WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 427: A Family of Distinction (3)

──────

- Han Ga-in

A thick, sturdy cord tightened around my neck.

The moment I loosened my grip, I felt like I'd lose consciousness. I couldn't do anything, let alone resist.

“Urk! Hngh! Hngh!”

When I opened my eyes through the pain, my younger relatives were crying in front of me.

“Hngh! Wh-what the hell! Ghk!”

Min-seok, Min-a, Suzy, and Cheol-min, all the kids left at the country house, were pressed against the wall in terror.

A few had already wet themselves. In that short time, some unknown being seemed to have crushed both their bodies and minds.

“Ghk!”

Slowly, I turned my head and looked ahead.

Who the hell was choking me-

“...”

It was Hee-gang.

My only little sister.

The moment our eyes met, she smiled sweetly.

“Big brother, you love me, right?”

“Mmph!”

A Name Tag reading ‘Han Min-sang’ was attached to my sister's chest.

What was this Name Tag?

And Han Min-sang? Not Han Hee-gang?

“Ghk!”

I was dragged away helplessly.

The cord around my neck was bad enough, but that thing was far too strong!

After being dragged through two rooms in agony, I saw a jar before me.

Its lid was open.

“Please... Please... Min-sang...”

An exhausted, ancient voice.

It was Great-Grandfather.

“Hahaha! Brother, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“Min-sang... Please. Th-that child has done nothing wrong-”

“Done nothing wrong?”

“Please, take my body-”

“Kyahaha!”

That thing answered with the laughter of a young girl.

“Brother, your body isn't really an option, is it? What am I supposed to do with such an old body? Do you think it's worth the same as the body I had as a child?”

“... Min-sang.”

“Don't worry. I feel sorry for this kid too!”

With one hand, it dragged me by the cord around my neck as it approached Great-Grandfather. With the other, it tore off the Name Tag reading ‘Han Jin-seong’ from his chest.

The moment the tag came off, Great-Grandfather collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Brother... My beloved brother Jin-seong. How could I watch you die such a meaningless death? I couldn't. I'll give you immortality.”

--- Clatter!

The Name Tag slipped into the open jar.

Then the thing that had stolen my sister's body looked at me.

“Hello?”

“...”

“This is hard, isn't it? It's hard to breathe, isn't it? Your whole body's shaking, and you can't even move, right?”

“...”

“Don't worry. I'll make you comfortable soon!”

“...”

Without my noticing, Name Tags had appeared on everyone's chests.

I had one too, a piece of cloth with ‘Han Ga-in’ written on it.

That thing, probably Han Min-sang, smiled brightly as it peeled the Name Tag off me, though I couldn't even move a finger.

My consciousness blurred.

At that moment, I was terrified.

Not because I didn't know what would happen next, but because I vaguely understood.

...

...

...

The first thing I felt was weight.

Pain crushed my entire body as though someone had strapped heavy chunks of iron onto me.

When I moved my hand in despair, my joints clacked unpleasantly like old gears.

Even opening my eyes was difficult, and every breath made my lungs heave painfully.

I, Han Ga-in, a first-year middle school student...

Was trapped in the body of an old man nearing ninety.

This was the most painful prison in the world.

“Arghlurk!”

I couldn't speak properly.

Phlegm filling my throat impeded my speech.

How had Great-Grandfather moved and spoken in a body like this?

When I opened my eyes in despair, I saw a boy grinning in front of me.

It was me.

The monster that had taken my body.

“Wow! A boy's body really is nice.”

“Grrk!”

“Sorry! The other kids were the wrong gender or too young. That was inconvenient too. You looked just the right age.”

“Ghk... You... You bastard!”

“Huh? Huh? Grandpa? What's wrong? Are you in pain?”

I was angry.

Rage rose from the depths of my heart, making my whole body tremble.

“Calm down. You know it's dangerous to get too angry at your age, right?”

“...”

I was furious enough to go mad.

At the same time, I was so terrified I felt like my breath would stop.

How could I get back into my body?

Then I saw the Name Tag reading ‘Han Min-sang’ attached to Han Ga-in's chest.

The Name Tag! That was the source of this whole mess.

Were Name Tags souls? Did moving them make souls switch bodies?

Then, if I removed the ‘Han Ga-in’ Name Tag that must be attached to this old body's chest and put it back on my body-

“I can see what you're thinking. You think you can just move the Name Tags again, right?”

“...”

“Ah, I get it. You're going to make the adults do it when they come back tomorrow?”

“You...”

“But what are you going to do?”

The being, now a boy, snickered as it walked toward the open jar.

--- Clatter!

The lid of the jar closed.

The Name Tag disappeared into the darkness.

“That's the end! Ahaha! Look at your face! Why, did you think you'd get a chance too?”

“...”

“You idiot! I lost to my brother, but do you think I'd lose to a little kid like you? Ah, you're not a little kid anymore. Grandpa! Enjoy the rest of your life in peace!”

Despair, terror, pain, fear.

I fell into a bottomless pit of negative emotions too deep for words, screaming and screaming where no one could hear me.

Rather than live the rest of my life as a ninety-year-old man and die, I wanted to beg someone to kill me now.

Just as I was about to collapse.

--- Shhk!

The world turned into a black-and-white film, then split in two.

Flowing black hair.

Ruby-red eyes.

Delicate features, enough to make her resemble a living doll.

The moment I saw her, the dam blocking off part of my mind vanished as if it had never existed.

It was A-ri.

My real companion.

That thing's eyes went wide at the sudden change, and A-ri swung her hand without hesitation.

--- Slice!

That thing's head, or rather, my head, spun through the air before falling to the ground.

