WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 374: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’ (23)
──────
- Lee Eun-sol
Everything had been proceeding without any major problems.
Yi Ja-seong accepted the role of Grand Preceptor, the emperor’s teacher, and the Heavenly Righteous Alliance naturally joined the imperial side in the war.
Thanks to that, we were able to win an overwhelming victory in the great battle against the Fire Cult on the plains.
In the end, the Fire Cult was driven into a corner and began building the Heavenly Tower to summon Kardamos. All we had to do was destroy it.
There had been no problems up to that point, and things had gone far more smoothly than in the previous cycle.
Last time, we had to grit our teeth, enter the tower empty-handed, and use Jin-cheol’s Star. This time, Sang-hyeon finished it with a single click from afar.
--- Kwarrrr!
The Final Flash shot out with an earth-shaking roar, and the Heavenly Tower collapsed in less than a second.
“We did it!”
“Ugh! W-We did.”
Perhaps from the backlash of releasing such overwhelming energy, Sang-hyeon swayed for a moment.
Just as Jin-cheol hurriedly moved to support him, a sharp sword pointed at Sang-hyeon’s throat.
That was when the first problem arose.
It was an unexpected variable we had not encountered in the previous cycle.
“Ah? Ahh? L-Leader?”
“...”
Yi Ja-seong was so furious that his eyes had turned bloodshot.
“Why on earth-”
“Silence!”
At that critical moment, Sang-hyeon spoke as calmly as possible.
“Master-”
“What? Master? You dare spout whatever nonsense comes out of that mouth? Are you truly my disciple, Sang-hyeon?”
“...”
“Our long relationship compels me to hear you out once. What kind of trick was that? Do not speak to me of some newly acquired martial art or enlightenment!”
To Yi Ja-seong, the Final Flash was not martial arts.
“The imperial family has concealed this through the ages-”
“Do not lie to me! That was no secret power of the imperial family. I can say with certainty that I have never even heard rumors of a technique with such power beneath the heavens!”
To Yi Ja-seong, the Final Flash was not even a mystical technique.
It was something that was neither martial arts nor a mystical technique.
A power that transcended not only the righteous path, but even the unorthodox path.
In other words, it was not human power.
“I have seen comparable power only once. Thirty years ago, when the Fire Cult Leader used the Crimson Flame Iron Fan to judge the Phantom Demon! The pressure that fan gave off was like this!”
“...”
“Sang-hyeon. I suspected that you had left the martial path behind when you joined hands with the imperial family. I suspected you had also learned wicked arts. But!”
“Leader of the Heavenly Righteous Alliance...”
“What is this? This is not the power of a human. It is the power of a god. What god have you begun worshipping?”
Yi Ja-seong concluded that the Final Flash was the power of some unknown evil god.
What was I supposed to say in this situation?
Tell him the truth?
That it was not the power of an evil god, but a superweapon created by humanity in the distant future?
It was hard to make excuses.
After all, Yi Ja-seong’s conclusion was half right.
The Final Flash was an Inheritance bestowed by the Hotel, with power on the same level as the Crimson Flame Iron Fan he had mentioned.
It was a miracle itself, far beyond the limits of mortals.
As everyone stood there in confusion, a new figure appeared in a sharp gust of wind.
“Then step aside, Yi Ja-seong! I will tear these insects apart piece by piece and offer their flesh to the halls of Asha!”
It was Jo Won-hong.
He was an Absolute Master.
He was also filled with hatred, eager to butcher us alive at any moment.
Yi Ja-seong lowered his sword and stepped back.
The worst situation we had desperately wanted to avoid had come to pass. We would have to fight Jo Won-hong without Yi Ja-seong’s help.
* * *
- Kim Sang-hyeon
The moment the fight began, Eun-sol and Jo Won-hong shouted the same thing at once.
“Elena, return to the imperial palace!”
“First Apostle, I will spare you out of respect for our old ties. Return!”
If our opponent was the Fire Cult Leader, it would not be easy for Elena to use Justice.
Ominous Imagination took a long time to prepare and could not distinguish friend from foe. Because of that, it was ill-suited for a chaotic battle where allies and enemies were mixed together.
Eun-sol’s judgment was reasonable. Rather than having Elena die pointlessly here, it would be better for her to return to the imperial palace, take Seung-yeop, and attempt to escape by defecting.
