WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 158: Room 201, Curse Room - ‘The Cube’ (7)

──────

- Han Ga-in

After finishing our evening meeting, we headed to the first-floor terrace.

Elena was still leaning against the wall, half out of her mind.

Keeping my eyes deliberately fixed on the floor, I asked, “Elena, are you okay?”

“...”

“Elena, you didn't eat dinner either. If it's too much, why don't you get some sleep?”

“...”

“Let's just leave her alone. If Sage’s Advice is right, she'll be back to normal by tomorrow anyway.”

When I asked earlier about Elena's recovery, Sage’s Advice had answered like this.

[Treatment will be provided tonight, out of consideration for you.]

It had felt strange the moment I heard it, and it still felt strange now that I thought about it again.

A-ri, who seemed to feel the same unease, nudged me.

“Now that I think about it, isn't that weird? Why are they only treating Elena tomorrow?”

“And why is that supposed to be consideration for us?”

By then, the others had noticed something was off too.

“Exactly. Why did they give us mental treatment as soon as we got out, but send Elena out in that state and say they'll treat her the next day? And why is that supposed to be consideration for us?”

Why would delaying her treatment be considerate of us?

Could the treatment process somehow harm us?

!!!

A flash of realization struck me like lightning.

Grandpa, who had reached the same conclusion, shouted, “We need to interrogate Elena before she loses her memories!”

Of all things, he called it an interrogation.

“What do you mean, interrogate? Still, we definitely need to find something out. Elena went mad after seeing something the human mind can't accept, right? During treatment, they'll probably blur her memories of what she saw.”

Eun-sol slapped her knee.

“And we need to learn what those memories are!”

Everyone's eyes widened as they gathered around Elena.

Several people repeatedly tried talking to her and shaking her shoulders.

...

Elena still gave no normal response.

At times, she suddenly screamed and shoved us away. Other times, she sat blankly without saying a word for a long time.

In the end, everyone's eyes turned to me.

I let out a sigh. There was a reason I hadn't used the Grimoire from the start.

While possessing someone else's body, I couldn't use the Status Window.

What if I possessed Elena, read her memories, and went mad myself?

Still, there was no other way now.

Besides, I was going to be sealed anyway. What did it matter if I went a little crazy too?

The hotel would treat me.

Using the Grimoire's power, I possessed Elena's body.

* * *

- Han Ga-in

...

I sank.

Like a feather falling endlessly, I slowly descended into Elena's mind.

I'd possessed others several times, but that didn't mean I could read all their memories in an instant.

If that were possible, my brain might have burned out every time I possessed someone.

Usually, only rough information or the information I immediately needed came to me, as if it had been properly summarized.

Maybe the Grimoire handled that on its own.

Whenever this happened, I remembered something Song-i had said.

We didn't truly understand or wield transcendent power. We were simply using tools imbued with that power.

It was like how most people in modern society learned to use televisions and computers without understanding their underlying principles at all.

...

My consciousness burrowed deeper. The Grimoire found the information it needed within Elena's muddled mind.

At some point, I found myself transformed into Elena.

For a moment, I heard the strange phrase, “Oath. Oath.” Then hands burst from the TV, grabbed Elena, and dragged her inside.

Beyond the screen was a pure white space.

A gigantic cauldron. Boiling oil splashed inside it.

If Grandpa Mook-seong hadn't destroyed the TV in time, would Elena have been dragged in there?

Thinking about it that way, it certainly was frightening. But that was all.

A cauldron of boiling oil didn't seem like something that would drive a person mad just from being perceived.

Was there anything else around? There had to be something besides the cauldron.

I saw them. Squirming things began appearing around me.

I understood what this place was.

Strange. Besides them, there was another being in this space-

There were eyes throughout heaven and earth.

I was a worm not even equal to the ants crawling across the ground.

Even the most insignificant creature in the world was greater than I.

At least, they had a physical form-

“Q U I T Y O U R B U L L S H I T, Y O U F U C K I N G D E F E C T I V E-E Y E D B A S T A R D!”

