WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 223: Room 202, Curse Room - ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1)
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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 100
Current Location: Level 2, Room 202, Curse Room ‘The Little Mermaid’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
I knew the Management Bureau existed. I also knew it was an organization that hunted down Chaos Entities, monsters people once simply thought of as demons or ghosts. But that was as far as ordinary people’s knowledge went. Naturally, I had no idea what kind of factional conflicts existed within it.
“It’s not that complicated, so listen carefully. The Management Bureau has three main factions. In more respectable terms, they’re Destruction, Isolation, and Control.”
Destruction, Isolation, Control.
“The Destruction Faction is the most traditional force. They aim to completely eliminate all Chaos Entities and maintain the view that ‘the only good Chaos Entity is a dead Chaos Entity.’”
Song-i looked a little surprised.
“Wasn’t the Management Bureau originally that kind of organization?”
“Listen a little longer. The Isolation Faction formed after recognizing the limitations of the Destruction Faction. You’ve all experienced countless things in the Hotel by now, so I think you’ll understand what I mean. Do you think humanity can subdue every Chaos Entity in the universe?”
...
Images flashed through my mind: a moth that overturned land and atmosphere with a single flap of its wings, and incomprehensible beings like the Lord, who could turn people into angels with only a tiny fraction of their power.
“That sounds impossible.”
“It is impossible. The universe is full of Chaos Entities humanity has no way of dealing with at its current strength, and quite a few of them are interested in Earth. The Isolation Faction began with that recognition. If we admit our strength is lacking, then the Destruction Faction’s habit of treating every Chaos Entity it sees as an enemy is extremely dangerous.”
I understood what she meant. Even if an entity originally had no intention of harming people, it would start wanting to hurt humans if the Destruction Faction showed up shooting guns and throwing bombs.
“The Isolation Faction’s goal is exactly what the name suggests: ‘isolation.’ Usually, they separate Chaos Entities from humans. If a Chaos Entity is too powerful, they separate humans from it instead. Their goal is to split the two apart so they can live in separate worlds.”
Eun-sol tilted her head.
“I understand what you mean, but can they just isolate them because they want to? If an entity is so strong people can’t do anything about it, then people can’t just decide to isolate it either...”
“Ahem! Eun-sol. I understand your curiosity, but for now, just understand the factions’ general characteristics. We aren’t giving a comprehensive lecture on the Management Bureau, are we? This is only to help us understand the situation in Room 202.”
Grandpa’s attitude clearly said, Don’t ask any more questions.
Then why bring it up in the first place? I thought that, but there had to be a reason. Either way, his last point was right. We weren’t studying the Management Bureau of our reality. We were only trying to understand the Management Bureau as a way of understanding Room 202, so a basic level of knowledge should be enough.
Still, what had just been said bothered me. Eun-sol’s point was that if a Chaos Entity was too powerful for civilization to destroy, how could it possibly be isolated? One logical answer came to mind.
The Management Bureau had some unknown means of isolation. It possessed some power that couldn’t kill mighty Chaos Entities, but could separate them from humanity.
A-ri continued her lecture.
“For reference, you can think of the world we live in as one led by the Isolation Faction. A world where Chaos Entities and humans live while pretending not to know about each other, where the Management Bureau turns a blind eye to entities that haven’t crossed the line. A world where people living ordinary lives know the Management Bureau exists, but don’t know exactly what it is.”
The world we had lived in was one where the Isolation Faction held the initiative.
Thinking of it that way, the Isolation Faction seemed like a fairly capable group. At least, before entering this Hotel, I’d lived a peaceful everyday life without knowing monsters were this common in the world. I’d thought monsters and demons only existed on TV.
“Now, let’s get back to Room 202. The answer here is obvious. This is a world where the Control Faction holds the initiative.”
If the Destruction Faction was the oldest force, and the Isolation Faction was the next force to emerge after recognizing its limits...
“The Control Faction is the newest force and the most radical group. They consider the very idea of eliminating or isolating Chaos Entities ‘outdated.’”
“Eliminating and isolating them are outdated?”
“They study Chaos Entities and, beyond that, the source of the powers they wield. They want to place supernatural power itself under human ‘control.’ More radical groups even believe humanity should be transformed into something beyond Homo sapiens, while others advocate active exchange with other races.”
Grandpa cut in.
“In truth, the Control Faction is also a group that ultimately seeks humanity’s survival. They simply believe survival requires ‘various means.’ For example, what if we could find an alien god favorably disposed toward humanity? Wouldn’t that be reassuring? Of course, that would never be easy, but nothing the Management Bureau tries to do is easy.”
After hearing that much, Eun-sol summed it up simply.
“So Room 202 is a world where the Control Faction holds the initiative. That’s what you mean?”
“That’s right.”
“I think I get it. If you say every other race should die, that’s Destruction. If you say we should divide up and live in our own territories, that’s Isolation. If you say we should live together, that’s Control. Right?”
“Put very roughly, yes.”
“I have one last question. I don’t think an organization like the Management Bureau would gracefully say something like, ‘Every intelligent being has human rights,’ and allow other races to live on Earth.”
“Honestly, they aren’t that kind of people.”
“Then why did they let them live on Earth? Because they had no way to stop them? I don’t think it’s that either. If they were powerful enough that humanity couldn’t stop them, wouldn’t they have tried to conquer Earth instead?”
Grandpa answered simply.
“That’s something we need to find out from now on. Let’s get out.”
As we got out of the limousine and walked toward a building owned by Cheongseong Group, I gradually began to understand what it meant for this to be a world led by the Control Faction, where other races and humans lived together.
