Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 619

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 618: The Stolen World (33)

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「User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 226

Current Location: Searching...

Sage’s Advice: 0」

- Han Ga-in

The Young Ark's song, beautiful beyond words, came to a stop.

That meant the Mirror, once part of the Ark, had begun to separate.

The problem was that the Mirror was far larger than most buildings.

Apparently, the Holy Mother from the vanished timeline had shrunk it to the size of a hand mirror.

The Management Bureau could do something similar, but everyone had to wait while they carried out the procedure.

A brief lull.

If the human brain were a computer, it felt like cooling fans would be whirring from every direction right now.

Everyone was thinking as hard as they could, and I was no exception.

The next force we needed to bring in was the Pillagers!

As I calmly sorted through the information, I heard a strange sound.

--- Click!

It came from A-ri, who had joined us later with Eun-sol.

When she clicked her tongue again, the people around us tilted their heads. The meaning of the gesture, however, was simple.

‘The camera is gone!’

She was telling me.

It seemed she had only just realized that the camera she had been carrying was gone.

The camera hadn't disappeared. It was inside the Moon with Mi-ro.

That was because the me from the vanished timeline had instructed Mi-ro to turn the Hourglass.

Why?

“...”

There was no proper record in the Status Window, only handwriting that looked like hurried scribbles.

Given the circumstances, the decision to turn the Hourglass had been an impulsive one made at the last moment.

That was why there was no detailed explanation of why I had done it.

The goal seemed to have been to leave Mi-ro and the camera inside the Moon...

First, I had to calm A-ri, who was thrown into confusion.

I gave her a small nod to say, ‘It's okay,’ and A-ri didn't question it any further.

Instead, she watched the collapsing Ark with an anxious expression.

“You know what happens if the Ark collapses, right?”

At A-ri's words, Dominion remained calm.

“The Stone Tablet will punish you and me.”

“Did you do something too?”

A-ri must not have seen Dominion stab Osdork in the back, since she had joined us late.

Dominion answered with a shrug, without the slightest trace of guilt.

“That idiot Osdork wouldn't listen to reason. I had no choice but to banish him.”

At that, A-ri smiled and casually held out something she had been hiding.

“Th-this is Basilio's head!”

“I had no choice either.”

“...”

Dominion looked as though he wanted to say something, then muttered in resignation.

“The Stone Tablet will end your life and mine. It's fine. Even a life as long as eternity must end someday. Even if it is-”

A-ri immediately cut him off, looking dumbfounded.

“Hey! Oswald! Stop acting like your life is already over! Are you seriously trying to die?”

“Is there some special way out?”

The reason A-ri and Dominion could still avoid the Stone Tablet's judgment was simple.

The Stone Tablet's judgment only extended across a single Loop, while the Ark was an entity that had half departed from the Loop.

Once the Young Ark's dismantling was complete, A-ri and Dominion would die at the hands of the Stone Tablet.

Of course, they could avoid that by hiding somewhere safe first.

“...”

I stared steadily at Elder Wisdom. He looked back at me.

「Do you need my help to save your companions?」

Elder Wisdom was an entity that had undergone Unification with the Ark.

If Dominion and A-ri temporarily boarded Elder Wisdom, they could avoid the Stone Tablet.

“Yes.”

At that, Dominion and A-ri widened their eyes and looked at me.

“What is this-”

“Is that possible?”

Elder Wisdom paid no attention to them.

「It is not difficult. But it is time for you to explain things to me.」

“...”

「As it happens, there is still some time before the Mirror becomes smaller.」

The jade-blue demigod calmly held out a hand.

He was trying to pull me into his domain.

We needed to talk more if I was going to make further use of him, so I didn't resist.

--- Ting!

With the clear ring of a bell, the scenery around us began to change.

* * *

Before me stretched a vast plain filled with golden wheat fields.

It was beautiful enough to resemble heaven itself, and my gaze was naturally drawn to it.

Then I heard someone's voice.

Elder Wisdom was no longer a jade-blue demigod. He had transformed into a middle-aged man in ordinary clothes.

“Isn't it beautiful?”

A man with Caucasian features who looked to be in his late forties or early fifties.

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to have been born on the Anatolian Peninsula.

