WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 600: The Stolen World (15)
──────
「User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 227
Current Location: Hotel Delight, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul
Sage’s Advice: 3」
- Han Ga-in
When I relayed what the Summoned Entity had discovered on the rooftop, Eun-sol reacted as though she felt dizzy.
“Something else got added? Pillager? A being that steals the world? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Another line had been added to the whiteboard.
「1. Find a way to stop the Moon Demon
Understand the process by which the Moon Demon devours survivors’ souls
The relationship between the Moon and my past self
2. Discover Elder Wisdom’s purpose
The source of their abnormally overwhelming power and a solution
3. Elder Justice’s whereabouts
4. The Pillager’s identity」
After studying the whiteboard again, A-ri asked calmly.
“You think the Moon is treating you like half an ally?”
“That’s right.”
“Then can’t you ask the Moon?”
“It’s impossible now. It’s completely gone mad and started spewing nothing but curses about something unknown, probably the Pillager.”
I looked out the window and tried communicating with the Moon again, but every attempt failed.
“We’ll need more information from outside. We need to retrieve Jin-cheol too.”
The moment Jin-cheol came up, everyone fell silent.
“Where is Jin-cheol?”
I had been checking his location regularly after he went out.
“It’s the same. Unit 203, Building 8, Seocho Blue Damien Apartments.”
“Song-i’s home.”
“...”
“Did he go to kill Song-i’s parents?”
“Probably. He already stopped by Seung-yeop’s house too.”
Grandpa, who had been listening, gave a bitter smile.
“Then he must have done something to my family and Sang-hyeon’s family in Texas as well.”
“They’re in America. Is that possible?”
“Jin-cheol doesn’t have to go himself. Do you think he wouldn’t know even one person in America after working as an agent for several months?”
A companion was out killing our families, yet no one blamed Jin-cheol.
“That boy is taking care of the hard work for us. I can only be grateful.”
It was a strange world, one where we could be grateful for something like that.
Eun-sol asked A-ri.
“I was too out of it to think about this earlier, but is it okay for you to be walking around like this now? The Stone Tablet...”
A-ri looked at me with a complicated expression and murmured.
“It was probably destroyed already.”
After A-ri was confined, I had even considered the possibility that the Stone Tablet might be destroyed.
The Stone Tablet was not completely indestructible.
Bullets and missiles couldn’t damage it, but Final Flash probably could.
The Moon could likely treat the Stone Tablet like a pebble on the road.
“Huh?”
“It might have been swept up by Final Flash, or the Moon might have hurled it into the abyss while awakening.”
“Really?”
“... The Stone Tablet is essential for the world.”
That wasn’t the sort of thing one would expect from someone who had nearly died because of the Stone Tablet several times.
Still, the Stone Tablet was closer to a tool for maintaining order. It wasn’t something to hold a grudge against.
“It’s fine. Won’t it come back once Grandpa turns back time?”
“Are you sure? Just as vanished souls can’t be restored, One More Chance has its limits.”
“I don’t know.”
Maybe my answer sounded a little irresponsible. A-ri frowned slightly.
The water had already been spilled. What was the point of dwelling on it?
--- Thump!
A-ri lightly shook her head and struck the table.
“I don’t think we should stay at Hotel Delight. Ga-in, Eun-sol, and I will go out. We’ll find Jin-cheol and gather information.”
Mi-ro, who had been dozing with an exhausted expression, jolted awake.
“Huh? What about me? And Elena and Mook-seong?”
A-ri gestured to each of them in turn and gave a brief explanation.
“Mook-seong, stay in the rear with One More Chance. Elena, be careful until we figure out Elder Justice’s whereabouts. Your very existence feels like some kind of debuff for Elder Justice.”
“Mm, I’ll do that.”
“What about me? I’m much stronger than Eun-sol!”
Eun-sol looked subtly hurt.
“Mi-ro... It doesn’t feel good when you say it so openly.”
A-ri shook her head.
“You said the Moon is bewitching people all over the world. We absolutely need Eun-sol’s Flute.”
We needed the Flute, whether to protect ourselves or restore people bewitched by the Moon.
