WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 21: Room 102, The Cursed Room - ‘The Mansion of Horror’ (7)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 7

Current Location: Level 1, Room 102 (Curse Room - House of Horror)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

After returning from the church, I laid A-ri, who was sleeping as though unconscious, down in one of the rooms.

My mind was full of complicated thoughts.

The deaths of two people. A mansion filled with grotesque phenomena. A girl with countless secrets.

A demon reviving itself by consuming sacrifices.

How were we supposed to escape?

I couldn't solve every problem at once. The more complicated things became, the more simply I had to approach them.

Hadn't we already confirmed one reliable way out?

For now, focus on the boat. That was how I organized my thoughts.

At dinner, I needed to gather all four of us and tell them that as soon as the weather eased even a little, we should leave by boat.

Even if the lake was a little rough, it seemed better to take some risk and push through it by boat than stay in this mansion.

And there was... one concern. If anyone could keep it under control, it was Jin-cheol.

An hour later, my plan collapsed in the most horrible way possible.

“Cough... Khaeek... Kheooooough...!”

A clot of blood burst from Jin-cheol's mouth, and his cries of pain filled the mansion.

The sight of someone dying had become familiar now.

From the morning of our second day at the hotel to the evening of our third. In just two days, this was the third death. Blood began pouring from Jin-cheol's mouth.

We had gathered to discuss our escape.

While I stood there quietly, going over the plan in my head, Seung-yeop asked the butler to prepare some light refreshments, and Song-i brought beer and soft drinks.

Jin-cheol watched them with his eyes wide, as if something suspicious might approach either of them.

We sat around the simply prepared table, intending to have a bite before I explained the plan. Within a minute, Jin-cheol was the only one rolling on the floor.

I couldn't understand it.

I'd considered the possibility that something might be wrong with the food from the beginning. At the very least, we had to avoid everyone eating at the same time and dying together.

So, claiming the flavor seemed strange, we had the butler taste the refreshments first. Before we could even come up with an excuse for the drinks, Seung-yeop had already taken a huge gulp.

Neither of them had shown any abnormalities. Why had only Jin-cheol ended up like this?

Death was becoming more and more familiar. I didn't even want to think about Song-i crying again or Seung-yeop trembling like a leaf.

Even so... I wanted to at least hold his hand. I quietly walked over and took Jin-cheol's hand as he writhed on the floor.

His trembling eyes turned toward me.

“Ga-in... Kheough, Ga-in.... I should've helped you more....”

I decided to offer him the comfort I hadn't been able to give the first two.

“Hyung. We'll see each other after we get out.”

“Ah.... Heh heh.... You're right. It's nothing much. See you outside, Ga-in.”

And just like that, ninety percent of our group's combat strength was gone.

I stood by the mansion window and looked up at the night sky. The storm still raged late into the night.

Even through it, eerie moonlight gleamed, brushing past the curtains and filling every corner of the room.

What was I supposed to do?

The only person I could discuss plans with, and our one dependable source of combat strength, were both gone.

Other than me, all that remained was a girl who had cried for two days straight until even her tears had dried up.

And a boy who had shut his eyes to everything and chased love as an escape from reality.

Now that our combat strength was gone, was trying to escape by boat even wise?

Honestly, I wasn't confident I could keep the dangers under control. As I spent the night lost in thought, I heard footsteps.

Could I be next?

Without hesitation, I grabbed the Silver Dagger and stood beside the door. If it was the person I expected, maybe I could do something if I stabbed first.

The person who came in was not who I had expected.

“A-ri? It's late.... More importantly, are you awake?”

“No. A-ri is asleep. That's why ‘I’ can come meet you.”

My breath caught.

This wasn't the A-ri we'd seen since the first day. It was the ‘other A-ri’ I'd seen at the church yesterday.

Wasn't she only able to appear in the church, that special place?

Or was the church simply a place that had broken the seal on the ‘other A-ri’?

“Who are you...?”

“Want to play a round of cards?”

What was she talking about?

“At this hour? Could you explain a little more?”

“We're playing cards so I can explain.”

The ‘other A-ri’ spoke casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I couldn't understand it. Why had she suddenly decided to explain something to me?

When I looked at her suspiciously, the ‘other A-ri’ spoke in a meaningful tone.

“You don't trust me?”

“Wouldn't it be stranger to trust you?”

“You're severely lacking in information anyway. Don't you think you should get something out of me somehow?”

... She wasn't wrong.

We sat together on the bed, and she explained the simple rules.

