WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 349: Hungry Ghost Hell (3)
──────
- Kim A-ri
Alone in the car, I thought about what strength I had left.
The conditions were the same as when I had offered the Prayer for Rest for Mi-ro in the past.
My Inheritance was sealed, but my blessing remained.
That meant I could use Compass or The Unremarkable Girl.
Direct combat would be difficult, but it was a good situation for sneaking around unnoticed.
Next, I considered So-yeon's problems.
First, the text-message stalker.
Finding and punishing some deranged obsessive fan hiding somewhere in South Korea would be difficult.
It might have been possible if I were a Management Bureau agent in this scenario, but it wouldn't be easy with the identity of an ordinary teenage girl.
Besides, I didn't think the person sending the messages was the root of the problem.
So-yeon wasn't an ordinary person. She was a celebrity known nationwide, and if her personal information leaked, there were enough stalkers ready to latch onto her to fill ten buses and then some.
Did I need to find whoever around So-yeon kept leaking her schedule and phone number?
The people involved had probably already tried to find them...
Second, the mysterious freak who had appeared two months ago.
This person was actually more serious than the first case.
They hadn't simply learned So-yeon's schedule for the day. They'd moved in at the exact moment her bodyguard and staff happened to be absent.
There was a high chance this person was someone close to So-yeon.
It wasn't something an obsessive fan who had gotten lucky and learned her phone number or filming schedule could easily pull off.
Lastly, there was the unidentified presence that had appeared in So-yeon's house late at night without showing up on the CCTV.
Based on the circumstances, it seemed like some kind of urban legend entity, but I couldn't decide how to deal with it.
If it was an incorporeal evil spirit, it would be difficult to resolve even with an Inheritance. With only my blessing, it would be impossible.
Around the time I finished thinking it over, So-yeon and Kang-hyeok arrived at the SUV.
“Wasn't today's radio story completely insane?”
“I think it's because you entertain too many ridiculous questions.”
“No, I was holding the microphone, and the producer told me to read it!”
“Should I go punch the producer in the head?”
“Oh, come on. You're joking!”
“I'll let that producer bastard off this time.”
Kang-hyeok's joke seemed to ease some of So-yeon's irritation.
“Good work, sis!”
“Thanks! Oh, Kang-hyeok. The commercial shoot tonight was canceled.”
“What? How did that happen-”
“I'll tell you later. I'm tired, so let's go home first.”
“Understood. But ma'am, it's late. Shouldn't we send A-ri home now?”
What was this sudden talk about going home?
The abrupt change in the situation caught me badly off guard.
Come to think of it, even if I was an employee, ten at night was time to get off work.
If I was more like a close younger sister who got spending money than an employee, then it was all the more reason for me to go home.
I was trying to think of what I could say to stay by So-yeon's side, setting aside my other plans for the moment.
Then the problem was immediately solved.
“A-ri! Why don't you sleep over at my place tonight?”
“Huh?”
“I told you I made a movie theater in my house, right?”
You did?
“I kept saying I'd show you, and today would be perfect.”
Sticking with So-yeon was better than being separated from her, so I answered quickly.
“Sounds good!”
“Then I'll take you straight to her home tonight.”
As the SUV drove through the center of Seoul, still bright as day despite the late hour, So-yeon spoke with a tired expression.
“The commercial.”
“Oh, right. How did it get canceled? On the day of the shoot too?”
“The president contacted them and pulled me out.”
“...”
“...”
“Maybe Seok-min thought you looked too busy.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“...”
The president must have been Kim Seok-min, the head of So-yeon's agency whom they'd mentioned earlier.
Kang-hyeok had said he was completely obedient to So-yeon now that she was a star, but the atmosphere made it sound different.
“Should I talk to him tomorrow?”
“What can you do? Do you think the president would listen to you?”
“... Sorry. I'll focus on driving.”
As So-yeon snapped at every little thing, Kang-hyeok soon fell silent.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn't the mood for taking a close younger sister to watch movies.
Who knew? More importantly, I was starting to get anxious.
The text-message stalking had started seven months ago. The freak who appeared while she was on her way home had shown up two months ago, and the bizarre phenomenon in her house had happened three days ago.
