WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 311: Room 204, Mission Room - ‘Hotel Cinema’ (33)

──────

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 135

Current Location: Level 2, Room 204, Mission Room, ‘Hotel Cinema’

Sage’s Advice: 0]

- Han Ga-in

When had it happened? Control of my body had returned to me.

As Do In-ho's face drew closer, I broke out in a cold sweat from the tension.

Perhaps he found my reaction amusing, because he smiled slightly.

“Relax. Your story has already ended, hasn't it?”

“Huh?”

Come to think of it, he was right.

The progression of ‘Scary Story’ was simple. Once the storytellers began telling their stories, we possessed the characters within them.

Then, once we resolved the situation, the storyteller wrapped things up. Finally, the writer checked whether the story was coherent, and if there were no problems, we passed.

By that logic, my story was already over. The writer was only checking for anything unusual in it now, so there was no chance of me getting dragged back into the story.

...

Then why did this procedure even exist?

As if he'd read my mind, Do In-ho answered.

“Like you said, Ga-in, you and your companions have been busy surviving day by day in that harsh place called the hotel, haven't you? You probably haven't had the leisure to think deeply about the hotel itself. So... I intend to point out things you may have overlooked.”

“Things we overlooked... I'll listen carefully.”

“Ah, let's turn off the camera from here.”

“What?”

--- Beep!

Something made a sound as though it had been switched off. At least, nothing in my field of vision had gone dark.

... The thing that had turned off was the screen outside.

That meant my companions wouldn't be able to hear what was said from this point on.

“First question. From what I've heard, the realities remembered by you and your hotel companions are quite different, aren't they?”

“They are. We were dragged in at different points in time to begin with. At first, I wondered whether the only difference was the time period, but after hearing the stories of those two agents, their world was far too different from the one I knew.”

“At the very least, Miss Kim A-ri and Mr. Kim Mook-seong lived in worlds different from yours. What about the others? You must have talked about such things from time to time.”

“... Sometimes things feel a little different, and sometimes I just think one of us remembered something wrong.”

“A little different... In what way, exactly?”

“...”

“The names of famous politicians were different, or common knowledge about the world varied slightly. For example, Miss Song-i probably considered it normal to have something like a laser turret at home.”

“... Did I say something like that just now?”

“Ha, it was a guess. In any case, it seems all of you were pulled here from different worlds.”

What kind of guess was that!

I remembered how A-ri had almost fallen into writer Do In-ho's trap earlier. He knew even details from conversations with Song-i that I had never mentioned at the coffee shop.

It was clear this man, like the hotel's NPCs, knew everything that happened both inside and outside the room.

“Parallel worlds?”

“Parallel worlds? I see! That is one possible scenario. But...”

Do In-ho spoke with a meaningful expression.

“You said the first floor of the hotel is in the skies above Earth, didn't you?”

“There is no guarantee it's Earth.”

“You said you can escape by flying away. If you can reach reality through physical travel, then it must be Earth's sky.”

“... Maybe.”

“Then whose world is the one and only reality outside the hotel? The world beyond the front gate?”

He was telling me this.

Many hotel companions remembered different worlds. Perhaps every one of us had been dragged in from a different parallel world.

Yet there seemed to be only one reality outside the hotel. Whose reality was it?

As I stood there speechless, the writer spoke as though he found it interesting.

“From the look of it, Miss A-ri and Mr. Mook-seong already know the answer. Didn't you say that an organization called the Management Bureau has taken in people who escaped the hotel?”

“... Yes.”

“I hope you give this some thought. Now, let us move on to the second question.”

“Yes.”

“This is connected to the story you told earlier. The people from the Management Bureau came to the hotel to obtain a mysterious object and save reality, correct?”

“So I've heard. It seems... something terrible happened in reality.”

“Do you know what that mysterious object is?”

“They don't know either. They said they came after hearing some kind of prophecy.”

“How do they plan to find it when they don't even know what it is? It sounds like the perfect situation for the hotel to scam them.”

“Scam them?”

“If they don't know what it is, the hotel could send them out without giving it to them, and they would never know. Or perhaps they've already received it, but don't realize that it's the object they were seeking.”

“Well...”

“What do you think?”

“... I don't think the hotel would deceive us over rewards.”

“The hotel deceiving them? No. Did the hotel promise the Management Bureau that it would give them an object capable of saving the world? They simply heard some strange talk outside, whether it was a prophecy or something else, and forced their way in, didn't they?”

I had nothing to say, so I closed my mouth. As the writer said, the hotel had never promised the Management Bureau an object that would save the world.

“You don't know much about this matter either, Ga-in. Then let us move to the final question.”

“Yes.”

“I heard that everyone can escape once the second floor is complete.”

“That is what we believe.”

“Will you remain in the hotel at that point, Ga-in?”

“Of course... I'll leave, won't I?”

“That would be normal. Even if you can obtain extraordinary treasures by overcoming the hotel, endlessly facing trials that risk your life is far too dangerous. You also said that if you lose in the hotel, you're trapped somewhere no different from hell.”

“Frozen Hell. It seems the most painful moment of your life repeats there.”

“That sounds horrifying. Besides, Ga-in, you have already obtained an incredible treasure. There is no need to grow greedier. The Grimoire? From what I can see, depending on how you use it, even immortality may not be impossible.”

“...”

“You don't need to think only of evil ways to steal someone else's body.”

I flinched!

I had never said anything like that. He wasn't even trying to hide it anymore!

“If you joined the Management Bureau and revealed your abilities, don't you think they would make endless clones for you?”

I pressed my lips tightly together because I had nothing to say.

