WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 663: Room 301, Curse Room - ‘The Origin of Species’ (10)
──────
- Kim A-ri
--- Bzzz!
Following the malice Ominous Imagination had unleashed in every direction, golden light began gathering around Elena's body.
The Duke of Yith was no human by any measure, but with so many companions dead, Justified Self-Defense activated, awakening Justice.
Soon, spiraling waves drawn by the Scales of Judgment began striking the Duke of Yith one after another.
The restraints had been released by some unknown trick of Ga-in’s, and Sang-hyeon’s Final Flash had dealt considerable damage.
On top of that, Elena launched a relentless assault with Ominous Imagination and Justice in succession!
It looked as though the tide had turned, but our advantage lasted only about ten seconds.
The enemy had nearly wiped us out the instant it appeared.
Maybe things would have been different if everyone, Ga-in included, had been ready to fight from the start. But after being ambushed like this, there was no way we could win.
The blood flowing from the Duke's body stopped.
The Duke severed the curse-like malice created by Ominous Imagination.
The Duke began intercepting the Scales of Justice one by one.
The Duke began effortlessly evading the spatial isolation of the Irregular Polyhedron, as though it could see it.
Despair rose to my throat once again.
Still, the survivors' desperate struggle had not been meaningless.
We had somehow bought enough time for the headless companion on the ground to use a major move!
--- Whoooosh!
Amid the chaos, a dizzying sensation washed over me.
An incomprehensible vision crossed my mind, filling me with a distant, boundless feeling.
A universe filled with emptiness. A vortex appearing at its center. A massive force of attraction pulling in all things!
--- Rumble...
A sound from the distant Starry Heavens rang out.
At first, I thought it was a sound reaching Ga-in.
Then, I thought it was a sound reaching the Duke.
Only after making those two mistakes did I realize.
The sound was coming from everywhere!
“W-What is that?”
It looked like Ga-in had used some incredible technique, but what was it?
What was happening?
Then, I felt something solid in my hand.
A small object soaked in Ga-in's blood had appeared in my trembling hand at some point.
The Hourglass.
My first thought wasn’t, ‘We’re saved!’
What was the point of turning this over now?
Turning it wouldn't bring our dead companions back to life!
It would be different if it were a tool that turned back time, like One More Chance.
But the Hourglass was only a tool that bought time.
Wouldn't going forward a week only put us at a greater disadvantage?
At that very moment, my hand froze like ice.
I realized the Duke was watching me and the Hourglass in my hand!
I couldn't even turn it over now.
Perhaps because of the pressure so intense it made my skin crawl, a half-crazed voice burst from my mouth.
“Ah...! Y-You think you're a god or something? You must see us as insignificant insects-”
I hadn't expected an answer, but the other party unexpectedly replied.
‘No. You are beings without equal. And I am not a god.’
Only then did I realize.
Only my hand was frozen, not my entire body, which meant I could speak. And the other party was answering me.
Putting those two facts together, there was only one conclusion.
It didn't intend to kill me now.
It never intended to kill us?
“...”
No.
It began by ambushing Ga-in and blowing Ga-in’s head off, then killed nearly half our companions in an instant.
It had clearly come to kill us at first!
Not now.
Why had it changed its mind?
The next message from the other party took my breath away.
‘If you turn that over, will you gain inviolability for one week?’
“...”
The Duke had figured out what the Hourglass did.
There was no time to ask how it had learned that.
The next voice contained something even more shocking!
‘This is the first time.’
“Ugh, ah!”
I didn't mishear that, right?
‘This is the first time’ could only mean one thing here!
It had realized that I... that we had come from the Hotel.
It even knew this was our first attempt!
How was that possible?
It wouldn't have been surprising if the other party were a Prisoner.
Prisoners knew more about the Hotel than we did in the first place.
But the Duke of Yith before me was absolutely not a Prisoner.
We had encountered Prisoners many times. There was no way I could be mistaken!
Room 301's Prisoner had to be a separate entity from the Duke.
--- Rumble!
A massive impact rang out from the sky.
Soon, entrancing light descended, and the Duke of Yith began ascending into the sky along a mysterious beam of light.
“... No way.”
Only then did I accept it.
For some reason, the Duke of Yith had changed its mind and decided to spare us!
At that moment, Sang-hyeon, who lay groaning on the ground, gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Why are you sparing us?!”
I wanted to know too. I really, really wanted to know!
“There must be a reason! Are you trying to use us? Shouldn't you at least tell us something if that's the case?!”
Just before it left the area, wrapped in that entrancing beam of light, the Duke of Yith left one final message.
