WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 647: The First Wish (3)
──────
- Kim A-ri
After leaving Kim Sang-hyeon’s dream, everyone fell silent for a moment.
What on earth had Sang-hyeon seen when he made his First Wish, before experiencing the Deep Sea Hotel?
“Gasp! Gasp...!”
“Are you all right, sir?”
“Hey! Hey! The doctor’s not looking good!”
“Grandpa, I think you should take Sang-hyeon outside first.”
“I should. I’ll calm the doctor down outside and ask whether he remembers anything else.”
“I’ll go out and think for a bit too.”
“Go ahead.”
Mook-seong, Sang-hyeon, and Jin-cheol naturally left the Kingdom of Dreams, each returning to their own dream.
“Should we step out for a while too?”
Ga-in shook his head.
“No. The Owl told me to help our companions as soon as I woke up.”
“...”
“Some people might be suffering through painful nightmares.”
Kim Sang-hyeon, who had been panting in terror until just before leaving the Kingdom of Dreams, was a good example.
“Could staying in a nightmare too long harm their minds?”
“Probably. Let’s move quickly. The next person is...”
“Let’s go to Mi-ro. Seeing Sang-hyeon, I think Mi-ro might have two wishes too.”
“Okay.”
* * *
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year!
Snow fluttered through the air as cheerful carols rang out.
Ga-in’s eyes widened at the music he had not heard in a long time.
“This place is?”
“Mi-ro’s school days.”
The next moment, a boy and girl appeared, running across a field of pure white snow.
They were younger versions of Ga-in and Mi-ro, in their early to mid-teens. The moment I saw them, I realized something.
“Since I’m here, this isn’t Mi-ro’s real past.”
“It seems to be from the Frozen Hell period.”
After failing at the Deep Sea Hotel, Mi-ro had been trapped in Frozen Hell, endlessly reliving the most painful memories of her life.
Mook-seong, Ga-in, and I entered Frozen Hell and saved Mi-ro.
This was the memory from when we saved her.
“I’m going in first, okay?”
“Are you really going to leave me behind?”
“...”
“You like me too, don’t you? Everyone likes me!”
“I told you it wouldn’t work.”
Their innocent conversation drifted over from afar.
It seemed to have been quite a heart-pounding moment for the people involved, especially Mi-ro, but...
“...”
Watching it was enough to make my face burn!
Honestly, Mi-ro, even considering how young she was, wasn’t that a little much?
‘You like me too, right? Everyone likes me!’
How could she say something like that while in her right mind?
* * *
The scenery around us rushed past as though it were on fast-forward.
Most of it showed Monster Santa harming teachers and children.
A school filled with terror and screams.
A boy running desperately while holding a beautiful girl’s hand.
Young Ga-in climbed into a red Cadillac with Mi-ro, but as the carols grew closer, he realized they could not escape.
A desperate crisis and overwhelming despair.
Just as young Mi-ro, frozen in fear, was about to cry out, the boy turned toward her like he was in a movie scene.
“Mi-ro, do you think you’re a good kid?”
“... I’ve never done anything bad.”
“Really? You don’t seem like an especially good kid.”
“Don’t pick a fight with me!”
“But you’re not evil enough to deserve to die over and over at the hands of a monster like that. Let’s try it one more time.”
“W-What have you been talking about this whole time?”
Looking at the confused Mi-ro, the boy smiled.
“See you later! Everything will be fine. May these words be imbued with magical power too!”
At that very moment, Mi-ro’s second wish was born.
* * *
“...”
“...”
A quiet silence fell.
Ga-in could not bring himself to lift his head and only stared at the floor, while I kept letting out awkward laughs.
Eventually, I broke the silence.
“Wow! Ga-in, you’re amazing!”
“...”
“Wasn’t that incredibly cool? No wonder Mi-ro fell for you right away.”
“That was a failed attempt.”
“It looks like she recovered this memory when she escaped Frozen Hell. The moment she fell in love!”
“...”
“Look at Mi-ro. She still hasn’t come to her senses. How deeply is she immersed in this dream?”
