WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 554: School Alone (4) Fin

──────

- Kim A-ri

“Agent, aren’t you cold?”

“...”

I didn’t answer.

Instead, I recalled the information on Pale Breath.

* * *

「‘Pale Breath’

Serial Number: C - 2213

Danger Level: C

An illusion-like entity that appears on cold winter nights.

It tempts people facing the danger of freezing to death.

I will free you from a painful death, so offer up someone you love.

Then you shall gain a frozen heart that can endure the bitter cold.

Management Procedure: Containment (Contain)

First, manage the infected Host while keeping them confined in a Containment Zone inaccessible to ordinary people.

Second, --- 」

* * *

According to the records, that elderly person had extended their life after becoming infected with Pale Breath and sacrificing someone dear to them.

That was why I felt no pity for that Host, or perhaps Sacrifice.

--- Whoooosh...!

The sound of frozen breath gradually began to drift through the air.

The temperature kept falling.

The heater was clearly running, and it was only early autumn, yet frost began forming on the windows.

Seung-yeop had said he found the cold hard to endure too.

He’d proudly bragged that the cold had gone away after he built a bonfire in the Containment Zone with Samadhi True Fire...

In truth, it wasn’t the bonfire that had sustained him.

He only believed it was.

“Agent, where are we going?”

“Didn’t I tell you? We’re going to your home.”

“My home? My son and daughter-in-law do live in Gangneung.”

“More accurately, they used to. Your son and daughter-in-law died twenty-two years ago.”

“...”

--- Crack!

Frost spread across the window with a sharp sound.

It was becoming difficult to endure, but that was fine.

We were almost there.

--- Screech!

“We’re here.”

“This is...”

We stopped in front of an old apartment building.

It was called Rainbow Apartments, though that didn’t matter.

I wasn’t actually containing them in the real Rainbow Apartments anyway.

“Your name is Kim Dong-ho, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Mr. Kim Dong-ho, you’ll be living here from now on. Um, this is senior housing provided by the current government...”

I spouted whatever came to mind as I climbed the stairs with the elderly person.

Then...

--- Clank!

The apartment’s front door locked.

“... The door is locked.”

Bangbae Middle School’s Containment Zone.

Seung-yeop seemed to think the Management Bureau was responsible for being physically unable to escape the Containment Zone, such as when the front gate locked.

It wasn’t.

The Management Bureau’s control only prevented access to that containment space itself. Being unable to leave the school inside had nothing to do with the Management Bureau.

That was Pale Breath’s power.

“So it is.”

The elderly person smiled coldly.

As if to say that I, too, could no longer leave this frozen world.

“...”

As someone whose job was containing Chaos Entities, I sometimes grew curious.

I wanted to have a sincere conversation with mad monsters.

Do you enjoy trapping victims in places like this?

Do you understand why we’re containing you?

What were you thinking when you made your son and daughter-in-law freeze to death?

And finally.

Are you human now?

Or are you Pale Breath?

“...”

When you stare into the abyss for too long, the abyss stares back.

Do not communicate with monsters.

It was one of the oldest maxims passed down through the Management Bureau.

I unfolded the painting.

--- Flutter!

“Hmm? Agent, what is that painting-”

And Then There Were None.

The elderly person would keep exhaling Pale Breath into that frozen world until their last breath.

Once they died, Pale Breath would be released and seek out a new Host.

Then we would find Pale Breath and its Sacrifice again and contain them.

That was how the world worked.

* * *

--- Splash!

The moment I woke beside Mook-seong, a cup of water drenched me.

“Ghk!”

“...”

“Heh-heh-heh! You look like a drowned rat. Urgh!”

One punch was enough to shut Mook-seong up.

When I stared at him in disbelief, he added an excuse that wasn’t funny at all.

“Hey, hey. Do you know how bored I was?”

“...”

“You were planning to escape into Kingdom of Dreams, so I had to get some sleep, but I needed to know when you’d get out!”

Thanks to that, Mook-seong had been dozing aimlessly on a bench until I used Kingdom of Dreams.

He probably took sleeping pills or something.

I understood that he was bored, but did he have to throw water on me the moment I woke up beside him?

Was he still a middle schooler at heart?