Put simply, I would use Attack Cards to destroy A-ri's Defense Cards or reduce her health.

A-ri would hold out with Defense Cards and eliminate a Sacrifice Card whenever she drew one.

If A-ri personally eliminated six of the eight Sacrifice Cards, she won. If I reduced her health to zero before that, I won.

We played several rounds.

I repeatedly reduced A-ri's health and destroyed her Defense Cards, trying somehow to defeat her.

It wasn't easy. A-ri kept blocking and holding out, somehow drawing and eliminating six Sacrifice Cards each time. She kept winning.

I lost one round, then the next, then the one after that. Only after losing about five in a row did I begin to wonder.

Honestly, weren't the rules far too advantageous for A-ri?

“Do you think I have too much of an advantage?”

Her timing, as if she'd read my mind, caught me off guard.

“No. Well, isn't it more that I'm not used to it yet?”

“It's both. You're not used to it, but the game is also naturally in my favor.”

The girl who had casually begun this strange card game admitted that it naturally favored her.

What kind of answer did she want?

“You're not familiar with this game, and the rules are even unfavorable to you. What should you do?”

“Well, should I think harder?”

“Your opponent will be thinking hard too.”

I didn't know. I was at a loss for words.

“How about changing your strategy?”

“Changing my strategy?”

“Accept that this isn't a game you can win with your current abilities in the first place.”

Now, I vaguely understood what this girl was trying to tell me.

“Even if I change strategies.... I'm practically the only one left now. If I lose, everyone dies. How can I accept that I can't win?”

“Why do you think losing means dying? You can survive with a draw.”

“I understand what you mean, but I was trying to do exactly that. I was only trying to run away, but I don't know how. The boat-”

“Don't fixate on the boat. Go back to the card game and think. To win, you'd have to reduce my health to zero somehow. But if you want a draw, there's an easier way, isn't there?”

An easier way.

Only then did I understand what she was trying to tell me.

“Let's play one more round.”

In the final round, I gave up on reducing her health. I also gave up on destroying her Defense Cards.

I destroyed A-ri's Sacrifice Cards instead. A-ri's victory condition was to personally eliminate six of the eight Sacrifice Cards.

I didn't need to defeat A-ri to stop that.

I only had to destroy at least three Sacrifice Cards before A-ri could eliminate them.

After the final round ended, A-ri smiled faintly for the first time and left the room. I had realized another way to escape.

But could I trust the information she had given me?

This was a place filled with deception. What could I possibly trust?

After much thought, I made my decision.

Trust Eun-sol.

Before she died, she'd discovered ‘something,’ and following the instructions in her note had brought about some kind of change in A-ri.

Therefore, at this point, trusting the ‘other A-ri’ was likely the direction Eun-sol had intended.

* * *

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 8

Current Location: Level 1, Room 102 (Curse Room - House of Horror)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

The morning of our fourth day since arriving at the mansion.

When I woke up, the rain had finally begun to ease. I hurriedly washed up and was about to call for Jin-cheol or Eun-sol when I suddenly realized something.

There was no one to call. Honestly, there was no point in calling Seung-yeop or Song-i.

From now on, I needed to prepare myself to proceed alone.

When I stepped outside, I saw the butler, who always tended the garden in the morning.

“It's still quite early.... You're up early.”

“The rain finally seems to be letting up a little. I thought maybe we could finally see a way out.”

“It's fortunate that the rain has weakened. However, lighter rain will not lower the lake's water level after it has already risen. If you wish to take the boat, you will have to wait a day or two.”

“That may be true for the boat, but is there any route out through the mountains? With rain like this, I think it might be worth trying to climb the mountain in raincoats.”

“Hmm, in clear weather, there is of course a path over the mountains. But the storm raged until yesterday.... The terrain will have become far more dangerous, so I don't know if it can be crossed.

“Hiking in the rain is, in truth, extremely dangerous.”

“Of course hiking through water is dangerous, but honestly, I think this mansion is more dangerous.”

“It's sad that I cannot deny it. Then, would you like to see whether there is an escape route through the mountains?”

“I think it would be best if you and I went to take a look. I'll get ready soon.”

“I shall make my own preparations as well.”

Taking advantage of the weaker rain, the butler and I decided to investigate whether there was an escape route through the mountains rather than the lake.

In my room, I dressed as suitably as possible for hiking and tucked several thick towels inside my clothes.

Then, with the Silver Dagger shoved inside my shirt, I left the mansion.

Today, I might kill someone.

Footnotes:

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