and birthplaces?”

“Yeah. There’s a clock on the ceiling of the place where the ritual is taking place, and its hand is currently pointing at one.”

“What determines how the clock hand moves?”

“I don't know. I wrote it too vaguely. It looks like I wasn't sure either.”

Elena, who had been listening for a while, spoke up.

“I think I understand the general situation. For now, let's follow the instructions Ga-in from the past left behind. According to them, there seem to be two things we need to do.”

“Yes. First, ruin tonight's Dinner Party somehow, because it seems to be the enemy's sore spot. Be careful, because the crew have guns. That's what it says.”

“How are we supposed to do that if the crew have guns? When Grandpa disappeared, our gun...”

“Gun?”

“Here it is.”

A-ri pulled a pistol from their waist, looking flustered. Why did A-ri have a pistol?

Still, it was a relief that we had one. I continued.

“Second, there's something like an underground prison below the ship. We should check it out.”

Song-i tilted her head.

“An underground prison... That's not somewhere you'd expect to find on a ship. I don't even know how we'd get there.”

I also told them the various bits of information my past self seemed to have written down as they came to him.

I had a guess, but I asked Elena to confirm it.

“Can you use Justice right now?”

Elena shook her head as if the answer were obvious.

“It's impossible. This has never happened before, so it feels strange, but it's not an issue of lacking evidence or anything like that. The power itself has dried up. Usually, it felt as though I had a full water tank but couldn't open the lid easily. Now the tank itself is empty.”

A-ri asked anxiously.

“Is it recovering? When will you be able to use it again?”

“It is recovering. But I think it'll take at least two or three days.”

Two or three days was far too long by Gate Room standards.

It seemed we wouldn't be able to use Justice again during the fourth trial.

There were just two words in the memo I left behind whose meanings I couldn't understand.

‘Ddaengbeol,’ ‘senior.’

What the hell did that mean? Everyone merely tilted their heads before leaving the cabin.

Two more changes occurred once we stepped outside.

First, Pero flew over from somewhere.

According to the memo in my Status Window, Song-i had sent Pero away on the fly. It seemed Pero had been fine all this time.

Had Pero been unaffected by the time reversal?

Perhaps Pero had simply been outside the ship.

As Pero and Song-i rubbed their cheeks together like a reunited family, the scenario updated.

Most of it was ordinary information explaining our current situation, but one detail stood out.

The crew and passengers of the Esper had fallen into fear when the hand of the Contract Clock moved.

Once we stepped outside the cabin and looked around at the people nearby, I understood what that meant.

The crew and passengers were too busy gathering in small groups and talking among themselves with deeply anxious expressions to pay any attention to us.

They occasionally reminded us to attend the Dinner Party while speaking among themselves, but they didn't seem able to spare us any more attention than that.

After watching the scene, A-ri voiced an optimistic opinion.

“This isn't bad. It feels like there's an information asymmetry.”

“An information asymmetry?” Song-i asked.

“Everyone has lost their memories from before the time reversal, including us. But thanks to Ga-in's Status Window, we came back with quite a bit of information, right? Those people, on the other hand, don't remember anything. All they know is that the hand of the Contract Clock moved.”

That made me curious again.

“Why did the hand of the Contract Clock move? I wrote about it vaguely too.”

“What exactly did you write?”

“‘The number on the clock = number of time reversals?’ Then I drew two lines over ‘number of time reversals.’”

“What is that supposed to mean? Does it mean the number of reversals is right or wrong? Couldn't you have written it more clearly?”

“Why are you taking that up with present-day me? I guess I wasn't certain when I wrote it either.”

Elena cut in.

“Let's focus on our next plan. We have half a day until the Dinner Party, so we need to check below the ship before then.”

We put our heads together and thought for a long time, but no clever plan came to mind.

Our biggest problem was our lack of fighting power.

With Justice exhausted, we no longer had the ability to fight the Esper's crew head-on.

If something was hidden below the ship, there would surely be crew members patrolling there...

After considering it for a while, I used Sage’s Advice. I expected a vague answer, but even that was necessary.

[Sage’s Advice: 2 -> 1]

[Make a Feint to the East and Attack in the West]

“Ah, what the hell is that supposed to mean...?”

A-ri asked, “What did it say?”

“It just gave me a single four-character idiom. ‘Make a Feint to the East and Attack in the West.’”

Song-i asked, “Is that a four-character idiom? What does it mean?”

“Was it, ‘Make a sound in the east and attack in the west’? It probably means drawing attention somewhere else, then attacking the place you actually want to target.”

Elena slapped her knee.

“I think I understand what Sage’s Advice means!”

