WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
The Legendary Newbie of the Ghost Story Labyrinth
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 94 - At a Hotel with My Girlfriend (6)
If he could just learn the location of the hair, he could gather all of the Princess’ body parts and bring the conflict with the Hanged King to an end.
However, the right hand shook her head.
[Unfortunately, I don’t know. She was a free-spirited and exceedingly vain being. She is always wandering, so there is no way to track her whereabouts.]
Park Minho asked one crucial question.
"Is she at least somewhere inside the Backrooms?”
If the search expanded into other dimensions, finding her would become pretty much impossible. There was a high chance he wouldn’t locate her within a human lifetime.
[She’s inside the Backrooms.]
That was a relief. However, another question naturally occurred to Park Minho.
"Why are all of the Princess’ body parts inside the Backrooms?”
After all, both the Hanged King and Princess Cavaletto were beings from outside the Backrooms.
[The reason is simple. The King’s execution was carried out inside the Backrooms.]
"In here?"
[Yes. Princess Cavaletto and her retainers intended to imprison the King within the Backrooms, an endless labyrinth.]
According to the explanation that followed, they had succeeded in hanging the King from the gallows, but a terrible accident occurred.
The King was cursed and reduced to a state resembling that of an undead, but he ultimately succeeded in returning to his kingdom with the Noose.
Princess Cavaletto, on the other hand, was torn apart inside the Backrooms, and only four of her body parts acquired anomalous properties and individual consciousnesses before scattering.
[…… That’s why all of us are inside the Backrooms.]
"What exactly was your relationship with the King?”
[The King was an invader.......]
However, the right hand didn’t explain any further. It seemed there had been some personal connection between them beyond the conflict between their nations, but she apparently had no intention of discussing it yet.
[If the hair falls into the King’s hands, matters will become extremely troublesome.]
"Is there a specific reason?”
[The hair was the only part of Princess Cavaletto that opposed the King’s execution. If the King obtains her first, there is a high chance he will persuade her to join his side. Even if the three of us are with you, the entire plan could fail if the hair refuses to cooperate.]
The problem was where to find that hair. The Backrooms were absurdly vast as well.
"How am I supposed to find the hair? Do you have any advice? I don’t even know where to begin.”
[Hmm....]
The right hand stroked her illusory chin and fell into thought for a moment. Despite wearing an illusion with exactly the same appearance, unlike the tongue, the right hand never concealed her face behind a fan or smiled with her eyes. She remained serious and cautious at all times.
[It would probably be best to search for rumors about her…and prepare something that would capture her interest.]
“Rumors…?”
[The hair possesses extraordinary beauty. Search for rumors about the greatest beauty in the Backrooms. With looks of that caliber, stories about her are bound to spread eventually.]
Park Minho decided he would ask the gallery once he returned. There were bound to be people there who remembered rumors like that.
"I understand the rumors, but what am I supposed to use to capture her interest?”
[Considering her vanity, something like the rarest treasure in the Backrooms would probably be best…]
"A treasure?"
[She’s drawn to such things. She covets anything outwardly beautiful, materialistic, and extravagant.]
"That’s a bit difficult…far too vague.”
[Hmm…… Thinking about it a little more, if someone as beautiful as she is were said to possess such a treasure, it would likely attract the hair’s attention.]
At those words, the right hand and Park Minho simultaneously looked at Seol Suyeon.
Seol Suyeon, who had been quietly listening, was startled and waved her hands in denial.
“Y-you can’t be serious, right? Why me?!”
However, Park Minho was firm.
"You’re beautiful.”
"N-No……”
The right hand agreed.
[That is certainly undeniable. If a beauty of this caliber were said to possess the greatest treasure in the Backrooms, the hair would undoubtedly feel intense curiosity and jealousy. Despite her wanderlust, we should certainly be able to lure her out.]
When the right hand and Park Minho matter-of-factly presented her as the beauty who would compete against the hair, Seol Suyeon was so flustered that she didn’t know what to do.
