WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 605: The Stolen World (20)
──────
「User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 229
Current Location: Searching...
Sage’s Advice: 1」
- Han Ga-in
We set out early in the morning.
Then, just ten minutes after leaving, we were swept into the Otherworld.
“Again?”
The sky turned blue, and the concrete buildings all around us suddenly transformed into enormous trees.
Eun-sol stared blankly at the sight, then muttered,
“This place is... pretty beautiful, in its own way.”
We were used to this phenomenon by now, so everyone gathered and formed up. A-ri looked curiously at Aedia and asked,
“This Encroachment the Pillagers cause, is it basically a form of Terraforming from their perspective?”
“An Ark is no different from a small universe. They are pushing a part of themselves into this world.”
“And that tree giant is a fighter sent by one of the Pillagers?”
“Prepare for battle!”
An Ark was a small universe.
Ten Pillagers, that is, ten Arks, were ten entirely different worlds.
...
This battle did not last long.
* * *
Around two in the afternoon, we finally reached the waters off Incheon that Aedia had mentioned.
“We’re almost there!”
After being swept into the Otherworld at least five times since morning, none of us were unhurt.
Why had we gone through all this trouble to come to the waters off Incheon?
According to Aedia, it was to obtain “something that could defeat the Pillagers.”
“...”
Of course, unlike Aedia, my goal was closer to the Moon’s defeat.
If the Pillagers’ victory meant a change in the world itself, then the Moon’s victory meant the End Times.
Whatever the purpose, there was no downside to obtaining a powerful weapon.
More than that, before turning back time, I needed to learn every card the Moon had hidden.
“I think it’s about time you told me.”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. What exactly is this weapon meant to defeat the Pillagers?”
We were nearly at our destination, yet we still did not know what this weapon was.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
I had a vague feeling.
Like so many secrets before it, the weapon the Pillagers feared was probably something I already knew.
Once that thought occurred to me, I felt like I knew what the weapon was too.
“...”
--- Splash!
As we headed toward the shore to the sound of waves, A-ri suddenly stopped after sensing something.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
A-ri looked at Aedia with a startled expression.
“So this was the weapon off the coast of Incheon? I thought it was some mysterious thing even the Management Bureau didn’t know about...”
Eun-sol immediately asked,
“What is it?”
“This is an unfinished Ark...”
At that moment, a mysterious wooden Dharma treasure appeared in Aedia’s hand.
“Taeguk Diagram, Banishment.”
The Dharma treasure spun, giving off a mysterious radiance.
As everyone tilted their heads, wondering what it was, A-ri and the others were suddenly shoved by an unknown force and hurled endlessly far away!
“...”
I blinked once, and suddenly only Aedia and I remained on the shore.
When I stared at her in disbelief, she quickly lowered her head with a polite expression.
“I apologize.”
“I’ve never seen you use an Inheritance like that before. Were you saving it for this moment?”
“I apologize...”
“Rather than an apology, I’d like an explanation.”
“Your companions are not dead. I only Banished them far away.”
“I know that.”
I could check whether they were alive through the Status Window.
Aedia cautiously pointed toward the beam of light rising from the middle of the sea.
“Do you know what lies there?”
“A-ri just said it. An unfinished Ark.”
“That’s right. When you awakened the Prince of the Moon, that feeble creature tried to flee like a frightened field mouse.”
“It was attacked by the Moon while escaping and crashed into the waters off Incheon?”
“Something like that. Shall we talk as we go?”
“Sure.”
--- Splash!
As we walked naturally across the water toward the Ark, I heard a strange sound.
--- Aaaah...!
“It sounds like a child crying.”
“It knows its fate and is terrified. Doesn’t it sound like a child?”
Maybe it was because of the way Aedia mocked the “Young Ark.”
For some reason, I felt a little sorry for it.
“It is unfinished because it failed to take on enough passengers, but its ‘parts’ are intact.”
“Parts?”
“The Mirror.”
“...”
The word I had heard countless times came up again.
There was a Mirror inside the Ark.
An enormous one, at that.
“Holy Son, the Mirror is a treasure far greater than anything humans could possibly imagine.”
“I suppose so.”
“Do you know the Mirror’s most aggressive use?”
“Its most aggressive use?”
“Disassembly.”
“...”
“The Mirror can split a specific target into thousands, even tens of thousands, of pieces and scatter them throughout the world.”
I knew.
I knew that phenomenon better than anyone in the world.
“Isn’t that the Ark’s final purpose?”
“That’s right. The end of every Ark is to be split apart by the Mirror and return to being human...”
“...”
“In other words, every Ark is inherently vulnerable to the Mirror.”
--- Splash!
--- Huuu...!
Aedia continued her explanation.
The unceasing sound of the waves and the Young Ark’s sorrowful crying sounded almost like a sweet lullaby.
“Since you are also someone who escaped the Hotel, you know there are quite a few archdemons in this world unrelated to the Arks.”
The hospital director of Room 101.
