WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 360: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’ (9)

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[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 161

Current Location: Level 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 3]

- Han Ga-in

My companions began sharing the information they had gathered about the Phantom Demon in Room 205.

“They said he treated the world like his personal playground. That he toyed with human lives as if they were toys.”

“He was supposedly invincible. People group him with Yi Ja-seong and Jo Won-hong as one of the three greatest masters in all history, the three Absolute Masters, but the general consensus is that he was clearly stronger than the other two.”

“They say he’s lived for so long by changing bodies that even he doesn’t know how old he is. It’s unclear whether he’s even human. Many people considered him a demon or an evil spirit.”

The more I heard, the more terrifying it sounded, but I realized one thing.

“It seems like he has a great many powers I don’t.”

Unlike me, he seemed to possess tremendous physical strength, and even if his body died, his mind remained immortal.

He could also use bizarre techniques that couldn’t be explained by the Grimoire’s power alone.

It worried me to think that a being like that would awaken as we undid the Sealing.

The Doctor, who had been thinking the same thing, asked honestly.

“If we undo the Sealing, the real Phantom Demon’s mind will likely awaken as well... Ga-in, can you handle that?”

“I should ask the Owl.”

[Sage’s Advice: 3 -> 2]

‘Can I handle the Phantom Demon?’

[Recall your experience in Room 201. If your mind awakens, you can handle it.]

That was a fairly kind answer.

“Hmm...”

“What did it say?”

When I relayed the answer, my companions reacted with interest.

I recalled what had happened in Room 201.

At the time, both the chief researcher’s personality and mine had awakened at once, but I had complete control.

The chief researcher couldn’t control my body without my permission.

The others had experienced something similar.

Elena had been confused when the Second Daughter of the Sea God’s memories mixed with hers, but she soon found herself again.

A-ri hadn’t been swept away by the Captain’s memories and lost herself either.

Anyway, it seemed there wouldn’t be any major issues, which put me at ease.

Then A-ri frowned.

“‘If your mind awakens, you can handle it.’ What if Ga-in’s mind doesn’t awaken?”

That was strange.

“We undo the Sealing, and only the Phantom Demon wakes up while I don’t? Is that even possible?”

“Think about when you first met me in Room 203.”

A chill ran down my spine, but after thinking it over, I realized the situation was different.

“Back then, your body could move around freely while your mind was trapped. This time, my body itself is trapped too.”

“Hmm... Is that so?”

Naturally, we began discussing how we should proceed next time.

Eun-sol launched into an impassioned explanation from the start.

“You all understand why the first attempt failed, right? A-ri pointed it out, remember?”

The Doctor nodded.

“Because Miss A-ri and Miss Mi-ro came to the capital.”

“Yi Ja-seong went berserk because the Phantom Demon’s followers came to the capital. At this point, we can reach one conclusion.”

Grandpa showed that he understood.

“Hmm. Does that mean they were assigned different roles from the start? That there was no need for them to gather?”

“Exactly.”

With that, Eun-sol divided up everyone’s roles.

1. Imperial leadership and allies

Park Seung-yeop, Lee Eun-sol, Kim Sang-hyeon, Cha Jin-cheol, Elena

2. Wandering Martial World masters

Kim Mook-seong, Yoo Song-i

3. Followers of the Phantom Demon

A-ri, Mi-ro

“These are our respective roles. Group one needs to stop the Fire Cult as it advances.”

Mi-ro tilted her head.

“I’m, um... group three! Then next time, shouldn’t A-ri and I skip the capital and go wake Ga-in up right away?”

Eun-sol nodded, then suddenly wrote ‘Henan Province, Mount Cheonjang’ on the whiteboard.

“Mount Cheonjang?”

“This is where the Phantom Demon is sealed.”

No one asked Eun-sol how she had obtained such incredible information.

As the emperor’s guardian and the empire’s most powerful figure, she naturally had ways to learn anything she wanted.

Grandpa suddenly let out a hollow laugh.

