WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 308: Room 204, Mission Room - ‘Hotel Cinema’ (30)
──────
- Park Seung-yeop
The moment I activated Primordial Human, my consciousness left my body and arrived in an unknown, pure white space.
It was a truly strange place. Incomprehensible characters drifted through the air, and something like black flames appeared before me.
‘Where am I?’
I tried to speak, but no words came out. I didn't have a mouth right now.
...
Strangely, I felt like I knew what I had to do.
Had the others who said they instinctively knew how to use an Inheritance the moment they received it gone through something like this? In this mysterious place, I had to create a “command.” I had to make a revelation that the “other me” about to awaken would follow like sacred scripture.
「Where?」
‘... In the mansion?’
「Until when?」
‘Until the movie ends?’
「What?」
That was easy.
‘Survive!’
「How?」
For a moment, I was at a loss for words. How was I supposed to survive? I used this ability because I didn't know that!
As I thought it over, the rift began to shake. There wasn't enough time to think carefully.
‘Ah, figure it out! Do it well!’
My consciousness faded. I felt another me awaken in my body.
* * *
- Park Seung-yeop (Primordial Human)
I suddenly came to my senses in a strange place. Where was this? And who was I?
「Survive however you can in the mansion until the movie ends.」
A revelation descended. A heavy voice echoed through my head, and my confused mind cleared. I knew this sentence was an order I had to obey.
... The revelation was difficult to understand.
It wasn't that I didn't know what each word meant. Strangely, their meanings came to mind on their own.
The mansion was this enormous house where I was.
A movie was when several people watched a black wall that showed strange visions in a large place.
But what did it mean to survive until the movie ended? There wasn't any black wall showing visions around me.
I didn't understand what it meant to survive however I could, either. I was alive and safe, wasn't I? Was something threatening me?
Just then, the pink elephant in front of me opened its mouth.
“Kevin, what are you doing instead of drinking your tea?”
“... Kevin? Is that my name? Who are you?”
“Me? I'm Dollyphant!”
“Dollyphant? Let me ask you something.”
“A question?”
“Where is the movie playing right now?”
Dollyphant looked at me as if I had said something completely incomprehensible.
“A movie? There isn't anything like that in this house.”
“But I have to survive until the movie ends.”
“What are you talking about? Until the movie ends?”
“Hmm... Forget the movie for now. Does ‘survive’ mean something is threatening me? Is there something dangerous nearby?”
Dollyphant, the pink elephant, tilted its head.
“Something dangerous? This place is safe! If you mean Thomas, you don't need to worry. I already smashed him.”
“Ah! So there used to be a threat here, but you already smashed it?”
“Probably? So don't worry, Kevin. Drink your tea.”
“Is this water the tea?”
“Yes.”
“I'll drink it.”
Feeling at ease, I drank from the enormous cup. After about two sips, it tasted a little bitter. When I looked up, Dollyphant was glaring at me with wide eyes.
“Kevin, you aren't thinking of leaving the tea I carefully brewed, are you?”
“No. I was going to drink it later.”
“Later? It's Tea Time now!”
“What is Tea Time?”
Dollyphant looked flustered for a moment, then brought over a small book.
“Tea Time is when you drink tea!”
“I see. But I already drank tea.”
“You didn't finish it!”
“Do I have to finish it? Does it say that during Tea Time, you have to drink every drop without leaving any behind?”
Dollyphant looked flustered again and began flipping through the book with its trunk. Curious, I moved closer and started reading with it.
“D-do you have to finish it? Um... It doesn't say that...”
“Look! It says that if you're a fine English gentleman, you must always be able to enjoy a cup of tea without losing your composure or dignity, doesn't it?”
“... Yes.”
“It says to drink leisurely. You don't have to drink it all at once. I'll drink slowly.”
“Is that so? But Kevin, this picture is strange!”
“What is?”
“Why is the English gentleman's nose so short? My nose is much longer.”
“Because you're an elephant, and a gentleman is a person?”
“Can't an elephant become an English gentleman?”
I thought about that for a moment. Could an elephant not become an English gentleman? Why hadn't the being that gave the revelation mentioned such an important matter?