“Oh, Seung-yeop called.”

“Did he get home safely?”

“That’s what he said. He wouldn’t stop bragging, either.”

“Really?”

“Listening to him, I realized something... That kid found the best way to deal with Pale Breath.”

“...”

The perfect way to deal with C - 2213, Pale Breath.

Even in cold so severe that the world froze and his body stiffened, his heart didn’t freeze.

A warm heart that could withstand even Arctic cold was the answer.

It was the perfect answer, but also one that agents found difficult to use.

Think about it.

How was I supposed to keep a warm heart after learning that elderly person had thrown even their son and daughter-in-law to a Chaos Entity as food just to save their own life?

“I also spoke with Sophia briefly. She said Seung-yeop seemed even dumber than usual.”

“...”

“If he thought too much and started calculating, his warm heart would melt away. Maybe Luck guided him. Anyway, that issue is settled...”

“Is there something else you wanted to say?”

“Cha Jin-cheol contacted me.”

“...”

“He says it’s about time to begin.”

Before returning to reality, we had talked about many things aboard the Gate Train.

Among them was the strange thing Cha Jin-cheol had mentioned.

* * *

“A-ri. I’ve thought it over carefully, and I want to become an agent.”

“An agent? That’s easy. You’re all exceptional talents the Management Bureau will pay attention to anyway, so if I file a report-”

“I don’t want that.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you to report anything about me.”

“What do you-”

“Can you do that for me?”

* * *

Someone else might have tried to persuade me through bizarre wordplay or airtight logic about why I shouldn’t report them to the Management Bureau.

Instead of trying to persuade me, Cha Jin-cheol had simply made an earnest request.

It was a ridiculous, sentimental approach.

“I didn’t think you’d grant his request, A-ri.”

“...”

It was easy to deceive the Management Bureau about matters related to the Hotel.

The Management Bureau barely knew anything about us to begin with.

They weren’t even sure how many people were in the Hotel Party.

When it came to each person’s Blessings and Inheritances, there was likely more they didn’t know than they knew.

I had hidden a great deal of information.

“Is that really okay?”

“...”

“Didn’t they question you?”

“Not really. If anything, there are rumors I’m getting promoted.”

“Promoted?”

The conversation returned to Cha Jin-cheol.

“Still, that Jin-cheol... What’s so good about being an agent?”

“It probably looks mysterious and honorable from the outside, and it pays well. There are reasons he’d like it.”

“Does it look like that from the outside?”

“More than that, I don’t understand why he’s acting so stupidly.”

“Stupidly?”

“If I told the Management Bureau what he wanted, they’d give him an agent badge right away.”

“Probably.”

“But he says he doesn’t want that.”

“Hmm...”

After thinking for a moment, Mook-seong offered his own hypothesis.

“Isn’t it like a chaebol heir wanting to succeed through his own abilities without help from his parents?”

“That’s completely different! Being an agent doesn’t require skill in the first place!”

“Really?”

Mook-seong looked indifferent, as if however things turned out had little to do with him.

I understood.

Just before I left, I looked at my former colleague one last time.

“Rest well.”

“...”

“Spend some happy time with your son and grandson.”

“Don’t say it like a farewell. It’s just a vacation, a vacation!”

The Empty Wish Mook-seong made with Dream was the revival of his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson, as well as...

His resignation.

That meant the Management Bureau had lost its information on Mook-seong during this Loop.

After serving the world for so many years, the old man had finally found rest.

I hadn’t told the others yet.

...

There was no such thing as retiring alive for an agent.

The moment an agent drew their final breath was the only escape, without exception.

Someday, once the hand of the clock made a full circuit, Mook-seong’s short vacation would end.

* * *

- Cha Jin-cheol

--- Ring-ring! Ring-ring!

My phone rang insistently.

When I checked the screen, a familiar name appeared.

「Sang-hyeon」

“Come on, Sang-hyeon. I told you everything yesterday...”

--- Ring-ring! Ring-ring!

If I ignored him any longer, he’d probably yell at me later.

He was a colleague who was secretly warmhearted but held grudges.

I answered the call.

“Sang-hyeon, it’s been a while-”

“You haven’t started yet, have you?”

