WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 380: Room 205, Curse Room - ‘Absolute Master’ (29)

──────

- Park Seung-yeop

Fifteen days passed.

...

And nothing happened.

The Phantom Demon, who had seemed ready to appear before me at any moment and turn everything into hell, vanished as though it had all been a lie.

Nothing was happening in the Curse Room, where unpredictable incidents had occurred every day.

Fifteen days, two weeks and a day, was an incredibly long time in the Hotel.

Throughout that time, the Phantom Demon and the Fire Cult did nothing.

By then, I had a feeling.

No, it wasn't a feeling. I was certain.

The Phantom Demon was dead.

The scenario the Hotel had prepared for Room 205 was over.

Then why hadn't the room disappeared?

Because of me.

I was forcibly preventing this room from reaching its end.

The reactions of the officials before me were proof enough.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty's compassion and love for the people are truly moving, and the people will surely be deeply grateful. But have you heard of the saying, ‘the benevolence of Duke Xiang of Song’? -”

“Your Majesty! A ruler must sometimes make firm decisions, and -”

For several days now, the officials trying to lecture me with old sayings had all been saying the same thing.

The army had already surrounded the remnants of the Fire Cult, so I needed to order the advance.

“Let's end today's meeting here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Without another word, I stood and left the meeting hall.

* * *

For the past fifteen days, the officials had clutched the backs of their necks every time they saw me.

If I'd left things alone, the generals would have wiped out the Fire Cult on their own. Instead, I gave the absurd order to maintain the standoff and not advance.

I even included a line about exterminating the nine clans of anyone who disobeyed, so even the hot-tempered generals had no choice but to sit there twiddling their thumbs.

That's right.

I was the kind of ruler who frustrated people so badly that even cancer would get cancer and disappear.

Of course, I had my own reason for preventing Room 205 from ending.

“Hah!”

“Steady your breathing a little more. This time, move your right foot half a step forward.”

“Hah!”

“Oh? That was fine. Though the balance of your upper body is...”

Martial arts training.

The more I thought about it, the more certain I was that this was the right choice.

What if Room 205 disappeared and the Hotel's usual hellish schedule began again?

I wouldn't have time to train, and there'd be no master to teach me martial arts.

My growth would probably come to a halt.

Fortunately, even after the room was practically resolved, Room 205 was structured so that I could decide when it ended.

Maybe that in itself was part of Room 205's reward.

Aksha’s Soul was improving quickly.

I was only at the stage where I succeeded once every four or five attempts instead of once every few dozen attempts, but...

Going from a 1% success rate to 20% definitely meant I was twenty times stronger.

Just a little longer.

One month, no, two months, no, could I somehow make it half a year?

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes?”

“The officials have begun talking about appointing a regent.”

“But I'm the emperor, and I'm perfectly fine?”

“They probably don't think you are.”

“...”

Master looked at me as if he could see right through me.

“You're deliberately dragging out the war, aren't you? Is there a reason?”

“...”

“Whatever that reason may be, I think you should find another way. Training is over for today.”

It had only been a little over two weeks, but I'd already reached my limit.

If I forced things any further, the officials would ignore me and take action themselves.

‘Another way,’ huh?

I carefully took out the box Master had obtained after killing the Phantom Demon.

The ‘Soul Box.’

It was undoubtedly Room 205's Inheritance.

According to what Master had told me, a truly mysterious tale had been passed down about this item.

If it contained its owner's soul, that owner would gain immortality.

If it contained the soul of a servant, the owner could take that servant to the Land of Ascension beyond the world.

To people who didn't know the truth about the Hotel, it would sound like a ridiculous legend. To me, though, it translated like this.

The first sentence meant that if the Inheritance owner's soul was stored inside, they could remain active even after their body died.

They would probably lose their qualifications as a participant, but they could still help their companions in a ghost-like state.

That alone wasn't bad, but the second sentence was even more extraordinary.

If I stored the soul of an NPC inside a Curse Room, I could take that NPC outside the Curse Room.

