WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 251: Room 202, Curse Room - ‘The Little Mermaid’ (29)

──────

- Park Seung-yeop

--- Jolt!

“Ugh, are you okay?”

“I-I'm fine!”

Riringanor and I had already bumped into each other three times in the limousine, which was so cramped it was hard to move. Each time, either I apologized or Grandfather, who was driving up front, did. Riringanor just smiled brightly and said she was fine.

She really was a nice kid. Whether she was nice on the inside too was another matter.

“By the way... I really can't hold back my curiosity anymore.”

“...”

“What are all these machines? The limousine is this cramped even with only three people because of them.”

“Sorry it's so cramped.”

“No, I'm not complaining about that. I'm curious what these devices are.”

I understood why she was curious. This limousine had originally been large enough to seat all eight of us comfortably, aside from Elena, who had been Sealed on the island.

But now, it was packed to the brim with only Grandfather, Riringanor, and me inside. We'd reclined every seat and filled the empty space with extremely delicate and important equipment.

“Do you really not know what they are?”

“Huh? Am I supposed to?”

“You don't need to, but I thought you'd recognize them right away. The Management Bureau's technology must be incredible.”

A transport unit sat right beside a Daughter of the Sea God, yet she didn't even know what it was. It was a fresh reminder that the Management Bureau's technology had reached the realm of miracles.

I raised myself slightly and looked back through the rearview mirror. A huge trailer was following us closely.

It was a good thing Doctor could drive something like that too.

About ten minutes later, we finally entered the Sea Highway leading to Haesin Island. By then, Riringanor had stopped asking about the machines around her and started to panic.

Who had prepared the curse that attacked us whenever we first entered this Sea Highway?

We'd already concluded that Riringanor was the most likely culprit. The only ones capable of doing something like this were Serenade, the Management Bureau, Lee Su-ho, and Riringanor. Serenade and the Management Bureau had no reason to do it.

During our first and second attempts, we'd only brought Riringanor to Haesin Island after triggering and eliminating the Sea Highway's curse in advance. Now, though, the curse was still functioning perfectly.

“E-excuse me!”

“...”

“Excuse me!”

“What is it?”

“Could you pull over for a moment? I... I really need to use the bathroom!”

“Pfft!”

Grandfather finally burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Excuse me?”

“Kid, it looks like the curse you set up on the road can't tell friend from foe. We're stopping around the middle anyway, so don't worry too much.”

In an instant, Riringanor's expression froze over. It was as though the girl who'd been chatting with me just moments ago had vanished.

“...That's a strange thing to say.”

“Wasn't it you who set up something strange?”

“I don't know what you're talking about. I only came along because you said Haesin Island was in danger and you were going to check on the situation. Besides, can such a weak road support a trailer that heavy-”

“Hey! You're trying to use that strange power, aren't you? Keep your mouth shut! Even Elena, who has the original version of that ability, can't use it so recklessly. What's wrong with you?”

“Mmph! Mmph! Take your hand off me right now!”

“Aaah! Don't bite! Don't bite! We didn't come here to fight you! It's the opposite! We came to apologize to the god you serve!”

Was she actually insane?

In that brief moment, Riringanor sank her teeth into my hand and tore at it until blood dripped down. At the same time, the last little flame of affection I felt for her went out in an instant.

Was she really a person? Ah, she wasn't. She was a merfolk. But wasn't she basically just a dog right now?

“You came to apologize to the Sea God? What on earth-”

Seeing was believing.

It would be far more convincing to show her once than explain things a million times. I immediately opened part of the transport unit in the limousine. When Riringanor saw what was inside, she looked completely stunned.

The car remained silent until we reached Haesin Island.

* * *

After listening to Grandfather's long explanation, Serenade expressed her feelings in a single sentence.

“...You're telling me to believe that?”

Honestly, it was an absurd story. It wouldn't be easy to believe even if someone told you directly.

The previous Saintess of the Deep had sold the Sea God's kin to the Management Bureau, and the Management Bureau had spent over twenty years using them for biological experiments. Filled with rage and despair, the Sea God was now attempting to bring about a catastrophe through Lee Su-ho and Riringanor.

Of course, we only needed to show Serenade the same proof that had convinced Riringanor.

Serenade followed Grandfather to the limousine, still half doubtful. The moment the transport unit opened before her, Serenade was speechless.

Opaque tanks. Tangled wires. Snails smaller than my fist floating inside the tanks.

