WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 334: Re Room 203, Curse Room - ‘A New Beginning’ (14)

──────

- Park Seung-yeop

The weakened Doctor could no longer rise easily from bed, and his voice had grown quiet.

Fortunately, his pronunciation was still clear, so there was no great difficulty in talking with him.

He had always been wise and thoughtful, but the passage of time had made him even wiser.

“After realizing your failure, I returned to my original tribe. But Varna, the Divine Human meant to replace me, had already arrived.”

...

“Fortunately, Varna had a kind nature and followed me well, so we got along peacefully. Looking back, it was actually a blessing. Two Divine Humans contributed to the tribe’s development. You ask what became of Varna? Sadly, Varna died around 120 years ago.”

...

“I had no idea making bricks was so difficult. Of course, it was nothing compared to the effort that went into working with metal later. Seung-yeop, you probably have no idea how difficult it is to make the things you see every day.”

...

“What happened between Blue Wind and me...? I will refrain from speaking about that. It is personal. Still, I ask that you stop calling her a ‘primitive.’ She was an exceptionally wise and patient person.”

“S-sorry.”

“It is all right.”

I spoke with the Doctor long into the night.

At times like this, I felt grateful for this room’s “endlessly abundant time.” If this had been one of the many other rooms where we had to settle things within a day or two, we would not have had time for conversations like this.

After about three hours, our conversation finally turned to us.

“Adravita scattered the Cryogenic Sleep facilities where you were sleeping across the entire continent.”

“Why would Adravita do that?”

“For exactly the same reason I alone was left behind.”

“Do not put all your eggs in one basket.”

“You understand the Demon God’s goal now, do you not? He wants this room to continue forever. He does not want the hotel party to escape or find a resolution, nor does he want anyone to die.”

“If we had all been in one place...”

“A natural disaster such as an earthquake could have destroyed the facilities, allowing many of you to escape or killing you all. The latter would frighten Adravita more.”

To prevent all of us in Cryogenic Sleep from dying at once in a natural disaster like an earthquake, Adravita had scattered us throughout the continent.

It was absurd, but I understood.

A being that wanted to preserve this world for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years would naturally prepare for natural disasters too.

Even humans prepared for them on a national level.

“Once you were scattered across the continent, I did not know what to do. Then Pero led the tribe and me to this area. That was why I built a city here.”

He had built a city while waiting for the day we woke up. It was an incredible story, but I still found myself tilting my head.

“Pero led you here?”

“That mysterious bird born in the Hotel suddenly flew to Seung-yeop’s location several times in the past. It also sometimes started alongside Miss Song-i.”

“That is right.”

“It seems able to know each of our locations.”

It was not surprising that Pero could track our locations. It had flown a great distance to find me out of nowhere before, and it always found Song-i with uncanny accuracy.

“Why did Pero guide you to me of all people? I mean, there are lots of companions better than me. Ga-in and A-ri too...”

“Pfft! Cough!”

The sudden cough seemed like proof of the Doctor’s weakened body, but it also sounded as though he had simply laughed. Maybe it was both.

“Seung-yeop. This is not a question of who is better. Pero had no choice from the start.”

“No choice?”

“You misunderstand. Pero did not wake you. The great energy of the universe woke you, and Pero simply happened to be nearby at the right time.”

Only then did I realize.

There was only one power that could activate on its own and wake us from Cryogenic Sleep, when not only our bodies but even our minds had frozen.

“Heavenly Luck!”

“Exactly. A few days ago, an earthquake suddenly struck nearby, and the Security Units guarding the facility fell into cracks in the ground. There were originally far more monsters as well.”

Something still bothered me.

“That is strange. Heavenly Luck is powerful, but...”

It caused an earthquake to wake me up? Was that even possible? Seriously?

Even the Doctor had no clear answer to that question. Instead, he told me about a plan he had devised over many years.

“Seung-yeop, your companions are still alive. It is ironic, but the being that put them in danger has done everything it could to protect them.”

“That is a relief.”

“What should we do now?”

“We need to wake them up!”

“Exactly. I said your companions were scattered across the continent, did I not? Who should we wake first?”

When I was briefly at a loss for words, the Doctor smiled and answered for me.

“We should wake Miss A-ri first. She still has the Captain’s authority. It will be very useful.”

“Where is she?”

“She is in the mountain range where you slept. Everyone else was moved, but Miss A-ri was not. Perhaps she could not be moved because she is the Captain.”

“Ah!”

“We should leave for the mountain range soon. I had no way to save Miss A-ri with my strength alone, but with Seung-yeop’s Luck, there will surely be hope for everyone. Cough!”

Was it because he had spoken with me for so long despite his weakened body?

A brown clump burst from the Doctor’s mouth. He stared silently at the mixture of blood and phlegm before muttering something close to resentment for the first time.

“Why did you wake up only now?”

“...”

“Two hundred years, no, one hundred! No, could you not have woken up even fifty years earlier?”

I could not answer. I did not understand why Heavenly Luck had woken me up this late either.

