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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 230: Room 202, Curse Room - ‘The Little Mermaid’ (8)

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- Park Seung-yeop

I grabbed Riringanor's arm as she tried to pull away, as if she'd already told me enough.

"No. The nightmare story was interesting, but there's a much bigger crisis going on right now."

"..."

"Don't pretend you don't know. The tsunami! The tsunami! We did rescue quite a few people, but how many do you think died in this disaster? At least several thousand! The property damage will be impossible to calculate."

"Could it have been a natural disaster?"

“Don't joke around. I saw it clearly when the tsunami hit! It wasn't just water coming in from the sea. The ground split apart, and water surged out of it. Does that sound natural to you? And you! Does it make sense that just ten minutes after the tsunami began, you'd already arrived to rescue people riding a monster like this--”

"Kong-i."

“--riding Kong-i? You could only react that quickly if you knew the tsunami was coming in advance. Those are just the clues I came up with after watching for a moment. The Management Bureau will uncover everything if they investigate anyway, so just tell me the truth!”

"... I'm not trying to hide anything. I simply don't know much myself. I reacted quickly because I can communicate with sea creatures. There was already a reaction in the sea about fifteen minutes before the tsunami happened."

"Fine, let's say that explains your quick reaction. How do you explain water surging from the ground after it split apart?"

"It certainly wasn't a natural phenomenon."

"Then what was it?"

The girl fell silent for a moment, as if choosing her words, then spoke under her breath.

"If the Merfolk were involved in this disaster, it definitely wasn't the will of all Merfolk."

That sounded less like an excuse and more like a confession to me. Even Riringanor thought the tsunami wasn't natural, and the Merfolk seemed like the most likely group capable of causing such a supernatural disaster from the sea.

"If it wasn't the will of all Merfolk, whose will was it?"

"At some point, Serenade started doing things I simply couldn't understand..."

Serenade. I recalled what Eun-sol had told me earlier. The Saintess of the Deep, the leader of Haesin Island.

"She was always the eldest among us. She was calm and intelligent, so people said she suited the position of Saintess, but she wasn't close-minded. Then, about two months ago, Elena suddenly disappeared, and Su-ho was driven out after protesting it. Before long, I even heard that he had died. When I questioned it, I was driven to the mainland too."

"Su-ho? The Cheongseong Group chairman's son? Why was he protesting Elena's disappearance?"

"... It was originally a secret, but there's no point keeping it now that he's dead. Su-ho and Elena were lovers."

"What? That's the setup?"

"Excuse me? Setup?"

"No, it's nothing. I was just surprised. Keep going."

Elena, the Second Daughter of the Sea God, and Lee Su-ho had been lovers. Why hadn't Cheongseong Group told us something so important? I quickly understood why.

Haesin Island and Cheongseong Group were in conflict over the major issue of ownership of the port. In that situation, the fact that a Daughter of the Sea God and the chairman's son were lovers couldn't have been welcome news to either side. Lee Su-ho himself might have hidden it.

... Even if it was just a setup, Elena being in a relationship with an NPC? Elena would be shocked when she woke up later. Or maybe, since she was originally an actress, she'd think of it as a kind of performance?

"Anyway, the point is that Serenade has been strange for some time. We weren't related by blood, but we were practically family. She wasn't someone who would treat us this cruelly."

The eldest of the Sea God's three daughters, the leader of Haesin Island, and the Saintess of the Deep. Hearing about Serenade's rampage gave me an idea.

Let's take Riringanor to Haesin Island!

I had never been there, so I didn't know what the others on the island were going through, but Serenade seemed to be the villain of this scenario. Wouldn't it help to bring Riringanor, one of her victims, to the island?

"Riringanor, come to Haesin Island with me."

"What? Didn't you hear what I said? My sister drove me out!"

"My companions who went to the island are investigating your sister right now. She won't be able to act like a tyrant anymore."

"... Are you telling me to help the Management Bureau put my sister in danger?"

"Riringanor, look around you."

Busan was ruined. Not figuratively. Literally.

Cars and human corpses floated everywhere. Every building I could see was filled with people waiting to be rescued.

How many people had died? What about the property damage?

"If you Merfolk really did this, the Management Bureau will demand blood for it. The Nonaggression Treaty is nothing but a scrap of paper now."

"..."

"I think you suspect your sister is the culprit too. Am I wrong?"

I could tell from our brief conversation. Riringanor already believed her sister had gone mad or was rampaging for some reason.

"I think removing your sister is the best path for all Merfolk. If you can't, all Merfolk will have to pay the price for this disaster."

Wow. Even I was surprised at how honest I was. What was that line? Wasn't it cool?

"Hey! Don't talk like you're threatening me! And don't casually decide that we did it!"

"So, are you coming or not?"

"I'll go! I'm coming! I guess it's time I saw my sister again."

* * *

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 100

Current Location: Level 2, Room 202 - Curse Room ‘The Little Mermaid’

Sage’s Advice: 0]

- Han Ga-in

First, I was surprised when Seung-yeop suddenly appeared in the Chat Window. Then my Scenario Understanding updated and informed me of the arrival of Riringanor, a Daughter of the Sea God, which surprised me a second time. Fortunately, Seung-yeop himself cleared up our questions when we met him.

"... That's what happened. You understand now, right?"