“This situation really is absurd. How dumbfounded would the people of Room 205 be if they saw this? They sacrificed thousands of lives with every ounce of strength they had to seal an ancient archdemon!”

Seung-yeop continued where Grandpa left off.

“And the guardian of the pure and kind young emperor is personally telling the demon’s followers how to undo the Sealing! No wonder Yi Ja-seong went after you first-”

“Both of you, stop talking nonsense. A-ri and Mi-ro, focus on what I’m saying.”

After that, Eun-sol explained in detail how A-ri and Mi-ro could reach the Phantom Demon’s sealed area.

It seemed she had already researched it while inside Room 205.

As she finished relaying the information, A-ri asked a question.

“Are there any other dangers on Mount Cheonjang? The greatest archdemon of all time is sealed there. It can’t be completely unguarded.”

“Good point. We barely have any information on that. Ga-in?”

Hoping for a useful answer, I asked the Owl.

[Sage’s Advice: 2 -> 1]

‘What dangers are there in the Phantom Demon’s sealed area on Mount Cheonjang?’

[Two threatening masters. Beware of ambushes from the shadows.]

“It looks like there are two Martial World masters there, and it says to watch out for ambushes.”

“There really isn’t anywhere without Martial World masters...”

A-ri let out a light sigh.

Song-i quietly raised her hand.

“Group two, the wandering Martial World masters. What are Grandpa’s and my roles?”

I cautiously offered my opinion.

“I think the key is that you aren’t affiliated with anyone.”

“Huh?”

“From what I’ve heard, based on your starting locations, you can either go to the imperial capital or join A-ri and Mi-ro, right?”

“That’s right.”

“If you join A-ri and Mi-ro, you’ll be a huge help. The two of them are followers of the Phantom Demon and public enemies of the Martial World, so they won’t be able to move around easily.”

“Ah! That’s true.”

“On the other hand, if you join the empire, you aren’t part of the imperial family, so you can move without earning the resentment of the Heavenly Righteous Alliance or the Fire Cult.”

In short, they could join either side, but they had to make use of the advantage of being unaffiliated.

Grandpa listened closely before answering.

“Next time, let’s head for the capital again.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Yi Ja-seong... We need to bring him over to our side. Don’t you think so?”

Many of my companions nodded.

The atmosphere was quite different from when they had shown hostility toward the leader of the Heavenly Righteous Alliance earlier.

Setting aside the grudge of being stabbed and killed by Yi Ja-seong, it was clear that if we could use his strength, it would be an enormous help in the coming fight against the Fire Cult.

Besides, talking about grudges was ridiculous after the room had already reset.

Jin-cheol and the Doctor strongly agreed.

“Grandpa, you’re right. If Jo Won-hong’s strength is comparable to Yi Ja-seong’s, he’ll be hard to deal with.”

“I agree. I’d also like to consider the matter of matchups.”

Matchups?

“According to Iron-Soul Divine Spear’s memories, Yi Ja-seong had the advantage over Jo Won-hong in a one-on-one duel. But that only concerns those two. Jo Won-hong may be the more dangerous opponent for us.”

Thinking about it, that made sense. It was because of the special treasure Jo Won-hong possessed.

“The Crimson Flame Iron Fan!”

“The Crimson Flame Iron Fan’s judgment may be useless against a martial hero like Yi Ja-seong, but not against us. Ga-in, Miss A-ri, and Miss Mi-ro. At least three of us have a high chance of dying the moment we’re exposed to it.”

Elena nodded as well.

“The fact that he vaguely understands my blessing is also a major problem. If he faces me, he’ll find some pretext to get away with it. That would make it difficult to use Justice.”

Eun-sol answered her own question.

“Then just use Ominous Imagination. Ah, I see. Then Elena would be in danger this time?”

“If I summoned a monster or demon, I would become a Judgment Target of the Crimson Flame Iron Fan as well.”

Listening to this, I realized the Crimson Flame Iron Fan itself seemed to counter quite a few of us.