All of it had happened in the past, so why had I entered at this point in time?
Didn't that mean something would happen today?
“Sis.”
“...”
“Sis.”
“What is it?”
“Is something wrong?”
“I'm fine.”
“You don't look fine.”
“I said I'm fine.”
“No, if you're going to act like this, then either don't show it in front of me at all, or don't keep saying you're fine after making it obvious something's wrong.”
It was annoying enough having to use honorifics with a girl much younger than me. Did she have to keep pestering me? Did I need to smack her across the mouth before she'd talk?
“If you keep this up, I'm just going home.”
Was that a mistake? I couldn't go home.
“... It's really nothing, but you're making such a fuss.”
At the mention of me going home, So-yeon gave a small laugh and told me she'd had a minor conflict with the president.
I spent the rest of the drive tense, but nothing happened before we arrived at So-yeon's home.
Kang-hyeok saw us to the parking garage before leaving.
He parked the car we'd arrived in at So-yeon's house, then left, so he either had another car to get home in or lived close enough to walk.
* * *
Something felt wrong.
Though it was the underground parking garage she visited every morning, So-yeon found it unbearably ominous today.
It felt as though something lurking in the darkness would wrap around her neck and squeeze.
“The lights are pretty dim... I should tell the building manager tomorrow. A-ri, come this way.”
“Okay.”
Then So-yeon realized what was feeding her anxiety.
Half the electricity seemed to be out. The fluorescent lights kept flickering, and an old machine was making a creaking sound.
--- Click!
Suddenly, irregular footsteps began to approach.
At first, So-yeon turned her head, thinking it might be someone else who used the parking garage. Then she realized the person was not a neighbor, and her face turned pale in an instant.
The approaching figure's gait looked slow, but that was only because the light didn't reach them properly.
Soon, hair sticking up at odd angles and bloodshot eyes came into A-ri and So-yeon's view.
The moment So-yeon recognized the person, she somehow found the courage to grip A-ri's hand tightly and push A-ri behind herself.
“Huh?”
“Stay behind me for a moment.”
A-ri found something strange about the situation.
If an unidentified man suddenly appeared in a parking garage, wouldn't a woman in her twenties, celebrity or not, scream and run or collapse on the spot?
So-yeon didn't act that way. She didn't seem especially brave. More than that, she seemed to know who he was.
“You've come all the way here now?”
“How could I not?”
A-ri realized the two knew each other.
“I never called you...”
“What was that email? Did you get advice from some lawyer?”
“...”
“Are you really going to act like this? Do you think canceling today's commercial is all I can do?”
At that point, A-ri realized the identity of the man who had stormed into So-yeon's home in anger.
Kim Seok-min, the agency president she'd recently been clashing with.
“I told you before, didn't I? Don't be greedy beyond your means!”
“Whew... Was that person from before someone you sent? An employee? I didn't know them.”
“You know I have plenty of people under me.”
“Don't come any closer!”
“What are you talking about? It sounds like you can't hear me when I speak from this far away.”
The president gradually grew more threatening as he approached So-yeon, seemingly not caring at all about A-ri beside her.
A-ri couldn't understand what made that bastard so confident he could behave this violently when a high-end villa like this obviously had CCTV.
“Sir, should I call the police?”
“A-ri, go over there. This isn't something a kid should get involved in!”
“This son of a bitch won't listen to reason.”
“... What? What the-”
At A-ri's unusually sharp curse, both So-yeon and the president turned toward her.
“The Unremarkable Girl, activate.”
The next moment, the two lifted their heads as though nothing had happened and focused on each other again.
“President, if you don't leave immediately, I'll report you!”
“Sure! Report me. I'll bring a lawyer for breach of contract, so remember that!”
--- Bang!
“Aah!”
“And So-yeon, when did you start talking back so damn fiercely? You get a little famous and suddenly you think the whole world belongs to you?”
He had already come right up beside her and slammed his hand against the wall. So-yeon nearly collapsed without realizing it.
I can't let him intimidate me, So-yeon thought.
No matter how insane Kim Seok-min was, this wasn't some remote mountain. It was the middle of Seoul, so there was no way he could harm her.