How many absurdly powerful NPCs had we encountered so far?

Aurelia from Room 104, Beatrix from Room 201, and Riringanor from Room 202 immediately came to mind.

Room 205 had three unbelievably strong NPCs as well.

The Phantom Demon, the Fire Cult Leader, and Yi Ja-seong.

“... Let's try persuading him.”

I wasn't going to force Master's soul into the box and take him with me as though I were kidnapping him.

If I explained everything properly, then...

I felt like Master would agree to help me.

Especially lately.

He'd stayed unbelievably close to me and done his absolute best to help with my training.

* * *

Late that night, I set off for Master's residence.

Then I got lost.

... What was this?

“Huh? Huh?”

Did that make any sense?

No matter how forgetful I was, I'd spent dozens of days in total inside the imperial palace. How could I get lost?

“Why is there a wall here?”

A place where there couldn't possibly be a wall was blocked off.

Only then did I realize that getting lost wasn't natural.

Someone had shown me an illusion to make me lose my way.

By then, I knew who it was and obediently went where they led me.

A short while later, I arrived at a luxurious imperial garden filled with fragrant peach trees in every direction.

A blurry figure approached from afar.

White, rounded armor in a shape that didn't belong in this world.

A Protective Suit.

The mysterious bloodbath at Mount Cheonjang.

According to the surviving Fire Cult members and the traces left at the scene, Ga-in, A-ri, and Mi-ro had all died that day.

Then what about Song-i? I thought she'd been swept up in the chaos and died. She hadn't?

Something was strange.

If she was alive, why had she only come now? It had been two whole weeks.

Could she be the Phantom Demon?

...

No.

The thing that had manipulated my vision earlier was clearly the power of Diverse Perspectives.

When the Phantom Demon possessed Eun-sol, it couldn't summon the Flute. When it possessed Kim Sang-hyeon, it couldn't use Final Flash either.

In other words, it couldn't use Inheritances even while possessing someone.

So that person was really Song-i.

Once I realized that, the tension left my entire body.

“Sis! Why did you only come now? Have you been all ri-”

A flash of light burst out, and my vision went dark.

“Huh? Huh?”

At the same time, I felt the thunderous vibrations of Grotesque charging toward me!

“Ugh, aaah! What are you doing?!”

「Heavenly Luck activated! The power of the universe is with you.」

I activated Heavenly Luck and ran in a panic.

Why? Why was Song-i trying to kill me?

Because I was the Phantom Demon? That couldn't be it.

She was using an Inheritance!

Then why on earth...

A realization like a thunderbolt struck my mind.

Just as I'd suspected she was the Phantom Demon, she suspected I was the Phantom Demon.

Why?

Because the emperor was acting strangely!

I could end the war at any time and see Room 205's conclusion, but I wasn't doing it.

At that moment, Pero stopped crying, and my vision returned to normal.

I could guess why Song-i had stopped attacking too.

I was too weak to be the Phantom Demon.

I was only running away without resisting, yet dodging with suspiciously good luck.

So...

I needed to give her proof.

A power that belonged to me alone, one the Phantom Demon couldn't imitate.

When the Phantom Demon possessed Grandfather, it couldn't see the Chat Window.

It probably couldn't use the power of Luck either.

I lightly tossed two dice.

Song-i's confused eyes turned toward the dice floating in the air.

I smiled at her.

I didn't do something as ridiculous as looking at the ground to check the dice.

Of course they were double sixes, a total of twelve!

“Whew...”

“Seung-yeop.”

“You get it now, right?”

“Look at the ground.”

“Hah! Why are you so slow? I recognized you right away!”

“They're three and five.”

“... What?”

I-it was true! Three and five? A total of eight?

I threw them. That couldn't be possible!

The instant my mouth fell open in shock, the illusion disappeared and the truth was revealed.

Double sixes, a total of twelve.

I looked up in disbelief and found Song-i giggling uncontrollably.

“Seung-yeop, when did you start thinking I wasn't using Diverse Perspectives?”

