WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 573: The Management Bureau Is an Elephant (3)
──────
- Cha Jin-cheol
Once the back seat fell quiet, I thought over Jang Seo-jin's sentimental words.
‘I'm touched. As expected, we humans are the most precious beings in the world, aren't we?’
Humans are precious.
Humans are special.
It was the sort of thing countless sages and religious groups had said throughout history, stressing the value of human life.
Now that I'd seen the inside, the Management Bureau agreed with that too.
They simply had a somewhat different interpretation of why humans were precious and special.
Then Jang Seo-jin spoke again from the back.
“Big agent.”
“...”
“Agent who's driving.”
“What?”
“Why is it so bumpy? My butt hurts so much I can barely stand it.”
Kim Ji-ho, sitting beside Jang Seo-jin, snickered.
“Ah, I'll apologize for that. This guy really is fucking terrible at driving.”
I was so dumbfounded that I had to say something too.
“Your estate is the problem, Jang Seo-jin.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“If you've got eyes, look outside. This isn't some remote mountain village in Gangwon Province, so why are the roads around a chaebol's house this fucking awful?”
I'd wanted to say that ever since Kim Ji-ho criticized my driving.
Why were there so many rocks scattered all over the road?
Jang Seo-jin answered calmly.
“They're my works.”
“What?”
“Who says sculptures have to stay in museums? Some children want to see the world, while others want to walk along the road...”
“...”
It was exactly the kind of thing a deranged artist would say, so I had nothing to add.
Kim Ji-ho argued instead, sounding incredulous.
“What kind of artwork is that? It just looks like you tossed rocks by the roadside.”
“They're practice pieces. Keep going, and you'll see successful works too.”
“Successful works?”
“Probably around here?”
At that exact moment.
--- Boom!
A gigantic rocky hand burst out of the soil beside the road!
“Urgh!”
“What the fuck is this?!”
The instant I noticed the hand descending on us, I realized my vision had already gone dark.
The hand made of rock had covered the entire car in an instant!
Time slowed.
I'd instinctively activated my powerful ability, Instant.
What should I do?
“...”
The car was already being crushed.
I couldn't use the Otherworldly Star with Jang Seo-jin and Kim Ji-ho right behind me.
I had no choice but to overpower it!
“Hyah!”
The rocky fingers were crushing the car body in a single motion!
Gritting my teeth, I poured strength into both arms and stopped the fingers from closing any further.
Like Hercules himself, I opened my eyes wide and poured every ounce of strength into my arms.
“Ghh! That bastard Jang Seo-jin...”
In the past, I could've beaten a monster like this with raw strength.
But Patrick Biederman, was that his name?
That Former Participant was sharing in the Blessing of Courage.
Now that even I had been weakened because of it, I could tell this was too much.
I needed to use the Otherworldly Star Fragment.
And to do that, I needed to be the only one here!
“Kim Ji-ho! Get out! Get outside!”
Instead of wasting time with pointless words like, “Why?” or “I'll help!” Kim Ji-ho immediately dragged Jang Seo-jin out while I held on, twisting through the gap between the fingers.
At that point, it was over.
Exposed to the Star's waves, the rocky hand instantly lost its life and collapsed.
Then, in the remains of the rocky hand, I saw the grave secret held within Jang Seo-jin's sculpture.
“...”
My heart felt heavy.
Not because it was an unimaginable secret, but because it was a secret I'd expected.
The Management Bureau had surmised this secret too.
* * *
As I pushed aside the remains of the lifeless rocky hand and tried to climb out, someone rushed inside.
“Get back! Back inside!”
“Kim Ji-ho, what are you doing-”
“Look at the situation outside!”
Only then did I take in what was happening outside, something I'd failed to notice because of the tremendous noise and vibration from the rocky hand.
Seven bodyguards, each carrying an assault rifle from who knew where.
The chairman was shouting at them, with Jang Seo-jin standing beside him.
This was ridiculous.
--- Bang! Bang!
They were even firing into the gaps in the rocky hand's remains, apparently intending to kill us.
“...”
I roughly understood the situation.
Once the Management Bureau knew about Jang Seo-jin and sent agents for him, a mere Korean chaebol had no way to resist.
But after much thought, the chairman, who cherished his youngest son, had come up with a clever plan.
“Taeseong Group handed over its precious youngest son to the Management Bureau. Then, during the transfer, an unidentified Chaos Entity attacked and killed the agents and Jang Seo-jin. It isn't our responsibility. Something like that?”
“Probably. Looks like they're planning to kill us and bury us.”
“... Isn't that plan a little too sloppy?”
Was Chairman Jang Min-cheol a kindergartener?
Even in the Joseon era, if a royal inspector suddenly died while on duty, the local magistrate under investigation would lose his head first!
“Well, turning a chaebol chairman into a dementia patient is just how powerful fatherly love is, isn't it? He must love his son that much.”
--- Bang! Rat-a-tat!
Bullets kept flying at us.
Yet no one here panicked.
Both of us were agents in the first place.
We'd even brought a grenade launcher in case we had to fight the sculptures. Did they think we wouldn't be wearing bulletproof, stab-resistant gear?
Considering each of our abilities, this wasn't much of a crisis either.
Still, there was a reason we remained here.
“How are we handling the cleanup?”
