WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 306: Room 204, Mission Room - ‘Hotel Cinema’ (28)
──────
- Theater
After the movie was interrupted by Dollyphant's furious roar, the screen rippled opaquely again, signaling that the next person had to enter.
The two people who still had a chance left, Park Seung-yeop and Han Ga-in, looked at each other and sighed deeply. Deep down, they'd hoped Kim A-ri would do well enough that their turns would never come.
Ga-in glanced around the quiet theater. Eun-sol and A-ri were both caught up in horror movies, so there weren't many people who could lead the discussion.
“Let's sort out the villains first. Happyhappy, the clown doll that chases people around while playing tag. Thomas, the train that lays tracks and roams the mansion. Dollyphant, the elephant obsessed with tea time. Those are the three.”
Elena replied.
“Watching them, I noticed the three monsters don't cooperate with each other. Thomas mercilessly attacked even Happyhappy when it got in his way, and Dollyphant destroyed both Thomas and Happyhappy just because it was angry.”
“Encouraging infighting seems like a useful approach. From that perspective, we should compare the three monsters' strength as well. Dollyphant is the strongest, followed by Thomas. Happyhappy seems to be the weakest.”
Cha Jin-cheol nodded.
“What if we head toward Dollyphant from the start? It seems obsessed with tea time. If Thomas or Happyhappy interferes, it might stop the other two monsters by saying they're disrupting tea time.”
Ga-in pointed out the flaw.
“The problem is that we don't know Dollyphant's exact location. It's supposed to be on the second floor, but once the mansion twists around, it suddenly grows almost as huge as an emperor's palace from a movie, doesn't it? The second floor must be enormous too.”
“And Thomas and Happyhappy will be chasing us, so it won't be easy to search for Dollyphant at our leisure. A-ri couldn't even catch her breath. She just kept running until Dollyphant got her.”
After thinking it over, Kim Sang-hyeon offered his opinion.
“If we go to the second floor from the beginning, it'll be easier to search. Still... we need to consider whether it's safe near Dollyphant. Dollyphant may keep Thomas and Happyhappy in check, but it's certain to do something strange itself.”
Ga-in immediately nodded. Thomas and Happyhappy's basic characteristics had been revealed, but there was still too little information about Dollyphant. Would that damned “tea time” really be a normal tea time?
“Right. Dollyphant will definitely do something strange too.”
Elena brought over the whiteboard Eun-sol often used and began scribbling.
“Let's organize our dolls' traits. Happyhappy is an entity that plays tag, right? It said touching someone's back was the rule, so if the person entering hits Happyhappy's back, something might happen.”
“...”
“...”
“Thomas is a train that lays tracks and runs on them. He gets angry if someone interferes with his progress. Especially if someone steps onto the tracks, he lets out tremendous rage and... Everyone, why aren't you saying anything?”
Ga-in approached with an awkward smile.
“Elena, I'll write.”
Song-i spoke honestly.
“Your handwriting is... um, very artistic. It's like there was an exquisite exchange between Arabic and Korean.”
“Huh? B-but the teacher who taught me Korean said I wrote well?”
Cha Jin-cheol was certain the teacher who had taught Elena Korean had been a man. And that bastard probably would've said she wrote well even if she'd used Cyrillic instead of Korean.
Ga-in took the pen and continued writing.
“Thomas gets extremely angry and immediately charges when someone steps onto the tracks. Even if it's a route he's already passed, he'll reverse and come charging back, so we may be able to use that habit depending on the situation.”
“I-I was going to write that.”
“The last one is Dollyphant... Other than the fact that it comes to kill Kevin if we don't go to it before it cries out about tea time three times, we don't know anything.”
Everyone began considering an appropriate response. While Cha Jin-cheol moved over to Kim Sang-hyeon to discuss a few things, the two people who had to enter next sat facing each other.
“...Brother. Who should go in first?”
After thinking for a moment, Ga-in spoke honestly.
“Wouldn't it be better for you to go first?”
Seung-yeop nodded readily.
“I thought so too. We still don't know quite a lot, and Luck seems better in a situation like this. And...”
“...”
“Honestly, I think I'd be too scared if I went in last...”
Ga-in understood that feeling. The most terrifying situation in the hotel was being the last survivor, when his death would mean the end of everything.
“Seung-yeop, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you.”
“Yes.”
Kim Sang-hyeon came over and began explaining the measures they had worked out with the others. At that moment, Ga-in reflexively wondered whether he should stop Sang-hyeon.
‘Is it really right for Sang-hyeon to tell Seung-yeop such complicated information?’
Yet not telling him would be strange in its own way. Was Seung-yeop supposed to go in blindly without knowing anything about the dolls?
When A-ri had already sacrificed her life to obtain a considerable amount of information?
If he started thinking like that, did that mean they shouldn't have watched the movie at all?
...Ga-in realized once again just how exhausting Luck could be.
Just before Park Seung-yeop entered the screen, Ga-in stopped him.
“Brother?”
“You have both Heavenly Luck and Primordial Human, right?”
“Yes. I'll probably use both, right?”
“You should. But you still don't know exactly what Primordial Human does?”
“I've never used it...”
“Yeah... I hope things work out.”
Ga-in prayed with all his heart. He was next after Seung-yeop.
--- Beep!
Pero, who had spent most of the time sleeping since entering the theater, cried out for the first time in a while.
Seung-yeop found even that sound ominous as he entered the screen.
* * *
- Park Seung-yeop
“Huff! Huff!”
Calm down! Calm down, Park Seung-yeop! You're the bravest middle schooler in the world. Let it go!
