WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 313: The Perfect Child (1)
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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 135
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 0]
- Han Ga-in
Before we got into Mi-ro's resurrection and the Mirror Room, I tapped the table to get everyone's attention.
“Please listen for a moment. I think this is part of Hotel Cinema's reward. I heard some unusual information at the end of the horror film.”
Of the stories I'd heard from writer Do In-ho and the storytellers as the horror film ended, I thought it would be best to share the second and third ones with my companions too.
I told them the second story, about the tools the Management Bureau wanted to use to save reality. As expected, Grandpa and A-ri reacted sharply.
“One of them is an Hourglass? That thing?”
“That's what they said. Does it ring any bells? I don't even know what this ‘problem with reality’ is supposed to mean.”
A-ri frowned before answering everyone.
“I was planning to tell you a little about it someday, and this is a good chance. Besides, none of the people here are likely to live normal lives even if they get out.”
No one argued with her firm assertion that none of us would live normal lives from now on.
“On December 31 of a certain year, a strange light suddenly comes down from the sky.”
“A strange light?”
“And then the world falls into crisis.”
“... Why?”
“I don't know. Finding that out is one of the goals.”
For a moment, everyone stared at A-ri in disbelief.
A light comes down from the sky, and the world falls into crisis? There was no context at all. It was even worse than a Curse Room.
Eun-sol stammered as she pointed it out.
“Ah, the world hasn't ended yet, right? That's why you entered the hotel, isn't it?”
“Well... yes.”
“Then you must've endured it somehow. If you endured it, shouldn't you have found something out?”
A-ri spent a long time choosing her words before answering carefully.
“Everyone loses their memories in the process of enduring it. That's all I'll say. Anyway, that's all we know. How could the Hourglass help with that problem?”
Grandpa cut in.
“If what Ga-in says is true, isn't there another one besides the Hourglass? The Inheritance from Room 206? That might be more important.”
It didn't seem like we'd get anywhere by discussing this further, so I brought up the next story.
When I told them the third story, about the third floor, my companions looked even more confused. Jin-cheol muttered as if he couldn't believe it.
“That Nine-Tailed Fox didn't play some trick on you, did it?”
“I don't think so?”
“Yaaawn! What a vague story.”
Unlike the second story, which contained fairly specific information, the third story felt abstract. Maybe that was why my companions didn't know what to make of it.
The Doctor cautiously spoke.
“Ga-in, your stories are interesting, but they concern the outside world and the third floor. Aren't we struggling on the second floor right now? I don't think it's an urgent matter.”
He seemed to want us to discuss more pressing matters first, since the stories I'd told weren't immediately urgent.
I understood that too. It wouldn't be strange if one of us died on the second floor at any moment. Talking about the outside world or the third floor in this situation was a distant concern.
Around then, perhaps to lighten the mood, the hotel sent a notice that Party Time would begin tomorrow and last for two days. My companions' expressions, which had stiffened as I brought up difficult topics, brightened in an instant.
“Even though it's a Mission Room, we still got Party Time? The duration's a little short, though...”
Jin-cheol answered as though he was grateful just to receive it.
“Eun-sol, we should be grateful they gave us anything. I thought they only gave it to us after resolving Curse Rooms, but they're oddly flexible about things like this.”
The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed uneasy about the short two-day period.
“Only two days? We'll surely need to use Seung-yeop's Primordial Human in the Mirror Room. Can he use it again within two days?”
At that, A-ri frowned and asked Seung-yeop.
“Seung-yeop, when can you use Primordial Human again?”
Seung-yeop suddenly focused and stared into empty space. It seemed he could see something only he could see.
“Tomorrow evening? The morning after tomorrow? It's unclear. It doesn't say I can use it after a certain number of hours. I can use it once the gauge fills up.”
I was a little surprised and asked again.
“Wait, you can use it again after just one day? It's incredibly powerful.”
Jin-cheol nodded too.
“Doesn't Heavenly Fortune have at least a week-long cooldown after one use? I thought Primordial Human would be similar.”
This time, Seung-yeop chuckled and explained.
“I found this out after using it for the first time. The cooldown afterward depends on how much I used it.”
“How much you used it?”
“Uh... how much luck I used? I'm not sure what the exact standard is. The longer I use it, the longer the cooldown until I can use it again?”
Eun-sol, who had been listening, asked.
“Is it like paying afterward? You used it for around twenty minutes this time, right? Does that mean the cooldown is about a day and a half?”
“It isn't directly proportional to how long I use it...”
I roughly understood what he meant.
“It seems to depend on how many absurd things you caused. In other words, how much ‘abnormal luck’ you drew on.”
“That sounds right.”
Then the Doctor spoke with a serious expression.
“Seung-yeop, from now on, whenever you use Primordial Human, make sure there's a clear ‘end condition.’”
“Huh?”
“If the cost is paid afterward, doesn't that mean there's no time limit while you're using it?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think would happen if you used it carelessly in a room that takes a long time, like Room 203, without setting a clear end condition?”
“... Would I stay in the Primordial Human state for a month?”
“If you used it for that long, how long would it take before you could use it again?”
“I might not be able to use it again until we escape the hotel.”
That was definitely dangerous. Because of the nature of the ability, it was difficult to stop it voluntarily after activating it.
