WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 391: A Midsummer Night's Dream (7)
──────
- Han Ga-in
The SUV we'd been riding in until nightfall finally came to a stop.
There were no notable buildings nearby, only detached houses scattered here and there. It looked sparsely populated.
It was like a completely rural village. Was there really a place like this near Seoul?
Of course, this Seoul was very different from the Seoul I knew.
Ictus and his five followers got out of the car and walked into the village.
I naturally landed on one of the followers' shoulders.
I hadn't meant to, but once I was up there, the face looked familiar.
It was the researcher who'd been driving me crazy all morning, constantly going on about notes.
“Hey!”
“What is it?”
After the agreement between Ictus and me was made, the followers spoke to me respectfully too.
“Didn't I say I was sparing you even though I could kill you whenever I wanted?”
“...”
“Does it still sound like a bluff?”
“... I'm sorry about earlier. Oof!”
Flap!
The researcher lowered his head to apologize with a flustered expression, but I was on his shoulder, so his head collided with my body.
I reacted quickly and flew up, avoiding the humiliation of falling onto the dirt. Even so, an odd sense of futility washed over me.
Ictus watched the ridiculous scene and chuckled.
“You seem close with Min-seok.”
“...”
“Still, we need to do what must be done.”
What did that mean?
Before I could make sense of Ictus's intentions, the followers in the village approached us from the other side.
Their eyes were full of reverence.
Their joy was impossible to hide.
They looked ready to fall to their knees and bow at any moment.
Their cult leader had overcome persecution and returned, so they seemed quite happy about it.
Then...
Ictus smiled magnanimously and nodded.
The followers from the village drew their rifles with resolute expressions.
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out, and the Management Bureau employees who had escorted Ictus until now died one after another with screams.
A sudden purge?
I'd never imagined he would do something like this out of nowhere!
When I used my power too late, the person pulling the trigger went blank-eyed and turned the gun toward Ictus.
The village followers froze in shock, unsure what to do.
“Gasp! Do-jun! Where are you pointing that gun?”
“You bastard! What the hell are you-”
Then a voice came, pretending to be calm but unable to hide its agitation.
“It's nothing. Calm down.”
Ictus looked at me.
“Cain, why are you doing this all of a sudden? If you have any complaints, please tell me in detail. I'm ready to hear what my friend has to say.”
“Weren't these your followers? Why did you kill them?”
“They were all former Management Bureau employees. The Management Bureau places various security measures on its employees.”
“...”
“Of course, they said they would follow me willingly. But I'm certain their bodies have undergone all sorts of strange procedures that even they don't know about.”
“If you're talking about tracking sensors, it looked like those were removed from them in the car.”
“That was only a very small part of it.”
“...”
“The Management Bureau treats the world like one enormous machine. Every human is a cog, with no exceptions. Even its internal employees are nothing more or less than slightly larger cogs.”
I understood the situation.
Ictus had bewitched the Management Bureau employees with some kind of magic, but the Management Bureau had put all sorts of measures in place within their bodies.
To Ictus, they were followers he couldn't trust.
They were nothing more than tools he had used to escape the Management Bureau, disposable pieces.
Ictus's words were logical, so I couldn't argue with them.
That didn't mean I owed it to the dead Management Bureau employees to avenge them either.
Flap!
I flew up lightly and landed on Ictus's shoulder.
He seemed a little flustered, but he didn't shake me off.
“Thank you for understanding me. We will have a good rela- Urgh!”
“Let's go. I need to see this being you call your father today.”
“C-Cain, you're putting too much force into your claws-”
“Come on! Aren't you all leaving?”
“... We are heading to the Sacred Domain.”
* * *
The Sacred Domain Ictus spoke of lay deep in the mountains near the village.
When had it started?
The landscape around us began twisting into something too horrible to describe.
The sky itself turned blood-red, and every tree writhed grotesquely.
If even one clear-minded Management Bureau agent had been here, they would have immediately called for napalm to be dropped.
Grrrrrrr!
An ominous cry echoed from somewhere.
Ictus's followers began collapsing to the ground as though they could no longer endure it.
The man who resembled Jesus gave me a faint smile.
“Cain, wait here for a moment. If you meet Father without preparation, it will be difficult for you to endure.”
“...”
Ictus pulled his red robe over his head and advanced alone.
Then...
An incomprehensible demon larger than an ordinary building rose to its feet.
The head of a red mountain goat.
Two enormous curling horns, along with two relatively small ones.
A hideous body made of writhing trees.
Soon, a chilling voice passed through my mind.
* * *
The Management Bureau's day was peaceful, as always.
... At least on the surface.
Internally, it was like thin ice that could crack at any moment, because two Chaos Entities had escaped three days earlier.
Of course, it wasn't the first time Chaos Entities had escaped.
The Management Bureau might have been an organization that controlled the world from the shadows, but it was ultimately an organization centered on humans.
How could there be no gaps in anything people did?
If anything, because it managed the entire world, gaps were bound to arise somewhere amid its vast workload.
Still, that reasoning brought little comfort to Park Hyun-min, the head of the Management Bureau Korea Branch.
Click.
“Director! The Assault Team dispatched to Incheon has returned.”
“Already? The search couldn't possibly be over.”
“Well...”
“What now?”
“The team leader's condition is strange.”
“...”
“They're trembling as if they've been bewitched...”
“That is good news.”
“Pardon?”
“The fact that they came back out of their mind means there's something near the deployment site. This time, mix an agent into the Grade 2 Special Response Team and-”
“Director, the team leader says they must see you.”
