WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 343: Party Time - Sanctuary of Blessings (2)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 683,629
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor
Sage’s Advice: 1]
- Han Ga-in
Early in the morning, as I waited for the others in the corridor, Elena approached me.
“You've been glaring into empty space for a while. Is something there?”
“Ah, the date in my Status Window is hard to read.”
“What does it say?”
“It says 683,629 days.”
“... Wow, that's an enormous number. I thought you'd used Sage’s Advice or something.”
“I used it to research the Grimoire.”
“The Grimoire...”
Elena opened and closed her mouth with an uneasy look, as if she had something to say but was holding herself back.
“Is there something you want to say?”
“... No.”
As people gradually gathered, we naturally headed to the Sanctuary of Blessings together.
Jin-cheol, who was practically guaranteed to receive a “powerful enhancement,” couldn't hide his excitement. A few others looked envious.
Whose turn would it be to receive an enhancement this time?
Eun-sol, who seemed to be calculating something, spoke up.
“People who haven't received an enhancement in a long time should be due soon. Seung-yeop and A-ri probably aren't candidates since they were enhanced after Room 202.”
For the same reason, Elena, who had received an enhancement after resolving Room 201, probably wouldn't be either.
Then Song-i's grumbling voice rang out.
“Honestly, shouldn't it be my turn this time? I haven't received an enhancement since Room 103.”
“It's been a long time for me too.”
Just as Grandpa gave a similarly grumpy response, we arrived at the main entrance on the first floor, where we could travel to the Sanctuary of Blessings.
* * *
Kim Sang-hyeon, Yoo Song-i, Cha Jin-cheol, and Han Ga-in can receive enhancements. Would you like to proceed?
The moment the list appeared in the Sanctuary of Blessings, everyone's mouths fell half open.
Doctor and Jin-cheol were practically guaranteed, and Song-i had gone without an enhancement for so long that she was due for one.
But I hadn't expected my own name to be there!
“Huh! My name's on it?”
“It's been a while! Congratulations!”
The others soon began offering casual congratulations.
Doctor smiled broadly as though it were his own accomplishment.
“That's a relief. Ga-in was the one who suffered more than anyone in Room 203, so it pained me that there had been no reward for him.”
“No... Something's strange.”
“What is? Is it because you don't remember it? That won't be a problem.”
The reason I found it strange wasn't because I lacked the memories.
Considering how the hotel erased memories as it pleased, it seemed unlikely that memories of the resolution process had anything to do with the evaluation of Contribution.
But did it count Contribution earned after losing one's qualifications as a participant?
“It's a good thing if you can get enhanced, so what are you thinking so hard about? Press it!”
At Jin-cheol's touch, my vision went dark.
* * *
- Kim Sang-hyeon
--- Clang!
...
--- Clang!
...
“Don't just stand there. Come over here!”
The Sponsor I met for the first time looked like a muscular old man covered in scars.
Of course, I knew appearances like this held no meaning.
“Understood.”
When I stood beside an anvil hot enough to radiate scorching heat, the Sponsor held out a hammer.
“A hammer?”
“You know how to use it, right?”
“...”
“I enjoyed watching what happened in Room 203. It may have been primitive, but you still managed to forge steel weapons.”
An incomprehensible period of hard labor followed.
I'd already heard from my companions that Sponsors were mysterious beings with nothing ordinary about them.
Still, I hadn't expected to be made to hammer away endlessly in a forge.
...
By the time my sweat had soaked my entire upper body, the old man stretched out his arm and grabbed the lump of metal I'd been hammering.
Though he held the red-hot metal in his bare hand, his skin didn't even change color.
“How do you feel?”
“It's exhausting.”
“Isn't it enjoyable? Fun?”
“... It would be a lie if I said it wasn't.”
“That's right. How could work like this be fun?”
The old man clapped lightly, and the forge vanished in an instant. A cool grassland appeared in its place.
My body was clean too, as though I'd taken a shower.
“Have you heard this saying?”
“What saying do you mean...?”
“The diligent cannot defeat the talented, and the talented cannot defeat those who enjoy what they do.”
“It's a famous saying. I've heard it.”
“What do you think?”
“I think it has meaning, but it isn't accurate.”
“Tell me what meaning it has.”
“For someone to achieve results at something, both innate aptitude and sustained effort are necessary. If they also enjoy the work itself, they can progress more easily.”
“And why do you consider it inaccurate?”
“There's quite a difference between enjoying something and being good at it.”
“True. Isn't your companion living proof of that?”
“My companion?”
“That kid. I heard the kid likes a certain computer game and has played it for a very long time.”
“...”
“Having played for so long means the kid has put in effort, and since the kid likes it so much, they are someone who enjoys it. Yet they are nowhere near good enough to make a living from it. In the end, without talent, there are limits no matter how much one enjoys something or works at it. Of course, that kid has their own circumstances too.”
“I don't know those personal details.”
“I believe this proverb contains a very important implication.”
“I'm listening.”
“If a person can enjoy something, it is clearly a great help in achieving results.”
“Isn't that obvious? Effort usually brings pain to the body and mind, but when you do something you enjoy, that pain lessens. That lets you devote more time to it.”
