Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 582

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 581: Someone’s Beginning, Someone’s End

──────

- Han Ga-in

Images, scenes, or perhaps memories flashed through my mind as I thought.

Had I ever experienced anything this intense since gaining Insight?

It should have been impossible even when my blessing was intact...

It was hard to explain without intervention from my Sponsor.

I would have to pay a price for this.

Even so, this was information I had to know, whatever the price.

* * *

A cool breeze, yet one carrying the warmth of spring.

That was my impression of February weather on Jeju Island.

After having a hearty breakfast and walking along the Jeju Olle Trail, I naturally found myself in a good mood.

Ah, I wish I could just keep traveling like this.

Getting into university was great, but now that the semester was approaching, I felt weighed down.

“Whew...”

“Why are you sighing?”

“Ah!”

W-who was that?

I turned around in surprise and found a boy with a nonchalant expression.

“D-do you live around here?”

“I asked why you were sighing.”

Was he from around here?

He looked younger than me, and it was absurd that he spoke so casually out of nowhere. Oddly enough, though, I wasn't angry.

“Because I have to go to university once this trip ends.”

“University?”

“You might not know, but these days, you can't just relax because you got into university. You have to get good grades from your first year-”

“Pfft!”

“...”

“Hahaha! Hehe!”

The boy laughed so hard that tears welled in his eyes.

But what was so funny about what I said?

“Ah, sorry. What you said was so funny that I couldn't hold it in.”

“... Was there a punchline?”

“There was. You're getting ahead of yourself and worrying over something that won't even happen. How could I not laugh?”

Worrying about something that wouldn't happen? What did he mean?

“More importantly, Ga-in, stop for a moment.”

I stopped.

He had suddenly called me by name.

“How do you know my name-”

“The smell.”

“What?”

“Focus on the smells around you.”

“...”

Now that he mentioned it, I could detect a faintly sour, burnt smell.

I probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't pointed it out.

As I tilted my head, wondering what it was, the boy came closer.

“...”

An incomprehensibly refreshing energy enveloped the area.

“You should be grateful. I saved your life once.”

What did that mean?

I couldn't understand it.

Still, it felt as though something mysterious had happened.

“In Buddhism, there's a concept called the Six Paths of Rebirth. When sentient beings die, they are reborn in the Hell Realm, Hungry Ghost Realm, Animal Realm, Asura Path, Human Realm, or Heavenly Realm depending on how they lived.”

“...”

“Hinduism has concepts related to reincarnation and rebirth too. What do you think?”

He suddenly started talking about something strange, then asked me a question.

Oddly, it was hard to resist the atmosphere the boy had created.

“I don't believe in reincarnation. It's just something meant to deceive people exhausted by the hardships of real life-”

“Stop, stop! Assume reincarnation is real and answer.”

Reincarnation was real?

“Well, it's an interesting idea, but it isn't fair.”

“Why?”

“You're paying in your next life for sins you didn't commit.”

“So you think the person who committed the sin and the person reborn in the Hell Realm are different people? Why?”

Was a being before and after reincarnation the same person?

I didn't think so.

“They're different people. Their personalities and memories are different.”

“If their personalities and memories differ, they're different people?”

“Yeah.”

The boy, who had looked ready to argue, suddenly smiled and nodded.

“I think so too. But what if an evil person reincarnates and becomes evil again? Shouldn't they be sent to hell beforehand to protect their victims?”

“It's like asking whether you should kill Hitler if you see him as a child.”

“Something like that.”

My thoughts on that were clear.

“I think the premise itself is wrong.”

“The premise is wrong?”

“You're assuming that if an evil person reincarnates, they'll become evil again, and that Hitler as a child would definitely become a mass murderer.”

“...”

“There may be differences in people's inborn dispositions, but there is no such thing as a seed of evil. Want an example?”

“...”

“If you're robbed in Korea and everything you have is taken, the robber is a bad person. But what if you're robbed in an African country that's been in a civil war for thirty years? Shouldn't you be grateful they spared your life?”

“I-I don't think that's quite right.”

