Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 327

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 326: Re Room 203, Curse Room - ‘A New Beginning’ (6)

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- Yoo Song-i

I had a dream. A very, incredibly long dream.

In the dream, every single cell in my body was frozen as I looked out from inside a translucent pod. The world outside was filled with light, almost like heaven.

As I vaguely imagined the day I would finally step outside, a small figure approached the pod.

... Huh?

--- Hissss!

“Yoo Song-i, are you awake?”

“...”

“Yoo Song-i?”

“I-Is it me this time?”

“Pardon?”

Get a grip! This AI borrowing A-ri's body is extremely dangerous!

If it starts thinking my memories and sense of self do not match those of a ‘crew member,’ it'll gradually become suspicious of me. So I need to act like I recognize it.

“Ah, my head hurt for a moment. Pride. What's going on?”

The moment I mentioned Pride and showed that I remembered it, it reacted.

“It is common to have a headache after coming out of a cold place. You will soon feel better. Thankfully, you recognized me right away, so there seems to be no serious problem with your memory.”

With that, A-ri, no, Pride began walking through the spaceship. Its next words were just as Ga-in had told me they would be.

“Yoo Song-i, Adravita has developed a problem. As you may remember, Han Ga-in and Yoo Song-i were responsible for communicating with Adravita.”

It seemed this spaceship awakening event didn't necessarily mean Ga-in would wake up. This time, the AI had awakened me.

“What problem?”

“Adravita has been trying to contaminate the spaceship for the past few days.”

I thought as I walked down the spotless white corridor.

Ga-in had said that the AI told him people could sometimes suffer memory loss after waking from a long Cryogenic Sleep, right?

Surprisingly, that was true.

My memories felt unclear somehow. Early this morning, everyone woke up together to discuss how we should proceed through the early part of Room 203, but...

I couldn't remember.

Everything was blurry, from how the meeting had gone to when we entered the Curse Room.

The seriously strange part was that only one sentence stood out clearly amid those hazy memories.

‘Wow, your role is huge this time, Song-i! I'll trust you and wait!’

I clearly remembered Ga-in saying that as the meeting drew to a close. But what was my role?

“Pride.”

“Yes?”

“What about waking up the other crew members? Can't you wake up crew member Han Ga-in?”

“Ha ha! Are you lonely after waking up for the first time in so long? Don't worry. By your subjective sense of time, you will meet the others soon enough.”

For something it said with a smile, it left no room for argument.

As I sighed and followed it, I remembered what the AI had said earlier and a question came to mind. What exactly was Adravita's contamination?

Ga-in had been careful because the AI became suspicious of him over his memory loss from the start, but I didn't seem to be under any suspicion. Couldn't I ask?

“What exactly is Adravita's contamination?”

“Hmm.... It is difficult to explain because it condenses a highly specialized concept into two syllables.”

“Wouldn't I need to understand that concept to communicate with Adravita more easily?”

So explain it properly!

“That is a persuasive point.”

Pride stopped and began tilting its head this way and that. It was fascinating, almost like watching someone struggle to think of the right words.

“It is the process of twisting the genes and souls of existing lifeforms to turn them into Adravita's servants.”

“Uh... Is it like hypnosis or brainwashing?”

“It is a biological process rather than magical power, but the result is similar. Ah! I have thought of a very similar example.”

“A similar example?”

“Have you ever raised animals?”

“A whole lot.”

“Oh! Then this will be easy for you to understand. Think of dogs.”

“Dogs?”

“When a person meets someone they love, a hormone called oxytocin is released. When humans meet a lover, companion, parent, or child, oxytocin secretion generally increases by about fifty percent.”

“Really?”

“When a dog meets its owner, oxytocin secretion increases by sixty percent or more.”

“Hmm....”

“Dogs are wolves bred to love humans. Many dogs feel far stronger emotions toward their human owners than they do toward their own parents or offspring.”

“I've heard that.”

“Adravita's contamination is like that. He is a being who wishes to be worshipped.”

Pride began walking again after that.

So humans contaminated by Adravita love and worship him? Like dogs love humans? That was pretty disgusting.

Then Pride grabbed the handle of a massive door.

“Yoo Song-i, I need your help. As you know, this one refuses to communicate with me. Ah, block your sight and hearing with the bracelet, then hold my hand. You must restore your senses slowly.”

When I shut off my senses as instructed, I couldn't see or hear anything.

Pride led me by the hand, then tapped my palm twice. Taking it as a signal, I began restoring my senses as slowly as I could.

A shape too enormous to take in at a glance appeared dimly in my vision. Before I knew it, the massive flying Whale came into clear view.

“Yoo Song-i, are you all right?”

“Yeah.”

“Try speaking to it, at least. It won't even acknowledge what I say.”

“... Can you hear me?”

The flying Whale, which had been drifting lazily through the air, turned its head toward me.

