Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 154

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 153: Room 201, Curse Room - ‘□ □□’ (2)

──────

- Kim A-ri

As we headed toward the third mansion, I shared my deduction through the Chat Window.

The spaces beyond the mansion's doors were warped, and they seemed to change constantly.

It didn't seem like there was only one mansion.

It looked like we'd need to conserve the Chat Window's character limit too, so I kept it brief before entering the third mansion.

This time, we came in through the back door.

The mansion looked much the same as before.

After seeing what happened to Oliver on the carpet earlier, none of us dared take a careless step.

Elizabeth finally began giving orders.

“Don't split up recklessly. We'll check the rooms near the parlor one by one. Be as careful as possible, and stay ready to react immediately in case a monster attacks. Let's move!”

The mansion wasn't very large, so the search didn't take long.

There was nothing wrong with the carpet in the third mansion.

Soon, we passed through the parlor and headed toward the living room, where Cha Jin-cheol was the first to notice something unusual.

“Cha Jin-cheol? Did you find something strange?”

“Everyone, come over here! The TV is weird.”

The moment I approached, I understood what he meant. The TV had begun flickering strangely.

The carpet in the second mansion, the TV in the third?

Thinking a monster might appear, everyone tensed and raised their guns.

The TV turned on.

--- Crackle! Crackle! Pop!

“Huh? Huh? It suddenly turned on!”

“What is this? Did someone touch the remote-”

Then music I'd heard since my elementary-school days began playing.

/Beep, beep, beep beep beep! Beep, beep, beep beep beep! The pledge will begin shortly. All toys, please stand at attention./

Toys?

The moment the TV made that announcement, an incomprehensible force froze all our movements.

/Pledge.

I am a slave.

Though I have eyes, I cannot see the truth, and so I do not deserve to see.

Though I have ears, I cannot hear distant sounds, and so I do not deserve to hear.

I shall offer everything I possess to the Great One.

I swear that you will kindly cut off my arms and legs, fry them as half soy-sauce chicken and half plain fried chicken, and enjoy them deliciously!/

After that absurd pledge echoed through the room, our mouths were forced to repeat it.

/Everyone has sworn the pledge. Shall we fry up some half-and-half chicken as promised? Ding-dong-daeng!/

Along with those utterly insane words, a massive cauldron of boiling oil appeared on the TV screen!

Then a black hand stretched out from the display, grabbed Elena, and began pulling her toward the TV.

--- Flaaaash!

A Star appeared in front of Jin-cheol.

He couldn't move, but he could still summon the Star?

But this was a mistake!

Jin-cheol himself couldn't move.

Naturally, the Star had no guidance function, so it remained motionless in front of him. The Star was closer to us than it was to the TV.

Before the TV could mutate, Song-i's skin began to turn inside out. I, too, felt the horrifying sensation of my hair turning into flesh.

Realizing the situation too late, Jin-cheol immediately dismissed the Star.

In the end, the arm that had emerged from the TV began pulling the helpless Elena “inside the display”!

The enormous cauldron waiting inside the TV was bubbling with boiling oil.

What would happen was far too obvious, and everyone's faces went pale.

--- Bang! Bang!

The display exploded with two gunshots.

Our bound bodies were freed at once, and Elena, whose entire upper body had been pulled into the display, was thrown back out.

When I turned, I saw Mook-seong's hand floating in midair.

The Remote Hand glove could be operated even while his body was frozen!

Elizabeth cried out in relief.

“Mook-seong! Well done! Something truly awful almost happened.”

My heart had nearly stopped too.

If Mook-seong hadn't controlled the glove, fired the gun, and destroyed the TV, then Elena, dragged into the television while we could do nothing, would have...

...

Stop imagining it. Just thinking about it made me sick.

Jin-cheol belatedly saw Song-i's red, blistering skin and apologized in a panic. Song-i told him it couldn't be helped in such an urgent situation.

There were tentacles mixed into my hair too. Well, the hotel would get rid of them once we left.

I hurried over to Elena.

“Are you okay, Elena?”

Elena had been pulled into the TV and thrown back out, but she said nothing.

“Elena?”

She turned toward me with a vacant expression.

Only then did the others gather around us.

“Elena? Are you okay?”

“Elena? Sis?”

Her mouth opened.

“I saw it... I saw it...”

“What did you see?”

“There were eyes inside the TV.”

“Eyes? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Eyes.”

“Elena? Are you all right?”

“Eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes.

Look at the eyes flashing through the cracks. Look at the eyes watching from outside. Have you ever walked down a dark road at night and felt someone watching you from behind? Have you ever sat alone in a room, typing on a keyboard, then suddenly felt another person's gaze? Children cannot sleep because they think the dolls scattered around them are watching them. In the dawn sky, there are eyes looking down on those leaving early for work. Upon the earth at noon, there are eyes silently watching a world full of life. Ah! The entire world is eyes. I saw three thousand gazes covering the horizon. The greatest Eye takes in everything from the abyss to the sky, missing nothing. Naturally, we are within its sight as well.”

???

Elena suddenly stopped talking, opened her eyes wide, and looked up at the ceiling.

“You are here too. No, you are in this entire place. Hello, everyone!”

