WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 423: Party Time (3) - Where Is the Last NPC?

──────

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 376

Current Location: Level 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 0]

- Han Ga-in

The moment Eun-sol used Greedy Hand with a solemn expression, a notification appeared.

「A special event will occur at a participant's request.

.

.

.

Today's special event: Comprehensive repairs on Floors 1 and 2!」

Comprehensive repairs on Floors 1 and 2? Out of nowhere?

We barely had time to be confused by the absurd notification before the entire Hotel began shaking violently. A loud noise followed from the displays all around us.

--- Rumble!

「Dear guests, Hotel Pioneer will undergo comprehensive repairs for the next three days. Construction will begin in ten minutes. Please move to a safe location before Floors 1 and 2 are closed.」

Jin-cheol spoke in a flustered voice.

“Noona! Y-you made the wish properly, right? The hidden...”

“...”

Instead of answering, Eun-sol fell silent in thought. A-ri immediately ran off, saying she would bring the Protective Suit and Wing Boots.

The others saw that and began gathering whatever they thought they would need.

I brought the Hourglass too.

By the time everyone had gathered in the corridor again, nobody asked Eun-sol any more questions.

They all understood the situation.

If both the first and second floors were being closed, the basement was the only safe place left.

* * *

The moment we hurriedly arrived in the basement, A-ri spoke incredulously.

“Eun-sol, just in case, you didn't make a mistake with your wish, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then there's only one answer. Doesn't this mean the hidden NPC is in the basement?”

The situation itself was simple.

As we'd experienced when finding the Mirror Room, Sponsors were forbidden from directly giving information about hidden elements.

For example, if I used Sage’s Advice to ask about a hidden element, the Owl would ignore the question entirely.

Rather than directly telling us where the hidden NPC was, it seemed Eun-sol's Sponsor had closed every place where the NPC wasn't.

I understood that much, but...

“I was hoping it would at least be somewhere on the second floor.”

Everyone sighed at A-ri's words.

The Hotel's basement was an almost endless space.

There were small facilities like bars and billiard halls, and enormous ones like Hiking and the Ski Resort. There was no way to know how many facilities existed down there.

The companions who often used the basement facilities even said their locations changed every time they visited.

It wasn't a disaster that the first and second floors would be closed for three days.

There were plenty of places in the basement where we could eat and sleep.

I was just already exhausted at the thought of searching the basement for three whole days.

--- Clap!

Eun-sol finally clapped her hands.

“The NPC won't appear if we just stand around. Let's begin. Everyone, search the various basement facilities.”

A-ri added, “If possible, check places you don't normally visit. It must be hiding somewhere strange!”

And so, we began another search for the first time in a while.

* * *

[Swimming Pool]

[Billiards Hall]

Let's skip places we'd visited three or four times already.

If it had been somewhere like this, we would've found it by now.

[Hiking]

We'd already found the Souvenir Shop there, so we could skip this place too.

There couldn't be two hidden things in one room, right?

[Gym]

[Bar]

[PC Café]

Grandfather and Jin-cheol often went to the gym, while Eun-sol frequently visited the bar, so there probably wouldn't be anything there.

The PC café? Should I check this place?

--- Click!

When I opened the door, a rather upscale PC café appeared.

It had plush executive chairs, expensive-looking tables, several pricey computers, and even game consoles.

A perfect place to relax and play...

“Seung-yeop?”

“...”

“Seung-yeop.”

“Ah, Ga-in hyung!”

Seung-yeop was completely focused on a game. No matter how I looked at it, he didn't seem to be searching.

On the monitor, a blond boy in green was fighting monsters or running across grasslands.

“Is it fun? I heard you can't play LoL because there's no internet.”

“Hyung, this isn't LoL. It's called The Legend of Zelda...”

“Ah, so the kid in green is Zelda?”

“...”

Seung-yeop fell silent, flustered.

Then someone appeared beneath the bright white lights.

“Hi.”

The moment I heard that voice, I turned off the Nintendo.

“Argh! G-Ga-in hyung! My save! I didn't save-”

“Hey! Park Seung-yeop! How many times have I told you not to summon Yumi when you're alone!”

“Gasp! Th-that was...”

“Isn't it rude to openly ignore someone right in front of them?”

“...”

In the end, I turned toward Yumi with an awkward smile.

Curly black hair, brown eyes, and a face that resembled Aurelia from Room 104, though she looked slightly younger.

She looked so real that I thought she'd already created a body, but that wasn't the case.

“This is the first time we've met since leaving Room 104. I thought you'd look like a ghost, but you're closer to a hologram, I guess?”

She looked distinctly unhappy.

“Seung-yeop told me. You told him not to let me create a body for a while?”

“...”

He'd practically repeated our private conversation to Yumi word for word.

“We need time to think things over too. It isn't necessarily because we suspect you.”

“... Okay.”

At first, I was dumbfounded, but another thought soon came to mind.

Our perspective, coaching him from a distance, could be different from Seung-yeop's perspective as the person actually using the Inheritance.

What if we wouldn't let Yumi create the body she desperately wanted, while hiding information and refusing to properly explain why?

Their relationship would be bound to fall apart.

If Seung-yeop wasn't going to find another NPC, he needed to care about his relationship with Yumi too.

He didn't need to mechanically follow only A-ri or Grandfather's opinions.

I understood Seung-yeop's thinking too, so I turned off the Nintendo again.

“Argh! Why again? Again! Hyung, seriously, what's wrong with you!”

“I'll go search somewhere else~!”

“Ga-in hyung!”

* * *

[Train Journey]

There really were all kinds of convenience facilities in the basement.

When I opened the door, I found a train car actually in motion.

I wondered if that made any sense, but if I started questioning things like that, I couldn't live in the Hotel.

