WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 331: Re Room 203, Curse Room - ‘A New Beginning’ (11)
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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 683,624
Current Location: Level 2, Room 203, Curse Room ‘A New Beginning’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
Before entering Room 203 again, we made a plan for how to proceed. We had to take the spaceship's power source, the Core, to the mountain range.
But as it turned out, the word “take” in that simple plan was impossible to put into practice.
Mi-ro, who had actually seen the Core in the previous run, had only vaguely remembered its shape. The real Core was far larger than she remembered, a machine that gave off heat without end.
We were supposed to move something like that?
Thankfully, the issue was easily resolved. The Core could move on its own as long as we set a destination.
It wasn't that strange. The civilization of the past probably hadn't carried this machine around by hand either.
So the problem wasn't the Core. It was us.
“Do we have to walk all the way to the mountain range now? On our own two legs?”
“Getting on the moving Core would be impossible, right?”
“We'd burn to death just getting close to it.”
The group that moved the Core eighteen hundred years ago probably had another means of transportation. We just didn't have it now.
Silence fell for a moment.
Song-i, who had tamed flying monsters for us, had been buried on the primitive plains. And for some reason, none of the primitives who had supposedly supplied Elena and Seung-yeop with food and water until they reached the building had survived.
“That can't be possible.”
Everyone's expressions darkened at Elena's calm reply. We all sensed the ominous events to come.
There was only one person among us who could create a supernatural being capable of moving everyone quickly.
* * *
Darkness filled the building.
The furniture that had been neat until yesterday was now covered in webs and dust that had suddenly appeared from every direction.
The clean walls had peeled away, grotesquely exposing the unknown steel framework inside. An endless creaking sound came from the ceiling.
--- Huuuuk!
Faint sobbing came from somewhere. Along with the endlessly howling wind, it created an atmosphere so gloomy it was hard to bear.
The mysterious building left behind by the masters of a brilliant civilization that had reached science-fiction levels of technology had turned into the set of a horror film.
Jin-cheol spoke in a gloomy voice.
“... How long do we have to put up with this bullshit?”
“Until Elena says she's finished?”
“Damn. I need some water.”
Eun-sol gave a bitter smile.
“Check the water first.”
“It's green.”
Jin-cheol poured the water onto the floor, and the table began to melt amid a harsh smell.
As he stood there speechless, Eun-sol spoke again.
“Why the hell did things turn out like this...?”
Why had the building become like this?
Because Elena couldn't create monsters in midair with a single gesture.
Just as I couldn't explain the principles of the Grimoire, Elena didn't know the principles behind Ominous Imagination. She only knew how to use it.
According to Elena, angels were born in Heaven, while demons were born in Hell.
“She says a demon powerful enough to carry us across the continent can only be born in a Hell worthy of it.”
“I heard that explanation too. That's why she turned the building into Hell. What I want to know is whether we can skip this complicated preparation.”
A pale hand stuck out from beneath the sofa and grabbed Eun-sol's ankle. Before her expression could stiffen, Jin-cheol quickly tore the hand off.
Ominous Imagination was so powerful that it might have had the highest ceiling of any power we'd acquired from the hotel.
It could cause buildings to collapse, poison people, and bring about sudden accidents or epidemics.
It could bring about every ominous event humans could imagine and create powerful monsters that should only exist in dreams.
Elena still struggled with it, but the power's original owner had even been able to strengthen herself.
“Skip it...”
“Think about it. In the past, every monster Elena made was temporary, right?”
“That was true.”
“At some point, the time those monsters could exist became much longer. That means she's overcoming its weakness.”
I understood what she meant.
As time passed, Song-i could use her bracelet for longer.
On the frozen snowfield, I awakened part of the Grimoire's new authority, the Power of the Avatar.
A-ri had gradually awakened the many powers hidden within Old Blood over a long period of time.
I didn't know whether that growth belonged to the Inheritances themselves or to us as their users, but it meant these powers could grow.
Unlike before, Elena could now maintain her monsters for much longer.
“Maybe it'll be possible someday.”
“R-Right?”
“But I think it'll take a very long time.”
“Really?”
I thought of Beatrix from Room 201, the original owner of the ability.
The monsters she created could exist permanently. She could even create a powerful body containing only her own mind.
That meant her mastery was on a completely different level from Elena's, yet even she couldn't freely create monsters out of thin air.
That was why the chief researcher had to create a facility that brutally killed anyone who entered it.
“Demons can only be born in Hell... Even Beatrix couldn't overcome that problem.”
“That's right.”
“So-”
At that moment, Elena's irritated voice burst out from upstairs.
“Can you all shut the fuck up? Even screaming and wailing wouldn't be enough right now!”
“...”
“...”
“Ahhhhh!”
“Uaaaaagh!”
“Both of you, stop with the terrible acting. Elena, I'm sorry!”
“Ga-in, if you apologize, Elena will come to her senses later and feel embarrassed...”
