Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 503

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 502: Room 207, Gate Room - Third Trial ‘Miskatonic University’ (4)

──────

- Kim A-ri

The place Mook-seong had found was a sort of artifact storage.

Apparently, it was filled with mysterious objects that the faction led by the dean had collected before Miskatonic University was even established.

Just hearing about it made me think, Wow! We absolutely have to go there!

There was one problem, though.

“Could I take just a quick look inside?”

“No.”

“Just a moment. That’s all I need-”

“I said no.”

“... I’ll only look.”

“Oh, honestly! Why are students these days so ill-mannered? Student Kim A-ri, didn’t you hear me say no? This area is off-limits to students!”

Only faculty members were allowed into the artifact storage.

To Mook-seong and me, the words ‘off-limits to students’ sounded more like, ‘Sneak in on your own,’ but infiltration was no simple matter.

Mook-seong had been caught by the artifact storage’s curator while trying to sneak in.

“Then could I at least take Mook-seong with me?”

“Oh my, do you know that rude male student from earlier?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but that student needs a good scolding! You should return to your dormitory too!”

“... Yes.”

* * *

Around evening, Mook-seong appeared soaking wet.

“That bitch of a curator-”

“You’re not some old man who’s lived recklessly all his life! Watch your language!”

“... What’s that supposed to mean? Anyone hearing you would think I’d lived recklessly before.”

“What happened? Why are you soaked?”

“That curator used some strange magic and dumped water all over me. She said I should be ready to get expelled if I tried sneaking in one more time.”

“...”

“Damn it! Tonight, I’ll try once more-”

“You and I are Management Bureau agents.”

“...”

“This era doesn’t even have electronic security systems. Yet you got caught ten seconds after starting?”

Mook-seong was a veteran Management Bureau agent.

Someone like him had been caught ten seconds after attempting to infiltrate?

There was no doubt supernatural power was protecting that place.

“Are you saying that old woman used some kind of detection magic over the entire artifact storage?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s just the curator.”

“Not the curator?”

“The dean might’ve done something.”

“... Then it sounds difficult to get through.”

“That’s what I think too.”

Could we easily break through the security magic of a half-divine being who had fought the Holy See alone for centuries?

If we did something strange and got expelled, things would get complicated.

“How about trying once, then using One More Chance if we fail?”

Maybe he was still bitter about getting drenched, because Mook-seong couldn’t give up so easily.

“Did you forget the Price of Defying Heaven? We don’t know what it is, but if the Hotel warned us about it, it can’t be an ordinary price. One More Chance is our last resort. We should use it when we’re fighting the boss and think we’ll both die.”

“Phew... You’re right about all of it. I suppose becoming young again has made me somewhat emotional.”

“No. You were always emotional, whether you were young or old.”

“And because you’ve always been old, you have no emotions?”

“Are you picking a fight? Want me to show you anger?”

“Hey, A-ri, you’re always the one who starts teasing me-”

“Pfft!”

I laughed before I could stop myself.

I know. I know this wasn’t the time for it.

Still, seeing ‘young Mook-seong’ for the first time in so long brought back old memories, and I couldn’t hold it in.

“Ah, this reminds me of the old days. There was a time when you’d tremble at the sight of a ghost and say, ‘S-senior!’”

“...”

“Senior! If I die, please tell my parents back home-”

“Please stop...”

“Agent Kim Mook-seong did his best for the world-”

“Argh! Senior, when was that? How do you still remember it?”

“How could I forget your last words?”

“I didn’t die!”

“I know. It would’ve been really cool if you had died then.”

Mook-seong eventually covered his face with both hands and lowered his head.

I really should stop now.

“Ahem, let’s get back to the serious discussion. That experience just made me more certain. I think we have to visit the artifact storage. You think so too, right, Mook-seong?”

“... Yes. The fact that they’re hiding it so thoroughly is firm proof that there’s something unusual inside.”

