WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 358: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘□□□□’ (7)

──────

- Elena

"That's strange."

Grandpa asked as Song-i tilted her head in the swaying carriage.

"What's strange?"

"Pero hasn't come back for days."

"When has that thing ever told us where it was going?"

"Even when it leaves, it usually comes back within a day. When it stays away this long, it’s usually because..."

"Usually?"

"It seems to be helping another companion far away. Who could it be?"

"Hmm... The only person still alive who isn't here is Mi-ro. Maybe it's bringing Mi-ro to us."

"That could be it."

--- Click!

"First Apostle! Could you come outside for a moment?"

On the third day after leaving the imperial palace, the Knight Commander came to inform me.

"First Apostle, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the Avestan Church has sent a letter to the heretics. We now have an official pretext to intervene in the Light Empire's civil war."

"That's a relief. What's the bad news?"

"Yesterday, the Fire Cult sent out a pursuit force."

"That was expected."

"Jo Won-hong is among them."

"..."

Could the Fire Cult's pursuers catch us before we entered the Western Empire's territory?

Ordinary Fire Cult martial artists would have a hard time doing so.

After all, we were racing ahead without a moment's rest.

But what if it was Jo Won-hong?

He was someone whose flying through the sky with some strange technique would not be surprising.

I got my answer around evening.

* * *

As the sun set, my breath caught in my throat.

An overwhelming presence from the eastern sky swept across heaven and earth.

Not only those of us who had never trained in martial arts, but even the horses were too frightened to take another step.

Grandpa let out a long sigh, his expression dark.

"Ha! So this is the presence of a master I’d only read about in novels!"

Those with weaker nerves gradually began to dry heave.

And then -

Beneath the darkening sky, Jo Won-hong appeared, cloaked in darkness.

As if no one else mattered, he called for only one person.

"First Apostle. Let me see your face."

So the setting was that he and I knew each other. It wasn't strange.

Before the Cult split over disagreements about the Ascension Ritual's interpretation, he and I had belonged to the same religion.

The horses were too frightened to move anyway, so I stepped out of the carriage.

"It's been a long time."

The first time I met Jo Won-hong in person, he was striking even in appearance.

Honestly, he was incredibly handsome. He had a commanding build, and there was something extraordinary about the shine in his eyes.

"Has it been three years? You're still as beautiful as starlight!"

"..."

"What a pity. What could have happened to us, who were once one family?"

"Isn't it your fault?"

"My fault? Why would you think that?"

"You interpreted the doctrine of Ascension however you pleased -"

"Enough. Let's stop this confusing talk about doctrine. That's the sort of thing old men who spend their whole lives staring at scriptures should discuss. Be honest with me. Are you confident you understand the scriptures and doctrine better than I do?"

"..."

"Forget all that and speak to me as one person to another. Do you believe what I'm doing is something you must 'judge'?"

Judgment? There was something about that word...

"Four years ago, there was a great flood. More than three thousand talented and diligent people in Guangdong died."

I thought I understood what the Fire Cult Leader was doing.

"The year before last, frost fell in early summer and destroyed the wheat crop across the Hebei plains. Do you know what the imperial court did in the midst of such disasters?"

"I'm not sure."

"They were too busy fighting over who should become Crown Prince. In the process, Yi Ja-seong's daughter was even killed."

"..."

"Set aside the Fire Cult and the Ascension Ritual, and look with your own eyes. Do you see any greed in my resolve to overturn the empire? If I had started this for my own comfort, I swear upon heaven that I would not resist your judgment."

Fire Cult Leader Jo Won-hong knew about the blessing Justice.

That was why he was arguing that he wasn't an evil person, and that the emperor I was escorting as we fled should be punished by the Fire Cult.

Put another way, it also meant Jo Won-hong wasn't sure whether I could use Justice right now.

A number of thoughts crossed my mind.

