Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 489

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 488: Room 207, Gate Room - First Trial ‘Eternal Life and Resurrection’ (6)

──────

- Park Seung-yeop

At that moment, wails filled with fear and pain echoed throughout Egypt.

We moved alongside the mysterious unmanned weapons controlled by Menes.

“Wow... They’re so cool!”

“Don’t say stupid things.”

Regardless of Mi-ro’s rebuke, the robots were definitely cool.

Some resembled enormous statues of pharaohs seated on thrones, while others looked like giant birds.

There were also ones shaped like leopards and enormous swords floating in midair.

Their forms varied, but they all had one thing in common. They radiated golden light in every direction.

Teacher studied the robots with interest and muttered, “They weren’t designed solely for efficiency.”

I understood what Teacher meant.

I didn’t know anything about robotics, but they looked strange even to my untrained eye.

Why would combat robots need to resemble seated pharaohs or animals in the first place?

The flying swords were the same.

Wouldn’t it be easier for them to fly if they were shaped more like aircraft?

And when you thought about it, giving off golden light seemed like a waste of lighting and energy.

Still!

“They’re cool, aren’t they?”

“They are. And that was the point.”

Golden statues of pharaohs came to life and drove back demons.

What must the people of Ancient Egypt have thought when they saw such an overwhelming sight?

They probably fell to their knees on the spot and pledged their loyalty to Menes.

Menes had no need for supernatural powers that inspired charisma.

“I think we’re almost at our destination.”

“Looks like it.”

Menes and our group hadn’t exchanged a single word before arriving. Instead, we spent the entire time silently sizing one another up.

Perhaps because he had awakened from the sarcophagus after hundreds of years, Menes still wasn’t in proper condition.

Even walking seemed difficult for him, so he relied on his descendant, Aedia.

Menes also operated a device resembling a remote control from time to time.

Whenever he did, unmanned weapons that had lain dormant throughout Egypt gradually joined us.

The tension steadily rose until we finally reached a vast plain.

Then Teacher pointed into the air and addressed Menes.

“What is that?”

Menes answered readily.

“A Skull Tower.”

“...”

“The beautiful city of Memphis being reduced to ruin was, in truth, nothing more than a scheme to conceal that Skull Tower.”

“Should we destroy it?”

“Ah! You’re asking whether destroying that tower will stop Malkab?”

“...”

“Sorry, but you’re wrong. That tower has already served its purpose. Malkab will soon manifest in this domain.”

“This is going to be a troublesome fight.”

“Exactly. Which is why it’s time for you to prepare yourselves as well.”

“We’re always prepared. So-”

“No, no.”

Menes’s firm denial surprised not only Teacher, but me as well.

Was there something else we needed to prepare?

Teacher wasn’t lying. There really wasn’t anything in particular.

“Ha ha, my friend. Are you trying to slither away like a snake? Shouldn’t a god be stopped by a god?”

“What do you-”

A god should be stopped by a god?

Could Menes possibly mean-

“Of course, I believe the great Horus will save Egypt. Still, I am old, and old people are naturally full of doubt.”

“No, that’s, I mean...”

“I’m deeply uneasy. I fear that you intend to lead Malkab and me into mutual destruction.”

--- Clap!

Menes lightly clapped his hands, and the nearby robots began to surround us!

W-what were we supposed to do?

If our opponents were robots, Song-i’s bracelet and Yumi’s magic would be useless!

Could Mi-ro do something if she used the Time Lender well?

Or Teacher could fire a flash and take out Menes!

No, that was stupid!

If we killed Menes here, were we supposed to stop Malkab by ourselves?

How were we going to get out of this-

“Fine.”

A clear, ringing voice echoed out, and the tension vanished in an instant.

“If you want to see our, um, Horus that badly, I’ll let you meet him.”

Teacher and Song-i both wore expressions that said, Is this really right? at Mi-ro’s sudden move, which we hadn’t discussed beforehand. Still, neither of them stopped her.

Aedia was the only one who widened her eyes in panic.

“M-Mi-ro! What do you mean? You, you...”

What was that princess thinking right now?

A friend she had been close to since childhood had turned out to be the saintess of some mysterious religious group?

--- Click!

The hands of the pocket watch pointed to noon.

‘Horus’ appeared.

* * *

The first thing Ga-in said after appearing on the desert plain was this.

“Ah, so we could use Inheritances?”

Even Ga-in hadn’t been certain whether the Hotel would seal blessings or Inheritances during the first trial.

Right after that, light flashed from Song-i’s wrist.

She was probably conveying the situation to Ga-in through an illusion.

To anyone watching from outside, it would have looked like a mysterious scene in which ‘Horus,’ who had appeared from thin air, read fate by gazing at the sky.

Then.

--- Fwoosh!

A small sun appeared in midair.

Ga-in stood with the Sacred Sun at his back and looked at Menes.

It was a bluff.

