WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 372: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’ (21)
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- Lee Eun-sol
Bringing the Heavenly Righteous Alliance into our camp had gone far better than expected.
Something rather absurd had happened along the way, with the Emperor becoming Yi Ja-seong's disciple, but the results were excellent.
To be specific:
First, Seung-yeop, who had wasted time because his position as Emperor kept him from going anywhere, began spending such packed days that rumors spread of him crying every day.
Second, whenever Yi Ja-seong had time, he stayed by the Emperor's side, naturally taking on a sort of guard role.
That meant none of our companions needed to be assigned solely to protecting the Emperor.
Finally, we could trust Yi Ja-seong, whom we had always found suspicious, a little more.
A few days after those changes, the Fire Cult's forces finally began gathering on the plains.
Grandfather stood beside me atop the ramparts, looking down at the plains.
“Looks like they're about ready to challenge us on the plains.”
“Looks that way. Well, we'll win.”
I wasn't too worried. We'd already won the great battle on the plains once.
We'd won even when we knew nothing. This time, we knew every tactic the enemy would use.
It would be stranger if we lost.
Grandfather grumbled anyway.
“Hey, aren't you making it sound too easy because you're up here watching? I have to roll around down there!”
“...”
“What kind of world is this? The young ones sit up top, flicking their fingers and giving orders, while old men like me have to wear ourselves out on the battlefield?”
“If you think it's unfair, become the Emperor's adviser. This isn't exactly an easy position either.”
“If only you weren't so good at talking back...”
“I'm more concerned about the Heavenly Tower afterward than the battle on the plains. They'll obviously build it again.”
“We'll destroy it again. It should be easier this time since Sang-hyeon has his laser. I told the ones heading to Mount Cheonjang not to use Sang-hyeon's laser carelessly...”
It looked like destroying the Heavenly Tower would go smoothly enough.
Everything we'd done during the second attempt was proceeding without much trouble. The problem was what came after that.
“By the way, how's the Emperor's training going?”
Grandfather burst out laughing as soon as I asked.
“Pfft! Hahaha!”
“Is it that funny?”
“The attendants are in an uproar. Apparently, that brat Seung-yeop is busy crying every day.”
Honestly, I smiled a little at that too.
“So, does he seem any stronger?”
Sang-hyeon approached from afar and answered.
“It hasn't even been a week. It's too soon for him to have made any progress.”
Thanks to his position as the Emperor's guard, Sang-hyeon could often observe Seung-yeop's training from nearby.
He was able to tell us more about it.
“I was curious, so I watched the training. It was surprisingly scientific. His physical training consists mainly of running and squats.”
“Squats?”
“Ah, they call it the horse stance here.”
Grandfather nodded.
“People's bodies are all the same. There are bound to be proper movements and exercises for training them.”
“The theory lectures were interesting as well. They seemed to mix philosophy with mysticism.”
A doctor, astronaut, and former special forces soldier.
To Sang-hyeon, a man who could be called a product of modern science, martial arts seemed to be an interesting discipline blending philosophy and mysticism.
“Actually, what's really interesting isn't the content of martial arts, but the teaching method.”
“The teaching method?”
“He makes Seung-yeop memorize everything, then rewrite it from the beginning if he gets even one character wrong. If he makes three mistakes, he has to run around the training ground.”
“... Yi Ja-seong is suddenly starting to feel like a hard-core Gangnam cram-school instructor.”
At that point, Grandfather muttered as if regretting something.
“Damn. Getting old really is miserable.”
“...”
No one here failed to understand that sudden lament about age.
When we first entered Room 205 and learned that martial arts, a learnable kind of superpower, existed, everyone had considered learning it.
Most of us had soon been forced to give up.
Once a person passed a certain age, beginning martial-arts training was nearly impossible.
“I heard children from martial families usually begin before the age of ten. At the latest, they have to start in their mid-teens.”
What Sang-hyeon said was similar to the information I'd obtained.
By that standard, even Seung-yeop was starting late. The rest of us didn't stand a chance.
