WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 352: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘□□□□’ (1)
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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 154
Current Location: Level 2, Room 205, Curse Room ‘□□□□’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
... Cold.
The chill seemed to seep into my bones, as if it would freeze my very soul.
What the hell was going on?
I woke up in the morning, had breakfast with my companions, then went up to the second floor.
And I realized this was Room 205, a Curse Room.
I had undergone Sealing again.
I somehow managed to open my eyes, hoping to at least check the room title in my Status Window, but it didn't even show that.
Come to think of it, it had been the same when I underwent Sealing in Room 201, hadn't it?
As that thought crossed my mind, my consciousness crumbled.
* * *
Dozens of people had gathered on a desolate plain strewn with gravel.
Soon, the murmurs of the believers spread across the barren field. Something ominous, something that should never have happened, appeared to have occurred.
“The flame has gone out. What in the world could this mean?”
“We pray to you! Please forgive us!”
“How could this happen while our great undertaking is underway?”
“O great flame... Agni...”
“If we have sinned, then tell us our sin-”
At that moment, the middle-aged man at the very front lightly clapped his hands.
Something mysterious, something beyond common sense, happened.
It was as if a hole had opened between the man's hands and swallowed every sound. The noise in all directions faded away.
If someone from the future had been here, they would have said it was like pressing a mute button on reality.
“Calm yourselves.”
The man's demeanor was so composed that the extinguished flame seemed like nothing worth worrying about.
That natural confidence spread through the crowd, and the believers regained their calm.
With the Cult Leader so steadfast, what could possibly be wrong?
He was the noblest man beneath heaven, the one who would free them all by cutting down the false king who dared call himself an emperor despite being merely human.
Yet Jo Won-hong, the Fire Cult Leader who had calmed the believers, was far from calm himself.
‘What in the world is going on?!’
What kind of place was this?
To those who knew nothing, it would look like a wasteland where not even a blade of grass could grow. In truth, this was the most mysterious land under heaven.
Was this not where the Prophet, the founder of the faith, received Agni's commandments?
And yet...
For seven hundred and eighty years, the sacred flame had burned proudly and without wavering through wind, rain, and storms. Its very existence was proof of Agni's greatness, evidence of a miracle.
It had gone out.
‘Of all times, this had to happen while we're conquering the Empire!’
At this moment, Jo Won-hong was neither the supreme leader of the Greatest Sect Under Heaven, one of the Three Absolute Masters of All Time, nor one of only two Absolute Masters walking the earth.
He was simply a man afraid that the faith he had believed in all his life, the lifelong dream he had pursued, might crumble.
“Let's return!”
His commanding voice rang across the gathering, and the believers who had been kneeling rose to their feet.
They forgot even the anxiety and doubt they had felt moments before, following their Cult Leader as if bewitched.
* * *
- Park Seung-yeop
“Your Majesty, Minister Lee Won-cheol of the Songmu Department thanks you for your ever-gracious mercy. I wish to report on the Fire Cult's treacherous advance from the south-”
My head had felt like it was about to explode for a while now.
“We have received reports that the border at Seongseo Fortress has fallen, and that the Fire Cult's Thirteen Commanders have begun appearing near Changcheon Pavilion! Also-”
I wanted to ask the old man speaking so seriously in front of me whether he really thought I understood this complicated report.
Then Eun-sol, sitting beside me in white robes like a painting, spoke.
“Report in greater detail on the enemy movements near the wall. What of the Big Dipper Grand General?”
“The Big Dipper Grand General-”
Thankfully, someone had been listening to and responding to the endless reports that had continued for hours.
Now that I thought about it, those old men seemed to only be going through the motions of reporting to me.
My head throbbed.
The setting of Room 205, this unidentified room whose name I still didn't know, was a premodern Eastern-style nation.
It was a hopeless empire on the verge of collapse, with rebels occupying half the country and anyone with sense already packing up their wealth to flee.
Yet it had a flashy name like the Light Empire.
And I was the boy emperor of that empire racing toward ruin.
Normally, an emperor received a posthumous title after death. Even though I was perfectly alive, the people were already calling me by one.
Thankfully, that title was none other than the Last Emperor.
* * *
“Good work~!”
Even the emperor of a dying empire had to eat.
At least that gave us a chance to rest.
“... Harmonious Gate Lord Lee Eun-sol, haven't you become a little too casual?”
When I first woke up and met her that morning, hadn't she said we had to address each other by our official titles even when we were alone in Room 205?
