WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 598: The Stolen World (13)
──────
「User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 226
Current Location: Searching...
Sage’s Advice: 0」
- Han Ga-in
After the barrage of curses, a brief silence fell.
The two members of The Silent, Dominion and Osdork.
Elder Wisdom, nearly a demigod.
The Hotel Party, including me.
For about five seconds, the three groups sized one another up, and everyone realized the same thing.
‘These bastards have no idea what to do from here either!’
The Management Bureau forces had either escaped aboard the Ark before the Moon woke up, or remained on the surface, died after being struck by the Light of the End Times, and awakened in the next Loop.
Elder Wisdom probably had not even been on Earth to begin with.
No one here had ever truly faced the Moon!
Most of the information A-ri had given us had been speculation or hypotheses in the first place.
“Ha...”
The moment I sighed, both The Silent and Elder Wisdom looked my way.
“So no one here actually knows much about the Moon? You’re all so old, what have you been doing all this time-”
“You motherless bastard!”
This time, I knew exactly who had spat out that vulgar curse.
“Osdork, you aren’t even human, but you’re awfully good at cursing-”
“Do you know... what you’ve done?!”
“Nope.”
Elder Wisdom cried out as though in lament.
「Ah...! O One Who Weeps for the Three Thousand Worlds!」
At that exact moment.
- Urgh! Aaah! Aaaah!
Piercing cries began to ring out from every direction!
As though they had been waiting for that sound, every faction made its decision.
- Rumble...!
Elder Wisdom vanished with the same strange vibrating sound that had accompanied their arrival.
“You wretches! I declare that you shall receive no forgiveness from this moment on. In the world to come, I will kill you the moment you awaken, no matter what it takes-”
“Oswald! We don’t have time for this!”
- Crunch!
Dominion and Osdork looked as though they were about to hurl curses at us, then suddenly killed themselves!
Seeing Dominion’s crushed head and Osdork’s bundle of nerves, I could not help but laugh in disbelief.
“They act fast.”
The Silent were Regressors who could revive in the next Loop through their own power.
They had tried to protect the Ark for the survival of civilization, not for their own lives.
Rather than hold out any longer and risk being swallowed by the Moon, they had decided it was better to die as quickly as possible.
- Aaaah! Urghhh!
The cries rang out again.
“W-what is that sound-”
Before Seung-yeop could finish his question, A-ri ran.
“Everyone, this way! Ga-in, bring Eun-sol!”
After I brought Eun-sol over, A-ri ran frantically as she explained.
“The Ark is waking up!”
“You said it had four months left until completion-”
“This isn’t a proper Awakening! Even if it wakes like this, it isn’t a divine being! It’s just like... a fetus, no, an embryo sensing instinctive danger!”
“So what?!”
“It can’t communicate! We don’t know what it might do! We just need to get out!”
Did that mean a fully completed Ark could communicate?
Did it have self-awareness comparable to a person’s?
That itself seemed like meaningful information, but...
“This way!”
Following A-ri, the only person among us who knew the Ark’s internal structure precisely, we arrived at a place with a thin outer wall.
“Hyah!”
The moment her invisible sword tore through the outer wall with a shout-
「Current Location: Searching... -> 6,341 m above Beijing, China」
The moment we connected to the outside world, the Status Window found our current location?
Then why had it said it was searching while we were inside the Ark?
Because the unfinished Ark spanned different times and spaces?
Was it impossible to pinpoint its location as one definite place?
“This isn’t the time to think! We have to escape! Run! To the ground!”
A-ri seemed to think my mind had wandered elsewhere, and I understood why.
Still, I had caused this chaos to obtain information that could not be gained through normal progression, so it could not be helped.
A-ri carried Mi-ro, while I linked Jin-cheol, Seung-yeop, and Eun-sol together like a string of sausages as we leaped out of the Ark.
Once everyone rose into the sky-
- Rumble...!
“Huh?”
“T-that sound!”
Elder Wisdom appeared in midair!
I thought this bastard had obediently left to do their own thing, but they had not?
And we were vulnerable in the middle of flight. No, they had been waiting for this moment!
“You bastard-”
「I don’t want to hear curses from you of all people.」
“Senior!”
「Senior?」
“Let’s go our separate ways! We all have our own goals-”
「Just now, my Insight warned me to chop you into five pieces here.」
“My Insight didn’t give me any warning like that.”