“I heard something similar.”
Then Sang-hyeon gave a small laugh.
“Even if I could learn it, I'm not sure I would have.”
Unlike Grandfather, Sang-hyeon didn't seem especially disappointed.
Had he realized something while watching Seung-yeop train?
“It grows far more slowly than I expected.”
“It grows slowly?”
“I used my position as the Emperor's guard to ask Yi Ja-seong a few questions. The minimum training period needed just to imitate a martial artist is three years.”
“...”
“That is with at least eight hours of training every day. Do you think we'll often have time to train that single-mindedly in the Hotel?”
“That's true. Unless we get another room that gives us an absurd amount of time like Room 203.”
“Even Seung-yeop will find it difficult to make meaningful progress. At most, it'll have the effect of physical conditioning.”
“That's still better than doing nothing.”
“That is true, but it made me think. Martial arts are rather inefficient as a means of becoming stronger. Their rate of growth can't compare with an Inheritance's.”
“Inefficient?”
“The reason twenty-first-century soldiers don't train with traditional weapons isn't because there is any disadvantage to learning them. It's because firing a gun a few more times is far more efficient than spending that time on them.”
By then, I thought I understood what he meant.
“So you're saying it'd be better to improve our proficiency with Inheritances instead of spending time learning martial arts?”
“Exactly. How long do you think it took the Phantom Demon to seize another person's body? At least several hundred years, I imagine. Ga-in could do it from the first day he obtained the Grimoire.”
After saying that, the teacher left to inspect the soldiers' training again.
Grandfather and I, the two people left behind, exchanged slightly strange looks.
“... Sang-hyeon definitely won't regret not learning martial arts.”
“True.”
“He has the blessing of Diligence, and he can grow stronger through it. If he improves his proficiency with Final Flash, he should be able to achieve something with that as well.”
“Right.”
His next words carried a little heat.
“But I have no Inheritance, and my blessing has no room to grow.”
“...”
“I should look for my own way in this room.”
With that, Grandfather left as well.
Strength.
Seung-yeop had begun learning martial arts.
Sang-hyeon had such excellent means of strengthening himself that he had no reason to regret missing out on martial arts.
Grandfather said he had no such means, so he would have to find another way.
What about me?
I had an Inheritance, and Greedy Hand was a power with clear growth potential.
My circumstances were closer to Sang-hyeon's, who had other means, than Grandfather's, who lacked any way to grow stronger.
So the reason I was progressing slowly was a problem with my mindset.
If I pushed Greedy Hand to its limits, my companions would be thrown into grave danger.
That fear was holding back Greedy Hand's potential.
“Let's stop here.”
Even having thoughts like that was dangerous.
Greedy Hand was already active.
It hadn't worked only because we were in a Curse Room. If we'd been in the Hotel, it would have reacted to the longing I'd just felt.
I drank a cup of hot tea and pushed those tangled thoughts far away.
“I wonder if the ones at Mount Cheonjang are doing well...”
* * *
- Yoo Song-i
People could learn.
When they faced a crisis for the first time, they would panic and flail around. If the same thing happened twice, though, they tended to respond more rationally.
Just like us now.
We needed all kinds of supplies to climb the vast Mount Cheonjang, but we had no money. Last time, we'd had no choice but to become armed robbers in Henan Province.
I still felt sorry for those merchants when I thought about it.
Fortunately, we didn't need to do that this time.
Eun-sol solved it easily after understanding our situation.
“They sell silver plates in the HP Market, so I'll order two. Take some Hotel supplies too.”
If we had no money, we could bring valuable items instead.
Part of me wondered if taking Hotel supplies was a kind of theft...
No. It was fine.
The Hotel had done plenty of bad things to us, so we could take as many supplies as we wanted.
“Miss! Are you sure this is enough? If you go to the Geum Family, they'll pay you much more.”
The merchant before me kept apologizing.
Even if he gathered every possession he had, it wouldn't be enough to buy the golden candlestick from the Hotel that I'd offered.
