Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 447

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 446: Room 206, Curse Room - The Demon King Who Revives After 100 Days Re (11)

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- Lee Eun-sol

The farther we walked along the tracks, the more the city resembled a living nightmare.

The swarming monsters, the groans echoing endlessly from somewhere, and the buildings with their lights still on all suggested several things.

- Small and weak.

When did we realize it?

We had naturally uncovered the underground city's greatest secret.

Time flowed differently in Deep Paradise than it did on the surface.

Once I looked at it that way, every question was easy to answer.

Why did the corpses still have flesh on them?

Why were the paper route maps still intact?

Why had urban legends from centuries ago appeared so late?

It was simple. Not much time had passed underground yet.

Revelation of Heavenly Secrets' warning to check the date hadn't been solely because of the mayor's regression.

- Lowly, like an insect.

Another question was just as easy to answer.

It concerned Pero, which was rubbing its soft feathers against my shoulder right now.

Was I sort of its mother because Song-i wasn't here?

If it thought of me as Song-i's replacement, that was strangely unpleasant.

The reason this cute, clever bird couldn't explain its location was simple too.

Everyone had only learned that Deep Paradise existed after returning to Room 206, so Pero hadn't known where it was either.

- A miserable life.

Enough with the minor details. There were more important things to focus on.

First, absurdly enough, the underground city hadn't been destroyed yet. Its destruction was still ongoing.

Second, my mind was gradually growing sick.

* * *

--- Clatter!

The unpleasant sound of wings striking together.

It was the sound made by the strange creatures circling around us, the Silent Butchers, as they communicated with one another.

According to A-ri's urgent explanation, they were sightless monsters that hunted through their extremely sensitive hearing.

It would've been nice if she'd told me before one ripped my arm off.

Of course, it had swooped down like lightning from the sky, so I couldn't blame A-ri.

If not for Jin-cheol, it would've taken my head instead of my arm.

Thanks to Yumi's emergency treatment, not only the bleeding but even the pain had disappeared. But she'd vanished in exchange for using too much magic.

And because of those monsters, I hadn't been able to use the Flute and had to keep looking through the city without it.

Was that why?

Strange words had been appearing at the edge of my vision.

- An unattainable ideal.

A-ri silently mouthed, “How many are there?”

It was a shame Grandfather had collapsed and the Chat Window was gone at a time like this.

I held up my index, middle, and ring fingers. A-ri nodded.

--- Clatter!

Another had appeared already, so I raised my pinky too.

Was that supposed to be fortunate?

Since they had no eyes, there was no need to turn off our headlamps.

I poked my head through a gap in the half-collapsed outer wall beside the tracks and looked outside.

A massive building emitted pale light and strange vibrations.

Oddly, no one but me could see that light.

According to the route map, it was the Research Lab.

Our final destination.

Then, at that very moment!

--- Ooooooh!

An immense cry that shook heaven and earth rang out, accompanied by an indescribably powerful impulse.

- A failed dream.

Despair, pain, sorrow, regret, anxiety, fear, confusion, rage, worry, doubt, dread, disgust, hatred, emptiness, misery, depression.

Every negative emotion the human mind could produce struck my thoughts like a bomb.

I wanted to die.

Effort that brought no reward, a lowly life, weak-

This would be difficult.

I couldn't endure an impulse this strong without the Flute's help.

There was only one problem...

The Flute made noise.

So I smiled.

“Ahahaha!”

I'd made my decision. There was no need to stay silent anymore.

Seung-yeop and Jin-cheol were on the verge of passing out with their eyes rolled back, while A-ri alone understood the situation.

- An inescapable death.

“I know, I know!”

I gripped the Flute again.

--- Laaaaa!

This was as far as I could go.

* * *

- Kim A-ri

--- Rumble!

A thunderous explosion shook the sky.

Eun-sol, who had been snatched by a Silent Butcher as the price of making noise with the Flute, had detonated a grenade in midair.

It was the sort of scene that belonged in a movie.

“Damn! Sis really went out in style!”

Cha Jin-cheol's insane remark made me wonder for a moment if he'd lost his mind.

For some time now, Cha Jin-cheol had shown an oddly intense obsession with combat, but even so, that had sounded truly crazy.

Was it the influence of the Sponsor that emphasized fighting spirit?

Or was this simply his true nature, revealed by the Hotel?

Either way, it wasn't something worth dwelling on.

It was a million times better than trembling at the rear because he was afraid of monsters.

“Run!”

Of course, we were already running before I said it.

We couldn't have run this easily if Eun-sol hadn't died while drawing the monsters' attention.

“Hey! A-ri!”

Cha Jin-cheol spoke while carrying Seung-yeop under one arm.

“Ever since we realized time is strange underground, I've been thinking! Down here!”

Down here?

“Speed is what matters! We don't have time to wrestle with monsters like this!”

“I know.”

“When we come back next time!”

“Talk about next time after we get out.”

I knew what Cha Jin-cheol was trying to say.

If time flowed differently in the underground city, we had to finish anything down here as quickly as possible.

Rather than fighting every monster one by one, we needed to ignore them and get to our destination fast.

But what could we do about it now that we knew?

Eun-sol and Seung-yeop lacked mobility, and Cha Jin-cheol was still bound by terrain as long as he moved on the ground. He also couldn't avoid fighting monsters that openly blocked our path.