“It resembles heaven.”

“Not quite that much...”

“Is this your original appearance?”

“It is.”

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

Had Elder Wisdom and I exchanged greetings like this even in the vanished timeline?

“Let's get to the point.”

“I'm listening. Today, I'll learn a thing or two from an exceptional junior.”

The core of the plan my past self had made was simple.

“First, from now on, you need to persuade the Pillagers. Along with the Mirror that will soon be in our hands, we need the active cooperation of the Pillager Arks.”

“What sort of cooperation?”

“Please suppress the Moon. Right now, the Moon is waiting beneath the Earth for its time to come. It will awaken within a few months even if we leave it alone, but its hands and feet are still bound.”

“You want us to suppress it more strongly?”

“Is that possible?”

“It is possible... Do you know why the Arks drifting through space and time do not rashly intervene in Earth's domain?”

“They fear spending their strength recklessly and falling prey to the Moon.”

“You know quite a lot. Remember this. The Pillagers, the ones who call themselves the Alliance, are cowards by nature.”

“...”

“They are a band of refugees who fled the End Times. They are not brave warriors. If you want them to reveal the strength they have hidden away, you must show them a certain path.”

“A certain way to defeat the Moon?”

“Exactly.”

The Pillagers were not brave warriors, but a group of fearful refugees.

Unless they were certain they could defeat the Moon, they would not willingly expend their strength.

We had to show them that they could definitely defeat the Moon.

“... Only you and I can hear this conversation, correct?”

“Of course.”

“I don't want this information spreading too widely yet.”

“I will filter it appropriately before conveying it to the Alliance.”

“Stage 1 Soul Convergence Entity.”

“Hm?”

“That is what every Ark is.”

“...”

“And the Moon is Stage 2.”

I edited the Primordial Records written in the Status Window as needed and told him.

At some point while listening to me, Elder Wisdom let out a great exclamation.

“Huh...! There were countless test subjects even before the First Ark?”

“Yes.”

Something I learned while reviewing the materials on Soul Convergence Entities.

The so-called First Ark, or the Moon, was not actually the first Soul Convergence Entity. The same was true even if only Stage 2 entities were considered.

According to the records, an entity called “TX-135 (AS 4694, Atlantis)” had been the first Stage 2 Soul Convergence Entity.

There wasn't even a trace of TX-135 now.

Perhaps the primordial civilization had seen the deranged state of the first Stage 2 Soul Convergence Entity it discovered, panicked, and destroyed it.

“The early research materials did not mention the Mirror at all. It could have been before they discovered the Mirror, or they may have discovered it but failed to connect it to Soul Convergence Entities. The important thing is-”

“They had no intention of dividing it. It wasn't made to be an Ark.”

The early Soul Convergence Entities had been designed independently of the Mirror.

At first, there had been no intention of dividing them.

They had not been made to use as Arks.

After thinking for a moment, Elder Wisdom formed the most reasonable hypothesis.

“They had no intention of dividing it, and they did not make it to use as an Ark. Then were they made to be used as weapons?”

“...”

Why had the primordial civilization researched Soul Convergence Entities?

A powerful weapon?

Elder Wisdom already seemed convinced of that, but I wasn't sure.

“Now I understand what you are trying to say. A Soul Convergence Entity is, in other words, a weapon with an ego. Correct?”

“That's right.”

“A weapon with an ego needs a means of control. It is the natural conclusion.”

“Of course.”

“You found that means of control, correct?”

“It is called the Crown.”

The Crown.

Unfortunately, I couldn't explain any further.

It seemed my past self had not discovered what the Crown looked like or how it could control a Soul Convergence Entity.

“The Holy Mother will know where the Crown is.”

“Of course she will! Naturally!”

“I persuaded that Holy Mother and preserved her in that state.”

“Let me summarize your plan. Correct me if there is anything wrong.”

“Go ahead.”

“First, the Management Bureau and the Alliance combine their power to suppress the Moon more strongly than before. Second, while that happens, a small elite group including you infiltrates the Moon. Third, with the Holy Mother's help inside the Moon, you obtain the Crown. Is that correct?”

“Close enough.”