“What?”
“They heard a strange voice.”
“A strange voice? Were they bewitched by a demon or something?”
Park Hyun-min was a little flustered.
It wasn't uncommon for Assault Teams deployed in the field to be bewitched by monsters or demons.
Why would he grant the request just because such a being wanted to meet someone high-ranking in the Management Bureau?
Naturally, the standard response was to ignore such nonsense.
The employee in front of him should have known that much.
“That's what we thought, so we were going to proceed with the Grade 2 mental purification procedure, but then they suddenly mentioned the names of agents...”
“Don't drag this out. Agent names?”
“Do you remember the names of the two agents who went missing some time ago? Agents Kim A-ri and Kim Mook-seong.”
“...”
“According to the team leader, the mysterious voice said it was Kim A-ri and Kim Mook-seong's colleague.”
“...”
“It asked us to deliver just one message to you.”
“Go ahead.”
“It came from the hotel.”
The employee tilted their head even as they relayed the words.
They couldn't understand what the word hotel meant at all.
But there was someone who could understand that word.
“... Bring them in.”
“Pardon?”
* * *
A little later, employees brought a haggard-looking soldier into Director Park's office.
“Leave the team leader. Everyone else, get out.”
“Director, being alone with them is-”
“It's fine, so leave. Now!”
In the end, the employees left the office with uneasy expressions.
“...”
“...”
After a brief silence, the director spoke.
“Yes, Team Leader. You said you had something to tell me?”
The terrified-looking soldier opened their mouth.
“I-I heard a voice! A strange, strange voice, and it gave me a bizarre revelation in my head-”
The director listened to the rambling words, then sighed softly.
“We're both busy, so let's stop playing games.”
“Pardon? W-what do you mean-”
“What revelation? You seem to be controlling them from nearby. I won't trace you, so speak properly.”
“...”
“...”
A moment later, the soldier laughed as though incredulous.
“That hurts my pride a little. I was pretty confident in my acting. Was I found out that easily?”
“I've devoted my whole life to seeing through that kind of performance.”
“Fine, but how did you know I was controlling this body directly?”
It was a question Ga-in hadn't expected an answer to, but Director Park readily answered.
“A few days ago, I received a report about an unusual parrot. It claimed to be human, and it escaped with Ictus when he fled.”
“...”
“I never imagined it was truly human. Mr. Parrot, I apologize for locking you up. By the way, how old are you?”
Ga-in was momentarily at a loss for words. Park Hyun-min held out a small piece of paper.
“Write it down.”
“Write what?”
“The hotel's name.”
With a somewhat strange expression, Ga-in scribbled on the paper.
「Hotel Pioneer」
“Pioneer? That is the name you're using this time.”
“... The name I'm using this time?”
The director's sharp gaze swept over Ga-in.
“You're A-ri and Mook-seong's colleague?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. I understand that you're a hotel participant and that you've escaped. It seems you want something from me?”
“That's right.”
“Tell me.”
“Over the past few days, I've seen a lot of Management Bureau Assault Teams moving around near Incheon. I want those people pulled back for exactly three days.”
The director tilted his head for a moment before asking, “Do you mean you want us not to interfere with Ictus?”
“More precisely, I mean you shouldn't interfere with Ictus and his ‘father’ finding my body.”
“Explain that in a little more detail.”
Ga-in hesitated for a moment.
Could he tell this man what he was trying to do?
He had no choice.
If he didn't explain, the Management Bureau wouldn't withdraw the Assault Teams.
His body was fixed somewhere in the skies of South Korea and would fall in three or four days.
Ictus's ‘father’ had promised to find his falling body.
Once he heard this, Director Park looked somewhat surprised.
“So... even though you escaped the hotel, you're planning to return?”
When Ga-in nodded, the director looked intrigued.
“May I ask why? Hotel escapees are occasionally found, but unless they are agents with a separate objective, it is rare for them to return.”
“I didn't escape.”
“What?”
“This isn't my world. It's no different from another Curse Room.”
The director looked surprised for a moment.
Soon afterward, he gave a slight nod as though he understood something.
“If that's how you see it, there is nothing to be done. I will withdraw the Assault Teams.”
“Thank you.”
Just as it seemed their conversation had ended, the director suddenly pressed a hidden button beneath the desk a few times.
「--- Beep! Would you like to reset the Seoul Branch?」
“Yes.”
「Director Park Hyun-min. Voice confirmed. To what extent would you like to reset it?」
“Two hours of memories for all employees with Security Grade 2 or below.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire Korean Branch began flickering amid a bizarre noise.
Ga-in asked with a slightly dazed expression, “What... is this?”
“If you come again, try to come secretly if possible.”
“Pardon?”
“Don't casually say the word hotel where ordinary employees can hear it. Otherwise, we'll have to go through a rather exhausting procedure like this.”
“...”
Suddenly, something Ictus had said a few days ago crossed Ga-in's mind.
「The Management Bureau treats the world like one enormous machine. Every human is a cog, with no exceptions. Even its internal employees are nothing more or less than slightly larger cogs.」
Ga-in sighed and was about to leave the team leader's body when Director Park spoke.
“What do you intend to do about Ictus and the god he serves?”
Instead of answering, the team leader collapsed face-first, drool spilling from their mouth.
“... What a polite friend.”
The director leaned back in his soft chair and recalled their conversation from moments earlier.
He had said that this place was not his reality.
That answer made the director uneasy.
Footnotes:
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