“...”

“Ah, sorry, sorry! I just really wanted to say that line once!”

* * *

In the emperor's private garden, filled with fragrant peach trees, we cleared up the misunderstanding after a brief conversation.

“You didn't end the room because you wanted to learn martial arts?”

“You might think it's selfish, but...”

“No. If you can become a master of the Martial World, it'll help everyone.”

“Thank you for understanding. But what were you thinking, coming to the imperial palace? If I really had been the Phantom Demon...”

“I wouldn't have been able to win?”

“Yes.”

“I knew that, but I had no choice. I thought the Phantom Demon was conducting some strange ritual for an unknown purpose.”

“Ah.”

“If I attack now, I have a 5% chance of winning. If I attack later, it's 1%. What do you think I should do?”

“Even at 5%, you'd have to risk your life and fight.”

“Exactly. And...”

“And?”

Song-i smiled and pulled a piece of cloth from her clothes.

It was a flag marked with the Fire Cult's symbol, a flame.

“What's this?”

“I was going to kill the emperor and leave this flag behind.”

If the emperor was assassinated by the Fire Cult, the Empire would destroy the remaining Fire Cult members in revenge. The room would have been resolved.

“Still, this is strange. If what you said is true, Yi Ja-seong killed the Phantom Demon?”

“Probably? Eun-sol kept playing the Flute until she died. The Flute blocked the Phantom Demon's Possession, then Master killed the body it was inside. So it couldn't escape and...”

Song-i's expression suddenly hardened.

“Who on earth!”

“Huh?”

“Who told you that story?”

“Huh? M-Master...”

“It's a lie! I interrogated more than ten people to find out what happened in the imperial palace!”

???

“Eun-sol never even put the Flute to her lips. Grandfather shot her dead before she could! Plenty of people saw it!”

Master, Yi Ja-seong, had lied to me. Why?

...

His extensive knowledge of the Soul Box.

His attitude, which had become excessively kind.

His comment that I should find another way to continue my training.

The moment it felt as though a hammer had struck my head, an old man in a shabby robe descended from the sky.

As he always had lately, he smiled like a kind grandfather.

“Your Majesty.”

“...”

“Your Majesty, I have something to tell you.”

“... Go ahead.”

“I told you how to use the Soul Box, didn't I?”

“... I did think the explanation was far too specific for a legend of the Martial World. It was yours all along.”

“Your Majesty. There isn't a single lie in what I'm about to say.”

“...”

“First, the owner of the Grimoire promised to take me outside. You may confirm it with them later.”

“...”

“Second, I can say with certainty that there are few ‘characters’ in the Hotel more useful than I am. I am not a mad lunatic like Beatrix, nor am I a fanatic like Aurelia.”

“...”

“Third, I can be a good master to you. Haven't I already proven that over the past two weeks?”

I couldn't breathe.

The madness of that being I'd experienced in the previous round, and the terror that memory brought, paralyzed my body.

Then shining letters appeared, an illusion only I could see.

「Say you understand! Promise you'll take him with you. Once you get out of Room 205, you can just ignore the promise!」

Th-this was it!

As expected, Song-i was quick to judge.

H-hey, you Phantom Demon bastard!

So what if you're amazing? How amazing could you possibly be?

Aren't you acting all high and mighty just because Room 205 is still ongoing?

Once the Time of Choice comes, you'll be trapped in the Soul Box and left begging for our mercy!

“O-okay. I promise! Let's go outside together. Just don't forget to teach me martial arts properly...”

A streak of light split the air.

Power capable of collapsing even a concrete building in one blow hurled Song-i away.

She couldn't even scream.

A hard hand seized my throat.

“Aww! You really can't act. Who would fall for that expression?”

I couldn't breathe.

“What a shame. We could've gone peacefully. You and I are going to play together for a while. Don't worry! You know I'm not a bad person, right?”

Overwhelming terror consumed my soul.

“Three days will be enough. By then, you'll see me as a living Buddha.”

Footnotes:

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