"E-even if I say no, you’re going through with this, aren’t you, Oppa?”
"You understand without me even having to say it now.”
"Aah……”
Once that discussion was settled, the right hand began preparing something.
[The tongue has been sealed, and Le Soupir now awaits a new owner.]
She extended her hand forward. Violet tendrils flowed from it and wrapped around the surrounding floor like a spider web.
-Voooommmm.
The entire floor began to vibrate faintly. Then the changes began immediately.
First, the patterns on the wallpaper rippled and rewrote themselves into a different texture. The torn carpet changed color and restored itself. The broken furniture returned to its proper places, while shattered dishes and decorations floated into the air and neatly reassembled themselves.
Their shapes remained the same as before, but the atmosphere and colors had changed completely.
When the tongue ruled this restaurant, black, brown, ivory, and red had been the dominant colors. Now, blue, white, and gold stood out instead.
"Wow……It’s beautiful!”
Seol Suyeon marveled at the luxurious space.
[It reflects the tastes of its new owner. Of course, these are not merely outward changes. This is also meant to thoroughly cleanse the anomalies left behind by the tongue.]
The vibrations stopped, and everything that had been destroyed was restored. At the same time, footsteps could be heard from beyond the room.
-Click, click, click.
The door opened to the sound of measured footsteps. Then dozens of mannequin Facelings walked inside.
They gathered together in position and bowed to the right hand in unison.
Although the only sound they made was the creaking of their joints, it was clear that they were pledging their loyalty.
The right hand nodded as though it were only natural.
[I accept your allegiance. Return to you respective posts.]
The mannequin Facelings then departed in an orderly fashion.
Park Minho was impressed.
"You really became the owner of this floor.”
[Are you not also a human who owns a floor?]
"You know quite a lot about me.”
[Of course. As someone connected to the King, there was no reason not to investigate you.]
The right hand told Park Minho that he would also be able to use Le Soupir.
[Come whenever you wish to use the restaurant. I will serve you the finest cuisine.]
"Sounds good. The food was pretty delicious, right up until some random mouth showed up as the main course.”
[The food here offers more than mere flavor. It has healing properties. If you ever suffer any injury or illness too severe to handle, make sure to come here.]
"Really?"
That was something he hadn’t expected. Moreover, since Le Soupir itself was a high-end restaurant, it would be a good place to entertain someone or arrange an important meeting.
The right hand said he was free to use it for such purposes.
[I will prepare a way for you to travel here directly. Take this.]
What the right hand gave him was a painting depicting the scenery of Le Soupir.
[I will make the necessary arrangements, so you should be able to use this painting to come to Le Soupir as well.]
"That’s convenient. Going though the Entity Rift and then Floor 4 every time was a bit of a hassle.”
Afterward, Park Minho discussed several matters with the right hand before leaving Le Soupir.
[If you ever have questions concerning the search for the hair, come and find me at any time.]
"Thanks. See you later."
After receiving courteous farewells from the mannequin Facelings, Park Minho and Seol Suyeon passed through Le Soupir’s exit and returned to the Liminal Grand Hotel on Floor 4.
Seeing the brilliant chandelier light cascading down before them once again made them realize they had truly returned.
However, the corridor was in complete chaos the moment they arrived.
"Are they not over there?!”
"Search everywhere! Every last corner!”
The hotel staff were rushing frantically in every direction as though disaster had struck. Then one mannequin Faceling spotted Park Minho and abruptly froze.
"They’re here!”
"We found them! Report to the hotelier immediately!”
As though the employee’s shout had been a signal flare, dozens of mannequin Facelings that had been scattered throughout the area came rushing over. Their relief was so palpable that it could be read even on their smooth, featureless faces.
It was understandable. The only VIP guest at the hotel, which was currently undergoing renovations, had vanished without a trace while on the way to dinner. It was an unprecedented incident.