“What I mean is that even decent citizens from developed countries would think differently if they had been born and raised in Somalia.”

No one was born with the fate of a mass murderer already decided.

That was why killing Hitler as a child would be nothing but meaningless murder.

“So which side are you on now?”

“What?”

When I turned my head in confusion, I realized I was the only person left on the Olle Trail.

* * *

Which side was I on?

While I thought about it, the memories flowed past like the wind.

My head was starting to hurt.

* * *

It was a peaceful afternoon at 3 p.m.

I wandered through a hallabong orchard, enjoying the fragrant scent.

Baskets of hallabong were hung here and there for tourists, and I was having a pleasant time.

Ah, I really should just keep traveling like-

“...?”

Was I imagining it?

I had heard that this was a remote orchard, with few tourists like me...

Yet there were strangely many people around.

The moment I tilted my head, wondering what was going on...

“Hi!”

A cheerful voice came from behind me.

It was a girl with a mischievous expression.

She had an ordinary face, the kind you could see anywhere, and she looked about my age.

Had she come from Seoul to sightsee like me?

Or was she the orchard owner's daughter?

“Uh... hi?”

“This makes two already today.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Is the tangerine good?”

Maybe she really was the orchard owner's daughter.

“Ah, it's good! Peeling it is a little difficult, but it's really nice. Sweet and refreshing.”

Clap!

Instead of answering, the girl suddenly clapped and looked around.

“...”

Clap!

“What are you doing?”

“The population density is too high, so I'm reducing it.”

“What?”

“You should really be grateful to me.”

I had no idea what she meant.

I felt as though I had heard something similar earlier, but strangely, I couldn't remember what had happened that morning very well.

“Give me that hallabong.”

“Huh?”

The girl casually took the hallabong from my hand, snapped off the stem, and peeled it in an instant.

“See? You remove the stem first. Don't touch the bottom part.”

“Thanks.”

“One day, rain began to fall from the sky.”

“Huh?”

“So much rain that the entire world was submerged. It would be a major crisis, one where only fish survived.”

“...”

From peeling hallabong to a great flood?

That was an awfully abrupt change of subject.

“To preserve the world's continuity, an Ark was built. Survivors from all over the world were placed aboard it.”

“Is this the story of Noah's Ark?”

“It's similar, but the later part is a little different. Some people arrived late.”

People who appeared after the Ark was already full.

The atmosphere was already growing foreboding.

“And the people who arrived late...”

“The people?”

“They killed everyone who had already boarded, then took their places on the Ark.”

“...”

It was a tragic story.

“What do you think?”

“It's horrible.”

“Were the people who took the Ark evil?”

“...”

I was at a loss for words.

Then, to be good people, were they supposed to quietly be swept away and die in the flood?

“That's a difficult question. If I had to answer, I'd say it's a matter of perspective.”

“Perspective?”

“To the people who boarded the Ark first, the people who came later were no different from demons. To those who came later, it was an unavoidable choice to survive.”

“What if...”

“What if?”

“What if this kept happening?”

“That's a scary story.”

“There's more. Say there was one final survivor among the people who boarded first.”

“That's even more horrible.”

“That survivor grew up without knowing anything about what happened in childhood, then only learned the truth as an adult.”

“...”

“What would they do?”

Just imagining it made my breath catch.

If I had to compare it to something, it was like finding out that the parents who had raised me all my life were kidnappers who had brutally murdered my real parents when I was young.

“... It's difficult. I don't know.”

Interestingly, the girl sighed with me.

“Right. I don't know either...”

“Why are you asking me these questions?”

I suddenly looked up because I could no longer sense anyone around me.

I was alone.

* * *

Stories that seemed understandable and yet weren't.

The keyword Ark kept coming up.

By now, the headache was truly hard to endure.

* * *

That evening, after a full afternoon of sightseeing, I was having coffee near the hotel where I would stay that night when someone sat across from me.

He looked to be in his early thirties and had a rather cheerful air about him.

“Wow, you've really made the most of your day.”

“Pardon?”

“Once you finish that coffee, you're planning to go to the hotel, right?”