The moment I came out, I saw my companions staring at me in surprise as I screamed.

The scene I saw would soon be forgotten too.

Just before all my reason melted away, I frantically shouted three syllables, then passed out.

“Research lab!”

* * *

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 82

Current Location: Level 1, Room 105, Rest Room

Sage’s Advice: 3]

When I came to, it was morning.

I remembered up to the moment I possessed Elena, but nothing after that.

Had all my memories vanished?

After thinking about it a little more, I realized that while I couldn't remember anything from when I was possessing Elena, I vaguely remembered shouting after I came out.

‘Research lab.’

So I had learned something.

Feeling a little satisfaction at that, I went out to meet the others.

* * *

“Ga-in, are you okay?”

“Are you sure you're all right now?”

The moment I came out, my companions called out in concern.

After reassuring them one by one that I was fine, I checked whether Elena had come out.

When our eyes met across the table, Elena gave me a faint smile instead of screaming.

They really had treated her!

Once I reached the table, we began discussing the information we'd obtained from Elena's memories.

“What do you think I was thinking when I shouted ‘research lab’?”

A-ri snickered.

“That sounds like some kind of Zen riddle. You're asking us what the person who said it was thinking.”

“I've lost almost all my memories from that moment.”

“Isn't the interpretation obvious? Elena's memory was about what she saw inside the TV. After seeing it, you shouted ‘research lab.’ Doesn't that mean there's a research lab beyond the TV display?”

Everyone agreed with A-ri's interpretation. Even I couldn't see any other way to take it.

Only now did it feel like the question of where I was trapped was beginning to clear up.

Since it was such crucial information, the hotel had probably deliberately erased the memories slowly out of consideration for us.

Jin-cheol stated the obvious.

“We obviously need to go to the research lab, right?”

“Of course. I'm in there, aren't I?”

“No, I mean... how do we get in? When the TV turns on, we can't move. We can't break free with force either. I couldn't even move a finger.”

Elena spoke up for the first time in a while.

“If we stay still, the TV picks someone and drags them in on its own. I experienced it myself, so I'm sure.”

“More precisely, it drags them in to put them in the cauldron. I don't think we should enter that way. We need to undo the paralysis caused by the TV.”

Grandpa Mook-seong, the one who had undone the paralysis, answered.

“Well, didn't we confirm how to undo it? Even while paralyzed, I could move my glove. When I shot the TV, the paralysis lifted.”

Eun-sol pointed out the flaw.

“If we shoot the TV and break it, the passage to the research lab disappears too. We need to find a way to undo the paralysis without destroying the TV.”

... Silence settled over the table.

Our goal was to go past the TV display and reach the research lab on the other side.

The problem was that the moment the TV turned on, everyone was paralyzed, and the TV would drag us in and try to kill us brutally.

If we destroyed it with a gun to stop it from killing us, the passage would disappear too.

We had gathered enough information about the TV by now.

We just hadn't connected it properly, so we were confused about the answer.

[Sage’s Advice: 3 -> 2]

‘Is there a way to undo the paralysis without destroying the TV?’

[What is the cause of the paralysis?]

“Um... I just used Sage’s Advice, and it answered, ‘What is the cause of the paralysis?’”

Jin-cheol looked dumbfounded.

“Isn't it obviously the TV? Does that mean there's another cause besides the TV?”

After thinking for a while, A-ri answered.

“That isn't what the advice means. I just remembered, we weren't paralyzed the moment the TV turned on. When it first came on, we were all startled and asking what it was. We became paralyzed when the TV started saying, ‘Oath. Oath.’”

Grandpa Mook-seong sighed.

“My memory's similar, but does that make a difference? It started saying ‘Oath. Oath.’ not long after the TV came on.”

Silence fell over the table again.

For the first time in a long while, Seung-yeop spoke.

“Um... This might sound strange, but if the problem starts when the TV turns on and makes a sound, what if we just turn off the sound?”