Then, something neither of them could have imagined happened.
--- Vroooom! Crash!
The heavy SUV suddenly lurched forward and began racing toward them!
“Aah!”
“W-What the hell is that psycho doing?!”
The SUV stopped near them, and Seok-min swore as he approached it.
“Hey! Who the fuck are you? Get out right now!”
“Oh my, how scary.”
“What the- Huh? A-ri?”
“Sorry. Sis said she'd teach me how to drive today.”
“You, I told you to go over there earlier-”
--- Vroooom!
The next moment, the SUV seemed to reverse naturally, then charged at Seok-min without hesitation!
“Argh!”
Even as the SUV came rushing toward him, Seok-min thought:
She'll stop.
Of course she'll stop.
No matter how crazy that bitch A-ri is, she'll stop before it goes too far!
--- Crash!
The Porsche didn't stop.
Seok-min was struck by the bumper, thrown backward, and slammed into the parking garage wall.
“K-Keugh! You really are insane-!”
“Aah!”
“Why are you screaming?”
“Sir! I'm sorry.”
“W-What?”
“I can't tell the accelerator and brake apart very well.”
“W-What kind of crazy nonsense-”
“Is the brake on the right? That's right, isn't it?”
--- Vroooom!
“Aaargh!”
“Or isn't it?”
“P-Please calm down! Why are you doing this?”
“Is this a right turn? Watch out!”
“Guh! H-How do you think you'll deal with the consequences of something like this-”
“You're making me confused, sir.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?!”
“You talk too much. You talk so much I can't concentrate on driving. If you keep wagging that tongue of yours, my foot might step on the accelerator without me realizing it.”
“You... you crazy-”
“Accelerator! Accelerator! Vroooom!”
“...”
“Have you ever heard this saying?”
“...”
“Getting hit by a car and dying is actually a natural death. If you were someone in your twenties with quick reflexes, President, you could open your eyes wide, dodge the incoming car, and survive.”
“W-What kind of bullshit are you-”
“Open your mouth! Here comes a natural death!”
--- Vroooom!
At that point, Seok-min gave up and began to run.
“You crazy bitch!”
“Natural deaaath!”
“Aaargh!”
At last, Seok-min ran out of the parking garage and into the alley. Only then did the SUV stop.
* * *
- Kim A-ri
Once the confusion had settled, So-yeon approached me with a dazed expression.
Just earlier, she'd tried to hide her issue with the president from me. Perhaps something had changed in her heart, because the whole story came pouring out.
As I listened, it sounded familiar.
Before So-yeon became a star and found major success, the contract she'd signed with her agency had apparently been close to a slave contract.
Before she succeeded, the agency had held most of the power, so she had endured a contract like that. Now, it was a contract she could no longer accept.
When she suggested renegotiating it, the president became furious. They had fought several times and were still locked in a war of nerves.
Who was right or wrong in a dispute over a contract?
I didn't know.
So-yeon said the old contract was a slave contract and that they needed a fair contract now, but if I asked the president, there was a good chance I'd get a completely different answer.
The president coming to So-yeon's home today and threatening her was clearly his fault, but that was separate from the agency contract issue.
It didn't matter.
Surely I didn't need to resolve So-yeon's legal dispute.
If the Hotel intended to make me do that, wouldn't it have at least given me the setting of a genius lawyer from an elite law school?
The problem I needed to solve was the insane president showing up at So-yeon's home and making a scene, and I'd succeeded in getting past that.
So-yeon was still staring at me in a daze as I nodded to myself.
“A-ri...”
“Yes?”
“F-First, thank you! Thank you so much. But how could you do something like that? When did you even learn to drive? And where did you get the car keys?”
“It's okay.”
It really was okay. I had no intention of staying in your memories for long anyway.
What advantage did an outsider who entered through possession have over the people inside?
We didn't need to think about what came afterward.
Whether the police caught me and put me on trial soon didn't matter to me. I intended to finish everything before that happened.
“With this, the problem of that mysterious freak who started appearing two months ago is resolved!”
“What?”
“Let's hurry to your house, sis. We need to solve that ghost-story phenomenon that appeared in your home.”
Footnotes:
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