That meant my body was definitely dead-

“Aaah!”

“...”

“Wh-what was that! You killed my body completely? Then there's no way to go back-”

“You don't seem to have fully come to your senses yet.”

“What?”

“You've already lost at this point.”

“What does that-”

“There isn't time to explain. You've already failed several times. It seems you can't clear this alone...”

“What did you say?”

“How strange. This is clearly a dramatization of something that happened in reality. How did middle school Ga-in overcome this situation in the past?”

I couldn't understand even half of what A-ri was saying.

Was I really not fully awake, as she said?

“There must be something you still haven't figured out. I was going to leave you alone a little longer to see what it was...”

“...”

“It's not easy to just stand by and watch, either. So...”

The beautiful girl smiled faintly and approached me.

Her soft hand stroked the dying old man's head.

My trembling lips moved at random.

“I... I...”

“...”

“I suddenly got old. B-because of that strange monster, I turned into a grandpa-”

“It's okay. You're not that old.”

“Huh?”

“Even by your body's age, you're a baby who's not even a hundred years old. Why do you keep calling yourself old?”

“...”

“Ga-in, don't worry. We'll wake you soon. Try the next dream with me. If that fails, someone else will help you next time.”

--- Slice!

A frozen flash split the air.

That was my last memory.

* * *

...

...

...

--- Rustle!

A gentle breeze brushed my cheek, and I heard bamboo leaves rustling in the nearby grove.

I only had a moment to take in the scent of earth tickling my nose before the little kid in front of me reached for a wriggling bug with a hand-

“Hey!”

“Huh? G-Ga-in, big brother...”

“Min-seok, I told you not to touch bugs.”

My cousin, or was he my first cousin once removed?

Either way, when I stopped Min-seok from trying to swallow a bug, Min-a behind me started making a scene.

“Waaah!”

“Wh-why are you crying?”

“Aaah! Aahkkeeaaahrrk!”

“Please make human noises!”

Min-a had fallen over on the dirt and was now throwing a fit because their knee was bleeding.

As I wiped it with a piece of cloth, a delighted voice suddenly came from beside me.

“Fishy, fishy!”

My heart dropped the instant I heard it.

Fishy? Fish? Did that mean this little brat had gone into the water alone?

Startled, I turned around and found Cheol-min had already stepped into the stream without even rolling up his pants.

It was shallow and the current was weak, so it wasn't particularly dangerous. Still, kids this age could get into accidents while lying in bed.

“Seriously! Don't you listen to your big brother? I told you to stay still!”

Really, this was why kids-

“This is why kids are no good.”

?

“I hate wasting time in places like this.”

When I turned around, my younger sister A-ri was looking at me with a slightly irritated expression.

Hadn't she been sniffling a moment ago, saying her legs hurt?

“Ga-in.”

“What?”

Why was she suddenly speaking so casually?

No, even drinking cold water follows seniority. How could a younger sister speak that way to her big brother-

“Hiya!”

Before I could say anything, A-ri moved like lightning and soundly smacked the younger relatives on the head.

“H-hey! A-ri?”

“Waaah!”

“If you cry one more time in front of me, I'll pull out your teeth.”

“... Hic!”

A-ri made all four younger relatives cry the same way, then subdued them with a glare.

“...”

Watching that incredible sight, casual speech no longer seemed like such a big problem.

“Ga-in. Let's go back.”

“Y-you should still call me big brother... And there are relatives at the house-”

“Don't worry about it and go back. I don't want to waste my stamina in a strange place, so move!”

My sister was strangely forceful today.

* * *

The moment we returned to the country house, loud voices rang out.

“Jeong-ho! You never even visit Grandfather's house normally, but now-”

“Is Uncle any different? Anyone would think you were some great filial son!”

“What's with the way you talk? Min-seung did a terrible job raising his kids!”

“Good grief! Take care of your own damned kids, Brother!”

“You little bastard-”

“No, Brother and I came from the same mother. If I'm a bastard, then what are you-”

--- Crash!

As I awkwardly smiled and tried to take the younger kids toward the mountain behind the house, A-ri snickered.

“Big brooo!”

“...”

“Ah, this is a little hard. Still, big brooo!”

Why did that sound so strange?

“Wh-what is it?”

“Go to the parking lot right now.”

As she spoke, A-ri picked up a sharp piece of metal from the ground and sharpened it against a rock.

“I can't use blood at this point... I'll need something like this.”

She couldn't use blood? Something like this?

“W-why the parking lot all of a sudden? And what's that piece of metal?”

“Big brooo!”

“Ugh! Fine, fine! Let's go!”

No joke, every time I heard that, I felt like I was going to throw up.

* * *

The parking lot to the right of the country house was full of cars brought by my parents and relatives. There were even quite a few expensive foreign cars.

“A-ri, why did you suddenly want to come to the parking lot? Did you want to see something- Hey! Are you crazy?”

“Aah!”

Before I could even catch my breath, A-ri dashed out like lightning and began stabbing tires with the piece of metal!

As I rushed over to stop her, A-ri lightly twisted her body and knocked me away.

She hadn't done anything particularly impressive, yet before I knew it, I was rolling across the dirt.

Had my little sister secretly learned Muay Thai or something?

“No! Forget Muay Thai, what are you doing all of a sudden? If you wreck all the cars like this-”

Unlike me, pale with fright, A-ri looked perfectly calm.

“Hmm... If I wreck the cars, can I send only the adults outside? I'll have to check.”

“C-check what?”

“Ga-in, let's go.”

“Check what!”

“Big bro-”

I ended up covering my ears.

Footnotes:

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