WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 195: Party Time - The Secret of the Second Floor (4)

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- Han Ga-in

I curled up for a moment in the body of a cat, probably Coco. Then the door opened, and a boy who looked to be in his early teens walked in.

“Coco! Didn't I tell you not to mess with the things in my room too much?”

Was this the kid's room? Judging by its condition, he seemed to be from a very well-off family. Not wealthy enough to be some chaebol heir, but still.

“You're not even answering? Take this!”

He suddenly smacked me on the head. What did he expect a cat to do? Should I at least make a sound?

--- Kyaaaang!

It came out a little strange, but it couldn't be helped. This was my first time using Possession on a cat, so I didn't know how to meow. The boy tilted his head for a moment, warned me again not to do anything weird, then left the room.

Are you stupid? Does warning a cat even work? Watching him behave so defenselessly made me angry without meaning to! Did I need to show him what a cat could really do before he came to his senses? Should I just tear up all the wallpaper with my front claws?

... Get a grip. There was no need to start thinking like a real cat all of a sudden.

More importantly, the moment I heard that kid's voice, I felt something deep inside me darken.

What if I stole that kid's body?

Wouldn't that be another way to escape?

My heart pounded violently. It felt like escape itself had fallen right into my hands.

At the same time, I realized another fact. Normally, when I used Possession, a display like [57 : 39] would appear at the edge of my vision, informing me that I had a one-hour time limit. It was gone.

In the past, A-ri had guessed that the time limit imposed when using the Grimoire for Possession wasn't an inherent limitation of the Grimoire. It was a restriction the Hotel had added to prevent an easy escape through body-swapping.

There were grounds for that guess. Unlike Sacrifice, whose authority had been edited out entirely, there were no traces of the Hotel editing the authority of Possession.

There was another piece of evidence I noticed while using the Grimoire. The notification format and even the font used for numbers were exactly like the style the Hotel used for the Status Window, displays, and notifications. They weren't something the Unborn One, abandoned alone in the darkness for endless ages, would have come up with while creating the Grimoire.

That was why it seemed the Hotel had added the time limit. It appeared that guess had been right. The moment I left the Snow Globe and came outside the Hotel, the time limit itself disappeared.

But could I really leave?

Why had the Owl gone so far as to give me advice and guide me here in the first place? Was it trying to tell me about a new Escape Route?

Probably not.

I didn't know what the Sponsors wanted, but based on what Eun-sol's Sponsor had said in the past and the Owl's own words, I could make a guess. What they wanted was for us to achieve as much as possible in the Hotel, not escape from it.

Then why had it shown me a way outside when it didn't want me to leave?

Because the Owl knew I couldn't leave like this.

The desire for escape that had burned deep inside me faded like a match going out. I couldn't leave. I could never leave this way.

Was it because stealing an innocent child's body was evil?

That was true too. But something else hit me more than ten times harder.

I was the only one who could escape this way. My companions, who didn't have the Grimoire, had no way out like I did. And even if they left blindly, what would it mean? What could they possibly do outside after becoming humans smaller than insects? People in the outside world wouldn't even be able to see us without a magnifying glass!

A few months ago, just before entering the Gate Room, A-ri had said something when she, I, and our companions opened up to each other.

Our party wasn't made up of particularly exceptional people on an individual level, but we were incredibly strong as a group. It wasn't simply that we were kind or selfless. We were strong at thinking as a group.

Only at this moment did A-ri's words truly sink in again. They didn't apply only to my companions. They applied to me too.

How was I supposed to leave?

If I escaped alone like I was running away, what would happen to my companions? Could they make their way through the second floor after losing the Grimoire, the Status Window, and Scenario Understanding?

I remembered the chaos everyone went through in the early stages of Room 201, The Cube, after I was affected by Sealing.

There was no answer.

Escaping alone was no different from telling everyone left behind to die.

Long ago, Native Americans compared a person's conscience to a triangle. Every time someone acted against their conscience, the triangle would turn once, cutting their heart with its sharp corners. But as it kept turning endlessly, its edges would eventually grow dull...

A moment ago, the triangle in my heart had turned once.

I decided to keep it sharp.

* * *

When I returned to my original body, I realized that my body had been brought back inside the Snow Globe. The others must have felt threatened when a human appeared after the cat, so they returned to the Snow Globe.

My Protective Suit made me weigh over two hundred kilograms. Jin-cheol must have had a hard time carrying even this heavy body back inside.

... Come to think of it, how would our weight work in the outside world?

I had no idea.

The moment I woke up and moved, A-ri came over.

“You're back.”

“Yeah. I haven't learned much yet, but I wanted to tell you what I did find out.”

“Good job. And thank you.”

“...”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words. What exactly did she mean by good job and thank you? Was she thanking me for looking around? Or was it...

Stop thinking about it. This was the time to discuss something practical.

“I checked the clock in the room while I was possessing the cat. If time in the outside world is the same as time in the Hotel, it's 10:40 now. It seems like it is.”

