WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 8: Room 101, The Cursed Room - 'The Strange Family' (3)

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Tsk! Tsk! Tsk-tatatatatatatat!!!

Amid the deafening noise, Jin-cheol sighed. What was all this?

It was the sound of his mother clicking her tongue as she glared at him.

Whenever Jin-cheol made a mistake or did something foolish as a child, his mother would make a sharp tsk sound instead of nagging him at length.

That habit had not changed, even now that her son was over thirty.

There was one small difference. She used to look him straight in the eye when she went, “Tsk!”

Today, she was doing it while standing on her hands.

Weren't her arms getting tired? Had she always been that strong...?

His memories felt hazy somehow.

“Come on, Mom, at least sit down. I told you, I really nailed this interview. I don't know why you're so worried.”

“You've been saying that for nearly five years. ‘I did well this time, nothing will go wrong this time.’ And then you quit three jobs in five years, you little punk!”

“Mom!”

“I've made peace with dying whenever my time comes, but how am I supposed to close my eyes when my son is over thirty and hasn't accomplished a single thing? That's what scares me. I can't close my eyes!”

“Why are you talking about closing your eyes? Anyone would think you were eighty or ninety. You're only a little past sixty. And judging by the way you've been talking upside down this whole time, you're still full of energy.”

“You never give an inch. Built like a bull too! A man ought to know how to be quiet sometimes, but why do you have to argue about every little thing? Not stopping you when you said you wanted to attend that dojo is my life's greatest regret!”

The dojo.

At the mention of it, something swelled up deep inside him. Unable to trust himself to keep his emotions in check before his mother, Jin-cheol silently turned away.

Ever since childhood, Jin-cheol had been a promising athlete.

From elementary school onward, he had been unusually large and well developed for his age. The wrestling team called him Kang Hodong's successor, while the soccer team called him Park Jisung's successor. Every sports star on television seemed to have a successor in him.

Still, what drew young Jin-cheol in most was something more primal.

What was the most primal, most savage thing a human could do with a body honed to its limits?

In the end, it was trading fists with another person. Fighting!

It was not as though Jin-cheol had been a violent child.

It sounded ridiculous to say so himself, but he thought of himself as diligent and kind.

He had dreamed of exchanging moves in the ring with opponents who had honed their own skills, not acting like a thug in some back alley.

Time passed.

As the years went by, geniuses became merely talented, and the talented became ordinary.

Jin-cheol had never imagined he would be one of them.

In the ordinary world, Jin-cheol's physique alone was enough.

He stood nearly 192 centimeters tall, with muscles developed evenly across his body.

Most men felt intimidated and stepped aside just from seeing him walk toward them, and every time they did, Jin-cheol felt a considerable sense of pride.

But...

He learned that the world of combat was not decided by physique alone.

More precisely, once one reached a certain level, heavyweight fighting was a world where half-superhuman people with equally imposing builds gathered.

They were all over 190 centimeters tall and well above 100 kilograms. Among those monstrous masses of muscle, physique alone could not win a fight.

Why?

Why couldn't I react to my opponent's punches?

Why did moves that worked during sparring fail in a real match?

Why did no one fall for my feints, while I was fooled by theirs every time?

He lost once, then twice, then three times.

Only after suffering five consecutive defeats did he realize it.

My talent isn't enough to survive in the Asura realm.

There was no place for Jin-cheol in a world where people could see fists as fast as the wind and throw two feints in less than half a second.

By the time he came to his senses, everything was too late.

He was almost thirty, and all he had left was a failed combat-sports career that qualified him for nothing.

No.

In truth, it was not a matter of objective circumstances.

Being in his late twenties was not too late to make a comeback, and a trained physique alone could open plenty of paths to make a living.

One person he had trained with opened a gym.

Another entered the security business.

Another became a police officer.

Even if they had stepped away because they lacked the talent to continue, they all put their top 0.1 percent physiques to good use and lived well.

The problem had not been Jin-cheol's body, but his heart.

He did not want to give up.

Nor did he want to take another path.

Even after getting jobs through his former colleagues' recommendations, he quit with one strange excuse after another. He turned down every offer to run a gym together.

As his connections vanished one by one, and even the fire in his heart began to die out...

Only then did Jin-cheol realize his life was going off the rails.

These were gloomy thoughts.

Even though he had decided to stop thinking this way, they did not fade easily.

He pulled himself together and turned back toward the house.

First, he should apologize to his mother.

After his father passed away early, she had been the one who supported her struggling, wandering son.

Then he would do his best to stick with the company where he had interviewed this time.

When Jin-cheol returned home, he was a little startled.

A familiar face was there. It was Director Park from the dojo, whom he had known for more than ten years since childhood.

After Jin-cheol's father died, Director Park had half-filled the role of a father. Even after Jin-cheol gave up on becoming a fighter, they had remained close for a long time. The fitness-related company where he had interviewed this time had also been introduced by Director Park.

“Director Park? What brings you to my house?”

“Oh, Jin-cheol, hurry up and thank him. Thank him again! He brought you good news!”

“Haha, it's not like I brought it because I'm anything special. Plenty of people know how diligent Jin-cheol is, so introductions like this keep coming his way.”

“Director Park? What's this news?”

“A major mixed martial arts tournament is being held in Busan this time. It's an opportunity. The local government put quite a lot of money into the event...

“But by chance, its schedule overlaps with the xxx tournament. That means the big names can't participate in the Busan event.

“You know what that means? Only small fry will be there, but the prize money is decent and plenty of people will be watching. When will another chance like this come along?”

“Haha... Director Park. You know, don't you? Honestly, I'm past my prime. It doesn't matter if the others are small fry. I'm one too...”

