WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 312: Room 204, Mission Room - ‘Hotel Cinema’ (34) (Final)

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- Theater

When the screen went dark, the people in the theater couldn't hide their confusion. Cha Jin-cheol looked around at his companions, startled.

“Wh-what was that? Wasn't Ga-in's story still going?”

Kim Sang-hyeon looked puzzled as well.

“More precisely, I think the story itself had ended.... Do In-ho seemed about to ask Ga-in some questions about his story, but it suddenly ended.”

“Did something happen to Ga-in at the coffee shop?”

“No one has been attacked at the coffee shop so far, have they?”

After a brief moment of confusion, the theater lights came back on. Soon, a familiar voice rang out.

“Ta-da~!”

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Guide spin into the room. They had no idea what was going on, but if a judge had entered, it meant the horror film had somehow ended.

Only the final evaluation remained. Kim Sang-hyeon looked over those still present, feeling somewhat uneasy.

Aside from himself, there were only Cha Jin-cheol, Elena, and Yoo Song-i. Five people, Kim Mook-seong, Lee Eun-sol, Kim A-ri, Park Seung-yeop, and Han Ga-in, were still trapped in the horror film.

Thinking back on past experience, the final evaluation was the part where they had to push through with sophistry and sheer stubbornness. Yet no one here seemed particularly suited to it.

‘I guess I'll have to do my best.’

Kim Sang-hyeon quietly closed his eyes and prepared for a second round against the judges.

* * *

Before the three judges began their evaluation, Kim Sang-hyeon raised his hand.

“Participant Kim Sang-hyeon, do you have a question?”

“The horror film Scary Story is made up of four short stories. Unlike the first three, though, the fourth story didn't involve Ga-in entering the story through Possession. How will you evaluate-”

“The fourth story passes.”

Kim Sang-hyeon was momentarily speechless when the Guide casually declared the fourth story a pass.

“Didn't we all hear it together? Ga-in's story was something that actually happened at the hotel, so it hardly makes sense to debate whether it was plausible. Its details were full of bizarre events as well. You two agree, don't you?”

The Souvenir Girl and the Merchant nodded as if it were obvious.

“Besides, everyone is alive, so at least so far, isn't it a happy development?”

“Y-yes.”

“Do you have a different opinion, Participant Kim Sang-hyeon?”

“No.”

“Then let's evaluate the other stories.”

As if she had been waiting, the Souvenir Girl held up an O sign.

“My standards are similar to the writer Do In-ho's within the story. Plausibility is the most important thing, and I think they all had that, more or less.”

Song-i nodded. The Souvenir Girl's standards were similar to the criteria Do In-ho had called “confirmed” within the story.

The Guide, on the other hand, wore a conflicted expression and couldn't raise a sign. There seemed to be one story the Guide disliked, and everyone instinctively knew which one it was.

It had to be 21st-Century Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Kim Sang-hyeon cautiously raised his hand.

“Is there a story that's bothering you?”

“Let's say two pass. Newlywed Memories, well.... I do like happy endings, but objecting to them killing serial killers would be a bit much. And Home Alone is a perfect happy ending no matter how you look at it.”

Fortunately, the Guide wasn't going to take issue with Eun-sol, who had played Park Su-mi in Newlywed Memories, killing the serial killer family.

Still, 21st-Century Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox was by no means a happy ending.

“21st-Century Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox, I genuinely don't know about this one. I still remember Miss Park Saerom's tragic end. You all seem good at sophistry, so why don't you try convincing me?”

Kim Sang-hyeon nodded and began his argument.

“Judge, I'd like to make two points. First, the reason 21st-Century Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox didn't have a happy ending wasn't because the participants lacked skill. It was because a happy ending was impossible with the script itself.”

“The script itself was the problem?”

“When you evaluated the second film, Guardian of the Wall, didn't you criticize Cha Jin-cheol for killing the Emperor and say there were other options, such as going into seclusion?”

“I did.”

“Was there an alternative plot like that in 21st-Century Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox? There wasn't. From the moment a man-eating monster was the protagonist, the sacrifice of either the monster or the people was inevitable!”

“Hmm.... I'll grant you the human sacrifice. But why did you have to kill Park Saerom?”

Kim Sang-hyeon's words caught in his throat.

There was no answer to that. The reason Kim A-ri had killed Park Saerom at the end was because she had given up on catering to the Guide's tastes and tried to appeal to the Merchant's instead.

“... Let me give you my second reason. You said two of the three stories passed, didn't you?”

“Two-thirds satisfaction and one-third dissatisfaction, so that adds up to satisfaction?”

“That's right.”

“Let's go with that.”

Without arguing further, the Guide raised the pass sign. Kim Sang-hyeon tilted his head slightly.

‘That was easier than I expected. I thought I'd have to push much harder.... It's like the result was already decided.’

