WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 75: Room 101, Curse Room - ‘Common Sense-Altering Media’ (9)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 24
Current Location: Level 1, Room 101 (Curse Room - Common Sense-Altering Media)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
* * *
Fifth Attempt
* * *
- Han Ga-in
The moment I entered the room, a notification appeared.
[The adversaries have detected the participant’s intrusion.]
[The power of the curse grows stronger.]
[You cannot escape.]
...
So this was the penalty that began with the fifth attempt.
This was unbelievably harsh.
---Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Come out! Ahahaha! Oppa? Aren’t you coming out?”
---Stab!
...
The moment it began, every member of the family went completely insane and began rampaging.
I immediately locked the door and shut myself in the room.
Could I even get out of here?
Let’s think about the others’ situations.
Grandfather Mook-seong had a gun, so he could just shoot them dead.
Song-i had the bracelet, and Jin-cheol was strong enough to handle things somehow.
Elena worried me a little. Her sight and hearing would be blocked, yet she’d be with her family the moment it began. Everything depended on whether she could endure the initial chaos and activate her blessing.
... Actually, I wasn’t in any position to worry about others. Weren’t Eun-sol, Seung-yeop, and I in the worst trouble?
Eun-sol definitely wouldn’t make it. Her bodyguard would come after her. Was there even a way out? She might already be dead.
Seung-yeop wouldn’t have it easy either.
---Bang! Crash!
What the hell was I supposed to do? It sounded like they were determined to break down the door and come in.
...
I opened the wardrobe and put on as many winter clothes as I could. Three pairs of jeans, two sweaters, and two padded jackets. I felt like I could survive even if I were dropped in Antarctica.
Wouldn’t this make it hard for even a kitchen knife to get through? My parents and younger sibling weren’t swordmasters.
---Bam!
The moment I threw open the door, I stabbed my younger sibling in the neck with the Dagger. A kitchen knife grazed my upper body in that brief instant, but just as I’d expected, it couldn’t pierce through the absurdly thick layers of clothing.
As I stabbed wildly again and again, I sensed someone behind me and hurriedly dodged, but a heavy blow struck my back.
When I turned around, my father was holding the golf club from the room.
I could take this!
Unlike me, bundled up in clothes like armor, my family wore ordinary clothes. It felt like the overly powerful curse had even reduced their intelligence.
It didn’t take long to bring them all down.
...
As expected, even after I brought down the whole family, “Escape” didn’t appear.
... My stomach started to hurt.
It said the curse had grown stronger, didn’t it?
When I stepped outside, I saw a world turned into hell. A massive disaster where every person rushed at every other person.
Was it lucky, at least? Unlike the family, which had clearly targeted only me, the people outside apparently couldn’t be controlled with such precision. They were simply going berserk and fighting one another.
In a situation like this, taxis and every other basic service had completely broken down.
How was I supposed to get to the broadcasting station? Walk through this hell?
I decided to drive a car. The world was already like this, so surely nobody would arrest me for driving without a license?
I roughly knew the way to the broadcasting station.
Before leaving, I checked the Status Window.
[Companion Location Information(*)
Park Seung-yeop: Dead
Lee Eun-sol: Dead]
Just as I thought. Neither of them had managed to hold out.
If things got bad, I’d use Descent. It wouldn’t be a waste for the sake of an Inheritance.
... My stomach hurt.
* * *
Driving for the first time was easier than I expected. I’d learned the basic controls from the bumper cars.
Everyone was too busy fighting, so there weren’t many cars on the road. The people walking around?
I just ran them over.
There weren’t many cars. I ignored every traffic light and speed limit, ran over people, and even when I crashed into things, I just kept going without caring.
Driving was easy?
... I should learn to drive properly once I got outside.
After somehow making the difficult trip to the broadcasting station, I saw the faces of companions I’d missed so desperately after such a short time.
Song-i, who had been about a ten-minute walk away, and Grandfather Mook-seong, who had apparently come by car on his own, were there.
“Where are the others?”
“We’re waiting. Check with your Status Window. You said it shows ‘Dead’ when someone dies, right? Do you think the rest will make it?”
“I’ve been checking regularly. Elena and Jin-cheol are alive. It looks like they’re making their way here somehow.”
“By the way, why are you imitating a penguin? What’s with those clothes? Ah! You put some thought into this, didn’t you? Well, you don’t have a gun. That’s my junior!”
“...”
“But shouldn’t you take some of that off now? You look too hot.”
I had no intention of being his junior, but he was right that I was hot, so I took off some clothes.
“What about the broadcasting station employees?”
“It seems they’re all preparing.”
“Preparing?”
“They aren’t coming down at all. They must’ve realized we were coming and started making preparations of their own.”
“What kind of preparations?”
“What worries me most is guns. A broadcasting station should have security officers. They’ll probably bring as many guns as they can. That’s why Song-i and I are just waiting. We’ll likely need that boar to arrive carrying something like a shield before we can move.”
Cough!
...
My throat tickled, and I coughed violently.
Blood came out, along with things that looked like teeth.
...
“...”
“Are you okay?”
I lifted my shirt slightly to check my stomach.
... A new mouth was forming on my stomach.
“Are Elder and Song-i okay?”
