Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 346

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 345: Party Time - The Reward Obtained from the Sanctuary, Tantalus's Curse (4)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 150

Current Location: Level 1, Room 105 - ‘Rest Room’

Sage’s Advice: X]

- Han Ga-in

As soon as I woke up, I checked my Status Window and noticed two changes.

First, the number of uses for Sage’s Advice had changed to X.

Second, the date had changed to Day 150.

I wasn't surprised that I could no longer use Sage’s Advice for the rest of Party Time, since that had been mentioned as part of the punishment.

The unexpected change was the date.

It clearly had nothing to do with the actual passage of time, which confused me at first. It seemed the Owl that granted me my blessing had changed it.

I could vaguely guess why.

It was difficult to calculate how much time we had actually spent in a place like the hotel, and it wasn't particularly meaningful anyway.

But if the number said something like 680,000 or 690,000, it would be hard to notice the date changing.

It seemed the Owl had given me a sort of convenience patch.

When I left the room, Jin-cheol was already outside to greet me.

“You're out! Everyone was just talking.”

Before long, the companions who had been resting throughout the hotel gathered together.

* * *

The Doctor was the first to speak at the table.

“I don't understand this new power at all.”

Jin-cheol tossed out a few guesses.

“Doctor, judging by the name ‘One Who Enjoys,’ could it be an ability that makes training enjoyable?”

An ability that makes training enjoyable?

It sounded plausible, but if that was all it did, it would be rather disappointing. The Doctor responded calmly.

“That could be it.”

Seung-yeop asked curiously, “Is it an active skill? Can you use it whenever you want? Or is it passive?”

“For now, it doesn't seem to be a power I actively use. But it doesn't seem to be active all the time either.”

Neither an active skill nor a passive skill?

Just as the conversation seemed to be going nowhere, Elena looked as though she had figured something out.

“Could it be similar to my Clear Mirror, Still Water?”

“When you say similar to Elena's Clear Mirror, Still Water, you mean a power that activates on its own when certain conditions are met?”

“Yes.”

That was where the discussion of the Doctor's One Who Enjoys ended.

Even the person who had gained it had no idea what it did, so no one had anything more to say.

Everyone's attention naturally shifted to Jin-cheol.

Ever since I came out, he had looked like he was itching to brag.

Grandfather noticed and snickered.

“You've already tried it, haven't you?”

“Of course.”

“You punk! What if a crisis comes up while the skill is on cooldown because you used it carelessly?”

“It's Party Time, quit nagging! And I can still use it.”

A-ri yawned lightly.

“So what is it? I heard something before about splitting an instant or something.”

Jin-cheol grinned proudly and said he'd show us. He suddenly brought over three Daggers hanging on the hotel wall.

A-ri snickered.

“I know what you're about to do.”

“Don't be the only one who knows. Tell us.”

“He's about to show us anyway.”

“Watch!”

--- Ting!

The next moment, Jin-cheol began juggling the Daggers in front of everyone!

I had often used the Daggers hanging on the hotel wall before. They weren't just decorations. Their blades were so sharp they could slice through most clothes like paper.

Watching him juggle such dangerous objects, he looked like a highly skilled circus performer.

After a while, Jin-cheol wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and placed the Daggers on the table.

“This takes more concentration than I expected.”

Seung-yeop had been clapping like a child watching a magic show, but he still looked confused.

“Woooow! That was amazing! But what kind of power is it?”

A-ri and Grandfather, who had seen plenty of superhuman abilities, seemed to have already figured it out.

“Is it a power that speeds up your thoughts?”

“Haha! That's right. At first, I thought it made my movements faster, but that wasn't it. It speeds up my thinking.”

“It would be best if both became faster, but if you had to choose one, faster thinking is much more useful for you. Your body is already incredibly fast.”

The Doctor, now understanding the situation, clapped lightly.

“That's good. It means you can control your body much more precisely.”

Would he be able to catch blades flying at him now, or step on birds in the sky and leap from them? The latter might be too much.

Still, it was amazing. He had become something like a proper martial arts novel protagonist.

As someone trained in combat sports, Jin-cheol understood this change better than anyone. He couldn't hold back his laughter.