If we came underground again-

“We need to be able to fly!”

“I know!”

We needed someone who could fly.

Someone who could avoid complicated terrain and most monsters by flying!

“Can't you fly?”

Ga-in after charging the Sacred Sun.

Elena, who could create flying monsters.

And me, who could handle the Wing Boots with ease.

Even now, I could fly.

“Can't you see there are monsters in the sky too?”

“Eun-sol blew up a bunch of them with that grenade.”

“There are still plenty left.”

I just wasn't confident I could fight while flying.

For a moment, Cha Jin-cheol wore a complicated expression.

It seemed something had occurred to him, but he wasn't certain about it either.

--- Crash! Rumble!

“Yohoho! It's a festival today!”

As if it had been waiting, the skeletal Captain burst through the outer wall.

In the Captain's hand was a gigantic scimitar that looked capable of slicing through a concrete building in one blow.

“Hellooo, little chick friends!”

Again. Again. Again.

We were already pressed for time because of the twisted flow of time, and now a monster was blocking our way.

How were we supposed to-

“This won't do. I'm not sure, but let's just do it.”

Cha Jin-cheol suddenly gave a bitter smile and shoved Seung-yeop toward me.

“What? What are you-”

“Take Seung-yeop and fly with him.”

“...”

“Is it too much for the Wing Boots to carry two people?”

“It's originally a one-person Escape Tool, but Seung-yeop and I are light. If it's the two of us, it might somehow work.”

“That's good. I'll throw you. Seung-yeop, hang on to A-ri.”

“Huh? Huh? S-Sis, will you be okay-”

“Pero, you go too.”

--- Screech!

After making the panicked Seung-yeop cling to my back, I looked at Cha Jin-cheol.

“Yohoho! Little chick friends! You shouldn't ignore the Captain so openly!”

Cha Jin-cheol lifted Seung-yeop and me in a pose like a shot-put athlete, then-

“Hyahhh!”

We flew, launched nearly twenty meters into the air by Cha Jin-cheol's sheer strength, without any help from the Wing Boots!

The startled skeletal Captain stretched out its sword, but Cha Jin-cheol rushed at it first.

“Arghhh!”

Seung-yeop's scream stabbed into my ears.

“Heavenly Luck!”

“Arghhh!”

The sudden acceleration must have been too much, because Seung-yeop had already half lost consciousness.

Heavenly Luck activated on its own when needed, so it should be fine, right?

Believing that, I flew.

--- Screech!

I ignored the flying monsters that charged at us with shrill cries.

I had a human-shaped luck shield equipped, so it would work out somehow!

* * *

--- Thud!

The end of that chaotic flight was a crash.

I was reminded once again that the Wing Boots were a one-person Escape Tool.

Even if Seung-yeop and I were light, having two people use them together was a reckless gamble.

The proof was still on my back.

“Gasp!”

--- Click!

As I barely caught my breath and pushed myself up, I heard the cold sound of metal.

“Who goes there! Identify yourself!”

Time flowed differently underground. Destruction wasn't something in the past. It was still happening.

That was why, when we reached the city's center, soldiers were still there.

“W-what's that corpse on your back?!”

“...”

After our arduous journey, I lowered my companion's body to the floor.

--- Chirp!

Pero, which had flown with us, gave a sorrowful cry and plucked a strand of Seung-yeop's hair.

What should I say to make them let me into the Research Lab?

“Airavata.”

Airavata was the name once used by the Progenitor, or Hero, who now went by May.

She was actually a member of the Order of Reason, which had protected the world before the End Times.

“I'm Airavata's successor.”

“Proof-”

Before the soldier could finish, a red vortex shot from my fingertips and surrounded the area like smoke.

Sometimes, supernatural powers were a more reliable form of identification than anything else.

“... Enter.”

* * *

“Begin District 23 closure procedures! Begin!”

“Containment of District 17 has failed!”

“Demon King infection confirmed in District 4!”

Voices like screams came from every direction.

Closure, failed Containment, confirmed infection.

I could tell just from the words.

This Research Lab was heading toward destruction.

While centuries passed outside due to the severely distorted flow of time, these terrible events had been unfolding underground.

The soldiers led me to a huge room at the center of the Research Lab.

There, I finally met someone I'd wanted to see for a long time.

“... Mom.”

“What?”

She didn't recognize me.

Was it because the Sealing hadn't been lifted yet, leaving her with the scenario's personality?

“Never mind. Are you in charge here?”

‘Mi-ro’ nodded.

“That's right. I'm rank nine in the Order's hierarchy, a Maegas (Senior Executive). Call me Director. What about you? Did Airavata pass everything on to you?”

One important phrase had come up in that brief exchange: “Did Airavata pass everything on to you?”

It was as if she thought Airavata might be dead by now.

“... Time flows differently here and on the surface.”

“I know. How much time has passed on the surface now? Around one hundred fifty years?”

“How could something like this happen?”

Mi-ro gave a small snort.

“Because of that.”

In the direction she pointed was a golden mass glowing pure white.

It resembled a coin.

“... One More Chance?”

“One More Chance? Is that what they call it outside? Giving you one more chance... It suits the name.”

The Director wore a confident expression.