Barely calming myself, I entered the coffee shop. As expected, I was told that I was a little late and that Park Su-mi and Han Yu-ri's stories had already been decided.
A moment later, Cha Eun-pyo began telling his story.
“This is a story from when I was young...”
* * *
- Home Alone
“Kevin!”
The beginning was the same as when A-ri had gone through it. Kevin's parents talked my ear off about this and that before leaving, but I asked one question first.
“Mom!”
“Hm? Is there something you want to ask?”
“Are you going to lock the house?”
When I thought about it, the house itself was strange. It suddenly grows unbelievably huge, doesn't it? Couldn't I just leave the house? A-ri had tried to leave too, but she'd failed.
Instead of answering, Kevin's mother smiled faintly and pulled me into a hug. No, lady, answer me!
“Are you going to lock it?”
“Mom~ is just worried Kevin might accidentally go outside.”
“I definitely won't go out, so can't you leave it open?”
“If you're not going out, why should I leave it open?”
I was speechless for a moment. Kevin's mother laughed lightly as if she found me cute.
“Kevin, I always tell you this, but going outside alone is very dangerous. It was on TV recently, but Carnivorous Deer and Infectious Spore Butterflies...”
“Honey, don't tell Kevin such scary things. Let's get going.”
With that, the couple locked the house and left.
In this world, deer ate people and butterflies scattered strange spores around. No wonder parents had no choice but to lock their homes from both inside and out whenever they went out.
Things would get busy from here on. Recalling the Doctor's words in order, I began moving quickly.
‘Let's head to Dollyphant quickly. Once you meet it, Dollyphant will stop Thomas and Happyhappy. The problem is that we don't know the pink elephant's exact location, but we're certain it's on the second floor. Let's go to the second floor as soon as we start.’
‘Won't Dollyphant kill me?’
‘It might. Let's have you find that out too, Seung-yeop.’
‘...’
I immediately ran to the second floor.
As I moved around, I tried to memorize the layout of the second floor, though I honestly didn't know if it meant anything. The mansion would grow ridiculously huge anyway, with rooms and decorations that hadn't been there before appearing everywhere.
‘Thomas is a train. He doesn't jump or fly through the air. Also, he doesn't lay tracks in midair. If your feet don't touch the floor, Thomas will think you aren't interfering with his track construction. Of course, I'm not telling you to fly around.’
I looked around for a moment, checking the locations of tables and wall cabinets. I moved the table in the center of the room and other furniture so I could run across furniture as much as possible.
Trying to do this in the body of a twelve-year-old kid, one even younger than me, already made me feel tired.
‘Stay with Suzy. I feel sorry for the cute dog, but you need to survive, Seung-yeop. Suzy is fairly loyal. Suzy can stop Happyhappy once.’
“...Suzy, sorry, but stay next to me.”
“Woof!”
“You'll fight for me, right?”
“Woof?”
“Never mind.”
「Kevin! We'll begin the New Year's party just for you!」
Around then, the entire house began shaking with the cry announcing the start of the party.
A tension so intense it felt like it would stop my breathing swept over me. Without realizing it, I tightly hugged the golden retriever, wedged myself between the furniture, and held my position.
* * *
“From now on, we're playing tag! The rule is touching backs!”
As if it had teleported, Happyhappy suddenly appeared behind me.
“Now~ begin! Kevin, shouldn't you run away quickly? Run right now!”
“Woof! Woof!”
As I held Suzy back while Suzy barked loudly, I recalled what the Doctor had said about Happyhappy.
‘Happyhappy will try to touch your back somehow, right? Facing it like A-ri did is a good method, but I thought of a better one. A-ri was probably too distracted to think of it.’
Instead of running, I moved toward the wall and began sidestepping with my back pressed against it. Happyhappy frowned as it watched me.
“...You're acting pretty cowardly, aren't you?”
“That means I'm doing well, right?”
Happyhappy's expression twisted in an instant, and both its arms began stretching like rubber bands.
A-ri had struggled to choose where to stand because of Happyhappy's endlessly stretching arms. But if I pressed my back right against the wall, it didn't matter how far Happyhappy's arms stretched!
‘What if Happyhappy forcibly pulls me away from the wall?’
‘If that were possible, would there have been any reason for Happyhappy to stop when A-ri stared directly at it? It could've just charged in and turned her around by force. Forcibly exposing someone's back might violate the rules of tag.’
There was only one possibility I feared. Happyhappy might grab me and forcibly turn me around. Fortunately, Happyhappy didn't act that way. So far, everything was going as the Doctor had predicted.
「Dolly dolly! It's tea time!」
I heard Dollyphant's cry from far away. Was it to the right after leaving the room I was in? I knew the direction, but it seemed quite far away.
I sidestepped out of the room with my back pressed against the wall. Happyhappy only stared at me with a terrifying expression and couldn't launch any particular attack.
At that exact moment, a horn sounded from somewhere.
「Thomas is departing! Please clear the way so I can lay tracks!」
* * *
- Theater
“Oh! Things are going well so far, aren't they? We now have a definite way to deal with Happyhappy.”
Ga-in nodded at Sang-hyeon's delighted voice. He'd been uneasy about Sang-hyeon giving Seung-yeop so much complicated information, but it had been worth it.
If Seung-yeop could keep handling things appropriately and make it to Dollyphant, wouldn't he at least escape the threats of Happyhappy and Thomas?
After that, Dollyphant was the problem, since they had no response prepared for it at all...
‘He can use both Heavenly Luck and Primordial Human, so it'll work out somehow!’
Ga-in decided to believe that.
Footnotes:
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