「Junior, you still have much to learn.」
The instant a jade-blue sphere formed at the fingertips of Elder Wisdom’s inhuman hand, Seung-yeop gave a bitter smile and dropped down beside me.
“Looks like not all of us will make it.”
“You...”
Seung-yeop did not have an Inheritance that granted flight like mine.
Yet he stood there, stepping on empty air.
As if he had picked it up somewhere in the Ark, he held something like a spear glowing blue in his hand.
「I thought no one besides the junior was worth looking at. Was I wrong?」
- Rumble!
“Haaah!”
Leaving Seung-yeop’s fierce shout behind, A-ri and I escaped Beijing’s skies.
...
“Just now.”
“What?”
“I think Seung-yeop died.”
“... He put himself in the Soul Box and even used Awakening.”
Would the uses of Awakening he had expended return if time was reversed?
No one knew. None of us had experienced it before.
After Seung-yeop died, there was no further pursuit.
No matter how powerful Elder Wisdom was, before the Moon, they were worse off than a chicken before a tiger.
With the Moon waking up now, even Elder Wisdom likely had no time to waste on us any longer.
* * *
A-ri, Mi-ro, Jin-cheol, Eun-sol, and I did not take long to return to Korea, since the Ark had been above Beijing.
As soon as we arrived, we laid Eun-sol on a bed first. She was in terrible condition.
The sleeping gas was one problem, but before she had properly recovered, she had endured a rough flight without any protection, repeatedly waking up and passing out again.
It looked like she would need quite some time to recover.
A-ri spoke.
“Ga-in, you don’t have a definite plan for what to do from here, right?”
“No.”
I had not caused this chaos because I had some solid plan either.
“First, I’ll bring back the companions in Australia.”
The Moon was waking up in Australia, so we had to bring the companions there back as soon as possible.
“Do you have a plane? Or should I take you-”
“Pfft!”
“Huh?”
A-ri answered with a smile I had not seen in a while.
“You don’t know this, but there’s a road that lets you drive to Australia in an instant.”
Drive from Korea to Australia?
And get there in an instant?
I looked at Jin-cheol, wondering what she meant, but he shook his head.
Was it some secret passage only the upper ranks of the Management Bureau knew about?
“I’ll explain when we have time. Mi-ro, only you come with me.”
“J-just me?”
“We don’t have time. Hurry!”
Could only two people use it at once?
If so, Mi-ro, who could use several people’s abilities by herself, would be useful.
After A-ri disappeared with Mi-ro, I briefly explained everything that had happened to Jin-cheol.
Soon, Jin-cheol spoke with a grave expression.
“You told Sang-hyeon to kill himself because of the risk of being eaten by the Moon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t the other companions in Australia face the same danger? In the worst case, Agent Mook-seong can trigger One More Chance with a ding, but what about Elena and Song-i?”
Unlike Mook-seong, who could survive even if the Moon appeared right before his eyes as long as he could trigger One More Chance, Elena and Song-i were in quite a dangerous position.
“The Moon is an entity that swallows survivors after the Ark leaves.”
“I understand that part.”
“When I say it swallows them, I don’t mean it massacres survivors the moment it wakes up.”
“Then what?”
It was something I had suspected since hearing A-ri’s story, and the reason Owl had told me to give it a try.
The Moon was not the kind of Chaos Entity that killed all humans as soon as it woke up.
“You can’t eat souls just by killing people. Rather, it can’t swallow the souls of the dead.”
“Ah?”
Jin-cheol’s mouth fell slightly open.
Unlike me, he had never swallowed souls, so he apparently had not thought that far.
“Look at the Sacred Sun. To absorb souls, it needed a grand process, like founding the Cult.”
“R-right!”
“What about the Ark? It gathers people inside and makes them pray for six months straight.”
“That’s true.”
“From my experience swallowing human souls several times-”
“What you just said was extremely creepy...”
“-some sort of spiritual bond has to come first.”
“...”
“Faith, belief, something like that. The Moon is the same. It will definitely need preliminary work, such as brainwashing the survivors.”
“And that process starts now?”
“Exactly.”
After hearing that much, Jin-cheol thought for a moment, then nodded.
“So that’s why you only made Sang-hyeon kill himself. He was close to the Moon and had no mental resistance ability.”
“Yes.”
Just as the Sacred Sun and the Ark needed preliminary work to swallow souls, the Moon also needed preliminary work such as brainwashing.
