### Chapter 238 – Room 202, Cursed Room – ‘Mermaid Princess’ (16)
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– Han Kain
I felt it during our first attempt: Serenade is seriously wary of us. More specifically, it seems she harbors hostility toward the Administration Bureau. In a situation like this, what can we say to persuade her and extract information?
Last night, I discussed various possibilities with my colleagues, but we ultimately reached one conclusion: whether she likes it or not, we must inform Serenade that the Sea God Island and the entire merfolk race are facing an existential threat. This leads to the big question—how do we explain how we know this?
To clarify our explanation, we came up with the narrative that “we turned back time.” Depending on the perspective, it’s technically not a bold-faced lie; every time we enter, the time in Room 202 resets to the starting point.
When Serenade heard my words, her mouth momentarily dropped open.
“What on earth are you talking about? You Administration Bureau folks aren’t trying to mess with me, are you?”
Now’s my chance! I must press on before she regains her composure.
“Before turning back time, I should tell you what we’ve uncovered. For your reference, ‘Lee Sooho’ is very much alive, and the governor is in hot pursuit.”
Serenade’s expression hardened like concrete.
“Lee Sooho’s goal is the descent of Kadalu. Moreover, Governor, you have confined Elena—the daughter of the Sea God—within a hospital in the western region of the island.”
“Stop.”
A heavy silence enveloped the room. Serenade paced, then finally spoke.
“I don’t know if you really turned back time, but it seems you’ve gathered some troubling information.”
“…”
“However, I feel the need to verify one more thing.”
“Verify?”
Instead of answering, she stared us down. What on earth is she trying to confirm—
[Advice: 3 → 2]
[Headbutt Serenade!]
The moment I saw the notification, I felt a rush of energy and headbutted Serenade without a second thought. She went flying over 2 meters, crashing into the wall—talk about a flying mermaid!
At the same time, Songyi and Jinchul in the office gasped.
“Eeek! Oppa?”
“Ga, Kain?”
I was just as baffled as they were and couldn’t offer any explanation. Serenade picked herself up from the wall, looking utterly exhausted.
Boom!
There was a knocking sound at the door. Maybe a bodyguard or a secretary?
“Saint! What’s happening? Open the door immediately—”
“Stop! I’m fine; don’t let anyone into the office.”
“… Are you really okay?”
“Yeah.”
After a moment, Serenade stood up as if nothing had happened, looking at us.
“You do have something going on. So… time? Alright. I see you’ve already experienced ‘my powers’ before turning back time. Still amazing, though; my powers usually don’t come with a premonition.”
I understood the situation now. Just a moment ago, Serenade was about to use her supernatural strength against us, and I had preemptively blocked it with that headbutt.
… The danger alert only triggers when “life is in danger.” This meant Serenade had just attempted to kill me. My expression turned stone-cold.
At the same time, I felt a serious threat. Serenade possesses the kind of supernatural ability that can kill without warning. What exactly is the nature of that power?
“Were you just trying to kill us?”
Serenade spoke nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal.
“You’re saying you can turn back time? If that’s true, one of you could die and still come back. Plus, you already know about my powers. You blocked them, after all. So, no problem, right?”
Was it brazen or just… totally bonkers? I was at a loss for words. To calm our rising anger, Serenade brought up the next topic.
“I will believe you now. Given that you haven’t concealed such a mystical tale, it seems you need my assistance, huh?”
“I have a lot of questions.”
“Ask away.”
In the previous round, we gathered quite a bit of information. We learned that the source of the curse is Lee Sooho, who is neither dead nor alive, and that unless we act soon, the descent will occur between tomorrow morning and noon.
But we still lack one crucial piece of information. Externally, Kadalu is the god of the merfolk. So, what would cause this god to wipe out the merfolk upon descending? Lee Sooho mentioned that the merfolk committed two sins: one committed 800 years ago by the first merfolk and the other by current merfolk.
We need to know what these sins are. This would surely shed light on Kadalu’s motives.
I summarized the tales regarding sin briefly. Serenade wore a somewhat enigmatic expression.
“That’s a tough question to answer.”
“What do you mean?”
“Of the two questions, I can’t answer one because I don’t know it myself. But I’ll share what I do know: the sin of the first merfolk.”
One of Room 202’s biggest mysteries began to unravel now.
“You seem to know that the ancestors of merfolk were originally poor fishermen. Eight hundred years ago, they discovered a mysterious creature referred to as ‘Rudahr’ in an underwater cave.”
“A giant snail-like creature, right?”
“… Have you already seen it? We consider Rudahr a servant of the gods. Kadalu means ‘father of Rudahr.’ Our ancestors encountered Rudahr in that underwater cave and soon recognized Kadalu as well. The fishermen made a pact by placing Rudahr in their bodies.”
The first contract. With those words, Serenade opened a desk drawer and retrieved a thick notebook.
“This is the documentation left regarding the ancient memories of the daughter of the Sea God who made contact 438 years ago. According to this record, the Sea God granted the fishermen the ‘right to become offspring and participate in the cycle.’”
“What does that mean?”
