WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 317: Mi-ro (2)
──────
- Mi-ro
I studied the pieces on the table closely. I didn't know why, but I was certain this moment was incredibly important.
At first, I liked the piece shaped like a crown. A word seemed to whisper in my ear.
‘Dominion.’
It sounded cool, but I didn't think I'd need that kind of power.
Next, the telescope-shaped piece looked pretty good. Just like before, I heard another word.
‘Clairvoyance.’
I vaguely understood. This power was for my companions rather than myself.
Did I really need a power like that? My companions would handle things for themselves.
When I turned my head, I saw a star-shaped piece. This was ‘Foresight.’ It was an extremely powerful ability, but I immediately knew it was difficult for a human to bear and exactly the kind of power that could drive someone insane.
... More importantly, who was this being that had been giving me all this knowledge?
“Who are you?”
...
“Fine. I won't ask who you are, so tell me which one is good. I want something easy to use that can keep me safe.”
Then I noticed an exceptionally beautiful piece. A blue jewel set against a crimson background. When I approached it, I vaguely heard a voice say, ‘I don't know about this one.’
“You don't know? I thought you knew everything. Then I'll choose this one!”
I expected the mysterious being to get annoyed and reveal its identity if I acted like this, but nothing happened. The voice that had been tickling my ear vanished somewhere.
For some reason, I felt like I'd hear that voice again someday.
The moment I picked up the beautiful jewel, the entire world began to shake.
“W-what is this?”
* * *
The moment I came to my senses, I was stunned.
My body was trapped inside an enormous wall of ice that was unbelievably cold!
“Mmph! Mmph! Help m-”
--- Crack!
Before I could even scream, the ice split apart and my body flew free. At the same time, an unbearable cold washed over me.
“W-where am I? P-please save me! Help m-”
“Be quiet.”
A cool voice came from beside me. Startled, I turned my head and saw a girl whose appearance I couldn't believe.
“... A-a mirror?”
“We do look alike. Put this on first.”
The black-haired girl, who looked so much like me, wrapped me in a thick blanket. Around then, I realized who the girl in front of me was.
“It’s A-ri, isn't it? A-ri, where are we? And why do you look so much like m-”
“Stop asking questions. I'll explain at the hotel. Didn't anything like a notification pop up?”
At those words, I realized that a mysterious translucent window had been blinking in front of me this whole time.
「Congratulations on the start of your second adventure!
You have obtained the Immutable Blessing. You are now like ice that does not melt even in lava, and a flame that does not go out even in the ocean.
Outside forces cannot break you. As you continue your adventure, the Immutable Blessing will reveal new possibilities as well.
The Blessing activates.」
“Immutable Blessing? Second adventure?”
“Immutable? What's that?”
“I don't know either.”
“You chose it... Well, it's not like you knew what it was when you chose it. This is a little disappointing. You picked a Blessing the Management Bureau has no information on.”
“Management Bureau?”
“Any other notifications? The Doctor said he got a congratulatory message.”
“Doctor? A congratulatory message?”
Just as A-ri said, another window soon blinked before me.
「Participant Kim Mi-ro, we sincerely congratulate you on the start of your second journey.
You obtained many treasures during your first adventure!
One of those treasures may be used again. Please choose one.
1. Time Lender
2. Old Blood (Unavailable)
3. Spear of Mortality」
As I stared blankly, A-ri urged me on.
“What did it say?”
“It says I can choose one of my treasures. I can use any of them again except Old Blood.”
“Choose the watch. That's what I heard.”
“The watch? There isn't anything with a name like that.”
A-ri frowned and asked for the names. I told her the names of the three treasures, Time Lender, Old Blood, and Spear of Mortality, and that only Old Blood was marked unavailable.
“Time Lender? This must be it. Spear of Mortality has ‘spear’ in its name.”
“Should I choose Time Lender?”
“Yeah.”
When I firmly pressed number one, something resembling a pocket watch suddenly dropped out of thin air.
“A pocket watch?”
A-ri inspected it with interest, then took my hand and pulled me along.
