### Chapter 130 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Secret of the Esper Ship’ (21)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
Date: Day 46
Current Location: Level 1, Room 107 (The Gate Room)
Wise Advice: 1
—
Han Kain:
Getting to the first floor of the Esper Ship wasn’t too hard.
We only had to consult the ship’s blueprints hanging around and descend the stairs, plus the crew didn’t even try to stop us.
After walking for a bit, I halted. According to my memo about the general location of the underground prison, it should be around here.
I found myself between a coffee shop and a swimming pool on the first floor. If we go straight down from here, we’ll reach the dungeon.
But how did I know that going straight down from a certain spot leads to the dungeon? Did someone drill a hole in the ship?
Ahri chimed in.
“There should be some stairs leading down here… ”
“Maybe there’s a secret passage?”
“It’s probably just a regular passage, to be honest.”
“A regular passage?”
“It’s tough to modify the internal structure of a ship after it’s built. If they wanted to create a secret passage, they should have made it from the design phase. Look at the scale of this ship—there’s no way they could’ve built a secret entrance discreetly. It must have been constructed in a world-famous shipyard. Creating a complex mechanism for a secret passage would have been very difficult.”
“Now that you mention it, it’s not like there’s a need for secret passages. Normal passengers wouldn’t be rummaging through the ship. Just a warning to keep out for unauthorized personnel is enough; the average Joe wouldn’t even dare to come near.”
As I spoke, I reached out and pointed to a door attached to the left wall.
“No Unauthorized Access”
Isn’t that it? We nodded at each other.
It was time to kick off our second distraction plan.
— Whoosh!
Following Songee’s instruction, Pero immediately transformed into a grotesque and began smashing everything around!
Most of the crew rushed upstairs to put out the fire, and only a handful remained on the first floor, which soon left the scene in sheer horror at the sight of the grotesque.
Taking advantage of the chaos, we opened the door and descended the stairs.
*
As I ventured deeper down the dimly lit staircase, memories flooded back.
A pungent scent began to tickle my nostrils.
It was the foul smell that rises when a person is decaying, all the bodily fluids mixed together into a rotting muck.
It was the kind of smell I experienced when I entered the security room in the unthinkable media world.
How did I ever become familiar with such a scent…?
Another person who caught the whiff and tensed up was Ahri, gripping her gun tightly.
After arriving underground, Songee flashed her flashlight around.
“Yikes! What the hell is this?”
Only grim groans filled the entire space.
It was such a horrific sight that there weren’t even any signs of human form, yet here lay eight people still alive.
They rolled around inside the rotting iron bars, hopelessly decaying. It was incomprehensible what they had been through.
Seeing Songee frozen in disgust, I snatched the flashlight from her.
These must be the ‘sacrificial offerings.’
I shone the light on each one, but it seemed they were so out of it, drooling without any coherent reactions.
Finally, Ahri shouted a bit louder.
“Is there anyone here who can understand us?!”
“This way.”
A rough yet resolute voice responded.
The voice came from an elderly man with white hair. His lower body seemed fused with the ship.
What does it mean for a human body to merge with a ship? I could hardly express it in words.
He looked like he had been neglected for so long that his hair and beard were dragging on the floor.
The closer I got, the more my head ached from the unbearable stench.
Ironically, the traces of excrement around showed one fact: there had been a source of food provided continuously.
“What’s your status?”
“I’d rather ask you that. Who the hell are you?”
Ahri, approaching, answered.
“We’re guests invited to this ship. We thought it was just an ordinary cruise, but something bizarre happened. We ended up here as we searched to escape.”
“Lies.”
“…”
“Tell me something that sounds reasonable. You expect people to believe that ordinary guests felt the ship’s ominous vibe and searched all the way to this place?”
“That’s….”
“Ha, whatever. I suppose it’s a pointless matter. You must be curious about many things, right?”
With that, the old man, who introduced himself as First Officer Harrison, began to explain the secrets of the Esper Ship at a slow pace.
“I can’t even remember when it was… It’s all so hazy now. The Esper ship was a magnificent 120,000-ton luxury cruise that was second to none! When this ship launched, all the newspapers in Paris were buzzing about it—it was a moment of glory.”
“Was it the second or the third? I’m confused, so bear with me; this is nearly 40 years ago. As the Esper sailed through the North Sea, it began to sink due to an unknown, massive shock. Was it hit by a glacier? Or was it the devil’s work that’s the root of all despair? Who knows?”
“The ship gradually sunk. We had no means of escape. Everyone waited for death in despair…”
“Then, the devil’s hand reached out. Or rather, it’d be more accurate to say that we begged for the devil’s help. The captain was a devil worshiper! He might have planned every tragedy from the beginning and sank the ship on purpose.”
“The captain offered ten or more sacrifices to summon Markus, presenting us with a proposal. We would hold eternal feasts and sacrifices to him, and Markus would, in return, grant us immortality.”
“Not everyone onboard agreed. After all, what was the Esper Ship? A 120,000-ton behemoth! It was France’s pride—a luxury cruise with many renowned intellectuals and wealthy people, pillars of their nation. Would these people easily sell their souls to the devil?”
