WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 88: Room 102, Curse Room - ‘House of Horror’ Re (1)
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* Second Attempt
- Han Ga-in
Somehow, I managed to get a handle on the situation amid the confusion.
“Okay! Everyone, calm down for now. Let’s start by going over the roles each of us received. I’m a trainee exorcist dispatched by the Holy See, an exorcist priest. My role is a deacon serving under a priest.”
Jin-cheol answered.
“And I’m the exorcist responsible for training you and assisting His Eminence the Cardinal. An incredible priest who knows nothing about the Bible.”
Elena answered as well.
“Song-i and I are nuns. It says we have strong spiritual sensitivity, but it doesn’t feel like we’ve been given any new abilities. I think it just describes our blessings differently.”
Grandfather Mook-seong took out a box.
“I am the cardinal sent to punish demons! Even though I’ve never set foot in a church. And it seems this box contains the Bell. It must be essential to progressing through this room, so remember that.”
Finally, Eun-sol spoke.
“My role changed this time. I was the Elder’s niece before, but now I’m his younger sister. I guess I’m the sister who suspects her older brother is being possessed by a demon.”
Let’s write down everyone’s roles in a notebook.
... Come to think of it, did we really need a notebook?
I had a Status Window I could view whenever I wanted, wherever I was, and control as I pleased.
[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)
Date: Day 28
Current Location: Level 1, Room 102 (Curse Room - House of Horror)
Sage’s Advice: 3]
Just in case, I changed the number beside Sage’s Advice from [3] to [13].
That wouldn’t make Sage’s Advice duplicate infinitely, would it?
...
The 1 vanished immediately.
It was only a vague impression, but the Status Window was a force of a far higher order than the pen.
It didn’t seem like something I could mess around with using a mere pen.
Like when I used the Filter, I expanded the space beside the Status Window and wrote in that area.
No problem. It looked like I could use this space as a notepad from now on.
Before organizing everyone’s roles in the notepad, I checked A-ri and Seung-yeop’s locations.
[Companion Location Information(*)
Park Seung-yeop: Village near the mansion
Kim A-ri: Village near the mansion]
A village near the mansion? They weren’t inside the mansion?
I organized the information by role.
/1. Exorcist Team
Cardinal: Kim Mook-seong
Priest: Cha Jin-cheol
Nuns: Elena, Yoo Song-i
Deacon: Han Ga-in
The mansion owner’s younger sister: Lee Eun-sol
2. Village Team
Kim A-ri, Park Seung-yeop/
We could add their roles later once we learned them.
After that, I told the people in the car that A-ri and Seung-yeop were in a village near the mansion.
Only after the confusion had settled somewhat, and we had shared our rough roles and the brief information that had entered our heads, did we begin considering how to proceed.
“I didn’t expect us to be an exorcist party, but I don’t think that changes the bigger picture.
Our goal is likely to expose the lies of the mansion’s owner, Lee Se-hyeon. For now, let’s go to the village in our roles as exorcists and gather information.”
Eun-sol immediately pointed something out.
“Before that, we agreed to secure an escape route first. What should we do?”
The original plan had been for one person to drive out of the area and secure an escape route while the rest headed to the mansion.
But there was a problem.
Originally, we had expected to move around only inside the mansion, perhaps the mountain behind it and the church at most. In this situation, though, wouldn’t we need to keep traveling between the village and the mansion to gather information?
The team investigating also needed the car. It would be a problem if the person responsible for escaping drove it away.
Should someone leave on foot?
We didn’t know how far they would have to go. The stage had expanded to include not only the mansion but the village around it. How far away did someone have to get before it counted as an escape?
Grandfather spoke.
“Let’s change the plan. Why did we want to secure an escape route before going to the mansion in the first place?
Wasn’t it because that bastard Lee Se-hyeon had enough power to possess Song-i the moment we entered the mansion during the first attempt?
Now we have the Bell, and Song-i’s bracelet gives us the strength to resist mental attacks. Meanwhile, Lee Se-hyeon is in the early stages of corruption. He won’t be that powerful.
Let’s all proceed together for now, gather a decent amount of information, then send one person out.”
* * *
After driving along the road for around thirty minutes, we finally reached the village. It didn’t feel as rural as I had expected.
Many of the houses scattered around were as picturesque as homes you would see in a tourist destination, and there were more of them than I had thought.
It felt like something out of a drama...
“Is this a neighborhood where wealthy retirees gather?”
Jin-cheol summed up my impression in one sentence.
That was exactly it.
There were no greenhouses or fields that came to mind when you thought of the countryside, only elegant country houses scattered everywhere.
As our car passed, one or two people by the roadside watched us, and all of them looked well dressed.
The familiar mansion stood in the distance.
It struck me again that this setting seemed like Korea. How could there be such a massive, luxurious mansion here?
Once we entered the village, Eun-sol seemed to remember something.
“You don’t need to hide the fact that you’re priests. Officially, strange things have been happening in the village, so I used my connections to bring you here.
Just make sure you hide the fact that Lee Se-hyeon is a prime suspect.”
“Ms. Lee, isn’t it strange enough for a village to call priests instead of the police just because something odd is happening?”
“Well... I’m searching through the information in my head too, but this place is different from the Korea I know. It seems the Holy See plays a role much like the Management Bureau. And we need to be careful from now on.”
“Huh?”
“Forms of address. From now on, everyone else should call me Parishioner Lee. Keep doing it even when no one else is around. That way, you won’t slip up when someone is.”
She was right. From now on, I was Deacon Han. We decided to use titles appropriate to our roles while we were in this room.
We parked near a building that appeared to be the village hall.
We decided to split into three groups.