“...”
“We should ask Mi-ro how she felt back then once we get outside.”
“Please don’t...”
I teased Ga-in to lighten the mood, but my feelings were more complicated than I expected.
At least, I definitely wasn’t as happy as I looked.
Mi-ro, why did she have to like him of all people?
Physical age was meaningless for both of them, but couldn’t she at least like someone with a similar mental age...
“...”
Come to think of it, that was impossible.
No matter what, it wouldn’t be easy to see Seung-yeop romantically.
For something like that to happen, Seung-yeop would need hypnosis.
Shaking my head, I spoke.
“Whew... Judging by the circumstances, that was her second wish. The Empty Wish in Pioneer.”
“...”
“Considering Sang-hyeon’s case, she must have made her First Wish before going to the Deep Sea Hotel. What it was will appear soon...”
“It’s starting.”
--- Splash!
This time, unlike with Sang-hyeon, the background did not change.
* * *
“Huh? We’re still at the school. Don’t tell me...”
“She made her First Wish at boarding school too.”
Mi-ro had made both wishes at the boarding school she attended as a child.
Of course, only the location was the same. The time periods were completely different.
The time when she made the second wish we had just seen was actually during the Frozen Hell period.
The First Wish came from the real past, when young Mi-ro had actually attended the school.
There was one major difference between the two times.
“You’re not here, Ga-in.”
“You’re not here either, A-ri. Grandpa isn’t here either.”
I wasn’t there. Ga-in wasn’t there. Mook-seong wasn’t there either.
In real history, no one saved Mi-ro and her friends.
For a long time, visions filled with tragedy and pain passed before us.
The Chaos Disaster, Santa, sang maddening carols as it slaughtered every survivor in the school, while Mi-ro hid again and again in a panic.
The moment she hid beneath a bed and heard screams outside.
The moment she slipped after stepping on a friend’s intestines while fleeing desperately.
The moment a dark red Rudolph gored her, breaking her thin arm with its antlers.
“...”
Even Ga-in and I, watching it, frowned. I could only imagine how terrified Mi-ro had been at the time.
I wanted to stop the dream again and again to give Mi-ro some peace, but Ga-in stopped me.
He must have thought there might be more information hidden here.
In some ways, he was a truly cold person.
Mi-ro did not wake up until the second dream ended.
“Ga-in, doesn’t it seem like it’s over?”
“Probably. It looks like she made her First Wish while fleeing Santa.”
“...”
“Why should we suffer when we’re innocent? It isn’t just. If there is order in the world, the demon should be destroyed and the innocent should be saved. It was probably a wish along those lines.”
“... Probably. Other than the Santa disaster we already know about, I don’t see anything new.”
“There might be nothing, or there might be something we failed to notice.”
“...”
“Let’s wake Mi-ro up.”
As I approached the girl who was panting faintly, I found myself murmuring without thinking.
“... Thank you.”
“Hm?”
“If it weren’t for you, Mi-ro would still be trapped in this hell...”
Ga-in smiled as though asking what I was talking about.
“Ha! Someone listening would think I saved her alone.”
* * *
After waking up, Mi-ro did not remember the dream at all.
Considering that Sang-hyeon, who had also been deeply immersed in his dream, was suffering considerable aftereffects, this was clearly something special about Mi-ro.
Had Immutable Blessing played a trick?
Or was it simply a problem with Mi-ro’s personality?
I didn’t know the exact reason, but it made things easier.
“Ah! Why am I the only one who can’t remember anything?”
“... It’s okay. We saw it.”
“What was my wish? What was it?”
“...”
Ga-in smiled awkwardly, glanced at me, then brought up something unrelated.
“You know what you said at the coffee shop.”
“Huh?”
“... You said you resolved to save humanity after talking to the Ghost Story Mi-ro inside you.”
“That happened! Ah, did the coffee shop scene come up?”
“Yeah.”
Our eyes met silently.
Ga-in and I silently agreed on one thing.
How embarrassed would Mi-ro be if she found out we had seen the moment she fell for Ga-in?