There wasn’t even a handful of power left in the Sacred Sun, and the Grimoire couldn’t do much against robots without souls.

But only we could think that because we knew Ga-in inside and out.

What did it look like from Menes’s perspective?

An unknown being appeared from thin air and walked toward him with a blazing sun at his back.

The overwhelming charisma radiating from the sun even suppressed Menes’s mind!

Menes could not even draw a deep breath.

“You... What are you? Are the sun and sky your symbols?”

The very essence of Egyptian mythology, governing the sun and sky, perfection and wisdom, abundance, vengeance, and protection.

At that moment, the being approaching Menes wasn’t human. It was Horus from myth itself.

“... Ah.”

A sigh came from behind us.

Mi-ro blankly muttered as though she had realized something.

“No way...!”

“What? What is it?”

“They’re too similar!”

“Huh?”

“The symbol is the sun, and the transcendent appearance resembles a bird. He can take various forms!”

“What are you-”

“They’re the same...! The power of Horus in mythology and Ga-in’s-”

--- Tap!

Teacher’s firm hand settled on Mi-ro’s shoulder.

“Let’s be quiet. There are many ears listening. Though Menes likely can’t pay attention to us right now.”

“I-I think I roughly understand what this trial really is! So-”

“Later. We’ll talk later, after we defeat Malkab.”

She understood the nature of the trial?

Not only Teacher, but Mi-ro too, seemed to have realized something from this situation!

Was I the only idiot here?

Why couldn’t I understand a single thing they were saying?

Fortunately or unfortunately, everyone’s attention shifted when Menes spoke again.

“Horus! With such majesty, you can surely suppress Malkab! To you-”

“Menes, have you ever heard this saying?”

“Are you planning to teach me?”

“Heaven helps those who help themselves.”

“...”

“I’ll lend a hand, but great Menes, didn’t you build this nation yourself?”

Put simply, it meant Menes should protect the nation he had built.

The logic sounded plausible, but Ga-in had still refused Menes’s request for direct help.

Not long ago, Menes had even threatened us by surrounding us with robots.

He didn’t show even a trace of that attitude toward Ga-in.

“... I have one question.”

“Ask.”

“I heard from that child, Aedia, that you have the power to read the future.”

“...”

“Can you see my future right now?”

With blessings sealed, it probably wasn’t possible right now.

Could an ally summoned through the Time Lender ignore the Hotel’s sealing of blessings?

Probably not.

Using the Time Lender to bypass the Hotel’s sealing felt like too much of a loophole.

The Hotel didn’t seem like it would allow something like that...

“Are you curious?”

Ga-in smiled and met Menes’s gaze.

Even I couldn’t tell whether he was truly reading Menes’s fate or simply pretending to be a god.

How burdensome must the gaze of someone haloed by the Sacred Sun have been?

No matter how great Menes was, I thought he would be unable to endure it and turn away.

...

He didn’t.

The one who had unified Egypt, the great pharaoh, the master of knowledge that transcended his era, Menes literally gritted his teeth and endured!

“Yes, great Horus! Have you read even my future? Did you see the miserable death of a pitiful old man?”

“Do you want to hear it?”

“Foresight... Fate...! Relying on such things is the act of the weak!”

“...”

“My fate will be decided by my own hands from this moment on! The answer is already within me, so why should I seek it from another?”

At that moment, everyone, including me, stood with our mouths open.

We had confirmed again and again just how powerful the charisma created by the Sacred Sun was!

Even before it had accumulated souls, it could make ordinary people in Room 206 prostrate themselves and pray on the spot!

I was honestly impressed that Menes could show such force while enduring that pressure from right in front of him.

Menes deserved to be called the founder of great Egypt and humanity’s Primeval Civilization.

Ga-in seemed to feel the same way. His usual god cosplay briefly cracked, revealing a human expression.

He looked as though he admired the being before him, yet also felt a little wary.

“... Very well, Pharaoh. I respect your answer. Write your own future.”

Right after that, Ga-in gave Mi-ro a small nod.

The hands of the pocket watch turned once more, and Horus disappeared.

* * *

On the plain where Horus had vanished, Menes leaned against Aedia and panted for quite some time, as though his conversation with Ga-in had placed a heavy burden on him.

If possible, I wanted the fight to begin after Menes regained his strength.

Of course, Malkab had no reason to show us such consideration.

--- Rooooar!

The savage roar of an evil god shook heaven and earth.

For a moment, it seemed as if the dark sky had brightened.

Countless white bones began flying in from every direction!

I heard Malkab’s Voice.

“Yes, Menes. It seems your negotiations with the new god did not go well?”

The old man, who had seemed unsteady just moments ago, shouted in a dignified voice.

“Malkab! So the sun god must have seemed quite threatening even to you! You showed yourself the moment he left!”

“Threatening? I simply believed it wiser to avoid unnecessary conflict.”

“Did you not negotiate with me long ago? We agreed that neither side would cross the line!”