Soon, even the Spirit Staffbearer hotelier appeared.
"Guest! Are you unharmed?!”
The crow-headed hotelier never lost his composure, but at that moment, his normally glossy feathers were standing completely on end, and ragged breaths escaped from his beak.
"I’m fine.”
"Where in the world did you go? We were alarmed when we couldn’t find you anywhere inside the hotel.”
"We were lured into a subfloor. Quite a few things happened inside. Haha. Fortunately, we managed to resolve everything.”
"A subfloor? Where exactly?”
"Le Soupir. Haven’t you heard of it?”
Le Soupir. The moment that name left Park Minho’s mouth, the hotelier’s avian pupils dilated sharply.
He clicked his pointed beak shut and immediately dismissed all the employees who had gathered around them. Once silence settled over the corridor, the manager stepped closer and asked in a low voice.
"Is that not Princess Cavaletto’s private domain?”
“Yes. The names were similar, so we ended up being drawn there.”
At those words, the hotelier displayed a rare flash of anger.
"Then you were clearly lured there deliberately. We must file a formal protest! It would help if you told me what happened inside.”
However, Park Minho shook his head. Far too many matters of the incident required confidentiality.
"There are many parts that are difficult to explain. All I can say is that the problem has been resolved.”
"No, dear Guest. The subfloor needs to be quarantined and placed under permanent restriction.”
"There’s no need to go that far, Le Soupir won’t cause any more problems for the hotel’s guests from now on.”
At Park Minho’s unexpected objection, the hotelier looked slightly troubled.
"......Understood. Still, this is too important for me to decide on my own. I will report it to the Lady and discuss it with her.”
"Well, I can’t stop you from doing that.”
Park Minho thought he should speak to the Admin separately.
The manager then bowed deeply to Park Minho and Seol Suyeon.
"The hotel will take full responsibility for this incident. The safety of our guests is the hotel’s responsibility, and I can only apologize for allowing you to become caught up in something like this.”
Under normal circumstances, the tongue could never have pulled a stunt like this inside the Liminal Grand Hotel.
However, because the damaged hotel was still preparing to reopen, there were several gaps in its security and management. The tongue had skillfully exploited them to lure Park Minho away, but the scheme had ultimately backfired on her.
"I promise that you will be compensated for this incident.”
The hotelier’s words immediately piqued Park Minho’s interest. Everything offered by the Liminal Grand Hotel was extraordinary.
"First, allow me to give you what I can provide immediately.”
The hotelier carefully reached into the inner pocket of his tailcoat, took out something wrapped in a small piece of velvet, and respectfully placed it on Park Mino’s palm.
"Please accept this."
It was something Park Minho had already seen once before, and he felt as though he had hit the jackpot.
'They’re giving me another one?'
It was the blue, bell-shaped badge. The Front Bell Badge. It was an anomalous item he had previously put to extremely good use.
However, it had a weighty heft that felt noticeably different from the previous one. Looking closer at it, the border surrounding the luminous blue bell had been plated with brilliant gold.
This clearly wasn’t an ordinary item.
"This is a Gold-grade Front Bell Badge. Unlike the standard grade, when you make a request, the hotel staff as a whole will mobilize alongside me.”
"Wow, that’s impressive.”
Instead of a single individual, an entire organization would take action. Considering the Liminal Grand Hotel’s high standing within the Backrooms, the significance of this badge was enormous.
Simply wearing the badge would ensure that almost no one in the TBU dared to mess with him.
After all, if it came to it, he might summon the hotelier and the hotel staff inside the Fortress City and turn the place upside down. No one could afford to provoke him carelessly.
“This is merely the portion of the compensation we can provide immediately. After consulting the Lady in the Blue Dress about the details, we will contact you. Once again, I offer my deepest apologies.”
"Thank you."
Park Minho was smiling brightly. The date might have been ruined, but he had gained quite a lot from it.
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