Even considering Eun-sol’s lack of combat ability, we had to bring her along.
“Finally, Mi-ro, you protect those two. That’s it! Let’s go!”
* * *
Late that night, we arrived at the Damien Apartments, where Jin-cheol was isolated.
“Wow! Ma’am, you’re here!”
“Are you happy to see me, or the Flute?”
“Haha! You and the Flute are one and the same!”
“That somehow feels a little unpleasant too...”
“Huh?”
“The smell is intense.”
“...”
“You’ve worked hard.”
As Eun-sol said, the entire apartment building reeked of blood.
Jin-cheol looked at me with an exhausted expression.
“I evacuated quite a few people, but even more gathered outside and started singing some strange song. Have you heard it?”
“I can still hear it.”
From the railing, I looked down at the night streets of Seocho-dong. At least several hundred people had gathered in the open area in front of the Supreme Court.
They were circling around as they sang, as if performing ganggangsullae.
“Ga-in, what are they saying out there? I was indoors, so I couldn’t hear clearly...”
“Quiet. Ga-in’s concentrating.”
When I focused, I could vaguely make out the lyrics.
...
Rejoice.
The true Savior has come to save the forsaken sheep.
Praise Him.
He has come to guide us all away from the End Times and death.
Smile.
The Moon Prince sends down the Holy Mother and Holy Son, and leads us onto the path of glory!
O Moon! Swallow us.
You shall gain glory by swallowing us, and within you, we shall become one and gain eternity!
“What do you think?”
“It’s a song about how the Moon is the true Savior. I think they call the Moon the Moon Prince among themselves.”
“The Moon Prince?”
“The Holy Mother and Holy Son...”
“What?”
“They say the Moon will send down the Holy Mother and Holy Son.”
“...”
“At the end, they say everyone will become one with the Moon, gain glory, and attain eternity.”
“That’s pretty blatant.”
“It would have to be. The Moon can only devour humanity if billions of people accept that fate.”
The Moon, Elder Wisdom, Elder Justice, and the Pillager.
My head already hurt just thinking about all that, and now there was a Holy Mother and Holy Son too?
The growing pile of information was making my mind go numb.
So I used Advice.
Maybe it would give a kinder answer if I phrased it more politely.
‘There are many keywords, but they are difficult to interpret. Is there a clue that can connect them?’
「Advice: 3 -> 0」
「In a normal scenario, something new does not appear late in the story without specific foreshadowing.」
“Huh?”
“What? You were staring into space, so you used Advice, right?”
“...”
It was a rather abstract answer for the price of all three Advice charges.
Depending on how it was interpreted, it could be considered a question about Elder Wisdom and Elder Justice.
Direct questions and answers about former Participants were forbidden.
That was probably why it had answered in such a roundabout way.
I relayed the advice to my companions.
Eun-sol tilted her head.
“A normal scenario? Does it mean reality?”
That part was easy to understand.
“The Hotel treats events in reality as a type of scenario too. Scenario Understanding has activated several times before.”
Unfortunately, its information updates had now stopped.
Had I acted too recklessly, leaving the Hotel with nothing prepared?
A-ri nodded.
“Something new does not appear late in the story without specific foreshadowing. That means there was specific foreshadowing.”
The keywords we currently considered “new information” were these.
Elder Justice, the Pillager, and the Holy Mother and Holy Son.
According to the Owl’s hint, these were not things that had suddenly appeared at this point.
“They’re things we already know.”
“...”
“Elder Justice, the Pillager, the Holy Mother, and the Holy Son. They’re all things we already knew.”
A person we already knew.
A monster we already knew.
A Chaos Entity we already knew.
We simply didn’t know they were Justice, the Pillager, the Holy Mother, and the Holy Son!
Once my thoughts reached that point, I realized one absurd fact.
“I just realized something.”
“What?”
“The Holy Son sent down by the Moon. I think that’s me.”
A-ri let out a low groan.
“The Moon was already calling you Teacher and all that before... And you were the one who freed the Moon this time too!”
I was the Moon’s Holy Son.
Then who was the Holy Mother?
* * *
The next morning, a visitor came to Hotel Delight.