She said we had to do that so we wouldn't slip up in front of others.
“Seung-yeop. This country is basically finished, so let's just take it easy.”
“... Yes.”
--- Tap!
The emperor's close bodyguard, Iron-Soul Divine Spear Kim Sang-hyeon, appeared behind us and lightly struck the table.
“Harmonious Gate Lord, let's keep our agreement. It is true that the Empire's fortunes are waning, but we still have to protect this nation. The forms of address!”
“Let's do that. I couldn't help it earlier because it was so ridiculous...”
“Harmonious Gate Lord, as you know, my role as the emperor's guard prevents me from moving freely. Have you learned the other companions' roles?”
“Yes. Cha Jin-cheol is the Big Dipper Grand General mentioned in the report earlier. He's currently near the wall, and judging by the circumstances, it seems he's already clashed with the Fire Cult once.”
“To begin with a battle... He started in quite a difficult position. What about the others?”
“Elena is an envoy and missionary from the Western Empire. More precisely, she's the First Apostle of the Avestan Church, the state religion of the West. I met her earlier, and she should be able to attend tonight's meeting.”
“Hm... Seung-yeop, Eun-sol, and I belong to the Empire, but Elena belongs elsewhere. There must be some meaning to these role assignments. What about the others?”
“Grandfather and Song-i aren't in any records at all. It doesn't seem like they have official positions, so I think they were assigned roles like masters wandering the Martial World.”
“What about A-ri and Mi-ro?”
“I don't know about them either. They might also be masters of the Martial World. Martial World figures usually have information recorded about their aliases, but not their actual names, so it's difficult to identify them.”
“Probably because many people in the Martial World live lives where it would be no surprise if they died at any moment, leaving their identities unclear.”
“Anyway... This room, Room 205, is incredibly obvious, scenario and all. Should I call it an unusually straightforward room?”
The Doctor nodded.
“What we must do is stop a heretical group attacking an empire in crisis. The Adversary is Jo Won-hong, the Fire Cult Leader.”
“The Source of the Curse is probably some Ascension Ritual or whatever that the Fire Cult Leader plans to carry out after conquering the world. They aren't even hiding it. They've sent proclamations all over the world.”
“This isn't something we should take lightly. What does it mean when a scenario is so obvious and clear?”
“Even if we know the path, it will be difficult to overcome the challenge.”
“He will be strong. Jo Won-hong, and those Thirteen Commanders who serve him. They will be immensely strong. Revelation of Heavenly Secrets already warned us.”
Eun-sol and the Doctor fell silent for a moment.
I used the opportunity to organize the roles Eun-sol had learned in my head.
Park Seung-yeop: Emperor of the Light Empire. Everyone called him the Last Emperor.
Lee Eun-sol: The emperor's adviser and distant relative, the Harmonious Gate Lord.
Kim Sang-hyeon: The emperor's close bodyguard and disciple of an incredibly famous master. His alias was Iron-Soul Divine Spear.
Cha Jin-cheol: The Empire's Big Dipper Grand General. Guardian of the Wall.
Elena: The First Apostle of the Avestan Church and an envoy from the West.
Kim Mook-seong, Yoo Song-i, Kim Mi-ro, Kim A-ri: Still unknown.
As I thought through each person, I realized someone was missing.
“What about Ga-in?”
The two looked at me at the same time.
“Seung-yeop, you... No, Your Majesty hasn't remembered yet.”
“Ga-in has probably undergone Sealing.”
“What?”
Ga-in had undergone Sealing again, after Room 201? It was possible.
According to what A-ri, who had experienced the Hotel Party at the Hotel of the Deep Sea, told us, one person could undergo Sealing multiple times.
But how had they already figured out that Ga-in had undergone Sealing?
The hotel couldn't have displayed a notification telling them who had undergone Sealing.
Could one of the other four, Kim Mook-seong, Yoo Song-i, Mi-ro, or Kim A-ri, whose roles were unknown, not have undergone Sealing instead?
The Doctor gave a hollow laugh and explained.
Only then did I realize that Ga-in was ‘incredibly’ famous in this world.
* * *
It was already late. The pale moon floating in the night sky had come to rest upon a mountain peak, casting a soft glow over the world.
Two people walked along a mountain path faintly visible in the dim moonlight.
“Grandpa, I'm seriously exhausted... Isn't it too dangerous to walk through the mountains at this hour?”
“It is dangerous, but what choice do we have? They say the Empire could fall any day now.”
“Ugh...”