It seemed that, in this scenario, the power of Justice was an authority bestowed upon me, the First Apostle, by the being worshipped by the Fire Cult. If so, it was only natural for the Cult Leader to know about my power, since we had originally belonged to the same religion.

Once I understood that, I realized why I had started with the background of the Avestan Church in the Western Empire, unlike the other companions.

I was meant to relay the Fire Cult's closely guarded information, especially the exact details of the Ascension Ritual, to my companions while also making the Cult Leader aware of Justice.

I needed to find out how much the Cult Leader knew about me.

For example, did he know the exact standard Justice used?

"Cult Leader. Don't you realize that talk of people speaking as equals and resolves to save all people is meaningless?"

"What do you mean?"

"Long ago, the One seated upon the heavenly throne granted me the power to punish sinners... A sinner is one who defies heaven's will."

"..."

"Do you not understand that interpreting doctrine however you please is itself a grave sin?"

I told Jo Won-hong that the suffering of the people and the imperial court's tyranny were none of my concern. The criterion for judgment was whether someone followed God's will.

"Interpreting it however I please? How can there be one correct interpretation of doctrine? My faith seeks to save the 180 million people of the empire without the slightest hesitation. You cannot judge me."

The moment I heard his answer, I was certain.

Jo Won-hong didn't know the exact standard of my power.

I was sorry to say it to the Prisoner of Room 205, who was supposedly in heaven, but I had no faith to speak of. There was no way Justice's standard was related to God's will.

The real standard was what I believed in my heart, which made Jo Won-hong's original argument about the imperial court's tyranny far more meaningful.

"This very answer is proof that you are a sinner! You presume to judge the will of the One in heaven, mistaking your own thoughts for God's will. Is that not arrogance?"

"Arrogance, you say. Then let me ask you this. As you said, we lowly creatures of earth cannot dare to discern the will of the great light, Asha. Then how do you know that will and declare with certainty that I am wrong?"

"..."

I was stuck. What was I supposed to say?

His argument was that neither he nor I knew God's will, so by what standard could I declare him wrong? I couldn't find an answer.

This exchange wasn't a meaningless contest of nonsense.

At least, it wasn't for the Cult Leader. He was a believer who truly believed there was a god in heaven.

Kim Mook-seong: Ask whether he's communicated with his god recently!

Th-that's it!

"Cult Leader, this is a question you can answer yourself!"

"What?"

"You were born with the destiny to spread glory throughout the world by carrying out Asha's will. So I ask you, have you recently received a revelation from the One who dwells in heaven?"

I remembered a fact I had forgotten.

After we overcame the schemes of the Demon God Adravita, the hotel had promised us something.

It would suppress the Prisoner's intervention in the next room!

The Prisoner of Room 205 was, judging by the circumstances, the Fire Cult's god. If that being's intervention had been suppressed, the Cult Leader must have felt something too.

What had he felt?

Had the revelations or prophetic dreams he received every day stopped?

Perhaps the blessing bestowed by his god had vanished.

A sacred object might have broken, or the Sacred Domain might have been dismantled.

...

Silence fell over the area.

Instead of answering, the Cult Leader remained silent for a long time.

Then, in an instant, the wild pressure that had weighed upon the area vanished.

The horses that had been gasping for breath straightened up again, and those who had been unable to stand properly finally began to recover.

"Whew..."

"..."

"Why hide anything? Not long ago, the sacred flame Asha bestowed upon the First Prophet went out."

"That means -"

"Perhaps you are right."

Was he really persuaded?

Was it because he was a religious man who sought God's will before weighing gains and losses?

"First Apostle, as you said, I may have been drunk on arrogance and twisted Asha's will. If that is truly so, it would only be right for judgment to fall upon me..."

Was this really going to be solved with wordplay like this?

"Therefore, I, Jo Won-hong, will no longer avoid it."

"What does that -"

"The judgment of the Crimson Flame Iron Fan!"

An uncanny object appeared in midair.

