WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 414: Room 104, Curse Room - ‘Hotel High, the Prestigious Academy’ Re (13)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 275
Current Location: Level 1, Corridor.
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
Early in the morning, my companions gathered around the refreshment table for one final review.
Eun-sol was already standing before the whiteboard like a teacher, neatly dressed. It was familiar by now, but still somehow surprising at times.
Was that just what the youngest daughter of a conglomerate family was like?
“Everyone remembers the rough layout of Room 104, right?”
It was neatly organized on the whiteboard.
「Hotel Party: Hotel High students and teachers
Hostile force: Cult in the Old School Building
Adversary: Aurelia
Prisoner: Lord」
“The basic power structure looks like this. The Cult tries to lure students into the Old School Building and brainwash them.”
I brought up what I remembered.
“If they take A away, don't forget to send a doll to school to replace A. It didn't seem fully human, though.”
“Good point. During the first attempt, several people died amid the chaos before Ga-in and A-ri caused total havoc at the school and escaped.”
I died after encountering the Lord while trying to assassinate Aurelia, while A-ri burned down the entire school and was arrested by the police.
“Through that, we learned one thing. The Cult wants to avoid being discovered by outside forces, namely the Management Bureau.”
“That's right.”
“During the second attempt, we attacked the Cult from the beginning. When we took down the cultists, Aurelia appeared. She'd received a revelation from the Lord and knew about Elena, so we ended up in a fairly difficult fight.”
That was where the crisis began.
“When Aurelia fell, the Sacred Sun appeared. It's Room 104's Inheritance and the Lord's incarnation. The moment it appeared, it used Ga-in's Descent however it pleased and tried to kill everyone.”
“I resisted with the Grimoire, and we escaped after everyone did their best. I fled by possessing Pero's body.”
“After that, we recruited Aurelia and attacked the Old School Building again while the Lord couldn't act properly. The Lord had already chosen a new Saintess.”
“In the end, I escaped using the Escape Button. Even now, I can't believe I used such a precious item...”
That about covered our previous attempts in Room 104.
“Here's the key point. Everyone's wondered about this for a long time, right? Why can the Lord run wild however he wants?”
I picked it up from there.
“The answer is simple. The ‘real Lord’ hasn't intervened since the first attempt. He intervened once then and granted me Descent. That was the end of it.”
Then who was the being that had fought us tooth and nail from the second attempt onward?
“The being that threatened us afterward was none other than the Sacred Sun.”
The Lord considered the Sacred Sun another self.
As a divine being, his concept of identity might differ from a human's.
What about the Hotel?
Perhaps the Hotel considered the Lord an insane god, while the Sacred Sun was an Inheritance with its own ego.
Seen that way, there was nothing unusual about why the Sacred Sun could run wild in Room 104.
The Hotel didn't see it as a Prisoner.
It was simply a fairly powerful ego Inheritance.
A-ri tapped the table and spoke.
“Let's consider the hints we received before, too.”
The hints the Hotel had given us about Room 104.
First, □ knows how to □□ Father.
“The first blank in the hint is ‘daughter.’ Father is obviously the Lord. In other words, Aurelia has to □□ him, though I take that to mean ‘betray.’”
A daughter knows how to betray her father.
“The second thing we need to consider is Revelation of Heavenly Secrets.”
‘The danger of a Mirror Match, the Cult's myths and doctrines, empty the enemy's magazine.’
This time, I spoke.
“We've already experienced the danger of a Mirror Match firsthand. The Lord responded as though he were clearing the Hotel Party. As for the enemy's magazine, meaning Descent, it's all used up now, so the Sacred Sun shouldn't have any way to suddenly control me.”
The final point was the Cult's myths and doctrines.
“In other words, we need to look more closely at the Cult itself. Considering that, our past attempts in Room 104 reveal the conditions under which the Lord or the Sacred Sun can intervene.”
During the first attempt, Aurelia appeared with explosive power when we tried to escape the school.
From the Cult's perspective, people who sensed something strange about Hotel High and escaped were likely to report it to the Management Bureau. It was a serious crisis.
Then I attempted to assassinate the Saintess, and the Lord intervened directly.
During the second attempt, when we turned the Cult upside down, the Sacred Sun openly descended and crushed everything.
Jin-cheol, who had been listening, nodded.
“Can the Lord only intervene when the Cult is in danger?”
“That's right. Of course, he can probably communicate indirectly with the Saintess more broadly. Through Revelation or a Prophetic Dream, perhaps.”
At that moment, Mi-ro tilted her head.
“Then shouldn't we avoid provoking the Cult? If we put it in danger, the Lord will intervene.”
A-ri immediately disagreed.
“That's not it. During the second attempt, we learned Room 104's resolution condition, didn't we? The Lord told us directly. The annihilation of the Cult.”
Mi-ro looked confused.
“Th-then what do we do? We have to destroy the Cult to resolve it, but if we destroy the Cult, the Lord or the Sacred Sun intervenes.”
That was the alpha and omega of every problem related to Room 104.
To resolve it, we had to eliminate the Cult. But if we attacked the Cult, a near-divine being intervened.
Jin-cheol's expression hardened.
“So we need overwhelming power? Well, look at what we've got now. How many Inheritances do we have? At this point, Aurelia and the Sacred Sun's little tricks are nothing we can't-”
“Waaait!”
