WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 43: Room 104, The Cursed Room - ‘Hotel High, the Prestigious Entrance Exam School’ (3)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 17
Current Location: Level 1, Room 104 (Curse Room - Hotel High, the Prestigious Academy)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
Stay calm. This hotel was full of monsters anyway.
One more thing pretending to be human would not change much.
I checked the chat window first while making small talk as though nothing was wrong.
Han Ga-in (Student): Park Seung-yeop. Can you hear me?
...
Han Ga-in (Student): Park Seung-yeop. If you can hear me, raise your right hand.
...
There was no response. As expected, the thing before my eyes was not Seung-yeop and could not see the chat window. Continuing to talk might leak information, and more importantly, Elena was already failing to hide her expression, so I ended the conversation.
"I’m going to study for the test we’ll have later! Let’s all split up for now."
"Ah, the test. I think I’ll be going to the Old School Building again..."
"I’ll go review English too~"
At least A-ri played along, allowing us to wrap things up.
* * *
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): What?
Han Ga-in (Student): Park Seung-yeop location: Old School Building basement. Fake Seung-yeop appeared.
Kim Mook-seong (Teacher): Sure it’s fake?
Yoo Song-i (Student): Confirmed with bracelet and Status Window. Definitely fake.
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Not without results. Confirmed Old School Building imprisons us and makes fakes.
Han Ga-in (Student): Cheat sheets ready?
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Korean History/Language ready. Other subjects will not be easy.
* * *
It would not be easy.
There was a fundamental problem with our cheating plan. The teacher team had only been assigned to Korean History and Language, not every subject. We would have to solve the remaining subjects on our own.
Even if I gritted my teeth and solved them, there was still a problem. Yesterday’s questions had been multiple choice, so I could solve them and post the answers in the chat window for everyone else to copy quickly.
Today was written-response. Even if I solved the questions as fast as I could, there would be less than ten minutes left. Even if Song-i used the bracelet late and borrowed my vision, how could she copy written-response answers in ten minutes?
Even if she copied them, there would be no time to pass them on to Elena.
Based on what I had seen yesterday, A-ri would probably do well on her own, but I felt Song-i and Elena would have a hard time getting through this exam.
After much deliberation, the day’s classes ended, and the unavoidable evening test time arrived. My prediction went wrong in a direction completely different from what I had expected.
* * *
The Korean History test went by without major trouble.
When the test began, Grandpa Mook-seong entered the classroom as naturally as if he were a proctor. As he passed Song-i, she used her bracelet on him.
I could not see clearly from my angle, but Grandpa must have looked at the cheat sheet he had prepared beforehand. Song-i then saw the cheat sheet through Grandpa’s vision...
After noticing the process from afar, I “appropriately” leaned back and pretended to stretch. Information reached me as well.
Strings of text floated above my desk like holograms. It was not my first time seeing it, but the illusions created by Diverse Perspectives were truly fascinating. It felt as though I lived in a world with advanced augmented reality technology.
I copied down the answers with ease, and the Korean History test ended.
Ah, if only I could have taken the CSAT like this, I would have been the top scorer in the country! What a shame!
* * *
Language test time.
I was not too worried about this one either. Could we not do the same thing as the Korean History test?
My tension began to ease.
If I waited, my turn would come eventually. I should pretend to solve the questions so I did not arouse suspicion. I knew some of them anyway, so should I solve about a third myself?
* * *
Then a huge problem erupted.
"Ms. Lee Eun-sol. What is that?"
"Excuse me?"
"What is that? What are you holding in your hand and staring at?"
"Huh? No, there was just a piece of paper sticking out of my pocket, so I was wondering what it was-"
"Quit talking nonsense and hand it over!"
We were screwed. Another teacher acting as a proctor had found Eun-sol’s cheat sheet!
"I-I don’t understand what you’re suddenly talking about."
"I said it was strange yesterday! It was obviously cheating, but you kept saying there was no evidence. Now I see what that was about. Isn’t this a cheat sheet? Which student were you planning to give it to?"
"No, did you see me give it to anyone? I only wrote down model answers I came up with while making yesterday’s questions-"
"Don’t give me that bullshit. You wrote model answers on that tiny piece of paper, brought it into the testing room, and held it right in your hand? You really do not listen! Hey, Mr. Cha! Ms. Lee here-"
Even I could tell Eun-sol’s excuse was bullshit.
"I put that there."
Jin-cheol?
"Mr. Cha?"
"Ms. Lee Eun-sol left the paper on the desk, so I picked it up in case she had forgotten it."
"What... What are you even saying? You call that an explanation?"
"I said I picked it up and gave it to her, so why do you keep refusing to believe me? Mr. Han, are you disrespecting me right now?"
"Ah, no, who said I was disrespecting Mr. Cha? What I mean is, a cheat sheet was brought into the testing room, so Ms. Lee has to take responsibility-"
"I said I brought it in, so why does Ms. Lee have to take responsibility? Mr. Han, are you stupid? You sure love talking about responsibility. Fine, I brought it in, so I’ll take responsibility. I’ll be disciplined. Isn’t that enough?"
"No, uh... I’m not saying Mr. Cha necessarily did anything wrong..."
"Enough. I’m a PE teacher, so I made a mistake because I do not know this stuff. I’ll go get scolded. Stop harassing Ms. Lee for no reason."
