Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 237: Room 202, Cursed Room - ’The Little Mermaid’ (15)

- Park Seungyub

“Strange? I thought it was supposed to be here.”

“…”

In our second attempt, my mission with the doctor was to find Liringanaur, who had been exiled by Serenade and was now residing in Busan.

However, tracking down the “house she usually stayed at,” as Liringanaur had described it, was proving more difficult than expected.

Honestly, this wasn’t my fault. Liringanaur hadn’t given us a precise address.

She had simply pointed at a ruined building while riding a giant marine worm named “Kongi” during a previous encounter and said, “That’s the place!”

Finding that same building in an intact Busan, after seeing it in a tsunami-devasted city, was no small task.

Just as I was growing frustrated, the doctor beside me spoke, “Seungyub! Could it be that villa over there?”

“What?”

I looked at the villa he was pointing to, and suddenly everything clicked.

The vague memories I’d been struggling with became clear in an instant.

“How did you find it? Even after I was shown by her directly, I still can’t find it.”

The reason was simpler than I expected.

“It’s broad daylight, yet every window and balcony are tightly sealed, like a darkroom. It’s likely an attempt to avoid being noticed since she’s a merfolk, but ironically, that makes the place stand out even more.”

“Ah, I see!”

Thankfully, we managed to find it quickly.

What a relief.

***

- Lee Eunsol

“Yes, yes, well done!”

Seungyub’s report came in.

It seemed their task was completed quickly.

“They’ve found the third daughter?”

“Yes, they found her quickly and even convinced her to head to the Sea God’s island.”

“They convinced her this fast? I thought she’d be stubborn, refusing to return since her sister chased her out.”

“Apparently, they convinced her by saying that the island was facing a massive crisis.”

“Well, that’s not wrong. Now, we need to focus on our side.”

If Sanghyun and Seungyub’s task was to find and recruit Liringanaur, then Grandpa and I were responsible for investigating Cheongseong Group and figuring out how to locate Lee Suho.

But how were we supposed to find Lee Suho?

Searching an island larger than Jeju with only nine people in half a day?

Impossible.

Even Serenade, the island’s ruler, hadn’t been able to locate him.

There was also a high possibility that Lee Suho was hiding using supernatural means.

Our idea, however, was simple: request support from the Control Administration.

With more manpower or reconnaissance satellites, we could potentially find him.

However, both Ahri and Grandpa, who understood the Administration best, warned that it wouldn’t be easy.

Still, Grandpa had been persistently on the phone with someone from the Administration, trying to push the plan forward.

“Still no luck?”

“It’s difficult. Same reason as before—they say there’s insufficient evidence.”

We already knew, from our first attempt, that if we didn’t find Lee Suho today, Kadaru’dah would descend and trigger an apocalypse.

But how could we explain this to the people in the scenario?

It’s not like we can just say, “We’re actually from the outside world!”

The Administration was an organization with unparalleled human and material resources compared to most others in this world.

But that didn’t mean their resources were infinite.

After all, their mission was to protect an entire planet, so they were always short on resources.

Any additional support required solid justification.

Just as Grandpa and I were lamenting the possibility of failing this second attempt because we couldn’t locate Lee Suho, unexpected help arrived.

Grandpa received a call from Park Jinseong, the chief of the Administration’s Busan branch.

“So you’re saying 22 search drones and one strike team can be deployed?”

“Yes, Agent Kim Mooksung. It may be insufficient, but this is the best I can do.”

“I’d rather thank you. Pulling even this much must not have been easy. When will they deploy?”

“The drones can be launched immediately, but the strike team will only reach the Sea God’s island by evening. Also, I’ll be coming as well.”

“Hmm?”

I was startled to hear this from beside him.

The chief himself?

He didn’t seem like the type to be directly involved in the field.

“Agent Kim, to be honest, your request for support is poorly justified. It’s mostly based on intuition and conjecture with some embellishment.”

“…I won’t deny that.”

It couldn’t be helped.

The information we’d gained from the first attempt would seem like nothing more than a made-up story to the NPCs in the scenario.

“However, I’ve had a similar feeling before.”

“…?”

“You mentioned in your report that there’s a possibility Lee Suho is alive, correct?”

“Yes, but—”

“I’ve encountered Lee Suho four times over the past few years. Each time, I felt a shameful impulse.”

“An impulse?”

“Agent, I pride myself on being a good judge of character.”

Of course—otherwise, he wouldn’t hold a managerial position in the Administration.

