WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 141: Room 107, Gate Room - Final Trial (32)

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- Han Ga-in

Four days had passed since I'd started blankly drinking coffee every day at a café near the Gangneung coast that A-ri had sent a photo of.

Would Song-i's plan to appeal to Elena's sensibilities really work?

I wasn't sure, but I couldn't think of any other approach, so I went along with it.

For the first day or two, Song-i and A-ri seemed to be preparing something.

From the third day on, though, they naturally started playing on the beach as if they'd really come here for a vacation.

It was ridiculous, but at the same time, I understood.

It was hard to say, "How can you relax in the middle of such a dangerous trial?" Life had been one nonstop crisis since entering the Hotel, and every day was another march through hardship.

Even in the middle of a war, people had to sleep and eat. Of course, they had to relieve stress too.

The idea that we couldn't rest because today was dangerous had no meaning in the Hotel.

Tomorrow would be dangerous too, and so would the day after.

As I drank coffee and let my thoughts wander, the person I'd been waiting for finally arrived.

--- Ding-dong!

The moment I heard someone enter, I turned toward the café entrance.

It was someone bundled up in clothes despite the scorching weather, their entire face covered by a mask.

Even so, the person's build and flowing blond hair made it easy to recognize who it was.

There was no need to worry about how to bring them over to my table.

The moment Elena entered the café, our eyes met. Her eyes widened at once.

As if entranced, Elena blankly ordered a café latte, then came over and sat across from me.

“... Is there something you wanted to say to me?”

“I think it'd be better if you said what you wanted to say.”

“I knew you'd recognize me right away. Even though I covered everything with these clothes and a mask.”

“...”

“Sometimes, I had strange dreams. Dreams where I met unfamiliar people and wandered through a strange place full of monsters. I only knew that place was some kind of hotel. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

It seemed she was almost awake. Our plan to create conditions where she could remember on her own instead of needlessly provoking her had worked.

“I understand. Please, go on.”

“I used to think they were just vague dreams, you know? I've been interested in things like the occult since I was little, so I thought those interests had influenced my dreams. Then I recently had an unbelievable experience. I saw a bird that seemed to have descended from the sky and a girl who felt like a magician. After seeing them, the dreams became clearer. That bird and girl started appearing in them. And...”

“And?”

“And I saw you too. You looked a little different from how you do now, but...”

“Your memories have almost returned.”

“So they weren't just dreams? What was it? Please explain.”

Aah! The final trial was nearly over too.

I explained everything in detail to Elena, who seemed ready to accept the truth.

We were climbing through the Hotel, fighting indescribably alien beings.

I also told her that this place was a trial prepared by the Hotel, an illusory world shaped by Elena's wish.

A hollow look settled over Elena's face as she listened.

...

Was it because she realized that the success she'd thought she'd achieved as an actress had all been an illusion?

Thankfully, she didn't seem to doubt me.

We silently drank our coffee and looked out at the beach.

Outside, A-ri, the “witch” Elena had mentioned, was shoveling sand into Song-i's mouth. Song-i kicked her, sending her sprawling backward.

Pero, supposedly descended from the sky, was stealing chicken skewers from a beach stall and being chased by its owner.

... What were they all doing? Why was I the only one working?

“They're playing so energetically.”

“I know. They're really just like middle schoolers. And a chicken-pigeon, to boot.”

Elena's reaction differed from mine. She was looking outside with a wistful expression.

“Will you listen to me for a moment?”

“Haven't I been listening this whole time? There probably isn't a man in the world who wouldn't want to listen to Elena.”

Elena gave a small laugh, then began a fairly long story.

“Actually, my parents were very successful when I was young. I still vividly remember going to our country house with them every summer.”

The story Elena began then was something I'd vaguely heard before.

When Elena was young, her father had been rapidly climbing the ranks in public service.

Their family was happy and wealthy. Back then, there wasn't a speck of unhappiness in Elena's world.

Then, one day, incomprehensible things began to happen.

Her father suddenly lost his job, and their country house and home disappeared overnight. The problem was that losing his job and property had only been the beginning.

Suspicious people began hovering around Elena's father every day. The more often he met with reporters, the more inexplicable things happened.

At last, when people close to Elena's father began being sent to prison or taken to hospitals one by one, their long exile began.

I had nothing to add, so I listened in silence. Honestly, it was the kind of story I'd only seen on the news.

Stories about the dictator in Russia, who had practically become a tsar, purging the opposition came out constantly. But seeing a real case right in front of me, I didn't know how I was supposed to react.

Things would get better someday? That was a lie.

