WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 189: A Prayer for Mi-ro (8)
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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 94
Current Location: Mi-ro’s Hell
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
A few hours earlier, while planning how to deal with Santa, the thing we analyzed most thoroughly was his behavioral pattern. What principle did Santa follow? At the very least, he was different from a simple monster that mindlessly slaughtered every human in sight.
We found several patterns. For example, he didn't act in earnest before Christmas, and he had to sing the relevant carol to cause magical phenomena. More important than those, though, was the fundamental principle behind his actions. The answer lay in the repeated words and actions Demon Santa had shown us, as well as the writing on the metal plate we found among the remnants of the ritual.
‘A reward for a good boy and a punishment for a bad boy.’
Santa appeared to give presents to good children and punish bad children. Once I realized that, the first piece of the plan fell into place.
We would finish Santa's job before he could!
Sure enough, Santa began showing a fury unlike anything we'd seen from him before.
“You insolent fools! Do you think Santa's job is simply to hand out presents to children? You are mistaken! Only good children deserve presents! Every child in this place has received a gift. That alone proves you understand nothing about Santa!”
Santa's first claim was that only good children deserved presents.
It was exactly the logic we'd predicted. I immediately stood and walked up to him.
“Santa, you saw me earlier. You remember, right?”
“Of course I remember. You said your name was Ga-in, didn't you? Good timing. I was preparing your present-”
“Santa, I remember what you said earlier. ‘No one in the world can be completely good. Everyone makes mistakes and becomes stained. What matters is reflecting and repenting.’ That's right, isn't it?”
“... That is correct.”
“Your words gave me a lot to think about! What matters is reflection, isn't it? You said so yourself! That's definitely right, isn't it?”
“...”
“Everyone! It's time to read our reflection essays!”
...
A moment of silence passed. The children looked at me awkwardly, their eyes asking what I was doing. Santa's eyes began to turn vicious.
“Hmm. Unlike you, Ga-in, it seems the other children have not properly reflected on their actions?”
Was the plan falling apart because these little brats wouldn't read their reflection essays? What the-
A girl who looked like a snow rabbit sprang to her feet.
“Reflection! I, Mi-ro!”
“... Mi-ro?”
“... At lunch yesterday, I threw away all my broccoli. And at dinner, I ate A-ri's ham.”
Kim A-ri: So that's why my ham was gone?
Han Ga-in: She forgot what she wrote in her reflection essay earlier! Is she stupid?
Kim A-ri: Don't insult Mi-ro!
“Also, also... During math class earlier, I had a snowball fight instead of studying. Ah, but that wasn't such a bad thing! The teacher joined in too. And I put ice in a snowball and threw it at Ga-in. But Ga-in laughed, so that was okay. Um... That's enough, right?”
While Santa was briefly at a loss for words, Mi-ro quickly kicked the child beside her.
“Hey! Thomas!”
“H-Huh?”
“Reflect! Hurry up and reflect!”
Santa muttered, sounding strangely tired.
“Child... You shouldn't kick your friends.”
“Then I'll reflect on that too. Come on! Why aren't you reflecting already?”
Unlike me, who was only a recent transfer student, Mi-ro had ruled the school like its queen and dictator. Her influence was on another level. Thomas immediately stood up.
“R-Reflection! I, Thomas, hid the score from my history test last month from my father.”
“...”
“And... and... Ah! I hid my science test score too. Hahaha! It's actually something I've been doing lately. Did you know it's easy to turn a 3 into an 8? So I changed my score from 35 to 85-”
...
“Last week, I smeared bird droppings on Ms. Julia's car.”
...
“I fought with Steve. But Steve started it first.”
“What the hell did you say?”
“You scribbled in my book!”
“You broke my pen first!”
“Can you two shut up? Joshua! Reflect before I pull your hair out!”
“Child... You shouldn't swear at your friends either.”
“I'll reflect on that too.”
That was how it went.
Santa watched the scene with a blank expression. Then his face turned red with anger as he glared at Grandpa Mook-seong.
“You bastard! You are trying to ruin Christmas! How dare some nobody like you impersonate Santa!”
Santa's second claim was, ‘Are you even qualified to call yourself Santa?’
“Impersonate? Listen to this guy talk. Do you have a Santa license? Did you pass a Santa exam?”
“An exam? What insane nonsense is that? A license or an exam is not what one needs to become Santa Claus! Only an overflowing love for children qualifies one to be Santa Claus!”