“We need to find a way in. Let’s return to the dormitory for now. Oh, you saw the notice posted this morning, right?”

“The opening party?”

“Yeah.”

Like many universities, Miskatonic University held an opening party at the start of a new school year.

“It’s tomorrow evening. A-ri, are you going?”

“A party, now of all times? I’m planning to explore the school instead. It’ll be a good chance to look around without other people getting in my way.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. Then let’s split up. You explore the school, A-ri. I’ll go to the party and get acquainted with some people.”

It was a decent idea.

Information could be in the library, but it could also be with people.

It wouldn’t be bad for one of us to go to the party and make connections.

“Okay.”

* * *

Time passed quickly.

Since yesterday evening, when we had failed to enter the artifact storage, we hadn’t gained any meaningful information all day.

We’d also been busy attending classes as we’d promised Emily.

Around sunset, Mook-seong signaled that he was heading to the party.

Just as we had expected, the students left for the opening party, leaving the Department of Occult Studies area quiet.

Thanks to that, I could inspect the prehistoric specimens scattered everywhere and visit the library without worrying about anyone watching.

...

That had been the situation until thirty minutes ago.

Now, I had an unwelcome observer glued to my side.

“A-riii~! Are books like this really that interesting?”

“...”

It was Emily, the girl who had been lingering around me in a strange way since yesterday.

“Emily, aren’t you supposed to be at the opening party?”

“That’s right!”

“Then why don’t you go back? I heard you got asked to dance too.”

“Oh my, I was going to say the same thing! If you went to the party, A-ri, you could become the queen with every male student’s attention on you!”

What would I even do with that, being queen at the Hotel?

“I don’t like parties.”

“I like parties.”

“Then go.”

“But you’re here, A-ri.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“We’re friends!”

“...”

Talking to her felt oddly similar to talking to Mi-ro.

Of course, my long career as an agent let me sense the difference.

Mi-ro’s childish behavior came from having a genuinely childish inner world, with no act behind it.

This girl’s supposedly childish behavior, on the other hand, felt unnatural somehow.

At this point, even an idiot should sense something strange, and I was obviously not an idiot.

What was this girl?

Did she really have some ulterior motive?

“Emily, if you have something to say, say it.”

As I continued watching Emily with a sharp gaze, her demeanor slowly began to change.

The playful, childish, almost cute appearance vanished as if it had been a lie.

In its place was a doll-like expression that revealed no emotion.

“...”

A quiet silence.

I observed Emily, and Emily observed me.

Emily suddenly reached into her clothes and took out a rolled-up sheet of paper.

“What is that?”

“Take a look.”

It was a black-and-white drawing of a girl and an old man.

Was it drawn in pencil?

Honestly, the drawing was poor enough that it wasn’t easy to make out, but when I looked closely, there was writing in one corner.

「She’s actually incredibly beautiful! Black hair, red eyes, and such unreal looks that you can’t take your eyes off her when you first see her!」

Was this supposed to be about me?

「An old man in his fifties, at least by appearance? He takes good care of himself, so he has an excellent physique, and he seems like he must have been handsome when he was young. He has striking eyes and a prominent, high-bridged nose.」

The instant I saw the drawing and description of Mook-seong, my breath caught.

The description of me could have been drawn by observing me here.

But aged Mook-seong was an entirely different matter.

Mook-seong in the third trial was a man in his twenties!

How could a character within the trial know and describe the older Mook-seong?

That meant this drawing was a trace left behind by a companion from a past era!

“Emily, where did you get this drawing?”

They hadn’t known that Mook-seong, who appeared in the future, would look like he was in his twenties, so they must have left behind a drawing of an old man.

“...”

Rather than answering my question, the beautiful girl watched me with an absent expression.

“Emily, I asked where you got it.”

“Really...”

“What?”

“It was real.”

“What are you-”

The next moment, her eyes welled up.

“W-what? Why are you suddenly crying?”

“Mom... Could you really see the future?”

“The future-”

“I don’t know at all, no matter how much time passes.... How... How could you!”

A storm of fierce emotions began to rage across Emily’s beautiful, doll-like face.

“Ah, ah, ah.... Mom, Mom, Mom.... I’m scared. Why, how, by what means-”

Joy and sorrow, despair and hope, along with regret too profound to put into words.

Emotions so varied it was strange for a single person to hold them all swept past in an instant.

It made me feel suffocated too.

I wanted to calm her down somehow and talk to her...!

Based on the circumstances, this ‘Mom’ seemed to be a companion. Who could it be?

Emily was incredibly beautiful, and she had blonde hair, so Elena?

Or-

Huh?

Emily’s expression suddenly changed completely, and she looked outside.

“Eh?”

“What’s wrong, Emily?”

“Eh? Eh? Ah!”

“Did something happen outside-”

As I spoke, I began to hear it too.

“Aaaah!”

“Help!”

“W-what are you crazy bastards doing?!”

Students’ screams came from every direction, along with the cold sound of metal!

--- Bang!

Emily put on her mask as a teenage girl again and ran outside.

I immediately got up and followed her.

Damn it!

I knew something serious had happened outside, I did, but what kind of timing was this?

Emily had been about to tell me something important!

--- Tap tap tap!

As I ran frantically out of the library, a chilling realization occurred to me.

Emily had noticed the abnormality outside far earlier than I had.

“...”

* * *

By the time I got outside, chaos had already engulfed the university.

Students were screaming and running everywhere, while the sounds of gunfire rang out endlessly from all directions.

It was very easy to grasp the situation, because the enemies were making no attempt to hide their intentions.

“Purify them all! Christ is watching over us!”

“Amen!”

Soldiers in black clothes who had appeared from nowhere were gunning down every student they saw!

--- Rat-a-tat! Rat-tat!

The firepower of the automatic weapons pouring out bullets without pause was so absurd it left me speechless!

Was I, a Management Bureau agent, really surprised by guns?

Of course I was!

It was 1897!

There was some debate over what the first personal automatic firearm was, but even if we placed its appearance as early as possible, it would still be World War I.

That meant they wouldn’t become widespread until the 1920s.

And proper assault rifles at the level those people were using wouldn’t appear until the 1940s, during World War II!

That made it incredibly easy to identify the enemy.

There was only one organization in this setting that could use weapons fifty years ahead of their time: the Holy See.

--- Click!

The soldiers noticed me and aimed their guns.

There was no room to hide my power or consider what would happen afterward.

--- Whoosh!

I drew upon the power of Old Blood and kicked off the ground.

The soldiers couldn’t keep up with movements at this level, and their eyes darted about in panic.

Of course, I had no intention of giving the Holy See’s soldiers a chance.

“Hiya!”

While suspended in the air, I grabbed ‘space’ with both hands.

The moment a distortion born in a realm beyond human perception swept through the area-

--- Slice!

Six? No, seven!

An entire group of soldiers was cut to pieces, their entrails scattering everywhere.

“Aaargh!”

He was a young man who looked barely past twenty.

Just moments ago, he had been shouting, “Amen,” and pulling the trigger at university students without hesitation. Now, tears of blood streamed down his face as he clutched at the entrails spilling across the floor.

I ignored him, ran on, and considered the situation.

So Emily’s secret identity had been on the verge of being revealed on my side, right?

Had something happened to Mook-seong at the party around that time too?

Then had Mook-seong been shot to death before he could even try using One More Chance?

What kind of ridiculous-

--- Boom!

No, that wasn’t it.

I had underestimated veteran agent Kim Mook-seong too much.

At the thunderous sound coming from beyond the sky, everyone looked up.

Maybe they had all felt it instinctively.

The fact that everything that had happened so far was about to return to nothingness!

“...”