As I walked across the soft first-class carpet, I spotted Elena.

“Oh! Ga-in?”

“You were here. Have you found anything?”

“Not yet. But maybe it will appear if we wait.”

“That could happen.”

I sat across from Elena and looked out the window.

A white landscape stretched beyond it.

A vast snowfield, snowflakes drifting through the air, and coniferous trees rising here and there.

It was beautiful, but somehow boring.

Elena was uncharacteristically quiet as she stared outside, as though recalling an old memory.

“What are you thinking about?”

“... When I was young, I once rode the Trans-Siberian Railway.”

“Ah, I've heard of that too. It's really famous, right?”

“Back then, my family lived peacefully, without having to run away...”

“... I-I see?”

“Being here brings back a lot of old memories.”

What was with this mood?

I'd wondered what she was thinking about, but she was suddenly recalling peaceful days from her childhood.

“...”

“...”

This was boring.

More importantly, I didn't think an NPC would appear if we just sat still.

“Elena, I just had a good idea.”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever broken a window while riding a train?”

“What?”

Elena looked at me as if she had no idea what I was talking about.

I wrapped my shirt around my hand like a glove and grabbed the emergency hammer beside the window. Even then, Elena watched me with eyes that seemed to say, Surely not.

I'm not a man who hesitates in situations like this.

--- Crash!

“Aah! Wh-what are you doing all of a sudden?”

“I'm not someone who hesitates in situations like-”

“Then hesitate a little! Why did you suddenly break the window? It's cold!”

Elena seemed a little angry, which was a rare sight.

--- Whoooosh!

A blizzard poured into the train in an instant, making conversation difficult.

“Listen!”

“I'm listening!”

“If the hidden NPC has difficult conditions for appearing!”

“So you suddenly broke the window? Have you seriously lost your mind?”

“Look around carefully! Something might appear-”

“Let's just get out of here right now!”

In the end, Elena and I opened the door connected to the Hotel and left [Train Journey].

In that brief time, we'd been soaked by snow. Elena still looked completely bewildered.

“Seriously... Ga-in, seriously! Have you actually gone crazy?”

“Ha ha! Do you feel a little less depressed now? It's a shame we didn't find the hidden NPC, but if Elena can smile-”

“Let's search different places separately.”

With that, Elena left me behind.

“...”

* * *

[Restaurant]

“Wow! There was a restaurant in the basement too?”

“...”

“Room 105 has a restaurant too, but there's one here as well? Is this place different somehow?”

“...”

Instead of answering, A-ri stared at my face.

“What is it?”

“I heard from Elena earlier.”

“...”

“She said something is a little wrong with your head.”

“Ha ha! Elena, honestly. I was just playing a little joke...”

“She said you suddenly broke a train window and let a blizzard inside.”

“...”

“I'm going to eat, so don't do anything strange.”

“Of course.”

When I sat across from A-ri, something bizarre began happening, as expected of the Hotel.

Beings who resembled mannequins more than people walked over stiffly and acted like restaurant staff.

“Would you like to order?”

A white menu soon appeared before me, but I couldn't even understand the word “Amuse-Bouche” at the top.

“...”

A-ri sighed once, then ordered a few things.

“Don't do anything strange.”

“What are you talking about? I came here to eat too.”

Soon, a scallop dish the size of a small biscuit arrived on an elegant white plate.

It looked so much like a painting that it seemed a waste to eat, but when I tried it, it tasted so-so.

“It's a little sour.”

“European food can be a little sour for Korean tastes.”

“Is this a European-style shellfish dish?”

“It's Mediterranean-style, but-”

“Did you eat this kind of food often while working at the Management Bureau?”

“It has nothing to do with the Management Bureau. I just have a high salary, so I've tried all sorts of things.”

I was envious.

Could I live like that once I got out?

After I ate the scallop dish and waited a little, a pink medium-rare tenderloin steak arrived. This one was definitely delicious.

“What is this red sauce?”

“Probably red wine reduced with stock added, and-”

As we talked, I remembered how skilled A-ri had been in the Hotel kitchen before.

Surprisingly, she seemed interested in cooking.

Our conversation naturally shifted to agents.

“Sometimes I've wondered, what kind of people become agents? Not everyone has supernatural powers like you. Even Grandfather was an ordinary human before entering the Hotel.”

“...”

“Is it still a secret?”

“... Well, I suppose I can tell you now. You know enough.”

“Okay.”

A-ri formed two circles with her hands and pressed them together.

It was a sideways eight, infinity.

“Only people who can endure this can become agents.”

Beings who could endure infinity.

“... By endure, do you mean what I think you mean?”

“Probably.”

“What kind of people can endure it?”

“It varies. Their soul may have risen in rank, they may have become entangled in a strange incident, or there may be no known reason at all.”

“Hmm... How does the Management Bureau find those people?”

“It's less that we find them, and more that they reveal themselves. What they experience feels like an unbelievable miracle to them, so all kinds of-”

“Ah, I found it!”

“What?”

The moment A-ri looked flustered, I examined the steak as if I were about to put it under a microscope and finally found a slightly burnt spot.

--- Bang!

I slammed my fist onto the table without hesitation. A-ri looked at me as if she couldn't believe it.

“Hey! You-”

I was only doing my best to find the NPC.

An NPC that had not appeared by the end of the second floor?

Its appearance conditions surely wouldn't be ordinary.

So I had to do something absurd and unexpected.

“S-sir? What's the matter? Is there some problem-”

“What kind of steak is this? You expect people to eat something this burnt?”

“W-we'll prepare another-”

“To hell with preparing another one! Bring out the owner!”

A-ri covered her face with both hands.

Footnotes:

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