WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 379: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’ (28)
──────
Human memory was a strange thing.
Many memories vanished without a trace, even if they had happened only ten minutes ago.
Everyone had probably been scolded at least once for forgetting something their parents had just told them to do.
Then there were memories that remained as vivid as yesterday, even after hundreds of years had passed.
Yu-seong had such a memory.
No matter how monstrous a demonic practitioner might be, if one traced their roots back far enough, there would be parents and family.
Yu-seong had been born into a tribe that lived in the jungles of Nanman.
To be honest, they were not some kindhearted tribe that did not even know what blades were.
Survival in the brutal jungle was a struggle.
The tribespeople Yu-seong remembered were warriors with fierce eyes, closer to survival experts than anything else.
Even in that harsh land, there was love.
Yu-seong's mother, whose face he could barely remember, held him every evening and sang songs about the tribe's legends.
His father was not a talkative man, but he always stroked the boy's head before bed.
...
One day, as a storm poured down.
Han Chinese men armed with iron weapons burned the jungle and slaughtered everyone.
They raped and killed the women, then cut off the men's limbs and killed them.
They put collars on the children and dragged them away like animals.
He still remembered the face of the Han Chinese man who had killed his parents that day.
That man was Yu-seong's first master.
Daily whippings and brutal labor.
Three of his fingers were cut off, and his limbs were bent halfway out of shape.
When he ran because he could no longer endure the endless pain, the Han Chinese set dogs on him.
He could not understand it.
I hadn't done anything wrong, so why was the world so cruel?
As hungry dogs tore at his legs while he was still alive, he thought.
I want to live.
I want to live.
I want to live.
He begged and begged again.
He desperately prayed for anyone, god or devil, to help him.
He wished for a chance, for the chance to return all this pain to everyone else.
Then, a box appeared before him.
...
He returned to the world exactly what it had given him.
He had received nothing but senseless pain his entire life, so he gave the same thing back.
He tied his first master to a tree beneath the blazing sun and kept him alive until he dried up.
There was much that man needed to see before he died.
He had to watch with his own two eyes as his beloved wife, concubines, and children were all miserably crushed.
When was it?
At some point, the life vanished from his master's eyes.
His body was still alive, but his mind had died.
The moment Yu-seong saw those eyes...
An overwhelming pleasure, unlike anything he had ever experienced, paralyzed his soul.
He committed countless murders after that, but none brought him joy comparable to that pleasure.
“Because there was no buildup before that.”
“...”
“My first murder was revenge against those who massacred my parents and tribe. I let out resentment that had built up for ten years, maybe more, all at once.”
“...”
“It'll be easier to understand if I borrow an expression I learned recently. The first murder was catharsis after enough buildup. The killings afterward were just nonsensical, trashy developments with no foundation.”
“... You use strange words. You are nothing but a devil.”
“Hey, bastard! There's a reaction you're supposed to have after hearing a story like that!”
“...”
“You should be saying, ‘Oh, you were a victim once too? The injustice of the world made you this way!’”
“Bullshit.”
It was only one word, but Yu-seong liked that answer.
That was right.
Bullshit.
How many years ago had that been in the first place?
More than a thousand years had passed, and everyone who had killed Yu-seong's tribe back then had long since returned to dust.
Even Yu-seong himself did not think his current killings were revenge for the resentment of that era.
And...
There was another thought consuming him now.
“I've been thinking.”
“...”
“The truth is, I haven't committed any evil.”
“What are you-”
“Listen. I've never lost my parents or taken revenge. I've never even killed anyone.”
“...”
“This world was created about a month ago, and it will disappear in two or three days. What do you mean, something from a thousand years ago? Such things never existed. They're just information that entered my head.”
Of course, that might not be true.
From what Yu-seong had gathered, even the Hotel Party knew little about Curse Rooms.
Judging by Room 203, it was possible that Room 205's thousands of years of history had truly played out.
Only the Hotel Party had awakened a month ago.
And...
Yu-seong did not care about such philosophical questions.
“The important thing is that I have to live.”
The person who had promised him immortality.
The outsider had died in vain.
If that person had survived to the end and obtained the Inheritance, would he have kept his promise?
Yu-seong thought he would have.
The Soul Box was an extremely powerful Inheritance, and putting the Phantom Demon's soul inside it to make it a servant was a rather appealing choice.
More than anything, he had no reason to fear me.
I had known that from our first meeting.
The Soul-Shifting Demon Art and the Grimoire were powers that headed in similar directions, but their origins were different.
One was merely a demonic art created by humans.
The other was an authority created by a Demon God who commanded stars with a single breath.
I was born a slave, while he was born on a throne.
No amount of time could ever bridge that gap.
He had no need to fear me, so he would have had no hesitation in making me his servant.
But he was dead.
Would the others think the same way?
The lucky boy, the woman who played the Flute, the disgruntled old man, the mad beauty from the west.
...
He was anxious.
He feared they would choose the Crimson Flame Iron Fan instead of the Soul Box.
Even if they chose the Soul Box, he feared they would not put his soul inside it.
So he decided to do his utmost.
* * *
Late at night, Elena was getting ready for bed.
“Ah, there really isn't much to do.”
