Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 354

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 353: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘□□□□’ (2)

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- Park Seung-yeop

Toward evening, Elena entered the imperial palace.

She wore a pure white nun's habit embroidered with blue patterns, and I couldn't help admiring how beautiful she looked. The surrounding officials, however, were far from pleased.

“A follower of a heretical cult dares set foot in the imperial palace!”

One of the officials finally lost patience and burst out in anger.

As if she'd been waiting for this, Elena asked me to dismiss the officials.

* * *

“This is quite an interesting experience. They were looking at me as though I were a traitor guilty of high treason.”

Eun-sol answered Elena, who spoke with a bright smile.

“Be careful. A lot of people will see you as an enemy. And watch your tone!”

“Yes.”

The Light Empire stood on the brink of collapse under the Fire Cult's offensive.

In a situation like this, it would have been normal for them to cling to an envoy from the west and beg for help. Why, then, were so many officials treating Elena like an enemy?

It was because of the relationship between the Fire Cult and the Avestan Church, the organization Elena belonged to in this setting.

Eun-sol and Elena began explaining the two religious orders.

“Fire Cult Leader Jo Won-hong has a certain description attached to his name. A cult leader who commands more followers than any king. What do you think that means?”

“It means the Fire Cult's influence isn't limited to the Empire.”

“According to the records, the Fire Cult holds tremendous power not only in the Light Empire but throughout the western world as well.”

“That’s right.”

“This is where it gets interesting. The Avestan Church Elena belongs to was originally part of the Fire Cult too.”

“To explain further, those names are all labels the people of the Light Empire made up on their own. Avesta is the name of a scripture, and fire is not an object of worship but a symbol of God.”

“Right. To compare it to another religion, it's like people observing Christianity as it spreads. Some might call its followers the Bible Church, while others might call them the Cross Church.”

When I first heard this, I had a question.

If they were both part of the Fire Cult anyway, why was only Elena's side separately called the Avestan Church?

There had to be a reason to distinguish them.

Elena gave us the answer.

“Eight years ago, the cult underwent a great schism. The reason was a difference in interpretation over the consequences of the Ascension Ritual Jo Won-hong is currently carrying out.”

The Ascension Ritual.

From the circumstances, I suspected this was Room 205's Curse.

“What kind of ritual is it?”

“Your Majesty, you are no longer a teenage boy.”

The Doctor immediately corrected me for using polite speech.

“Ahem. First Apostle, tell me what you know of the Ascension Ritual.”

“Your Majesty, if we fully understood the result of the ritual, the Cult would not have split apart. At the very least, Jo Won-hong believes the Ascension Ritual will lead every believer to a land without pain or sorrow, a paradise flowing with milk and honey. Conquering the Empire is only part of the process toward ascension.”

That meant the Avestan Church saw things differently.

“And what do you believe?”

“We believe the ritual itself is a deception by an Evil God, and that Fire Cult Leader Jo Won-hong has fallen.”

“An Evil God...”

That settled the matter of the Fire Cult, the Avestan Church, and the Ascension Ritual.

Then the conversation turned to the Absolute Masters.

“From what I can see, there are three key figures in this room. Fire Cult Leader Jo Won-hong, Sword of All Under Heaven Yi Ja-seong, and Phantom Demon Han Ga-in. Together, they are called the Three Absolute Masters of All Time, or simply the Absolute Masters.”

Fire Cult Leader Jo Won-hong.

He was the leader of the Fire Cult, the strongest faction under heaven, and one of the three strongest superhumans in human history.

The Empire estimated his age at between 210 and 230. That alone made it hard to consider him human.

Among the three Absolute Masters, he was regarded as the most versatile.

He was one chosen by God, one of the greatest sorcerers under heaven, and a powerful martial artist.

Sword of All Under Heaven Yi Ja-seong.

Among martial factions, he led the Heavenly Righteous Alliance, the largest force in the Martial World.

He was currently seventy-seven years old, making him the youngest of the Absolute Masters.

In terms of ability, he was a pure martial artist and supposedly had no interest in sorcery at all.

According to the setting, he was also the master of Iron-Soul Divine Spear Kim Sang-hyeon, the Doctor's identity.

At that, the Doctor joined in.

“Based on the memories that have surfaced, the claim that Yi Ja-seong has no interest in sorcery means he has no intention of using it himself.”

Eun-sol replied.

“So he has mastered the methods to deal with it?”

“Exactly. Though this is more the judgment of Iron-Soul Divine Spear than that of Kim Sang-hyeon...”

“That makes it even more convincing.”

“They say that in a pure one-on-one duel, he is a step above Jo Won-hong.”

“Wow! Wait, Yi Ja-seong is much younger, has never learned sorcery, and isn't even an Apostle, right? Yet he's stronger than Jo Won-hong?”

“As I said, this is a disciple's assessment of his master, so its objectivity cannot be guaranteed.”

“Even so, that's impressive. What kind of person is he? Then again, living longer doesn't automatically make someone better at everything...”

At that moment, Elena waved around a half-rotted sheet of paper about the Phantom Demon and muttered.

“Even so, both of them are closer to second place.”

“...”

Phantom Demon Han Ga-in.

If people had to name the most mysterious of the Three Absolute Masters of All Time, they would all choose the Phantom Demon.

Jo Won-hong and Yi Ja-seong had been born human and entered the ranks of half-immortals. The Phantom Demon, on the other hand, was a being whose very birth as a human was questionable.

He had survived for at least several centuries, perhaps over a thousand years, by changing bodies. His age was meaningless, and his body was no more than a doll to him.

Could such a being understand human suffering?

According to what had been passed down, he truly regarded the world as a playground.