As I carefully flipped through the booklet, I found a sentence written in slightly different lettering.
‘An elephant participating in Tea Time may use its trunk in place of hands.’
“Dollyphant! Look at this. An elephant can use its trunk in place of hands, so your trunk is a hand.”
“Then why are my hands attached to my nose?”
“Maybe the position of hands isn't important. It doesn't say hands have to be attached to your torso.”
“What a relief!”
“But I found a serious problem.”
The moment I mentioned a serious problem, Dollyphant's expression darkened too. I flipped the booklet open and pointed to a picture of a woman in flower-like clothes drinking tea.
“Look. She tilts the teacup with her hands to drink, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you suck the tea up with your trunk and put it in your mouth.”
“Uh? Don't tell me!”
“Dollyphant, you've been seriously violating Tea Time etiquette this whole time. From now on, tilt your teacup with your trunk before drinking.”
Dollyphant wore a serious expression and began tilting its teacup with its trunk. Perhaps because its trunk was not as dexterous as a hand, the cup lost its balance, and tea began spilling across the floor.
“Waaah! W-what is this? Why is it so hard?”
“You lack practice. Watch me.”
I straightened my back, gathered strength in both arms, and focused with all my mind. Then I carefully tilted the teacup, which was as large as my torso, and barely managed to drink the tea without spilling it.
“See? That's how you do it! Dollyphant, try it with your hands, no, your trunk.”
“C-can't Kevin just write it in the book like before?”
“Write it in the book?”
“Elephants may suck tea through their trunks.”
“No! You can't break rules however you want. I remembered a rule I absolutely had to follow as soon as I came to my senses, so you have to follow yours too.”
When I told it to follow Tea Time etiquette, Dollyphant nodded sadly. After that, I grabbed its trunk and taught it how to tilt its teacup.
* * *
- Theater
Song-i murmured, her mouth half-open and her expression baffled.
“... What even is this?”
Ga-in had been giggling uncontrollably for a while.
“What do you mean, what is it? A person is teaching an elephant how to drink tea!”
“N-no! I mean, why did things suddenly turn out like this?”
Ga-in barely held back his laughter as he answered.
“It seems to have happened somehow, but isn't this a textbook way to clear a Hotel scenario? Dollyphant is a monster that creates bizarre rules and attacks anyone who breaks them. Seung-yeop pointed out that the monster itself was breaking a rule, which trapped it in a contradiction.”
As Song-i tilted her head at Ga-in's explanation, Kim Sang-hyeon spoke.
“Seung-yeop's new power, Primordial Human, is quite fascinating. He lost his memories? Maybe that's why he seems much smarter than usual. Ah, of course, I don't mean Seung-yeop is normally lacking.”
Ga-in agreed.
“It seems that with common sense gone, his thinking has become freer. Still...”
“It seems he worded the command a little poorly.”
“He understands the word movie, but he doesn't understand that he's inside a movie. On top of that, since he didn't include what was threatening him in the command, he has a murderous doll right in front of him but doesn't even understand why he's in danger.”
“Still, that may have worked out better. Since he doesn't know Dollyphant is frightening, he's acting like that.”
“Honestly, this is a little different from what I expected. I thought we'd see him running around like a madman and surviving through insane luck.”
“That was one possibility, and this is another. More importantly, I can see one major advantage of that ability.”
“The duration is incredibly long. It doesn't even compare to Heavenly Fortune.”
The people in the theater gradually felt their tension ease. There wasn't much time left until Tea Time ended.
“Wow! I never expected Seung-yeop to get through it like this.”
Cha Jin-cheol's admiration was followed by Song-i's exclamation.
“Oh! Seung-yeop just asked Dollyphant why it doesn't stand on two feet!”
“It's actually doing it because he told it to. It's really trying to stand on two feet.”
The elephant had even begun practicing ballet to imitate humans.
Just as everyone sensed the third story was approaching its end, Dollyphant appeared on the screen with an extremely satisfied expression and spoke.
「That was very educational! Thanks to Kevin, I had a pleasant Tea Time. Now I can become a fine English elephant too! Kevin, you enjoyed it too, right?」
A smile spread across Ga-in's face. That elephant was starting to seem cute.