“Eun-sol, it seems even talking is a distraction.”
“Right. Then why don't we tell a story fitting for Hell, to help Elena?”
“A story fitting for Hell?”
I already felt uneasy just hearing that.
“Elena took Seung-yeop with her to manifest Ominous Imagination.”
“...”
That was right. The reason there were only three of us on the first floor, Eun-sol, Jin-cheol, and me, was because Elena had taken Seung-yeop upstairs.
“Seung-yeop apparently helps her imagine Hell. Why do you think that is?”
“Eun-sol, just tell us plainly. What happened yesterday?”
Eun-sol stared upstairs with a slightly confused expression for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
“Apparently, Seung-yeop threw every one of the primitives into the mouths of monsters.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Do you remember the five or six monsters near the building?”
“...”
“Then all those monsters suddenly disappeared, and it became safe.”
“We didn't see anything like that. You saw it alone and told us afterward.”
“Right. I saw it. The monsters suddenly moved somewhere, then started eating frantically.”
“...”
“Hundreds of primitives and... flying Fairies, probably made by Elena, ran away in every direction. The monsters chased after them to eat them, then disappeared. That's all.”
“H-How could he do something like that?”
“Elena said Primordial Human acted like a shaman who could see the future. It looked at the monsters and told the primitives that if they bravely faced the monsters and defeated them, they could go to Heaven.”
“Does that make any sense? Would they fall for something like that?”
“Do you not know that billions of people on Earth still believe in religion? I believe in Buddhism too.”
“Huh!”
“Besides, Seung-yeop using Primordial Human must have looked like an angel sent by a god, or an Apostle, to the primitives of this world.”
“...”
I understood what she meant.
I didn't even have to look far. During my first run, I had the primitives wander near the mountain range to draw out the robots.
It was entirely possible. A Divine Human capable of performing miracles could rule over this planet's primitives with truly demonic charisma.
Seung-yeop from the first run, whose blessing had weakened and who was seen as useless by the primitives, was a completely different being from Seung-yeop now, using Primordial Human.
“What happened next?”
“Let me ask something here. Ga-in, you and the Doctor thought up the command for Primordial Human, right?”
That wasn't true.
“No. Seung-yeop basically designs it himself. The Doctor and I have never used Primordial Human, so it's difficult for us to know what should be included and what it can't understand.”
“So you and the Doctor advise Seung-yeop?”
“Yes.”
“What did you advise?”
“The goal was to find Mi-ro and regroup with her. We also included an order never to harm us.”
“The command itself is pretty ordinary...”
“What happened after Seung-yeop sacrificed the primitives?”
“Apparently, he walked through the chaos without a care, then suddenly stopped near the research lab.”
“He stopped?”
“When Elena went closer... Mi-ro's remains were there.”
“... That's even more horrifying. What about Song-i? Didn't something happen while she was moving with Song-i?”
“There was no trace of Song-i.”
“Was she eaten without leaving any trace?”
“Probably. Or maybe a body disappears if someone dies while summoned by Time Lender. Let's ask Mi-ro once we're out.”
Jin-cheol, who had been listening, sighed.
“The topic really is fitting for Hell. So Seung-yeop found Mi-ro's body, and Primordial Human wore off?”
“Seems like it.”
“Then was he in the Primordial Human state the entire time before that?”
“Probably.”
“No, what I mean is-”
If Primordial Human was used for too long, the time before it could be used again increased endlessly.
Judging from the circumstances, Seung-yeop had been in the Primordial Human state for more than a week.
“If he uses it for that long, when can he possibly use Primordial Human again?”
“Jin-cheol. You don't need to worry about that in this room.”
He wondered what she meant for a moment, then found the answer.
“... Because eighteen hundred years pass every time the room starts?”
“Right. The ability's cooldown will expire while Seung-yeop is asleep.”
When Seung-yeop's Sponsor granted him Primordial Human, it had said that this power would be very useful in Room 203. We all understood what that meant now.
There was one problem, though.
“What if this is the final run? What then?”
“We'll think about that after we get out.”
After a while, Jin-cheol smiled and spoke to me.
“I'm saying this because it feels like we're nearing the end, but isn't Room 203 unexpectedly easy?”
“... Why would you say that?”
“No, I mean, the food tastes awful and walking is exhausting, but there haven't been many situations where our lives were in danger.”
“...”
“Are Mi-ro and Song-i the only people who have died? Song-i only died because she got caught up with Mi-ro, so really, Mi-ro was the only one who faced danger-”
“Hey!”
Having heard enough, Eun-sol smacked Jin-cheol with the towel around her neck.
Everything Elena had caused in this building combined felt less ominous than the words that had just come out of Jin-cheol's mouth.
--- Gwooooooh!
A blasphemous cry shook heaven and earth. Elena had finally created a monster that would carry us to the mountain range.
Three days later, we reunited with Grandpa and the Doctor in the mountain range.
Footnotes:
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