“Really?”

“Think back to when the advice appeared. The Owl seemed pretty urgent. Doesn't that mean we need to do something before repairs on the second floor are finished? We have to do it today. That means we have, at most, an hour and twenty minutes left.”

Just as always in the Hotel, we didn't have much time. Once tomorrow comes, we won't be able to come here anymore, so we have to find something today.

The day after tomorrow, we need to decide whether to use the Ticket. If we do, we even need to decide what to use it for. If we use it for resurrection, we have to decide who to resurrect. In three days, it will already be time to enter another Curse Room.

At the mention that we had to do something, Jin-cheol replied anxiously.

“In that dangerous place?”

“Yes. I've kept thinking about it. Why did the Sponsor guide us here? It can't have been just to brag that the Hotel is such a mysterious place.”

Grandpa had a similar opinion.

“That bastard wouldn't have let us out just to show off. I think we need to go out again. Still, was that monster really a cat? I had a feeling when I heard the kid's voice, but outside is just an ordinary house?”

“I think so. The outside seems like an ordinary home somewhere on Earth.”

A-ri muttered as if she found it amusing.

“It was built in the deep sea before, but this time, the first floor was built in the sky and the second floor inside a Snow Globe? Now I'm curious about the limits of the Hotel's location. If the first and second floors are in different places, the third floor will be different too, right? Where could the third floor be?”

“I am curious.”

“Who knows? Maybe it's formed on Ga-in's fingernail.”

“...”

“I was just saying. Let's go outside again. Should we all go?”

“No. I'll go alone this time. We're too small compared to the outside world anyway. I have no choice but to borrow the body of a cat or a child to search around. And if other people are there, I'll be too worried about them to search properly.”

Judging by the difference in size, even if a cat or child took one deep breath in front of my companions, everyone would be sent flying. It would be easier for me if the others stayed inside the Snow Globe.

After explaining the situation to everyone, I went back out into the outside world.

* * *

It didn't take long to leave the Snow Globe and possess the cat's body again. Poor Coco had been smacked on the head by the kid for no reason and hidden in the corner of the bookshelf in fright, but the cat's bright eyes made it easy to find.

Next, it was time to borrow the kid's body.

--- Riiip! Riiip!

“Min-young! Go check your room!”

“Ugh, this is so annoying! Coco's tearing something up again!”

... Coco was going to get scolded again. Sorry.

Not long after, the door flew open, and the boy returned. Still possessing the cat, I quickly moved behind the Snow Globe. Then, just as the boy approached to pull the cat out, I returned to my original body.

The moment the boy lifted Coco, who had just regained consciousness and was looking around in confusion, by the scruff of the neck, I borrowed his body.

My head rang for a moment. Unlike when I entered the body of an unintelligent cat, Kim Min-young was human. The moment I possessed him, a rough idea of what kind of person Kim Min-young was flooded into my mind.

There was nothing special. He was a third-grade elementary school student, and school was on break. That was about it.

I looked in the mirror for a moment and muttered.

“Hmm. It feels weird talking to myself, but first of all, I'm sorry. I'll use your body safely and give it back. Of course, you won't know anything happened. And Coco didn't do anything wrong, so don't scold the cat too much.”

Human vision was definitely much better than a cat's. I turned on the light in the dark room first, then sent Coco outside so the cat wouldn't do anything strange.

What should I do now?

First, I approached the Snow Globe.

“So this was the cause of the blizzard?”

The Snow Globe must have been expensive. It was about the size of a human head and had an electrical cord connected to it. I carefully checked the buttons on the back without shaking it and found three selectable modes.

“One is power off, another is lamp mode, and the last is Christmas mode?”

The reason the blizzard on the Hotel's second floor had raged without stopping was incredibly simple. The Snow Globe had been set to Christmas mode, so it kept scattering snow through the power of electricity.

I considered shutting off the power entirely, but it would become too dark. When I changed it to lamp mode, the blizzard stopped, leaving only the light on.

“With this, the blizzard problem is really solved! Is there anything else I can do?”

The first task, stopping the blizzard, seemed to be completely finished. Still, it was disappointing if this was all there was. Even if I hadn't stopped the blizzard, it wouldn't have been a problem worth worrying much about once the Hotel ceiling was sealed tomorrow.

I calmly looked around the room. There were about fifty minutes left. Considering the time, it didn't seem like I should leave the room to do anything.

Lego toys, miniature cars, and game consoles Min-young seemed to like were scattered throughout the room. Several worksheets were tucked into the bookshelf.

“... Min-young, eight times eight is not eighty-eight. You still get multiplication mixed up. Well, as long as you're healthy.”

I carefully examined the Lego toys and finally found another unusual thing.

‘A Mysterious Craftsman’

It couldn't be a coincidence that the name was the same, right?

I had found the first hidden NPC on the second floor.

I hadn't expected that NPC to be Lego.

Footnotes:

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