“Please listen carefully. Even the ancestors themselves didn’t fully comprehend the contract. They simply understood it as ‘worship the Sea God, and you’ll be blessed with plentiful catches.’ This interpretation wasn’t entirely incorrect; they did receive plentiful fish as a result. The fish reportedly overflowed the island.”
Well, if you gained benefits, then a cost is certainly due.
“As time passed, the ancestors finally began to grasp the deeper meaning of the contract. Within ten years, those who had entered the contract began to physically change to adapt to aquatic life. Some of those involved in the pact had their lungs shrink and gills emerge, making it challenging to breathe on land.”
“So, they literally became ‘merfolk.'”
“Transforming into a different species, destined to live eternally in the sea. That was the true meaning of the contract made between the Sea God and the ancestors. And the ancestors rejected this fate.”
With a curious expression, Ahri asked, “How did they manage that?”
“To understand that, you must first comprehend the creature Rudahr. Rudahr is simply a ‘colonial organism.’ It resembles a bee, an otherworldly bee that lives in the sea, infused with supernatural energy.”
“An otherworldly sea bee?”
“And this Rudahr has a ‘queen’ individual—one who can control the entire colony. Similar to a queen bee.”
From this point, I realized one fundamental truth.
“That queen bee is the daughter of the Sea God.”
“Exactly. Ever since the first merfolk accepted Rudahr, every merfolk has been born containing Rudahr within them from birth. In this process, if they are born with the ‘Queen Rudahr,’ they awaken various supernatural abilities and can contact ancient memories, thus becoming the daughter of the Sea God.”
Suddenly, it felt like I was attending a lecture on the ecology of supernatural creatures.
“But that Queen Rudahr possesses the ability to control the ‘growth’ of other Rudahr.”
Controlling the growth of other Rudahr?
“It was likely originally to prevent multiple queens from emerging within one Rudahr population. The first-born queen has the power to prevent others from growing to challenge her position. Oddly enough, this ability inadvertently saved the ancestors.”
Ahri, with an ‘I can’t believe this’ look, said, “So right now, the daughter of the Sea God, who possesses the ‘Queen Rudahr,’ is preventing the growth of other Rudahr, which results in the current merfolk?”
“Not only hindering other Rudahr but also our own growth. Because of that, the Rudahr within the bodies of the merfolk on Sea God Island cannot mature beyond their infant state. Consequently, the physical mutations only reach a point where they gain some scales.”
This convoluted discussion about the ‘ecology of supernatural creatures’ ultimately boiled down to a simple conclusion.
In plain terms, Rudahr is a sea bee, and just like a queen bee controlling her worker bees, the daughter of the Sea God is forcibly halting not only the awakening of other merfolk but also her own, resulting in the current state of the merfolk.
It might sound dictatorial, but by preventing that growth, merfolk can still maintain their human form and live on land. I don’t think any merfolk wants to turn into fish and splash back into the sea. Ultimately, the daughters of the Sea God inadvertently saved the merfolk in a real sense.
“That’s the first sin. It must be a sin that continues from the beginning to the present.”
“I’ve shared an important fact with you. Now, I’d like to ask one question.”
Serenade turned the tables and questioned us.
“Why would the Sea God be angry?”
“Huh? That… based on what we’ve heard, you benefitted from the Sea God yet didn’t pay your dues, right? If you had truly paid, you should have transformed into fish and lived in the sea.”
Serenade shook her head.
“If that was such a significant sin, why is she punishing now? There’s been 800 years to act upon it.”
Without realizing it, I slapped my knee. She has a point. If using Rudahr’s ecological characteristics to remain on land is a sin, then why has Kadalu just now opted to punish? Not after 80 years, but after 800 years of repetition.
Serenade answered as if she were questioning herself.
“Honestly, I think the ‘first sin’ has already been forgiven on Sea God Island.”
“Forgiven?”
“Of course, that’s merely a sort of hopeful thought. However, there is some basis to it. First, although we live on land, we continue to worship Kadalu as our god. Second, the merfolk still live in harmony with the sea. While alive, we reside on the island, and upon death, we are buried in the sea. Third, aside from casting nightmares for the past 800 years, Kadalu hasn’t punished us.”
I understood now.
The merfolk still adhere to their worship of the Sea God while living off land, and aside from Kadalu’s nightmares, they haven’t faced any punishment, leading them to interpret that their first sin of rejecting life under the sea has already been forgiven.
If that’s the case, what is the ‘second sin’?
As if she anticipated my bewilderment, Serenade opened her mouth again.
“The real issue is the second sin. It’s certain that we’ve committed some new sin. We’re aware of this too. But there’s one key problem.”
“What is it?”
“I have no idea what that sin is.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not joking. For about 20 years now, Kadalu has been intensely angry, and the daughters of the Sea God have faintly sensed that anger. Yet, for 20 years, no one has discovered the reason behind Kadalu’s rage. This is the main problem regarding the second sin.”
While I was absentmindedly listening, Songyi interjected.
“Uh… environmental destruction, maybe?”
Serenade scoffed in response.
“You really think we haven’t thought of that level?”
Silence fell upon the room.
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