The tense atmosphere in the theater suddenly dissolved. The Souvenir Girl and the Guide had declared their approval one after the other.

At that point, the last judge's evaluation no longer mattered much.

Perhaps because of that, the Merchant looked more relaxed instead.

“Whew! What a relief. The first two already gave you a pass, so I can say whatever I want now. Honestly, everything except 21st-Century Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox was disappointing! Newlywed Memories? Home Alone? Aren't both endings far too cliché? There were so many ways those scenarios could've gone in an interesting direction.”

In the relaxed atmosphere, Cha Jin-cheol asked curiously.

“What other interesting directions were there?”

“Great question! Take Newlywed Memories, for example. Would the young master raised among a family of serial killers really turn out normal? Doesn't he look like he'd have a good chance of falling to the dark side? Miss Park Su-mi could take that little kid with her and become a hitchhiking murderer duo-”

“Good grief! You think that's interesting? What about Home Alone?”

“Aren't Kevin's parents a little suspicious? That Model House was probably something Kevin's parents brought home, and they'd left their child alone at home under one excuse or another, hadn't they?”

Song-i tilted her head.

“I did suspect his parents once in the middle.”

“The Model House had more secrets too. Doesn't that thing have a mechanism that sucks humans inside? You could make good use of it and try sucking other humans in.”

“...”

The hotel residents listened to the Merchant's alternative possibilities with their mouths half-open.

They had never even imagined a plot where they corrupted the victim abducted by the serial killer family again, or actively used a suspicious object filled with unknown power to kidnap ordinary people.

Kim Sang-hyeon asked with an expression of complete disbelief.

“Why would anyone do something like that?”

“Because it's fun?”

“...”

“No, an opportunity this good comes along, and not doing it is even more-”

“Quiet, quiet! That's enough.”

Around then, the Guide called for silence and moved in front of the screen.

“Congratulations! You have resolved every film prepared at Hotel Cinema. Now, shall we welcome your hard-working companions with a round of applause?”

* * *

[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

I gradually came to my senses. I was reflecting on the complicated conversation I'd just had at the coffee shop when a cheerful voice came from beside me.

“Yes! We finally did it! Who was last? Ga-in, as expected?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Wow! That sounded a little smug.”

“...”

It was a joyful moment as everyone celebrated their reunion. The Guide then said something that added to the joy for the first time in a while.

“All right! With that, Hotel Cinema will now conclude!”

“...”

“...”

Everyone stared at the Guide as if asking what that was supposed to mean. The Guide stood there confidently, as though wondering why they were reacting that way, until A-ri finally pointed it out.

“No, what about the reward? You get rewards for clearing a Mission Room too! When we cleared Room 106 on Level 1, there was some kind of lucky-draw event. Isn't there anything like that?”

“A reward? Haven't you already received it?”

Everyone else looked bewildered at the claim that they had already received it. I had a bad feeling.

I already knew that the stories we had heard from the writer Do In-ho and the other storytellers at the coffee shop were a kind of reward.

But that was all?

I admitted it was valuable information with a lot to think about, but it would be too disappointing if that information was the entire reward.

“Miss Eun-sol, go to Room 105 and open the drawer.”

Just as Eun-sol's eyes widened with a doubtful expression, a familiar sound rang out once more.

“Boom!”

“...”

“...”

“Why do you keep making sound effects with your own mouth?”

With the old man's final words, Room 204, Mission Room, ‘Hotel Cinema,’ which had exhausted us for several days, came to an end.

... Should I tell my companions the stories I heard at the coffee shop too?

* * *

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 135

Current Location: Level 2, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 0]

- Han Ga-in

After leaving Room 204, everyone headed toward the refreshment table.

“Where's Eun-sol?”

“She went to Room 105 like the Guide said.”

“What do you think they gave us?”

A little later, Eun-sol returned to the table. Her expression was impossibly complicated.

Our expressions became similarly complicated when we saw the shining object in her hand. The half-Ticket we had received as Room 202's special reward had been completed.

At last, a second Ticket was in our hands!

Amid the silence that settled over the refreshment table, the Doctor cautiously spoke.

“I suppose.... It's time to bring up the subject everyone has been putting off.”

“...”

“A-ri's mother, Mi-ro's resurrection. I heard you discussed this before waking me.”

“...”

“I heard you said that once you found a way to restore Mi-ro's mind and obtained a Ticket, you would use it then. Can't we restore her mind through the Mirror Room? We have the Ticket now.”

“That was... yeah.”

A-ri looked around at us as though watching our reactions. We had reached an agreement something like that, hadn't we? Everyone cautiously began offering their opinions.

Strangely, it felt as though my head was clearing.

Was it because I remembered the familiar girl cheerfully laughing and throwing snowballs from behind us?

“Let's study how we should use the Mirror Room. One idea did occur to me while watching the films.... Seung-yeop?”

Footnotes:

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