“... I am.”

“Do that.”

“What?”

“There are still a few tricks left, but you don't need to worry about them. Once you enter the hotel, you'll be out of everyone's hands from then on.”

There were still tricks left?

Once I entered the hotel, I would be beyond everyone's reach?

I had no idea what he was talking about.

Feeling uncomfortable, I immediately stood up.

A firm hand grabbed my arm.

“...”

“H-hey, sit back down.”

“If you don't let go, I'll scream-”

“Ah, come on! A kid and a girl are fine, but an adult man isn't? That's some serious discrimination!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you to sit down. I'll buy you more coffee and cake, so sit for a while.”

“...”

“I've got something to tell you. You'll be incredibly grateful to me later.”

In the end, I sat back down.

It was only a feeling, but he didn't seem like a bad person.

“Today is important to you too, but it's actually an extremely important day for me.”

“Why?”

“Hey, Ga-in. What do you think is the hardest thing in the world?”

“...”

The abrupt shift in topic felt familiar.

I felt like I had experienced it several times already.

“... World peace?”

“Oh! That is hard. Tell me another one.”

“Space travel?”

“I'll accept that too! Say something even harder.”

“Conquering the galaxy?”

“That's grand. But don't you think there's something harder than the things you mentioned?”

“I don't know.”

“I think the hardest thing in the world is creating heaven.”

Heaven?

“Can you imagine what kind of place heaven is?”

“... Um, a place full of milk and honey-”

“A liter of milk costs less than three thousand won. Honey is about the same. Does buying a lot of them make it heaven?”

“M-maybe a place where everyone lives in abundance?”

“A place where everyone eats well and lives well? Most citizens of developed countries already eat well and live well.”

I was left speechless.

“Here's an interesting fact. When people are told to imagine hell, their imaginations run wild. But when they're told to imagine heaven, they all freeze up like you did.”

“...”

“Even in fiction, depictions of hell are incredible, but people struggle to portray heaven. Do you know why?”

“It's hard to imagine a situation where everyone is happy.”

“That's it. You can imagine material abundance, but it's far too hard to imagine anything beyond that.”

“...”

“People need someone else's failure in order to be happy themselves. The happiness you got from doing well on the College Scholastic Ability Test is a good example.”

The satisfaction gained through competition could not, by its nature, be shared by everyone.

If there was a winner, there naturally had to be a loser.

“Mental happiness usually requires someone else's unhappiness. That's why a heaven where everyone is happy lies in a realm people can barely even imagine.”

After hearing that much, I understood why creating heaven was the hardest thing in the world.

“Did you stop me just to tell me this?”

“Listen a little longer. Let's say you're a god.”

“What?”

“You aren't omnipotent, but you're one of the five strongest beings in the universe. There is practically nothing better than you.”

“...”

“How would you create heaven?”

“I don't know. I think it would be a method I couldn't even imagine.”

The man smiled faintly at my answer, then suddenly turned his gaze.

He was looking toward the hotel where I would stay that night.

“There is someone in this world who wants to create that very heaven.”

“What?”

“But to create heaven, that person created a million hells.”

Created a million hells to make heaven?

What was that supposed to mean?

“I don't understand...”

“What do you think the reason was?”

“...”

“What meaning is there in creating a million hells in the name of making heaven?”

It was a strange question.

One I had never thought about before.

Yet an appropriate answer suddenly came to mind.

“At the end.”

“At the end?”

“Because they believed that if they could eventually create heaven, they could erase all the failures that came before?”

“...”

“Even if they had to create one million, no, ten million hells, if they somehow created heaven in the end... wouldn't they believe they could save even those ten million hells from the past?”

A quiet silence followed.

This time too, I thought the man would disappear somewhere.

“... You.”

This time, he didn't.

“Yes?”

“You have a sharp mind. I think I know what shard you'll receive.”

“What?”

“Let's go to the hotel.”

“Did you book the same hotel as me?”

“The place is similar, but our destinations are different.”

“What does that mean?”

Before I knew it, the man had risen to his feet and was gazing at the hotel with quiet eyes.