I heard that dictator was still thriving, with enormous approval ratings in his own country.

While Elena spoke for a long time, Song-i and A-ri slipped into the café, wearing swimsuits with thin clothes thrown over them. When they saw Elena and me talking, they quietly sat in the booth across from us, trying to hide.

... What were they really doing? Did they think that counted as hiding? Elena had already flinched the moment they came in.

Thanks to the two of them, Elena stopped talking for a moment.

“They're funny, aren't they?”

“They are. I wish I'd had a time like that too.”

“A time like that?”

“When I leave this... ‘Hotel’? When I return to the real world, I'll probably chase my dream of becoming an actress. If I do my best and luck is on my side, I might become so successful that I envy no one in the world.”

“I'm sure you'll succeed.”

I meant that.

I'd only seen bits and pieces of Elena's acting, but I didn't think she was bad.

More than anything, she had that incredible face! Wasn't that the greatest weapon in the acting world?

It would be stranger if she failed. Honestly, Elena probably knew it too. If she didn't, she'd be lying.

But Elena's expression didn't brighten much.

“No matter how successful I become in the future, there are things I'll never be able to get back.”

“Pardon?”

“The time I lost, doing nothing but running and hiding. What about you, Ga-in? You said earlier that you're a high school student, right?”

“I was dragged here before I could enroll, but I did get accepted, so I think I'm half a university student...”

“You probably had a pretty happy teenage life. Made lots of friends, built lots of memories.”

“Middle and high school students in Korea don't have that much fun. Most of what I remember is studying for entrance exams.”

“At least you spent that time investing in your own growth, didn't you? You didn't spend half the day hiding silently in a wardrobe while running from place to place like I did, or spend your time fearing your parents might have died whenever they were later than usual?”

This was strange.

Something was wrong. This wasn't right.

I could feel the emotions boiling over more intensely in Elena's voice.

Song-i and A-ri, who sensed the dangerous mood from across the café, turned to look at us in alarm.

A-ri frantically gestured, telling me to do something.

What was I supposed to do? Elena had launched into the story and then entered that spiral on her own.

“I know I'm not that old, and older people who suffered through their entire youth might hear me and say, ‘What are you talking about when you're only in your twenties?’ But why should that matter? My heart is filled with despair that I wasted more than half my life running away!”

“Um... Elena? Please calm down first-”

Elena no longer listened to me.

“Why has my life been like this? I wanted to live happily too. Like A-ri! Like Song-i! I wanted to go to the beach in the summer. I wanted to ski in the winter. I wanted to watch movies with my family on weekends and raise a dog or cat. I wanted to go to school and make lots of friends I'd known since childhood. I wanted to hear about my mom's friends' sons and my dad's friends' daughters too!

Have you ever crossed a border five times in a single month? Have you ever been terrified every time you drank a cup of tea? Have you ever run into a man wearing a hat on the street, then realized later that he was someone you'd seen by the roadside before crossing the border two months ago, and felt chills down your spine? Have you ever thought about what it feels like to see the person who ruined your father's life and forced you to keep running endlessly continue to thrive, appearing on the news as the leader who saved the country?”

A flustered A-ri cut in from beside us.

“Th-that! I think you misunderstand something. I didn't spend such a happy teenage life either-”

“You idiot! Say something that might actually persuade her!”

“E-Elena? Please calm down. You can swim and ski in the Hotel too.”

“Are you calling that comfort?”

“Then say something, Ga-in!”

“Um, won't that dictator eventually get shot to death?”

“Wow! That's so comforting! And you lectured us after saying that!”

For a moment, Elena watched us bickering among ourselves with a wistful expression.

???

Just then, I felt an unexplainable sensation.

Elena was moving away from us.

Elena was right in front of me, yet she was blurring like a mirage, slipping away to somewhere I could never reach.

A-ri's face went pale as she felt something similar.

Elena made another wish upon the world.

The world granted Elena's wish.

* * *

- Han Ga-in

The entire world shook with an overwhelming shock, and I was swept along helplessly like someone carried away by a tidal wave.

Only after I barely regained my senses did I realize.

Creation itself had happened again!

I blankly looked around. Every sign hanging nearby, every sight around me, looked foreign.

Children with unfamiliar features hurried past me, running into white buildings.

... Seeing the faces of the kids around me, I had a terrible suspicion. Only after looking at myself in the side mirror of a car parked by the road did I realize.

A world created for the second time by Elena's wish.

I had returned to my early teens.

Ahead of me stood a golden-haired girl with a radiant smile that seemed to hold the sun.

Footnotes:

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