“I wish to grant you that obvious truth.”
“Pardon?”
“Enjoy. Know that pain is growth, and patience is a stepping stone. I grant you the power to advance...”
“No, what power exactly are you granting me?”
Instead of answering, the old man sent me away with a single clap.
* * *
[Kim Sang-hyeon (Diligence) has obtained ‘One Who Enjoys’.]
* * *
- Cha Jin-cheol
The scenery changed again.
The place where I first met my Sponsor had been a field filled with swords and spears, while the second had been a sea of lava with iron plates floating across it.
This time, it was an old, traditional East Asian mansion, with suits of armor floating all around.
“I'm here!”
One of the floating suits of armor turned toward me.
There was nothing but empty armor, with no trace of a human figure, yet a voice could be heard.
“This time, some things were disappointing, while others were satisfactory.”
“Which room are you referring to? Room 203, ‘A New Beginning’? Or Room 204, ‘Hotel Cinema’?”
“Charging without fear even before a powerful enemy was certainly worthwhile. Still, what do you think about your fighting style?”
More than anything, I was surprised that my Sponsor had asked me a question.
Until now, it had never held a conversation with me even once.
The Sponsor of Courage had always said only what it wanted to say before sending me away.
“My fighting style...?”
“Don't you find it mostly monotonous? Your attacks always follow straight lines, and you often turn things into simple contests of strength.”
“I'll learn from your advice.”
“But it can't be helped.”
“Pardon?”
“Even if you brought Earth's greatest martial artist here, that martial artist would fight little differently if placed in your current body. First, you rarely lose in contests of strength, so studying complex moves is a waste of time.”
“Honestly, that's true.”
“Second, your mind cannot precisely control your body's movements in the first place. Your movements have become two or three times faster and stronger, but that doesn't mean your judgment has become two or three times faster.”
Perhaps because the topic was martial arts, the Sponsor's explanation was longer and kinder than usual.
“What should I do?”
“It is a problem you cannot solve.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means it is a problem I must solve for you. I will now grant the powerful strength I promised.”
As the space gradually began to shake, the armor delivered an ominous warning.
“You should become thoroughly familiar with how to use it. The superhuman in the next room is not someone you can defeat through strength alone.”
“What? A superhuman in the next room? No, explain a little more-”
* * *
[Cha Jin-cheol (Courage) has obtained ‘Instant’.]
* * *
- Yoo Song-i
It was a place like an Indian temple.
Statues resembling animals stood all around, and a giant elephant in the center of the temple gazed quietly at me.
“Hello! It's been a while, right?”
“...”
It had been the same before, but my Sponsor did not speak in human language.
Still, the Sponsor's intentions naturally seeped into my mind.
It was probably because Telepathy, the first enhancement I'd received, was working.
“I'm happy to see you too!”
The strange conversation, or perhaps Telepathy, continued for a while.
The Sponsor never said a word, but I understood its intentions, and it understood mine.
“You think it's time for me to receive a powerful enhancement too? I'm happy, but honestly, I'm nervous. You know how long it's been since I last came here, right? I don't know if I'll get another chance to come.”
The Sponsor told me that, if so, I could immediately receive a weaker power.
“Could you tell me what the weaker power I can receive now is, and what the stronger power is that I can receive after gathering more Contribution?”
A vague image, or perhaps a string of text, passed through my mind.
The weaker power was simple. Fundamentally, it wasn't much different from my current Affinity.
It would let me go beyond becoming friendly with Chaos Entities and communicating with them, allowing for somewhat stronger control.
But the powerful ability was completely beyond anything I'd expected.
“What? Is this for real?”
The Sponsor conveyed that it had no reason to deceive me.
“... Th-this is kind of an embarrassing power!”
The powerful ability felt like something straight out of an elementary schooler's fantasy.
“...”
Suddenly, I remembered the lesson I'd learned at Hotel Cinema.
People remained childish even after becoming adults, and I was a person too.
So I gladly told it that I would receive the power that made a child's fantasy real.
As the space collapsed around me, I thought to myself.
What was I even supposed to tell the others? It was embarrassing just to talk about it!
* * *
- Han Ga-in
“Wow... I didn't think I'd be coming here.”
The last time I met it, I remembered it being trapped in a Birdcage as punishment for giving me unreasonable advice.
My Sponsor didn't seem to have any major problems now. Had it already paid the price?
“...”
“When you gave me Scenario Understanding last time, didn't you say there was a high chance we would never meet again?”
“I did.”
I suddenly felt that something had changed.
The incomprehensible pressure the Sponsor gave off? A formless weight? I could no longer feel anything like that clearly.
Had the Owl lost its strength due to the aftereffects of being trapped in the Birdcage?
“No. The cause of the change you feel lies not with me, but with you.”
“... You read my mind. Fine. What enhancement is it time for me to receive?”
“I'm sorry, but I will disappoint you in that regard. It is still too early. It is not far off, but today is not the day.”
It seemed I wouldn't be receiving a blessing enhancement this time.
Since it said it wasn't far off, would it be after resolving the next room?
“Then is there a reason you summoned me?”
“Follow me.”
With those words, the Owl flew into the sky.
???
How was I supposed to follow it?
Footnotes:
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