WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 304: Room 204, Mission Room - ‘Hotel Cinema’ (26)
──────
- Theater
The moment the girl who had forgotten that she was a Nine-Tailed Fox and finished whitewashing her past was rescued by the Holy See, the audience in the theater breathed a sigh of relief.
At last, the ending A-ri had intended was complete.
The most dangerous part of her plan had been the latter half of the story, after Han Yu-ri became human and erased her own memories with the Oblivion Spell.
A-ri could take the lead through the earlier portion because she'd experienced all kinds of situations in both reality and the hotel. In the latter half, though, even A-ri's personality sank beneath the surface, leaving plenty of room for variables.
“Looks like everything went smoothly. It'll move on to the coffee shop scene soon, right?”
Sang-hyeon nodded at Song-i's words.
The epilogue continued after that, and Han Yu-ri had apparently prepared for life after becoming human as well. The arrangements made by a transcendent Yokai who had spent decades, perhaps centuries, longing to become human were almost flawless.
Then Cha Jin-cheol spoke with a somewhat regretful expression.
“Was there really no other way? Saerom, was it? It's sad that that fox died so horribly. It wasn't a happy ending, and there were too many victims. I don't like that Han Yu-ri ended up as the final winner either. If you had to pick the most evil being in that short story, wouldn't it definitely be Han Yu-ri?”
“More precisely, it was Ms. A-ri, who controlled Han Yu-ri.”
Cha Jin-cheol flinched at Kim Sang-hyeon's words. Song-i looked as though she didn't see the problem.
“Jin-cheol, no one could think of another way. Most of the scenario was decided from the start. As we confirmed again when A-ri began, Han Yu-ri was human. Since a Nine-Tailed Fox has to eat people to become human, there was no way to avoid cannibalism.”
Sang-hyeon nodded as well.
“Jin-cheol, I agree. It was a predetermined ending, and Ms. A-ri made a difficult choice. More importantly... don't sympathize too much with Park Saerom, that fox. She was a Yokai who ate hundreds of people over several centuries. A miserable death suited her.”
Cha Jin-cheol nodded, looking convinced.
“Hmm... Sang-hyeon, I guess I was being too sentimental. I just wondered if there was another way...”
At that moment, Ga-in, who had been quiet until then, spoke.
“There's nothing wrong with thinking about it. A-ri brought the story to its conclusion, but if writer Do In-ho decides this ending is strange, the next person will have to become a Nine-Tailed Fox again.”
“Did you think of something?”
Ga-in took a drink, cleared his throat, and began a fairly long explanation.
“The introduction in the coffee shop contained hints for how the short story would unfold. Song-i made a good point earlier. Once Han Yu-ri came to the coffee shop as a human, the main core of the scenario was decided.”
“You mean the Nine-Tailed Fox had become human, so she had to eat people?”
“It was certain that she had to become human, but not that she had to eat people. A-ri, the greatest expert in this field, said so before she entered, didn't she?”
As Ga-in brought up A-ri's words, everyone tilted their heads and searched their memories.
“There are ways for a Nine-Tailed Fox to become human besides eating people. You manipulate the folklore. Erase the folklore or alter it. Since stories about Nine-Tailed Foxes are so widespread that everyone knows them, altering them would be more practical than erasing them.”
Elena, looking intrigued, replied.
“Like spreading films or novels that say a Nine-Tailed Fox can become human without eating livers?”
“Probably something like that. Someone from the Management Bureau would know the details.”
Kim Sang-hyeon, who had been listening closely, made a sharp observation.
“I understand what you mean, but could Han Yu-ri in that story actually carry it out? That's a method the Management Bureau or the Holy See, organizations that control the entire world, could use. It isn't something a Nine-Tailed Fox who fears those organizations and moves from one abandoned house to another could do.”
Ga-in nodded.
“As you said, Doctor, an individual Nine-Tailed Fox couldn't carry it out. The Holy See would have to help.”
“Why would they help? Didn't Ms. A-ri say it would be far more efficient to kill the two foxes than do something so pointless?”
“But she knew such a method existed.”
“What?”
“Doctor, how do you think A-ri knew about the method of using folklore? It's not as if she could have tried it herself.”
“...The Management Bureau must have tried it.”
