WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 131: Room 107, Gate Room - Fourth Trial (22)
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Episode 131: Room 107, Gate Room - ‘The Secret of the Esper’ (22)
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 46
Current Location: Level 1, Room 107 (Gate Room)
Sage’s Advice: 1]
- Han Ga-in
Even though his legs had reappeared, Harrison still couldn't support himself properly.
We helped him up to the main deck. I thought a fight might break out the moment we emerged, but when we opened the door marked “No Entry Except for Administrators,” there was no one around.
As I looked around, wary of an ambush, Harrison smiled.
“There's no need to be tense at this hour. Can't you hear the music? The party has begun. Those who contract with Marcas must always offer a ‘banquet’ along with a sacrifice.”
“I was only being cautious.”
We brought him back to the cabin. After leaving Harrison alone to collect himself, we stepped back out.
The moment we did, A-ri spoke.
“Do you trust that bastard?”
“Harrison himself? Or his plan to sink the ship?”
“Both.”
“I don't trust the former at all. As for the latter, about halfway.”
“You trust that plan even halfway? It sounded strange the moment I heard it. More importantly, if the ship sinks, we'll die too.”
“Let me tell you about the solution I've been considering. I think resolving the Esper ultimately requires turning the clock hand in the Colosseum to three. The enemies' reaction when the hand reached one, along with the scenario's wording, has consistently emphasized the importance of that Contract Clock.”
“I agree that the clock is important.”
“Time reversed and our memories were erased, but according to the Status Window records, when the enemies were wiped out, the hand reached one and time turned back. Seeing that, my past self guessed that the clock hand represented the number of time reversals.”
“I get what you're thinking now. You think the hand will move again if the ship is about to sink?”
“Right. If it simply sinks and that's the end of it, we'd fall into the sea and die too. That's a serious problem. But if the ship is about to sink, there's a good chance time will turn back again, and the hand will probably move one more space at that moment.”
The solution I had in mind so far was simple.
Somehow, turn the Colosseum clock to three.
Just as wiping out the enemies by force made it go from zero to one and reversed time, wouldn't sinking the ship make it move another space and reverse time again? That meant there was no need to worry about dying after the ship sank.
After hearing me out, A-ri seemed to think for a moment before speaking again.
“Actually, another possibility did occur to me...”
I immediately replied.
“Let's save that as a last resort.”
“Do you know what I mean?”
“I'm saying it because I know. It naturally occurred to me while listening to the first officer, so it's obvious.”
I pointed at A-ri, then made a slicing gesture with my hand.
A-ri snickered when she saw it.
“Fine. We'll leave it as the last resort, Plan Z. If it fails, I'll definitely die.”
Song-i, who had been silently listening to us for a while, finally spoke.
“What have you two been talking about this whole time? What's the last resort?”
We smiled lightly and headed toward the ballroom, where Elena should have been.
When we arrived, I realized my prediction had been wrong.
Elena was in considerable danger.
* * *
- Han Ga-in
The moment we entered the ballroom, a man in strange clothes standing at its center laughed merrily.
“Ladies and gentlemen! The party's other main characters have arrived! Please welcome them with applause.”
--- Clap! Clap! Clap!
Amid the loud applause, the crowd's vicious gazes seemed to pierce us.
A strange pillar rose from the center of the ballroom, and Elena was tied to it.
She hung there with her head bowed.
“Sis!”
The instant Song-i cried out in shock, A-ri grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“Calm down. She's still alive. I thought they couldn't hurt her during the party, but I guess tying her to a pillar is allowed?”
“There was a record saying they pulled out guns if someone tried to ruin the party. It looks like they can respond if we cross the line too. Elena definitely crossed it when she set the ballroom on fire.”
So we'd finally been found out. Even Make a Feint to the East and Attack in the West had its limits.
It had been hard not to get caught while setting the ballroom on fire and doing something as insane as infiltrating the prison beneath the ship.
Paradoxically, that gave me certainty about one thing.
The reason the enemies had noticed what we were doing yet couldn't openly stop us.
The reason they still couldn't hurt us immediately and could only glare at us, and why some had to play music while others had to dance even now, was clear.
For them, this party wasn't for fun. It was surely part of a ritual they had to perform!
Before long, the people in the ballroom gathered around us.
As a soft classical orchestra played, they danced around us.
By now, both sides knew everything there was to know. A-ri smirked.
“Looks like we're going to have a real fight as soon as the party ends. You look ready to eat us alive.”
The enemies grinned at that, and one of them spoke.
“Oh my, eat you alive? Would we do something so barbaric? People taste better when they're cooked.”
I looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
Elena must have set the fire properly, because the ballroom was clearly no longer in normal condition. Burn marks covered the place.
Was Elena okay? From a distance, it didn't look like she'd been through anything terrible yet.
I saw A-ri grip her pistol tensely. It was pointless.
There had to be dozens of people in this ballroom with guns at their waists. Could we really take them on in a gunfight?
Of course, we hadn't entered this place relying on a single pistol.
Pero, who had been sitting on Song-i's shoulder while pretending to be a tame parrot, climbed down.
In an instant, a monster so enormous it seemed to fill the entire space appeared.