「I am lis□ □ing.」

‘I am listening.’

Huh?

“You just spoke, right?”

「It is n□t yet the 5□□ r□□, so normal comm□□ication is imp□sible.」

‘It is not yet the fifth run, so normal communication is impossible.’

“It isn't the fifth run yet, so normal communication is impossible. Is that right?”

“What are you two talking about?”

Pride looked puzzled, as though wondering what we were discussing. Adravita's reaction, on the other hand, was completely different.

--- Ripple!

“Ah!”

The Whale's entire glowing body rippled, and something that could only be described as a shockwave spread in every direction.

A release of force that could only be taken as a sudden surprise attack sent not only me but also Pride, who was physically no more than a small girl, flying backward.

Then, as I flew through the air, it felt as though an enormous invisible hand caught me. My body stopped in midair and landed gently.

‘My mistake. I apologize.’

“... Okay.”

Adravita had been so startled that I understood its garbled expression perfectly that it released a shockwave!

Adravita tilted its head toward me.

「Can you h□□?」

“... Pardon?”

‘Can you hear me?’

“Can you hear me?”

‘How strange. Humans are beings who normally communicate through hearing...’

“How are you conveying your thoughts right now?”

‘I am not conveying them. I am simply thinking clearly. Therefore, I have not transmitted my meaning. Consider instead how you are able to understand it.’

Adravita wasn't conveying its thoughts to me, but I was reading his thoughts through some kind of power?

Could it be Telepathy?

I'd never read the thoughts of a godlike being with this power before.

“There is a power that comes to mind, but I've never been able to read the thoughts of a being like you before.”

‘That is because I tried to convey my intentions to you in any way I could, while they did not.’

I vaguely understood what was happening.

One thing was certain. This situation was a tremendous opportunity for both Adravita and me!

“If there is something you wish to say-”

‘First, I should send the nuisance away.’

A strange wave filled the space. I turned around just in case, and Pride had disappeared.

“... What exactly is your goal?”

‘I have no intention of harming you.’

That was hard to believe. Villains always pretended they meant no harm until it was time to kill someone.

“We think you've gone mad.”

‘Mad?’

“Aren't you?”

‘Even if I have changed, that does not make it madness. There is no madness, only adaptation.’

“Adaptation? I mean, you've helped us several times already. Some people suspect you want to die.”

‘Why would helping you be connected to my death?’

“When the Curse Room is resolved, every being inside it disappears.”

‘...’

Instead of answering, Adravita fell silent. I felt a wall in our communication that I couldn't explain.

“Hello?”

‘Child.’

“Yes?”

‘You still do not understand this place very well. Death. You may see it that way. Yet the Hotel's nature is not severance.’

“What?”

‘Death is an eternal end, and therefore severance. Life anticipates the death that will one day come, and so it too is severance. Thus, neither life nor death is the Hotel's nature. There is only the cycle.’

“Um.... I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you really have to speak in such vague terms?”

‘I spoke with perfect clarity. How could it be my fault that your small head cannot understand?’

“...”

Is it my fault you're stupid?

For a moment, I was speechless.

At the same time, Telepathy conveyed Adravita's mood to me. He was enjoying this conversation with me quite a bit.

“Let's stop with the philosophy and return to something simple. If you really want the room resolved, tell me the easiest shortcut.”

‘Have I not already told you? Take the Core and head for the mountain range.’

“The machine you showed Mi-ro, that's the Core?”

‘The Core is the main power source of the Pride of Humanity. Recovering it is the spaceship's mission. If you take it with you, the Legion in the mountain range will not attack you.’

If that was true, Seung-yeop's hypothesis and Eun-sol's interpretation had unexpectedly been right.

The device Mi-ro saw was the spaceship's power source, and if we took it to the mountain range, the AI wouldn't attack us.

‘There is an even easier way.’

“An easier way? Now that's what I like. My lifelong dream is to coast through life.”

‘... I do not know what method you used, but it seems you have a means of escaping as soon as you begin.’

Killing A-ri, whom we summoned with the Time Lender!

It seemed the Prisoner didn't know exactly what method we'd used.

“You could say that.”

‘Do it two more times.’

“What?”

‘Escape two more times and reach the fifth run. Then most of the restrictions placed upon me will disappear. Once that happens, I will guide you myself.’

“... How can we trust you? Will you try to persuade me?”

‘Impossible.’

“Pardon?”

‘I find it difficult to trust you as well. How could you trust me? So do your best. If you cannot trust me, what else can I say?’

That left me with nothing to say again.

‘Let us stop here. This has been a fairly enjoyable conversation, but I can feel the restrictions taking effect again.’

“Y-your goal!”

‘...’

“Tell me what your goal is!”

‘I wish to see the true end.’

“What?”

‘I wish to see the true end, not the incomplete ruin the Hotel shows.’