“That's right. The Management Bureau actually did it. They invested time and effort into twisting folklore to whitewash the past of a Yokai that had eaten people. Why do you think they did that?”
“...”
“From here, this is less an analysis of the film and more an analysis of the Management Bureau or the Holy See, an organization like it. Since two Management Bureau agents are among us, I should be careful even bringing this up...”
As Ga-in hesitated, Sang-hyeon chimed in.
“Neither of them is here right now. If we don't think among ourselves about the Management Bureau at a time like this, when will we? Fortunately, the film is almost over. Though I don't know how the writer will judge it.”
Elena nodded too.
“The Management Bureau appears often in the hotel anyway. It concerns the hotel as well.”
Ga-in continued.
“This was something I thought of after seeing how they fed humans to an evil being in Room 201, and how they were ready to eliminate even their own members without mercy in Room 202 to maintain secrecy. The Management Bureau is an organization that works for humanity, but it doesn't seem to place much value on individual lives.”
Sang-hyeon nodded as though he understood.
“It's a utilitarian organization. It can kill a hundred people to save a thousand. To save hundreds of millions, it may even kill millions. Perhaps that's a rational attitude for protecting the world.”
“Seen in that context, it's easy to imagine a scenario where the Holy See helps a cannibalistic Yokai that ate over nine hundred people.”
“...It killed over nine hundred people, but it can save even more than that?”
“Exactly. The Management Bureau we've seen so far seems like the kind of organization that would gladly whitewash even a Yokai that ate a hundred thousand people if recruiting it could save a million.”
After listening for a while, Cha Jin-cheol summarized the long conversation.
“So the way to clear that short story without cannibalism would be this, right? Han Yu-ri would have to prove to the Holy See that she had more than enough ability to save hundreds or thousands of people?”
“Something like that. If she can prove it, questions like how to alter the folklore are no longer Han Yu-ri's problem. The Holy See would handle it.”
“How?”
“I haven't gone in, so I don't know. Honestly, even if I'd gone in, I think I would've eaten people like A-ri instead of taking the incredibly difficult path I just explained.”
Cha Jin-cheol stared at Ga-in with a startled expression. Ga-in smiled lightly, as though there was nothing he could do about it.
Then Seung-yeop, who had been quiet, raised his voice.
“Everyone, look at the screen! It's over!”
Everyone turned to the screen to see the writer's judgment. At that moment, someone crossed Ga-in's mind.
‘Maybe there'll be one more Management Bureau person among us. If Hotel Cinema's reward is half of a Ticket... What should we do after completing a full Ticket?’
After thinking it over, Ga-in soon shook his head. For now, they needed to resolve the Hotel Cinema in front of them first.
* * *
- Kim A-ri
...
...
...
Gasp!
By the time I came to my senses, I was already out of the story within a story and back in the coffee shop. Since I'd tampered with my memories using the Oblivion Spell, there was a considerable gap in my recollection of the middle.
Had everything gone well until the end?
“I'll never forget that day, that moment, for the rest of my life. A huge monster, honestly as big as a car, attacked me. I still don't know how I survived that day. I guess I was lucky?”
Writer Do In-ho, who had been listening carefully to Han Yu-ri's story after she forgot everything, tilted his head for a moment.
“Let me summarize your story, Ms. Yu-ri. Tired of the excessive confessions and stalking-like behavior of male students, you decided to reject them all at once and returned to the school that evening. But when you got there, the school was engulfed in flames, and the floor was covered in corpses. Is that correct?”
“That's right!”
“A fox Yokai as large as a car attacked you, and you fled in a panic until the Holy See rescued you.”
“Yes.”
“It's an interesting and sad story. Many people must have died that day. Shall we all observe ten seconds of silence together?”
“Sounds good.”
“Let's do that.”
After ten seconds of silence, the writer spoke again.
“Ms. Yu-ri. This may sound strange, but after collecting stories like these for so long, I've developed an intuition that I can't put into words.”
“An... intuition?”
“I feel that there is some kind of ‘gap’ in your story. Could there be a very heartbreaking tale hidden within it?”
“A lot of students died.”
“No, I have a feeling there is another story hidden apart from the students' deaths. Does anything come to mind when you hear what I'm saying?”