I stopped Jin-cheol as he let his imagination run away with him.
“H-huh? Ga-in?”
“Jin-cheol. The moment we head that way, we're going in the wrong direction.”
“Hmm...”
“Don't forget. Room 104 is on Level 1.”
“...”
“The method you're talking about is this, right? Wreck the Cult, lure out the Sacred Sun, then beat that demigod-like being down with our overwhelming strength.”
“Is that strange?”
“To be honest, I used to think along those lines too. The Lord told me that the Sacred Sun appears in the underground city. So I wondered whether we should lure the Saintess aboveground and kill her.”
“It's different now?”
“First, depending on the situation, the Saintess can use her power aboveground as well.”
During the first attempt, the Saintess had clearly used her power aboveground.
“Is there a condition that lets the Lord or the Sacred Sun intervene aboveground? Or did the Saintess use power granted in advance? I can't be sure which. What matters is that power can be used aboveground when necessary.”
A-ri brought up a simple hypothesis.
“Maybe the Sacred Sun can only appear underground, but the ‘real Lord’ has no location restrictions as long as the conditions are met.”
“Any other reasons?”
“Revelation of Heavenly Secrets told us to consider the Cult's myths and doctrines. Doesn't that mean we should get close to the Cult and understand it rather than smash it apart?”
“Ah!”
“Lastly, if we simply follow the resolution method the Lord had in mind, we'll only be playing into his hands. We need another approach.”
“So whatever the reason, trying to beat a demigod to death with brute force is the wrong direction. Got it.”
That about summed up all the issues related to Room 104.
The teacher, who had listened in silence, walked over to the whiteboard.
“I believe we can summarize the meeting like this.”
「First, do not rashly harm the Cult, especially the Saintess.
Second, consider the Cult's myths and doctrines.
Third, the resolution method must be possible with the low specs of Level 1.」
Those three lines contained every key point.
“Now... if everyone understands that much, you can probably see how we should resolve it, right?”
The solution I found was something that often happens in real life.
* * *
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 275
Current Location: Level 1, Room 104, Curse Room ‘Hotel High, the Prestigious Academy’
Sage’s Advice: X]
--- Ding dong dang dong~!
The familiar sight of Hotel High came into view the moment I woke up.
As expected of Room 104, key Status Window functions like Sage’s Advice were blocked.
Of course, that wasn't a major problem since we'd already used the advice outside and made a plan.
There have been many -
A teacher rambled in English at the front while students nodded with bored expressions.
My companions were around me, looking somewhat tired.
A-ri was yawning, Elena wore a school uniform, and Song-i had a parrot perched on her.
It was ridiculous no matter how many times I saw it.
Who brought a parrot into a classroom?
We should get started-
「I still do not understand you.」
“...”
「Do you truly need to use such a vicious method? Why think about a resolution method in the first place? Just go to the Old School Building, defeat the Saintess, and summon Father.」
“...”
「Then Father will resolve everything himself and negotiate with you.」
This was also something I had discussed with my companions during the final meeting.
That was another strange thing about Room 104.
Unlike other rooms, the Lord, Room 104's Prisoner, wasn't an entity that obstructed the room's resolution.
He was actually trying to resolve the room himself.
His goal was to get the Sacred Sun out of the Hotel, and resolving the room was necessary for that.
In that context, Revelation's point that thinking about how to resolve it was pointless did make some sense.
‘You can hear me, right?’
「...」
‘Like you said, we'll have to negotiate with the Lord in the end. We came to this room because we want to take that damned Sacred Sun with us.’
「Then-」
‘Listen. There's something we need to do before we sit at the negotiating table.’
「Something we need to do...」
‘We need to negotiate from a more advantageous position. That's why what comes next is necessary.’
「...」
‘Think. You were born because of Descent, so you're another me, right? What does that mean? You're closer to Han Ga-in than to the Lord. So don't speak for the Lord. Stand on my side.’
As we talked, I naturally thought about the Soul Rank the Management Bureau people occasionally mentioned.
If mine had been lacking, would Revelation have listened to me like this?
Absolutely not.
It might have swallowed me long ago.
「Stand on Han Ga-in's side, not Father's...」
‘You really do consider the Lord your father, don't you? Then think of it this way.’
「...」
“What is a father's role? Isn't it to die at the right time and pass things on to their child? Succeeding you, Father...”
...
The last sentence slipped out by mistake.
Not only the teacher in the middle of class, but every student around me turned to look at me.
“H-Han Ga-in! You little punk!”
“...”
“This bastard isn't paying attention in class! And what was that? Fathers should die when the time comes?”
“I didn't put it quite that harshly...”
“You little shit! After class... no, get up here right now and assume the push-up punishment position!”
Something annoying had happened.
Still, considering what I had to do from here on, it wasn't a serious problem.
As I walked toward the podium, the English teacher started swinging a wooden stick menacingly.
“Are you going to hit me with that?”
“Han Ga-in! What's with that attitude? What, are you going to record it on your phone and post it on social media?”
“No.”
“Then assume the push-up punishment position right-”
Han Ga-in Style Secret Technique: Teleport Body Slam!
--- Crash!
One strike was enough to bend the deranged teacher, who kept offering students to the Cult, backward at the waist.
Come to think of it, Eun-sol had smiled wryly after hearing my plan and given it a name.
‘Project Terraforming.’
It begins now.
Footnotes:
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