“So that's why they called it a watch. Anyway, let's go to the hotel now. It's freezing.”
After that, A-ri said various things to me, but I couldn't hear any of them. The moment I grabbed the watch, an incomprehensible flood of information poured into my head.
By the time we reached the place called the ‘hotel,’ I finally realized that the information explained the functions of Time Lender.
* * *
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 137
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
While A-ri was outside reviving Mi-ro, the rest of us discussed how to explain the current situation to her.
Some suggested we should be careful and take our time explaining things.
“From Mi-ro's perspective, she woke up in this absurdly dangerous place out of nowhere, didn't she? It must be hard for her to accept reality... Why don't we explain it step by step?”
But as always, reality was harsh.
“I understand what you're saying, Song-i, but we have to enter a Curse Room tomorrow.”
“...”
“We don't have the luxury of taking a long time to explain everything. That's why I told A-ri to bring her back right away. At least today is a rest day.”
Fortunately, we didn't have to enter a Curse Room today. We had been given two days of rest after Hotel Cinema.
Around then, we heard the elevator descending, and the room fell silent.
Then...
A girl who looked exactly like A-ri appeared.
“...”
“...”
“Mi-ro, say hello. These are the people from the hotel.”
“H-hello!”
After the awkward greetings, we talked for a very long time.
We told her that we were in a place called Hotel Pioneer, that Mi-ro had belonged to an organization called the Management Bureau outside the hotel, and that this was her second time entering the hotel.
Of course, no matter how well we tried to explain it, much of the information had to be summarized. The details would naturally be conveyed over time.
Surprisingly, Mi-ro wasn't very shocked. It was strange enough to make me wonder about it.
“Aren't you surprised by the current situation?”
“... I'm more surprised that you're speaking formally to me, Ga-in. Can't you just talk normally?”
“Cough! O-okay.”
“It's strange. A little while ago, Ga-in was only a thumb's length taller than me, but now you're suddenly two hand lengths taller.”
That was an oddly specific standard.
“N-not that. Aren't you surprised by the hotel or your own past?”
“... It feels like something.”
“Something?”
“It feels familiar. Um... It doesn't feel like I'm hearing it from these people for the first time.”
A-ri, who stood beside her, spoke quietly.
“If it doesn't feel like you're hearing it for the first time? Does it feel like you knew it already, forgot it for a while, then remembered it again?”
“That's exactly it!”
“Interesting. It seems even you now are a little different from when you were a ‘real’ middle schooler.”
Had she vaguely known the truth that she was in the hotel, even while having that horrific dream in Frozen Hell?
A-ri's attitude was just as strange as Mi-ro's. Hadn't she made such a huge fuss about wanting to save Mi-ro? Shouldn't she have hugged her and burst into tears after reviving her?
Not at all. If anything, she seemed to be keeping some distance, and her demeanor even came across as a little cold.
Just as things began to quiet down, Mi-ro suddenly raised her hand.
“I have a question!”
“Ask away.”
“I've been curious since I woke up, but who is A-ri? She looks so much like me! Why didn't I know about her at school, I mean, in the ‘dream’? Is she some hidden sister even I don't know about?”
Mi-ro looked at A-ri with a genuinely curious expression. I turned my head slightly.
Of all the information we had given Mi-ro so far, we hadn't told her that she had created A-ri in the Mirror Room. Honestly, wouldn't it be better for A-ri to tell her directly?
A-ri had been wearing a somewhat vacant expression, but she finally let out a small laugh.
“Mom, I love you!”
“... Don't joke around. Did my father have an affair or something? No?”
A-ri lightly poked at her own eye with a finger and began forcing out tears.
“H-how! How could you not recognize me? How could you do this to me?”
“Seriously! Is she normally like this? She's so annoying!”
At this rate, we wouldn't get anywhere. I sighed and touched Mi-ro's shoulder. I spoke casually too.
“Want Ga-in to explain it?”
I explained it slowly. During her first adventure, she had ‘created’ A-ri in a mysterious place in order to gain a trustworthy companion.