He controlled the kings of two countries at once and started wars for no reason. He manipulated different families from the shadows and caused bloodshed as though it were a hobby.

Even after turning through stack after stack of papers, the Phantom Demon's evil deeds never seemed to end.

Eun-sol spoke up.

“Actually, there was a bigger problem than all those atrocities. The Phantom Demon was immortal.”

That was the biggest issue.

The Phantom Demon was immortal in the truest sense, a power neither Jo Won-hong nor Yi Ja-seong could possess.

No matter how strong someone was, they were human if destroying their body could kill them.

Yi Ja-seong had begun coughing more as he aged and was sometimes afflicted by illness.

Even Jo Won-hong, who had lived for over two hundred years, had records of fleeing without hesitation whenever it seemed his head might be cut off.

They had surpassed the limits of lifespan, but the limitations of those bound to flesh still remained.

The Phantom Demon had surpassed even those limits, so the other two Absolute Masters could not help fearing him.

“So thirty years ago, the two Absolute Masters joined forces. The Heavenly Righteous Alliance and the Fire Cult combined their power to subjugate the Phantom Demon.”

Elena nodded.

“They say it was an incredibly brutal process. They surrounded the entire area where the Phantom Demon's presence had been confirmed with a wall of people, then killed every person inside, from children to the elderly, without exception.”

Surprisingly, even after doing something so horrific, they could not kill the Phantom Demon. In the end, they sealed away forever the young man's body he had inhabited last.

This seemed to be the setting behind Ga-in's Sealing, but after examining the process, we had some doubts.

“Doesn't something seem strange? The Ga-in we know isn't nearly that hard to kill.”

Elena answered Eun-sol's question.

“Possession itself has a slight delay, and above all, if the body he possesses dies, he dies too.”

“By the abilities we know Ga-in has, the subjugation force won the moment they secured the Phantom Demon's body. There would have been no need to seal it. If they killed that body, Ga-in would vanish too.”

After a brief silence, the Doctor muttered.

“This is only a hypothesis, but...”

“Go on.”

“The chief researcher in Room 201 could use the Irregular Polyhedron. The Sea God's second daughter in Room 202 could use the Flute of Rest.”

“The Captain in Room 203 could use Final Flash.”

“From the circumstances, the true Phantom Demon is a being that can survive even if his body is completely destroyed. Ga-in cannot do that.”

“Could the Phantom Demon possess some special treasure?”

“That’s it. There must be an item that allows him to achieve true immortality, surpassing even the limits of the Possession we know and the Grimoire.”

“That must be one of this room's Inheritances.”

Elena spoke carefully.

“I'm worried about something slightly different.”

“First Apostle, speak.”

“When Sealing is released, it doesn't only awaken the person who was sealed. It awakens the original person too. The chief researcher awakened in Room 201, and in Room 202, I was occasionally swept up by the memories held by the Sea God's second daughter.”

“...”

If Ga-in woke up, the Phantom Demon would wake up too.

“Releasing Sealing isn't necessarily required to clear the room. We can solve this without waking Ga-in. Also...”

Eun-sol continued with an odd expression.

“I think Ga-in may not be that far beneath him in power either. It might turn into a surprisingly good fight.”

“...”

Then the Doctor lightly tapped the table and changed the subject.

“Let us return to the Fire Cult. Our immediate enemy is not the Phantom Demon, who cannot even awaken wherever he is, but the Fire Cult.”

“That's true.”

“You all likely agree, but Room 205's scenario is simple and clear. The Source of the Curse is undoubtedly the Ascension Ritual, and stopping it will resolve everything. I can also guess the escape condition. We simply need to delay the Ascension Ritual in a meaningful way.”

“In the end, we'll have to fight the Fire Cult and win. Revelation of Heavenly Secrets also told us we needed pure strength instead of hoping for some pointless stroke of luck.”

“There is one major problem with facing the Fire Cult.”

Eun-sol replied.

“Those sons of bitches in the Heavenly Righteous Alliance...”

“Harmonious Gate Lord...”

“Those kind friends in the Heavenly Righteous Alliance won't cooperate even though the country is about to fall.”

“Whew... Can't we manage with our own strength? The Fire Cult may be powerful, but most of its believers are ordinary people.”

Eun-sol gave a bitter smile.

“I checked the numbers earlier. Under Jo Won-hong, an Absolute Master, are the Thirteen Commanders, who are Peak Masters. Beneath them, there are over three thousand martial artists said to be among the finest in the Martial World.”

“...”

“It’s hard to judge Jo Won-hong and the Thirteen Commanders before fighting them, but the sheer numbers are impossible to deal with. Besides, the enemy has their own justification, so I don't think Elena can use Justice freely either.”

“Honestly, that is true.”

“Why do you think the Heavenly Righteous Alliance exists in the first place? It feels like they were included so we could recruit them somehow. Sang-hyeon, you're Yi Ja-seong's disciple. Do you know why they're sitting back while the country is about to collapse?”

“Too many memories are surfacing.”

“For example?”

“Yi Ja-seong once married his daughter to the emperor.”

“Oh?”

“One day, that daughter was suddenly found dead.”

“...”

“Two of the Heavenly Righteous Alliance Leader's disciples were purged by the imperial family.”

“...”

“There is more besides. The Empire has spent many years keeping the Heavenly Righteous Alliance in check.”

At this point, as the late emperor's son and a leading candidate to become the Empire's last emperor, I couldn't help being impressed.

With the Phantom Demon defeated, there were exactly two Absolute Masters under heaven.

One was rushing in to grind the Empire into dust and swallow it whole, while the other had developed a hatred of the Empire.