It was a fan made of iron.

Strange, colorful patterns were carved into its metal ribs, depicting the moment when the Fire Cult's prophet heard Asha's call in the wilderness.

"My Father in heaven, Asha, who is just and true, I ask you. Who among the people present has committed a grave sin? Cast the flames of judgment upon the one whose sin is greatest!"

The fan shone in five colors.

A sacred light that human power could never hope to imitate broke down the boundaries of the world.

For an instant, an incomprehensible vision seized my sight.

Flames.

Flames that could burn the entire world with a single spark.

Light so immense that even the smallest fragment of its power could dry up all the seas of the world and still have power to spare.

Under that overwhelming pressure, I couldn't move a single finger and realized I had lost.

Then the judgment of the Crimson Flame Iron Fan fell.

...

...

...

"What was that?"

"..."

At least one thing was certain.

I wasn't the target of the judgment.

"What in the world?"

The Cult Leader wasn't the target either, judging by the fact that he was speaking normally.

Something enormous had seemed certain to happen, but nothing happened to anyone.

As both of us stood confused, unable to understand the situation, the Crimson Flame Iron Fan, an object that was clearly this room's Inheritance, lost its light.

Silence fell.

Fire Cult Leader Jo Won-hong and First Apostle Elena both remained silent.

The boy emperor Park Seung-yeop behind us and the Iron Cross Knights also remained silent, unable to understand what had happened.

After a while, the Cult Leader spoke as though he had come to his own conclusion.

"First Apostle. As you know, no one can escape the Crimson Flame Iron Fan's judgment. Even the Phantom Demon, said to be the greatest demon of all time, only avoided death through an unknown power. Unlike us now, the Phantom Demon did not emerge completely unscathed."

"What does that mean?"

"It means there are no sinners here. That is what I believe."

"..."

"Asha has spoken. This Jo Won-hong isn't wrong, but neither is the First Apostle's choice."

"..."

"Suddenly, this thought came to me. The late emperor plunged the world into misery, but I too killed many people when I rose to punish him..."

"What are you saying?"

"Perhaps I was too hasty. Perhaps I am not yet qualified to punish the boy emperor. If this is Asha's will, I will withdraw for now."

"..."

"It won't take long. The Cult and I will join our strength to ease the suffering of the world. When we do, the Heavenly Mandate will come to me, and Asha will say that I am qualified to receive the throne from the Last Emperor."

With those words, the Fire Cult Leader departed.

A superhuman said to rival Yi Ja-seong in strength, an invincible being I couldn't guarantee I would defeat even if I activated Justice.

But...

Before he was an Absolute Master, he was a religious man.

Four days later, when we arrived in the Western Empire, the escape notification appeared.

* * *

- Mi-ro

Wh-what the hell was going on?

After the terrifying old man collapsed, I was the only one left alive. I actively used words imbued with power, accepted help from nearby ordinary people, and went into hiding.

Then, as I floundered without any idea what to do, a bird descended from the sky and approached me.

"Pero!"

Without saying a word, Pero transformed. Then again, it couldn't speak in the first place, could it? It put me on its back and sped off like mad.

Only when I was nearly unconscious did I vaguely understand what was happening.

Was Pero trying to take me to where my companions were?

...

On the third day after leaving the imperial palace, I began to see the tracks of carriages that had passed ahead of us.

That was when I saw the flames.

「You, who have committed a grave sin unprecedented throughout history. Greatest sinner between heaven and earth...」

"Huh? Pero, can you hear th-"

「In the name of Asha, who is just and true, I ask you. How could you drive the entire world to the brink of destruction for your own greed?」

"Me?"

「Your sins run too deep. Even if you burned in Avici Hell for 25,000 years, it would not be enough to wash them all away. Even if you lived three thousand lives as a beast, you could not fully pay for your sins.」

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

「Accept your judgment.」

An inescapable death enveloped me.

That was my last memory.

Footnotes:

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