WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 80: Party Time (2) - Sanctuary of Blessings (1)
──────
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 25
Current Location: Level 1, Room 105
Sage’s Advice: 3]
- Han Ga-in
Morning of Day 1 of Party Time.
We had a light breakfast early that morning and discussed what to do first. I gave my opinion first.
“How about we go to the Sanctuary of Blessings first? I’m sure quite a few people will be enhanced this time. Since our last visit to the Sanctuary, we’ve gone through Room 104, Hotel High, Room 106, Hotel Land, and Room 101, Common Sense-Altering Media, right? Even by a rough estimate, several people should have their Contribution recognized.”
Jin-cheol agreed.
“I agree too. Enhancing a blessing will probably give us some new ability. We’ll need time to practice it too, so let’s hurry up.”
A blessing enhancement! Other than an Inheritance, it might be one of the most valuable rewards. Many people looked expectant.
I thought about whose Contribution might be recognized.
For Hotel High, it would probably be A-ri and me. Jin-cheol and I had stood out in Hotel Land. As for Common Sense-Altering Media, the hotel had already officially announced the list: Elena, Cha Jin-cheol, and Kim Mook-seong.
At the very least, me, Kim A-ri, Cha Jin-cheol, Elena, and Kim Mook-seong.
Those five were likely to receive enhancements.
Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing, and those involved looked expectant.
* * *
We quickly finished eating and ran to the hotel’s front entrance. The moment we arrived, I pressed the switch beside it and turned off the lights.
... I heard Eun-sol and Grandfather Mook-seong getting annoyed.
“Hey! Hey! If you run ahead by yourself and turn off the lights first, I can’t see!”
“You little bastard! Are you showing off because it’s time for your blessing to be enhanced?”
I turned the lights back on, waited for everyone to gather, then turned them off again and entered the Sanctuary of Blessings.
A familiar notification window appeared.
It congratulated us on arriving at the Sanctuary and informed us that we could understand and enhance our blessings.
As I approached the display, ‘Enhance’ became available. I tapped it right away.
Kim A-ri, Elena, Cha Jin-cheol, and Han Ga-in may be enhanced. Would you like to proceed? (Yes/No)
...
Grandfather Mook-seong’s name wasn’t there. He reacted immediately.
“What is this? You hotel bastards! Do you know how hard I worked? I still don’t get an enhancement?”
As Grandfather kept shouting for the next few minutes, I thought it over.
I could roughly guess why. The ‘Management Bureau team’ had joined our party a little late, so they would have been at a disadvantage in the Contribution evaluation.
Also, Grandfather had made his greatest Contribution by helping resolve Common Sense-Altering Media.
Still, this was different from when Song-i resolved the Human Ranch before.
Common Sense-Altering Media hadn’t been resolved by one person. It had been resolved through the combined efforts of many people. The Contribution was probably recognized for several people as well.
Seung-yeop tried to comfort him.
“Grandfather! This is probably like when you’re just short of leveling up because you don’t have enough experience points. You’ll definitely be able to get an enhancement next time.”
Seung-yeop. I understood, but how would Grandfather know about experience points and leveling up?
“Hah! How am I supposed to know when they still won’t even show me the damned experience points?”
He understood?
Grandfather Mook-seong was more up to date than I’d thought.
Jin-cheol looked even happier.
“All right, all right! Those with low Contribution, please step aside. The people getting enhanced, let’s hurry up.”
I couldn’t hold back anymore either.
I immediately pressed ‘Yes.’
The radiance illuminating the Sanctuary struck me, Kim A-ri, Cha Jin-cheol, and Elena.
* * *
My consciousness soared into the sky.
Perhaps because this was the second time, the sensation was familiar. A place beyond the earth. Land that existed nowhere.
The Owl appeared.
Was it going to scold me for failing to obtain the Inheritance?
The Owl’s first response differed from what I expected.
“You haven’t done badly lately.”
Praise?
“It’s a shame you didn’t obtain the Inheritance.”
“It wasn’t something you could have used well.”
The mood wasn’t bad. It wasn’t an item I could have used in the first place, so the Owl didn’t seem particularly disappointed.
“It seems you’re finally starting to get used to your blessing.”
“I had no idea ‘Advice’ was an ability that required me to pray for an answer.”
“Isn’t that obvious? I need to know what you’re curious about to give you a proper answer.”
“When we met before, you could’ve told me how to use Advice.”
“There are limits to the help I can provide. Fundamentally, the participant must come to understand it on their own.”
The Owl. My ‘Sponsor.’
I considered its words. Did that mean it couldn’t actively explain how to use the blessing?
While I was thinking, the Owl continued.
“Now that you understand the basics, I can tell you a little more. Do you remember when you sought advice as soon as you entered the hospital room recently?”
“You told me to hand the gun over to a companion.”
“Why do you think that advice came out?”
“Wasn’t it because there was no other way? No matter what we did, there was no way to proceed, so I understood it as telling me how to die comfortably.”
“That is not an incorrect analysis. Still, it was not very helpful advice. What great meaning is there in being told how to die comfortably?
“That unhelpful advice came out because you sought advice about something you knew absolutely nothing about.”
“Something I knew absolutely nothing about?”
“You sought advice before entering the hospital room. In other words, you knew nothing at all about what dangers were inside.
“What is ‘Wisdom’?
“Finding the correct choice when you know nothing is not wisdom. That is closer to foresight or Luck. Even a wise person needs a minimum amount of information to make a sound judgment.
“The use of ‘Advice’ is the same. Rather than seeking advice about something you know nothing about, it will be far more useful if you gather information first and then use Advice.”
Something I had vaguely sensed.