It was someone we all knew.
It was also someone none of us had imagined we would meet again like this.
“Hello?”
“...”
“I considered sending some believers, but I decided I should handle something this important myself.”
“...”
“Hello? Can you hear my greeting?”
We could hear perfectly well.
Everyone was simply too stunned to speak.
“Why don’t we introduce ourselves first? Junior Participants! I already know some of your names. Quite a few of the believers came from the Management Bureau.”
Calling it a church was grandiose when it had only been established yesterday, yet in a single day, she had learned the names of several of my companions.
“The pretty young lady is Miss A-ri, right?”
“... I’m Mi-ro.”
“Ah, I heard you looked alike. So the light-haired one is Miss Mi-ro, and the dark-haired one is Miss A-ri?”
“That’s right.”
“The big one is Mr. Jin-cheol, and the one standing in the back with her mouth open is Miss Eun-sol?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know the name of the handsome man at the front. Strangely enough, no one knew it... But the moment I saw you, I knew.”
“...”
“The Prince gave me a revelation. He said you are the one who will lead us to glory.”
“...”
“It’s awkward when you don’t say anything at all. Ah, my name is...”
“Aedia.”
“Huh? You know my name? Ah! The Prince must have told you, Holy Son!”
The Holy Mother, Aedia, had appeared before us in reality!
I knew Room 207 was a practice test for reality, but I thought the Mirror was the only shared element.
Aedia existed in reality too?
Insight immediately flashed with piercing clarity.
Based on what I had learned about Aedia and the Mirror in Room 207, Insight uncovered additional information.
This woman was the Aedia from Room 207, yet she was also someone else.
She shared the same genes, but she was another possible version of Aedia, one who had lived an entirely different life in reality.
...
Aedia had been the first person to discover the Mirror in reality as well?
She had been distorted by the Mirror and once again stood on humanity’s side?
At some point, for some reason, she began serving the Moon...
“Ugh!”
“Restrain yourself.”
“...”
“I have lived a very, very long time. It hurts your head if you try to read everything at once.”
“...”
“You, you...”
“Me?”
“... You’re Elder Justice.”
The Aedia of reality was even a Hotel escapee!
No, weren’t the NPCs in Curse Rooms beings collected by the Hotel?
How could she exist in reality too?
How could something so impossible...
“You have a bad habit.”
“What?”
“When something you can’t understand happens, you suddenly become lost in thought even when someone is standing right in front of you. Insight keeps pouring in more information than you can handle.”
“... You know a lot about Insight.”
“I think I know what you are wondering about.”
“...”
“The third floor. On the third floor, someone...”
“Someone?”
“Someone made a wish to Buddha for me.”
A wish made to Buddha on the third floor.
It was something that had come up from time to time long ago.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know either. I don’t know who made the wish, or what they wished for. But, Holy Son!”
“I’m listening.”
“Please focus on what is in front of you. The Hotel is truly mysterious. When you dwell on its secrets, everything in reality feels fleeting. Yet this is where we ultimately live.”
Soon, the Holy Mother’s lips curved into a smile.
Just as she had in Room 207, she was once again a “just” being.
“It seems someone has taken a share of my blessing. That beautiful blonde young lady over there, right?”
“Hic!”
Elena hiccupped before she could even draw a deep breath.
“What is it? As though I’m about to kill you and reclaim my power?”
Aedia snickered at the tense-looking Elena, then turned back to me.
“Today, I came to guide you, who have lost your memories, onto the right path. Fight alongside us. Just as you did in the past, when you freed the Prince from the Management Bureau’s hands!”
I knew Aedia.
Aedia knew me too.
But the Aedia I knew was not this Aedia.
Nor was the me Aedia knew the person I was now.
Yesterday’s advice suddenly crossed my mind again.
The Moon’s identity.
The Holy Son and Holy Mother’s identities.
Elder Wisdom and Elder Justice.
At least I was starting to vaguely understand who was who.
There was only one exception: the Pillager.
According to the advice, the Pillager was something I already knew too.
Could it be one of the Prisoners I had seen in the Hotel?
If not...
Footnotes:
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