WeTried Translations

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 23: Room 102, The Cursed Room - ‘The Mansion of Horror’ (9)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 8

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

Sage’s Advice: 0]

I made a mistake. The same mistake as before.

If I brought a Dagger, the other side could bring a blade too.

If I had a trick up my sleeve, then they must have had one left as well.

The priest had dropped the skewer while writhing in agony from the spray, so I mistakenly thought he was unarmed.

I was too exhausted. The extreme tension, climbing through the rain, the brutal fight. With my strength drained by it all, I approached too slowly, giving the priest time to overcome the pain.

The moment I came close, a kitchen knife flew out from the priest's waist and struck my thigh.

Thankfully, I was wearing a thick raincoat, and the priest had little strength left. Before it could cut through properly, the kitchen knife rolled across the ground.

“Gasp... Ugh... Did you spend ten years fighting on some battlefield, Father...?”

Perhaps he didn't have the strength to answer. Without a word, the priest approached me.

Ah... My body won't move. I have to move somehow, even if it's just to dodge...

I could feel every last bit of strength draining from head to toe.

The priest's hand closed around my throat. Was my life flashing before my eyes? I could hear the Bell ringing in the distance...

The Bell?

The priest's gaze turned toward empty air. His unfocused eyes wandered, unable to settle on anything.

Someone else had appeared.

It was the same as with A-ri. The Bell had rung then too. This time as well?

The body was the same, but he was clearly different. The old man before me was no longer the dignified butler or the priest filled with suppressed rage...

He was someone I'd never seen before.

An expression I'd never seen before.

He looked as if he were teasing me, perhaps mocking me. It was a playful expression neither the butler nor the priest would ever have made.

“You made a mistake, young man. Didn't you? Don't even have the strength to answer? Hah, kids these days have no stamina.

“You can't let your guard down at the hotel. A moment of carelessness means death.

“Well, when you've got plenty of reliable companions, you can rest easy and close your eyes... But you're practically alone now.

“Still, this wasn't bad. Your stamina is pathetic, but your head works well enough.”

The hotel.

The old man had just said “hotel,” not “mansion.”

This old man...

He knew that everything happening to us was taking place inside Room 102 of the hotel.

When I stared at him in shock, the old man chuckled and lightly tapped my head.

It was an oddly familiar gesture. Did that mean he had no intention of killing me?

“You were planning to kill at least three sacrifices with your own hands before the Elder went wild, weren't you? Not bad. You're decisive too. But your skills are lacking. You need to grow stronger.

“I'm a little worried, but you'll escape at this rate. To be honest, I don't have any good ideas either. We started out as ‘characters in the mansion,’ so we can't escape by our own power.

“I'm counting on you. Let's meet outside.”

The person who was neither the butler nor the priest said that, then moved away from me. He headed toward the cliff and jumped without hesitation.

* * *

My vision was blurry.

Slowly, with every ounce of strength I had left, I descended the mountain. Climbing through the wind and rain, the fight afterward, and even being stabbed, however shallowly...

There wasn't a shred of strength left in my body.

As I stumbled down, unable to tell whether I was descending or merely sliding with gravity, I saw someone in the distance.

A small figure. Long black hair falling to her waist. Only when A-ri came close could I finally force out a sentence.

“You rang the Bell, didn't you? Thanks.”

“It seemed like you wouldn't be able to do it alone.”

“What exactly is that Bell? At first, I thought it was some sort of tool the hotel gave you to suppress the demon's power... But it feels like there's more to it than that.”

“The Bell itself is as you think. Let's just say my grandfather and I have another way of waking up.”

“Waking up from the roles the hotel forced on you... Can you really do that whenever you want?”

“Focus on what you have to do now. You know what that is, don't you?”

“Forget what I have to do. I can't do anything. I really can't even move a finger.”

Before I even finished speaking, A-ri held out a small bottle.

“Drink. Even with your poor stamina, this will restore enough strength for you to stand.”

It tasted strange.

Dark red, with a faint fishy smell. Could this be...? Only disgusting thoughts came to mind, so I stopped thinking about it.

It was a strange sensation.

I felt heat rising inside my body. Slowly, the liquid that passed down my throat spread through my entire body.

The warmth that began in my throat gradually filled me.

I wasn't as refreshed as if I'd gotten a full rest, but just as A-ri said, I had enough strength to stand.

As I stood and lightly stretched, A-ri approached.

“Ah, I can finally see the end of this tiresome mansion.”

“You... Who are you two, you and the priest, no, the person playing the role of the ‘priest’?”

“You'll find out once you leave anyway. And you have some idea already, don't you? Stop wasting time and do what you have to do.”

I felt stifled as I looked at the fairy-like girl. Was this really the best choice?

Was the best path for the butler or priest, A-ri, and probably myself to die before the demon devoured us?