When the stunned Serenade reached out blankly, the Rudah climbed onto her arm and wriggled as if begging for salvation.

Meanwhile, Doctor, who had driven over in the trailer, opened far more transport units in front of Serenade. After seeing roughly two hundred Rudah, Serenade finally broke her silence.

“Are there more?”

“Governor, these are only a tiny fraction. The Management Bureau has mass-produced and cultivated Rudah for decades. Unfortunately, we couldn't save them all.”

“Then the remaining ones...”

“We'll take you to the Research Lab. We'll need at least twenty more trailers this size. The Rudah themselves are small, but these transport units are larger than they look.”

“...Wait. I think there's something I need to do first. I have a little time, don't I?”

“You should ask your younger sister, not me. Miss Riringanor, what do you think? Will saving the Sea God's kin from this tragedy help calm the Sea God's anger?”

“...”

Serenade, whose mind had been thrown into chaos by all the shocking information, seemed to come to her senses at last and looked at Riringanor.

She had only thought of her as a young, immature sister.

Yet that girl had turned out to be an agent of the Sea God, someone who stood one step ahead of even Serenade and carried out the Sea God's wrath. What was Serenade thinking now? Betrayal? Sadness? Or pride?

The two sisters stared at each other in an indefinable atmosphere. Then Doctor placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Governor, we'll wait outside.”

“Take this with you. To the outskirts of the island... Ah, according to what you said, you already know the location. Show this token at the hospital, and you'll be able to wake Elena.”

--- Click!

“This seems to be a family matter, so let's let them resolve it themselves.”

Doctor turned the wooden token Serenade had given him over in his hand and suggested we go wake Elena. Then Grandfather made a strange sound.

“Hnnngh...”

“Grandfather?”

“Both of you, come look at this.”

The color of the sky was strange. A murky shade that made no sense. Gray light slowly spread as if staining the sky.

“Elder, is that the ‘means to shake the Management Bureau’ Miss A-ri mentioned yesterday?”

“...Probably.”

“It feels extremely ominous. Just in case, this isn't some ridiculous ending where we fail because the world collapses after we can't stop that thing, right?”

“Well...”

“Grandfather?”

“Both of you, stop asking me. Seung-yeop, you must be starting to understand too. There's quite a gap in experience between A-ri and me. I don't know everything A-ri knows. I have no idea what that is.”

Ugh! I flinched when he brought up A-ri's “experience.”

I wasn't an idiot! I'd never asked outright, but I couldn't possibly have failed to notice that A-ri's age and experience were far from ordinary.

“Um... Grandfather.”

“Yes?”

“Did A-ri get married outside too? M-maybe! What if she actually has a son older than me?”

“...Ask her yourself. And please find someone your own age. It'd be even better if you found a human.”

“...”

* * *

“Elder, do you think Miss Eun-sol and Miss Song-i will manage?”

“What, are you worried?”

“Honestly, yes. It feels like their final measure will be useless if the Management Bureau decides to be ruthless.”

“It'll be difficult. Things have been set up so the Management Bureau can't do that.”

“Set things up?”

“The Management Bureau is an organization that can overcome any outside opposition if it believes it's right. But.”

“But?”

“Now, their own faith in the Project will be shaken. They've witnessed the shocking sight of the Advanced Humans they believed in so deeply attacking them under Jin-cheol's control. What Eun-sol and Song-i intend to do will be quite effective in that situation.”

“Is that so?”

“Besides.”

“Besides?”

“To begin with, I don't know whether the Management Bureau can properly respond to outside interference right now.”

Looking toward the sky, which was rotting into an ominous ash-gray color, Sang-hyeon understood Elder's words.

A normal Management Bureau might have been different, but the Management Bureau currently trying to stop that unknown disaster would have difficulty blocking the final blow Eun-sol and Song-i planned to deliver.

Suddenly, Sang-hyeon wondered who would receive ownership of the Inheritance when they reached the end this way. There were quite a few survivors, and it wasn't as though one person alone had resolved everything through their own efforts. More than one person could claim the Inheritance.

Sang-hyeon chuckled. He had forgotten that this wasn't a party that would split apart over such an issue. They would decide fairly enough. At the very least, none of them were the sort to start a dispute over it.

That was how they had made it this far.

Toward evening, the three Daughters of the Sea God, now joined by Elena after being freed from Sealing, held a memorial rite with the island's merfolk.

May the Sea God's kin who had died in suffering find rest.

And may we also be freed from this room.

Footnotes:

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