Come to think of it, aside from the Emperor, she had been the person with the least to do in Room 205.
It was because she was a traitor to the Fire Cult and an envoy from the west.
Could a foreign diplomat easily involve herself in that country's civil war?
Of course not. All she could do was watch from afar and prepare to go into exile with the Emperor if necessary.
“It should be over soon, right?”
Even Elena thought Room 205 was nearing its end.
“It would've been nice if it ended once the cult leader had been killed. Why is it dragging on like this? What a pain...”
--- Click!
Just then, the door opened and Mook-seong entered.
“Grandfather?”
She was a little displeased.
‘It's still a woman's room. He could at least knock...’
“What is it?”
“Elena, what you just said.”
“What?”
“Do you know why this room hasn't ended even though Jo Won-hong is dead?”
“Did you figure something out?”
“This is a kind of consideration. Consideration the Hotel has shown you all.”
‘You all?’
“Ph, Phanto-”
--- Bang!
With a single gunshot, Elena's consciousness faded.
Right before she died, she realized that the culprit was the Phantom Demon.
The old man smiled faintly.
Even her realizing it was part of the plan.
“The reason the room hasn't ended is the Soul Box. The Hotel has given you time to put the NPC you want inside it. Don't be too sad. I'll be kind to you once we're outside.”
* * *
The moment he opened the door to his next destination, the man was briefly at a loss for words.
--- Crash!
Before he had even fully opened the door, Eun-sol leaped through the window!
“... What?”
He had an idea why.
After being badly burned by the Phantom Demon possessing Mook-seong's body in the previous run, Eun-sol seemed to have prepared some sort of countermeasure.
For example, she could send a message through the Chat Window before opening the door.
The Phantom Demon had ignored that procedure and opened the door, so she sensed danger at once and jumped out.
“What a troublesome young lady! The ground is stone, so that must hurt terribly. Let's not do this to each other when we're about to become companions.”
He meant that sincerely.
The Phantom Demon had no intention of treating the people who would become his new companions harshly.
He simply thought becoming companions required a few delicate procedures.
Eun-sol ran with every ounce of strength she had and screamed.
“Guards! Guards!”
The guards stationed around the residence began rushing out from all directions in alarm.
“G, Gate Lord? What is-”
“Yi Ja-seong!”
“Pardon?”
“Where is Yi Ja-seong? You said he returned to the imperial palace earlier!”
If the enemy was the Phantom Demon, a hundred or a thousand ordinary guards would be meaningless!
At that moment, an old man in shabby clothes appeared, radiating a stern aura.
For that moment, it truly felt as if a savior had descended from the heavens.
* * *
- Park Seung-yeop
“Argh! It's happening again! It's the Phantom Demon again!”
Once the situation had settled down, I returned to the imperial palace. Yet before even two days had passed, chaos broke out.
They said the master who had distinguished himself at the city wall had suddenly revealed his true colors and harmed the First Apostle and the Harmonious Gate Lord.
That meant Grandfather had killed Sister Elena and Sister Eun-sol, which meant the Phantom Demon had barged in!
Just as I thought I should run away, even if I had to do it alone...
“N, No! Even if you are the leader of the Heavenly Righteous Alliance-”
“Move aside! I must confirm His Majesty's safety with my own eyes!”
My master entered my residence, covered in blood.
If that being was the Phantom Demon...
I could barely breathe.
Was this the end? Was it really going to end like this?
“Your Majesty! Are you unharmed?”
“...”
“My apologies, but I need to confirm it.”
A small orb sprang from within my master's robes.
“This is a Demon-Subduing Divine Orb made by the Fire Cult. They said the one they gave me was smaller, so its effect is somewhat weaker.”
“A Demon-Subduing Divine Orb?”
“It is an item that prevents Possession.”
The orb shot flames in every direction, surrounding my master and me.
“...”
“...”
“What a relief. Your Majesty appears to be unharmed.”
As I watched my master sigh in relief, I did the same.
“What a relief! Alliance Leader, Grandfa- I mean, the Soul-Severing Old Man-”
“It was the Phantom Demon. The Phantom Demon took his body and caused a bloodbath.”
“What happened?”
The old man tilted his head slightly before answering.
“Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?”
“Yes?”
“Did you know that the Harmonious Gate Lord possessed a Flute imbued with mysterious power?”
Of course I did. It was Sister Eun-sol's Inheritance, the Flute of Rest.
“Yes.”
“The Harmonious Gate Lord played the Flute until the moment she died. The Phantom Demon panicked and could not take anyone else's body.”
“Oh! C, could it be?”
“Regrettably, I could not protect the Gate Lord, but I cut down the body inhabited by the Phantom Demon. Then, an item like this emerged.”
Yi Ja-seong took out a small box of murky black color.
“Ah...”
I knew the moment I saw it.
My wildly pounding heart and my soul, feeling fear and awe at once, told me so.
This box was Room 205's second Inheritance, after the Crimson Flame Iron Fan!
“This is...”
As I stared at the box in a daze, my master spoke carefully.
“Your Majesty.”
“Yes?”
“Seeing this box reminds me of something. It is an old legend of the Martial World.”
“A legend?”
“Have you ever heard a story about a box that holds human souls?”
Footnotes:
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