Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 63

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 62: Choosing a Place for a Second Attempt. Re-entering

──────

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 21

Current Location: Level 1, Corridor

Sage’s Advice: 0]

Where should we go?

Grandfather Mook-seong spoke.

“I think we’ve more or less found the answer. Before that, though, I’d like to revisit our interpretation of the hints.”

“Please, Grandfather.”

“I’m not saying your interpretation is necessarily wrong. Still, the hotel’s hint seems to be telling us not to hold preconceptions. If we blindly trust our interpretation, that itself could become another preconception.”

“That makes sense.”

“You interpreted the hint related to Strange Family as [The Source of the Curse is not the family]. I can’t think of any other reading for that one either. Besides, I’ve never been to Strange Family, so let’s move on.

“You interpreted the hint related to House of Horror as [Abandon the preconception that you must go to the mansion]. Shouldn’t we think about that one a little more? There are quite a few other two-character places besides the ‘mansion’ that we think we need to visit. The ‘church’ and the ‘study’ come to mind.”

“...”

A-ri picked up the conversation.

“I can think of more. The ‘basement’ and the ‘lake.’

“We thought we had to go to the church because we needed to use the Bell, and we thought we had to go to the study because we needed information. We went to the basement because we thought we should see what was there, and we went to the lake because we thought we had to break through it to escape. There are too many two-character place names to say it has to mean the mansion.

“If anything, I think the two of you got too caught up in the idea of broadening the stage and concluded that we had to leave the mansion itself. I think we still need to go to the mansion.”

Both Management Bureau members shared the same opinion.

We shouldn’t automatically interpret House of Horror’s hint as meaning we had to leave the mansion.

...

They had a point. I needed to think it over more.

“Hmm. Let’s all give the point about the mansion more thought. Grandfather, it seems you’ve already made up your mind about where we should go. Would you tell us?”

“I think we must go to Strange Family. What is the most important factor when deciding which room to attempt again?

“The difficulty of escaping.

“We must secure an escape route before attempting again. If escape is one hundred percent certain, it’s practically the same as clearing it. If we keep trying, we’ll eventually solve it. Of course, I understand there is a limit to the number of attempts.”

A limit on attempts. After saying that, Grandfather looked at A-ri.

“Keep in mind that it isn’t certain. As far as I know, there are no major problems for up to four attempts, but I heard things start getting strange once the number of reattempts exceeds five.”

...

The room fell quiet for a moment.

“A-ri, is that...?”

“Sis, it’s something I heard during my first run. I didn’t experience it myself, and I don’t know exactly what ‘things get strange’ means.”

A-ri was on her second run through the hotel.

It was probably reliable information. Up to four reattempts were safe, but things started getting strange beyond five. I remembered that. We had already used one attempt. We should be prepared to solve it within another two or three tries.

“To put it another way, we must secure an escape route before we attempt a solution.

“Compare the two rooms again in terms of escape difficulty. House of Horror could actually be very difficult to escape. The mansion’s escape method involves making it impossible to offer six sacrifices. Since there are eight of us, we might think escape is guaranteed if three people kill themselves as soon as we begin.

“But think again. A-ri and I have joined your party now. Will they turn us into NPCs again?”

“What do you think they’ll do?”

A-ri answered.

“I’m curious about that too. They might turn us into NPCs again, or they might simply fill the roles with other people. If they bring in other people, there will be ten possible sacrifices that the Elder can offer.”

I understood.

If a new butler and maid were assigned after A-ri and Grandfather Mook-seong joined us, there would be ten possible sacrifices.

To guarantee escape in that situation, three suicides wouldn’t be enough.

Even if three people killed themselves, seven would remain. The Elder could still win by offering six out of those seven.

“Then five people might have to kill themselves instead of three.”

“That would leave only three people to proceed. The restriction on our numbers would be too severe.”

“Let me continue what I was saying. I think everyone understands now, but House of Horror is structured in a way that makes escape harder than it seems.

“Now look at Strange Family. Don’t we simply need to avoid contact with the family and put physical distance between us and them?

“We only got caught during the first attempt because we didn’t know what to expect. If we prepare ourselves beforehand, we don’t need any extraordinary means of mental defense. Can’t we just close our eyes, cover our ears, and run as soon as it begins?”

“I get what you’re saying, Grandfather, but there’s something I’ve been wondering.”

A-ri always mixed polite and casual speech with everyone. No one bothered pointing it out in a place this bizarre.

“Grandfather and I don’t have families. What happens to us?”

...

I expected that from A-ri, but this was the first time I learned Grandfather had no family either. What would happen?

“Won’t they create families for you?”

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

“Let’s decide to reattempt Strange Family for now. Does anyone have another opinion?”

No one objected.

Overall, everyone had been persuaded by Grandfather Mook-seong’s opinion.

More than anything, what did escaping House of Horror mean?

No matter how the numbers worked out, the core of it was that several people had to kill themselves as soon as it began. No one said it aloud, but it was an agonizing decision.

Coldly speaking, shouldn’t the relatively less valuable person among us kill themselves? Who should die? It was painful even to think about.