“What do you normally do?”
“Ah, ordinary people pointed guns at agents. You think we'd let them live? This is serious obstruction of official duties.”
“... Let's kill the bodyguards.”
“And spare the chairman?”
“To make use of Jang Seo-jin...”
“Sure, sure. The chairman has a good son, so we'll let him off this once.”
“Let's go.”
“No, you stay here and watch.”
“Hm?”
“I embarrassed myself enough today. I should show you what your ‘senior’ can do too!”
* * *
It didn't take long to settle things outside.
Using the shattered rocky hand's remains as a barricade, he darted this way and that.
With near-miraculous marksmanship, he blew apart all seven bodyguards' heads!
Kim Ji-ho fought like a 007 agent straight out of a movie, without the slightest exaggeration.
The chairman had started out barking orders with confidence, but his face gradually turned pale. By the time every bodyguard was dead, he looked completely drained of color.
Kim Ji-ho, on the other hand, regained his confidence.
“Ah, Mr. Chairman. Why do you have to make things so difficult?”
“...”
“Jang Seo-jin. You're something else too. Did you really think those stone toys could kill us?”
“I was impressed. Both of you fight really well. Is this the basic standard for becoming an agent?”
Kim Ji-ho frowned slightly at the way he spoke as if this had nothing to do with him.
Honestly, this was far too arrogant.
“... You're awfully relaxed.”
“Why should I be scared? There are plenty of other sculptures, and more importantly, even in the worst-case scenario, I don't think I'll die!”
As Jang Seo-jin said, there were other sculptures. The ground shook violently, and grotesque giants began rising all around us.
I suddenly remembered the bizarre rocks scattered throughout Chairman Jang Min-cheol's estate.
Were all of those some kind of sculpture?
More importantly, there were far more sculptures than the Management Bureau had predicted.
It seemed his ability had awakened earlier than expected.
What did that mean?
I spoke quietly enough that only Kim Ji-ho could hear.
“... When I destroyed the rocky hand earlier, I saw inside it-”
“I know. You know too.”
“...”
“Don't worry about it. We just need to teach that arrogant bastard a lesson and take him with us. Then our job is done.”
This seemed like one side of the elephant that was the Management Bureau, an organization willing to accept sacrifices for the greater good.
Maybe it was its murkiest depths.
“...”
As I sensed the slight tremor in Kim Ji-ho's voice, I thought of something.
Maybe the Management Bureau wasn't the only elephant. Maybe Kim Ji-ho was an elephant too.
If so, this must have been a moment of conflict for him as well.
* * *
- Kim A-ri
After a tedious wait, I finally arrived at an enormous place of unknown purpose.
It was like a massive Research Lab filled with gray walls. I never imagined there would be a place like this beneath the Australian desert.
As I walked down the corridor with my companion, my thoughts returned to the shocking experience from earlier.
The enormous sphere I'd sensed from the elevator had been none other than the Moon.
“...”
A long time ago, I'd told Ga-in that there was no Moon in reality, hadn't I?
I'd unintentionally lied.
Still, I had an excuse this time.
Who would've imagined the Moon was inside the Earth?
Did it even make physical sense for the Moon to be inside the Earth?
Of course, common sense like that had no meaning in this world.
“...”
The Moon was the Moon, yet it wasn't the Moon.
That was because the miracle that even the Management Bureau could no longer reproduce was the Moon's Sealing.
And I already knew the principle behind sealing the Moon.
“I saw something similar.”
“Hm?”
“The structure that seals the Moon. I saw something similar at the Hotel.”
“Oh... If the world's secrets had been revealed that much, was it the latter half of the second floor?”
“That's right.”
It was easy talking because we both knew about the Hotel.
“What room was it? Room 204? Room 205?”
“Room 206.”
The other person nodded, then casually revealed the astonishing fact I'd just realized.
“It appears that in Room 206, which you experienced, the Management Bureau also crushed a demon with all humanity's spiritual mass?”
“... Something like that.”
The Moon had to be sealed.
There was only one power capable of sealing such an absurd, monstrous thing: the spiritual mass of all humanity.
“Congratulations. Today, you've learned an astonishing fact. But know that this is only the beginning.”
“...”
After walking down the corridor for some time, a massive door came into view.
“There are other members of The Silent beyond that door. They are the people you'll spend eternity with from now on.”
“I don't really want to.”
“We aren't together because we particularly want to be either.”
“...”
“Before that, there's just one thing I want to ask you.”
“Hm?”
A question out of nowhere?
The hooded man took a small piece of paper from inside his clothes.
“Can you see it?”
“Isn't it just a blank sheet of paper?”
“It is now.”
“What was it originally?”
“Originally, it was a photograph. It remained that way until about two months ago.”
“...”
That was when I... when the Hotel Party returned to reality.
“It is strange. The photograph turned into a blank sheet of paper exactly when you returned.”
“... I don't know.”
“There was originally a person in this photograph.”
One person.
“I don't know who it was. I originally did, but I don't anymore. It seems the great Buddha erased the memory from my mind.”
“...”
“Do you happen to know who the person in the photograph was?”
“...”
“He is the Traitor to Humanity. I've killed him countless times throughout the repeating Loop.”
It was a strange story.
A truly strange story.
Footnotes:
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