WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 437: Room 206, Curse Room - The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days Re (2)
──────
- Yoo Song-i
“The duck confit is especially delicious today.”
“I know. I think the chef keeps getting better.”
It was just small talk.
I didn't have time to care whether it was duck confit, sous vide, or grilled duck.
With every bite of meat, mouthful of salad, and sip of water, I watched Leon’s complexion.
Eventually, Leon gave an awkward smile.
“Song-i, I know I'm rather handsome, but you're staring so intently that you're making me self-conscious.”
It'd be better to just ask.
We're father and daughter anyway, aren't we?
“The examination results came in, right? I saw the secretary deliver an envelope earlier.”
“Ha ha ha! Were you that worried?”
“Was there a problem?”
“You really are something. I already told you a few days ago that I'm healthy. Don't worry and focus on your meal.”
“... Yes.”
What did that mean?
Did Yumi fail?
Since we couldn't use the Chat Window in Paradise, I hadn't received any news from my companions.
Or was he concealing it out of love because he was afraid I'd worry?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my appetite vanished, replaced by an indescribable sense of guilt.
The Mayor, Leon Kadyrov, loved me.
Of course, it was only an illusion created by my blessing.
What about me?
I couldn't possibly say I loved Leon as though he were my real father.
If I did, I wouldn't have devised a plan with my companions to make the Mayor terminally ill.
“Are you all right?”
“Of course. I'm happy you're healthy too, Dad.”
“Ha ha! Song-i, you sometimes say embarrassing things so openly.”
“... Thank you for the meal.”
With complicated feelings swirling inside me, I returned to my room.
* * *
“Miss.”
“...”
“Miss!”
“Ah.”
Late at night, an employee who had served the family for many years came to see me.
“Leon is looking for you.”
“I'll be there shortly.”
I hurriedly changed into everyday clothes and headed for Leon’s bedroom.
He was leaning against the sofa with a complicated expression, and a half-empty bottle of wine sat on the table.
“Dad?”
Leon wasn't someone who drank much because alcohol clouded the mind.
“...”
“Dad?”
“I have something urgent to discuss with Song-i. Everyone, leave us.”
“Yes, sir.”
After dismissing the employees, Leon beckoned me over.
His first words after a long silence were an apology.
“I'm sorry.”
“...”
“I should have told you during dinner.”
“...”
“At the time, I wanted to deny reality too.”
“... Dad.”
“I thought there was a problem with the examination results. So I confirmed it with the hospital several times.”
Rather than offering more explanations, Leon handed me the paper containing the examination results.
“...”
My companions hadn't failed.
The Mayor simply needed time to accept reality.
Once I realized that, complicated feelings I couldn't explain filled me again.
Yoo Song-i was glad things were going according to plan.
Song-i Kadyrov was sad, faintly empathizing with the emotional pain of her fake father.
“I'm sorry. I didn't want to show you this weak side of myself.... I thought there'd be no problems for at least another ten years.”
“...”
“If that were the case, you could have trained under me to fulfill the duties expected of the Kadyrov Family.”
After that, Leon spoke at length about the sort of things a father might say to his daughter.
... If I kept hearing things like this, the aftereffects would probably be serious.
“When you were young, Song-i... Hm? Didn't your bracelet flash just now?”
“You must have imagined it.”
The teacher from Room 103 had taught me this long ago.
The senses were nothing more than illusions created by the brain, yet humans were weak creatures easily swayed by those illusions.
Using Diverse Perspectives, I altered my perception just a little.
Leon’s voice rang out like strange mechanical noise, while his appearance changed into that of an unfamiliar middle-aged man with a cold, impassive expression.
That slight change alone was enough for my instincts to no longer see this man as Leon.
The weak mind that had been showing needless empathy froze over.
The moment Diverse Perspectives flashed, it blew away like a feather.
That was the temporary weight of my heart.
I was Yoo Song-i, one who climbed the Hotel.
“When your mother was alive, I...”
“Father.”
“Hm?”
“If you truly don't have much time left, please tell me what I absolutely need to know rather than things like this.”
“...”
Father, your condition is serious, isn't it?
The hospital said you had more than one cardiovascular disease, right?
They said you'd cross the rainbow bridge before long, right?
Then it’s about time you started preparing for the succession.
“Phew.... Song-i, you're better than I am. Yes, there's something I need to show you. Come this way.”
The Kadyrov Family ruled Paradise.
There were other members besides my father and me, and they too were First-Class Citizens.
Yet only those who inherited special items could succeed to the position of Mayor.
Leon’s One More Chance and my Diverse Perspectives were examples.
Therefore, when Leon Kadyrov died, I would become the next Mayor.
--- Beep! Beep!
The man who would soon become the “former Mayor” operated a device hidden beneath the table, and a round hologram appeared.
“Song-i, do you know what this is?”
“...”
I knew exactly what it was, which startled me for a moment.
A planet, and clearly Earth.
I could see continents I knew well, such as Asia and America.
