Escaping the Mystery Hotel

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 100

Current Location: Floor 2, Room 202 – Cursed Room ‘The Little Mermaid’

Sage’s Advice: 1

- Han Kain

At 4 PM, while each of us was roaming around Sea God’s Island and taking a short break, an unfamiliar sound echoed through the air.

- Gwoooaaaarrrr!

It was an enormous, distant wail that sounded like it came from the deepest depths of hell.

Startled, I looked around in all directions, only to realize that I was the only one reacting with shock.

Is this a familiar occurrence for the island’s residents?

As soon as the sound stopped, I approached the guide sent by Serenade, who was nearby, and asked, “What was that sound just now?”

“You must be referring to the sound of Kadaru’dah crying from a nightmare, yes?”

“Kadaru’dah’s nightmare?”

I recognized the name “Kadaru’dah”.

Outsides, like us, called it by various titles—Sea God, God of the Ocean, Ocean’s Old One—but this was said to be the true name of the god worshiped by the merfolk.

“Of course, calling it a nightmare is just a metaphor. No one really knows why it happens. It’s just something that’s been going on for nearly hundreds of years, so we accept it as a natural phenomenon. Who knows, maybe even gods have nightmares just like us.”

“Does it hold any particular meaning?”

“Well, actually, it does. Whenever that cry echoes, for the next two or three days, all communication with the outside world gets cut off.”

“Communication with the outside world gets cut off?”

Alarmed, I immediately checked my smartphone, and everything became clear.

The signal was completely cut off.

No internet, no phone service—nothing was working.

The guide, noticing my flustered expression, seemed genuinely surprised.

“You didn’t know? It’s such a well-known phenomenon that even people on the mainland know about it.”

At that moment, I realized a critical gap in the information we had.

We had assumed that the hundreds of pages of documents from the Cheongseong Group and the Administration contained everything we needed.

Yet, there was no mention of this peculiar phenomenon.

It was probably because, to the people of this world, it was common knowledge—a fact so well-known that no one thought it needed to be written down.

It was only “common knowledge” for the people of this world, but not for us.

When the guide gave me a look as if asking, “How could you not know this?”, I made up an excuse, saying, “I’ve been abroad for a long time.”

“By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said, ‘maybe even gods have nightmares just like us?’ Do the merfolk have a tendency to experience a lot of nightmares?”

The guide did not answer.

I returned to the lodging.

***

My comrades had already grasped the situation.

As soon as I returned, Songee grabbed my arm and started leading me somewhere.

“Unni and I found something while looking around the government office. Oppa, you should see it for yourself.”

The place she led me to was on the first floor of the government office—a section showcasing photos commemorating the achievements of Serenade.

Songee pointed to one of the photos hanging on the wall.

“Is this the one I should be looking at?”

“Look closely.”

“Hmm. Looks like the Governor did a lot of work. Rebuilding the island’s water supply system and constructing this building—“

“Oppa, not that! Look at this.”

When I squinted and focused on the part Songee was pointing at, I noticed a familiar face tucked into the corner of the large photo.

“Elena.”

“Yes, it’s Elena! And for the record, we didn’t see her in any of the other photos. What do you think that means?”

Considering that Elena was “sealed” and had become one of the “key figures of the scenario,” that she appeared in a photo commemorating the governor’s achievements and that no other photos had any traces of her except for this one, I came to a conclusion.

“Elena must be one of the Sea God’s daughters who were purged.”

“That’s exactly what Unni thought too! That must be it.”

“You two, don’t discuss something like this so openly here. Come with me.”

When I turned around, I saw Ahri.

Fortunately, there was no one else around, but this was the government office of Sea God’s Island.

It wasn’t a place where we could discuss things freely.

We returned to the limousine provided by the Administration, where our comrades had already gathered.

As soon as I arrived, Grandpa grabbed my shoulder.

“You’re here. We were just talking about how to wake up Elena.”

Through our experience with Room 201, we all realized that waking up a sealed comrade was one of the fastest ways to resolve a room.

“But if we want to wake her up, we first have to figure out where she is. Any ideas on that?”

“That’s the problem. I did think about using the ‘Compass’ for it.”

The “Compass” was an ability Ahri acquired by enhancing her blessing.

But as I recalled, the Compass was only meant to locate objects, not people.

“Can the Compass find people too?”

“Impossible. If it could, I would have tried to locate you in Room 201. The Compass can only find objects whose appearance and traits are known to me. It can’t find people.”

“Then what if we track down one of Elena’s belongings instead?”

“I actually tried that, but it wasn’t so simple. If you think back to when I obtained the Compass, they mentioned that ‘supernatural powers’ can nullify its tracking ability.”

It seemed that the special system of the second floor, “Sealing,” also prevented the Compass from locating the belongings of a sealed participant.

“Then we’re out of options, right?”

“That’s what I thought too, and I was ready to give up. But after seeing that photo, I had an idea. I gave it a try and realized something.”

If she had already “realized something,” that meant the Compass had successfully tracked something.

But didn’t she just say that the belongings of sealed participants couldn’t be tracked?

“The one sealed by the Hotel is Elena. That’s why any belongings associated with participant Elena are also subject to the seal’s influence, and the Compass can’t track them. But what if it’s not the belongings of hotel participant Elena, but rather the belongings of Elena, the Daughter of the Sea God from the scenario world? She isn’t someone who’s been sealed by the Hotel.”

I finally understood. We couldn’t track the belongings of participant Elena, but we could track the belongings of the “Daughter of the Sea God” Elena.

“That’s why I now know one thing—Elena is in the basement of the government office.”