“Every time I met Lee Suho, I felt an overwhelming urge to kill him. I suppressed it repeatedly, and then one day, I suddenly received a report that he was dead. While I was relieved, I also felt a chill run down my spine. No matter how much I pondered it, he didn’t seem like someone who would die so easily. Hearing your report just now gave me that same chill.”

With that, Park Jinseong ended the call after confirming his support.

“Grandpa, what do you think that was about?”

“He’s trying to resurrect an evil god, so he must’ve been twisted even before all this.”

“So the Administration’s higher-ups were debating whether to kill someone just because they seemed strange?”

“Hmm… Honestly, I’ve had similar feelings a few times. Like, ‘That guy’s definitely going to cause trouble someday,’ but I’m surprised the chief himself is coming. Maybe there’s a personal grudge involved?”

Experienced detectives were said to have a gut instinct for identifying criminals, even from something as subtle as their gait.

Such intuition was likely a rapid synthesis of various contextual clues, even if it seemed like a simple hunch.

Was Park Jinseong feeling something similar?

Or, as Grandpa suggested, is there a personal reason?

At least one thing was clear: Lee Suho had been a dangerous individual even before becoming the Saint of the Sea God.

With this, our tasks seemed complete.

Sanghyun and Seungyub successfully recruited Liringanaur.

Grandpa and I managed to investigate Cheongseong Group and secure support from the Administration.

Now, the most critical roles were left to the others.

Kain, Jinchul, Ahri, and Songee—would they be able to convince Serenade and break Elena’s seal?

Grandpa nudged me.

“Sanghyun seems to have arrived at that building. Let’s head to the Sea God’s island now. The limousine is ready.”

Seungyub, meanwhile, was on his way to the Administration’s Seoul branch under the pretext of reporting the information they’d gathered from Liringanaur.

After all, it was the safest place we could think of in South Korea.

But would it be safe even in the face of a god’s resurrection?

That remained to be seen*.*

***

- Han Kain

“Noona just sent a secure message.”

Ahri perked up her ears.

“What does it say?”

“They’ve found Liringanaur, and the doctor is bringing her here. They’ve also made decent progress investigating Cheongseong Group. Most importantly, the Administration agreed to deploy reconnaissance drones and a special forces unit.”

Ahri had already taken out her phone to check the message from Noona.

“They managed to secure reconnaissance drones? Impressive. There are fewer than 200 of those in all of Korea.”

“Are they different from regular drones? Can 20 drones really comb through the Sea God’s island in just half a day?”

“More than enough. But if Lee Suho used some incredible concealment magic, that’s a different problem entirely…”

While others had seemingly completed their tasks, we hadn’t even started yet.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

We hadn’t even reached the Sea God’s island.

The limousine had just entered the overwater road leading to the island.

I tapped the front seat.

“Hyung, be careful.”

“I know.”

Soon, the limousine stopped in the middle of the overwater road.

Just like before, ominous mist extended across the road before disappearing.

“Who do you think is behind this? Lee Suho? Serenade?”

“Who knows…. we’ll have to find out.”

The limousine started moving again.

Silence filled the backseat.

We had a rough plan for how to convince her, but would it work?

Even to me, it sounded like an unbelievable story.

Perhaps my unease was showing, as Ahri added a comment from beside me, “Act with confidence. Confidence is half the battle in situations like this.”

“And the other half?”

“Luck. That’s why I wanted to bring Seungyub along to stack the odds in our favor.”

Around midday, much earlier than during our first attempt, we arrived at the Sea God’s island.

“Welcome, envoys from the Administration.”

“Greetings, Saintess of the Deep Sea.”

“Please, just call me Governor. That is my official title in external affairs.”

Up to this point, the dialogue was identical to before.

But now, things were about to diverge.

“Governor, I’m sure our visit feels sudden.”

“…It does. We scheduled a meeting, but you insisted on meeting immediately and forced me to cancel my prior engagements. I hope you have a compelling reason for this.”

I took a step forward silently, shifting my gaze between the ceiling and the window to create an air of importance.

This was one of the little tricks I’d picked up at the Hotel.

Perro, as if on cue, flew over and perched on my shoulder, adopting a melancholic expression.

At the same time, Jinchul-hyung stepped back and firmly shut the door to the room.

“What on earth are you trying to say—”

“Governor, listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. This is our second meeting. I used the Administration’s special resources to turn back time. In the erased timeline, the Sea God’s island was destroyed by Lee Suho.”

Serenade’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“And, Governor, you entrusted the island’s future to us and promised to meet again.”

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken