WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 532: Room 207, Gate Room - Fourth Trial ‘The Fallen King’ (18)
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- Han Ga-in
...
...
...
--- Flash!
The first sensation that hit me when I regained consciousness was falling.
“Eeeeeek!”
“Ahhh!”
We'd used the Hourglass while we were on a plane, so it was only natural.
“Yah!”
“Eek!”
“Mi-ro, keep it down! You're hurting my ears!”
“Eeeeeek... Mmph!”
A-ri, who was wearing Wing Boots, quickly grabbed Mi-ro.
I immediately summoned the Sacred Sun and caught Grandpa.
“Urgh! Th-thank you.”
“Let's get down.”
The moment we reached the ground, I looked around.
We'd been flying from Texas to Spain when we fell, but thankfully, we hadn't landed in the ocean.
“Wreckage is scattered everywhere. Looks like the plane crashed.”
“Seems so.”
The Hourglass protected only the four of us: Grandpa, A-ri, Mi-ro, and me.
Naturally, the plane itself wasn't affected by the Hourglass. It must've kept flying for a while before crashing.
“Then Sophia!”
“...”
Everyone paused to think over Mi-ro’s question.
“D-don't tell me she died when the plane crashed?”
Maybe Mi-ro had grown a little attached to Sophia already. A-ri took her hand as she started to tear up.
“No. She's not someone who'd die that easily.”
I agreed.
Sophia was a great mage powerful enough to borrow the Mirror's power and defeat Fortuna.
I didn't know whether she could fly, but she probably had some way to slow her fall.
So the more likely problem wasn't that Sophia had died...
“The problem is the Light That Calls the End. Sophia came face-to-face with it.”
The possibility that Sophia had been twisted was far more concerning.
It felt like we needed to make something clear.
“You can probably all guess, but-”
“What? What is it?”
“... Mi-ro, could you please be quiet for a moment? You've got an idea what Aedia's plan was, right?”
A-ri and Grandpa nodded.
“Well, we had plenty of time to think about it. It looks like she used the Mirror's power to twist all of humanity.”
“Eek!”
Mi-ro was the only one startled. The rest of us continued talking.
“I understand the plan, but how was that even possible? Did Aedia's original Mirror have that much power?”
A-ri answered with an uncertain expression.
“Strictly speaking, the Mirror is a passage. The source of its power is a distant being beyond the Mirror, the Practitioner, or Yaldabaoth.”
There was no doubt Yaldabaoth had enough power to shake the entire Earth.
Most of the Prisoners we'd encountered in Curse Rooms had possessed that level of power to begin with.
Still, even if Yaldabaoth had limitless power, having a passage capable of projecting that power onto Earth was a separate matter.
“I'm not asking about Yaldabaoth. I'm asking about the Mirror. Could Aedia really pull off something like this with it?”
“I don't know... But I can say for certain that when I fought her 120 years ago, it wasn't this powerful.”
“Then?”
“It seems Aedia found a way to amplify the Mirror over those 120 years.”
“...”
Grandpa cut in.
“It doesn't matter how she did it. The deed's already done. That girl must've worked herself to the bone for 120 years. What matters is exactly what happened.”
A-ri answered.
“We'll find out once we go into the city.”
“Let's go now.”
“No. You three stay here for a while. I'll go alone.”
Grandpa, Mi-ro, and I all turned to A-ri.
“Why?”
“... Disgust.”
“What?”
“We'll have to see exactly how they've changed, but all humanity has probably been twisted by the Mirror.”
“Right.”
“If they see you, they'll go half-mad and run wild.”
“Why?”
“Because they'll feel intense disgust.”
The three of us fell quiet, and A-ri disappeared after giving that simple answer.
“I've experienced it before. Covering your whole body with clothes and a mask solves most of the problem. It's chilly out, too. I'll bring back clothes that cover you from head to toe. Wait here.”
After A-ri left, Mi-ro cautiously muttered.
“Um... Ga-in.”
“...”
“You said twisted beings hate humans, right?”
“Right.”
“You said A-ri was twisted too.”
“... Right.”
“Th-then, does A-ri feel disgust toward us too?”
“...”
It was only a vague feeling, but I didn't think she hated Mi-ro.
She probably did feel disgust toward Grandpa and me.
Yet she'd never shown it in the slightest.
Moments like this reminded me that A-ri had once been an agent.
* * *
The discussion continued after A-ri left.
“You said that Aedia brat is on the moon now?”
“Yes. It's a location I never imagined. I thought she might not be in Europe, but I never expected her not to be on Earth.”
“Do we have to go into space? This is getting complicated-”
At that moment, my eyes flew open instinctively!
“Watch out!”
--- Whooooom!
I saw an eye appear in the sky.
I saw an overwhelming gaze that seemed to look down upon all creation in a single glance.
When my eyes met that supreme eye, one that looked capable of crushing any lesser being in an instant...
A strange realization came to me.
“...”
Its focus was off?
It couldn't find me, no, us?
Soon, the eye disappeared beyond the sky as though it had found nothing.
“...”
The silence was so tense it felt as though my breath had stopped.
Only after a long while did Grandpa break it.
“Wh-what was that? Why did it just pass by? It felt like that thing was about to tear us apart.”
“... It couldn't detect us.”
“What?”
“It couldn't see us.”
“Does that make any sense? We were standing right out in the open-”
Instead of answering, I showed everyone a note I'd only just discovered.
「Horus, be careful of the sky. If you act too conspicuously, you'll be found out.」
“Someone tucked this into my clothes. They must've hoped I'd find it once I came to, but I noticed it a little late.”
“Who?”
“Not Sophia. I know her handwriting.”
“Then Aedia?”
“That's right.”
We were left thinking again.
Soon, Mi-ro muttered.
“Did Aedia do something?”
Let's think this through.
Aedia had realized that protecting humanity from the Chaos Entities filling space was close to impossible.
She'd amplified the Mirror's power and changed the rules of the world.
We still needed to confirm exactly what had happened, but that eye was part of the changed world as well.
“...”
Aedia hadn't been certain about what she was doing.
She'd chosen this path because she believed there was no other way, but she'd also considered the possibility that it could fail.
Our conversation from a week ago came back to me.
「“I think I need insurance.”
“Insurance?”
“You are my insurance. I've made accommodations for you as well.”」
Aedia said we were her insurance, and she'd made accommodations for us as well.
“So this is what she meant by the accommodations.”
“... That eye can't detect us?”
“Yes. The note says we'll be exposed if we act too conspicuously, so let's be careful.”
Grandpa nodded, then cautiously muttered.
“If we're exposed... Do you think you can beat that eye?”
“I won't know until I fight it, but it'd be better to avoid it if possible.”
“Got it.”
--- Tap tap tap!
“Nothing happened to any of you, right?”
“A-ri!”
“A strange eye passed by. Were you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let's get dressed first.”
We used the clothes A-ri had brought to completely cover our bodies, including our faces.
Mi-ro muttered as if she found it amusing.
“I feel like an Antarctic explorer!”
“A lot of strange things will happen when we get to the city.”
“What?”
“Just stay quiet for a while and observe carefully. Don't panic, either.”
“How has it changed?”
“... See for yourself and decide.”
How had the Mirror changed the world, changed humanity?
* * *
We were currently in Florida.
The incident must've happened before the plane leaving Texas could fly out of the continental United States.
“...”
The moment we reached the city, everyone fell silent.
“That's-!”
Mi-ro started pointing at something, but stopped when A-ri signaled to her.
As usual, it was a childish thing to do, but I had almost pointed too.
No, was it really normal for a monster covered in pitch-black hide to walk through the middle of a city full of people?
“...”
No one feared the demon.
That didn't mean its violent nature had disappeared.
--- Crunch!
In broad daylight, right by the roadside.