She would surely make a huge fuss for at least a week and wear everyone out.
So we should just bury it in Ga-in’s and my memories.
“Did you see it too, A-ri? The coffee shop scene?”
“... Yeah. Mi-ro, it’s amazing that you wished for humanity’s salvation~!”
“Oh, stop teasing me.”
Watching Mi-ro squirm with embarrassment was really almost unbearable.
“... Ga-in. Let’s go to the next dream.”
“Okay. The next one is...”
“Seung-yeop!”
Hearing Mi-ro shout in amusement, I was left speechless again.
Didn’t it feel like we were about to see another embarrassing scene?
“Sure. Let’s go to Seung-yeop’s dream.”
* * *
「Welcome to Summoner's Rift.」
I felt suffocated from the very beginning.
Ga-in muttered with a dazed expression.
“No way...! Seung-yeop, say it isn’t so!”
“...”
“Ha ha! What am I even thinking...”
“Look at the time. It’s dawn. He must have been gaming all night.”
“... You’re right.”
He was clearly a middle schooler at this point, and seeing him play games all night made me sigh.
“Seriously! You xx bastards! I told you not to die while I was carrying!”
Ga-in visibly staggered, and I once again thought Seung-yeop was impressive.
Even the ancient Prince, who had brought about humanity’s end, and Aleph, who had laid plans across eons, probably could not fluster Ga-in as much as Seung-yeop did now.
At this point, I decided to say what I really thought.
“I’ll be honest. Could Seung-yeop’s wish have been to get good at games? Or to have better luck with teammates?”
“... Don’t underestimate our companion too much. Even if Seung-yeop is childish...”
As if he had been waiting for it, Seung-yeop shouted at the computer.
“Why is my luck with teammates the only thing that’s this bad? Why am I so unlucky?”
As even I was left speechless, Mi-ro spoke with a cynical expression.
“Even if it wasn’t that, it would be something like becoming number one in the Bangbae Middle School hierarchy!”
“... Aren’t you two putting Seung-yeop down too much?”
“We’re not putting Seung-yeop down. We just know very well what Seung-yeop is like when he’s been reduced to this state.”
After Mi-ro’s merciless assessment, dawn came and it was time for school.
How could Seung-yeop be alert in the morning after gaming all night?
Of course, he went to school staggering and barely able to keep his eyes open.
Watching Seung-yeop’s parents fret over this whole process was incredibly frustrating.
“Why are they so soft on their son?”
“...”
“They should make him come to his senses, even if they have to use a switch!”
“A-riii. That really made you sound old.”
“Mi-ro, do you want a scolding too?”
“N-No...”
The glimpses of his school life sped past, and none of them looked particularly smooth.
Well, if a small kid was always dazed, it would be stranger if he got along well with his classmates.
That did not mean Seung-yeop suffered bullying that crossed the line.
Seung-yeop had barely talked about his past since coming to the Hotel.
Didn’t that mean he never held a serious grudge himself?
As classes neared their end, Seung-yeop’s eyes began to come alive again.
“Is he going to play games again?”
“Definitely.”
“Wow! He really must have wished for better luck with teammates!”
“Honestly! What was the Hotel thinking, choosing a kid like this?”
“... Both of you, ease up. I’m scared Seung-yeop might hear.”
Ga-in looked like he had already given up halfway, but by this point, everyone had secretly accepted it.
He must have made some wish like, ‘Please give me better luck with teammates,’ while gaming!
Just as everyone was about to relax.
- Gulp!
Seung-yeop swallowed nervously and began secretly following someone.
“... What is this?”
“It looks like he’s following someone... Oh my god.”
Soon, the boy’s face turned bright red as he called out to a rather cute-looking girl.
“S-So-yeon!”
Aaaah!
There was one more embarrassing scene left!
“Oh, please!”
“Ga-innn! Wake Seung-yeop up right now!”
“Let’s just wake him up. This is for Seung-yeop’s human rights.”
As always, Ga-in was endlessly cold at times like this.
“No. There might be hidden information...”
“You’re not even human.”
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