What?
No way, right? He wasn't going to force his way in and restore Han Yu-ri's memories or something, was he?
“...I'm not sure what you mean.”
“Shall I be more specific? It's only a feeling, but not the students. More on the side of the ‘Yokai’...”
Bullshit! Bullshit! What intuition?
Did this bastard of a writer know the actual course of events? Even so, what kind of stunt was this? Han Yu-ri was doubting her memories and thinking deeply!
--- Tap!
“Excuse me!”
“...Ms. A-ri?”
“Didn't you say you wouldn't pick apart the stories we told in detail? Yu-ri is getting flustered right now.”
I moved right beside Han Yu-ri, gripped her hand tightly, and held her gaze.
“Eek! Ah, Ms. A-ri... I'm fine.”
Since someone she'd met for the first time today had been doing one strange thing after another, Han Yu-ri recoiled in alarm. Of course, the seed of doubt that had sprouted in her heart was buried again for now.
“Ha ha! It seems I was rude. Ms. A-ri, you have remarkable reflexes.”
“Not as remarkable as yours, Writer.”
“Ha ha! Is that so? Very well! Ms. Yu-ri's story was mysterious and frightening too. I'll confirm it here.”
...Phew. I barely managed to defuse the situation that was about to explode out of nowhere. This damned hotel sometimes pulled ridiculous stunts and created crises out of thin air, so there was never a moment to let my guard down.
A little later, Cha Eun-pyo, the third storyteller who had been sitting quietly until then, began telling his story.
“After hearing the previous stories, I was surprised because their stories were all so extraordinary. Mine isn't anything that special.”
“Eun-pyo, does it matter whether a story like this is extraordinary? Just tell it as it happened.”
“Yes. This is a story from when I was young. I think I was about twelve. At the time, I lived in the United States with my parents in a very large house. Their business was doing extremely well then. At the end of that year, we were originally planning to take a family trip for the New Year, but my parents suddenly had something come up.”
Cha Eun-pyo suddenly stopped speaking and glanced at the writer.
“Um, could you adapt the next part appropriately later?”
As though he could see right through what the young man was about to say, the writer smiled faintly.
“It sounds like there may be legal issues. Don't worry. If you wish, we will thoroughly conceal your personal information.”
“Thank you. You may know this already, but in the United States, leaving children alone at home is illegal in itself. At the time, several circumstances overlapped, and my parents left me home alone. They did give me far more toys than usual, though.”
The space slowly began to shake.
...Just before entering the third story, a thought suddenly came to me. At this rate, I would be the narrator of the fourth story. What story was I supposed to tell?
* * *
- Home Alone
“Kevin!”
...
“Kevin! You're listening to your mother, aren't you?”
“Ah, yes, I am.”
Didn't he say his name was Cha Eun-pyo? Was he using an American name because this was when he lived in the United States?
“Mom will write everything down, so follow it exactly. Dinner is in the refrigerator, and...”
Kevin's mother went on for quite a while about what he should do about meals, how he mustn't go outside carelessly, how the dog and cat's meals had been taken care of beforehand so he shouldn't worry about them, and how he shouldn't watch too much TV.
“Kevin, aren't you sad that you can't go to the Ski Resort because of Mom and Dad's work?”
“No.”
“I'm so sorry. Dad feels the same way. It isn't much of a replacement, but there's something you might like in your room's living room! Make sure you open it later.”
About ten minutes later, she hugged me, kissed my cheek, and left the house with her husband. Let's assess the situation first.
...
My current situation was as follows.
Physically, I was a twelve-year-old boy. I was fairly cute and bright-eyed, but I was an ordinary person without any supernatural powers. As for my blessings, I'd used The Unremarkable Girl in the second story, so I would need half a day before I could use it again. Right now, I could only use Compass.
My surroundings were a little complicated.
First of all, the house was so large it made me laugh in disbelief. It had three floors, and there were too many rooms to count. This was a mansion where phrases ordinary people could hardly comprehend, such as “my room's living room,” “my dressing room,” and “my playroom,” were reality. There was also a dog named Suzy and a cat named Cassie.
What was going to happen? Would burglars target this wealthy house? Should I set up traps in advance?
Footnotes:
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