WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 428: A Family of Distinction (4)
──────
- Han Ga-in
It didn't take long for the country house to descend into chaos.
A-ri didn't even seem to have any intention of hiding the fact that she'd wrecked the car tires.
Naturally, the shocked adults began shouting, and my parents had to apologize repeatedly and promise to pay for the repairs.
A-ri and I got chewed out together.
...
Why was I getting scolded too?
Because I hadn't kept my younger sister under control?
Did that make any sense?
I told them A-ri had suddenly moved like she'd mastered Muay Thai and knocked me into the dirt, but nobody believed me. It was so unfair.
What turned this ridiculous situation into a full-blown comedy was A-ri's attitude.
Far from reflecting on what she'd done, A-ri offered halfhearted apologies in a tone that said, ‘Time, please pass already.’
Dad finally snapped and, in front of all the relatives, told A-ri to roll up her pant legs.
A-ri yawned once, muttered something insane like, ‘I should start acting freely now,’ then took off!
“H-Han A-ri! Get back here!”
“Farewell, everyone! I'm casting off every shackle and going to find my happiness!”
“Th-that crazy little...!”
And just like that, A-ri vanished like the wind.
All that remained were the adults staring around as if they had no idea what had just happened, and Great-Grandfather laughing like a madman.
“Bwahaha! Whoever raised that girl did a fine job! Hey, stop chasing her! Kids are supposed to be unruly. Who are you blaming? She'll come back when it's time to eat!”
* * *
Around lunchtime, the adults started fighting again.
Apparently, Great-Grandfather had given Granduncle a rather large sum of money long ago, and that had become a problem.
“You bastards! You didn't make an issue of it back then-”
“That was because we didn't know how much he'd received! We heard it was 1.5 billion won, so why-”
“He said it was 800 million when he got it!”
“Lying again! Nothing but lies comes out whenever you open your mouth!”
“Chang-sik, you punk! Show some respect to your elders when you speak-”
With everyone getting loud again, I took my younger siblings out to the garden.
While we passed the time outside, scattering cookie crumbs for the carp, someone sighed beside me.
“Ga-in, you've had it rough too.”
Startled, I looked over and saw that Great-Grandfather had come over at some point.
“Grandpa?”
“Aren't those bastards awful?”
“...”
“Ga-in, where's A-ri?”
“I don't know either.”
“Where could she be wandering around without even eating lunch?”
“She'll get in huge trouble if she's caught...”
“Kids wreck cars sometimes. Why punish them over something so minor?”
“...”
Grandpa, I honestly didn't think that was right.
If someone's daughter suddenly poked holes in fifteen or so tires with an iron rod, wouldn't every parent in the world reach for a switch?
“I'll get rid of those bastards soon, so tell A-ri to come eat.”
“What?”
Get rid of them?
Did he mean the adults?
It didn't take long to understand what he meant.
Great-Grandfather called for a truck, then suddenly sent every adult to a nearby greenhouse.
Once things turned out that way, A-ri reappeared.
“Hmm...”
“Forget ‘hmm’! Why did you wreck those tires earlier? Because of you, I got-”
“It seems like sending the adults away was an unavoidable part of the flow.”
“What?”
“Whether or not I ruined the tires didn't really matter. Looking at the situation, sending them to the greenhouse wasn't an impulsive decision.”
“...”
“Han Jin-seong got sick of his descendants gathering here and fighting over his Inheritance. So he kept acting spitefully, and when he couldn't take it anymore, he just drove them out.”
I couldn't understand what A-ri was talking about.
Yet...
Another me clearly understood her words.
“A-ri-”
“Listen carefully.”
“...”
“Right now, you're basically in the state you were in during middle school, but you aren't completely from that time either. Somewhere inside, you understand what's happening.”
“...”
“You feel something too, don't you? That's why you're staying quiet.”
“...”
“Let's go see Han Jin-seong together. I need to find something out from him.”
* * *
“Oh my! Sweetie, where have you been hiding all this time?”
“...”
“Hahaha! Don't worry, Grandpa isn't going to scold you just because you wrecked a few tires. You skipped lunch too, didn't you? Make sure you eat properly-”
Maybe because I'd heard what A-ri said earlier, I could sense the kind great-grandfather worrying about his great-granddaughter's meal.
Nothing remained of the spiteful man who had been tormenting the adults.
Had the sight of descendants gathering in his old age, greedy for his Inheritance, been that stressful for him?
Regardless, A-ri raised her head and stared straight at him.
“...”
“...”
Grandpa and I both fell silent, uncomfortable with this, but A-ri didn't stop.
“Ahem, what's so interesting about this old face of mine-”
“No.”
“What?”
“No, it isn't.”
“What isn't?”
“Grandpa, may I ask you some questions?”
“Of course.”
Grandpa looked curious about what this amusing granddaughter would ask.
