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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 231: Room 202, Curse Room - ‘The Little Mermaid’ (9)

──────

[User: Han Ga-in (Wisdom)

Date: Day 101

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

Sage’s Advice: 3]

- Han Ga-in

─── Screeeech!

It was deep into the night, with stars shining overhead. The date had changed, my Advice uses had been restored, and we finally arrived at the hospital.

It was tucked away in a corner of the island, and it didn't even have a sign. How was this place supposed to stay in business? The scenario information that updated the moment we arrived gave me a simple answer.

This hospital existed to care for the Daughters of the Sea God.

The Daughters of the Sea God were Merfolk who had come closer than anyone else to their “Ancestral Memories.” They had gained all kinds of supernatural abilities as a result, but the price was horrific. Every night, they floundered through endless nightmares filled with immeasurable pain.

No one would welcome the fact that the island's leaders were insane, so this hospital had been created to treat the Daughters of the Sea God “in secret.”

Was that fortunate?

The hospital was well maintained. The antique paintings on the walls, soft carpeting, and gleamingly clean walls all proved that a considerable amount of money had gone into this place. Then again, it was a facility built by the island's absolute rulers for themselves. Of course they'd put effort into it.

Since the hospital existed to serve the Daughters of the Sea God, the few staff members and doctors treated Riringanor almost as carefully as they would royalty when she appeared. They seemed to assume we were with her, so no one tried to stop us.

Before long, we reached Elena's hospital room.

“Why can't Elena wake up?”

“Young Lady, Elena's madness has worsened by the day, so the Saintess ordered us to give her a special prescription.”

“Special prescription? What is it?”

“... Did you receive the Saintess's permission before coming here?”

The doctor seemed to be trying to conceal the truth, but it was pointless. We had an excellent doctor on our side.

“What are you administering? Morphine? Is this fentanyl? You've been pumping her full of narcotics and sleeping pills so she can't wake up at all. Since nightmares are the cause, did you force her into a sleep so deep she couldn't even dream? At that point, wouldn't it be better to just let her rest?”

“Y-you! Who gave you permission to go near the equip-”

Kim Sang-hyeon calmly pushed past the equipment and uncovered the truth behind Elena's ongoing “treatment.” The doctor looked flustered.

“I gave him permission.”

“Young Lady...!”

“Just wake Elena up.”

“Young Lady, this is under the Saintess's direct orders-”

“I know Elena. She was perfectly fine until just three months ago. Elena underwent Awakening as a Daughter of the Sea God nearly ten years ago.”

“...”

“You're saying something absurd. A person who endured nightmares for over ten years and was well enough to get engaged suddenly went insane within a few weeks and now has to be kept asleep indefinitely with drugs?”

“That is...”

“The one who's gone insane isn't Elena. It's Serenade. I'm sure of it. So wake her up!”

Instead of answering, the doctor blinked at the people around him. An obvious little ploy. Even if Riringanor and Elena were both Daughters of the Sea God, Serenade's authority clearly far surpassed that of the young Riringanor and the sleeping Elena.

Eun-sol put on the Chef's Hat.

“This is the right time to use it.”

I quietly covered my ears.

“Hey! What the fuck are you trying to pull, rolling those big eyes around? Want me to rip out your spine and make gamjatang with it?”

“W-what are you suddenly-”

“Before I rip out that mouth, dress it, and toss it in the fryer, do as I say. Three seconds. Wake Elena. Three, two-”

“W-wait! It's impossible to wake her in three seconds!”

“Look at this rabid bastard. Now you're spewing more fatherless nonsense? You-”

“E-Eun-sol, he's already operating the machine.”

“... Is he?”

The refreshing stream of curses came to an end. I already knew, but the Chef's Hat's effect was still astonishing.

The ability Eun-sol had named Top Chef's Charisma was simple.

If she spewed out words thick with profanity, a brief supernatural pressure arose, making ordinary people obey her words as though bewitched.

It was said that it wouldn't work on people with strong mental fortitude, such as Management Bureau agents. Still, it was useful enough if it could grant her temporary authority over ordinary people.

─── Beeeeeep!

A strange mechanical sound filled the room a moment later, and the tubes connected to Elena's body came loose. At last, Elena's Sealing was released.

“Elena! Do you recognize m-”

[Advice: 3 -> 2]

[Get down on your knees right now!]

─── Crunch!

A shark burst out of the “painting” on the wall, swept over my head, and crushed the doctor's skull in a single bite as he stood there blankly.

* * *

I couldn't breathe. The moment I tried to draw in a breath, unbearable pain tore through my respiratory tract. Every person in the room collapsed after a single breath.

What had happened? The tubes came loose. Elena woke up. And then...

The world had become the sea.

Did that make any sense? Without warning, the air became thick like water as it passed through my nose and painfully squeezed my lungs. I could even taste its harsh saltiness and smell the sea.

The sea held more life than anywhere else on this planet. As though that were only natural, fish from nowhere filled the space around us.

Then the shark appeared.