...

Eun-sol slapped her knee.

“Wait! Why didn't we think of that? I really think that's the answer.”

“Hey! This kid never says a word during meetings, but even a dog that spends three years at a village school learns to recite poetry. That's exactly right. Next time, let's mute the TV.”

Seung-yeop's expression brightened rapidly after coming up with a good idea for the first time in a while.

Then Elena poured cold water on it again.

“I'm sorry to ruin everyone's mood, but the biggest problem remains. I went mad the moment I saw inside the TV. Ga-in went mad after reading my memories too. Would the rest of you be any different? Except maybe Song-i, who has the bracelet, I think all of you would go mad the moment you passed through the TV display.”

It was an accurate point.

I didn't know what had driven Elena mad or why reading that memory had driven me mad too, but going through without a way to deal with that being would be suicide.

Should only people who could resist the madness go through?

Excluding me, since I was sealed, there were members who could resist madness. Song-i, whom Elena had mentioned, was the clearest example. A-ri seemed capable of it to some degree as well.

I couldn't think of anyone besides those two.

After thinking for a while, A-ri looked at me.

“You still have two uses of Sage’s Advice left, right? Ask again. You're under Sealing, so you probably won't have a chance to use them. Use them all this morning.”

[Sage’s Advice: 2 -> 1]

‘Is there a way to resist the madness inside the TV?’

[What was the basis for realizing that place was the ‘research lab’?]

It was another answer like a Zen riddle. First, I told them what it said.

“It's asking me what made me realize that the place connected to the inside of the TV was a research lab.”

“What did you see?”

“I don't know. I've already lost all my memories from then.”

“Ah, right. Then what could the answer be?”

The answer to that question came to me quickly.

“I've never been to a place like a research lab in my life. I couldn't have looked at some equipment or interior design and decided it was a research lab. Also, when I first woke up in the room, I briefly looked around before falling asleep and saw people wearing white clothes, like researchers. I probably saw those people again inside the TV.”

“You saw research lab employees inside the TV?”

As I answered A-ri, I naturally realized what Sage’s Advice meant.

“That's what this means. What does it mean that there were research lab employees near the source of the madness? It isn't like every research lab employee has supernatural abilities that let them resist madness, so ordinary people must have a way to resist it. Isn't that what it's saying?”

Eun-sol, who had been listening for a while, tilted her head.

“So you asked how to resist the madness, and it gave you a goddamn answer like, ‘There must be a way to do it’?”

“Yes.”

“The next time you meet your Sponsor, at least go curse them out.”

I was already planning to. I had plenty of resentment built up over time.

Jin-cheol sighed.

“How about asking one more time? You still have one left, right?”

Grandpa Mook-seong objected.

“If it intended to answer properly, it would've done so the first time. It gave you a shitty answer because it wants you to think for yourself, doesn't it? Ask again and it'll just throw another meaningless riddle at you. Use the last use of Sage’s Advice on something else.”

I gave up on using Sage’s Advice again for the same question. Instead, I started trying to find the answer myself. Either way, it had at least told us that an answer existed.

What could possibly let us resist the madness inside the TV?

“Let's start by thinking about what that grand being inside the TV is. Everyone who came into contact with ‘something’ mentioned eyes.”

Eun-sol agreed.

“Elena said something about a gaze at first, and Seung-yeop, who escaped at the end, went through it for much less time but said he felt something similar. You cursed about eyes the moment you came out too.”

Eyes. A gaze. Did we just need to avoid looking at it?

Song-i, who seemed to have had a similar thought, offered an opinion.

“Don't look at it?”

Seung-yeop, who had been unusually talkative, immediately disagreed.

“My memories from escaping are vague because of the hotel's treatment, but I remember it as... a gaze permeating the entire world. I don't think we could defend against it just by not looking at a specific object.”

A-ri spoke too.

“What about going through with our eyes closed?”

That didn't seem right either. What method would let us enter the research lab safely?

Footnotes:

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