WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 681: Room 301, Curse Room - ‘The Origin of Species’ (25)
──────
Late at night, after Sang-hyeon, who had kept watch for so long, left to catch some sleep, Mi-ro and Seung-yeop sat in front of Ga-in.
“Then Eun-sol is still glued to the Prisoner?”
“She isn’t glued to it twenty-four hours a day, but the King of Yith is definitely controlling everything around her.”
“Isn’t Eun-sol going to work?”
“She already took leave.”
“Seriously! Why can’t she come to her senses?”
Ga-in gave a bitter smile as he explained.
“There’s nothing we can do. We didn’t suspect Eun-sol’s ‘mother’ even once until we experienced it ourselves, did we?”
“That’s true, but...”
“Eun-sol’s the same. It hasn’t even occurred to her to suspect anything, so there’s no answer for now.”
“...”
“Every attempt to snap her out of it with Poltergeist has failed. That’s a lesson in itself. A Prisoner can block intervention through the Observatory to some extent.”
“This is haaarrd.”
The King of Yith’s side was likely superior in ability from the start. On top of that, it was manipulating the situation right beside Eun-sol, making it difficult to deal with.
“Somethin’s weird...! This is the first time I’ve seen a Prisoner act so freely.”
Ga-in nodded in agreement.
“I’ve had two thoughts. First, the King of Yith isn’t the type to try to kill us like the Demon King. It has some purpose, and it needs a Participant for it. It’s made plenty of preparations too.”
“So the Hotel doesn’t restrict it too heavily because it isn’t trying to kill us?”
“Or second, it definitely has a weakness. We just don’t know what it is.”
“A weakness?”
“Think about what the Count who approached the chairman said. ‘Even for you, there is a domain you must not meddle with recklessly.’ You remember that, right?”
“... Now that you mention it, I do.”
“What the Prisoner is doing underground in Gangwon Province is something the Yith race considers dangerous even for a Prisoner.”
“...”
“Maybe the Prisoner, too, finds the current situation quite overwhelming.”
Seung-yeop, who had listened until then, spoke for the first time.
“Th-then! How about we just try fighting it next time?”
“...”
“If Ga-in hyung can kill Eun-sol’s mom...”
“When you put it like that, it sounds horribly unfilial. Anyway, let’s think about the next attempt after this one ends. Whew...”
Ga-in let out a sigh without realizing it.
For some time now, his companions had spoken of the “next attempt” as though it were a given.
The feeling that it would be impossible to resolve things on this attempt had spread among them.
Was it because they had been talking about such depressing things?
Mi-ro spoke as if to comfort Ga-in.
“Still, look! A-ri really is smart!”
“...”
“Right? I think she’s more or less figured out what’s going on!”
“That’s a relief.”
At that moment, Ga-in sincerely hoped that even if resolving things on the second attempt was impossible, Plan B, making Eun-sol and Song-i realize their Original Wishes, would at least succeed.
* * *
- Yoo Song-i
“Song-i, what are you doing just standing by the front door?”
With my head bowed, my heart was a burning volcano.
I wanted to tear apart and kill that disgusting thing pretending to be Mom right in front of me!
The reason I had no choice but to endure was simple.
That thing’s soul and mind might belong to a vile alien, but its body was Mom’s.
If I killed it in a rage, where was Mom’s soul, trembling somewhere in pain, supposed to go?
At that very moment.
Crunch!
Pero, who had somehow climbed onto my shoulder, mercilessly bit into my ear!
“Eek!”
“Oh my! Pero, what on earth is wrong with you?”
“Argh! Mom!”
“Song-i, hold still! No, seriously, what’s gotten into you?”
As I shrieked in pain and caused a commotion at the entrance, the other thing removed Pero while acting exactly like Mom.
“Oh dear! Make sure you put disinfectant and ointment on it before bed. All right?”
“... Yes.”
It struck me anew just how good the Yith race was at acting.
* * *
Once I went into my room alone and lay down on the bed, my reason slowly returned.
Plan B was for me to act like a high school girl while Eun-sol acted like an Executive Director of Daeyang Group, recreating events from the past!
The goal was for the two Participants to realize their Original Wishes through that.
What had I been like just now?
Think about how I instantly saw through the Yith race and felt rage and murderous intent. That was typical Participant behavior.
The Yith race’s acting was exceptionally good. There was no way an ordinary human could see through it at once!
I noticed immediately because my experience in the Hotel, whether my blessing was in effect, and the mysterious senses provided by Diverse Perspectives had all come together. Without that help, I normally wouldn’t have noticed.
Ironically, that was why the alien that had taken Mom’s body hadn’t suspected me at the front door.
It must have thought an ordinary high school girl could never see through its disguise the moment she saw it.
Once I realized that, I felt grateful to Pero, who had already returned to the Birdcage.
Pero had stopped me before I could behave even more strangely.
“Thank you.”
Screech!
Pero’s thoughts came through to me.
“You really can’t do anything without me!”
I laughed despite myself.
“Yeah, yeah. Good job.”
Even now, my heart was boiling so fiercely I could barely endure it.
I never knew I still had this much love for my family!
My thoughts suddenly turned to the companions who had built families in reality.
Back then, it had been hard to understand the doctor and Grandpa, who were so fixated on their families...
Only now did I understand how they felt.
The reason I had been able to remain detached from things in reality all this time was because I had never met my “real family”!
“Whew...”
I calmed myself as best I could, then sent A-ri a secure message through TeleoTalk.
- Hurry over. There’s something we need to ‘Communicate’ about.
I was worried about sending too much through the app.
It felt like there might still be eyes watching my room.
In a situation like this, the only thing I could trust was the blessing of Communication.
