WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 666: First Escape, Meeting and Reentry (3)
──────
- Yoo Song-i
A reunion with my “real parents,” whom I never thought I’d see again.
Ga-in’s response was quite perceptive.
“What do you mean, ‘they’re all real’? Did the parents you remembered from reality appear in Room 301 exactly as they were?”
“...”
“Or is the entire world of Room 301 the world you lived in?”
“Reality” was a collection of endlessly repeating Loops.
The realities remembered by the Hotel Party differed because everyone had come from a different Loop.
That meant the Loop I had lived in, along with my real parents and everyone else, had already vanished into the flow of time.
Still, I knew another truth.
Hotel Pioneer, where I was now, was the most mysterious place in the universe.
Nothing was impossible in the Hotel.
Sending me to a past Loop?
For the Hotel, it might not even be that difficult.
That was why I could answer Ga-in’s question like this.
“Couldn’t that be possible? It’s the Hotel.”
“You don’t sound certain.”
“Um... My memory isn’t as good as yours, Ga-in. I never thought I’d say this, but thanks to the Hotel, I’ve experienced countless worlds.”
“So you’ve had so many experiences that your memories from before coming to the Hotel are unclear?”
“Yes.”
Rather than answer right away, Ga-in paused briefly before continuing.
“Before we came to the third floor, Elder Wisdom gave me an interesting interpretation of it.”
“An interpretation of the third floor?”
“Elder Wisdom has spent more time thinking about the third floor than anyone else, and they’re an exceptionally wise being. Their words are worth considering.”
That made sense.
“The training of heroes ended on the first and second floors.”
“Huh?”
“By the time we broke through the second floor and escaped, we had all become superhuman heroes whose momentum could shake the heavens.”
“Then what about the third floor?”
“We forged fine swords on the first and second floors. The third floor is where we get to wield them properly.”
“That’s an interesting way to put it.”
“From that perspective, the reason we get to choose whether to go to the third floor, unlike the first and second floors, becomes obvious.”
“What is it?”
“A hero isn’t someone pushed into trials by another person. A hero must be able to step into the whirlpool of disaster of their own will.”
“...”
To be honest, that kind of “hero theory” didn’t really resonate with me.
I hadn’t come to the third floor to save humanity from the End Times.
I just didn’t want to be separated from the companions who were now my only true family.
“So this is what you mean, right? The first and second floors are fake worlds made by the Hotel, while the third floor is the real world we lived in?”
Ga-in shook his head.
“Song-i, remember this. Within the Hotel’s domain, real and fake aren’t appropriate words. From the perspective of a Buddha, they’re paintings that can be fixed with a single brushstroke.”
“Then...”
“If we have to distinguish them, we could call them originals and copies.”
Not real and fake, but originals and copies.
It sounded like the same thing to me, but Ga-in clearly meant something different.
--- Tap!
Just then, he lightly tapped the table.
“Let’s stop our mystical examination of the third floor’s nature here. People who don’t know much won’t reach an accurate conclusion just by discussing it.”
“That’s true.”
“Won’t the questions you and I have naturally be answered as we progress through the third floor?”
“...”
“It’s late. Go get some sleep. See you tomorrow.”
* * *
The next morning, we held one final meeting to divide up the members before entering.
In the end, we decided on the following.
* * *
Resolution Party, Entry Register
1. Fixed Members: Yoo Song-i, Lee Eun-sol
2. Additional Members: Kim A-ri, Kim Mook-seong, Elena, Cha Jin-cheol
Escape Party, World After the End Times
1. Mi-ro, Park Seung-yeop
2. Kim Sang-hyeon, Han Ga-in
* * *
Last night, Ga-in had been considering where to place Doctor, Jin-cheol, and himself.
In the end, only Jin-cheol joined the Resolution Party, while the other two went to the Escape Party.
Eun-sol and Ga-in gave a brief explanation, and from what I gathered, the reason was simple.
We still lacked information.
Since the odds of resolving it were low, we had no choice but to prioritize escape.
Without Ga-in, we had no chance at all against the Duke.
Doctor’s Final Flash could land a meaningful hit even on the Duke.
And so on.
Listening to it all, I suddenly laughed.
By the numbers, six people were going into the Resolution Party while four were going into the Escape Party.
Yet everyone thought this distribution prioritized escape over resolution.
Why?
Because Ga-in was in the Escape Party!
Of course, that wasn’t good news.
It just meant the party’s balance had fallen apart that badly.
Without realizing it, I poked A-ri, who was sitting to my left.
“What?”
“It’s because of you.”
“What?”
“You should be stronger by now!”
A-ri shrugged as though she had no idea what I was talking about, then silenced me with a simple answer.
“What are you talking about? You’re weaker than Pero.”
“... Pero. Hurry up and bite A-ri’s head off.”
How many people would have to join the Resolution Party to balance out Ga-in?
All nine people besides him?
No, that’s too much!
If we put even Mi-ro in the Resolution Party, she could summon Ga-in anyway...
“Ah!”
I think I understood the completely different party distribution Ga-in had mentioned last night!
“...”
The corner of my mouth curled up without me realizing it.
It felt like I’d guessed what Ga-in was thinking when nobody else knew.
Maybe it was childish, but still!
“What’s wrong?”
A-ri tilted her head when she saw me staring blankly with my mouth open.
“... Nothing.”
“Focus on the meeting. And get rid of this stupid parrot.”
“Pero’s smarter than you.”
“Pero’s stronger than you, too.”
“Pero can even fly.”
“I can fly too.”
“You have to put on shoes to fly.”
“Humans are creatures that use tools. Hey, be quiet. You’re making me childish too. You’re not even Mi-ro, so what’s gotten into you?”
