WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 483: Room 207, Gate Room - First Trial - Eternal Life and Resurrection (1)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 938
Current Location: Room 207, Gate Room
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
--- Clank! Clank!
“...”
I woke up on a train.
When I looked around, my companions all wore puzzled expressions.
Jin-cheol muttered in confusion.
“What? Weren't we supposed to split into groups of four, three, two, and one?”
“Looks like it hasn't properly begun yet.”
“There are train tickets in our pockets.”
At Sang-hyeon's words, I searched my pocket. Sure enough, every one of us had been given a train ticket.
「Welcome aboard the Pioneer Gate Train, Participants!
Participant Han Ga-in, please disembark at the fourth station.」
A simple message.
“Which station does it say Seung-yeop should get off at?”
“The first.”
“And Song-i?”
“Me too.”
“It seems Song-i, Seung-yeop, Mi-ro, and I are in the same party, just as we experienced during the Dinner Party. Mine says to get off at the first station too.”
“Looks like it.”
The others were in the same situation.
Elena, Eun-sol, and Jin-cheol had been told to get off at the second station, while A-ri and Mook-seong had been assigned the third.
Then Mi-ro asked a question.
“What would happen if we ignored our assigned station and got off wherever we wanted?”
Eun-sol answered immediately.
“Let's not do that. I don't think it'd end well.”
As if waiting for that, the train car door opened and a cheerful voice rang out.
“Participant Lee Eun-sol, correct!”
“...”
That familiar voice belonged to the Merchant.
Was this the first time I'd seen the Merchant since Hotel Cinema?
Ah, no. We'd met once more underground.
“Before we begin, I have a few simple instructions for you.”
“Instructions?”
“You've already guessed them, haven't you? First, one or more of your Blessings and Inheritances may be sealed.”
One or more, not just one?
“Second, you will disembark at different stations.”
“Different stations means different eras, right?”
“Who knows?”
“...”
Beyond the train windows, there was nothing but darkness.
I couldn't tell whether we were passing through somewhere dark or whether there was no outside world at all.
“Ha ha! Looking at your faces, you're wondering why I'm telling you things you already know. Well, you did learn the first two instructions during the Dinner Party.”
That was true.
“But the third may be different. Or has someone already half figured that one out too?”
The Merchant looked at me with unconcealed interest, and I quietly averted my eyes.
“... What's the third instruction?”
“Each trial you face has a boss.”
Four parties, four trials, and four bosses.
The most dangerous beings that would stand in our way within the Gate Room.
After delivering the third instruction, the Merchant said nothing more.
Then A-ri pointed out something important.
“Where did all our tools go?”
Eun-sol nodded.
“Right? We definitely brought everything we needed before we left.”
I had worn the Protective Suit because I was in a solo party. A-ri had put on the Wing Boots because she could use them properly. Pero, as always, had been perched on Song-i's shoulder.
They were all gone.
“Hey, Merchant! Where did all our tools go?”
“Who knows?”
“...”
“Wouldn't finding your lost tools also be an enjoyable experience?”
Like Eun-sol, I wanted to punch the Merchant.
The Hotel had probably hidden them somewhere inside the trials, but when were we supposed to find them?
--- Clank! Clank!
Soon, the train stopped, and those assigned to the first station rose from their seats.
Sang-hyeon, standing at the front, looked back at Mi-ro, Seung-yeop, and Song-i with a grave expression.
“... Before we leave, let's at least cheer each other on.”
“Let's do this!”
“Let's do this!”
The four lightly touched hands and stopped before the door.
Just as everyone waited for the train door to open, the Merchant spoke one last time.
“Oh, and this is my pure goodwill toward all of you.”
“Goodwill?”
“Why do you think you began in a space called a train instead of starting immediately?”
“...”
I'd been wondering that myself.
The parties could have been dropped into their trials the moment we began. Why had we started on a train just to receive instructions that didn't seem especially meaningful?
The Merchant spun around and vanished without explaining further, but no one here failed to understand the meaning.
A train that passed through four stations!
This place itself was a kind of hint.
“Let's begin.”
* * *
「First Trial - Eternal Life and Resurrection」
- Yoo Song-i
I woke up in a cold, dark room.
Soon, a notification flashed for three seconds in the pitch-black space.
「The participant's Blessing will now be Sealed. Please take note.」
So our party's Blessings were being sealed.
Seung-yeop's Luck, Mi-ro's Immutability, Teacher's Diligence, and my Affinity were gone.
Which meant we could use our respective Inheritances.
“... Where are we?”
During the Dinner Party, we'd all woken up near the Nile River, but the real Gate Room was different from the very beginning.
--- Creak!
When I opened the heavy wooden door and stepped outside, it was night.
A torch mounted on a sturdy wooden pole near the door lit the surroundings, and the moment I saw it, I realized something.
In the past, when I was just an ordinary high school girl, I would've simply thought, Yep, a torch. But not anymore.
Based on everything I'd learned these past few days, the impressive stone building I had emerged from and the oil-soaked torch were extremely valuable by ancient standards.
In other words, my status had to be far from ordinary if I had woken up in a place like this.
That was why I responded confidently even when I heard footsteps coming from the darkness.
“Who's there?”
“I am Bahat, Malkab's loyal servant. Priestess, what are you doing out at this hour?”
“...”
I went over the information I'd just heard so hard my head hurt.
Bahat was this man's name, and I was a priestess?
Then Malkab was the god I served in this setting?
“I came out to get some fresh air.”
“Priestess, it is late. These days... surely you know.”
Surely you know?
That was obviously important information!
“What are you talking about?”