Still, I was certain of one thing. There had to be a reason I had woken up so late. That was the kind of power Heavenly Luck was.

After a moment of silence, the Doctor spoke again.

“I am sorry.”

“N-no. You have been through so much...”

“Seung-yeop, what I am about to tell you may surprise you, so listen carefully. Tomorrow morning, I need you to help with the city’s ceremony.”

* * *

The next morning, the attendants helped adorn me extravagantly.

With my clothes removed, my entire body was covered in white powder, and red dots were painted on both my cheeks and forehead.

The final thing placed before me was a pure white feathered robe, as if it were imitating an angel’s wings.

At first, I wondered why I had to do something this ridiculous when we were so busy, even if the Doctor had asked me to. We needed to leave as soon as possible and save A-ri!

Once the ceremonial preparations were complete, I went out into the streets with the Doctor, who had dragged his aged body outside. Only then did I realize that everyone in the city had gathered before dawn just to see my face.

Men and women alike, old people and children too. No one was an exception.

As I began to feel an indescribable pressure, a vague realization came to me.

No one’s heart remains unchanged forever.

Even the most loyal subject would abandon their lord if that lord did not provide land and wages. Even between father and son, love would fade if neither fulfilled their duty to the other.

Faith was the same. Belief that received nothing in return would eventually break.

That was why our Doctor, the priest of the City of Light, had to show me to everyone.

He had to tell them that the faith passed down through generations was not false, and that the descendant of their ancestors had finally awakened from an endless sleep.

What were “we” to these people?

We were the embodiment of faith inherited through their fathers, grandfathers, and all the generations before them, demigods who had inherited the power of great ancestors.

We were beings who would lead those suffering through the unjust pain of this world to Paradise, where milk and honey flowed.

We were Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Gautama Siddhartha.

That realization filled me with guilt.

Because all of it was a lie.

What? A demigod who inherited the ancestors’ power?

A Paradise flowing with milk and honey?

Someone who could guarantee peace after death?

How was I supposed to give them any of that?

Why had the Doctor told these people such outrageous lies-

Calm down.

It made no sense for me to resent him. He must have had to say whatever he could while leading these people through all those long years.

Then I realized everyone was looking at me.

The people of the city, the subjects the Doctor had raised, were hoping for something from me.

Sensing the mood, the Doctor cleared his throat lightly and tried to take my hand and lead me away.

I gently pushed his hand aside and looked up into the air.

I wanted to give them something in return.

Although I was neither a demigod nor anything else, just a fake who could give these people neither Paradise nor anything at all...

Still, I wanted to show them that the faith they had devoted their lives to was not a lie.

They had been deceived for far too long to turn back, so I wanted to deceive them until the very end.

Right now, feeling like this, something might happen.

Three pure white doves fluttered down from the sky and settled on my head, shoulder, and hand.

Silence fell over the murmuring square. No one dared to speak. They carefully clasped their hands together in prayer.

Perhaps one of the children in the square was too young to hide their surprise. The child cried out.

“Birds! Doves! Did the Divine Human summon them?”

As though they had been waiting, the doves left my body, lightly brushed past the child’s head, and flew into the sky.

I gave the most sincere answer I could, without a single lie.

“I do not know.”

As the people in the square began to disperse, the Doctor asked as if he could not hold back any longer.

“How did you do that?”

“I do not know. Was it not just a coincidence? They said the white powder they put on me was grain flour. Maybe the doves smelled it?”

“Bwahahahaha!”

The Doctor suddenly laughed like a madman, and the guards around us looked at him with alarm.

“That is quite a reassuring answer.”

That evening, the Doctor told the city’s subjects that the time of revelation had finally come.

The next day, we set out for the mountain range with the city’s elite soldiers.

* * *

When we arrived at the mountain range, a familiar landscape came into view.

Hundreds of years must have passed since the time we remembered, yet it was as if the passage of time had passed nature by.

“As you know, there are quite a few Security Units in the mountain range.”

“...”

“I hope you can do it, Seung-yeop. I... I am sorry. I only wish my body were younger.”

“No. You have done this much, so I should at least be able to bring it to a close.”

“I am glad I can at least give you a Protective Suit. You have no idea how hard it was to find this.”

At the Doctor’s gesture, the men behind him carried over the Protective Suit they called Ancestor’s Armor.

--- Bwoooom!

The moment I put on the Protective Suit and entered the mountain range, an oppressive sound rang out.

Then, as if comforting my tense self, another companion settled onto my shoulder.

“Pero! You are here? Where have you been all this time?”

--- Screee!

Pero had disappeared right after guiding me to the city.

According to the Doctor, Pero rarely stayed in one place for long, so even he had trouble seeing Pero.

The bird that had always been full of secrets had become even more incomprehensible. Still, I felt relieved now that Pero was back by my side.

I took a deep breath and clicked the window only I could see.

[Heavenly Luck activated! The energy of the universe protects you.]

“A-ri! I am coming!”

Footnotes:

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