Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 78

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 77: Time to Choose, What A-ri Went Through (1)

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- Cha Jin-cheol

When he came to, Jin-cheol found himself standing with Elena and Mook-seong inside a vast arena that reminded him of the Colosseum.

‘Time to Choose’?

It was a phrase I had never heard before. Still, I understood what it meant. Several people were qualified to obtain the Inheritance, but there was only one, so one person would be chosen.

According to the notification, there seemed to be two requirements for qualifying for the Inheritance.

1. Survive until the end.

2. Contribute to the final battle.

Lee Eun-sol, Park Seung-yeop, and Yoo Song-i had been eliminated by the first requirement.

Kim A-ri had been eliminated by the second.

Why was Ga-in eliminated? Did he die while being treated at the hospital because he couldn't hold on?

Or was it because he remained in the hospital and couldn't take part in the ‘final battle’?

Looking back, the greatest difficulty in resolving Room 101 hadn't been the fighting.

If anything, the fighting itself had been fairly easy.

The broadcasting station employees were ordinary humans in the end, and the nurses only looked horrifying. They didn't possess superhuman strength.

Even the giant inside the hospital room was something we could have handled with guns.

We only struggled because of my mistake. We had reached the fifth attempt, been attacked the moment we started, and the curse had grown stronger.

If that hadn't happened, Song-i and I could have cleared it by ourselves. Elena probably could have cleared it alone. I could think of plenty of other solutions too.

The biggest obstacle had been finding the correct location itself.

Finding the broadcasting station beyond the family. Finding the hospital beyond the broadcasting station.

...

From that perspective, Ga-in had found every location, only to collapse at the last moment and be eliminated.

There would be another chance.

There was Room 102, Room 104, and the Gateway Room. There was still plenty left, so he'd obtain one soon enough.

That was enough thinking about Ga-in. I was the problem now.

I headed toward the center of the arena. The others began gathering there as well.

Something... a wave of information stabbed into my head.

A mass of incomprehensible strings filled my mind in an instant.

This was information about the Otherworldly Star Fragment.

... I couldn't understand any of it.

Still dazed, I reached the center of the arena. Elder Mook-seong was holding a gun.

The moment I saw it, I flinched and stepped back without thinking.

He must have noticed, because he snorted and slipped the gun into a pocket at his waist.

... I still hadn't fully opened up to the people from the Management Bureau.

“Well, good work! Now it's time to get that damn reward. Looks like this hotel, which that son of a bitch must be running, is determined to make us fight each other. Hey! Boar, what do you think?”

“Fight? Are we cavemen? I have no intention of deciding who gets the Inheritance that way.”

“Then why'd you flinch and step back?”

“Flinch? What are you talking about? The senile old man is spouting nonsense again.”

“Fine, maybe I saw wrong. More importantly, did you understand what just entered your heads?”

Elena spoke up.

“I think it gave us information about what the Inheritance can do. Honestly, I don't really understand it.”

So Elena had felt the same way I did.

“It felt like a list of alien gibberish I couldn't understand at all.”

Elder Mook-seong nodded and began explaining.

“I thought so. It isn't because you're stupid. It's information you can't understand without a certain kind of background knowledge. It would get endlessly complicated if I explained everything, so I'll keep it as simple as I can.

“Think of the Otherworldly Star Fragment as a tool that twists all things. At first, I thought it only corrupted the mind, but it's more than that.

“The Star Fragment twists ‘everything.’ Kim Sang-min's hospital room turning into something like an alien planet was also the Star Fragment's power.

“Of course, ‘everything’ includes people's minds and bodies.

“The reason we initially experienced mostly mental distortion was because we weren't directly exposed to the Star Fragment's power. We were exposed indirectly through the media.

“Media fundamentally delivers information, so the Star Fragment's power worked by twisting the mind.”

“Something that twists the world... I understand that it's an incredible item. But how do we use it?”

“We don't need to worry about ‘how.’ Just taking it out will make the Star Fragment constantly twist its surroundings. The important question is who should use it.”

“Well, isn't the answer obvious from your explanation? Elena and I can't even understand what kind of item it is. It seems like you should take it, Elder.”

“The fact that you said that tells me you don't understand the Star Fragment at all. Let me be clear. The person best suited to this item among us is you, Boar.”

“Me?”

“The Star Fragment has one very serious problem. It can't distinguish between enemies and allies. Do you remember the state of Kim Sang-min, who had been using it?

“He suffered the most extreme distortion. The twisting power is like radiation. It spreads endlessly in every direction, and naturally, the user is exposed to it the most.”

“Then how are we supposed to use it?”

“That's why it needs to go to someone who can withstand that twisting power. Someone whose mind and body can both endure it.

