WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 2: First Day at the Hotel, Meeting the Group (2)

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- Han Ga-in

When I headed to the dining room, three people were already seated there besides Eun-sol and me.

One was a boy who looked much younger than me, probably around middle school age.

Another was a cute-faced girl about my age, looking around restlessly.

Then there was a foreign woman with such unbelievable looks that I had never seen anyone like her in my life.

No joke, seeing her felt like getting punched in the face.

Golden hair flowed over her shoulders like melted gold, and her eyes looked as though they had been fashioned from emeralds.

Then I noticed a certain part of her body that seemed brimming with kindness, and I was left speechless.

Did people like this only exist in movies?

I stared blankly for five seconds or so. She gave me an awkward smile, and only then did I realize how rude I had been.

Flustered, I bowed my head and went to sit at the dining table.

Shouldn't I apologize first?

I forced myself to piece together an English sentence.

"I'm so sorry, but..."

"It's okay. I've lived in Korea for six years, so I speak Korean well. Besides, I'm not American or British."

"Ah. I'm sorry..."

"You were lying in bed, weren't you? Are you okay? Were you hurt or something?"

"No, I'm fine. I was just tired and meant to close my eyes for a bit, but I fell asleep."

"We all went through something exhausting. It's the first time anything this strange has happened to me. Thank you for shouting for us to come to Room 105 earlier."

"Oh, no. By the time I got there, that well-built man was already holding them off really well."

"Jin-cheol definitely saved us. I'll have to thank him again when we see him. My name is Elena Ivanova. You can just call me Elena. What about you?"

"I'm Han Ga-in. Um, I think we should all introduce ourselves first. It seems everyone else already did while I was asleep."

"I'm Yoo Song-i."

"My name is Park Seung-yeop."

Click.

The door opened, and the man I had seen earlier entered the room.

The arm that had been bleeding was now tightly wrapped in soft cloth, though I had no idea where he had found it.

When he came closer, I realized just how incredible his build was.

He had to be at least 190 centimeters tall. Maybe even taller.

He wasn't just tall, either. His physique was that of an athlete.

Could someone with a body like that really hold his own against monsters?

As I marveled at him again, his deep voice rang out.

"My name's Cha Jin-cheol. Ah, can I speak casually? You look like a student."

"That's fine. You can just call me Ga-in."

"Sure, sure. Ga-in, thanks so much for telling us about this room. Damn, those monkey bastards hurt like hell. No matter how many times I cracked those animal bastards over the head, they wouldn't die. They wouldn't even run away. What the hell is this? They're not leopards, but look what happened to me fighting two monkeys."

I was a little startled when he immediately called me Ga-in, but I let it go.

Honestly, I had no intention of nitpicking something so trivial with someone who looked like he would have dreamed of conquering the world if he had been born in the Joseon Dynasty.

Besides, I had told him to speak casually first.

As soon as everyone had introduced themselves, my Status Window flashed and changed.

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 1

Current Location: Level 1, Room 105 (Rest Room)

Companion Information (!)

Sage’s Advice: 2]

Companion Information?

I had done this once before, so it felt a little familiar. I focused on Companion Information and thought, Open!

A new window popped up.

[1. Han Ga-in (20) - Wisdom

2. Cha Jin-cheol (31) - Courage

3. Yoo Song-i (17) - Affinity

4. Elena Ivanova (23) - Justice

5. Park Seung-yeop (14) - Luck

6. Lee Eun-sol (32) - Wealth]

The information at the front was their names, and the numbers after them were their ages, right? Then what were those words after that, Wisdom, Courage, and the rest?

To check, I spoke to the cute-faced girl, who seemed like the easiest person there to talk to.

"Yoo Song-i, are you seventeen by any chance?"

"That's right. How did you know?"

"Um, you see the number next to your name in this window, right? I thought it might be your age."

As soon as I finished speaking, not only Song-i across from me but everyone there looked confused.

Watching them stare in the direction I pointed with puzzled expressions, I realized something.

Only I could see this window.

"Ah, this... It seems the window is only visible to me."

"A window? Can you see something strange? I was wondering what you were doing, suddenly staring into thin air and muttering. Does it have our ages written there or something?"

"Yeah. Let me explain."

After a little discussion, I explained that this strange Status Window was visible only to me and displayed information like our current situation, the date, and our location.

Given the circumstances, I thought the things related to this Status Window might be the true nature of the Wisdom that had kept coming up. When I brought that up, people began speaking up one by one.

"Wisdom... Since it's the Blessing of Wisdom, does it give you some kind of knowledge only you can access? I actually received something similar. Your window calls mine Courage, right? I think I have a rough idea what it is. Mine probably makes my body stronger or something."

"Your body gets stronger? How?"

"I don't know... We'll have to see as time goes on, but I surprised myself while fighting those monkeys earlier. I work out, but even so, my arms kept shooting out with absurd ease. And I fought for over thirty minutes without getting very tired. I think I'm stronger and have better stamina. Also, my arm seems to be recovering a little better too."

"Do I... Do I have something too? I have no idea what Affinity could mean. I can't see a window, and I'm not strong either."

"I think I know what Song-i's might be."

"Did you notice something, Eun-sol?"

"When the monkeys attacked earlier, Song-i was just lying facedown next to a tree, right? I was terrified, thinking she was going to die. Strangely enough, the monkeys didn't attack Song-i. At the time, I thought she was just lucky, but now that I think about it, that was probably Affinity."