The Owl explained it clearly. Ever since I started using Advice, I’d vaguely felt the same thing.
I couldn’t receive proper advice by blindly asking what I should do when I knew nothing.
Making the right choice from a blank slate was the realm of foresight or Luck, not Wisdom.
I needed to gather as much information as I could before using Advice.
It was a brief but useful conversation. Still, it was only the introduction.
Today’s main point was the ‘blessing enhancement’!
I looked at the Owl expectantly.
“You look like you’re expecting a blessing enhancement.”
“That’s right. The Companion Information you gave me last time was useful.”
“I would like to make a slightly different proposal.”
“Huh?”
“You have accumulated quite a great deal of Contribution recently. You earned considerable points during your escape from Room 104 and the process of resolving the mission in Room 106.
“You collapsed at the end, but the judgment you showed during the resolution of Room 101 was not bad either. If you gather just a little more, I can give you a very powerful enhancement.”
A very powerful enhancement. My heart began to race.
“What do you mean by a very powerful enhancement?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. An enhancement far more powerful than something like checking Companion Information. I’m certain it will greatly help you achieve the goal you pursue in this hotel. You only need to gather a little more.”
“Are you saying I should save my Contribution instead of receiving an enhancement this time?”
“It is your choice. If you wish, I can give you an ordinary enhancement right away.”
It was a difficult choice. I desperately wanted a very powerful enhancement, but it was clearly disappointing to receive nothing at all this time.
“Could you tell me even a little about what this ‘very powerful enhancement’ is?”
...
The Owl seemed to consider it for a moment.
“Let us call it the power to understand ‘scenarios.’”
I didn’t know. The power to understand scenarios. It sounded like something grand.
Still, after hearing that it was a ‘very powerful enhancement,’ I couldn’t bring myself to give it up.
I decided.
“I’ll save it.”
“A wise decision.”
With those words, my consciousness began falling downward.
.
.
.
‘A very powerful enhancement.’ ‘The power to understand scenarios.’
What could it possibly be? I was truly looking forward to it.
Still, it meant I hadn’t gained anything from this visit to the Sanctuary after all.
... With a slight sense of disappointment, my consciousness faded.
* * *
- Cha Jin-cheol
I never thought I’d see a sight like this in my life.
Countless melee weapons covered the ground all the way to the horizon.
Even the ground beneath my feet was packed with melee weapons.
It was truly a scene that brought to mind a mountain of blades and a forest of swords.
Atop a mountain of weapons, an unbelievably enormous being in armor looked down at me.
It was hard to gauge just how large it was. It seemed to be hundreds of meters tall.
As I stared at the giant in a daze, a voice that shook the entire world of weapons burst forth.
“I was disappointed, thinking you were a rotten specimen because you only ever chose foolish actions. This time, you were lucky.”
“Are you the Sponsor or whatever?”
“Even this time, you wasted one attempt through a foolish mistake, didn’t you? It makes me sigh.”
... Why did it feel like I was getting scolded the moment we met?
Its overwhelming size had intimidated me, but being scolded right away made me feel wronged.
“No, there are lots of cases where you can’t solve things with strength alone. What am I supposed to do?”
“Did you take your mother to the broadcasting station because you lacked strength too?”
“...”
“Enough of that. Whether it was luck or not, you did well to obtain the Inheritance. I will grant you a power that may help you use it.”
“A power that will help me?”
There was no further conversation. When the giant stomped once in the world of weapons, my consciousness faded away.
* * *
[Cha Jin-cheol: Courage -> ‘Regeneration’]
* * *
- Elena
With a sharp clack, a teacup was placed in front of me.
This is awkward. So incredibly awkward.
My consciousness seemed to float away, and then I found myself standing in the middle of a garden with a pastoral view.
As I followed the garden path, I came upon a simple tea table, where an unidentified woman sat.
Based on what Ga-in had told me, that being was my ‘Sponsor,’ right?
When I sat at the table, the woman poured me tea, and we had tea together.
...
Wasn’t she going to say anything?
I discreetly examined her appearance, but I couldn’t tell.
It was probably some kind of supernatural power. I couldn’t make out her appearance. Calling her a woman was simply my own assumption based on her silhouette.
“You are anxious.”
“Huh?”
“Drink your tea slowly. Even in a crisis, the heart must remain calm.”
“Yes...”
I slowly drank the tea as instructed. As I finished it, the conversation resumed.
“You are doing well.”
Praise out of nowhere. I’m doing well? Honestly, I felt like there had been more times when I failed to accomplish much.
“I do not mean that your achievements within the hotel have been remarkable. There have been some disappointing aspects in that regard.”
“Then what do you mean I’m doing well?”
“Your belief in ‘Justice.’ I have watched you all this time. The standard of the ‘scale’ you have established in your heart is similar to laws made by humans.
“Punishment for wicked actions, the existence of evidence, the exclusion of arbitrariness. I can recognize its value as the result of the human race’s long reflection on right and wrong.”
“Isn’t that only natural, since I’m human?”
“It is not natural. I have seen far more humans than you. Many humans declare something evil simply because it displeases them, judging it arbitrarily. The previous owner of ‘Justice’ was the extreme example of that.”
The previous owner of Justice. Who could they have been? The Sponsor before me seemed to think very negatively of them.
“The righteous path is full of thorns. Looking only at the short term, one may mistake it for a path with many restrictions and no reward. Look farther ahead. There are possibilities granted precisely because it is the right path.”
“Honestly, I don’t fully understand what you mean. I’ll just do my best.”
“That is enough.”
She handed me another cup of tea. As I slowly drank it, she began speaking about something different.
“There is a child trying to sway you in the wrong direction.”
Footnotes:
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