“Love? I'm honestly amazed that the words ‘love for children’ came out of that mouth! Hey, I love the children here too! I used to be a teacher at this school. Don't you think I care for these students more than you do? And do you even know where Santa Claus came from?”
“W-Where he came from?”
“Ha! You ignorant fool. Santa Claus originally came from Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop. Have you ever even read the Bible?”
As Santa was left speechless, Grandpa proudly added,
“I used to be a cardinal of the Holy See, by the way.”
His experience as a cardinal of the Holy See from the House of Horror was coming in handy here?
Ridiculously enough, it worked! Santa staggered, seeming to search for a rebuttal, then began speaking again.
“You do not become Santa simply by imitating his clothes! What were you doing last year? The year before that? Have you ever thought of showing love to children waiting for presents on Christmas?”
Demon Santa's third claim was, ‘Have you ever actually worked as Santa?’
“Oh! So now you're bringing up work experience? Perfect. I'll be a rookie Santa starting this year, so wouldn't it be a contribution to the Santa world for you, who has done this several times already, to step aside?”
“What are you talking about? Why should I step aside?”
“You idiot, if experienced workers hog all the jobs, where are rookies supposed to gain experience? You've had your fill, so you need to make room for rookie Santas to enter the industry!”
... I felt like I was losing my mind.
As the two Santas began their ‘I'm the real Santa’ battle, the children on the first floor could only gape in silence, unable to cut in. Listening to them was enough to make me lose my mind too.
It was confusing, but it felt like Grandpa had won in terms of momentum. Did Santa feel the same way? After trembling for a long time, Santa suddenly began to sing a carol!
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Perhaps because he had not yet separated the good children from the bad ones, no one died immediately. Still, the carol clearly held magical power. The moment it began, a blizzard swept through the first floor, and a reindeer suddenly appeared!
Another carol battle?
Demon Santa's fourth claim was, ‘Can you even sing a proper carol?’
Grandpa looked flustered, then began singing a carol himself.
“Through the white snow, riding a sleigh, it feels so good to go!”
Han Ga-in: You're a really good singer.
Kim A-ri: This isn't the time to compliment him! He's losing momentum!
Once I took in the atmosphere, I could clearly feel it. Grandpa's ordinary singing skill was beginning to lose against the magical carol that summoned blizzards and reindeer!
Soon, Santa's mouth opened as his confidence swelled.
“That is all you can do! How dare someone who cannot even sing a carol properly impersonate Santa?”
What were we supposed to do about this? Things had been so insane from the start that I had no idea what to do anymore!
Mi-ro suddenly stood again and shouted.
“Everyone! Sing along!”
“Huh? What?”
“M-Mi-ro?”
“I said sing along! Through the white snow!”
What the-
Kim A-ri: You sing too, hurry!
“Through the white snow! Riding a sleigh!”
In the confusion, the children and I simply got swept up in the moment and sang along. For some reason, the momentum shifted back to us.
Grandpa smirked.
“Ha, listen here, ‘senior.’ You bragged about your experience as Santa, yet you still don't understand what carols mean?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Is the essence of a carol magic that summons snow and reindeer? Who was it that said a Santa's qualification was an overflowing love for children?”
“...”
“Look at every child singing a carol along with me! This is what a real carol is!”
“The bells are ringing in time, we're so happy, let's sing out loud!”
“The bells are ringing in time! We're so happy, let's sing out loud!”
Demon Santa couldn't say a word. He only began trembling. Was this it? Had we done enough?
Just as the air filled with the feeling that we'd won, Santa's trump card appeared.
--- Huff. Huff!
The man-eating reindeer, which had seemed just as flustered as we were and unsure what to do, approached Demon Santa and pressed its face against him as if comforting him. It looked almost peaceful, like an elegant reindeer comforting an old man whose business had failed. Then Demon Santa's mouth split vertically again.
“Fine, fine. You are a teacher and a cardinal, and you claim to have such grand experience, so I will acknowledge that you possess the minimum qualifications. I will even grant that you know how to sing a carol. But...”
Grandpa's face hardened, as though he had guessed what was coming.
“And where is your ‘Rudolph’? Surely you are not going to call yourself Santa while claiming you do not even have a reindeer sleigh?”
The atmosphere in the school froze in an instant.
Footnotes:
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