WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 314: The Perfect Child (2)

──────

- Park Seung-yeop

“Do your best! You can do it!”

Song-i’s encouragement.

“... Thanks.”

A-ri thanked me by gripping my hand tightly, which didn’t suit her at all.

“Don’t forget the command I gave you, okay? Make sure you include breaking the mirror!”

Even Ga-in’s voice sounded like he couldn’t trust me until the very end.

This was the first time all the older brothers and sisters at the hotel had been relying on me alone!

Thanks to them, my wildly pounding heart slowly began to settle as I stood before the mirror.

According to Song-i, you could enter the Mirror Room by positioning the two mirrors in Room 105’s private bathroom to face each other, then standing between them.

She’d also earnestly explained how dangerous the Mirror Room was, but honestly, did it even matter?

I was going to use Primordial Human right away anyway. It wouldn’t be me but ‘another me’ handling everything.

It was funny even as I thought it, but that mindset was the source of my Courage. I was the one doing something dangerous, yet it didn’t feel like I was.

It felt like someone else would borrow my body, appear in my place, and do the difficult work for me.

Maybe that sense of ease was another effect of Primordial Human. Once I thought I wouldn’t be the one facing the danger, I wasn’t all that scared despite what lay ahead.

[Primordial Human: Available]

“Primordial Seung-yeop! I’m counting on you, okay? You have to do well!”

Of course, Primordial Seung-yeop wasn’t around yet to answer me.

I positioned the two mirrors to face each other, then stood between them. In the middle, I thought about the Mirror Room and wishes.

--- Ting!

With a clear, ringing sound, my vision blurred as if I’d been anesthetized.

...

When I came to, I was in a place filled with shining mirrors in every direction.

「Participant Park Seung-yeop, congratulations. You have discovered the hotel’s hidden secret, the ‘Mirror Room’!」

A whole string of other notifications appeared afterward.

You needed a Ticket to make a wish, but the first person to discover the Mirror Room could make one wish for free. I’d already heard that much.

Song-i had given up her opportunity, so it had passed to me.

Faint images slowly began to emerge from the surrounding mirrors. It would be dangerous if I delayed any longer!

[Would you like to use Primordial Human?]

...

...

...

I felt another me awaken.

* * *

- Park Seung-yeop (Primordial Human)

I came to in a space full of sparkling stones. It was so, so fascinating that I stretched out my arms and touched the stones all around me. What in the world were these -

At that moment, a revelation came down.

「Make a wish in the Mirror Room for the recovery of A-ri’s mother, Mi-ro. If an incomprehensible problem arises, immediately wrap your upper garment around your hand and strike the mirror with your fist to break it. Primordial Human will end if you successfully make the wish or break the mirror.」

... That was long.

It was long, and it had a lot of difficult words. Fortunately, the meanings of unfamiliar words naturally came to mind.

The Mirror Room referred to the place where I currently was. The sparkling stones all around me were mirrors.

A rough image of A-ri and her mother, Mi-ro, also came to mind.

Primordial Human referred to the power that had created the current me.

Still, I didn’t really understand what an ‘incomprehensible problem’ was. Going by the wording, perhaps even the being that sent the revelation didn’t know what sort of problem would arise.

The instruction to make a wish was confusing too. How was I supposed to make one?

As I considered the concept of ‘making a wish,’ the meaning of the words seeped into my mind again. Usually, it meant kneeling and asking for something to happen.

“So I just kneel and say it like this? Ahem! Please restore Mi-ro’s mind!”

The mirrors slowly began to ripple.

Yet the image appearing in the mirrors didn’t seem to be A-ri or Mi-ro. Had the mirrors failed to understand because my voice was too quiet? Should I shout louder?

“Please! Restore! Mi-ro’s! Mind!”

The mirrors didn’t react to my voice at all. It seemed like it didn’t matter what came out of my mouth in the first place.

At last, the image displayed by the mirrors became clear enough for me to make out its form.