“Parishioner Lee Eun-sol” and “Cardinal Kim Mook-seong” headed straight to the mansion to meet Lee Se-hyeon.
“Sister Yoo Song-i” and “Sister Elena” would search the western area around the village hall.
“Deacon Han Ga-in” and “Father Cha Jin-cheol” would search the eastern area.
* * *
- Cha Jin-cheol
“Ga-in, what should we do fir-”
“Father Cha. Please watch how you address me. Other people will show up soon.”
“Ah, right. Deacon Han. What should we find out first?”
“Please speak a little more properly, like a priest.”
I shouldn’t have come with this bastard. He was like a nagging mother-in-law.
“... I’m starting to regret coming with you. Fine. Deacon Han, what should we investigate first?”
“We should investigate the disappearances happening in the village and find out Lee Se-hyeon’s reputation. We also need to find A-ri and Seung-yeop.”
“Right. No, understood.”
Either way, we really did have to watch our titles and speech. I should try to pay attention.
As we walked along, Ga-in pulled out a strange sheet of paper and began reading it intently.
“Deacon Han. What are you reading so seriously?”
“Prayers from the car.”
... Prayers?
“Why are you so surprised? Do you think it’s normal for a priest not to know a single prayer? We’ll keep meeting villagers while we progress through this room.
I’ll underline the important parts for you, so make sure you memorize them. Recite one after every conversation with a villager. If possible, look up at the sky too. Make it feel convincing.”
Oh, please! I seriously wanted to run away. Why was this guy so immersed in exorcist role-playing?
* * *
- Han Ga-in
Father Cha and I walked around the village, gathering information.
Just as I had felt from the car, many of the village residents were people who had accumulated a fair amount of wealth in the city, retired, and come here to plan a second life.
We learned two major things.
First, the disappearances.
The missing people were mostly children in their early to mid-teens. Since many village residents were retirees, the average age was high, but of course there were young couples and children too.
Four children who had brought life to the village had already gone missing.
The entire village was deeply depressed.
As we heard the circumstances of their disappearances, I understood why they had called priests instead of the police.
Children would suddenly vanish while safely inside their homes, or security cameras would capture them disappearing as though ghosts had dragged them away.
Also, if someone had kidnapped children from wealthy families, they would at least have called to demand money. But the kidnappers had never contacted anyone.
The villagers were convinced that supernatural power was involved.
Second, Lee Se-hyeon’s reputation.
Unlike us, who knew about Lee Se-hyeon’s future after being tainted by evil power and the suspicious circumstances surrounding him now, the villagers thought very highly of him.
He was among the younger residents, but he had amassed a great fortune through several businesses. He had also contributed greatly to the village’s founding and development.
He was practically the representative of the entire village. It was no coincidence that Lee Se-hyeon’s younger sister, acting on behalf of the village, had sought outside help when something alarming happened there.
The villagers I questioned couldn’t hide their displeasure when I so much as suggested that Lee Se-hyeon might be suspicious.
Father Cha had to apologize immediately for the deacon’s careless remark.
How could we uncover the connection between the disappearances and Lee Se-hyeon?
Where were the missing children to begin with? Had Lee Se-hyeon locked them in the mansion’s basement? Could they already be dead?
We needed to go to the mansion first.
When we headed toward the village hall, Sister Song-i and Sister Elena were already there after searching the other side.
“Did you two sisters learn anything?”
“... Oppa?”
“Please call me Deacon Han.”
When I reminded Song-i to watch her form of address, Father Cha lamented beside me.
“Hey! He’s completely immersed in this. If you don’t sort out the titles, he’ll keep nagging you.”
“I think Deacon Han has the right attitude. We need to walk around like detectives now, but there are so many eyes in both the village and the mansion. Father Cha, please be careful too.”
Unlike Father Cha, who kept making thoughtless comments, Sister Elena seemed to understand me.
As expected, Father Cha lowered his head as soon as Sister Elena said something. Sister Elena shared the information she had gathered.
“There was a church in the direction we went. It was different from the half-collapsed state it had been in during the first attempt. We met the parish priest too.”
“Did he know anything?”
“Not at all. He wasn’t someone who had experienced supernatural matters like demon exorcism or grimoires.
He was an ordinary person, and he seemed very uncomfortable around us. As for the disappearances, all he said was that he hoped we would handle them well.”
Sister Song-i joined the conversation.
“We found Seung-yeop and A-ri. They’ve become village children. Because of the disappearances, everyone is keeping their children hidden away, so it was hard just to see them.
We were only able to meet them because we said we were from the Holy See.”
“Village children? Have they become younger?”
“Yes. They both looked a little older than ten. They’re both really cute!”
“Did you talk to them?”
“Seung-yeop is really frustrated. He says he wants to go to the mansion and join us. A-ri just said she was doing well.”
They had both become children.
They had become children in a village where children were disappearing. There was no way that was a coincidence.
Father Cha, who had been listening beside me and had apparently thought the same thing, spoke.
“Deacon Han. Don’t tell me those two are the next targets? Should we bring them here and protect them?”
“Hmm. Father Cha, we thought of that as soon as we heard it, so A-ri has naturally considered it too. She has the ability to protect herself, so we don’t need to worry too much.”
“I’m not worried about A-ri. I’m worried about that punk Seung-yeop.”
“There’s not much we can do right away. They have parents, so priests can’t just suddenly take their child away. Let’s go to the mansion first. I think it’s time to meet Lee Se-hyeon.”
The mansion.
At its mention, Song-i spoke in a worried voice.
“During the first attempt, I was possessed the moment I touched the statue. How should we deal with that?”
Footnotes:
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