* * *

- Elena

I gave a small spin and looked myself over.

The extravagant evening dress I had never worn in the outside world was a mix of purple and silver, as if the Milky Way had been embroidered across the night sky. The shawl draped over it was covered in soft white fur that reminded me of a rabbit in the winter mountains.

Most importantly, I was the one wearing it!

Ah, things like this were a little embarrassing. Still, this was enough to draw everyone's attention.

My role in this plan was to be the distraction, so I needed to look this flashy.

There was just one regret.

The people I wanted to see me like this had already left for the underground, tense as could be.

Even while I was getting ready earlier, my companions had been so busy planning the underground search that they hadn't looked my way even once. Honestly, I felt a little disappointed.

Lastly, I hid a candle lighter inside my dress, the finishing touch to all this splendor.

There was still plenty of time before the Dinner Party.

Yet many people were already strolling through the ship dressed for it.

When I approached the ballroom, people naturally gathered around me.

“Oh! My eyes are being blinded. Have the stars fallen from the sky? My lady...”

This kind of line. Isn't it a little much? It's so old-fashioned.

Still, I had to respond.

“My name is Elena Ivanov.”

“Ha ha ha! Lady Elena. I am Stevenson. Would you grant me the honor of escorting you?”

That line was even worse. Wasn't it a hundred years old?

Still, I held out my arm and headed toward the ballroom with Stevenson.

It was kind of funny to see several men nearby making no effort to hide how jealous they were of Stevenson.

Just as we tried to enter the ballroom, a crew member appeared.

“It is not yet time for the Dinner Party. You may not enter.”

“I know what time it is. I've heard that the inside of the ballroom is very extravagant. Could I not have a look around?”

I made what I thought was a suitably pleading expression, but it didn't work on the crew member.

“Lady, I'm sorry. Preparations are not yet complete. This evening...”

“Can't I really?”

At that moment, I was a deer, looking at the crew member with eyes glistening with tears.

The crew member looked flustered and stepped back, about to tell me no once again.

This man was tough. But I had another way.

I turned toward Stevenson.

“Is it truly so difficult to look at the ballroom in advance? I don't understand why they won't even let me take a single step outside my cabin. Perhaps I should return to my room after all?”

It sounded strange even as I said it. The crew member hadn't told me to return to my cabin even once.

But that was enough for the man beside me.

“You! Move aside at once! I don't know why you're making such a fuss over letting her have one look around. Move!”

Just as expected. I had dressed up with all my heart for this very moment.

The crew and passengers aboard this ship were far from an ordinary group, and they seemed to share a secret, evil relationship beneath the surface.

I'd dressed as well as I could and come out thinking I'd made myself into at least a 0.7 angel. The moment I did, countless people gathered around me.

And among them, one man had confidently stepped forward, pushing past all the others to speak to me.

Surely he held a fairly high position within this evil group.

Just as I expected, the crew member stepped aside, unable to hide a flustered expression at Stevenson's words, unlike when speaking to me.

The ballroom was already splendid inside.

There were only a few people there since it wasn't time for the party yet.

Stevenson, who had entered with me, spent quite some time boasting about his business and whatever else.

I played along for about ten minutes, telling him I hoped I could count on him at the Dinner Party too, and lifted his spirits. When I said I wanted to admire the surroundings alone for a while, he left.

Was he thinking he was playing some kind of push-and-pull game by himself?

It didn't matter. From here on out, it was time for Make a Feint to the East and Attack in the West!

Make a Feint to the East and Attack in the West.

I'd lived in Korea for quite a while now, but I still wasn't used to these strange Chinese-character expressions.

Why does Korea use such strange Chinese expressions in the first place?

Make a sound in the east and strike in the west?

Wouldn't it be better to shorten it to east-yell-west-punch?

Yell in the east! Punch in the west!

Thinking whatever came to mind, I took out the lighter.

It was time to make some noise in the east.

* * *

- Han Ga-in

As we lingered near the stairs, a loud commotion began.

“Fire!”

“The ballroom is on fire!”

My past self's advice: ‘The party is their sore spot.’

Sure enough, those words weren't wrong.

The moment Elena set fire to the ballroom, the whole ship erupted. Crew and passengers alike ran for the ballroom.

Song-i spoke worriedly.

“Will Elena be okay?”

“You don't need to worry too much.”

I truly wasn't that worried. I'd already experienced Elena's chilling acting skills on the Doppelgänger Train. Even if she got caught, wouldn't they let her off if she shed a few tears and said she had no idea this would happen?

We were probably the ones in danger, not Elena.

The three of us looked at one another, then began descending into the underground of the Esper by way of the stairs.

Footnotes:

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