WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 376: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’ (25)

──────

- Kim Mook-seong

Late at night, the scouts at the outpost brought a strange report.

Jo Won-hong was suddenly leaving the plains with an elite force?

“What? Is that true?”

“Elder, it wasn't just one or two people who saw it!”

As I hurried to Eun-sol's quarters, I thought it over.

The Heavenly Tower had been destroyed, and Jo Won-hong had suffered a devastating blow.

I expected him to play his final card.

Would he and every surviving member of the Thirteen Commanders take the front lines for one decisive battle?

Would he seek reconciliation with the Avestan Church, build up his forces, and prepare a counterattack?

Or would he propose a truce to the imperial court and buy time?

Eun-sol and I had discussed various possibilities.

Every one of them had been wrong.

* * *

- Park Seung-yeop

“Ha!”

--- Thunk!

“Damn it! Why's this so hard?”

I'd already lost track of how many times I'd failed.

My resolve was starting to crumble, so I sat down on the ground.

“This is strange... Master said this martial art would suit me perfectly.”

To restore my motivation, I recalled what Master had said a few days ago about my ‘special talent.’

* * *

“An unparalleled talent throughout history? I have something like that?”

“...”

“What kind of talent is it?”

“A martial art perfectly suited to Your Majesty came to mind.”

“W-what talent is it?”

“Aksha’s Soul. A profound, supreme martial art from across the sea.”

“No, I'm asking what my talent is!”

Yi Ja-seong never told me what that talent was.

* * *

Aksha’s Soul.

I'd thought the name was unusual from the moment I first heard it.

It wasn't a divine art, demon art, or sword art, and Aksha clearly wasn't a Sino-Korean word.

Apparently, it was a martial art from a region similar to real-world India.

Yi Ja-seong's knowledge was impressive too, considering he knew enough to teach a martial art from such a distant land. Still, I had no idea why my talent suited Aksha’s Soul so well.

I'd spent more than ten days on it without even properly getting started.

“Damn it!”

“You talk to yourself a lot.”

A middle-aged man's deep voice rang out.

Master's second disciple, no, was it his third?

Either way, it was Cha Gun-ak, the Mangho Iron Sword, a senior brother ranked above me.

Leaving aside our seniority within the master-disciple hierarchy, Cha Gun-ak treated me rather carefully because I was the Emperor.

Master was the same, so formal and casual speech often got mixed together.

That was how incredible the position of Emperor was.

“Is life in the Heavenly Righteous Alliance treating you well? It seems Master brought you here rather suddenly...”

“Yeah.”

Perhaps because I answered too easily, Cha Gun-ak looked taken aback.

“Does the food suit your tastes? Since this is a Martial World sect, it can't compare to the food of the imperial palace-”

“More than half the palace chefs ran away, so it wasn't anything special.”

Besides, Chinese-style palace food didn't really suit my palate.

Seasoned fried chicken and pork cutlets were better, honestly.

“I'm glad you seem to be adapting well. Your Majesty...”

“Me?”

“...I was worried you might resent the Alliance.”

I understood.

Master had suddenly appeared and taken me to the Heavenly Righteous Alliance, but such an uncertain arrangement couldn't last forever.

The Empire was fighting a war that would determine its fate, and Yi Ja-seong had the excuse of taking his disciple away to protect me as one of the three greatest masters in history. That was the only reason it had been allowed to pass.

Still, I had no complaints about my current situation.

There was nothing I could do in the imperial palace.

Could the Emperor of the Empire go to war against the Fire Cult?

Going to Mount Cheonjang to dig a hole to wake Ga-in would be even more ridiculous.

So compared to eating and sleeping all day, martial arts training was pretty exciting.

Cha Gun-ak looked relieved and changed the subject.

“I heard Master passed Aksha’s Soul on to you.”

“Yeah.”

“I could hear your frustration all the way outside the training yard. It seems you're having trouble.”

“Well... I keep failing to infuse that shout? That energy? Into it at the introductory stage...”

“Training is difficult to do alone. Let me help you for a moment.”

