WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 252: Room 202, Curse Room - ‘The Little Mermaid’ (30) (Final)
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- Lee Eun-sol
“Agent Lee Eun-sol, is what you just said true?”
“Can you verify your identity?”
“Is it really okay to reveal all this?”
“Hey! If you’re done asking questions, move back!”
“Show us the evidence!”
The noise was unbelievable. It was so loud my head hurt.
Even as my head began to throb, the sky, which had been turning gray as though Judgment Day had come, had already returned to its proper color. That settled my nerves somewhat, and before the final stage of the plan began in earnest, I took stock of the situation.
This was our third attempt. To lay out my plan in detail:
First, we would all go to the Research Lab and take control of its equipment, especially the Living Flutes. After that, everyone would move to carry out their individual roles.
Second, Ga-in and A-ri would cause major confusion within the Management Bureau through “some means.” A-ri never told us what those “means” actually were.
Third, Cha Jin-cheol would lead the Living Flutes and the Advanced Humans in a terrorist attack on Headquarters while the Management Bureau was in chaos. Avenging the Sea God was important, of course, but an even more important goal was making the Management Bureau realize how dangerous the New Humanity Project was.
Fourth, Grandfather, Mr. Sang-hyeon, and Seung-yeop would secure the Rudah in the Research Lab, then head to Busan to make sure Riringanor could not do anything strange. After that, we would all go to Haesin Island, explain the situation to Serenade, and begin the “Rudah rescue.”
Fifth, the role Song-i and I had right now was...
To give the Management Bureau one more reason to abandon the New Humanity Project through a media campaign!
Today might have been the worst day the Management Bureau had faced in decades.
Around noon, some horrifying, unidentified thing had been unleashed upon the world. Just as they had barely managed to stop the disaster by throwing themselves at it with their lives on the line, the Advanced Humans they believed were humanity’s hope suddenly carried out a terrorist attack on Headquarters while wearing sturdy equipment, including Enhancement Suits.
Calling it terrorism was not an exaggeration!
Each of them was a superhuman with physical abilities no person could attain through a lifetime of training. When an army of those superhumans charged the Management Bureau in powerful equipment, even the Management Bureau had practically needed to fight a war in the middle of Seoul.
One fortunate thing, if one could call it that?
The Management Bureau was naturally an organization meant to protect civilians, and Cha Jin-cheol, who controlled the Advanced Human army, had no intention of targeting ordinary people either. Because neither side targeted civilians, unnecessary casualties could be kept to a minimum. Still, amid all this chaos, the Management Bureau had almost completely lost control over Seoul and, beyond that, all of South Korea.
Put simply...
No one came to stop me from pulling this shit in front of the reporters from broadcasting stations who had gathered because they did not understand what was going on.
“Alright, alright! Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything!”
The reporters began to stir when Song-i and I showed them our Management Bureau badges and business cards. Of course, that was only the beginning. When we stripped the Enhancement Suits off the bodies of the Ascended Humans scattered around us and revealed their transformed bodies, they could not hide their shock.
“I am Lee Eun-sol, an agent of the Management Bureau. I stand before you today to tell you a painful story, a terrible truth that must never be repeated.”
“These grotesque beings you see before you are all human. If you doubt me, collect samples and conduct DNA tests.”
“They are your sons and daughters too! Everyone, place a hand over your heart and feel it beat. Why did such a tragedy happen?”
That was the idea.
Countless cameras, countless reporters. A crowd so large I could not take it all in at once!
I went on and on in front of them. At first, I think I meant to explain things exactly as they had happened in Room 202, but I got swept up in the moment. As I gave my impassioned speech, I gradually started adding details to the story.
Before I knew it, the Advanced Humans had become something the Management Bureau created by kidnapping civilians and stuffing alien organisms into them.
Before I knew it, Jin-cheol had become the lonely leader of the Advanced Humans, enraged by the tragedy, and the twisted body he gained while using the Otherworldly Star was repackaged as the result of the Management Bureau’s horrific experiments.
Before I knew it, the great catastrophe that turned the sky gray around noon had become another reckless experiment by the Management Bureau that had gone horribly wrong.
Before I knew it, I had become a tragic victim of fate who was abducted by the Management Bureau as a child, had a perfectly healthy eye removed without anesthesia, and received a demon eye in its place...
Wait.
I had added way too much, had I not?
“Sis!”
“Song-i?”
“Sis! You’re really good at this! Did you do this kind of thing a lot in the real world too? Are conglomerate families always like this?”