“This is the planet we live on. Then again, it's in the curriculum for Second-Class Citizens and above, so you've probably seen it too.”
“...”
After all the experiences we'd accumulated in the Hotel, we no longer thought the scenarios inside Curse Rooms were stories the Hotel created at will.
Curse Rooms were adaptations of events that had actually occurred somewhere in the universe.
If so, was Room 206 one of Earth’s many possibilities?
An Earth from a parallel world where the Management Bureau had been destroyed by the Demon King?
I suppressed my thoughts before they could spread in too many directions.
I needed to focus on what was in front of me.
“Where is Paradise?”
“Here.”
The setting of Room 206, Paradise, was roughly in the Canadian part of North America.
I wasn't very knowledgeable about world geography, so I couldn't be more specific.
Then Leon tapped the device, and red dots appeared all over the hologram.
“Do you know what these dots mean?”
“...”
I thought I did.
“These are the locations of the Protected Zones where humanity currently survives.”
“Protected Zone.”
It was an extremely meaningful term.
Leon pressed a button once more.
This time, blue dots appeared all over the globe.
* * *
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 384
Current Location: Room 206, Curse Room - ‘The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
--- Clang! Clang!
“Ugh.... Is it morning already?”
“It feels like we just fell asleep.”
“Fuck! Our sleep time is way too shor-”
- Fourth-Class Citizen Paulo, profanity detected.
“H-huh? That just slipped out...”
- Lunch privileges revoked for today.
As always, another fucking day in Paradise had begun.
Some people might find the vulgar word “fuck” unpleasant, but when reality was horrible, the words used to describe it naturally became crude too.
Still, today was a little different.
Today was the third day since arriving in Room 206.
My plan begins now.
“...”
As I rose from the worn-out bed and thought about what I was about to do, a smile came to my face.
I never thought I'd do something this absurd in my life.
“Hey!”
“...”
“Hey! You idiot bastard, Han Ga-in!”
It was Foreman Peterson.
“What are you doing sitting on your bed? Clean up and get up right now!”
“...”
“Do I have to beat you with my fists before you'll listen?”
The large man strode over and grabbed me by the collar. The nearby miners looked at me with concern.
“... Foreman Peterson.”
“Kid! We don't have time, so spit it out!”
“Last night, I heard the voice of the Great One.”
“Wh-what?”
Everyone around me, even Foreman Peterson, stared blankly at my sudden words.
At that moment, with everyone’s attention on me, whether for good or ill, I spoke the first sentence of what would become a myth.
“Rejoice. The Lord has delivered glorious news. The Great One has risen.”
* * *
Nothing much changed about the work afterward.
The miners didn't immediately fall to their knees and pray after hearing my words.
They merely assumed a young miner exhausted from labor had lost his mind. Foreman Peterson was simply dumbfounded and punched me once.
As always, I had to head to District 13 with the miners and devote myself to mining.
During a brief break, an older miner approached me.
“Young man, are you all right?”
“Roy, of course I am.”
“Ha ha.... You startled me this morning. Did you have some ridiculous dream last night?”
The surrounding miners all laughed at Roy’s words.
Painful labor and terrible food.
In a hard life where happiness was difficult to find, even a brief laugh was precious.
“This guy! You’re weaker than you look. You’re too young to be seeing things already!”
“Ha ha! For someone your size, can you even work properly?”
“You may be young, but you’re as frail as they come!”
“...”
Everyone was making fun of me.
Depending on the person, they might blush with embarrassment or angrily tell everyone to stop teasing them.
Then what reaction should someone who had truly received the will of God show?
There was no need to be embarrassed.
No need to get angry like a child.
I was the one who had received revelation, the one who had heard the gospel.
The chosen were mysterious.
And mystery was simply another word for incomprehensibility.
Therefore, from now on, I had to become someone they couldn't understand.
“Everyone. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say.”
When I acted as if I hadn't heard the miners teasing me at all, I could feel them becoming slightly flustered.
“If you're still out of your mind-”
“Remember this. The Lord said that only those worthy to advance will see tomorrow’s sun.”
“What?”
“Hey! What is wrong with you?”
“It looks like this young man has completely lost his mind-”
“Exactly twenty people will survive here today.”
At that moment, the surrounding miners’ eyes turned toward me.
--- Rumble!
With a thunderous rumble, the weak lighting inside the mine went out, and darkness descended.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Aah! I-I think the power line snapped!”
“Foreman Peterson-”
Silence fell amid the confusion.
I couldn't see anything, but I was certain everyone was listening to me.
“Congratulations.”
“Huh? Wh-what are you suddenly-”
--- Rumble!
Once again, the mine shook with a thunderous rumble, and this time screams began to rise.
“Only twenty people will survive here today.”
Feeling their blank stares, I spoke boldly.
“You will survive with me. The Lord has decreed it, so it will be so.”
Han Ga-in, freshman at K University, Hotel Participant.
Today was my first day as a cult leader.
Footnotes:
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