### Chapter 223 – Room 202, Cursed Room – ‘Mermaid Princess’ (1)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 100
Current Location: 2nd Floor, Room 202 – Cursed Room ‘Mermaid Princess’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
– Han Kain
I know about the existence of the Administration Bureau. They’re an organization that used to be seen as a group that just slapped monsters—devils and ghosts—around. But the average person doesn’t know much beyond that. I had no idea about any faction conflicts within it.
“It’s not that complicated, so listen up. There are three main factions within the Bureau: ‘Destruction, Isolation, and Control.’”
Destruction, Isolation, Control.
“The Destruction faction is the most traditional. They aim to eliminate all chaos entities, holding onto the belief that the only good chaos entities are dead ones.”
Songee looked a bit shocked.
“Isn’t that what the Bureau is all about?”
“Keep listening. The Isolation faction formed after recognizing the limits of the Destruction faction. Now that you’ve all been through so many bizarre experiences in the hotel, I think you can understand what I mean. Do you really think humans can overpower all the chaos entities in the universe?”
… Images flashed in my mind of those unfathomable beings, like the moth that could flip the land and sky with a single flap or the lord who could turn someone into an angel with just a fraction of its power.
“I guess that seems hopeless.”
“Right. There are chaos entities out there that humanity currently has no way to deal with, and there are some of them that take an interest in Earth. This understanding of reality is where the Isolation faction begins. If we recognize our lack of power, the actions of the Destruction faction in opposing every chaos entity are exceedingly dangerous.”
I understood. Even if some beings don’t initially intend to harm humans, once the Destruction faction shows up shooting guns and throwing bombs, those beings might start feeling hostile.
“The goal of the Isolation faction is, as the name implies, ‘Isolation.’ Typically, they aim to keep chaos entities separate from humans. If the chaos entities are too powerful, they’ll go the other way and remove humans instead. The idea is to have them live in separate worlds.”
Eunsol, who had been listening, tilted her head.
“I get what you’re saying, but can you really say you want to isolate them? If they’re so strong that humans can’t handle them, then that Isolation isn’t something humans can enforce—”
Cough! Eunsol, I understand your curiosity, but let’s keep things to the characteristics of the factions for now. We’re not here to give an overall lecture about the Bureau. We’re just trying to grasp the situation in Room 202.
Grandpa’s attitude clearly signaled ‘don’t ask more questions.’
If that was the case, why bring it up in the first place? But, whatever. The latter statement was right. We’re not here to study the Bureau’s reality; we’re trying to understand Room 202, so a basic level of knowledge should suffice.
Still, the earlier discussion was nagging at me. Eunsol’s point about entities that were too powerful to be destroyed by civilization while also being isolated lingered in my mind. I suddenly had one logical answer pop into my head.
The Bureau has unknown means of isolation. While they may not be able to kill a powerful chaos entity, there’s some force that can separate them from humans.
Ari continued her lecture.
“As a side note, the world we live in can be seen as one formed around the Isolation faction. It’s a world where chaos entities and humans live without acknowledging one another. The Bureau just turns a blind eye to those who don’t cross the line. Ordinary people acknowledge the Bureau’s existence to some extent but don’t know its specifics.”
The world we lived in was dominated by the ‘Isolation faction.’
Thinking like this made me realize how competent the Isolation faction was. Before entering this hotel, I had no clue about the existence of monsters or devils; I had merely thought they were things that were on TV, leading an untroubled life unaware of how many monsters were out there.
“Now back to Room 202. The answer is clear—they’re in a world dominated by the ‘Control faction.’”
If the Destruction faction is the oldest force, and the Isolation faction emerged recognizing the limitations of the Destruction faction, then…
“The Control faction is the newest and the most radical group. They believe the very idea of excluding or isolating chaos entities is ‘outdated.’”
“Outdated, like, excluding and isolating is passé?”
“They research chaos entities and even the very source of the powers they wield, aiming to put the supernatural powers under human ‘control.’ Some radical groups even believe humanity should evolve beyond Homo sapiens, while others promote active exchanges with other races.”
Grandpa chimed in lightly.
“Fundamentally, the Control faction also aims to preserve humanity. However, they think that ‘various means’ are necessary for survival. For instance, what if they could find an extraterrestrial god who is friendly? That would be quite reassuring, wouldn’t it? Of course, that’s not an easy task, and after all, nothing in the Bureau is easy.”
After hearing this, my sister summarized it neatly.
“So, Room 202 is a world controlled by the ‘Control faction,’ right?”
“Exactly.”
“I think I’m starting to understand. If you say ‘kill all the other races,’ that’s Destruction. If you say, ‘let’s separate our lands,’ that’s Isolation. And if you say, ‘let’s live together,’ that’s Control. Am I right?”
“Very roughly, yes.”
“Last question from me. I doubt the Bureau would be the kind of group that would say, ‘All conscious beings have rights’ and graciously allow other races to live on Earth.”
“To be honest, that’s not really them.”
“Why did they allow them to exist on Earth? Because they couldn’t stop them? I don’t think that. If these entities are so powerful that humanity can’t stop them, wouldn’t those beings try to conquer Earth instead?”
Grandpa summed it up briefly.
“That’s something we’ll need to figure out moving forward. Now, let’s head out.”
As we stepped out of the limousine toward the building owned by Cheongseong Group, I began to grasp what it meant that the world mixed humans and other races created by the ‘Control faction.’