The Fire Cult Leader could not be certain Yi Ja-seong would stay out of this fight forever either, so it was better to reduce the number of enemies if possible.
It was a strange situation. Their reasons were entirely different, but their goal of sending Elena away was the same.
Thanks to that, Elena began running toward the imperial palace without anyone stopping her.
Destructive Crimson Flame shone from Jo Won-hong’s hands.
“Agni’s wrath descends upon me.... Heavenly punishment shall befall the sinner!”
The cult leader crossed the distance in a single breath, his twin palms flying toward my upper body.
I immediately bent backward.
“Urgh!”
I had clearly avoided the cult leader’s hands, but the spiraling Crimson Flame around his arms instantly left bright red burns across my chest.
The sudden pain broke my stance, and just as I was about to take another palm strike-
“Hyaa!”
The cult leader shouted and flipped backward several times.
Even Jo Won-hong did not dare ignore Cha Jin-cheol’s Guandao sweeping in from behind.
In the instant our paths crossed, Jin-cheol asked with his eyes if I was all right.
Of course, I could have endured this level of injury even before entering the Hotel.
The cult leader once again released waves of fiery force in every direction, keeping Jin-cheol and me in check.
I stepped from side to side to escape the path of the force, then struck, sending my spear blade flying through the air.
Across from me, Jin-cheol also swung his Guandao in a wide horizontal sweep, closing in on the cult leader in a single breath.
Once three superhumans clashed, the entire area began to burn and explode in an instant.
After several exchanges like that, the cult leader gave a cold laugh.
“Impressive! One of you is the Empire’s greatest general, and the other is Yi Ja-seong’s disciple. You live up to your reputations.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Even so, know that today will be the day of your funerals!”
This time, the cult leader spun around, creating a vortex of flames.
The violent heat pouring out in all directions forced us back. When I hurriedly looked inside the vortex, Jo Won-hong began making complicated motions with both hands.
He was obviously preparing a technique with tyrannical power!
There was no way I could stop him, but it was different for Jin-cheol.
--- Raaah!
As the Otherworldly Star, radiating an ominous wave, appeared in the present world, Jin-cheol made a decision bold enough to make my eyes widen.
Holding a Star Fragment in his left hand, he thrust that hand into the vortex of flames Jo Won-hong had created!
It was absurd even with the blessing of Courage. In an instant, the skin on his left hand burned away, exposing the muscle and bone beneath.
Naturally, even Jin-cheol could not endure it and screamed.
“Argh! Fuuuuuck!”
But great risks brought great rewards.
Jin-cheol’s choice inflicted meaningful damage on Jo Won-hong.
The Otherworldly Star Fragment that entered the vortex released waves that twisted all things, severing the flow of the intricate technique Jo Won-hong had been preparing.
“You madman!”
Jin-cheol’s gamble must have been remarkably effective. Blood streamed from Jo Won-hong’s mouth from the backlash of his suddenly shattered technique.
He also lost his concentration for a moment and staggered, and the vortex of flames protecting him collapsed.
I could not let that opportunity pass. I rushed in at once, spear in hand.
“Hyaa!”
Jo Won-hong, who had evaded every attack from Jin-cheol and me with mysterious movements until then, could not even properly block my spear, let alone dodge it.
The sharp spear blade pierced straight through his shoulder.
For an ordinary human, that one attack would have been as good as death.
At that point, I could be certain.
In close combat like this, Jo Won-hong was one step below Yi Ja-seong.
Not just in martial arts. Even when martial arts and mystical techniques were taken together, he was inferior to Yi Ja-seong.
I knew for certain because I had fought them both.
Of course, Jo Won-hong was only inferior to Yi Ja-seong. He was still about a million light-years away from being ordinary.
“Vohu Manah! Deliver the judgment of an iron fist upon those who pile up evil deeds!”
The bloodied cult leader looked to the sky and recited a murderous prayer. A pure white fist immediately appeared in the sky and flew toward Jin-cheol and me!
Jin-cheol had still not recovered from his severe injury earlier.
That was only natural. He had done something insane, shoving his hand into a vortex of flames while holding an Otherworldly Star Fragment that was harmful even to himself.
I hurried over, grabbed Jin-cheol as he curled up, and rolled across the ground.