“... Heh, I nearly spoke out of turn. It's nothing. It is late, so-”
“Don't talk nonsense. What did you mean when you said I should know?”
I pressed him harder, almost intimidating him.
My status seemed far higher than his, after all.
“N-no, I-”
His flustered face was visible in the torchlight, sweat running down it.
Why was he so frightened?
Would he talk if I softened my tone a little?
“Ahem. Bahat, I'm not interrogating you. I've been focused on the scriptures lately, so I haven't heard much about worldly affairs. Is there some major rumor?”
I'd never even heard Malkab's name before today, let alone read any scriptures, but every religion had scriptures, right?
“It's something I heard secondhand, so I cannot be certain...”
“Then I'll count it as something I heard thirdhand.”
“... It is said that Pharaoh has recently been suffering from a fever.”
After saying that, Bahat lowered his head and returned to his post.
“...”
A rumor that Pharaoh was so ill he could die any day.
It was a burdensome subject for an ordinary guard in Ancient Egypt, where Pharaoh was worshipped as a god, to speak of carelessly.
On the other hand, if even a guard knew about it in an era without the internet or phones, then everyone who mattered probably knew already.
That was all I gained from my late-night outing.
Once dawn broke, Song-i, Malkab's young priestess, began her difficult daily routine in earnest.
“I don't know why you're making so many mistakes today. Did you have a nightmare last night?”
“...”
Amira, an elderly priestess with a gentle expression, looked frustrated.
But I had plenty to say too.
This was the first time in my life I'd ever embalmed a half-rotted corpse!
No, I thought being a priestess meant standing before statues, praying, and reading scriptures. What was this?
Why were there so many corpses in this temple?
“I'm sorry.”
As it turned out, Malkab was the god of the underworld who governed what came after human death.
Thinking back on the Egyptian mythology I'd studied before entering Room 207, Malkab seemed similar to Anubis.
“This is the fifth time. Recite chapters one through four of the Book of the Dead.”
“...”
Hotel, why are you doing this to me?
It's unfair enough that I'm being punished for failing at embalming corpses, but the punishment is reciting scriptures I've never even seen?
“I'm sorry.”
“No! Priestess Song-i!”
This is so unfair.
“Don't tell me you've forgotten even chapter one? Even the Cult's children memorize it!”
So unfair.
“... I'm sorry.”
“Go inside at once. I will give you a severe punishment, so prepare yourself.”
This is seriously so unfair!
...
I suppressed my irritation and thought.
Where were the others, and what were they doing?
I hoped someone had a little more freedom to move around.
“If you haven't memorized the scriptures by this evening, you won't be walking on both legs tomorrow!”
“... Yes.”
For now, I'd better work hard at memorizing the scriptures.
Or should I cheat with my bracelet?
* * *
- Park Seung-yeop
--- Rattle! Rattle!
I woke up on a cart.
Soon, an alarm appeared saying my Blessing would be Sealed.
“Waaah!”
“Sniff!”
“Mom... Mom...”
What was this now...?
“Ah, mister! I want to go home... I want to go-”
A scantily clothed little kid sobbed as he grabbed the collar of a man who looked like a black viper.
If the man had even a shred of humanity left, he would've shown some pity.
But the viper-like man lived up to his looks and acted viciously.
“You stupid brat, can't you shut that filthy mouth right now?”
“Sniff!”
“Home? You little bastard, aren't we the ones who'll find you a home? You'll soon arrive at the home where you'll rot for the rest of your life, so what's there to be afraid of?”
“Ha ha! Dotian, you're going to make all the kids cry. Stop scaring them.”
“Boss, I wasn't scaring them. I was only telling the truth.”
The rough men snickered.
By this point, I understood the situation.
So these kids and I had been captured as slaves by those men.
The home they mentioned seemed to be the place where they would sell us.
“...”
I wasn't scared.
If my Blessing had been Sealed, that meant I could use my Inheritance.
Yumi would obviously make these ordinary people roll across the ground with a few flicks of her fingers.
But...
The Soul Box's summoning time wasn't unlimited.
Wouldn't it be better to watch the situation a little longer?
Or should I summon Yumi right away before they dragged us somewhere even more troublesome?
“Ugh, this is hard!”
I didn't know.
Teacher was supposed to think about things like this, so why had I been separated on my own?
“...”
Then I had a good idea.
--- Thud!
“What are you doing?”
“Kid, this cart isn't going to break because you hit it with those tiny hands.”
--- Thud!
“Looks like that one has a low IQ.”
“Leave him alone. He'll collapse once he gets tired.”
--- Thud!
“Doesn't that hurt your hand? Boss, if he injures his hand, the price will drop.”
“Leave him alone. Looking at the way he's acting, he won't fetch much even if his body stays intact.”
Once, twice, three times.
By the time five failures had piled up...
--- Crack!
At last, scorching heat seemed to surge from my heart, and the wooden bars imprisoning us burst apart in one blow!
The slaves and slave hunters alike stood there with their mouths wide open at the unbelievable sight of a cart breaking from a child's punches.
I immediately threw myself outside.
I didn't forget to shout one thing.
“Kids, run!”
I didn't know whether they would run just because I said so, but it was better than saying nothing.
“Ugh! W-what the hell was that?”
“That bastard's running away!”
As I ran as hard as I could, I listened to the rough shouts behind me and thought.
“Gasp! I-is this even meaningful?”
Even if I ran alone, I'd get caught anyway. If that was the case, wouldn't it have been better to summon Yumi from the start and kill those bastards?
“... I don't know!”
I didn't know!
I'll think while I run-
--- Ting! Ting!
Huh? Was that the sound of metal striking metal?
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