“I was planning to spend the night at an inn before leaving. If I hadn't heard songs right beside me saying the Last Emperor's end was near!”
“Last Emperor Park Seung-yeop. It sounds kind of cool. I've heard quite a few sympathetic things about Seung-yeop, though.”
“He's a boy emperor. The people aren't idiots, so they must know that a kid who ascended the throne only a year and a half ago isn't responsible for the fall of the nation.”
“Was it the previous emperor's fault?”
“Probably. Seems the bastard who ruined the country is already dead.”
“Hey! Watch your language!”
The girl in her late teens walking the night path frowned and lightly kicked the old man.
Of course, he was someone whose nose hair wouldn't so much as twitch even if she threw a full-force punch at him.
“My back felt stiff, but that loosened it up. Hit me again.”
“... I'm tired.”
“Want me to carry you?”
For an instant, Divine Bird Lady Yoo Song-i seriously considered climbing onto the old man's back.
The all-night trek through the mountains had drained quite a bit of her energy.
“No. I'm not a child.”
“What do you mean, no? You are a child.”
Instead of replying to Mook-seong, Song-i focused on why she had been given the alias Divine Bird Lady.
The presence perched on her shoulder, making its weight subtly known all this time!
“Pero! You-”
Before she could finish, Pero flew into the air.
“...”
“Ha! That little thing is sharp. Look how smart it is. It flew off before you even asked for a ride. It deserves to be called a Divine Bird.”
“... Seriously, that thing-”
“Stop.”
The next moment, Mook-seong sharply called out, stopping Song-i.
A moment later, the clatter of metal came from all directions, followed by torches flaring to life here and there in the darkness.
“Well, well! Are you some important people? It was too dark for us to recognize you.”
Song-i sighed.
The Empire was collapsing. Public order had fallen apart long ago.
With the world in such a state, anything could happen while traveling through the mountains at night.
So the appearance of five or six bandits wasn't surprising.
What was more surprising was that mere bandits had armor reinforced with decent iron plates and sharp spears.
“Huh? And who might this lovely young lady be? This mountain path is rough. How did you make it all the way up here?”
“...”
“You seem shy, but we aren't such bad people. We have no intention of treating you rudely, so just stop by for a moment-”
“Song-i.”
Mook-seong spoke calmly, as though he couldn't even see the bandit in front of him.
“Yes?”
“Do you know my alias?”
“... Haven't you bragged about it ten times already? What was it? Soul-Severing Old Man?”
“Do you know what kind of people usually have the words ‘soul-severing’ in their aliases in martial arts novels?”
“No.”
“It is usually given to killers, assassins, that sort of thing.”
“Really?”
“It means I'm the greatest under heaven at handling Hidden Weapons.”
“Hidden Weapons?”
At that moment, the man being ignored right in front of them scowled.
“We spoke nicely, so are you having trouble understanding the situation? What, Soul-Severing Old Man? Don't make me laugh-”
--- Bang!
The man couldn't finish speaking as a thunderous sound rang out.
The other bandits sensed the danger too late and tried to turn, but it was only a matter of who went first.
--- Bang! Bang!
Before even a minute had passed, only an old man and a young girl remained on the mountain once more.
“Idiots. Haven't you ever heard that you should be wary of old men and women in the Martial World?”
“Is that a saying too?”
“Of course.”
“Grandpa, but is this really a Hidden Weapon?”
“Of course it is, brat. If this isn't a Hidden Weapon, what is?”
“Don't Hidden Weapons usually mean daggers or throwing stars?”
“I guarantee that even those idiots who use that stuff would switch to this the moment they fired a gun once. This is the greatest Hidden Weapon of all time.”
“That is convincing.”
“Still, I'm jealous of that brat Ga-in...”
“What?”
Mook-seong muttered as though reciting an old poem.
“Across the vast world, how many masters are hidden amid mountains of blades and forests of swords? Yet beneath heaven, only three masters have earned immortal fame.”
“...”
“There is one who brought peace to the world with a single sword, and he is called Yi Ja-seong, the Sword of All Under Heaven. There is a Cult Leader who commands more people than any king, and he is called Jo Won-hong, the Fire Cult Leader.”
“...”
“The one who bears every secret of the world! The one who mocks life and death, calling the flesh itself a shackle! His name is Han Ga-in, the Phantom Demon.”
“...”
“Isn't that incredible? I wanted to get a setting like that too.”
“When Ga-in wakes up later, please say exactly that to his face.”
“Of course.”
Footnotes:
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