The demon openly grabbed a barely clothed person, then seized their legs.
Something too gruesome to watch soon followed.
What happened next was even more shocking.
“Ha ha! Tennessee, you still make such a mess when you eat?”
“This one really has terrible table manners!”
A demon eating a person.
People giggling as they watched it.
Just as we were all about to lose our minds, A-ri whispered.
“They're sacrifices.”
“What?”
“Not all humanity was altered. About 10% were left unchanged.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
It wasn't that I didn't understand.
I understood, but the meaning was so cruel that it shocked me.
“90% of humanity has been twisted. They aren't attacked by Chaos Entities, and they live peacefully. And...”
Even Mi-ro's mouth fell open at this point.
“10% of humanity remains unchanged. To the other 90%, they're objects of disgust and sacrifices.”
Unable to hold back, Grandpa asked.
“No, what happens when that 10% all dies? They'll all be dead eventually! Then-”
“More will be born.”
“What?”
“Ten percent of babies born into this world will be human.”
“...”
“Don't be shocked yet. This isn't the only change in the world.”
* * *
“Oh my, your family is sick?”
“Yes. Could we rent a few hotel rooms?”
“Of course!”
“As for payment-”
“You don't need to pay.”
“What?”
“Ha ha! You're Miss A-ri, aren't you? This is a blessed age! We've been saved!”
“...”
“Today's on the house, free of charge!”
“Thank you.”
As I unpacked our things in the luxurious room, I thought about it.
In a way, the world newly created by the Mirror was quite livable.
“Everyone... is kind.”
“Everyone is good, and they care for one another.”
“...”
“If there really is a God, this place might be heaven.”
I cracked open the window and looked outside. The streets were filled with laughter and happiness.
Everyone was kind to each other, and every word and action was full of consideration.
A world where all humanity cared for and loved one another.
“They don't even think to check whether someone is actually sick.”
“Because they don't doubt. Everyone trusts one another.”
People who had become as kind and innocent as children.
For the chosen 90% of citizens, this world might truly be paradise.
Everyone cared for and loved one another. In one stroke, that solved 90% of the countless problems sages throughout human history had agonized over.
“I've been noticing this for a while, but I think Chaos Entities feel affection toward the twisted people.”
“... All humanity gained Song-i's Affinity?”
“Something like that.”
Mi-ro cautiously asked.
“How did you know? Um, is that what you feel, A-ri?”
“That's right.”
Fear of Chaos Entities, demons, ghosts, aliens, and man-eating monsters had vanished as well.
The chosen people would no longer be slaughtered by demons. They could live in peace.
A foolish person might ask this.
Hideous Chaos Entities still filled the world, and many of them demanded human suffering. What could be done about that?
That answer had been prepared too.
--- Aaaagh!
“...”
There was one small problem in this beautiful paradise.
No more and no less than the 10% who had not been chosen.
--- P-please, save me!
Their suffering and screams would become the fuel sustaining paradise.
“They didn't charge us...”
“Even the clothes you're wearing were free. We said we needed them, and they just gave them to us.”
“No, did everyone lose all sense of economics?”
“Economics?”
“If they hand out everything for free because they love each other, how will they make money?”
“Why do they need money? They'll give you things if you ask.”
“N-no...! Then who makes those clothes? If there's no one to pay them-”
“They'll work. Everyone loves one another, so they'll work for one another.”
“Ah.”
We couldn't judge this world by the common sense of the world we knew.
The very concept of selfishness had faded here.
If everyone truly cared for one another, capitalism had no meaning.
So this world was-
“Ahh...! Great Teacher Marx! The communist utopia you dreamed of has finally become reality-”
“Ga-in. Stop talking nonsense. Let's discuss what to do now.”
I snapped out of the communist utopia Marx had dreamed of.
Add a faint hint of Hitler, and it would probably be similar.
“One thing bothers me. Was this truly the Holy Mother's intention, this vicious world?”
Footnotes:
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