In the middle of the busy district, a humanoid lizard openly chattered away on an electronic billboard. On the first floor of a building was a shop that maintained the feathers of an enormous bird-person.
I was so busy looking around that I suddenly bumped into something.
“Human, you should watch where you’re going!”
“Huh? Oh? Uh? I’m sorry.”
“Where the hell is your mind... Oh, you’re with the Management Bureau. I didn’t notice your uniform right away because of my compound eyes. My apologies.”
A large, six-legged spider-like being wore a disgruntled expression, or what I assumed was a disgruntled expression. Honestly, I couldn’t tell with those compound eyes. It started to scold me before suddenly apologizing and passing by.
...
What a strange world.
Honestly, I didn’t know if it was a good world. By this setting’s values, I might be the narrow-minded one. At least the other races in Room 202 seemed quite cautious around Management Bureau agents. I probably wouldn’t get into an argument with a spider while walking down the street, at least.
Only after we entered the elevator heading for the eighteenth floor of Cheongseong Group, where the chairman’s office was located, did everyone relax and look at one another. We were all too busy adapting to this strange world to know what to say.
A-ri spoke carefully.
“You felt it on the way here, didn’t you? What kind of world this is?”
“...”
“Just to be safe, don’t see something that looks like a monster and kill it on sight like in the other rooms. It might look like a spider monster, but absurdly enough, this is a world where it could have a South Korean residence card or permanent residency.”
“...”
I imagined a spider holding a South Korean permanent residency card, and a laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
* * *
My first impression of Lee Mun-chun, chairman of Cheongseong Group, wasn’t bad. Even though we were late for our appointment, he didn’t show it at all. He also explained the dispute currently taking place between Cheongseong Group and Haesin Island so coherently that we quickly understood the situation.
What kind of country was South Korea? A country crazy about real estate!
In the end, real estate lay at the root of this supernatural conflict involving a conglomerate, the Management Bureau, the Sea God, and the Saintess of the Deep. Eun-sol naturally stepped forward and neatly summarized the matter.
“Chairman, from Cheongseong Group’s perspective, you’re saying ownership of Haesin Island’s port infrastructure clearly belongs to Cheongseong Group?”
“That is correct. The legal analysis of this matter has already undergone professional review through three or more law firms, and many legal professionals with twenty or more years of experience...”
“Chairman, why are you doing this when you know everything already? Don’t you know the law means very little in this dispute?”
“... I do. If things worked according to the law, my son wouldn’t have died.”
“No matter how much we bring in human legal experts to talk, it’ll be like reading scripture into a cow’s ear to the Merfolk. In their eyes, Haesin Island is sacred land ‘created’ by the Sea God. Naturally, they’ll believe the port on that sacred land, and the countless economic benefits that stem from it, belong to them.”
“...”
“Don’t misunderstand me. I’m only saying that’s their position. If we intended to blindly accept their claims, would we have come all the way here?”
The chairman’s expression brightened sharply.
“Agent, do you have a good plan?”
“Legal arguments about ownership of the port would mean nothing more than nonsense to the Merfolk, but the Nonaggression Treaty is different. It’s a contract their god personally made and sealed with the god’s own blood.”
A contract sealed with a god’s blood. The god’s servants couldn’t deny a contract with that kind of authority.
“If we can prove your son was truly killed by them, then future negotiations will inevitably favor us.”
“Do you intend to go to Haesin Island yourselves? They’re incredibly uncivilized creatures.”
“Are you telling me to be careful about that?”
“... I’ve said something unnecessary to a Management Bureau agent. Please do your best.”
“Of course. And...”
After thinking for a moment, Eun-sol asked a somewhat heavy question.
“Could you tell us what you truly want, Chairman?”
“What do you mean?”
“Punishment for your son’s death? Or ownership of the port?”
“...”
“It’s an important question. They may offer to give up ownership of the port in exchange for covering up your son’s death and their violation of the Nonaggression Treaty.”
The chairman wore a distant expression as he muttered slowly.
“... The port. The port.”
“I understand. Should we contact you at the number we received earlier?”
“Yes.”
After receiving the general outline, we left the chairman’s office. It appeared we needed to go to Haesin Island and find evidence that the chairman’s son had been murdered by the Merfolk.
* * *
The party had been quiet from the moment we left the chairman’s office until we returned to the limousine, but it became noisy the moment we got inside.
“Wow! What was that, Sis? I knew you were discussing things with A-ri and Grandpa earlier, but did you talk about all that too?”
“Eun-sol, you think so fast! You read through all those documents in no time, and you even picked up on the chairman caring more about the port than his son.”
“Honestly, when I saw there were nearly two hundred pages of A4 paper, I just stared at the ceiling. How did you read all that so quickly?”
Song-i, A-ri, and the others praised her one after another. Honestly, even I thought it was impressive to watch.
She had literally skimmed through over two hundred pages of documents in just over ten minutes, understood the key points, spoken effortlessly about legal and economic issues, then casually picked out the chairman’s true feelings. In a way, it was almost like a magic trick.
With everyone praising her, Eun-sol instead muttered awkwardly.
“Guys, I’m originally a director of Daeyang Group...”
Right, she was originally a high-ranking member of a chaebol family, wasn’t she?
The limousine sped down the road amid the lively atmosphere. Around then, Grandpa brought up the most important matter.
“That damned Haesin Island is coming into view. This is where things really begin, wouldn’t you say? Let’s start by getting one person out.”
Footnotes:
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