Mi-ro, who hadn't been very surprised by anything she'd heard about the hotel until now, gaped.
Then an unexpected situation occurred.
“L-lies! You must all be playing a prank on me. Therefore, all of you, tell the truth.”
?
... Just then, I felt something strange.
An indescribably intense wariness surged through me. At the same time, A-ri's playful expression instantly hardened.
“Mi-ro.”
“Hmph! Now you understand what I sai-”
“Mi-ro, I think it's time I taught you a lesson.”
“What?”
--- Smack!
The next moment, A-ri gave Mi-ro a sharp flick on the forehead without hesitation. She hit her so hard that Mi-ro's entire head rocked. Tears soon welled up in Mi-ro's eyes.
“W-what was that for?”
“Remember this. ‘That power.’ Don't use it carelessly on your companions.”
Then another unexpected situation occurred.
“I'm leaving!”
Mi-ro suddenly screamed and ran away!
She literally ran away like a child. Well, Mi-ro was actually young right now. A-ri sighed and followed the crying girl as she fled.
For a while, the rest of us were speechless.
“... She listened so quietly earlier that I thought she had a fairly calm personality.”
I understood Eun-sol's point too. She had really seemed strangely calm just moments ago.
“Eun-sol, the Mi-ro I met in Frozen Hell was originally like that.”
“What was that just now? Did she use that psychic power through her words? To make us tell the truth?”
“Yeah. Didn't you get that sudden jolt of a feeling just now?”
“A jolt? I didn't feel anything at all. More importantly, I didn't particularly feel like I had to tell the truth.”
Grandfather answered.
“Mi-ro simply did not realize it, but we were already telling the truth, so we felt no particular strangeness. If we had been lying, we would have felt a bizarre pressure and confessed the truth.”
“I see...”
“More importantly, it's fortunate that Ga-in sensed it right away along with A-ri. If she does that again and A-ri isn't around, you should discipline her immediately.”
“What?”
Discipline her? Me?
As I stood there flustered, the Doctor gave me an intense look.
“Ga-in, do not forget why the former Hotel Party collapsed. I almost got chills just now.”
“...”
“This is for our sake, but it is also for Miss Mi-ro's. What do you think will happen if she tries to control us by using that power as naturally as breathing?”
Eun-sol nodded too.
“My Flute and Song-i's bracelet give us ways to resist, but... if we don't realize it immediately like you or A-ri, it will be difficult to stop Mi-ro. Seeing it in person, it's more troublesome than I expected. Next time, you flick her forehead, Ga-in.”
“... Understood.”
Mi-ro's revival seemed likely to bring many changes to our future journey.
Around then, I remembered something interesting from our conversation with Mi-ro.
“She says her new Blessing is the Immutable Blessing.”
Grandfather nodded.
“Ice that does not melt in lava and flame that does not go out in the sea... Is it a powerful resistance to outside evil forces? I feel like I almost understand it, but not quite.”
“Should we test it later by showing her my Grimoire for a moment?”
“That would be too intense. Let's test it with something weaker. Elena?”
“Yes. I'll prepare something. As weak as possible...”
“The description of Time Lender, that pocket-watch-like object, is just as interesting as the Blessing's. It seems like a very... powerful Inheritance.”
Grandfather grinned.
Based on Mi-ro's explanation, the pocket watch was an Inheritance so powerful it was hard to believe. There had been a reason past Mi-ro had chosen Time Lender without hesitation among several Inheritances.
“I won't eat!”
“Then don't eat! Don't eat! I'll eat Mi-ro's portion too!”
“I really hate you, A-ri!”
Jin-cheol sighed as he listened to the conversation coming from far away.
“What are their combined ages?”
“If you add their ages together, it would probably be more than the combined ages of everyone else except Grandfather.”
“Can you believe the level of that conversation, then?”
“...”
There was much to do for the rest of the day. We needed to figure out the functions of Mi-ro's newly acquired Immutable Blessing and her Inheritance, Time Lender.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
