Chapter 557 – The Secret of the Esper Ship (2)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 27
Current Location: Esper Ship, Room 2nd Floor.
Sage’s Advice: 3
—
– Han Kain
The first impression that struck me as I gazed at Elena’s dream, the Esper Ship, was that it resembled a colossal castle atop the sea.
The blend of white and gold reflecting on the blue sky and water was nothing short of magnificent.
How elegant it looked cutting through the gentle waves!
As expected of a world-famous luxury cruise, the surrounding passengers looked utterly filled with affluence and leisure—naturally, considering the price of the tickets.
Maybe I’m the poorest passenger aboard.
“Oppa, isn’t it amazing?”
“Is it beautiful because of the ship? Yeah, it’s impressive.”
“That too… but this ship is world-renowned, like the Titanic!”
“Really?”
“There were loads of articles saying it got five stars in some famous magazine for five consecutive years, and some renowned entrepreneur praised it!”
“Sounds fun.”
“Right? Because we know when this ship actually came into existence.”
The Esper Ship was born from Elena’s wish.
In other words, it only suddenly appeared on Earth 27 days ago.
“In reality, it was created just 27 days ago, but to the world, it’s been a famous luxury cruise for five years. What do you think?”
“I think the power of ‘dreams’ is unimaginably strong.”
“That’s all?”
“A slight suspicion—does the Management Bureau know about all these changes?”
“Not that kind of thing.”
What’s Songee trying to say here?
“What do you think?”
“Something….”
“Something?”
“It feels like a dream.”
“Right, it does feel like a dream.”
“No, not just about the hotel rewards…. The entire reality. I have this feeling that maybe the ‘memories before entering the hotel’ in our heads were someone’s manipulation.”
“…”
“There have been participants in the hotel before us, and those people likely made wishes that flipped reality upside down.”
Is a family born from wishes genuinely a real family?
Jinchul hyung believed it wasn’t and thus didn’t write a wish.
On the other hand, some, like Songee, created families through dreams.
I was curious about the latter’s psychology, but I vaguely understood it.
Songee thinks that ‘real families’ might never have existed in the first place.
Therefore, there’s no reason why families made from wishes would be fake.
Even until getting on the ship, Eunsol noona had yet to show up. She seemed busier than expected.
*
As soon as we boarded the Esper Ship, I called over a cruise staff member to ask where Elena was.
“Elena? Aha, are you referring to our esteemed captain?”
I thought of showing my invitation to avoid any confusion about a regular guest wanting to meet the ship’s owner, but it seemed unnecessary.
“Haha! Our esteemed captain is currently very busy, you know?”
What does he mean by “know”?
Just as I was about to be flustered, Songee was beaming at me and dragging me along.
“Oppa, you seem to know very little about the Esper Ship.”
“Hmm…”
It would probably just lead to weirder situations if I booked under my name, so I left it to Songee.
Besides, I’ve been busy diving into my ‘exorcist’ work.
“This cruise is famous for its unique events.”
“Events?”
“Like a skeleton captain suddenly popping up or treasure hunts starting!”
“…What even is that?”
“More like theme park events. I heard Elena is in charge of it, which is one of the reasons for the Esper Ship’s popularity.”
Wow, she was really living life to the fullest.
I envied her.
Maybe I should have committed to that suspicious 5 billion inheritance concept and lived in a gigantic mansion with 50 servants!
Exploring the insides of the luxury cruise ship revealed that it had everything imaginable.
From pools and spas to stunning restaurants and bars, gyms, a casino, and even a cinema!
Feeling curious, I went to the bar and ordered wine, just like Eunsol noona.
“Want a drink?”
“Oppa, I’m underage.”
“…”
Why’s Songee still pestering me with this setting?
There’s no way she’s underage after spending so much time in the hotel!
“Now that I think about it, it’s weird. Aren’t you underage and it’s not even a vacation?”
“That’s not true.”
“…But can you really be here alone without your parents?”
A high school girl going on a cruise trip alone when it’s not even vacation time?
What kind of Earth logic is this!?
My dear hotel colleague simply responded.
“Such minor issues weren’t ever a concern for me.”
“…Okay.”
She’ll probably manage just fine.
I heard Songee’s circumstances were just as odd as Elena’s, so that might be all right.
They say she lives like a cartoon character.
Rather than that, I decided to mimic the actions Eunsol noona showed frequently at the hotel.
— Ting~!
“You have to clink the wine glass like this.”
“…”
Grabbing the round wine glass with one hand, I savored the fragrant grape scent.
“Ahh…!”
“…”
“What I’m tasting here is the flavor of 27-year-old Bourgogne wine—”
“Isn’t it Burgundy?”
“…The flavor of 27-year-old Burgundy wine—”
“You could switch it to a 3-year-old bottle and still tell the difference, right?”
“…”
Why’s Songee gotta keep interrupting my attempts to exude sophistication?
— Slurp!
“Mmm.”
“How does it taste?”
“…”
“Be honest with me.”
Honestly…
“I have no idea what I’m tasting. Cola is way better.”
At that point, the bartender seemed to be unable to hold it in.
“Haha, handsome customer! There’s a saying in France. Just as wine needs time to age toward its peak flavor, people must also mature to truly appreciate it.”
Do they really have such saying?
Although the compliment about being handsome was likely flattery, I still felt good.
“You’re young and handsome, so you’re not at the age to appreciate wine just yet. Hah… as you experience the world’s storms—”
“…”
I doubt there’s anyone on this ship older than me or who has been through tougher times.
*
I moved to a spot with no eavesdropping people.
Even in a quiet area, a teasing classical music tickled my ears, making my heart feel a bit abundant.