Once Jin-cheol's demonstration of his new power, Instant, was over, everyone's attention naturally turned to Song-i and me.

I had a lot to explain and was choosing my words when Song-i spoke first.

“Mine is Saving. Next time...”

It was something several people had already experienced.

“A powerful enhancement next time?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of ability is it? Didn't they at least give you a rough explanation?”

At Jin-cheol's question, Song-i lowered her head slightly.

“I don't know.”

“Hm?”

“My Sponsor is a giant elephant, so it can't speak human language.”

“Ah!”

I'd heard it before, but Song-i's Sponsor wasn't humanoid and didn't use language.

It seemed that made normal communication difficult.

Still, a Sponsor wouldn't cheat someone out of their Contribution, so Song-i would probably gain a powerful ability next time.

“Now, please listen to what I have to say.”

I told them two things.

First, my Sponsor had called me to train in flying rather than enhance my blessing.

Thanks to that, I had relearned how to fly in Pero's body, but I was punished because it went against the purpose of the Sanctuary of Blessings.

Second, the Owl had told me to take the Hourglass into the Curse Room.

The moment I mentioned flight training, Song-i gave an awkward smile.

“That spells trouble for Pero...”

“Come to think of it, where is Pero? I haven't seen Pero since yesterday.”

“Pero is in the underground botanical garden.”

“Still?”

“Ga-in definitely suffered the most by turning into a parrot and surviving in prehistoric times, but!”

“...”

“Please think of cute Pero, whose body was stolen. Now, whenever Pero hears even the first syllable of Ga-in’s name, Pero hides and won't come out. Pero needs time to heal.”

A-ri burst into helpless laughter as soon as she heard that.

“Isn't Ga-in's animal abuse seriously too much? At this rate, an animal protection group might try to kill you.”

“...”

The Doctor looked pleased.

“I still vividly remember training in flight with Ga-in. I'm glad that effort became worthwhile.”

So I had trained in flight with the Doctor.

Whenever he recalled memories that had already disappeared from me with such longing, I felt a little awkward.

After she stopped laughing, A-ri asked me with a serious expression, “The Owl told you to take the Hourglass into the Curse Room?”

“Yeah. I asked for a hint on how to use it, and it said, ‘The fact that you came to possess that item was no coincidence, but inevitable.’”

“Looking at it, it seems your ability is necessary to use the Hourglass, Ga-in.”

A-ri seemed to have thought of something, and I had a vague idea too.

“This is only a guess, but what if I turn the Hourglass while possessing Pero's body?”

Song-i was more shocked than A-ri.

“Again?”

“...”

After thinking for a moment, A-ri answered.

“It would be meaningless. If you're possessing one of ‘us,’ it would be no different from before.”

A-ri and I reached similar conclusions.

The Hourglass didn't work on the hotel, but on ‘us.’ More precisely, it only worked on us.

I thought Pero might be different, but A-ri seemed to consider Pero one of us as well.

Thinking back to the accident that happened when we carelessly turned the Hourglass before, A-ri's reasoning seemed right.

“That's true. Possessing Pero wouldn't help.”

“You'd have to use it while possessing the body of someone outside the group. We should experiment with it in the Curse Room.”

Jin-cheol grumbled, “You two often talk about things only you know. Tell the rest of us too.”

A-ri told everyone her theory about the Hourglass.

Everyone nodded, saying it sounded plausible, but they agreed that we would only know its true nature after using it in a Curse Room.

After we finished talking about flight training and the Hourglass, Elena asked in a somewhat worried tone, “Ga-in, what happened with your punishment?”

“For now, Sage’s Advice is listed as X. It's similar to when I entered Room 104 for the second time.”

The Doctor didn't seem to think it was a big problem.

“It's not as if there's anything special to learn through advice at this point, is there?”

“That's true. I probably would have used it to study the Grimoire.”

A-ri gave a strange reaction.

“If that was what you were planning, maybe it's fortunate that your advice disappeared...”

“...”

Then Mi-ro asked, “But what's the Curse of Tantalus?”

“I don't know either.”

Elena spoke with an expression that suggested she almost knew.