It seemed Daeyang Group’s image had gotten worse without my even noticing. Or maybe it was just my image that had gotten worse.
...
The sky was clear, and the world was peaceful. A story with “a little extra padding” would spread across the world, but it was fine. What was good was good. It was all~ for the sake of saving the world.
It was a good day. On a day like this, even the god of the deep, driven mad after witnessing the suffering of its Servants, might be able to calm its anger.
Only when the reporter in front of me, who had been frantically writing down my nonsense, crumbled like grains of sand and turned back into light did I realize the moment of resolution had come.
The world collapsed.
My companions and I floated through an empty void where nothing remained. Then, in this world full of lies, we saw one other true being alongside us. A being rising from the abyss at the end of an ink-blue sea.
‘So it is finally over. Did you devise this plan? Thank you.’
I felt an enormous source of light, too vast to take in at once, looking over me. Perhaps because it had been freed from pain, its words reached me quite clearly.
‘Who are you?’
“My name is Lee Eun-sol -”
‘I asked of your roots...’
“What do you mean?”
‘Do not become obsessed with escape. This hotel holds many traps... In truth, even escape itself may be a trap. Know yourself.’
As the Sea God crumbled away, I shouted, my patience completely gone.
“No! Hey! Hey! Explain it so I can understand before you leave!”
/You have succeeded!
A beautiful sea, an island glittering like a jewel, and princesses of the sea who shone brighter than the sea and island themselves. Who could have imagined that such a picture-perfect stage hid darkness and sin beyond imagination behind it?
The beginning of every tragedy lay in the meeting between a princess who despaired beneath endless pain and the Management Bureau, which despaired at humanity’s weakness. Their meeting could quench each other’s thirst, but it created yet another victim.
From one perspective, perhaps it was nothing much. Was cloning, dissecting, and analyzing a few sea snails truly such a grave crime?
From another perspective, it was a sin too great to bear. The Great Sin of selling out the Servants of the god who saved their ancestors. The Great Sin of breaking faith with the Chaos God, with whom they had even formed a Nonaggression Treaty, was surely unforgivable.
In the end, it is a matter for you to decide. Today, you have made a great choice. You have begun to see the world through a broader frame, free from the narrow notion of what a person is. Congratulations. The Servants have been freed, and the Sea God’s anger has subsided. The Management Bureau has abandoned an ambition that went astray from the start and returned to the proper course. Is that not enough for a happy ending?
Would it not be disappointing if there were no “additional reward” for a happy ending? You will not be disappointed!
.
.
.
A companion has achieved a Final Resolution! Congratulations! Since a companion has achieved a Final Resolution, all members will return safely.
Please decide for yourselves which treasure to receive and who will receive it!/
Just as A-ri predicted, the hotel judged us very favorably.
It seemed to have given high marks to the approach itself, one that broke free from the fixed idea of what humans were. More than that, it highly valued the fact that we had achieved a fundamental solution by calming the Sea God’s anger, the Source of the Curse.
My heart raced at the mention of an “additional reward.” What would we receive? And what kind of Inheritance would be given to whom?
A notification appeared to answer all those questions.
/Participants! Once again, congratulations on resolving Room 202.
Participants who have survived until now and contributed to the final battle are qualified to receive an Inheritance. The qualified participants are as follows.
1. Kim Mook-seong (Communication)
2. Kim Sang-hyeon (Diligence)
3. Park Seung-yeop (Luck)
4. Yoo Song-i (Affinity)
5. Lee Eun-sol (Wealth)
However, only one person can receive the Inheritance! The ‘Time to Choose’ will begin shortly!/
Since the dead were automatically excluded, A-ri, Ga-in, and Jin-cheol were left out. Elena had done nothing in the final battle, our third attempt, so she was excluded as well. That left all five of us, excluding those four, qualified.
... A dizzy sensation washed over me, and I lost consciousness.
* * *
When I came to, my companions and I found ourselves standing in a mysterious space resembling the Research Lab. Our joy at seeing each other was brief. The reward that appeared in the center soon left us with a difficult decision to make.
Two objects floated in the center.
On one side was a writhing creature. On the other was an old, elegant Flute.
As everyone fell silent, Elena stepped forward with a bitter smile.
“The hotel can be pretty underhanded at times like this. It says I’m not qualified to receive an Inheritance, yet it still brought me here... Well, I suppose it wants me to explain the Inheritances so you can choose well.”
As the Daughter of the Sea God in Room 202, she probably knew more than anyone about that Rudah and Flute.
For our final reward, which item would our party take from this room, and who would receive it?
Footnotes:
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