‘... Do it once more. Next time, end it before reaching this stage.’
* * *
The plains were stained with blood.
There were only a few survivors, and the headless companion who had been writhing until moments ago had stopped moving as well.
The three survivors looked at one another as if their souls had left their bodies.
“... A-ri.”
“Elena.”
Seeing the tender moment between Elena and me, Sang-hyeon spoke up.
“Let me join in too.”
“...”
“This is... very painful.”
“You're bleeding heavily from the abdomen. Instead of talking, you should get treated-”
“It's no use. Elena's Ominous Imagination got me.”
Elena flinched at those words.
“Ah!”
Because of Ominous Imagination's nature, there was no way to precisely control its range.
If it was malice so close to a curse that it could threaten the Duke of Yith, a human body couldn't withstand even a graze from it.
“I think I'm going to die soon.”
“...”
“I hope the escape notification appears before then.”
“I hope so too.”
“It will.”
No one refuted Sang-hyeon's words.
We didn't fully understand the situation, but everyone here could feel it.
An escape notification would appear soon!
Why?
Because the Duke of Yith had lost its will to fight and left.
“... We'll talk again once everyone's together after we get out, but this is what I sensed.”
“Go ahead.”
“The Duke knew this was a Curse Room.”
“Right!”
“It knew we were on our first attempt. It also recognized that the Hourglass was a special tool.”
“... My eyes are starting to close.”
“At the end, it even withdrew after telling us to do it one more time. The Adversary has lost its will to fight and left, so there is a good chance we will soon be judged to have escaped.”
Sang-hyeon didn't answer again.
“How can this be?”
Elena gently closed Sang-hyeon's eyes and murmured sadly.
“I... think I know. Actually, I think A-ri knows too.”
“...”
“Didn't you feel it? The Duke seemed different when it left than when it first arrived.”
“Its attitude changed.”
“Not just its attitude. Um, I mean...”
Elena's eyes passed over the headless corpse a few steps away.
“It was a little like Ga-in.”
“...”
“I got that kind of feeling. Didn't you?”
Elena's voice seemed to ask whether I had thought the same.
My thoughts were similar.
In its final moments, the Duke knew far too many things.
It might have figured out that this stage was inside the Hotel.
The Prisoner would know that information and could have told the Duke.
But the Duke knew too much.
It recognized our number of attempts and the function of the Hourglass?
I thought even a Prisoner shouldn't know that.
Elena drove the point home.
“Ga-in told it.”
“...”
“Ga-in fought it in a realm we can't understand, and it learned many things during that process.”
“Why did Ga-in tell it? And why did that information persuade the Duke?”
“Let's ask after we get out.”
--- Boom!
As if it had been waiting, the sound of the world collapsing rang out.
Soon, the notification the two survivors had desperately awaited appeared.
「You have successfully escaped!
A clash with the Baron of Yith, who managed Humanity's Protected Zone, followed by fierce battles against Count-class entities!
Seeing you defeat them one after another, I am pleased that at least your fighting ability seems to have improved considerably.
But wasn't that an overly brute-force way to proceed?
Even if you kill the underlings of the faction that swallowed a star, only stronger and stronger pursuers will come!
Your quick thinking in attempting to negotiate with the Duke at the end was excellent.
But remember this.
There will be no second negotiation.
You will not be able to escape twice in the same way.
You have escaped the curse.
However, you can still feel that the Source of the Curse remains.
...
A companion has successfully escaped!」
* * *
I came to in the Hotel corridor.
When I looked around, companions with bewildered expressions filled the area.
Most of them had died before the escape notification even appeared, so they probably couldn't understand what had happened.
Then again, even I, who had seen the notification, didn't understand the situation.
“Uh, um... So, whatever happened, is one run over?”
“I-I think so!”
No matter what had happened, we had successfully escaped, and relief appeared on everyone's faces.
And I...
I tightly grabbed the arm of the companion whose head had grown back.
“What was that? What happened?”
Everyone naturally turned their attention toward us.
“... Singularity.”
“What?”
“For a moment, the boundary between the Duke and me disappeared. And...”
“Then, then what?”
Ga-in murmured with a somewhat confused expression.
“Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron.”
“Huh?”
“Those are the ranks they use among themselves. The one that appeared at the end was a Duke.”
“Why are you suddenly talking about ranks-”
“Above a Duke, there is a King. There is only one King.”
“The King of Yith?”
“The King is dead. Dead, and... the Yith race is trying to awaken the King again.”
“Why did the King die?”
The next words truly left everyone stunned.
In a way, it was also a slightly ‘moving’ story.
“... The Management Bureau killed the King.”
Footnotes:
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