“Tantalus is a figure from Greek mythology, right? Didn't he commit some kind of sin and fall into hell?”

Grandfather sighed and muttered, “They say he killed his son, cooked him, and offered him to the gods. Zeus was enraged, so he threw him into hell.”

“So what punishment did he get?”

“You've been talking so much that you probably haven't noticed. Try taking a sip of any drink on the table.”

I was already nervous.

Under everyone's worried gaze, I picked up the glass of cola in front of me.

“...”

“Ah, sh-”

I instinctively started to curse, but stopped when I noticed Mi-ro. Mi-ro shouted in my place.

“The hotel is so mean!”

The moment my hand touched it, the cola in the cup suddenly vanished as if it had evaporated!

Wondering if it could really be what I thought, I reached for the snacks on the table.

The same thing happened.

The cookies and cakes that had been giving off a sweet scent only moments ago suddenly disappeared.

“... Ha!”

It was a serious situation, definitely serious, but it was so absurd that I let out a hollow laugh.

Even A-ri, who was always busy laughing at almost anything, had gone completely stiff.

“This is bad. Does the Curse of Tantalus remain for all of Party Time?”

“... According to the notification, it does.”

The Doctor looked worried.

“Isn't today the first day of Party Time?”

Jin-cheol corrected him from beside us.

“Doctor, it's Day 2. We woke up after being unconscious for a day.”

“Right, this is my first time experiencing the Sanctuary of Blessings, so I made a mistake. Party Time lasts five days in total, and if this is Day 2...”

Seung-yeop's mouth fell halfway open.

“Does that mean Ga-in has to starve for three nights and four days?”

“The problem isn't food, but water. A person won't suffer anything serious from going without food for three days, but if they can't drink anything for three days, they will suffer severe dehydration.”

An intense wave of depression washed over me, and I covered my face with both hands.

“When I sleep and wake up, Room 105 won't treat me... right?”

“I don't know whether a body weakened by hunger falls under Room 105's treatment, but even if it does, this is the result of a curse meant to punish a rule violation. Of course it won't treat you.”

As everyone looked at me worriedly, A-ri answered with a resolute expression.

“Ga-in, you go back to Room 105 right now!”

“Huh?”

“You won't be able to eat or drink, so you need to reduce even pointless losses of stamina! Don't even think about getting out of bed!”

It made so much sense that I immediately stood up and returned to Room 105.

* * *

During the hotel's Party Time, the young man expelled from the party returned to Room 105 to conserve what little stamina he could.

Those who remained began seriously discussing the problem.

Mook-seong frowned.

“Does Ga-in really have to starve the whole time? Isn't there something we can do?”

A-ri sighed.

“Phew... I don't think so. If we try some half-baked trick, the hotel will block it all.”

“W-what if Ga-in dies!”

When Mi-ro said something so terrible, Sang-hyeon hurriedly stopped her.

“If it were a week, maybe, but three days without water will cause severe dehydration. He won't die, Mi-ro. Calm down.”

Then Eun-sol muttered quietly, “... I don't think anything will happen.”

Mi-ro immediately brightened.

“The Ticket! Come to think of it, didn’t we get another Ticket after Room 203? Even if Ga-in dies...”

A-ri lightly tapped Mi-ro on the head to stop her.

“Mi-ro, Mi-ro. We only have half a Ticket, so we can't use it right away. Ga-in isn't going to die either, so stop making such a fuss. If you keep this up, I'll make you starve too. Eun-sol, finish what you were saying.”

“It's just my guess. I don't think anything will happen to Ga-in as he is now just because he goes three days without eating or drinking.”

“...”

Silence filled the room for a moment.

Recently, everyone had begun to notice that Eun-sol behaved strangely whenever Ga-in was around.

Ga-in himself must have noticed too. He simply chose not to point it out.

That was what A-ri thought.

Sang-hyeon cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Ahem! It seems Ga-in won't be able to do much of anything during this Party Time.”

“Probably not.”

“So there's one thing that concerns me. Didn't Eun-sol say she would use Greedy Hand this time?”

Jin-cheol reacted after realizing it.

“That's true. What do we do? If something difficult comes up, Ga-in won't be able to do much.”