After arriving on the island, Seung-yeop spent a long time explaining what he'd gone through. In short, he'd been trying to escape when he met Riringanor, the third Daughter of the Sea God. After hearing various things from her, he entered the island riding a gigantic Ragworm with her.

There were three interesting points in Seung-yeop's story.

First, Lee Su-ho, who had started this whole situation, was the lover of Elena, the Second Daughter of the Sea God.

Second, a tsunami had struck Busan and caused tremendous damage, and its cause seemed to lie on Haesin Island.

Third, the Merfolk suffered from nightmares for an unknown reason.

"Seung-yeop, where is Riringanor now?"

"She has a hideout of her own on the island. She said she's hiding from Serenade. I got the address."

"Then let's go right away. I need to ask her a few things."

As we headed toward the limousine, Eun-sol asked Seung-yeop in a slightly worried voice.

"Seung-yeop, wasn't your original role to escape? Bringing Riringanor here was very well done, of course. But now that you've come here, the escape side has become less secure."

Seung-yeop flinched briefly, then answered at once.

"I didn't act on my own. It was because of Luck."

"Luck?"

"I had a feeling that staying in Busan would be dangerous. Looking at how the tsunami hit afterward, it was a sharp instinct!"

"Good job."

"So I booked an express bus to change locations. But just as I was about to get on the bus!"

"Just then?"

"Something strange and incomprehensible happened, and I couldn't get on. Soon afterward, the tsunami hit, and the bus was swept away by the water."

"Really? Then it couldn't be helped. Good work!"

We reached the hideout after about thirty minutes in the limousine. The sun was beginning to set. Once there, we spoke with Riringanor and learned a few more things.

First, even when all three daughters were active on the island, most of the real power had belonged to Serenade. Riringanor, whom we had met in person, looked no older than her mid-teens, so she didn't seem suited for ruling an island.

Elena, at least, had taken part in many different matters, so she had a certain degree of influence and supporters.

A-ri, who had been listening closely, asked, "If we find Elena, can we keep Serenade in check?"

"What? Do you know where Elena is?"

"Answer my question."

"Unlike me, Elena was involved in many affairs, so she has considerable influence. She had supporters too. In other words, the islanders could see her as an alternative to Serenade."

"This Flute. You said it was a sacred relic given to you by the Sea God, right?"

"More precisely, it's been passed down through the generations..."

"Do the other Daughters of the Sea God have the same item?"

"Yes."

"Wait a moment. We have something to discuss among ourselves."

After we moved to the next room, A-ri spoke.

"This seems to be the appropriate way to progress through the scenario. We still don't know what secret Serenade has, but given the circumstances, she seems close to being the Adversary. Also, she's not simply someone who wields evil power. She's more like a political leader whose power is rooted in governing the state."

Eun-sol replied, "Bring Elena in and shake Serenade's position?"

"Even if we attack Serenade and condemn her wrongdoing, there's a limit to what we can do in the current situation. For the people of Haesin Island, who only accept a Daughter of the Sea God as their leader, there is no alternative. Riringanor is too young to be considered one. But if we bring Elena, who has supporters, and expose Serenade's evil deeds, we can shake her position."

Grandpa agreed.

"If we look beyond the scenario inside the room and from the Hotel's perspective, waking a Sealed participant is directly tied to resolving the scenario. So A-ri's guess seems right. Elena's role in this room is to counter Serenade."

Eun-sol seemed to have the same thought.

"Maybe Elena has information on Serenade's weaknesses or her crimes that we don't know about yet. Serenade realized that and imprisoned Elena somewhere to silence her."

A-ri made the decision as though summing everything up.

"Now we have a way to find Elena's location. All the Daughters of the Sea God have the same Flute, right? I'll track Riringanor's Flute. Then the Compass will point in two directions. If we exclude the direction toward Serenade, the other one will be Elena."

The plan moved quickly. A-ri began tracking Riringanor's Flute, and Riringanor said she wanted to take part in rescuing her sister, so she got into the limousine with us.

* * *

The limousine sped down the dark road of Haesin Island.

A question suddenly came to mind. Why had Elena been Sealed?

The target of Sealing wasn't random. The entity with the most important ability in that Curse Room was Sealed. For example, the biggest reason I had been Sealed in Room 201 was that I was the only one who could enter and leave the place where the Zero-Dimensional Eye resided without Penalty, thanks to the mental protection of my Status Window.

Why had Elena been Sealed? Justice? We didn't even know if the enemy was human. Ominous Imagination? Was there a reason Ominous Imagination was the most important power?

I could make an argument for anything, but nothing felt exactly right. The story Riringanor had told us about nightmares also bothered me. Elena, another Daughter of the Sea God, had surely been exposed to those nightmares too.

For a moment, I wondered if waking Elena would be a mistake, but I dismissed the thought. Speculation like that was no different from denying the rules set by the Hotel itself. The Hotel that created the scenario had directly established the rule that releasing a participant from Sealing was tied to resolving the room.

"Ah!"

Riringanor's voice broke the silence. When everyone turned to her, she muttered in alarm.

"I think I know where we're going. I think I've been there before..."

"Where is it?"

Her answer was somewhere none of us had expected.

"A psychiatric hospital. I don't go there often."

Footnotes:

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