The Nebula Dragon or the Unborn One of Room 102.
The Devourer of Room 103.
There were many divine beings unrelated to the Arks besides them.
“What would happen if you brought the Mirror before those archdemons and attacked them with Disassembly? Would it work?”
Could I defeat a Prisoner with the Mirror?
“I haven’t tried it, but I doubt it would even come close.”
“Of course not. No matter how powerful the weapon is, neither you nor I could defeat a Prisoner with it. But what if it were used not on a Prisoner, but on a Pillager?”
“...”
“It is a matter of compatibility. Every Ark is inherently vulnerable to the Mirror because they were made with the expectation that they would eventually be split apart by it.”
I understood.
Even if I obtained the Mirror, I could not defeat a Prisoner with its power.
The Mirror itself was a great object containing the Practitioner’s authority, but I was too weak as its user.
But if it were used against an Ark, including the Pillagers, it could deal a significant blow.
No matter how strong the Pillagers were, Arks themselves were inherently extremely vulnerable to the Mirror’s disassembly attack.
And if the Mirror fell into the Moon Demon’s hands?
It would mean a user no different from a Demon God had obtained a weapon with a favorable matchup.
Then a question came to mind.
“The Pillagers are Arks too. The Moon was the First Ark as well.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t they have Mirrors inside them too?”
“They do.”
“Then why are they so eager to get this Mirror... Ah.”
I understood.
The reason not only the Moon Demon, but even the Pillagers, interfered with us while coveting additional Mirrors!
“Because the Mirror itself breaks apart in the process of splitting a target?”
Aedia’s eyes widened.
“So they cannot use their own Mirrors to disassemble an opponent. Using them that way would practically be suicide...”
“How do you know that? This is quite a secret... Ah, did Miss A-ri tell you?”
“Heh!”
I laughed without meaning to.
Would she believe me if I told her I had shattered the Mirror in Room 207 and split myself apart?
What reaction would she have if I told her an “Aedia” had stood before me when I did it?
“So this is why you sent my companions, A-ri in particular, far away?”
At that point, I grasped the full extent of the plan the Moon Demon and the Holy Mother had made.
“... Your companion is part of the Management Bureau’s leadership. They will surely see this Young Ark as their last hope.”
So this was Aedia’s thinking.
A-ri was part of the Management Bureau’s leadership, while Jin-cheol and Eun-sol were both agents.
Therefore, they would have loyalty to the Management Bureau and would try somehow to restore this Young Ark.
Meanwhile, the Moon Demon and the Holy Mother’s plan was to extract the Young Ark’s Mirror and use its power to disassemble a large number of Pillagers!
In the process, the Mirror would shatter into pieces and be destroyed, making restoration nearly impossible.
In the end, restoring the Management Bureau’s Ark would become impossible forever.
Those from the Management Bureau would not want such an outcome.
“Holy Son, believe me. From now on, you must be wary of those from the Management Bureau.”
Aedia’s reasoning was logical, but because she did not know the most important information, her conclusion was completely wrong.
The last hope my companions had in mind was not restoring the Young Ark, but One More Chance!
* * *
There was no longer any power inside the Young Ark that had crashed into the waters off Incheon that could stop us.
The Ark itself was half-destroyed, and Dominion, Osdork, Basilio, and the others who were meant to protect it had all died.
It did not take long to reach the place where the Mirror was.
“It’s unbelievably huge. What are you planning to do? Can the Moon take the Mirror away in this state?”
“If that were possible, there would have been no need for us to come all this way.”
“Then what?”
“I know both how to separate the Mirror from the Ark and how to make it smaller. You have not forgotten, have you? I was the one who first discovered the Mirror!”
“So should I wait beside you?”
“Please make sure neither the Pillagers nor the Young Ark can interfere with me.”
Soon, Aedia began a complicated task, sweating heavily.
It looked like some kind of magic, technology, or a mixture of both, beyond the understanding of either me or the Management Bureau.
--- Huuu...!
The sad crying of a child came from all around us.
What would an Ark feel as its Mirror was forcibly taken away?
An Ark’s purpose was to pass into the next Loop and borrow the Mirror’s power to return to being human.
If the Ark was a person, the Soul Convergence Circuit was its body, and the Mirror was its goal in life.
The Young Ark was having the very purpose of its existence taken from it.
At some point, even the Young Ark’s sobbing could no longer be heard.
It was like someone who had given up on life.
“...”
I stroked the Ark’s wall and thought,
Just as we had a Next Chance, you would have one too.
So this loss would not be eternal.
“It is finished!”
Before I knew it, the enormous Mirror had disappeared, and Aedia held a small hand mirror in her hand.
“It got very small.”
“It is something like compression. It cannot be used in its current state, though.”
When I glanced at the hand mirror, it was quite strange.
There was a Mirror inside the Mirror, and another Mirror inside that inner Mirror.
Mirror within Mirror within Mirror within... After this process repeated countless times, the entire enormous Mirror had become a small hand mirror.