The people who had been dancing while mocking us froze, unable to hide their surprise.
--- Kiaaaaaaaaaaak!
A dreadful scream that pierced through the hall filled the space!
* * *
It was the power Pero had used on the first night after being born in the hotel.
The instant its howl, capable of driving people's minds into pandemonium, erupted, the ballroom became utter chaos.
We had known in advance and prepared ourselves, covering our ears or using the Filter, so we quickly came to our senses. The people who had been exposed to Pero's cry without knowing simply went mad and began biting one another.
It was stronger than before. Had Pero already grown?
Song-i shouted urgently.
“Everyone, get out! I'll bring Elena and Pero and catch up!”
A-ri and I ran out of the ballroom in a panic. Where should we go now?
Should we meet up with Harrison?
As we ran frantically toward the cabins, Elena and Song-i caught up to us while riding Pero.
Elena still hadn't regained consciousness.
A-ri spoke in disbelief.
“What is this thing? Now it can carry people while running too?”
“Run! People are chasing us!”
--- Bang! --- Bang!
Before she even finished speaking, the people chasing us from behind started firing!
It seemed they could attack now that the party had ended.
We desperately hid behind walls and obstacles, and A-ri returned fire several times. Then something strange happened to the ship.
--- Clang!
A tremendous sound rang throughout the entire ship!
What was that? What had changed?
As I stood there in confusion, the crew and passengers who had been shooting at us began to scream.
“Aaaaaah!”
“You fucking bastards! I'll cut you into pieces while you're alive and-”
Hearing their furious cries, I realized it.
The clock hand had moved again!
A-ri immediately spoke too.
“What? It's not like the enemies have been wiped out, so why did the clock suddenly-”
...
Like lightning striking, realization came to me.
The meaning of the clock. The reason the hand had moved.
A-ri had reached the same realization. Her eyes widened, and together we became certain.
Plan Z was possible!
The entire ship began to shake again.
All at once, the lights throughout the ship went out, and the people rushing at us slammed against the floor as if magnets had been attached to their bodies.
As we stood bewildered by what had happened, an announcement rang throughout the vessel.
/Ahem. It is deeply moving to have occasion to use this again. Everyone, come to me./
Harrison hadn't said where to come, but I was already beginning to guess.
Pero carried Elena on its back while the rest of us ran after it.
The sailors and passengers stuck to the floor hurled hate-filled cries, cursing us.
* * *
- Han Ga-in
--- Click!
We opened the door to the Captain’s quarters.
... I'd expected something serious to have happened, but the sight inside surpassed my imagination.
Harrison had long since lost his human form.
Song-i and I covered our mouths, struggling not to vomit, while A-ri calmly walked forward.
“Wow, this is impressive. Your head's stuck to the ceiling, and your hands are steering the ship? I can't see your legs. Wow! Did you become one with the ship?”
“I'm pleased to hear you call it impressive. Young lady, you have quite an artistic sensibility too.”
“I know a little about modern art. The stranger it is, the more artistic it becomes. So why did you call us here, ‘Captain’ Harrison?”
Captain Harrison gave a metallic scraping laugh before replying.
“So you've already figured out that I'm the Captain?”
“I figured it out from the state you're in. You're the Captain who worshipped demons. What did you do to get locked in the underground prison?”
“The fools on this ship lacked courage. Becoming one with this immortal ship is the path to true eternal life...”
A laugh escaped me.
Looking at the grotesque form of the demon-worshipping Captain merged with the ship, I could guess why the crew had rebelled and imprisoned him.
“So your plan to sink the ship was just bullshit?”
“Sink it? Are you mad? The 120,000-ton Esper is the finest ship. How can you say something so absurd?”
“What a shame. We thought the sinking plan sounded pretty good. In fact, we still intend to sink this ship.”
“I understand your intentions well. How about we discuss that matter later?”
The nauseating feeling was finally settling down. I guess my stomach had become pretty strong too.
“Then why did you call us here?”
“It's nothing much. I'm proposing that we join forces for the greater good.”
“...”
“I've stopped the crew and passengers for the moment, but it won't last long. Those bastards have wandered with this ship for decades and learned some of its lofty secrets in their own way. Soon, they'll come here to kill you and imprison me again. Honestly, I'm not confident I can handle them alone.”
Song-i spoke.
“Honestly, don't you look like the last person who should be making a proposal for cooperation?”
“What's wrong with how I look?”
“... I think I could bet everything I own that you'd kill us the moment you subdued the ship's crew and passengers.”
“Ha ha! Then were you planning not to kill me?”
Hearing that, I couldn't help but laugh.
“Of course we're going to kill you, you bastard!”
“Young man, that's a harsh way to speak. What I'm saying is simple. Let's put our dispute aside for now and join forces while we fight the people who are about to storm in here. Haven't you heard that the enemy of my enemy is my ally? I can hear the vibrations already.”
We could feel the vibrations too now. The sound of an enormous number of people running toward us.
Behind us was a demon worshipper certain to stab us in the back. In front of us were fiends rushing toward us to strip the flesh from our bones and eat it.
Tonight was going to be rough.
The final night aboard the Esper had begun.
Footnotes:
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