WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 194: Party Time - The Secret of the Second Floor (3)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 94
Current Location: Frozen Hell - Resurrection Room
Sage’s Advice: 0]
- Han Ga-in
When I brought up the fact that this place was a Snow Globe, Grandpa and Jin-cheol looked around in surprise.
“It really is! Now that you mention it, I can see it. This shape! We didn't notice because we're inside it, but this is the Snow Globe itself.”
“Ah... Now that I hear you, Ga-in, even this opaque wall is curved. It's so huge that it took me a while to notice, but it looks like a dome covering this entire space.”
As the two looked around with confused expressions, A-ri asked,
“Your location shows up in the Status Window, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What does it say?”
“Frozen Hell - Resurrection Room.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? We left that room ages ago. N-no! Could this place also be-”
“Wait! Don't misunderstand. I've used the Status Window for a long time, so I roughly know how it works. If you're thinking this place is also an extension of Frozen Hell or something, you're mistaken.”
“That was exactly what I was thinking... Then what do you think it means?”
“It’s a matter of the name not updating.”
“The name not updating?”
“The location information in the Status Window updates whenever you enter an area with a name designated by the Hotel. In other words, if you move from a place called A to place B, but the Hotel hasn't assigned B a name, your location will keep showing A. The Corridor on the first floor is an example.”
“The Corridor?”
“When we think of the Corridor, we picture the long space in front of the Curse Rooms on the first floor. But according to the Status Window, even if you leave there and go to the terrace or near the front entrance, it still says Corridor. It's all just Corridor. Probably because the terrace and the area near the front entrance don't have separate names. Only the area near the reception desk has one.”
“Ah, I get it. We stopped by the Resurrection Room to warm up when we went down to the first floor earlier, so the location changed to that. Then it never updated after that?”
“Right. And that has one important implication.”
I looked over the vast snowfield around us before adding,
“This place doesn't have a name designated by the Hotel. That's why our location hasn't updated, even after walking for so long.”
A-ri and I fell silent. Jin-cheol and Grandpa, who had been chatting nearby, also quieted down.
Sure. Fine. The fact that this place was inside a Snow Globe was surprising, and the fact that we'd entered a place the Hotel hadn't even named was interesting.
But so what?
We weren't in a position to wander around just to satisfy our curiosity!
Once we'd found a mysterious place like this, shouldn't someone have appeared and said, “Dear valued guests, congratulations! You will receive such-and-such a reward!”
The others, apparently thinking the same thing, began talking again.
“What are we supposed to do now? Just say, ‘Wow, mysterious! Amazing!’ Then go back to the Hotel?”
Definitely not.
“Think back to when I used Sage’s Advice. The Owl used up all its stacks of advice to give us a hint, as if it was telling us not to miss this no matter what. Right after that, the drone even brought up crossing a line. This place definitely means something.”
“I think so too. We found a hidden place, so there should be a hidden reward to go with it...”
--- Thump!
Grandpa struck the wall again.
“Let's break this.”
“...”
“Do we have any other option? Look, even my punch only makes a thump. It isn't some invincible barrier that can never be broken. We can break it.”
“I'm worried about what might be outside the Snow Globe...”
“I don't know what's out there. But considering the circumstances, why do you think your Owl sent us out here? Isn't it telling us to go outside and see?”
Jin-cheol agreed.
“Ga-in, you said you haven't played many games, so you wouldn't know, but in games, boxes are made to be opened and walls are made to be broken. Seung-yeop says it all the time, but this Hotel follows game logic in subtle ways. This wall was definitely made to be broken.”
Nothing else came to mind. In the end, we decided to break the wall and see what lay outside the Snow Globe. The moment we made that decision, the curiosity in my heart began to run wild.
What could possibly be outside the Snow Globe?
After everyone moved back from Jin-cheol, he summoned a fragment of the Star. For one minute, waves that easily passed through my Protective Suit tickled my skin.
--- Boom!
Part of the barrier collapsed, opening a doorway to an unknown world. Then a notification appeared before all of us.
/Warning! Once you leave, the Sponsor's blessing will no longer protect you. Would you like to leave?/
“This means...”
“That’s within the range of what we expected. I vaguely remember seeing this notification while escaping the deep sea using an Escape Tool.”
The only one among us who had escaped before didn't seem especially surprised to see the notification.
“When you escaped before, did you lose your blessing too? Did you still have your Inheritance?”
“The Inheritance remained.”
“So only Inheritances remain after escaping. An Inheritance is something we earned and own, while a blessing is outside power given by a Sponsor to help participants progress through the Hotel?”
“That's not always the case, from what I've heard.”
“What do you mean?”
Grandpa continued the explanation.
“There were also cases where someone kept their blessing but had no Inheritance. They may simply have never obtained one, though...”
“So it varies case by case?”