“Ga-in, who is as good as having obtained immortality, wealth, and glory, will naturally leave... The others will be the same. Those who have gained great power will leave because they have already gained enough, while those who haven't will leave because they lack the confidence to continue.”

He was right. The strong would leave because they had already gained plenty, while the weak would leave because they didn't have the confidence to go further.

“There is another problem. The collapse of the ethical duty to remain in the hotel.”

“The collapse of an ethical duty?”

“You have already gained one method of escape, haven't you?”

“If you mean the Protective Suit, yes.”

“Even though you have it, no one tried to escape in secret because of an ethical duty, correct? If one person ran away with such an important tool, it would mean telling everyone else to die.”

“...”

“Excellent! That kindness is worthy of respect. But that logic only holds because the Protective Suit is an escape method for one person. Once the second floor ends, all of you can leave without that problem.”

“So I've heard.”

“The situation will change then. From the perspective of someone who wants to leave, those who stay behind are simply staying because they themselves want to.”

“That is true.”

“With the Protective Suit, for example, if you ran away alone with it and everyone left behind died, you could bear responsibility for that tragedy.”

“...”

“Escaping after the second floor is entirely different. If remaining in the hotel is their choice, then even if they proceed on their own and die, it is not the responsibility of those who left.”

“I suppose that's true.”

“You have no personal reason to remain, and no reason to remain for your companions. Then everyone who wants to leave will leave, and at most two or three people will remain.”

“The Management Bureau people will probably stay.”

“Let us say they do. Once everyone else has left, how will the third floor proceed? This problem must have existed in the past as well. If there is no one left to continue, why did the hotel even create a third floor?”

Silence fell over the coffee shop for a moment.

I had been so busy thinking about the next room that I had never considered what would happen after the second floor. That was why this conversation gave me quite a lot to think about.

The three questions Do In-ho had posed could be summarized like this.

First, all hotel companions came from different realities. Yet there was only one world outside the hotel. Where would we go after escaping?

Second, A-ri and her grandfather entered the hotel to obtain the power to save the world. What exactly was that power? Did it even exist in the hotel?

Third, once the second floor ended, everyone could return to reality. Most of us would surely choose to escape. Then how would the third floor proceed, and why had the hotel created it?

Wondering what the others were doing, I raised my head. Everyone seemed to be deeply considering the questions writer Do In-ho had raised.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Um... Ga-in! May I tell you what I think?”

I nodded at Park Su-mi.

“I'll listen.”

“I don't really understand the later questions, but I think I may know the answer to the first one.”

“The first question, meaning which reality we would go to after escaping the hotel?”

“I don't understand all that complicated talk about realities. I don't know much about parallel worlds and such. More importantly, isn't the problem that matters to you clear?”

“The problem that matters to me?”

“Will your family be in the world you arrive in after escaping? That is what matters most.”

My breath caught in my throat.

What if, after suffering through all this to return to reality, I arrived somewhere completely different from the reality I knew? What if it went beyond a world crawling with terrifying monsters, and there was no family, no friends, no one I knew?

Park Su-mi looked at me sympathetically and spoke as though reassuring me.

“I am certain that will not happen.”

“... What do you mean?”

“I believe it will not end in such tragedy. If you overcome the trials, Ga-in, you will see the ending you desire.”

“...”

“That is what I believe.”

I had nothing to say. It didn't seem like Park Su-mi was speaking from any logical basis, either.

Cha Eun-pyo spoke next.

“Maybe it's because I've liked toys since I was young? Saying that out loud, it doesn't seem very relevant. But I think I may know the answer to the second question.”

“The second question... You mean the treasure the Management Bureau is seeking to save the world.”

“It is only a vague thought, but that treasure? That power? It doesn't necessarily have to be only one thing, does it?”

“Well... The Management Bureau didn't know much to begin with.”

“What if there are two?”

“Two?”

“One may have already been given.”

At that point, I felt something strange. The questions the writer had raised and the storytellers' answers were far too specific!

Could it be? Were the questions and answers we had been exchanging themselves part of the reward? Was this a story revealing Hotel Secrets?

“Could you be a little more specific?”

“The Hourglass, wasn't it a completely random object? Its hidden location was absurd too... Perhaps it was something the hotel suddenly inserted ‘for your sake.’”

“One is the Hourglass? What about the other?”

“If it is an incredible treasure holding the power to save the world, then surely! Wouldn't it be given in the most difficult Curse Room?”

“The Inheritance from Room 206?”

“It is all just my opinion.”

--- Rumble!

I felt a tremor. It was not a physical shaking, but the distortion of space itself. I had experienced it many times in the hotel. The phenomenon that appeared when a room vanished!

I hurriedly turned my head toward Han Yu-ri.

Only the final question remained. Once the second floor was over and most people left, how would the third floor proceed, and what was the reason for its existence?

“The last one! The last answer!”

Han Yu-ri smiled as though she found something amusing.

“Why are you in such a hurry? As though everything is about to end...”

“Please, hurry!”

“For the past few years, I’ve occasionally had dreams. Dreams about my past self. Back then, I endlessly pursued a goal that was far too difficult to achieve.”

Was she talking about a Nine-Tailed Fox becoming human? No, in this context, it had to be some kind of metaphor.

“Truly... I could do anything for that dream. No matter how difficult or painful it was. Though now, I don't even remember what that dream was.”

“Details! Please tell me more!”

“So...”

--- Rumble!

The moment space shook again, Do In-ho, who had been quietly snickering beside us, smacked the table.

“Ha ha ha! Excellent. The final answer was especially interesting. Let us end today's meeting here.”

“Hey! You still haven't properly answered the last question!”

Within the collapsing space, Do In-ho grinned.

“I believe I have given you everything. Please reflect carefully on the questions and answers. Congratulations.”

Footnotes:

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