I put quotation marks around “Communicate” because I wanted to discuss important things through the Chat Window. She’d understand that much, right?
A-ri was quick on the uptake!
Only a minute later, the Chat Window blinked.
Kim A-ri: What is it? Is something wrong?
Honestly, I was a little surprised.
Considering the Chat Window had a physical range limit, it meant Grandpa and A-ri were already somewhere near the house.
Thinking that made me feel a little safer.
Yoo Song-i: ... My parents’ bodies were taken by the Yith race.
Perhaps it was a shock even to A-ri, because there was a brief delay before her next reply.
Kim A-ri: What strange timing. I was about to tell you something too.
The Chat Window had seemed to respond too quickly. She had already been on her way to me?
Yoo Song-i: Something to tell me?
Kim A-ri: Don’t go near Eun-sol.
Yoo Song-i: Why?
Kim A-ri: Something’s wrong. You can’t go near her. If possible, don’t contact Eun-sol unnecessarily either.
Had something happened to Eun-sol too?
Of course, according to Plan B, I wouldn’t have any reason to contact her, so it wasn’t a huge problem.
It was normal for an ordinary high school girl not to contact the third child of a chaebol family.
Yoo Song-i: Got it-
At that very moment, the Chat Window suddenly flickered.
“What?”
It was a strange situation, like a messaging app had developed a bug.
As I stared at it in confusion, an even stranger reply came back.
Kim A-ri: Don’t be startled. Mook-seong’s blessing has become a little unstable. It’s not unusable.
Yoo Song-i: What does that mean?
Kim A-ri: I think it might be a side effect of One More Chance...
A side effect of One More Chance? Did she mean the Price of Defying Heaven?
Grandpa’s blessing had become unstable because of the Price of Defying Heaven?
Just as I was about to type a question into the Chat Window, a firm message from Grandpa appeared.
Kim Mook-seong: It’s not something you need to worry about, Song-i.
Yoo Song-i: How
Before I could type more than a few letters, Grandpa’s messages continued.
Kim Mook-seong: Right now, this behavior itself is typical “Participant behavior.”
“...”
Kim Mook-seong: Plan B is to recreate past behavior and realize your Original Wish. That was the plan you made, wasn’t it? You came up with a plausible plan, so you can’t be the one to ruin it.
Yoo Song-i: Then what should I do?
A-ri answered instead.
Kim A-ri: Act like a high school girl. Would the you from the past have been able to see through the Yith race’s disguise?
Yoo Song-i: No way.
Kim A-ri: Then go out and say, “Mooom!”
Yoo Song-i: ... I want to shoot it every time I see its face.
Kim A-ri: You don’t have a gun anyway, do you?
As I lay on the bed and sighed, A-ri pointed out something important.
Kim A-ri: Do you remember what happened at dawn on the first day? That strange fog appeared in your house.
Yoo Song-i: Of course I remember.
Kim A-ri: It must have been the Yith race trying to take your parents’ bodies.
Yoo Song-i: Do mental entities look like fog before Possession?
Kim A-ri: I think so. It looks like it failed on the first day, or it only checked the layout of the house before leaving.
Then the Chat Window crackled again, cutting off the conversation.
Like A-ri said, it wasn’t unusable, but it was undeniably inconvenient.
Kim Mook-seong: Song-i, you said Room 301 felt like the real world you had lived in, correct?
Yoo Song-i: Yes.
Of course, that still wasn’t certain.
Eun-sol, another Participant in Room 301 who stood on equal footing with me, had found it hard to agree.
Maybe it was the real world for me, but not for Eun-sol? Was that too strange?
I didn’t know. There was still too little information about the third floor and Room 301 to say for sure.
As I was thinking that, Grandpa pointed out something I had failed to consider.
Kim Mook-seong: Then does that mean your parents’ bodies were taken in your reality as well?
* * *
When I stepped outside, my parents were chatting warmly in the living room.
What were they talking about?
Since they were disguised as humans, were they having a normal conversation between a human couple?
Or were they mocking the “lowly humans” who had originally owned their bodies...
Stop! No more Participant behavior!
I was an innocent, clueless beauty.
“Yaaawn...!”
I let out a long yawn and naturally walked into the living room.
“Is your ear all right now? You put on disinfectant and ointment, right?”
“... Yes.”
“Why were you out so late today?”
“I was having fun with my friend and didn’t notice the time...”
“It’s fine. Mom used to have so much fun hanging out with friends too. But call ahead from now on, okay? I was worried.”
“I’m sorry.”
As we talked, I found it chilling in a way.
By her words and actions alone, she was the very image of a typical Mom.
In a way, she seemed even more like Mom than my real mother.
While I endured the unbearable situation with a clear mind and somehow acted like a good daughter, a faint, incomprehensible vision suddenly passed through my mind.
Something I had said in the past.
- You two get along so well today. You should’ve talked more like this from the start!
“... You two get along so well today. You should’ve talked more like this from the start!”
Silence fell over the living room.
The other two “entities” froze at my sudden words, their gazes meeting for an instant.
As if they were trying to understand the context behind what I had said.
Maybe that was why their next reactions were natural.
“Ahem! Song-i, Mom and Dad are always trying.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. We’re sorry too. It feels like we’ve hurt you a great deal.”
The two aliens were gradually immersing themselves in the “roles” they had taken on.
I realized it too.
Something like this had happened in the past as well.
I hadn’t been a Participant then, and I had neither Inheritance nor blessing, so I hadn’t even felt anything especially strange.
I must have simply thought, Mom and Dad are getting along better than usual!
How would my Original Wish connect to this context?
As I wondered and casually looked around, I noticed something.
“...”
I wasn’t the only one who felt something strange about my parents.
Footnotes:
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