“Yes. Now you understand what I mean. To begin with, the Management Bureau has only secured a handful of people who escaped the Hotel. And even they often hadn't escaped after gaining a deep understanding of the Hotel. Many had simply been lucky enough to escape after learning only a tiny part of it. As a result, the information they gave the Management Bureau about the Hotel is a messy collection of contradictions.”
It seemed that what powers someone could take outside the Hotel depended on how they escaped.
One thing was certain. Leaving the Snow Globe would make our blessings disappear. Reading between the lines, I understood that other powers, such as Inheritances, my Teleportation, and Grandpa's gloves, would remain.
We couldn't turn back after coming this far. Determination filled everyone's faces, and we stepped outside the Snow Globe without hesitation.
...
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 94
Current Location: Frozen Hell - Resurrection Room
Sage’s Advice: 0]
The Status Window slowly began to fade.
[Terminated.]
With a notification like one that would appear when a program shut down, the power that had accompanied me through most places since entering the Hotel vanished.
Jin-cheol muttered beside me.
“I... got weaker. This is such a strange feeling. Until now, I always felt like I could fly into the sky if I put a little strength into my legs.”
A-ri replied lightly.
“You didn't get weaker. You just became normal. You're still stronger than an ordinary person. Thankfully, Ga-in's Protective Suit is still here. More importantly, look at that. We guessed it, but it really is a Snow Globe. It's even really pretty.”
After moving some distance away, we looked back at the place we'd emerged from and could truly see that it was a Snow Globe. It was so huge compared to us that it felt like a small world. As the only object shining in the darkness, we could barely make out its shape.
Jin-cheol looked around.
“Where are we exactly? It's incredibly dark. Can any of you see anything?”
“The Snow Globe is the only object around us that gives off light. There isn't a single light source no matter where I look. Is there no sun or moon either?”
Grandpa muttered tensely.
“If this place is outer space, for example, it wouldn't be strange for there to be no sun!”
“Ga-in, look at the ground. What do you think this material is?”
I crouched down and touched the floor. Then, half in disbelief, I peeled a bit of it away.
“I think it's wood. Was it coated with oil or something? It's shiny.”
“Gasp!”
Startled by the groan from across the way, I turned my head. Grandpa was pointing somewhere without even moving his lips.
“What is it? What's over there? Ghk!”
The space had been nothing but darkness when we'd looked around a moment ago. Yet now, a gigantic glowing eye had appeared, watching us so intently that my heart nearly stopped. The eye didn't blink even once.
Everyone froze like stone statues. I gathered all my courage and stepped in front of them. If something happened, it had to happen to me. With Jin-cheol having lost his blessing, I was the strongest among us in terms of raw physical strength.
The glowing eye slowly began moving toward us.
Should we retreat? What kind of creature was that?
...
As the creature drew closer, a hollow laugh escaped me.
It was big. Far too big. Its sheer size surpassed fear and made me laugh. An elephant? That wouldn't even be as large as a single strand of its fur. A dinosaur? At most, it would be the size of one claw.
I wasn't joking. The dim shape we could make out in the darkness alone was almost mountain-sized, if not larger. If all of us climbed onto its eyeball and danced, wouldn't there still be plenty of room left?
“Ga-in, is the Grimoire all right?”
“I've already summoned it.”
“Do you think you can take over that monster's body too?”
My breath caught at those words.
Could I?
Ever since obtaining the Grimoire, I had never failed at Possession unless my target was something close to a god.
Grandpa's irritated voice came from a distance.
“Of course not! If you could take over something like that, you could take over a Prisoner too. It doesn't look remotely possible, so get back here! Stay close to the Snow Globe!”
“Ga-in, A-ri! Both of you, get back to the Snow Globe!”
As I turned back at Jin-cheol and Grandpa's words, I thought about it.
The place we'd believed to be a world of bitter cold had actually been nothing more than the inside of a Snow Globe. Then what was that creature?
A demon in the darkness? A monster that would bring about the end of the world? A beast that had slaughtered ten million humans?
... Probably not.
For some reason, I was beginning to guess what it was. If I was right, taking over that creature's mind would be very easy.
Ignoring everyone's desperate calls, I walked toward the glowing eye in the darkness. The creature didn't react to my movements at all. If it was what I thought it was, that wasn't strange. It couldn't be very intelligent. To it, we were no more than wriggling insects.
My mind floated free. It rose like a balloon, then shot off somewhere with a sudden snap. A strange sound came from the monster's mouth as it sensed the abrupt change.
--- Meow!!! Meow!!!
When I came to my senses, I found myself as a house cat.
“Coco! What was that noise? You didn't mess with the Snow Globe Dad got as a gift again, did you?”
...
When I heard a human voice, one that sounded like it belonged to a teenager, an indescribably wicked thought began to stir deep within me.
Footnotes:
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