“Isn't it kind of cute when you look at it again? It even seems pretty nice.”
“Yes. It follows its rules thoroughly too...”
「No.」
“Hmm?”
“Did I hear that wrong?”
「It wasn't fun. The black tea was especially awful.」
“S-Seung-yeop?”
“Ahhh!”
「Why do you drink such bitter water? I never want to have Tea Time again.」
“Eek! H-he's insane!”
Everyone except one boy fell into shock and horror. Even the elephant on the screen froze with its mouth open in stunned disbelief.
“Th-that Park Seung-yeop, that crazy bastard! Even without fear, he has way too much nerve!”
「Teaching you was the most exhausting part, Dollyphant. Can't you tell just from reading this booklet? Tea Time isn't for elephants!」
Ga-in decided to just laugh.
“Hahaha! Well, that Seung-yeop hasn't experienced anything frightening even once. It would be stranger if he acted cautiously.”
Cha Jin-cheol was overcome with despair.
“He'd practically cleared everything, and that idiot!”
「Pwooooooo!」
A sorrowful elephant cry burst from the screen.
* * *
- Park Seung-yeop (Primordial Human)
“Pwooooooo!”
Dollyphant suddenly stood up and made such a thunderous sound that my body trembled. Tears streamed from the pink elephant's eyes and soaked the floor. That was when I wondered for the first time.
“Did I make a mistake?”
Instead of answering, Dollyphant raised its enormous body and lifted its front foot.
My body rolled across the floor before my mind could even think.
--- Bang!
The mansion floor shattered from a single blow. Only then did a thought occur to me.
Could Dollyphant be the thing threatening me? I-I wish the being who gave me the revelation had told me that!
“Uooooooh!”
A gigantic roar! I rolled frantically to the side and ran for the door. Instead of chasing me right away, Dollyphant stayed in the room and began howling.
“Dolly Dolly! Angry! I'm angry! Kevin! I'll put you in a kettle and boil you! I'll stomp you flat and turn you into paper!”
“How can a person become paper?”
“Shut up!”
Why was it getting angry when I only asked a question? This elephant had a strange personality!
Dollyphant shouted and twisted its body, making the mansion shake. Maybe the mansion was damaged in the process, because with a click, it suddenly went dark.
When darkness so deep that I couldn't even see my hands descended, Dollyphant grew even angrier.
“Keeeeevin! Where are you hiding?”
--- Bang! Crash!
I could hear the elephant rampaging.
Even the sturdy mansion couldn't withstand that monster's body slams. Tremors powerful enough to shake the entire house came without pause, and all kinds of decorations began falling from the ceiling.
It was too dark to see well, but fortunately, nothing fell in my direction. As I reached out and felt along the walls and stairs, my hand touched a soft clump of fur.
“Wha-” I cut myself off with a muffled gasp.
Then a strange sound came from the clump of fur.
“Yoooou tooouched myyy baaaack. Keeeeviiiin...”
What was it saying? I touched its back, so Kevin won? Could Som-i talk too? Uneasy at the speaking fluff, I threw it far away.
--- Rumble!
The mansion began shaking again. Perhaps because unbearable impacts had struck it one after another, a truly ominous sound began this time.
Soon, a huge wall collapsed with a crash, and light from outside the mansion began pouring in. Maybe because the light suddenly entered the darkness, the elephant that had broken down the wall stretched out its trunk to shield its eyes.
Around then, I began to think.
The revelation had said, ‘Survive however you can in the mansion until the movie ends.’
Did that mean I shouldn't leave the mansion? Or did it mean that once I went outside, I had succeeded in surviving, so I could do whatever I wanted after that?
Let's keep it simple!
I didn't know what “until the movie ends” meant, so let's remove that. That left, ‘Survive however you can in the mansion.’ If I left the mansion, then I'd succeeded in surviving while I was inside it.
I happily smiled and stepped outside the mansion. I had successfully completed the revelation!
“Hahahaha! Success!”
... My consciousness slowly returned.
Footnotes:
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