--- Crunch!
Had I been even one second later, Jin-cheol and I would both have been turned into bloody pulp.
Jin-cheol, finally grasping the situation, gritted his teeth, got up, and started rolling across the ground as well.
--- Boom! Boom!
Two more explosions followed.
Only after three punches in total did the pure white fist disappear as if it had evaporated.
Stunned by the absurdity of it, Jin-cheol snapped.
“What, he says one prayer and a fist pops out to crush people? Is life this unfair if you don’t have a god you believe in?”
What had the cult leader been doing while Jin-cheol and I rolled across the ground?
The moment we straightened ourselves and looked toward Jo Won-hong, we both cursed at once.
“That bastard Jo Won-hong!”
“You son of a bitch!”
I had to admit that my earlier assessment of Jo Won-hong, that he was one step below Yi Ja-seong, had been premature.
As Jo Won-hong finished an ominous incantation, a creature resembling a stingray larger than a car appeared. The cult leader mounted its back and-
Flew into the sky!
* * *
In some ways, Jo Won-hong was far more terrifying than Yi Ja-seong.
At least Yi Ja-seong could not ride a sword through the sky and use immortal arts like the immortals in the martial arts novels Agent Mook-seong enjoyed reading!
The cult leader even took out the Crimson Flame Iron Fan and began hurling fireballs from the sky.
So I rolled.
I just kept rolling and rolling.
Fireballs rained down from the sky at speeds I could barely see. All I could do was run around as if I were playing a shooting game.
Jin-cheol was so dumbfounded that I could hear him shouting in irritation from all the way over there.
“You bastard! What kind of martial arts is this?”
Jo Won-hong calmly answered as he dropped fireballs from the sky.
“Of course it is not martial arts, but it is amusing to hear that from you two rather than Yi Ja-seong. Is the rock the general summoned martial arts? Or is the beam that disciple fired martial arts?”
He had a point, so I could only let out a hollow laugh.
As I continued dodging, I looked behind me to see what Yi Ja-seong was doing. He appeared to be speaking with Eun-sol.
I could faintly hear them talking about the Emperor. The atmosphere was not good, but at least it seemed Eun-sol would not die from a stray fireball, which eased my mind.
“Hyung! There’s no answer to this!”
I know.
I had already used the Final Flash to destroy the tower, so I had no way to snipe that bastard.
Naturally, I had no way to fly either.
Not making those damn Wing Boots until now was going to haunt me forever!
Just as irritation rose into my bones, the fireballs finally stopped falling.
But the relaxed expression on Jo Won-hong’s face made it clear this was only a brief gap to recover his strength.
I had no idea what to do, and my mind was beginning to go blank.
Then Jin-cheol suddenly picked me up!
“Urgh! W-What? Jin-cheol, what are you suddenly-”
Jin-cheol did not answer.
When I turned to look into his eyes, I realized he was not refusing to answer. He could not answer.
Jin-cheol was moving in a different flow of time from me.
He had used Instant!
Once I realized that, I understood what he intended to do.
“No, no, no! Jin-cheol! Jin-cheol! That’s too much of a gamble. I request that you reconsider-”
Jin-cheol arched his back.
The boundless monstrous strength granted by the blessing of Courage writhed through his entire body.
The infinite focus created by Instant also made an absurdly precise movement possible.
And so-
Jin-cheol grabbed me and threw me precisely at the flying Jo Won-hong.
“Hyuuung! I believe in youuu!”
“Believe in what, you crazy bastard?!”
Even as I cursed aloud, I realized I did not hate this moment.
Because of the extreme tension and focus sharpened like a needle, the world slowed as though I were watching a video playing at half speed.
As I flew through the air, I looked down at the people on the ground.
Eun-sol noticed what was happening too late and brought both hands to her mouth.
Yi Ja-seong, who had been watching the situation, also widened his eyes. I learned that even he could make that expression.
And then there was Jo Won-hong, unquestionably our adversary.
Perhaps he had never imagined a human cannonball flying toward him, because he hung there slack-jawed with a dazed expression.
The result of Jin-cheol’s sudden action, which no one had expected, not even me, his own ally, was so ridiculous.
It was fun.
Even though a life-or-death battle was clearly underway....
This moment was far too enjoyable.
Footnotes:
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