“... Not yet. You can speak casually.”

“I’ve thought about it a great deal more since our call yesterday, and no matter how I look at it, this isn’t right! Jin-cheol, you need to avoid joining the Management Bureau.”

Sang-hyeon disliked the Management Bureau.

It was probably because Mi-ro of the Deep Sea Hotel had put him through hell.

He hadn’t shown it in the Hotel because A-ri and Grandpa Mook-seong were around.

Now that we were outside, Sang-hyeon made no effort to hide his displeasure with the Management Bureau.

“After seeing similar organizations that arose in Curse Rooms, I became certain! Those bastards are utterly vicious-”

“Isn’t it an organization that protects the world?”

“... I won’t deny that it’s a necessary evil. But it’s not a place for you.”

Everyone had their own view of the Management Bureau.

Just as Sang-hyeon had his own thoughts, I had mine.

“Sang-hyeon, you know the saying. If you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter its lair.”

“...”

“I’ll watch them from up close. That’s why I asked A-ri not to report anything about me.”

I didn’t want the Management Bureau to form any preconceptions about me.

That way, they would show me their true nature without hiding anything.

Silence filled the line.

After spending so long together in the Hotel, I could sense what he was thinking.

Maybe he wasn’t persuaded by my words. Maybe he had simply given up after realizing he couldn’t persuade me.

“Ahem. Are Ms. Baram and Jin-sol doing well?”

Seo Baram.

Kim Jin-sol.

They were the names of the family Sang-hyeon had summoned through Dream.

Did he feel that the real family he had made in Room 203 and these two people were the same?

I didn’t know.

I believed my deceased mother and someone revived through Dream could never be the same person.

Of course, I had no intention of sharing such feelings with my colleagues who had painted new families over their old ones.

Isn’t knowing what should and shouldn’t be said the first rule of getting along with people?

“... They’re doing well. You have no idea how good Jin-sol is at studying.”

“He takes after you.”

“Yesterday, Miss Eun-sol came to my hospital.”

“Did she?”

“Apparently, bad rumors did spread about Hotel Delight after what happened before, but they’re handling it somehow.”

“How is Ga-in doing?”

“From what I heard, he plans to do something like exorcist work during the rest the Hotel promised us.”

“An exorcist?”

I let out an incredulous laugh. Still, the more I thought about it, the more it strangely suited him.

It had been about two weeks since we returned to reality.

I roughly knew how the others were doing too.

Eun-sol had become Hotel Delight’s CEO.

Sang-hyeon had opened a respectable hospital.

Ga-in had suddenly started working as an exorcist.

Elena and Song-i were, enviably, enjoying life.

A-ri and Grandpa Mook-seong seemed to have returned to being agents, but I hadn’t contacted them personally.

I had been warned that careless contact would expose me to the Management Bureau’s surveillance.

For similar reasons, I hadn’t met Mi-ro or Seung-yeop individually either.

“...”

And lastly, me.

“Jin-cheol.”

“I’m listening.”

“If you ever need help, contact me right away. Any one of us will come help you.”

“I’m grateful just to hear you say that.”

--- Click!

After pestering A-ri aboard the Gate Train, I had learned how to become a Management Bureau agent without anyone’s help.

There was only one requirement to become an agent: awareness of the Loop.

Put simply, you had to be a Regressor.

Naturally, there was no open recruitment process like a company’s, nor a government-style agent exam.

There was no need for one.

Because Regressors always gave themselves away!

I turned on the TV.

「Today’s drawing will now begin! Please press the button with your golden hand! You will win as long as the numbers match, regardless of the order in which the balls are drawn! Let the drawing begin.」

“...”

「Number 17! Number 43! Number 10! Number 30! Number 35! Number 22! We will now draw the second-prize bonus ball! Number 44!」

“17, 43, 10, 30, 35, 22... The last one was 44.”

Exactly right.

Not a single number was wrong.

Which meant...

Starting today, I was worth 12.7 billion won.

I had taken my first step toward becoming an agent.

Of course, there was still a little more to do.

“...”

Did people know?

The lottery was rigged!

It was really rigged!

My late mother, the dreams and hopes you bought every week were rigged by those Management Bureau bastards!

Footnotes:

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