In the middle of the bustling area, a humanoid lizard was blabbering away on a billboard. On the first floor of a building, there was a shop managing the giant feathers of a bird-human creature.
As I was distractedly taking in my surroundings, I suddenly bumped into something.
“Hey, human! Watch where you’re going!”
“W-What? Oh! I’m so sorry!”
“Where was your mind wandering? —Huh? You’re from the Bureau, right? Sorry for not recognizing your uniform sooner.”
An enormous spider-like creature with six legs gave me a frowning look—well, that’s what I assume it looked like, because with its compound eyes, I genuinely couldn’t tell what kind of expression it was making—before it grumbled an apology and walked past me.
…
It’s a peculiar world.
Honestly, I can’t tell if it’s a good world. In the value system of ‘this stage,’ I might just be an exceedingly narrow-minded individual. At least it’s comforting to know that even the other races in Room 202 seem to treat the Bureau’s agents with considerable caution. So I guess there wouldn’t be any unnecessary confrontations with the spider while walking down the street.
On the 18th floor of Cheongseong Group, heading to the chairman’s office, everyone loosened up a bit as we got inside the elevator. We were all too busy adapting to this bizarre world to say anything.
Ari cautiously broke the silence.
“Did you notice the kind of vibe this stage has as we came here?”
“…”
“Just to be safe, don’t go around attacking them like they’re monsters or anything. Even if they look like spider monsters, oddly enough, this is the kind of world where they might have a Korean residency or even permanent resident status.”
“…”
Imagining a spider clutching a South Korean residency card made me chuckle involuntarily.
—
The chairman of Cheongseong Group, Lee Moonchun, left a decent impression. Despite our lateness, he didn’t show any signs of annoyance. He explained the disputes between Cheongseong Group and Sea God Island very articulately, allowing us to quickly grasp the situation.
What kind of country is South Korea? A country obsessed with real estate!
In the end, the source of the supernatural conflict entangling the chaebol, the Administration Bureau, the God of the Ocean, and the deep-sea goddess was rooted in real estate. Naturally, Eunsol began to neatly summarize the situation.
“Chairman, what you’re saying is, from Cheongseong Group’s perspective, ownership of the port facilities on Sea God Island clearly belongs to Cheongseong Group, right?”
“Exactly. Legal analyses on this matter have already undergone professional scrutiny through more than three law firms, and many experts with over 20 years of legal experience have—”
“Chairman, with all due respect, why bring all that up? Do you really not understand that the law doesn’t mean a thing in this dispute?”
“… I do recognize that. If the structure worked according to the law, my son wouldn’t have died.”
“It won’t matter how many legal experts you bring; pouring out all that legal talk to the followers of the God of the Ocean is like reading a scripture to a cow’s ears. To them, Sea God Island is sacred land ‘created’ by the sea god. Naturally, they’ll believe that the port of that sacred land, and all the economic benefits that arise from it, belong to them.”
“….”
“Don’t get me wrong; I’m only stating their position. If you were planning to just accept everything they’ve claimed, we wouldn’t have come all the way here.”
The chairman’s expression became notably brighter.
“Do you have a plan, Agent?”
“Legal discussions about port ownership may hold no significance to the merfolk, but the non-aggression treaty does. That treaty was one made by their god and stamped with the god’s blood.”
A contract stamped with divine blood. The followers of that god can’t simply dismiss a contract of such stature.
“In the end, if it’s certain your son was killed by them, and we uncover that evidence, subsequent negotiations will inevitably favor us.”
“Are you thinking of directly visiting Sea God Island? The merfolk are quite brutish.”
“Are you warning me about that?”
“… I misspoke to someone who’s about to become a Bureau agent. I hope you do your best.”
“Of course. And…”
After pausing to consider something, my sister asked a rather heavy question.
“Chairman, can you share what you truly seek?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it punishment for your son’s death you desire? Or is it ownership of the port?”
“….”
“It’s an important question. To be frank, the other party might be willing to give up ownership of the port in exchange for covering up your son’s death or the violation of the non-aggression treaty.”
The chairman, who had been wearing a distant expression, slowly muttered.
“… The port. It’s the port.”
“Understood. Should I contact you at this number you gave me earlier?”
“Yes.”
After getting the gist of what was needed, we left the chairman’s office. Looks like we’ll need to head to Sea God Island to find evidence that Chairman Lee’s son was murdered by the merfolk.
—
Once outside the chairman’s office and back in the limousine, the quiet party suddenly erupted into noise.
“Wow! What was that, sis? I thought Ari and grandpa were having a meeting, but did you cover that much stuff?”
“Eunsol is super quick on her feet! Reading all those documents so smoothly and getting into the chairman’s mindset was impressive!”
“Honestly, I saw there were nearly 200 pages and just stared at the ceiling. How do you read that quickly?”
Songee, Ari, and the rest showered her with compliments. Even I thought it was pretty amazing to see.
In just over ten minutes, she had read over 200 pages and nailed down the main points, not just grasping legal jargon but also making economic arguments, all while intuitively sensing the chairman’s deeper intentions. That felt almost like a feat of magic.
With all the compliments flying around, my sister seemed a bit awkward.
“Guys, I originally was a director at Daeyang Group…”
Oh right, didn’t she come from a chaebol family?
Cheerful atmosphere surrounding us, the limousine sped forward. Then Grandpa brought up ‘the most important point.’
“Looks like we’re about to catch a glimpse of Sea God Island. This is where things get serious. One of us should bail out.”
—
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