The shark that burst through the hospital painting crushed the doctor in one bite and turned toward us. My companions, who were flailing in agony because they couldn't breathe, went pale.

Should I use Possession?

Before I could react, Song-i, trembling all over, slowly swam forward and stroked the shark's head. The shark looked somehow confused, then circled Song-i as though trying to act cute.

...

The shark placed the doctor's head, which it had been chewing in its mouth, in Song-i's hand. Was it trying to offer her some kind of “delicious food”?

Thank goodness Affinity was working. Song-i even accepted the human head as though she were grateful for it.

Once the immediate danger had passed, I finally turned to look at Elena. That was when I realized something.

Elena still hadn't woken up!

Even with every tube removed, Elena only let out strange groans as she writhed on the bed. Only then did I understand that the bizarre phenomenon happening around us was caused by her nightmare.

When the narcotics and sleeping pills had completely paralyzed her consciousness and forced her into a dreamless sleep, things had probably been fine. But when the tubes came loose and her consciousness partially returned, this disaster must have happened.

A flood of thoughts flashed through my mind. Should I Possess Elena's body and get this under control?

No. That was too dangerous.

Elena was suffering a bout of madness caused by the Merfolk's Ancestral Memories. If I possessed that body, I might be the one who went insane this time. When I possessed someone else's body, I couldn't receive the mental protection of my Status Window.

[Advice: 2 -> 1]

‘What should I do!’

[Wait calmly. It will end soon.]

I was supposed to just wait?

* * *

- Elena

[Sealing has been released!]

An empty void. My mind, which had drifted through nothingness, slowly descended. As consciousness gradually returned, I saw myself beneath the sea.

Ah...

The first life was born in the sea. Therefore, all of us are children of the sea. I felt the vast current endlessly circulating through that world, teeming with life.

An ecosystem is a cycle. Some eat, and some are eaten. A shark eats an octopus, and an octopus eats a crab. Yet even that is only a difference in order. One day, the shark's body will rot and sink into the depths of the sea. Then it will become the crabs' daily food.

Accept the cycle.

Accept the cycle.

Accept the cycle.

This is the one law that you, children of the sea, must uphold.

My children, know that you too are part of the great cycle. And so-

[Clear Mirror, Still Water activates!]

It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over me while I was napping on a sofa. My mind, which had been listening to the strange voice through a hazy sensation, cleared in an instant.

Where was I? Who was I?

...

I was Elena Ivanova, a participant in Hotel Pioneer. The owner of Justice and Ominous Imagination.

I barely opened my eyes and looked around. Blindingly bright lights, an expensive, comfortable bed, complicated machines scattered around my body, and tubes that had fallen from my arm.

What was this?

The companions who should have answered my questions were flailing both arms around the room as though dancing. Song-i was absurdly holding a painting in one hand and something on her right arm...

“Ah! Song-i, what's that on your right arm!”

“...”

“Song-i?”

“Elena, you're awake. Don't worry about this.”

“Th-that's a human head?”

“It's nothing. There was a minor accident.”

“Elena? You all already know Elena?”

“Ah, my mistake.”

“Pardon?”

The cute-looking girl tilted her head, seemingly puzzled that my companions recognized me. Who was that child?

The other companions approached me as though they had only just regained their senses.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. And-”

Without warning, information poured into my mind in waves, as though a bomb had exploded inside my head. I trembled violently in confusion, and my companions panicked and grabbed hold of me, but I didn't even have time to answer.

It poured down. Information rained into my mind like a torrential downpour and struck deep within it.

I knew what “Elena, Daughter of the Sea God” had gone through. I knew why Serenade had imprisoned me in this place. I knew what despair was coming for this island.

“We have to leave immediately! Right now! We're already too late!”

“Elena? What are you suddenly talking about? We need to go meet Serenade-”

Grandpa immediately swept the chattering girl aside with one hand.

“Where do we need to go?”

“The harbor!”

My body swayed. I could feel that the narcotics and sleeping pills administered over such a long time had utterly ruined my body. Grandpa picked me up with one hand and began to run.

...

My condition was too poor. In that brief moment, my mind became hazy again.

A voice. A voice. A voice.

I heard that strange voice beside my ear again.

‘Accept the cycle. Know that death lies at the end of life. Know that the end of death is also the beginning of new life.’

My head hurt. Ga-in grabbed my hand with a desperate expression.

“Elena! You're not in good condition, are you? But you have to tell us one thing! What's happening at the harbor?”

“... Lee Su-ho.”

“Pardon? The chairman's son who was said to be dead?”

“He's still alive.”

“What?”

Just as death lies at the end of life, new life lies at the end of death. Therefore, his death had never been the end.

─── Whoooosh!

Rain began to fall from the sky. It was terribly salty and smelled of fish. As my consciousness faded, I had one final thought.

We were too late. The first Saint of the Sea God ever born had already accomplished every goal.

Before long, everyone's fate would be overturned. A world had arrived where the eaters would be eaten, and the eaten would become the eaters.

Footnotes:

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