The moment I hesitated, A-ri stepped closer and met my eyes.

“You came all this way and still can't decide. I'll help you.”

Her crimson eyes came so close that our noses nearly brushed, and I panicked tchkpyjdgsoo

Spinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandroundspinningroundandround

AhIwatchmyhandriseonitsownandwraparoundthechildsneckIllcoverthatnecklikeawarmscarfletsbreakitcrushitenditinoneinstantsoshecanleaveinpeace

Beeeeeeeeeeep--------------------------------------

* * *

Drawing on the strength I'd barely recovered, I forced myself down the mountain and headed toward the mansion.

The end of this damned mansion was finally close.

The rain had almost stopped. As I walked slowly, I saw the front gate and the grotesque statue I'd seen on the first day. A familiar face stood before it.

“Ga-in! Are you okay?”

“More or less. Since I'm not dead yet, I guess I'm okay.”

Silence settled around us. We both knew enough already. This puppet show had become ridiculous enough to make me laugh.

Song-i stretched out her arm and stroked the statue's heart.

“What does this make you think of?”

“The owner's taste is really screwed up. It's worse than the dinosaur I made from clay in elementary school.”

“Ah, hehehe. That's a little hurtful. I thought it had a primitive charm of its own.”

“Enough of this. Where's Seung-yeop?”

“Where are A-ri and the butler?”

“Somewhere on the mountain.”

“Heh, this is really funny. Right? Everyone who was going to die has died, and only the murderers are left. I never expected the moment I'd waited for all these years to play out like this.

“To think there was a crazy sacrifice among us who would kill the other sacrifices with his own hands.”

“Murderers? Let's be precise. You're the murderer, and I'm the victim. Elder, I don't know how you got into Song-i's body, but shut your mouth and come over here.”

“You've got quite the foul mouth for a child. You made this fairly entertaining, so I'll let it slide.”

“Cut the bullshit. I'm really sick of this now.”

“Yes, yes. We have to see this through anyway. But... let me ask you one thing. Why didn't you kill yourself?”

“Why the hell do you want to know, idiot?!”

The next moment, we both moved toward our respective goals. As I ran toward the church, I thought.

The church Bell.

When I saw the word “Bell” in the note Eun-sol gave me and asked the butler about it, he had told me something.

He said the Bell had simply been left in the bell tower. There was nobody to ring it, and since the church owned it, they had left it alone.

It was absurd.

The Elder didn't dislike the Bell simply because he hated its sound.

Hadn't we clearly seen that the supernatural power held by that Bell could break the Elder's power?

Would someone trying to summon a demon leave an object that could strike at his weakness alone over something as trivial as a legal issue?

No way.

Perhaps the Elder and the servants infused with his power couldn't approach the Bell in the first place.

When I looked back, Song-i was bringing every mansion statue to life with a touch.

Ah, those were what had served as the Defense Cards in the card game with A-ri.

For the first time, I was grateful for the storm and rain that had lashed down for days.

I hadn't anticipated this much when I made the plan, but the ground was soaked and soft from the rain.

The statues' feet sank into the mud, so they couldn't chase me as easily as I'd expected.

I ran and ran, finally reaching the church in a daze.

I still couldn't relax.

The butler, one of the Elder's servants, had been able to enter the church too. What mattered wasn't the church itself, but the Bell.

Only after climbing the ladder and taking hold of the Bell did I breathe a sigh of relief.

At this point, I had completed my role in the plan.

The Elder arrived from the distance, leading the statues.

“Are you planning to hold out with that?”

“If you don't like watching me hold out, why don't you come closer?”

“You're awfully arrogant. I'll admit it. I still have difficulty touching that holy object, but... does that really mean anything?

“If it comes to it, I only need to follow you around so you can't eat or sleep.”

“I'm sorry.”

The Elder looked at me with puzzled eyes.

“Come to think of it, despite the fact that you haven't dropped dead and you've committed every kind of evil, there is clearly an age difference between us. In a country that values respect for elders, I should at least answer your question.”

“A question?”

“You asked me earlier, didn't you? Why I hadn't killed myself. It wasn't that I wanted to live, and I wasn't desperately trying to defeat you either. I was just... waiting for the right time to die.”

“The right time to die? Are you speaking in riddles now? At this point...”

Goooooooooooooooo-----------------

I heard a sound that shook heaven and earth.

From the deepest hole in the mansion, I heard the cry of one yet unborn.

Only then did I know the time had come.

The Dagger.

This wasn't easy. I'd made up my mind so many times that I would kill myself when the time came... But this really wasn't easy.

I closed my eyes and thought. I wasn't dying. I was only falling into a deep sleep for a while so I could wake from this nightmare and meet my companions.

The Dagger plunged into my throat. In an instant, unbearable pain washed over me. I prayed only for the moment when the pain would end.

It was my second death since coming to the hotel.

Footnotes:

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