“Ga-in's relatives, ahem. You're uncomfortable with the adults fighting at the country house, aren't you?”
“...”
“Am I wrong?”
“Whew... To hear something like this from such a young child. Instead of you getting scolded for tearing up a few tires, those bastards should be put through drills under the blazing sun-”
“Grandpa, you know why the adults are acting like that.”
“...”
“I don't understand. You have plenty of assets, and you have a lawyer beside you. There must have been a way to distribute them better than this, at least.”
Was A-ri always this thoughtful?
I was flustered, but I'd been curious about it too, so I didn't stop her.
“Whew... It's a strange story. I don't know if you children will believe it.”
“We'll believe you, so tell us.”
After that, Grandpa began talking about a mysterious jar.
An object that had come over from Japan, though its exact origin was unknown. The material prosperity that had found him after he acquired it.
Unlike me, who listened closely because it was interesting, A-ri waved a hand as if she already knew the story and asked another question.
“So you didn't gain your wealth naturally. You gained it with the help of a strange object.”
“... That's right.”
“Do you perhaps not want to give your assets to your descendants?”
What was that supposed to mean?
“Do you think there might be some kind of curse tied to your assets? Because they weren't gained naturally?”
Great-Grandfather looked as if she'd hit the mark. He stood with an awkward smile.
“Haha, A-ri. Grandpa only told you that story for fun. Why are you taking it so seriously? Let's eat lunch-”
“I want to see the jar.”
“... Go eat lunch.”
With that, Grandpa left.
Once we were alone, A-ri looked at me with meaningful eyes.
“We solved one mystery. Why Han Jin-seong was doing strange things with his assets. He didn't want to give them away. He thinks that if his descendants inherit the assets, they might inherit the curse tied to the jar as well.”
“...”
“Of course, no matter how hard he explains that occult nonsense, his descendants aren't going to say, ‘Yes, we'll give up 100 billion won!’ So he's been worrying about it alone.”
“...”
“I'm going to check the underground storage room now.”
“What? You're going to the storage room?”
“This path is probably different from what actually happened in your past. Still, I'm the first person attempting it. Even if I know it'll fail, I need to try different things and see what happens.”
“... It's strange. I don't understand anything you're saying, but I feel like I do.”
“That feeling is enough.”
“Why are you explaining this to me?”
A-ri smiled lightly and put a hand on my shoulder.
“I'm warning you because things might get difficult from here on out. Come on, let's go to the storage room.”
* * *
--- Crash!
The sound of a plate breaking.
--- Clang!
A silver candlestick rolling carelessly across the floor.
--- Creak!
A wardrobe being wrenched open.
Only ten minutes after the tyrant named A-ri entered the storage room, it had become a disaster zone.
Startled by the racket, one of the employees who managed the hanok came by. Seeing the owner's great-granddaughter tearing the place apart, they left in bewilderment.
“... I-Is this really okay?”
“It doesn't matter, so help me look for the jar. Where the hell did he hide it?”
“C-Can you really destroy the storage room like this?”
A-ri ignored me completely.
“A-ri, the caretaker got startled and ran off! I think they'll bring Grandpa here soon.”
“It doesn't matter.”
Not long after, Great-Grandfather appeared, supported by a sturdy man.
“Oh dear! What happened here?”
“Grandpa...”
“Ga-in, A-ri. If there's something you want, you should ask Grandpa. Why are you rummaging through the storage room like this?”
“...”
“Seung-chan, take the children outside and-”
Just as Grandpa was about to instruct the employee, A-ri spoke coldly.
“Han Jin-seong. Send the employee outside.”
“...”
“...”
No one would expect a great-granddaughter to speak to her great-grandfather that way.
Yet nobody scolded A-ri for being rude.
There was an indescribable pressure in her presence, her tone, everything.
“Sweetie.”
“I don't want to hear you call me sweetie, so send the servant away.”
“... Seung-chan. Go clean the garden for a while.”
“S-Sir, is that all right?”
“Why aren't you going?”
“Understood!”
The storage room was in ruins, and the three people inside stood silent in an odd atmosphere.
A-ri finally broke the silence.
“Grandpa, you said you worked for the Management Bureau, right?”
“...”
“Then you'll understand what I'm saying. I'll be direct. I'm an agent.”
Rather than deny it or laugh at her, Grandpa approached A-ri and studied her closely.
Could Management Bureau people tell something just by looking at each other?
“Strange... Strange. There definitely wasn't anyone from the Management Bureau among our family... A-ri, if you've heard some strange story somewhere-”
“Recently.”
“...”
“I recently crossed the Boundary.”
“...”
“Do you not understand if I put it that way? Should I say I crossed beyond infinity-”
“I understand, so that's enough.”
“...”
Grandpa's tone changed.
“... I thought you'd been acting strange since morning. What in the world-”
“Where's the jar? And you, Han Jin-seong.”