“...”
Was it because I had met my “real parents,” whom I thought I would never see again?
Like A-ri said, I kept talking like a child, or like the person I had been before coming to the Hotel.
--- Tap!
That was where the meeting ended.
“Let’s go in.”
* * *
I woke up in a lavish room.
Before, I had mistaken this moment for the start of Room 301.
Not anymore.
Having experienced it once, my companions headed toward the table in the center with familiar ease.
The Entry Register lay on the table.
Soon, as we had decided outside, several companions began writing down their names.
⓵ Yoo Song-i
⓶ Lee Eun-sol
⓷ Kim A-ri
⓸ Kim Mook-seong
⓹ Elena
⓺ Cha Jin-cheol
Jin-cheol, the last to write his name, spoke with a slightly nervous expression.
“Do we declare that we’re entering now?”
At that moment, Ga-in gestured.
“Wait a moment.”
He looked a little rushed as he approached, like he had suddenly remembered something.
Maybe he had seen it through Insight.
“A-ri, take out Kingdom of Dreams.”
“Huh?”
Though she tilted her head, A-ri pulled the painting from inside her clothes.
“Wasn’t I supposed to use it?”
“...”
“Logically, it’s an item that should obviously go to the Resolution Party...”
Kingdom of Dreams was a tool for companions to regroup, and everyone in the Escape Party started in the same area.
They wouldn’t be separated, so there was no need to regroup through Kingdom of Dreams.
That was why we had concluded during yesterday’s meeting that the painting should go to the Resolution Party.
“What’s wrong?”
“... I saw both possibilities. It would be useful if I used it, and useful if you used it.”
What was that supposed to mean?
A-ri seemed to feel the same way I did, because she looked a little flustered.
“So who should use it?”
“You use it this time. All right, begin.”
Right before we began, a question flashed through my mind.
The reason Kingdom of Dreams would be useful to the Resolution Party was obvious.
A-ri could use the painting to join up with companions scattered all over the place.
But why would it be useful to the Escape Party?
“Hotel, we’re entering now!”
* * *
.
..
...
A soft bed.
I woke up to something poking me.
“Happy... I’m sleepy, so...”
“It’s not Happy. Wake up.”
“Ah.”
It was still dark outside. I thought I had woken up even earlier than during the first attempt.
When I turned my head, I saw a chillingly beautiful face with a cold expression.
A-ri really was amazing when I looked at her like this.
It wasn’t easy for someone you saw every day to keep looking beautiful.
“You’re awake now?”
“... It just started, right?”
“That’s right.”
When Room 301 began, I was asleep in bed.
After seeing this situation from the Observatory, my companions came up with an idea.
A-ri, who had Kingdom of Dreams, would join me as soon as it began.
--- Whine!
A small whimper came from beside me. Frightened Happy was whining in the corner.
Had A-ri already done something? Happy couldn’t even bark.
“The dog is fine. I only paralyzed it for a moment.”
“...”
“I’ll say this once, so listen carefully. Since I came as part of the Resolution Party, I was given a kind of background setting too.”
“...”
“I’m your friend from school, and my parents are overseas. The setting is that I live with my grandfather. Naturally, Mook-seong is my grandfather.”
“... That’s quite a convenient setting.”
“That’s how the Hotel always is.”
After a brief silence, A-ri spoke quickly.
“Don’t misunderstand me. Mook-seong and I always keep various possibilities in mind. Your...”
A-ri was being unusually careful. I could guess what she was about to say.
It was probably what Ga-in had told her last night.
“You want to watch my parents?”
“... This house too. They might be more special people, and this might be a more special house, than you think.”
“Fine. Let’s do that.”
It was a reasonable thing to say, so I wasn’t angry.
Look at the other companions.
Ga-in was an extraordinary being without equal in the world, and Eun-sol was the daughter of either a Regressor or a Management Bureau agent.
Maybe I had a special background that even I didn’t know about.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
I said that, but the thought that my parents might be the Traitor to Humanity made my heart feel like it was freezing over.
--- Creak!
A-ri and I opened the bedroom door and stepped into the living room.
It was 4:25 in the morning, when my parents should be asleep.
A-ri lightly tapped the Birdcage, and Pero, who was already inside it, reacted.
--- Chirp! Chirp!
The sound was quiet, but Pero seemed a little annoyed.
“...”
Soon, A-ri began searching the entire house in front of me.
She checked behind the TV, turned over the Wi-Fi router, and even examined beneath a medical device whose purpose I didn’t know.
As I watched her, she looked like some kind of spy from a movie.
In reality, she was even more than that.
For a moment, I wondered what we would do if my parents woke up. Then I realized it wouldn’t be a big deal.
A-ri could just use The Unremarkable Girl, and I could say I had woken up.
“...”
Nothing in particular seemed to turn up.
Then A-ri muttered in a whisper.
“It’s something I thought as I watched your actions from outside Room 301.”
“...”
“You seem to have complaints about your parents.”
“... A little.”
“Be careful. This is a Curse Room.”
There was no need to get caught up in conflict unrelated to the scenario in a Curse Room.
Complaining to my parents would only get in the way.
From now on, I should hold back...
At that very moment!
--- Thud!
A book fell from the bookshelf.
“...”
“...”
Our eyes met in silence.
‘Was that an accident?’
Then, as if worried we might mistake it for one, a loud commotion erupted.
--- Thud! Clatter!
Three or four books fell in succession.
It was an obvious Poltergeist phenomenon, a warning from our companions outside!
Our eyes met again, and A-ri vanished from the range of perception in an instant.
“Uh...”
I hurried over to the Birdcage and released Pero.
--- Creak!
W-what?
Did our house always have a door like that?
Footnotes:
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