--- Bang!

Just as everyone stood frozen by the bizarre words Elena was spewing like a madwoman, she immediately shot herself and died.

We were left stunned, unable to process the sudden turn of events.

* * *

The second shocking accident had happened in an instant. Elena had committed suicide after being consumed by madness.

Since entering the hotel, seeing companions die had become common. We'd seen companions die, leave the hotel ourselves, and later meet them again many times.

Even Song-i and Seung-yeop, who had once seemed fragile, had long since grown accustomed to the deaths of their companions.

But...

This death was among the strangest companion deaths we'd witnessed in the hotel.

Seung-yeop started to fall apart.

“Didn't we choose this room through Luck? Then it should have been a safe room! Why did the room I chose-”

He was openly talking about blessings in front of Elizabeth!

I panicked, but fortunately, she seemed too busy examining the shattered TV to pay attention.

Thinking Seung-yeop might start crying, I quickly went over and stroked his head.

“Get a grip. Of course things won't always work out. You didn't use your active skill. Let's call it ‘Heavenly Luck’ from now on. Anyway, you just picked based on your instincts.”

I tried to comfort him in a quiet voice. Seung-yeop was still trembling.

Jin-cheol came over and added, “It's not your fault, Seung-yeop. Would it have been safe if someone else had chosen?”

Eun-sol approached.

“Everyone, pull yourselves together! More importantly, I think I roughly understand it now. Every time we move through a door, a new mansion appears. Everything in the new mansion is the same except for one object that's somehow different. The monster is in that object. Right?”

“And it gives us a little time before it attacks. It hasn't attacked immediately even once.”

Song-i, who had been listening, answered.

“Is it like a spot-the-difference game? Find what's different within the time limit?”

Mook-seong muttered regretfully.

“This time, we found the difference correctly. The one mistake was not shooting the TV as soon as we found it. Didn't the monster disappear the moment we blew up the display with a handgun?”

“Then in the next mansion, let's shoot the different thing as soon as we find it.”

Song-i voiced a more extreme suggestion.

“Instead of checking things one by one, how about we destroy everything around us with rifles as soon as we enter the mansion?”

Mook-seong immediately objected.

“Song-i, what you're holding is a rifle, not a missile. Shooting and destroying every object in the mansion would take longer than you think, and most importantly, we don't have enough bullets. Still, the idea of smashing everything in sight isn't bad. I've had an unpleasant feeling for a while now that we're playing right into the enemy's plans.”

He agreed with the idea of destroying the mansion, but wanted to use something other than rifles.

Elizabeth had been wandering around somewhere for a while. After confirming that, Cha Jin-cheol hurried over.

“Let's destroy everything around us with the Star. We can knock that woman out if we have to.”

“Doesn't it seem fine to leave her alone? Even after seeing Mook-seong use the Remote Hand, she isn't questioning us. She seems to think we're people with supernatural powers. More importantly, doesn't the Star have a time limit?”

“A time limit? Ah, I can't endure using it for too long. But I think this mansion will collapse before my body does.”

Song-i answered anxiously.

“There isn't just one mansion, though. What if there are more mansions after we leave?”

Mook-seong replied as if he'd been waiting for that question.

“When we use the paths prepared in the mansion, such as the front door, back door, or basement door, another mansion appears. But if we destroy the mansion with the Star and make a ‘door’ to leave through, will another mansion appear then? I don't think so. I think we'll be able to leave the stage the enemy prepared.”

It looked like Mook-seong and Jin-cheol wanted to try destroying the mansion with the Star. I could understand their logic too.

Moving through the paths prepared inside the mansion meant playing into the enemy's hands, so they wanted to destroy the mansion and act outside the enemy's plans.

There was one thing they were overlooking.

“There is an Adversary in a Curse Room. Usually, we had to fight and eliminate it. That Adversary hasn't even appeared yet. If Cha Jin-cheol uses up the Star's time limit destroying objects and the Adversary shows up afterward, we might be wiped out without accomplishing anything.”

Eun-sol joined in.

“I agree. Don't forget that Ga-in, who has Descent, is gone right now. The Star and Jin-cheol make up ninety percent of our combat strength. I think using all that power on property destruction is dangerous. And this is just my thought.”

Eun-sol briefly turned to check Elizabeth's location before continuing.

“If we could solve this by destroying the mansion with the Star, they would've Sealed Jin-cheol instead of Ga-in from the start. Doesn't the fact that Jin-cheol wasn't Sealed prove that we can't solve this by breaking everything with the Star?”

Silence settled over us.

Some wanted to try destroying the mansion with the Star, while others disagreed.

Cha Jin-cheol, who almost always followed Eun-sol's opinion, backed down.

“Let's do as you say, Sis. But after we escape somehow, let's discuss it again.”

He didn't look truly convinced.

Eun-sol had a strong voice within the group, especially in a dangerous place like this, and he didn't seem to want to openly oppose her right now.

He strongly insisted that we discuss it again after leaving.

Still...

Wasn't Elizabeth acting a little strange?

Song-i also found it odd.

“What has she been doing alone this whole time? It feels like she's giving us space to talk freely out of consideration for us.”

A different thought occurred to me.