It was easier to carry now, but it did not seem usable in this state.
“...”
Couldn’t I obtain that Mirror?
Taking it by force was impossible.
The Holy Mother’s combat ability was incredibly strong, and if the Mirror broke while we fought, it would all be for nothing.
What if I simply asked for it?
She probably would not give it to me.
I had felt it over the past few days. Although Aedia called me “Holy Son,” she did not fully trust me.
Her watching me all night was proof of that.
Why did she suspect me?
I was the first to Release her god, and I had Released it again this time.
It was because my memories of the past were incomplete.
The fact that I was traveling with Management Bureau “bastards,” who were hardly allies, must have deepened her suspicion.
...
The Pillagers had not interfered at all for a while now.
They must have been fighting the Moon somewhere beyond my understanding and had no room to spare.
If the Pillagers had no room to spare, perhaps the Moon could not intervene for now either?
Once I realized that, a good idea came to mind.
Should I start talking in a way that made me seem a little impressive?
Aedia had a hidden tendency toward mysticism, so she seemed vulnerable to that sort of thing.
No, that was based on my memories of the Aedia from Room 207.
The current Aedia thought I was the Researcher with lost memories, did she not?
I should speak like a researcher.
“Excuse me, but allow me to introduce myself again.”
“What are you suddenly saying...”
“While Miss Aedia was working, my memories gradually began to return.”
Aedia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Your memories are returning?”
I emphasized the information that had surprised Aedia earlier.
“While listening to Miss Aedia’s explanation, unknown memories suddenly awakened. For instance, detailed information about the Mirror.”
“... Is that so?”
Doubt still lingered in her eyes.
This was not enough.
To persuade her, I needed something more shocking.
For example, what if someone else knew a secret that only the Holy Mother herself thought she knew?
Something that would make her think it could only have come from a god!
--- Grab!
I stepped forward and gripped the Holy Mother’s shoulder with one hand, and she could not hide her surprise.
“Wh-what are you doing...”
“I remember now.”
“What do you remember?”
“Now that I know, I can feel it. The cold blood flowing through your veins. The cool scales hidden beneath your skin. Ah... I see. I knew long ago that you were not human, but I did not know you were a lizard.”
A chilling presence entered her widening eyes.
“... You.”
I had created enough tension. Now it was time to ease it.
--- Thud!
“Under a dark sky, I heard a voice that lit the dawn.”
“What...”
“When I first received the Crimson King, awakened in the abyss...”
“Th-the Crimson King? Do you mean the Prince?”
“He whispered to me. Ga-in, you foolish one...”
“He called you foolish?”
Oops!
The Moon had called me Teacher.
“... Teacher, you who have lost your memories. The moment I heard that voice, I gained boundless wisdom.”
“...”
“I realized that fact again just a moment ago. My clouded mind is becoming clear.”
Her eyes seemed to ask, “Is that true?”
It was better than before, but I needed one more decisive blow.
Information Aedia thought I could never possibly know.
Information that would make her think it could only have come from a god!
“I’m sorry.”
“S-suddenly, an apology? Why...”
“The Crimson King whispered to me. The sin foolish people committed against you long ago.”
“...”
Aedia looked as if she was thinking, Surely not.
“Great Menes... He was your grandfather, was he not?”
“... How do you know that?”
“Wicked people murdered Menes, did they not? Who were they? Were they traitors?”
Why had the Reptilians failed to rule the world in actual history?
I did not know, but it was unlikely Menes had died of old age. Had he not been killed in a human rebellion?
Even if I guessed, it had to be humans!
Perhaps because a shocking memory from the past had resurfaced, Aedia’s expression became deeply emotional.
“That... I have already forgiven.”
Not that she had forgiven them. She had probably been forced to forgive them.
Her hatred for Homo sapiens must have faded during the process of discovering the Mirror for the first time and changing.
The last survivor.
That was the Moon’s nature, and also “Aedia’s nature.”
Maybe that was why Aedia served the Moon.
She likely thought the Moon Prince had gone through the same experience she had.
Forgiving did not mean the wound in her heart had fully healed.
Everyone, even a Reptilian, had painful memories they could never forget.
“I apologize once more. I will atone for the sin humanity committed long ago.”
“...”
There was not the slightest trace of suspicion toward me left in her trembling eyes.
“G-get up! Honestly! That was so long ago... It has all been over for ages. It was not your fault in the first place, Holy Son!”
Aedia took my hand, looking somewhat bashful.
“It is all right now. Holy Son, if we only bring the Mirror to the Prince of the Moon...”
“Then?”
“It will be a happy ending!”
“Huh?”
I laced my voice with tension.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Holy Mother, does there not seem to be something a little strange with the Mirror?”
“What? That cannot be!”
“Could you hand it to me for a moment?”
“...”
For an instant, she could not hide her hesitation.
I smiled gently as I looked at her.
Soon, Aedia looked bashful.
“Here.”
At last, the Mirror was in my hands!
Footnotes:
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