...
What was this? Jin-cheol had suddenly taken all the blame himself. Honestly, what he said made no sense.
Yet when the huge, muscular man, well over 190 centimeters tall, barked at him, Teacher Han, who had been questioning Eun-sol, got swept up and did not know what to do.
What was Jin-cheol thinking?
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): What the hell are you doing?
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Touched?
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Quit bullshitting. What is it?
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Will explain at length. Thought about it since yesterday. Old School Building. Someone who can fight needs to go. Meaningless sacrifice if only kids go and get taken out helplessly like Seung-yeop. I’ll go and find out properly.
* * *
I understood. It made logical sense. Seung-yeop had confirmed that an ordinary person would only be subdued immediately. Would there be any point in me or Elena going?
Jin-cheol, who was physically strong, Song-i, who was mentally strong, or A-ri, who seemed strong in both ways, had to go if we wanted even minimal information.
Still... even so, I was once again struck by the fact that Jin-cheol’s mental fortitude was far from ordinary.
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Understand. But no guarantee danger is physical. If mental danger, you may not resist either.
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): At least can learn what kind of danger it is.
* * *
While we held this conversation in our heads, the situation was roughly settled. Jin-cheol’s reasoning had seemed absurd, but since both the person who gave the cheat sheet and the person who received it kept repeating the same statement, the other teachers had little to say.
Eun-sol was ultimately cleared of suspicion after the absurd claim that she had checked the paper because it was sticking out of her pocket was accepted.
As Jin-cheol intended, it was decided that he would be sent to the Old School Building for disciplinary punishment. Again, what kind of school sent even teachers to the Old School Building for punishment?
Just before Jin-cheol left for the Old School Building, Song-i offered a suggestion.
Yoo Song-i (Student): Jin-cheol, come to me immediately. Can provide mental protection like at Sanctuary. Lasts ten minutes.
Ten minutes. It was vague. If she used the protection now, would it not nearly end by the time he reached the Old School Building?
Still, we had to do everything we could. Jin-cheol received mental protection from Song-i and left for the Old School Building.
There was one fortunate thing amid the confusion. Today’s test was allowed to slide amid the chaos. Once everyone had returned to their own dormitories, Jin-cheol’s report began.
* * *
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Running like hell.
...
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Arrived. How much mental protection left?
Yoo Song-i (Student): Five minutes.
...
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Light, strange song heard. Going in.
...
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Extremely beautiful person. Told me to follow. Going downstairs. Head hurts.
...
...
Han Ga-in (Student): Jin-cheol?
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Taken out already?
Kim Mook-seong (Teacher): At this rate, this time too-
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Heh heh heh, fucking killed about five of them. My arm just came off. Horrible. Don’t come. Coming here will not solve anything. Escape, all of you. Not here, absolutely not here! Get out. Leave this school. Can’t solve it by fighting. My head feels like it’s going to burst.
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Calm down. Please calm down. You can see us outside. Explain in more detail!
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Seung-yeop woke up.
Han Ga-in (Student): What does that-
Park Seung-yeop (Student): TheworldisfullofpainsorrowdespairandwewillfindpeacethroughunityahhtheLordhasgivenusperfecttranquilitytogethergathergatherahhloveIloveyouallletssingalltogetherintoaworldofhappinesswherewebecomeone-
Cha Jin-cheol (Teacher): Killed Seung-yeop. At my limit. Seems like some kind of weird cult. Run, all of you. I’ll kill myself.
...
There were no more reports.
I opened my Status Window.
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 17
Current Location: Level 1, Room 104 (Curse Room - Hotel High, the Prestigious Academy)
Sage’s Advice: 3
Companion Location Information(*)
Park Seung-yeop: Dead
Cha Jin-cheol: Dead]
Han Ga-in (Student): Park Seung-yeop, Cha Jin-cheol. Both dead.
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Everyone hold it together. We’ll meet outside.
Kim Mook-seong (Teacher): Chat Limit almost gone.
Lee Eun-sol (Teacher): Summary. Cha said head hurt. Mental attack exists. Said arm came off. Physical attack exists. Cha killed five and said cult-like. Seems many of them. Think individually.
That was when our Chat Limit ran out completely.
What we had learned so far:
1. The Old School Building contained both mental and physical dangers.
2. A cult? There were many people.
3. Seung-yeop had lost his mind, and Jin-cheol killed five people, then Seung-yeop, then himself.
* * *
Think calmly. This was the judgment of the physically strongest person among us.
We could not win through fighting.
He had killed five people and still judged that we could not win. That meant there were enough of them that five deaths barely made a difference.
Unless we someday gained the power to kill on a massive scale...
It seemed impossible for us to clear this place right now.
Then we had to escape.
1. In Strange Family, escaping was recognized simply by putting distance between ourselves and the anomalous Strange Families.
2. In House of Horror, escaping was recognized by making the demon resurrection ritual conducted by the anomalous elder impossible. In other words, by destroying the opponent’s victory condition and forcing a draw.
What would we have to do at this school?
First, we did not know the victory condition of the group inside the Old School Building, the school’s anomaly, so the second method was impossible. Should we first think of a way to flee the school?
* * *
The next day. During PE class.
The triathlon began.
Footnotes:
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