1. Temporarily suppress the Moon more strongly.

2. Infiltrate the Moon.

3. Seize the Crown and take control of the Moon away from the Prince.

“One thing concerns me. No matter how much we suppress the Moon, I do not know whether infiltrating its interior will be easy...”

He doubted whether step two was possible.

The moment I heard that, a disbelieving laugh slipped out.

I understood why my past self had left Mi-ro inside the Moon!

“... There is another companion inside the Moon. If she helps us from there, infiltration will be easier.”

“Aha! You have prepared even that? Remarkable! Remarkable!”

A victorious smile appeared on Elder Wisdom's aged face.

He must have thought this was enough to face the Moon.

“You have truly worked hard. I will edit this information appropriately and convey it. The Alliance will accept your words if they know this much. But...”

“But?”

Elder Wisdom's eyes sharpened.

“All your plans are focused on attacking the Moon.”

“Do we need more?”

“You know this, do you not? The Management Bureau and the Alliance can never coexist. Right now, the Moon is simply a common enemy. What will you do afterward?”

Once the common enemy called the Moon was removed, the problem of the Pillagers would become visible again.

One chair, ten contestants.

Ten or more Arks seeking one world.

I answered calmly.

“What happens afterward does not matter.”

“What?”

“Have you forgotten? This world is not a true world for us either...”

It was something Eun-sol and Jin-cheol had privately agreed with in the past.

The Pillagers were ultimately a group similar to the Management Bureau, and their goal was also to rebuild their own civilization.

Therefore, a Pillager victory was not a great tragedy to us.

Some other bastard like them would simply take over the work the Management Bureau had done in the distant past.

It might be painful for A-ri and Grandpa, who had spent their lives in the Management Bureau, but what about the other companions who had been thrown into a world without family or any such ties?

The Management Bureau and the Pillagers were much the same.

I wanted Elder Wisdom to understand that logic.

After a brief silence, Elder Wisdom widened his eyes and muttered.

“Huh... To all of you, there is not much difference between the Management Bureau and the Alliance, is there?”

“As long as the Moon is not the victor.”

“I understand.”

“Then what about the second round after the Moon disappears?”

“Well, should we go rest in Pioneer on our own?”

“You have no intention of involving yourselves in a fight between the Management Bureau and the Pillagers, or a fight among the Pillagers?”

“That's right.”

“Can we trust those words?”

“Patrick.”

“Hm?”

“The Book of Covenants. Bring it tomorrow. Would it be enough if I wrote: Han Ga-in will not intervene in the conflict between the Management Bureau and the Pillagers?”

“You need not go that far... I trust you.”

That was a little funny.

Without a doubt, wasn't “trust” the funniest word among people like us?

“Really? Then let's just say we trust each other-”

“I will bring the Book of Covenants tomorrow.”

Why did this guy say pointless things when he was going to do that anyway?

With that, negotiations with the Pillager faction came to an end.

* * *

--- Clap!

“Now, this is the agreement I made with those Pillagers.”

First, until the attack on the Moon was complete, the Pillager faction would actively cooperate with us.

Second, afterward, the Hotel Party would not intervene in conflicts between the Management Bureau and the Pillagers, or among the Pillagers.

Third, the above terms would be written in the Book of Covenants. The price for breaking them would be death.

The companions who saw what I had written on the whiteboard all fell silent.

They must have been speechless because of the second clause, which said we would stay out of conflicts between the Management Bureau and the Pillagers.

The faces of A-ri and Grandpa, who had devoted their lives to the Management Bureau, went so pale and stiff that they were hard to describe.

The other companions, Eun-sol and Jin-cheol among them, did not look particularly pleased either.

Of course. What they had meant in the past was probably, ‘A Pillager victory is better than a Moon victory,’ not, ‘We want the Pillagers to win.’

The only one unchanged was Song-i, who probably did not care either way.

Seung-yeop stood blankly with the expression of someone who was not thinking at all.

Eun-sol, who had been glancing around, stepped up and asked.

“Um...”

“Go ahead.”

“If we don't intervene, won't the Management Bureau's defeat be certain?”

“Almost certainly.”

“... One of the Pillagers will probably build some strange civilization of unknown origins.”

“Probably.”