WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 144: One Ticket, One Outfit, One Chance
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 72
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
We woke up together in the hotel corridor. Before I could feel happy about seeing everyone again, I looked around the hotel with a dizzying feeling.
How long had it been?
We struggled through one trial, only for another to come. We overcame that one, then another followed. One trial after another, without even a chance to get proper rest! Before my body could give out, it felt like my mind had already melted away. Looking at my companions, who had just woken up with dazed expressions, I couldn't help but laugh.
The corners of their mouths curled up as they looked at me, and soon the entire corridor was filled with victorious laughter!
Eun-sol, whom I hadn't seen in so long that I'd actually missed her, spoke first.
“Let's go eat first! Looks like they'll give us the rewards after we're done eating.”
In the cheerful atmosphere, Jin-cheol started acting a little strange. He suddenly stared intently into empty space, then whipped his head around in every direction.
Mook-seong pointed it out.
“What's wrong with you, Boar? You've been staring into empty space this whole time. Did you see a ghost or something?”
Unexpectedly, Jin-cheol answered seriously.
“Something's been sparkling in the air for a while now. Something like a person keeps faintly appearing and disappearing... Did something happen while I was unconscious?”
...
Silence fell over the group. Something huge had happened to him. No one wanted to explain it.
As we headed back to Room 105, the others received the same notification that those who had cleared Perfect Life had already seen. The “intent behind the trials” written at the beginning was interesting, but it was only about trials we had already cleared. It didn't matter now.
What caught everyone's interest was the rewards.
One ticket, one outfit, one chance.
And a special reward for the person with the greatest contribution. Everyone eagerly discussed what these items, which would be given soon, could be.
* * *
--- Click.
When I returned from the restroom and looked over at the dining table, everyone was in high spirits. I sat down and watched the boy beside me building a tower.
Three slices of pork belly on top of a plain donut. A sirloin steak on top of the pork belly. Pork cutlet sauce drizzled over that, then a grilled tomato, and finally a pork cutlet on top.
...
Unable to watch any longer, A-ri spoke up.
“Seung-yeop. Isn't that artery bomb burger too big to swallow in one bite?”
“It's fine.”
After letting out a brief laugh, I looked around. Those who had progressed further were busily telling those who had been eliminated earlier how they had made their way through the Gate Room.
Even Elena, who normally didn't seem like the type to do that, was proudly explaining to Jin-cheol and Eun-sol how she had tricked the Esper's crew.
Naturally, she left out the part where she had been subdued in the end and nearly became a sacrifice, or the part where she had nearly caused a major disaster in Perfect Life.
Jin-cheol listened eagerly to our stories, regretful that he had been eliminated so early. When he heard that a witch had possessed his body before being driven out, he wore a shocked expression for a long time.
It was peaceful. The perfect time to drop a bomb.
--- Bang! Bang!
“Everyone, listen up.”
All eyes turned to me.
“This may be sudden in the middle of a meal, but it seems one of the rewards has already been given.”
Everyone's eyes widened at my unexpected words. Mook-seong was the first to grasp part of the situation.
“Did you get the reward meant for the person with the greatest contribution? I figured as much.”
Everyone nodded at his words. It seemed many people had guessed I would be the one to receive the special reward.
Honestly, wasn't it obviously me?
During the second trial, Witch’s Forest, I played a major role in bringing Arima under control. In the third trial, the Jekyll and Hyde Game, my deductions carried us from beginning to end.
I hadn't done everything alone in the other trials, but my role had never been small either.
“That's right. I checked what the reward was a little while ago.”
Everyone tilted their heads when I said I'd checked it alone.
“A little while ago? Did you check it when you went to the restroom?”
I stood up in front of everyone with a grin. Ha! A pleasure so intense it was hard to describe flooded my mind. I couldn't contain the joy of feeling as though I'd truly become superhuman.
I proudly raised both arms and focused. The Feather Tattoo I had checked in the restroom.
The moment I became aware of the tattoo, I instinctively understood how to use it.
Flash!
With a sharp whoosh, I appeared on the opposite side of the dining table!
Everyone's eyes went wide-
--- Crash!
...
I fell out of the air and hit the floor.
“...”
“...”
After a moment of silence, A-ri asked,
“Was that... Teleportation? Did you move into the air and fall on purpose?”
“...”
“Looks like controlling the destination is difficult. You'll need to practice that ability too.”
“I can't use it again right away. It needs a few hours.”
“Right. It's an incredible ability. Still, practice hard if you don't want to teleport at a critical moment and immediately fall to your death.”
It was a little embarrassing, but I got back up and raised both hands again!
“Wow! Did you see that? I can teleport now!”
Seung-yeop exclaimed in admiration.
“Hyung, that was just like Flash in real life.”
A-ri poured cold water on the moment.
“After seeing that ability, I'm sure of it. You're definitely going to be the first person subjected to Sealing on the second floor.”
“...”
Everyone congratulated me a little late, and mealtime came to an end.
* * *
As if it had been waiting for us to finish eating, the hotel displayed a notification.
/Did you enjoy your meal?
Once again, we offer our congratulations to those who have overcome another grueling trial.
One week from today, the second floor will open. On the second floor, you will face trials on an entirely higher level than those you have faced so far.