Without a word, Elder lifted his shirt slightly.
... Masses of flesh mixed with eyeballs and tongues squirmed there.
“At the start, it said the power of the curse was growing stronger.”
“It seems it’s twisting our bodies now too. Song-i has a problem with her right arm.”
“We won’t be able to hold out long.”
“Don’t dwell on it. Did you plan to stay in a place like this for long anyway? We’ll head to the hospital as soon as those two arrive.”
“If things get bad, I’ll use Descent.”
“Right. Honestly, that’s why I came into Room 101 one more time.”
“About the vote yesterday?”
“I thought we should’ve gone to another room. But with your Descent, we’ll manage somehow.”
* * *
Not long after, we heard a car arrive, and Jin-cheol appeared.
“You made it, you bastard! Don’t tell me you brought your mother again?”
“Do you really think I’d make the same mistake again?”
“Did you take the pill?”
“I just came.”
Together, we waited for Elena.
About fifteen minutes passed.
...
An angel flew down from the sky.
* * *
Hair like molten gold rippled in waves.
The Scales, radiating golden brilliance, spiraled around her.
Elena descended from the sky.
While every companion there could only stare with their mouths hanging open, Elena passed us as if we weren’t even there and ran straight up through the broadcasting station.
... Huh?
“Oh! Oh! Elena!”
“Ah!”
“Run! It looks like she can’t stop because Justice is already active!”
Elena had arrived with Justice already activated.
As we ran after her in a panic, I looked over her condition.
Her blouse dress, torn in places, was beautiful, and it revealed Elena’s body...
Torn?
I opened my eyes wide and looked again. Her clothes were ripped all over, and she was covered in wounds.
The others noticed it too a moment later.
“Elena? You’re hurt?”
Like before, even though Elena’s actions were being forced, she could still speak.
Elena explained calmly.
“My older sister attacked me as soon as it began. I used my blessing afterward, but it doesn’t heal wounds that were already there.”
...
As we began making our way up through the broadcasting station, the resistance began in earnest.
---Bang! ---Bang!
People in police uniforms started firing guns, while the broadcasting station employees piled office partitions and desks into barricades.
It would have been extremely difficult if we had tried to force our way through.
Elena dealt with it effortlessly.
An invisible force threw the employees aside, knocking them all unconscious.
Barricades meant nothing when invisible hands were subduing people in the first place.
Unconscious? Looking closely, none of the employees seemed to be dead.
... Had listening to A-ri yesterday really made it possible for Elena to subdue even victims of the curse?
I felt like I understood Elena’s blessing now.
Blood. Blood kept pouring from Elena as she walked forward.
Even the overwhelming power of Justice, which blocked incoming bullets and subdued people while ignoring the employees’ barricades, did nothing for the wounds Elena had already suffered.
Since she was walking while staining the floor with blood, we had no choice but to talk among ourselves.
“Grandfather! What do we do? Can Elena fight all the way to the end like that?”
“I’m losing my mind too! If she could just stop, I could at least stop the bleeding, but she won’t stop and is sweeping through everyone.”
“Let’s get to the rooftop as fast as we can. We’re already on the sixth floor.”
“I’ll go carry Elena.”
“Won’t Justice attack you for interfering with its enforcement?”
“I’m not going to interfere. I’ll carry her and run upstairs. I don’t know if the blessing itself has some kind of artificial intelligence, but at least I won’t interfere.”
Jin-cheol ran over, picked Elena up in both arms, and began running.
Thankfully, Elena didn’t refuse.
... Could we make it to the end like this?
* * *
In the end, the moment we reached the rooftop, Elena fainted as if the tension had finally drained away. It seemed that even Justice, which forced her to carry out its enforcement, couldn’t stop Elena’s body from giving out.
“The employees below are all incapacitated. Let’s leave her here and go up ourselves.”
“Will she be safe if we leave her here? The employees aren’t dead, they’re only unconscious. We couldn’t even finish them off because we were afraid Elena would attack us. If they wake up, they’ll kill Elena.”
“Then you’re saying we should take her with us? Into a hospital crawling with monsters?”
“Look. We have to take her.”
Song-i pointed ahead.
The Scales were still orbiting Elena.
“Her blessing hasn’t disappeared?”
“Justice is still active. Only Elena herself is unconscious. If she wakes up somehow, she’ll be able to fight again.”
“She fainted from blood loss. How is she supposed to wake up? She’ll die soon.”
“Her blessing might still work even while she’s unconscious. Maybe she’ll wake up.”
“Let’s just take her! I’ll carry her. She isn’t heavy anyway.”
“No, I’ll carry her on my back. It’ll be easier to go up if you can move freely.”
As if to rule out the option of leaving Elena among employees who would soon wake up, Jin-cheol was ready to pick her up and move at once.
Still, if he carried her, we’d lose too much combat strength. I carried her on my back.
... The smell of blood hit me. Would she really be okay?
Grandfather Mook-seong didn’t argue any further.
The rooftop of the broadcasting station. The place connected to the hospital entrance.
Everyone stopped for a moment.
...
There was no need to waste time. After exchanging a glance, we hardened our resolve and entered the hospital.
The long ordeal in Room 101 was nearing its end.
Footnotes:
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