... Was it another Inheritance meant for killing teammates?

A-ri summed it up.

“Ga-in is Sealed, Mi-ro and I would die the moment we even got close, and Elena would have trouble responding too. That means Sang-hyeon and Jin-cheol would practically have to stop him by themselves... This won’t work.”

Then Mi-ro muttered quietly.

“If it comes to that.”

“If it comes to that?”

“In the worst-case scenario, one person will have to sacrifice themselves.”

“...”

“You said the light vanished after the Crimson Flame Iron Fan was used once. It probably isn’t single-use, but it must need time to recharge, right?”

“That’s true. If it comes to that, either Mi-ro or I would have to get hit by the Crimson Flame Iron Fan and die, then Elena could respond with Ominous Imagination?”

At that point, Grandpa struck the table and brought us back to the subject.

“Let’s return to what we were talking about. As you can tell from all this, Jo Won-hong is an extremely troublesome bastard. We need to bring Yi Ja-seong over to our side. So, Ga-in.”

“Yes?”

“Ask the Owl. Ask, ‘Is there a hint for resolving Yi Ja-seong’s Heart Demon?’”

“... What if he doesn’t have a Heart Demon? Then the answer will just be that there isn’t one.”

“You brat, just trust me and ask.”

Grandpa looked far more confident than usual, so I decided to trust him.

[Sage’s Advice: 1 -> 0]

‘How can we resolve Yi Ja-seong’s Heart Demon?’

[Consider what caused the Heart Demon to arise.]

“It says to consider what caused the Heart Demon to arise. Huh, so he really did have a Heart Demon.”

“The cause of his Heart Demon...”

A little later, Grandpa and the Doctor began having a complicated discussion.

“Sang-hyeon, ahem. Doctor. I’ve been thinking about why that bastard Yi Ja-seong went mad, and the Phantom Demon must be the cause, right?”

“I don’t know much about the concept of a Heart Demon, so let’s approach it from the perspective of mental illness.”

“Mental illness.”

“If Yi Ja-seong suffered from an inferiority complex toward the Phantom Demon for decades, that would be enough reason for his mind to become warped. The imperial family probably played a part too.”

“The imperial family? I hadn’t considered that.”

“This is only speculation from here on, but-”

While the two of them discussed Yi Ja-seong, Eun-sol organized how we would proceed next time.

“Group one, the imperial faction should try to stop the Fire Cult as we did during the first attempt. It seems Grandpa and Sang-hyeon are planning to persuade Yi Ja-seong. Things will become easier if we can bring in the Heavenly Righteous Alliance.”

“Group three, Mi-ro and I will go to Mount Cheonjang and wake Ga-in up?”

“That’s right. Group two, Grandpa and Song-i should help us during the second attempt.”

The meeting was slowly coming to an end.

Then I remembered something and spoke up.

“A-ri.”

“Yeah?”

“Take this with you next time.”

The Hourglass emerged from within my clothes, and A-ri immediately frowned.

“...”

“When I started with it, it became as good as nonexistent. But the Owl told me to bring the Hourglass into the Curse Room.”

“... All right.”

As I handed the Hourglass, which was useless while I had it, to A-ri, Seung-yeop reacted too.

“Who should take the Protective Suit? When I started with it, it just sat in the imperial treasure vault until the end.”

In this scenario, Seung-yeop’s position was similar to the king in chess.

He had the most important role, because the scenario failed the moment he fell. Yet paradoxically, that made it hard for him to take action himself. He was the emperor of the Light Empire.

So the Protective Suit should go to someone who would be exposed to danger.

Eun-sol answered.

“Mi-ro should take it. There are supposedly two obstacles on the way to Mount Cheonjang, the Phantom Demon’s sealed area. And it said to beware of ambushes, right? Mi-ro should wear the Protective Suit if she doesn’t want to die in her sleep in a cave.”

“Yes. But... what would the people inside the room think if I entered wearing something like a spacesuit?”

“...”

That was how the meeting came to an end.

Footnotes:

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