In other words, Elena, who had Clear Mirror, Still Water, and Song-i, who had Diverse Perspectives, still had some time even after the Moon woke up.
Mook-seong only needed to trigger One More Chance.
Sang-hyeon was the one with no way to protect himself.
That was why he had to kill himself.
...
After quietly thinking something over, Jin-cheol suddenly stood.
“Jin-cheol?”
“I’ll be back. I need to go out for a moment.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to stay here until A-ri returns-”
“It’s something I have to do.”
“What is it?”
“... Trust me.”
“O-of course.”
He would not give me a clear reason for leaving and only asked me to trust him?
I was not used to Jin-cheol acting this way, so I was a little surprised, but I nodded right away.
There was no reason for us not to trust each other.
“Huh?”
Just before Jin-cheol left, Insight detected a thick scent of blood from him.
...
I thought I knew what he intended to do.
Once everyone had left to do their own work, I stayed beside the unconscious Eun-sol and thought about what lay ahead.
* * *
Around evening, A-ri returned with the dark night sky behind her.
Mook-seong, Elena, and Mi-ro entered after her, all three looking utterly exhausted.
“... I’m back.”
“Hello.”
“We’re back.... Ga-in! Where are the others?”
Eun-sol, who had just woken up, answered instead.
“I’m here, and Jin-cheol went out for a moment.”
A-ri, Mook-seong, Elena, Mi-ro, Eun-sol, and I sat around the large table.
Four people were missing.
Jin-cheol had only gone out for a little while, but the other three were different.
Eun-sol asked in a murmur.
“... Where’s Song-i?”
A-ri answered calmly.
“She died during the escape.”
“...”
“Elder Wisdom’s private soldiers attacked us. They had even planted a bomb in the car. There was nothing we could do. She went quietly, so that’s fortunate.”
It was all right that she had died in a bombing.
She would come back to life when time was reversed.
After talking for a while, Mook-seong, now understanding the situation, asked.
“One More Chance can reverse time by one month. You are probably planning to learn as many facts as possible over that month, then return, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Those eaten by the Moon during that time will be impossible to save even if time is reversed...”
It was true, so I did not answer.
I had begun this after taking that into account.
If I could stop the Moon even at the cost of sacrifices, I could save far more people.
As though he was concerned for me, Mook-seong said.
“You did well. At first, I wondered what you had done, but after hearing you out, it seems like a masterstroke.”
“I hope so.”
“Have you made a rough plan?”
“More than a plan, I’ve set some goals.”
This time, A-ri asked.
“What are they?”
I showed everyone the whiteboard I had written beforehand.
「1. Find a way to stop the Moon Demon
Understand the process by which the Moon Demon swallows the souls of survivors
The relationship between my past self and the Moon
2. Discover Elder Wisdom’s purpose
The source of Elder Wisdom’s abnormally powerful strength and a solution」
“Anything else?”
“I do!”
Unexpectedly, Elena answered.
“Um, I think you’ve forgotten too, Ga-in...”
“What do you mean?”
“Elder Wisdom said it, remember? That things would become strange if I died.”
“Ah?”
“After that, we also learned that my blessing had weakened.”
That was right.
“There’s another Justice besides me. There has to be.”
Mi-ro’s eyes widened.
“Where are they?”
“I wonder.”
At first, I thought they were with the Management Bureau, meaning the Ark, but they had not appeared even when Dominion and Osdork were in danger.
They were not on Elder Wisdom’s side either.
Where was the other Justice?
“Let’s add it.”
「3. The whereabouts of Elder Justice」
As everyone organized what lay ahead-
- Crackle!
A harsh noise suddenly began blaring from every direction!
“Eek! The displays are suddenly turning on!”
“Eun-sol! What’s this?”
“I don’t know either!”
- Crackle!
「Emergency Disaster Alert!
A Chaos Disaster has occurred in your area.
This alert is effective as of this moment.
Citizens are advised to remain inside a building with a roof.
Never go out into an exposed area.
For your safety, you must remain indoors.
Under no circumstances look at the night sky.
Other instructions to follow are-」
- Crackle!
「Emergency Disaster Alert!
The Chaos Disaster alert currently in effect is corrected as follows.
This correction is effective as of this moment.
Chaos Disasters encroaching on enclosed buildings are occurring on a widespread scale.
Immediately leave indoor areas and move to a nearby regional shelter.
For your safety, you must leave indoor areas.
Other instructions to follow are-」
Footnotes:
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