Noona spoke up, “Be precise. It’s not Elena who’s in the basement. It’s the ‘clothing worn by the Daughter of the Sea God,’ as seen in that photo, that’s in the basement of the government office.”

“Which means there’s no guarantee that Elena herself will be there, huh?”

For now, we decided to follow the Compass and track the clothes.

We got out of the limousine and followed behind Ahri as she frowned in concentration, following the guidance of the Compass.

I couldn’t help but wonder if there might be a better item to track.

Following the trail of her clothes might lead us somewhere, but I had a feeling that tracking only the clothes wouldn’t be enough to lead us to Elena’s exact location.

“Would it be alright if I handled a separate task for a while?”

“Doctor?”

“I’d like to continue my observation of the merfolk that I mentioned earlier. I believe it may provide critical information necessary for solving the room. Of course, if any of you object—“

“Dr. Sanghyun, you don’t need our permission. If you’re confident in your judgment, then follow it. None of us here know the ‘right answer’ anyway.”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s bring along the Protective Suit. Who’s going to wear it?”

“Eunsol, since I’m leading the way, I’ll wear it.”

***

- Park Seungyub

While struggling to keep my balance atop the head of the colossal sea worm, I approached the mysterious girl.

As I did, she let out a high-pitched scream.

“Kyaaah! Stay away from me!”

I didn’t feel the need to respond.

“Please! Please don’t come near me! I’m not a bad person~!”

What a load of bullcrap. Does she think I’m slow?

She’s clearly standing atop a monster that eats people, and she expects me to believe she’s not the one controlling it?

Every step I took toward her, she took one step back.

But no matter how big this sea worm was, there was only so much space on its head.

Eventually, she ran out of space—

“Kyaaaahhh!”

…and she slipped off the edge of the worm’s head.

Seriously, is she an idiot?

- Splash!

At the same time, the enormous sea worm began to tremble violently!

I couldn’t even hold my footing for three seconds before I lost my balance and started sliding off.

Ah, crap! How high up is this?

We were on the head of a sea worm that was “looking down” on the bus terminal roof!

How far is the fall from here? Am I seriously going to die like this???

…

A soft, warm sensation supported me from below.

That was when I realized—the grand cosmic protection of “Heaven’s Luck” was still with me.

“Who the heck…? Wait, Perro?”

The one who caught me from below was none other than Perro, who had transformed into his grotesque form!

I’d heard before that while Perro couldn’t fly in his grotesque form, he was an excellent swimmer.

So I guess it wasn’t too surprising that he was able to swim freely through the tsunami that was destroying Busan and catch me.

But there was still one thing I couldn’t understand!

How did he even know I was here?!

I’m sure he went with Songee-noona to Sea God’s Island!

…

Anyway, what happened to that girl who fell off earlier?

Is she already dead?

- CRASH!

A massive wave surged toward us.

Perro’s body jolted, and I was nearly thrown off, so I clung to his neck in a panic.

- *Quackkk!*

“Whoa! That sound was just like a duck! Perro, hang in there! I’m gonna fall!”

Fortunately, even though Perro let out a frustrated cry, he didn’t let me fall.

And then, something grabbed my leg.

“W-what the hell?!”

“It’s me.”

A girl’s voice, as if she knew me.

The girl who had fallen off the sea worm earlier suddenly appeared from underwater.

“You… you’re not dead?”

The girl replied as if I were the ridiculous one, “Come on, my ancestors were fish! Dying in the water would be humiliating, don’t you think? Anyway, more importantly—you!”

“Huh? What?!”

“You’re a master from the Administration, aren’t you? I saw that incredible footwork you displayed earlier. No way you’re at the right age to have mastered such advanced martial arts. Could it be… reverse aging? Body Reconstruction?!”

“I think you’re getting some weird ideas.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret. But thanks to you, a lot of people might die now!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I was in the middle of saving people with Kongi! Did you mistake us for villains because of Kongi’s appearance? Look at this!”

Following her outstretched finger, I turned to look. There, on the neck of the sea worm—which, for some reason, she called “Kongi”—was a large steel container. I could see people trapped inside it.

They were really rescuing people?

“Hey! Who the hell is going to look at that monster and think, ‘Ah, yeah, they’re here to save people’? At least tie a ribbon on it or something!”

“A ribbon? Hmm, that’s not a bad idea—wait, no! That’s not the issue right now. You need to find my flute! Without it, I can’t control Kongi!”

Ah, I see.

I finally understood the situation.

This girl was using that monster to rescue people. But when I suddenly appeared on its head, she panicked, ran away, and ended up losing the flute that controls the monster.

“Alright, so where’s the flute?”

The girl pointed. I followed her gaze and saw a car that had been swept away and was now hanging precariously on the edge of a building.

“See it?”

See what exactly?

“If you’ve mastered the Eye Technique, you should be able to spot the flute stuck near the car’s wheel. It got swept away but luckily got wedged there. Please, go retrieve it.”

…???

“You want me to go get that? How? There are so many obstacles. Even Perro would struggle to get through all that.”

With a calm and collected expression, the girl answered, “Perro… you’re talking about the mythical bird you’re riding, aren’t you? I don’t understand why you’re hesitating. Just use Water Walking to cross. Are you really going to keep hiding your true identity even now?”

I was speechless. My mind blanked out.

How am I supposed to respond to that?

I barely managed to open my mouth to ask the one question that had been bugging me since earlier.

“Who the hell are you?”

The girl, soaked from head to toe, gave a bright smile.

“My name is Liringanaur, but some people call me the third daughter of the Sea /genesisforsaken