“...”
“You aren't an agent. I wondered what it meant when I heard you were something like an agent.”
“...”
“Since it's an object you can't manage, hand it over to me.”
“Whew... How are you people still exactly the same after all this time?”
“The same?”
“What will you do after taking the jar? Capture innocent civilians and grind them up to find out what price the jar demands?”
“...”
“Ah, capturing and grinding up ordinary citizens is a little harsh, so will you gather death row inmates and try it on them this time?”
At that, A-ri gave a small laugh.
“So that's what it was like long ago.”
“What did you say?”
“This place is very, very far in the past. Maybe that's why it feels a little different.”
“What are you talking about-”
“Just hand it over. Don't make this troublesome. If you interfere, I'll contact Headquarters.”
Grandpa's expression hardened. Then, as though he had given up, he went deep into the storage room.
It was somewhere A-ri and I would have struggled to find even after hours of searching.
“Good. Now I know where the jar is.”
“...”
Great-Grandfather handed the jar to A-ri with a pained expression.
“You'll surely do something cruel, but this is far more than you think-”
“You're wrong.”
“What?”
“I have a rough idea what you're thinking, but what I plan to do is completely different from what you expect.”
“What does that-”
“And sorry. What I'm about to do has nothing to do with the Management Bureau.”
“What have you been talking about this whole-”
A-ri, who had only been saying what she wanted to say, looked at me.
“Ga-in.”
“Huh? What?”
“You've talked about your family sometimes before, but I never got the impression that you inherited billions to tens of billions of won.”
“...”
“That means Han Jin-seong's assets of over 100 billion won disappeared somewhere in the real history. Doesn't that mean the correct path is for the assets to disappear?”
I was confused.
One me couldn't understand A-ri at all, while another vaguely understood.
Thanks to the latter, I realized what A-ri was about to do.
--- Crash!
The instant the jar struck the hard stone floor and shattered, Great-Grandfather's face turned pale.
“Y-Y-You crazy bitch! What the hell have you done-”
“Don't suddenly start swearing. And did I do something bad? I only broke one haunted jar.”
“Break it?! If smashing it could solve the problem that easily, I would have long ago-”
“I know. Something strange will happen if you break it. That's why you've been trembling, unable to do anything about it.”
“What?”
As Great-Grandfather collapsed onto the floor, looking lost, A-ri smiled lightly.
“Sometimes, you need to check even when you expect a Bad Ending. What will happen if I break this? I'll go find out.”
“Crazy bitch... Crazy bitch...!”
“Jin-seong, you really know how to make people uncomfortable.”
Then time passed.
...
...
...
* * *
Not long after the incident, Great-Grandfather passed away.
There was no will, so the assets were distributed according to statutory inheritance shares. Naturally, that process caused a great deal of conflict.
Many things happened afterward.
I didn't want to explain every detail, but simply put, Dad lost sight in one eye and his job.
He opened a coffee shop with his severance pay, and even though my sister and I were middle school students, we had to help there every day.
Then one day, A-ri gave a bitter smile while fiddling with the espresso machine.
“Sorry.”
“... Huh?”
“I expected it, but it looks like breaking the jar comes at a price.”
“...”
“It seems you can't carelessly break it once you've gained assets through supernatural means and enjoyed prosperity.”
“...”
“Everyone who received an Inheritance has been cursed. Should we give up the Inheritance?”
“...”
“Or maybe this entire direction was wrong. This Dream was your ‘most terrible memory,’ wasn't it? It seems the Name Tag Snatching Game itself has to happen somehow.”
“...”
“Is an ending like this not good?”
“An ending like this? What do you mean?”
“The family goes completely broke, but a cute, pretty younger sister helps rebuild it with her older brother?”
“...”
“Doesn't that seem surprisingly possible? Look behind you.”
The coffee shop was doing unbelievably well.
It was incredibly famous in the neighborhood because of the beauty of its part-time worker.
Thanks to that, customers couldn't get in without taking a number.
Right then, another unfortunate student came to order coffee.
“E-Excuse me!”
“Yes.”
“N-Number-”
“Order first.”
“Y-Yes! One venti iced Americano! Um, the number-”
“You can't.”
“Pardon?”
“You can only get a number if you order both coffee and cake.”
“...”
“Iced Americano?”
“... No. T-The most expensive thing!”
“A venti mint chocolate mocha frappuccino with two extra espresso shots? And a blueberry chocolate cheesecake too?”
“... Yes.”
“That'll be 19,500 won.”
Trembling, the boy ordered coffee and cake that he probably couldn't finish alone, and A-ri wrote ‘my phone number’ on a note.
“That isn't your number. It's mine.”
“As her older brother, you should stop strange men from hitting on your younger sister.”
“...”
“More importantly, what do you think? Isn't this enough to rebuild the family?”
I suddenly felt dizzy.
Footnotes:
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