It wasn’t A-ri or Mi-ro.

That was me.

Countless possibilities of Park Seung-yeop appeared in the innumerable shining mirrors around me.

In one place, I had become a leader who commanded people with a single word.

In one place, I was lecturing Ga-in about thinking before acting.

In one place, I was teasing Jin-cheol for being unable to beat even a monster like this.

In one place, I had become a mysterious master concealing my identity and was being confessed to by a girl named ‘Riringa.’

In one place, I had become the living legend, the GOAT, in the world’s most popular game -

“What is all this?”

What was all this? I seriously didn’t understand.

When I touched a mirror in my confusion, I naturally understood the rough meaning of the possibilities it showed. The mirrors had probably told me, but I still couldn’t understand even that rough meaning.

Who was Ga-in? And who was Jin-cheol? Who was this girl named Riringa, and why was she confessing to me?

What kind of nonsense was being a living legend in a popular game around the world, and why would being good at it turn a person into a goat?

Just as my head began to throb, the revelation appeared before me again.

「If an incomprehensible problem arises, immediately wrap your upper garment around your hand and strike the mirror with your fist to break it.」

“... This incomprehensible problem means right now, doesn’t it?”

I took off my shirt, wrapped it around my fist, and repeatedly struck the mirror.

--- Crash!

* * *

- Park Seung-yeop

When I came to, I was back in the bathroom. At the same time, my entire experience as Primordial Human flooded into my mind.

“Argh!”

What was that? I entered a mysterious place like the M-Mirror Room, and the ‘true wish’ that came to mind was only that? Was that for real?

A-And what was that fantasy about Riringanor confessing to me?

How would that even have been granted if I’d asked for it? Would Riringanor, with superpowers like in Room 202, appear as someone who loved only me?

...

Gah! Th-That was close.

The moment I thought of a cute superpowered girl who loved only me, my hand moved on its own to adjust the mirror and enter the Mirror Room again. Get a grip. Th-This really wasn’t right.

* * *

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 136

Current Location: Level 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 0]

- Han Ga-in

“So that’s what happened.”

Unfortunately, Seung-yeop had failed. According to him, after entering, the mirrors had reflected the image of ‘Great Park Seung-yeop’ without caring what he said aloud.

After hearing that, Song-i reacted as if she understood something.

“Ah... Now that I think about it, you don’t originally need to say the contents of your wish in the Mirror Room. It’s a place that finds the true wish in your heart. Looking at it that way, the reason for the failure is obvious.”

I realized it too.

“If Primordial Human is a kind of ‘external personality,’ the Mirror Room seems to ignore it entirely and look at what the real Seung-yeop wants.”

Once we understood why Seung-yeop had failed, the situation became more difficult. This wasn’t something that could be solved by simply trying several times.

As the mood sank in an instant, Jin-cheol teased Seung-yeop, perhaps wanting to dispel the gloom.

“By the way, Seung-yeop!”

“Yes?”

“What exactly did ‘Great Park Seung-yeop’ look like?”

“... I-I’d made a lot of money. I’d become a world-famous celebrity.”

“Money? Hey, you’re already thinking about money as a middle schooler?”

“Ahaha...”

Doctor snickered.

“What’s strange about that? I wanted to become rich from a young age too. Still, Seung-yeop, don’t worry about money. If we escape, we’ll at least be able to live without financial worries.”

Grandpa joined in with a laugh.

“If you join the Management Bureau, I guarantee you’ll never have to worry about money for the rest of your life. Though in that case, becoming a world-famous celebrity would be difficult.”

“I-I’ll keep that in mind.”

Just as the atmosphere had lightened a little, Eun-sol complained lightly.

“It seems even Primordial Human can’t make the wish you want? It ignores the ability and reflects Park Seung-yeop’s real wish!”

“That’s true.”

“Ga-in, your Advice is a little disappointing too. If this is why it fails, it was bound to fail. It should’ve just told us not to send him in.”