“The mind isn't a problem. Anyone can hold out temporarily with Song-i or A-ri's help.

“But someone whose body can withstand it. Among us, that's only you.”

After saying that, Elder Mook-seong took off his shirt.

...

Another awful memory from the hotel had just been added.

Five? Six? Several eyeballs had sprouted from various places across Elder Mook-seong's upper body. At least three tongues and many teeth had grown out in a grotesque mess.

I instinctively stepped back, while Elena began dry-heaving beside me.

“It looks like Ga-in couldn't endure it and already died, and Song-i's arm turned into a monster. Do you think I'm any different? Elena would be fine because she gained immunity to the curse after using Justice, but what about you?”

Just in case, I took off my shirt too. While Elena turned away, I took off my pants and checked my entire body. Here and there, some spots had darkened slightly, while others had developed faint scale-like patches.

The changes were clearly far less severe.

“Just as I thought. I'd already guessed from watching you move. If the distortion had gotten worse, no matter how strong you were, you couldn't have moved that freely. It felt like you barely had any distortion at all.

“Your body has strong resistance to twisting. It's probably because of your blessing. It's a shame your mind has no resistance at all, but you can solve that by getting help from your companions.”

“I understand why I should take it instead of you, Elder, but can't Elena use it too? When Elena uses her blessing, it seems like both her mind and body gain powerful resistance.”

“Only while Justice is activated. And if Justice has activated, Elena doesn't need an Inheritance with a ticking time bomb attached to it. She's strong enough already.

“What Elena needs isn't power to make her stronger when Justice activates. It's power to cover her weaknesses when Justice doesn't activate.

“Of course, we should ask the person herself. What do you think, Miss Elena?”

“I-I think the same way. I think Jin-cheol should take it.”

...

The matter was settling down.

The Otherworldly Star Fragment was an Inheritance with the power to twist all things.

Exposure to the Star Fragment would quickly ruin both the mind and body through distortion. It had terrifying destructive power, but it couldn't distinguish between enemies and allies.

Therefore, only someone who could resist the twisting power could use it properly.

Except for Elena, who was a special case, there were ways to resist it mentally, such as the Status Window, the bracelet, and A-ri's blood. Physically, I was the only one who could resist it.

That was why Elder Mook-seong believed only I, with Song-i or A-ri's help, could properly use this Inheritance.

I understood, but wasn't this Inheritance's penalty far too severe? It was completely different from the bracelet.

“Why is this Inheritance's penalty so much worse than the bracelet's?”

“Do I look like the manager of this damned hotel? Still, it's stronger than the bracelet in terms of power. The bracelet only controls the mind, while the Star Fragment ruins both the mind and body at once. Isn't that more powerful? The problem is that it screws over its user too.”

“That's a serious problem.”

“You'll have to grit your teeth, endure it, and use the Inheritance well.”

After that, the other two naturally stepped back.

The Star Fragment appeared in the center of the arena.

“Should I take it?”

“You bastard! You're making me regret this! What are you waiting for? Grab it already!”

I picked up the Star Fragment.

The arena collapsed without a single fight.

In a way, I was happier that the hotel had openly tried to provoke internal conflict, yet we had resolved it through conversation, than I was about obtaining the Inheritance.

The hotel endlessly encouraged conflict among us.

Maybe the harshest trial the hotel gave us wasn't the Curse Room.

My spirit floated upward, as though it had left my body.

Had I just heard a distant crying sound somewhere?

...

I must have misheard it. A hotel door appeared.

The long suffering in Room 101 was over.

* * *

# What A-ri Went Through (1)

- Kim A-ri

“Bull!”

Mom's innocent voice reached me.

There probably weren't many people in the world who could associate the words ‘Mom’ and ‘innocent.’

Everyone! My beloved companions, and perhaps the great people watching this hotel?

“Noise.”

You haven't forgotten me, have you?

Black hair, red eyes. A mysterious, beautiful girl straight out of a game or movie! You mustn't forget me.

At a time when everyone was risking their lives to fight the Strange Family, make their way through that terrifying broadcasting station, and find the enemy hiding in the hospital...

“Music~!”

I was happily playing a Korean word-chain game with Mom, where every answer had to begin with the final syllable of the previous word.

“Actinium.”

“...”

Looks like I won again. That made it five wins out of five!

“Mom, you lost again? I can't open the door for you.”

It was dangerous if a cursed child entered the room where I was.

It wasn't good for a child's education to keep saying no to them.

“Again! Againnn!”

“Okay.”

Especially when that child was strong enough to blow a house away with a single gesture.

Honestly, that was extremely dangerous behavior.