“Nice, right?”
“Yeah. It feels like an extremely long party time.”
“Sure does. In hotel standards, this is a massively long party time. I envy Elena for seeming to have so much fun… Why am I busy being an exorcist?”
“Really, why are you making things hard for yourself?”
“Things just happened that way.”
Since it was just the two of us, we naturally started discussing my recent work.
“I didn’t start out saying I’d be an exorcist! After accidentally resolving some hotel issues related to Eunsol noona, I just started noticing the ‘twists’ in the world.”
“Is that so?”
“I haven’t even gotten paid for it.”
Not that I needed the money.
While I’m not living grandly like Elena, I still have a tidy sum in my account thanks to the hotel’s kind management.
“Everyone’s enjoying their rest now, but in six months, we’ll need to start warming up.”
“…True.”
“A year from now, something will begin.”
“Oppa, you just sounded like a really annoying prophet.”
“….”
“Just kidding.”
“I’ve recently uncovered something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“Maybe… the Management Bureau might not have noticed. I need to ask Ahri to find out for sure.”
The peculiar thing I had realized at some point.
There’s a high chance the Bureau isn’t aware, simply because they don’t have a ‘Status Window’ like mine.
“Now that’s interesting. What did you discover?”
“Do you know that the ‘current location’ appears in the Status Window?”
“Yeah.”
“Sometimes, that location suddenly changes.”
“Eh?”
Songee’s eyes widened, seemingly asking what I meant.
“Take the incident from three days ago as an example. I had to head near Hyewon-dong, and the address appeared as something like Seoul, Dongdaemun-gu, Hyewon-dong.”
“That sounds about right.”
“But within a certain building, the location suddenly changed to ‘Searching…’”
“…”
“And if you wait long enough in that state, a truly bizarre address comes up. The address I saw at Eunsol noona’s hotel was ‘Atlantis.’”
“Ah, Atlantis?”
That might have been a bit too much of a surprise; Songee looked flustered.
“The name from three days ago was ‘Artio City.’”
“Where’s that?”
“I don’t know.”
A brief silence followed, and then my hypothesis came.
“It feels like an unknown place that might be invading certain parts of this world.”
“That’s intriguing. Hmm, could it be related to the end that’s supposed to start in a year?”
“Well… who knows?”
I’m not sure about that yet.
After some contemplation, Songee brought up Room 207.
“You analyzed Room 207 as a mock test for reality, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And currently, we’re taking the college entrance exam.”
“Kind of.”
“The core issue in Room 207 always involved a ‘mirror.’ There must be mirrors in reality as well, right?”
“Maybe…”
Could there be a relation between the distortion of place names and mirrors?
It’s too early to say anything definitively.
*
Around 5 PM, an announcement came in asking us to head to the top floor of the cruise ship.
I changed into a well-prepared outfit and was greeted by Songee, looking splendid in her neatly dressed beige-toned dress.
“Wow~! You look incredibly pretty like this!”
“Did I look bad from other angles?”
In the moment of panic, Songee giggled, making it seem like a joke.
When we arrived at the top deck, a cool breeze swept through, carrying a hint of salty sea air.
Many people seemed to be family guests, with loads of chattering kids around.
Under the warm sunlight, the happy faces of people filled the atmosphere.
With classical music tickling my ears and tropical trees sprouting everywhere, it looked like paradise.
Soon, a prominent figure arrived, ready to elevate the heavenly ambiance of the ship.
“Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the captain of the Esper Ship! Please give her a round of applause!”
The audience clapped and smiled joyfully.
Typically, the captain of a cruise ship wouldn’t have such a commanding presence, but Elena’s entrance signaled the beginning of an exciting evening event.
Kids and their parents who came to watch were all laughing joyfully.
Truly, it felt like a theme park atmosphere.
“I wonder what Elena has prepared this time? A treasure hunt maybe? Last time was ‘Find Elena!’”
“Find Elena? Sounds like they were having a blast!”
The moment Elena appeared, there was a sudden sparkle, and the lights on the ship subtly changed.
Everyone’s attention, even the lights, seemed to focus on Elena.
It’s not that a shipowner would typically draw such attention, but seeing someone with extraordinary beauty do such a thing made me admire her unconsciously.
“Wow….”
There wasn’t much to say.
She was just pretty.
Standing in the sunlight, Elena truly looked like she had come down from the heavens.
She felt less like a person and more like living light.
As I was marveling at her, Songee nudged me teasingly.
“Shut your mouth. Seriously, you’re into this stuff!”
“She was a wannabe actress, right?”
“I guess that means she enjoys being in the spotlight.”
In that moment, our eyes met with Elena’s.
Her smile, as if recognizing us, was just as beautiful.
“Oh my, Elena unnie! You wouldn’t be coming over here, right?”
That would draw too much attention.
For me, my unique psychic power would make me forgotten by everyone the next half day, but Songee would receive the curiosity of everyone wondering, “Who in the world is so familiar with the captain?”
Thank goodness, that didn’t happen.
Elena, being perceptive enough, engaged the people around her in conversation while subtly approaching us.
“…”
I was relieved there was no hassle, but I felt a bit disappointed.
Did I secretly wish Elena would walk right up to us without worrying about anyone’s gaze?
“Kain Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you prepared the present?”
“I’m holding it right here.”
“Let me have a look as soon as Elena arrives.”
“…”
Songee’s mischievous expression made me smile too.
“Fine! I’ll give it right away!”
This was a happy moment.
I wish this time could last forever.
“…But Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you feel a bit… weird since earlier?”
“What?”
“There’s this feeling like something’s poking my head repeatedly.”
Poking your head repeatedly, huh?
Advice: 3 → 2
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