We decided to reattempt Strange Family.

After the meeting ended, we chatted for a while before everyone went to bed early.

As I got into bed, I thought about tomorrow.

The moment we entered, I’d block my vision with the Status Window filter and run out of the house no matter what.

* * *

We ate a hearty breakfast and distributed our equipment. Equipment was a generous word when all we had were a gun and a Red Pill. Grandfather Mook-seong took the gun, while Jin-cheol took the Red Pill.

Just before entering Room 101, we held one last brief meeting.

“Everyone understands, right? First, everyone just focuses on escaping. The few people who can escape most easily will keep escaping afterward, while the rest of us proceed.”

“Yes!”

* * *

Second Attempt

* * *

– Han Ga-in

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 22

Current Location: Level 1, Room 101 (Curse Room - Strange Family)

Sage’s Advice: 3]

The instant I regained my senses, I spread the filter around myself without hesitating for even a second. My blurred vision had become familiar by now.

Sure enough, I could think normally once I used the filter right away. There was only a humming noise near my ears. Ignoring it, I left the room.

When I deliberately narrowed my eyes until my vision was even blurrier, all I could make out were the shapes of the family. They seemed to be saying something. I ignored them and shouted immediately.

“I’m going to the convenience store for a bit to buy something to drink!”

If I made an excuse for leaving, they probably wouldn’t stop me.

I opened the door and left the house.

Then I ran like hell!

After about ten minutes of running, a notification appeared.

/You have successfully escaped!/

That was ridiculously easy.

Could anyone fail this? All I had to do was run?

Maybe we only got caught the first time because we didn’t know anything.

Feeling completely at ease, I waited to meet everyone again.

As I learned later, it wasn’t that easy for everyone.

* * *

- Park Seung-yeop: Escape successful

- Cha Jin-cheol: Escape successful

- Yoo Song-i: Escape successful

* * *

- Elena Ivanov

This was unfair.

Elena thought this room was horribly unfair.

Run away the moment it began. But what was someone supposed to do if they started in the same room as their older sister?

Her mind was already clouding before she could do anything.

Shouldn’t they at least have been separated before it started?

Ah. Now that she thought about it, her family had grown poor after spending so many years in exile, so their house was small. She and her older sister still shared a room. That was why.

Discrimination against poor people. How unfair.

Whoever designed this room was definitely a capitalist pig who deserved to be skewered with a bamboo spear.

She felt her consciousness growing hazy.

/You have failed!/

* * *

- Lee Eun-sol

Thud, thud, thud!

“Miss!”

Ah, this was awful. Everyone had come up with the perfect method to escape Room 101 during the meeting.

‘Close your eyes, cover your ears, and run out of the house the moment it begins.’

That simple escape method was so difficult for me. The problem was simple.

I was too rich.

The others talked as though getting out of their houses was something they could do three seconds after stepping out of their bedrooms.

But when I left my bedroom, there was ‘my living room.’ When I left ‘my living room,’ there was ‘my dressing room.’ Only after leaving ‘my dressing room’ was there the ‘actual living room.’ Then, to reach the front door from the ‘actual living room,’ I had to pass through the dining room and the garden.

How was I supposed to avoid other people while crossing such a large space?

There was another problem too. The others spoke as though they only had to avoid their parents and siblings, just two or three people, until they got out of the house.

But what was I supposed to do when five or so servants and bodyguards were always walking around the house?

That was why I had been stopped from the very beginning. Cover my eyes and ears with clothes and run?

Thud, thud, thud!

“Miss! Are you in there?”

Sorry, but that was the result.

When the young lady of the house suddenly covered herself with things and ran off as if she had lost her mind, everyone was alarmed and rushed toward me. I couldn’t run properly and ended up back in my bedroom. Unlike Seung-yeop, I hadn’t even considered escaping through a window. My house had a thorough security system. I didn’t want to burn to death.

Sorry, everyone.

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t proceed in this room.

The reason was that I was too rich. Discrimination against rich people? That was unfair.

Whoever designed this room was definitely a communist.

Everyone, work hard in my place!

/You have failed!/

* * *

- Kim Mook-seong

There was something he had been deeply curious about even before entering the room.

What happened to people without families? Kim Mook-seong found himself speechless when he saw the answer.

“Father? Are you hurt?”

“Grandfather? Why are you standing there?”

The answer was, ‘It imitates dead family members.’

Ah...

He knew. Those things were not real. His son and grandson no longer belonged to this world. He needed to put distance between them immediately. If necessary, he had to shoot them.

...

He was terribly sorry to his real companions outside.

But Mook-seong could not look away from his son and grandson, standing before him for the first time in twenty years.

He felt his consciousness growing hazy. One mistake like this would be enough.

...

A-ri would have a hard time.

/You have failed!/

* * *

- Kim A-ri

I woke up.

The moment I looked around, my mind went blank. Until just before entering, I had wondered how the hotel would recreate my family and my home.

My mother was dead, and as for a home, I just moved wherever the Management Bureau assigned me.