Maybe it was because Grotesque thrust its beak forward threateningly.
Instead of trying to deceive me, the merchant honestly said that a wealthy family nearby could pay more.
“It's fine. In exchange for the lower price, make sure you obtain the items I requested.”
“I-I'll get you the best quality, as though my own child were going to use them.”
“That'll be enough.”
It wasn't like we could take the money we'd made here out of the Hotel. What did it matter whether we lost some money or not?
We just needed the things we needed right now.
And...
Room 205 had reset, so this man had forgotten everything, but my memory was perfectly intact.
I could vividly remember Mi-ro smashing his stall with a Phantom Demon punch.
“... Consider it an apology too.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Hurry up.”
“Y-Yes!”
When I looked around, Mi-ro had taken off her helmet and was busily tearing into a chicken skewer.
“You didn't steal that, did you?”
“Ngh. I athked withe a thmile...”
“Swallow before you talk. Swallow.”
“No. I smiled and asked for it, so they gave it to me.”
“...”
Had she used words carrying that special power without realizing it?
Or had the merchants willingly offered it after seeing the overwhelming White Dragon Divine Armor?
There was no way to know.
Either way, it was better than that damn Phantom Demon punch.
“Good job. Where's A-ri?”
“She said she'd take care of something and come back.”
“Taking care of something...”
About thirty minutes later, a loud creaking sound suddenly rang out.
The merchants looked around, wondering what it was, then soon returned to their work.
It was A-ri's signal.
Mi-ro and I headed to the agreed location.
It was a shabby alley on the outskirts of the castle, completely different from the splendid market we'd just seen.
A slum where people living hopeless lives would gladly stab someone for bread to eat that day.
Greedy eyes turned toward us from every direction, as though they'd been waiting.
Then...
Thud!
Grotesque struck the ground once, and every slum dweller vanished.
“Ah! What a shame.”
“... What exactly is a shame?”
Was she disappointed that she'd lost a chance to throw a Phantom Demon punch?
I'd only just sighed at the sight of this hopeless girl when A-ri appeared from the darkness.
She held a human head in her hand.
The Herbalist, one of the two masters guarding the Phantom Demon's Sealing.
A-ri had dealt with the man, who had been hiding his identity, as soon as we arrived at the castle.
“Did you find out anything?”
“Outside.”
“Huh?”
“Let's talk outside.”
It seemed she'd learned something significant.
* * *
After telling the market merchant to prepare the hiking supplies by evening, we went outside the castle.
A-ri stroked the Herbalist's head as though she were about to have a conversation with it.
Beside her, Mi-ro poked the dead man's head with her finger.
“... A-ri.”
“Yeah?”
“You're already beyond hope, but Mi-ro is still young. Try to preserve her innocence as she grows up.”
“True. Mi-ro, turn around for a moment.”
Mi-ro tilted her head and turned around. A-ri pulled out the Herbalist's eyeball, and...
“Eek!”
“Be quiet. Are you still on your first day at the Hotel, Song-i?”
“Hey! If you're going to do this, tell me to turn around too!”
“You don't need to grow up innocent. You're already beyond hope.”
After pulling out the eyeball, she stuck her finger into the socket and rummaged through the brain.
It seemed she had either applied Old Blood or used some strange technique she'd learned as a Management Bureau agent.
She hadn't had the chance to use such methods before, but this time, she'd ambushed him in advance and had the leeway to do so.
I understood why she was doing it.
I understood, but it was so disgusting that I felt like throwing up!
Perhaps Mi-ro had heard the horrible sounds behind her, because she began moving farther away.
“...”
“...”
“Did you find out something?”
“Wait a moment. I'm organizing it in my head.”
While A-ri thought, I went over our current problem again.
Our goal was Ga-in's Release from beneath Mount Cheonjang.
The problem was how we would get underground.
Last time, Mi-ro summoned Teacher, who cleared the way with a laser, but we couldn't use that method this time.
The Imperial Party needed to use Final Flash, so they'd asked us not to use it.
Was there another way?
Footnotes:
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