With that, Cha Gun-ak stepped closer and lightly swung a wooden rod.

--- Crack!

“Aah! It's just like Master!”

“...”

“Why does it hurt so much when you're moving so slowly?”

“Focus! Correct your posture...”

“Correct it?”

“You mustn't focus on the rod. Focus on yourself.”

“D-doesn't that sound really strange? You're hitting me with a stick, but telling me not to pay attention to it!”

“Aksha’s Soul is a martial art beyond ordinary logic. Don't judge it by common sense. Just accept it.”

I was hit again and again for no reason. After ten or twenty hits, I started getting annoyed.

I knew it couldn't be true, yet I began to wonder if Cha Gun-ak was bullying me.

Just as I felt like my mind was starting to float from being hit too much, I experienced a strange sensation for the first time.

Blood flowed from my heart through my veins and spread throughout my body.

At that moment, something else moved along with the blood.

It was like a swarm of tiny insects.

Parts of my body felt faintly itchy, along with the sensation of things popping throughout me.

As my mind focused on that strange feeling, I naturally forgot the rod even existed.

And then...

“Huh?”

For the first time, my hand struck Cha Gun-ak's wrist and blocked the rod.

“S-something worked! I did it!”

It wasn't as if I'd landed a critical blow on Cha Gun-ak.

He'd only been moving slowly on purpose to teach me.

All I'd done was block a slowly moving stick once. It was nothing special...

No, what did I mean, nothing special?

“I did it!”

Wow! Wasn't I actually a genius? I'd already succeeded?

What was I supposed to do with this incredible talent?

Haah... The Hotel bastards had finally unleashed a monster they couldn't handle!

World, just you wait! A supreme genius beyond your ability to handle will-

“C-calm down!”

Cha Gun-ak couldn't hide his panic. He even slipped into casual speech as he grabbed me by the shoulders.

When I came to my senses, I realized I'd been screaming and dancing like crazy.

I'd made such a commotion that everyone outside the training yard had peeked in at least once.

“...”

“Your Majesty! Please maintain your dignity!”

“That sounded just like one of the palace ministers.”

“How many times did I swing the rod, and how many times did Your Majesty succeed?”

“Uh... You swung it hundreds of times, and I succeeded once.”

“Succeeding once after dozens of attempts isn't an accomplishment. That's just luck, not a real technique. You need to succeed nine times out of ten before you can use it in actual combat.”

“...”

Afterward, Cha Gun-ak repeatedly stressed that this was only the beginning and that diligent training was necessary before he left the training yard.

He left?

“Ahhhhh! I! Am! A! Genius! One of the Four Greatest Masters in History will-”

* * *

The moment he stepped out of the training yard, a roar erupted behind him. Cha Gun-ak walked on with a hollow laugh.

An old man appeared then.

“Gun-ak, what in the world is that noise? The Emperor is shouting so loudly that even Jo Won-hong at the ramparts might be startled.”

“Junior Brother made some progress. I was going to give him a little guidance, and he happened to succeed while I was watching.”

“You guided his training? Didn't you say the Emperor might be plotting to put the Alliance in danger?”

“...I've watched him for a while now, and honestly, the Emperor isn't someone who schemes.”

“Didn't I say that from the start?”

“As expected, Master's eye is never wrong.”

“Let's stop fishing for compliments.”

“Ah, please look at this.”

Cha Gun-ak rolled up his sleeve and showed Yi Ja-seong his wrist.

A small bruise.

It was too insignificant to call a wound, and Cha Gun-ak had practically allowed himself to be struck on purpose...

Still, the fact that it had bruised was clear evidence that his external cultivation had been shaken.

Yi Ja-seong smiled faintly.

“The Emperor's talent isn't bad.”

“It's strange. Honestly, neither his comprehension nor his bone structure seems particularly outstanding.”

“Human talent has mysterious aspects. Being good at studying doesn't mean one will learn martial arts well, and it isn't uncommon for a master who survived a mountain of blades and forest of swords to be illiterate.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aksha’s Soul was originally created in the harsh environment of a tropical rainforest.”