As Seung-yeop fell into deep thought about Primordial Human, the conversation naturally shifted to the newly acquired Ticket and Mi-ro's resurrection. Eun-sol raised a question.
“I understand that the Mirror Room is where we can restore Mi-ro's mind, but what order should we do this in? Isn't it risky to resurrect her before restoring her mind?”
“That's right. If we resurrect her first but fail to restore her mind...”
In that case, we'd have to face the hotel's trials with someone dangerously unstable and free to run wild as she pleased. That was impossible.
“But wouldn't fixing her mind before resurrecting her be strange in its own way? Treating a dead person's illness?”
Song-i answered Eun-sol's question.
“I don't think it matters much. Her body is already in Frozen Hell, separate from whether she's been resurrected or not. Besides, the Mirror Room is powerful enough to split a person in two to grant a wish, as long as you make the wish properly.”
“Is that so?”
“Eun-sol, the important thing isn't that. It's figuring out how to make the wish properly. You remember that the Mirror Room is an extremely tricky place.”
The Mirror Room granted the desperate wish buried within a person's heart. That simple condition was more difficult and dangerous than it sounded.
If someone entered unprepared, the colorful and contradictory impulses buried within a human heart would be granted at random, causing a major disaster. We suspected that Mi-ro losing her reason was one such accident.
Preparing for it was also extremely difficult.
According to Song-i, who had entered once, methods like A-ri's Suggestion, which affected surface-level psychology, likely wouldn't work because the Mirror Room read a person's inner desires.
Desire was an essential human trait, not some kind of mental illness, so Eun-sol's Flute, Elena's Clear Mirror, Still Water, and even my Status Window were all unlikely to work.
After reviewing those conditions, all my companions looked exhausted as they turned to Seung-yeop.
“It looks like we'll have to use your ability after all, Seung-yeop.”
“Do we? Right?”
Seung-yeop looked quite happy even in this situation. Maybe he was glad that everyone needed him.
The only person who had experienced the Mirror Room, though, was somewhat hesitant.
“Hmm...”
“What do you think, Song-i?”
A-ri asked anxiously. Song-i thought for a moment before answering.
“I don't know. Escaping the Mirror Room once doesn't mean I understand everything about that room, and I know even less about Primordial Human. Ga-in.”
“Hmm?”
“We have two days off anyway, so why don't we ask tomorrow? Primordial Human can't be used again until tomorrow night anyway.”
Would Sage’s Advice answer a question about the Mirror Room?
As I remembered, when I asked for the Mirror Room's location before finding it, Sage’s Advice gave no response. It was as though it couldn't accept that kind of question at all.
But now we'd found the Mirror Room. Maybe questions about it had been unlocked too. We'd have to try tomorrow to find out.
“I'll try tomorrow. This question will probably use all three remaining Advice... Still, I have to ask. It seems like we'll use the Mirror Room multiple times.”
That was the end of today's meeting.
* * *
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 136
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
The next day, I used Sage’s Advice the moment I got up and stepped out of Room 105. As expected, a question about the Mirror Room used all my remaining Advice.
[Advice: 3 -> 0]
‘For restoring Mi-ro's mind, would it be best for Seung-yeop to enter the Mirror Room, use Primordial Human, and make a wish?’
[If it fails, be sure to include the command to break the mirror immediately.]
...
The advice was difficult to understand. As I racked my brain over it, A-ri appeared, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“You used Sage’s Advice? You said you'd use it as soon as you woke up.”
When I told her the answer I received, A-ri tilted her head.
“The answer is strange. Breaking the mirror, that's the escape method Song-i found in the Mirror Room, right?”
“Right.”
“It doesn't say to send Seung-yeop or not to send him. It says to include a command in case of failure? So are we supposed to send him or not?”
“If it wanted to tell us not to send him, I don't think it would tell us to prepare for failure.”
“Doesn't telling us to prepare for failure mean it'll fail? Then we shouldn't send him!”
Eun-sol, who had come out of the room at some point and was listening to A-ri, cautiously gave her opinion.
“Maybe there's a chance of success and a chance of failure. Since there's a chance of success, it's okay to send Seung-yeop into the Mirror Room. But since there's also a chance of failure, we should prepare for that too.”
“That sounds plausible.”
“But that's only what I think. Let's ask Song-i and Seung-yeop. The person who entered the room and the person who used the ability might know.”
A little later, Seung-yeop came out of the room looking half-awake, and A-ri immediately walked over and asked him. He listened intently, then looked unsure.
“Is there a chance that I'll fail even if I use Primordial Human and make a wish in the Mirror Room? I don't know why, because I don't know the Mirror Room well!”
A little later, Song-i gave an answer that was ninety-five percent identical when asked the same question.
“Is there a chance that Seung-yeop will fail even if he uses Primordial Human and makes a wish in the Mirror Room? I don't know why, because I don't know Primordial Human well!”
A-ri smacked her forehead.
I hated standing around and doing nothing but thinking in situations like this, so I grabbed Seung-yeop.
“Let's have you enter first. When do you think your ability will be ready?”
“Uh... This evening?”
“Okay. Let's work out the command together.”
That evening, Seung-yeop entered the room alone with an excited expression, encouraged by everyone.
Footnotes:
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