Of course, with the skills you have shown so far and the power of the treasures you have already accumulated, you will be fully capable of overcoming them. During this week of rest, please recover fully, both physically and mentally.
P.S. That very thing you have all been waiting for! Please proceed to the front desk./
Song-i cried out happily.
“A whole week this time? That's a pretty long break! We don't need to explore or anything, so let's really get some rest this time.”
Song-i grabbed Elena's arm and added,
“We can swim and ski!”
Elena was thoroughly flustered and couldn't hide her embarrassed expression. Eun-sol looked like she was struggling to contain herself as she urged everyone on.
“Let's hurry to the front desk!”
In the center of the front desk stood something like a massive treasure chest. Jin-cheol walked up to it, tilting his head.
“Let's just open it.”
He pressed a button, and the chest opened, revealing the three rewards the hotel had mentioned.
One ticket, one outfit, one chance.
Jin-cheol picked up a red button, looking puzzled. It was a small box with nothing but a button attached to it.
‘One chance’
A name and brief description were written on the side of the box.
‘Escape Button’
Standing beside him, I picked up the ticket. A brief description was written on its back.
/Wish Ticket! It can be used in various ways. Wouldn't it be fun to discover its uses?/
What kind of bullshit was that? Just write down what it does!
Just as I was about to get annoyed by the absurdity of it, A-ri's expression changed beside me.
Her face became a storm of tangled emotions, a vortex of fierce impulse, aching longing, desperate desire, and greed she couldn't conceal.
Almost instinctively, A-ri reached out to grab the ticket in my hand. Without thinking, I pushed her hand away.
“...”
“... Sorry. I was a little startled.”
“I know one of the ticket's uses. Calm down. We all understand how you feel.”
“...”
Silence filled the room. I had realized at least one of the ticket's “various uses.”
This ticket could resurrect someone who had died in the hotel.
The ticket wasn't the only reward that made the atmosphere tense. The moment Mook-seong grunted as he pulled out the “one outfit,” everyone fell silent. That thing was too elaborate to call merely clothing. It would be more accurate to call it a spacesuit. Of course, a spacesuit was technically a kind of clothing too.
The outfit looked like a spacesuit with incredible durability, and it had a nameplate attached to it.
‘Protective Suit: Impervious to Blades, Water, and Fire’
It was Day 72 since we arrived at the hotel.
We had obtained our first escape tool.
* * *
At the refreshment table, about a three-minute walk past the front desk, there were usually all our favorite drinks and snacks waiting for us. Today, there wasn't a single drink or snack on it. We had cleared everything away and placed the massive items on top instead.
I'd thought getting the rewards would put everyone in a cheerful, celebratory mood, but...
We only stared silently at the items on the table. In the awkward atmosphere, Eun-sol picked up the Escape Button, the reward with the fewest obvious problems.
“You all read the description, right? It's simple enough. Just once! Press the button, and you immediately escape from a Curse Room. It still counts toward the number of attempts.”
Since no one said anything, I answered.
“It's a tool that forcibly gives us an ‘escape’ result, just as it says. It seems to be single-use, and it looks like it counts toward the attempt total that makes the difficulty brutal from the fifth attempt onward. Since it's an escape result, it should naturally resurrect anyone who died at that point too, right? Just as described, it gives us one more chance.”
“It practically feels like an extra life. That's nice.”
“It also makes me a little uneasy.”
“Why?”
“If they're giving us something like this, just how hard is the second floor going to be?”
“Ah, let's not start thinking about that already.”
After putting down the Escape Button, we fell silent again.
This time, I picked up the ticket again.
“It says it has various uses, and one of those uses seems to be ‘resurrection.’ Is that right?”
I asked while looking at A-ri. She nodded obediently.
“Of course, it doesn't seem like we can resurrect someone immediately with this alone. Do we need to find somewhere like the Resurrection Room you mentioned before? Is that where we use the ticket?”
A-ri spoke.
“I don't know where or how it's used either. I only recognized it because it looks exactly like a ticket I heard about before.”
“Right. I suppose... At some point, we need to discuss who we would resurrect.”
A-ri said nothing. In the awkward silence, Eun-sol answered.
“They said we have a week to rest, didn't they? Let's have a serious conversation about it at some point. But I don't think we need to decide right away. We haven't even found the Resurrection Room yet. It's probably on the second floor. And since it says there are ‘various uses,’ we need to find out what the other ones are too. If they're comparable to resurrection, the others must be incredibly valuable as well.”
“That's true. We should talk about it, but there's no need to decide right now.”
...
Silence fell once more. In the end, everyone's attention turned to the ‘one outfit’ that made us the most uncomfortable. Unable to stand the stifling atmosphere, Jin-cheol reached for the Protective Suit.
“Ah! This is so frustrating. What's the big deal? Are you all worried someone will put it on in the middle of the night and run off?”
The other seven people, who had all been thinking exactly that, flinched. Jin-cheol clamped his mouth shut at their reaction and put the Protective Suit back down.
Should I just not have told them about the elevator password?
... Forget it. It was already in the past. Besides, hadn't I promised myself to stop deceiving everyone?
This was another trial we had to overcome.
With a sigh, I looked at the Protective Suit, which had become a hot potato.
A week of rest before we went to the second floor.
We needed to strengthen our bond again, so things like the Protective Suit and the ticket couldn't shake us apart.
Footnotes:
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