“I heard it was created in Tianzhu.”

“Everything you pluck is inedible. Toads spew poison from their skin, and even insects crawling along the ground spew enough poison to kill some fifteen people. Everywhere you look, there are savage beasts that could swallow a person whole.”

“That sounds dreadful.”

“Some call it the Green Hell. Warriors who survive in such a place are closer to beasts than people. What kind of people do you think survive there?”

“Since danger is everywhere, they'd need good instincts.”

“Throwing yourself into a monster's den to obtain food isn't something a sane person can do. You need fierce confidence that you won't die, exceptional instincts to avoid danger, and above all...”

“Above all?”

“First, you need to be lucky.”

“I-I see. But what does that have to do with the Emperor?”

Cha Gun-ak genuinely couldn't understand.

What could an Emperor born into the most noble position in the world possibly have in common with beastlike warriors who survived a Green Hell full of danger?

“Let's leave that there. I haven't told the Emperor either.”

“What?”

The old man raised a hand and pointed toward the training yard, where cheers could still be heard.

“With that personality, I'm afraid to tell him he has any talent at all.”

“...I understand.”

“Dangerous news has arrived.”

“What?”

Yi Ja-seong's expression darkened.

“The Heavenly Righteous Alliance's eyes stretch across the continent. An ominous report came in just now.”

“What sort of ominous report?”

“Jo Won-hong, that man is trying to cross a line he must never cross.”

* * *

- Mi-ro

“Aaaaah!”

“...”

“Aaaaah!”

“...”

“How many days has it been already? Isn't it over ten days?”

A-ri's pretty, pale face was no longer visible.

After days of digging through dirt alongside me, she was covered in grime and blackened from head to toe.

There wasn't a bathhouse nearby, so we had no way to wash properly.

“That's right.”

“You think this is something you can end with ‘that's right’?”

“That's right.”

It had been at least ten days. Longer if we included the preparation period.

The food and water we'd initially prepared ran out, so Song-i had to bring us more supplies several times.

Throughout that long, grueling stretch, all I'd done was dig a tunnel.

In the past, I would've called my companions after digging a reasonable amount and collapsed the ground with Final Flash or the power of Star.

This time, A-ri strongly objected.

We'd learned that if we carelessly used an Inheritance for widespread destruction and destroyed Ga-in's body, only the Phantom Demon would awaken.

“Come on, isn't this stupid?”

“...”

“Think about it! What idiot breaks through a mountain with their fists?”

“Not fists, the Protective Suit. And I've broken a lot more than you have.”

“Ugh! By now, I could've destroyed the Heavenly Tower or whatever. We should just call the Doctor and-”

“Huh?”

“Don't stop talking! Use the laser to-”

“Quiet!”

“...”

“A sound. What is that sound?”

Inside the cramped cave packed with dirt and stone, A-ri's eyes widened.

When I shone the headlamp on my Protective Suit ahead, I saw what A-ri had seen too.

A hole. A small hole.

A hole leading into a vast, incredibly vast space.

“Isn't that it?”

“I can't reach it! What do we do?”

We needed to break through the opening with the Protective Suit, but it was out of reach. Just as I began to panic...

Pero, the miner parrot who had suffered just as much as we had while madly breaking rocks and dirt with its beak, crawled into the gap and plugged the hole with its body.

“What is it doing?”

“Aaaaah! P-Pero! Stop!”

Just as A-ri opened her mouth wide and tried to stop it-

Worn out from its long career as a miner, Pero made a firm decision.

It shoved its body into the fist-sized hole, then transformed into Grotesque.

--- Rumble!

“Has it completely lost its mind?”

A thick fog appeared.

At last, we'd reached the place where Ga-in was sealed.

* * *

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 206

Current Location: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’

Sage’s Advice: 3]

- Han Ga-in

--- Splash!

I woke in an abyss where I couldn't see even an inch ahead.

And then...

An incomprehensible aberrant entity appeared before me.

Footnotes:

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