“Now, this tournament is different. It uses One Man Standing rules, a style that's becoming popular in Japan.”

“One Man Standing? What's that? I've never heard of it.”

“You've never heard of it? It's been around in Japan for ten years. What are you talking about? Only one person survives in the arena. You're good at that sort of thing, aren't you?”

What...? He was too stunned to process it. A fighting competition where only one person survived? Could something like that even exist?

And I was good at that sort of thing? What kind of nonsense was th--------------------------

He understood. Why had he forgotten about this? Come to think of it, tournaments using One Man Standing rules had been popular in Japan when I was in high school.

Still, he remembered that half the fighters registered in Japan had died as the tournaments went on, so they had been suspended for a while.

Maybe that was why he had forgotten. Of course I would be good at that sort of thing.

Who am I?

I'm the man who beat a man-eating monkey to death with a wooden club. Extreme violence, killing and being killed.

I was the only person who had experienced that kind of thing against monsters, so naturally I would be strong.

At last, the opportunity he had waited for all these years had come.

But when had I fought a man-eating monkey? Were there even things like that in Korea? It was not very important.

Either way, I did beat that monkey to death.

------------------- Blink

Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!

Deafening cheers erupted from every direction. What was this? I had only closed and opened my eyes for a moment while talking to Director Park...

At some point, I was standing in the middle of an arena, and a large man stood across from me.

What was going on?

Ah, I understand. Today was the Busan One Man Standing fighting tournament.

Right, it was the day of the tournament. Even worse, I had already climbed into the arena and somehow blacked out for a moment. I really was hopeless.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud

The opponent charged at me, holding a mace. Four meters? Three? As he came within range, the mace at his waist flew toward me like the wind.

A mace? Why would a fighting match have something like that? Ah, was this popular these days?

Thankfully, I had a Tonfa in my hand too, so I knocked the mace aside before it could gain speed.

A mace was not a bladed weapon. It was a weapon that relied on mass. If you defended after it picked up speed, it was already too late, even if you managed to block it. The impact alone would break bones.

So when I closed in and knocked it aside first, my opponent panicked. If I did not give the mace enough distance to build momentum, I had the advantage.

I immediately brought the Tonfa down on his mouth. His teeth fell like kernels of corn. A dull impact struck my leg.

After kicking my leg, the opponent had also swung the mace down at me.

I could bear it. At this close range, it could not build up enough speed anyway.

Calmly, I shoved the Tonfa into his mouth and twisted my hand. First, teeth came out, then chunks of unidentifiable flesh. When I pushed my fist in farther, his throat was pierced through.

Was I always this strong? It was not as if a Tonfa were a blade. Could a blunt piece of wood shoved into someone's mouth really pierce through their neck and emerge from the back?

Apparently so. What was there to question about a man and a fighter being strong?

As I stepped back and laughed heartily, another person appeared before I knew it. An axe? What an arrogant weapon.

Of course, if our abilities were similar, I could not approach someone swinging an axe with nothing but a Tonfa.

‘If our abilities were similar.’

I bounded forward in exactly three strides, closing nearly twenty meters in an instant. I saw shock fill the opponent's eyes.

Was he surprised? How ridiculous. I was as fast as a tiger now. Since when had I gained such absurd physical abilities?

If I had possessed this ability from the beginning, things like reaction speed and mind games would not have mattered at all. I would have become world champion with ease.

It did not matter. I could rise to the top from now on.

Before he could even swing the axe, my finger pierced the opponent's eye. It passed through the eyeball, crushed his brain, caved in the front of his skull, and dug in until it touched the back of it.

How many people had it been? Ten? Twenty? By the time it became difficult to count those I had killed, no one remained in the arena.

Waaaaaaaahhhhhh! Cha Jin-cheol! Cha Jin-cheol! Cha Jin-cheol!!!

Countless spectators were shouting my name. Ten years, perhaps even longer, of pent-up resentment dissolved in an instant.

Across from me, Mom was sobbing uncontrollably. Director Park was standing as if trying to look proud, but it was obvious the director's eyes had reddened.

Ah... How long had I imagined this moment? Right now, I was the protagonist of the world.

A middle-aged man in a suit walked toward me from the other side.

Ah, the Mayor of Busan. The Mayor of Busan would present the belt to today's tournament winner.

To think that I would live to win before a person like that... My heart filled with emotion.

Bang!!!

A sound like a thunderclap rang out. There was a flash, followed by a burning sensation in my chest.

What was that? I stared blankly at the mayor, only to see that he was holding a Glock.

The moment I realized a bullet had pierced my chest, my body collapsed.

What was this? What on earth had happened? Understanding came immediately.

Ah! Wasn't this arena a place only one person could leave standing? The moment the mayor entered, one of us had to die. Letting my guard down was the problem. I should have snapped the mayor's neck right away...

I felt my consciousness fading. After achieving the dream I had pursued for so long, I did not feel much regret...

Still, I wanted to see Mom one last time.

/You have failed!

A dream you were unable to achieve for so long! An obsession you could not abandon! In the end, you were bewitched by a dream you could never attain.

You failed to notice the abnormalities in your beloved mother and Director Park, who had been like a father to you. You entered a deadly fighting tournament with them, only to lose your life at the mayor's hands.

You neither escaped the curse nor resolved the Source of the Curse. What a pity.

But there is still a chance! Wait for your companions.

...

...

...

...

A companion has successfully escaped! Congratulations! Since an escapee has emerged, all members will return safely./

Cha Jin-cheol felt his sunken consciousness slowly rise to the surface...

Footnotes:

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