"Then what do you think mine is?"

"Seung-yeop... I don't know. Luck. Has anything lucky happened to you?"

"If I were lucky, wouldn't I have avoided coming to a place full of monsters like this?"

"True..."

"Um. Mine is Justice, then. I have no idea what that means either. Will I get the powers of some champion of justice later? Eun-sol, yours is Wealth. Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"I don't know. If it just means being rich, it's not like I don't have money, but given the situation, it sounds more like some sort of ability. Maybe I'll get the Midas touch? Like, if I touch someone, they'll turn to gold?"

As she said that, Eun-sol playfully stroked Song-i. Song-i, apparently thinking it might be real, instantly shrank into herself like a turtle.

Of course, Song-i didn't turn to gold just because Eun-sol had touched her.

"What is going on? I wanted to properly enjoy the few months after finishing the college entrance exam, when high school seniors are supposed to be the happiest people in the world. I never thought something like this would happen. There aren't even two weeks left until the new semester."

Eun-sol looked somewhat intrigued.

"New semester? Are you going to a foreign university?"

"What? No, nothing like that. I'm just Korean."

"There's a university in Korea that starts at this time of year? What university is it?"

"Huh? Don't they all start in early March?"

Like before, silence filled the room.

A heavy voice echoed through the dining room.

"It seems... we've really got a lot to talk about today. So, Ga-in, you think it's the season when school starts. For reference, I thought yesterday was November 24."

"I thought yesterday was May 3. My midterms ended not long ago."

"I thought yesterday was March 9."

"I thought yesterday was May 16. At this point, I'm curious about something. What year was everyone's yesterday? And looking at how we're dressed, I think we should ask about where everyone was, too."

Through that brief conversation, we confirmed a few things.

1. The date everyone remembered as yesterday was different. We had clearly been abducted on different days.

2. The place everyone remembered being yesterday was different too. Some people, like me, had gone to sleep in a hotel and then woke up here. Others had gone to sleep at home and then woke up here.

What was this?

What had happened to us, and what were we supposed to do now?

A long silence fell over us.

So much confusing information swirled through my mind like a storm that it felt as though I couldn't think at all anymore.

--- Grrrrrrrrowl!!!!

Song-i, the owner of the sound, went red with embarrassment.

"Ah! Aaaah! Sorry. I'm sorry. Why did it suddenly..."

"Heh. What's there to apologize for? It's natural. I've actually been starving since earlier too. I had a brutal workout this morning. This is the button to order a meal, right? Let's all eat first. Don't you think it'll be easier to think after we eat something?"

"Yeah. Let's eat together first. I'm curious what they'll bring us. And how they'll bring it. I wonder if a place like this even has staff to carry food around."

"Then I'll press it."

Elena, who happened to be sitting beside the button, pressed it. It began flashing red.

But nothing happened.

Everyone waited silently for about five minutes, and just when it seemed like nothing was going to change, Seung-yeop noticed something.

"Everyone, could you look at that display? Something was added."

/Welcome, guests gathered at Hotel Pioneer!

Please take note of the following information. Additional notices may be added, and you may view them again at any time on the hotel's displays.

1. Hotel Pioneer always loves its guests.

- However, the hotel staff are rather shy, so they work diligently when guests aren't watching.

2. Please note that the elevator is out of order.

3. The hotel always protects its guests' privacy. Still, wouldn't it be nice to eat together? Please be sure to observe mealtimes./

A new sentence had appeared under number one.

"The hotel staff are rather shy, so they work diligently when guests aren't watching."

What was that supposed to mean?

I was staring blankly when a possibility occurred to me. I looked up and met Eun-sol's eyes. She appeared to have had the same idea.

"Eun-sol, I know this sounds ridiculous, but do you think this is telling us..."

"It seems like it's telling us to leave for a moment. It literally says they're shy, so they can't set out the food while we're watching. Isn't that what it means?"

Once everyone understood, they all reacted in disbelief.

"What kind of restaurant is too embarrassed to serve food in front of its customers? If they're that shy, they should quit running a restaurant!"

"Does it really matter if we question every little thing at this point? It's starting to feel like we're in some sort of play, so it's almost a little fun. If there weren't monsters, I'd think it was an interesting experience."

"Elena, you're really good at Korean."

"I told you, it's been six years. I'm practically half Korean now."

"Um, then why don't we all step outside for a moment? Sorry, but I'm really hungry too."

"Let's do that."

We all stood and left the dining room. After closing the door, we opened it again and went back inside around ten seconds later.

Just as Elena said, it felt like we were acting in a play.

When we returned to the dining room, small groans escaped everyone's mouths.

Was this some kind of magical-school feast at a school entered through a train station?

The entire table was covered with gorgeous, appetizing food.

It wasn't exactly a flaw, but dishes from countless countries had been mixed together. It was a truly eclectic spread.

There were familiar dishes like spaghetti, steak, and spicy stir-fried pork, while some were foods I had never seen in my life. I couldn't even guess what ingredients they used.

While everyone stood there with their mouths open, Jin-cheol made a decision.

"There's a ton of food, and looking at the clock, we only have about forty minutes left for mealtime. Let's each grab a plate of whatever we want and dig in. Once we eat, we'll probably have the energy to talk too."

Day 1 after arriving at Hotel Pioneer.

For the first time, I found one advantage of this hotel.

Footnotes:

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