That was right. Thinking about it now, the Owl, which likely knew how the Mirror Room worked, must have known Primordial Human would fail.

Then why had it still told us how to respond and advised us to send Seung-yeop in once? I thought I understood.

“Separate from Seung-yeop’s failure, we learned more about the Mirror Room. We also discovered an unexpected trait of Primordial Human.”

“An unexpected trait?”

“Song-i said the Mirror Room’s temptation was overwhelming, right?”

Song-i agreed.

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to come to my senses without the bracelet’s power.”

“But Primordial Human broke the mirror without batting an eye or wavering at all, didn’t it?”

Seung-yeop nodded.

“It thought the Mirror Room’s temptation was incomprehensible bullshit from the start.”

“It ignores every temptation and absolutely follows our command, which it believes to be a revelation. I think we can apply that trait in many ways.”

At that moment, Doctor carefully cut in.

“Ga-in’s insight is always impressive. It makes sense. Still, isn’t the problem at this point Mi-ro’s recovery? If even Primordial Human is useless, how can we possibly make that wish?”

“...”

“...”

Everyone fell silent. No one could think of a method.

Then A-ri, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, muttered.

“I think I get it.”

Everyone looked at A-ri. Unlike usual, she began speaking as though saying whatever came to mind.

“I tried thinking from the perspective of the hotel that created the Mirror Room.”

“The hotel’s... perspective?”

“It reads the true desires within a person. With that principle, it nullifies things like my Suggestion, which manipulates surface-level psychology. ‘Desire’ isn’t a mental illness, so abilities that defend against mental attacks don’t work either. It even ignores an ability like Primordial Human, which creates a whole new personality, and reads the desires of the true personality.”

“It’s absurdly troublesome.”

“It’s too troublesome. You could call this an anti-cheat measure.”

“An anti-cheat measure?”

“What do you think the hotel had in mind when it designed the Mirror Room? Did it create complicated conditions intending for people to research ways to bypass them somehow?”

I gradually began to understand what A-ri was getting at.

“That’s what we thought. We believed that and researched all kinds of mental manipulation methods to somehow bypass the Mirror Room’s dangers. But after even Primordial Human failed, this thought came to me.”

“Our whole approach of avoiding the Mirror Room’s danger through mental manipulation was wrong? The answer is to face it head-on?”

“Right. The Mirror Room isn’t a place made for people to avoid danger through supernatural means. It’s a place made for someone desperate enough to accept the risk to enter.”

After saying that much, A-ri looked at Seung-yeop with a somewhat gloomy expression.

“Seung-yeop, you know why Primordial Human failed, right?”

“S-Sis?”

“The Mirror Room can ignore Primordial Human and see through to the desires of the ‘real Park Seung-yeop’ inside. So... it was because you didn’t sincerely wish for Mi-ro’s recovery.”

“... I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t something you need to apologize for. You’ve never even met Mi-ro, have you? How could you sincerely wish for the recovery of someone you’ve never met? Of course it’s impossible. It isn’t only impossible for you. It’s impossible for everyone else too.”

No one here except one person could wish for Mi-ro’s recovery in the Mirror Room. Mi-ro’s recovery wasn’t a true wish for anyone but A-ri.

“I should apologize for making you do something impossible. I’m sorry.”

From the beginning, this was something only one person could do.

“Thinking about it, it’s obvious. The person who wants the wish fulfilled should make it themselves. Why did I try asking someone else to do it? It was a mistake to approach the Mirror Room like we were clearing a Curse Room. I’ll go in next time.”

With those words, A-ri lightly bowed to everyone and headed to the second floor. She seemed to be planning to sort out her thoughts in the snowfield.

In the silence, Song-i muttered.

“So... the Mirror Room needs someone with a really! Extremely! Desperate wish to enter? A wish so desperate that the desperation itself can erase every stray thought from their mind?”

Grandpa sighed.

“If you don’t know, Song-i, who would? This is another new interpretation. I hope this one is right.”

Footnotes:

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