…
“I must admit, many did. Death is such a frightful thing. If my memory serves me right, about 90% of the people took the devil’s hand, with less than 10% choosing to die instead. And they suffered endlessly down here, dying in agony… And years passed like that. Those who made the contract with the devil neither aged nor died, endlessly roaming the ocean with the ship. The captain wielded magical powers and continuously provided offerings from somewhere.”
After his long explanation, the old man, now tired, bowed his head.
Ahri spoke up.
“Seems you left out one important fact, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hey, Harrison. The esteemed First Officer of the Esper Ship—you’re one of the 90% who sold your soul, aren’t you? Right?”
“…”
“Your wild beard and hair were confusing, but up close, you don’t even look 60 yet. You mentioned that the Esper made the deal with the devil 40 years ago? If you were innocent, you’d have aged normally; you must’ve been around 20 when the deal was made. There’s no way you could be First Officer of such a massive ship at that age without having a deal with the devil!”
“Ugh….”
“What’s worse, while other sacrifices are going mad and dying, you seem perfectly fine. That raises a red flag, doesn’t it? You must be unable to go insane, no matter how much you wanted to!”
“…”
“But why did it end up like this? Did you betray the captain?”
“You don’t know. You have no idea how trapped we were in despair. Have you ever stuck your hand in the winter’s North Sea? The icy chill from the sea bites into your bones before your fingers ever reach the surface. We were fated to be buried in it. I lived faithfully. I dedicated my life to this world. I was never destined to die in a place like that—”
“Enough rambling, just tell me why you look like this!”
“… You’re right. I wanted this. I was tired of drifting on this frozen sea without ever touching land. Living with nothing but the frozen ocean for decades, is there any value in giving the devil food? I said enough; I wanted to break my contract with Markus and rest.”
Hearing him, my eyes widened without me realizing.
‘Breaking the Contract’
As soon as I heard it, I understood immediately. That’s it.
A solution for those immortal sailors who couldn’t die, roaming the sea eternally, and even reversing time with this cursed ship!
I immediately asked.
“How do you break the contract with the devil?”
“I don’t know exactly. Only the captain knows for sure. But isn’t the solution straightforward? Just sink this ship again, right?”
Ahri cocked her head.
“Sinking the ship?”
“Exactly. If we crash this ship into a glacier, it would end this nightmare.”
So, are we crashing the ship into a glacier? Can we really go that route?
Still feeling the stench, Songee, who had been some distance away, approached and asked.
“The people on the Esper are obsessed with the dinner party, right? Is that part of the contract too?”
“Smart girl, nothing strange there. From ancient times, there have been unavoidable aspects in ritual ceremonies—dance and song.”
“Alright, but why are they asking for age and birthplace?”
“The deep-sea devil, Markus, despises everything from the surface. He delights in the brutal killing of surface humans for sacrifice. Just like the gods worshiped in ancient times preferred lambs, Markus also favors young humans.
But honestly, it doesn’t mean much. As long as they aren’t on their deathbed, he’s pretty lenient on age since all humans are born from the surface. By now, knowing the sacrificial offering’s age or birthplace doesn’t hold more than a ritualistic notion.”
I had one more question myself.
“What does the clock at the sacrificial site represent?”
Harrison’s eyes widened.
“You figured that out too? Honestly, I’m not sure. Only the captain knows its exact meaning. But I’ve heard when the clock’s hands reach three, we fall eternally into hell.”
With a general idea about the ship, we gathered quite a bit of information.
Our next target also seemed to have a clear outline. Based on the idea that the long-serving First Officer Harrison thought of—sinking the ship again by crashing it into a glacier.
We looked at each other and nodded.
After a moment, Ahri wandered around, “comforting” the suffering victims.
At last, Ahri turned to Harrison.
“You don’t seem like you can die regardless. Do you have any wishes?”
“Take me with you.”
“You’re fused with the ship, right? How do you expect me to extract you?”
“Just cut off my upper body. Please.”
“Hmm. That’s simply too much. Sorry, but—”
As Ahri was about to turn away, Harrison spoke urgently.
“Do you know how to steer this ship? This isn’t some rickety little boat; it’s a 120,000-ton cruise liner. You don’t actually think you could handle it without any expertise, right?”
“…”
I too had to halt. Harrison’s observation was valid.
Can we really steer this massive ship, weighing over 100,000 tons, into crashing into a glacier without any related knowledge?
As I was pondering this, Songee gestured for Pero to come over.
“When did you get here?”
“A while ago.”
Songee seemed to be whispering something to Pero, who soon transformed back into a grotesque form.
Despite the transformation, Pero remained still. Songee directed again.
“Pero!”
Still, the grotesque didn’t budge. I felt as if I could read that enormous bird’s mind.
It seemed my instruction to rip Harrison apart made him reluctant to move closer, probably because of the horrific smell.
Eventually, after nearly five minutes of persuasion from Songee, Pero finally, seemingly desperate, started ripping Harrison’s body apart.
…
About five minutes after tearing away his body, his lower half reappeared, as if ‘time were reversing.’
Slowly, I felt the end of this trial was nearing.
How about we receive help from the First Officer and crash this damned ship into a glacier? Wouldn’t that solve everything?
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