### Chapter 227 – Room 202, Cursed Room – ‘Mermaid Princess’ (5)
—
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)]
Date: Day 100
Current Location: 2nd Floor, Room 202 – Cursed Room ‘Mermaid Princess’
Sage’s Advice: 1
– Han Kain
At 4 PM, while we were taking a breather wandering around Sea God Island, an unfamiliar sound echoed.
— GOOOOO!
Startled by what sounded like a colossal moan from the depths of hell, I looked around, realizing I was the only one shaken up. The islanders seemed a bit startled at first but casually returned to their business as if nothing had happened.
Is this the kind of thing these island folk are used to? As soon as the noise stopped, I immediately turned to the guide sent by Serenade nearby and asked,
“What was that sound?”
“Ah, you mean the voice of Kadaruha having a nightmare?”
“Kadaruha’s nightmare?”
I recognized the name Kadaruha. It’s said to be the true name of the god worshipped by the merfolk, referred to variously as the Sea God, Lord of the Oceans, and so on.
“Of course, ‘nightmare’ is a metaphor. No one really knows why he expresses it that way. It’s just accepted as a sort of natural phenomenon that’s been going on for nearly hundreds of years. Maybe even gods like him suffer from nightmares like us.”
“So, it doesn’t have much meaning?”
“Well, it sort of does. For about 2-3 days after that moaning, communication with the outside world gets cut off.”
Communication cut off?
Checking my smartphone out of shock, it clicked. Signals were lost; no internet, no calls—nothing was functional. The guide, seeing my bewilderment, looked equally shocked.
“You didn’t know? That’s a pretty famous phenomenon. It should be common knowledge even on the mainland!”
We found a gaping hole in our information. We assumed the needed intel was mostly in the hundred-plus pages of documents from the Cheongseong Group and the Administration Bureau, but surprisingly, there was nothing about this unusual occurrence.
The periodic loss of communication from Sea God Island must be common knowledge for South Koreans on the stage. Of course, their common knowledge isn’t necessarily ours.
But why are you looking at me like that? I mumbled something about being abroad for a while.
“But what does it mean that ‘even gods suffer from nightmares’? The merfolk seem to have a lot of nightmares?”
The guide fell silent. I headed back to our lodging.
—
When I returned, my companions were already aware of the situation. As soon as I got back, Songi grabbed my arm, leading me somewhere.
“Eunsol unnie and I discovered something while wandering around the government office. You should come see too, oppa!”
Guided by Songi, we arrived at the first floor of the government office, where photos boasting Serenade’s achievements were displayed. Songi pointed to one of the photos.
“Should I look at this picture?”
“Look closely.”
“Hmm. Looks like the governor has been working hard. He built this building while renovating the island’s water supply—”
“No, oppa, not that one! This one!”
When I squinted at the area Songi was pointing to, I spotted a familiar face in the corner of a huge photo.
“It’s Elena!”
“It’s Elena! By the way, I haven’t seen a single other photo of her anywhere. What does this mean?”
Considering that Elena became a ‘key character in the scenario’ when she was sealed, and how she appeared in a photo celebrating the governor’s achievements, it became clear.
“Elena must have been purged as one of the Sea God’s daughters.”
“Eunsol unnie thought the same thing. No doubt about it!”
“You two, stop chattering loudly here and follow me.”
Turning around, I found Ahri. Luckily, there were no other people around, but this was the government office on Sea God Island, not the best place for a freewheeling discussion.
As we moved towards the limousine provided by the Administration Bureau, my comrades were already gathered. As soon as we arrived, Grandpa grabbed my shoulder and said,
“You’re here. While you were on your way, we were discussing how to wake Elena.”
Through Room 201, everyone realized that waking the sealed participant was the quickest path to solving the room’s mystery.
“To wake her, we first need to know where she is, right?”
“That’s the problem. I thought about using a ‘compass’ to find her.”
The ‘compass’ was a power obtained by Ahri to enhance her blessings. But isn’t the compass supposed to locate objects rather than people?
“Can you use the compass to find people?”
“Impossible. If it were possible, we would have tried to find you in Room 201. The compass can locate objects with known shapes and characteristics, not people.”
“Is there no way to track Elena’s belongings?”
“In fact, I tried that but it wasn’t easy. Thinking back, I remember being told that ‘supernatural powers’ could nullify the search capabilities of the compass.”
It seemed the special ‘seal’ system of the second floor prevented tracking the belongings of the sealed participant via the compass.
“So there’s no solution?”
“Yeah, I thought that way too and was about to give up, but when I found that picture, I figured what if I tried using it.”
You figured out something after trying? That meant the compass was currently tracking something. But hadn’t you just said it couldn’t track the belongings of the sealed participant?
“If the hotel sealed Elena, then her belongings are also unable to be detected because of the seal. But what if we think of ‘Elena the daughter of the Sea God’ as a being within the stage of Room 202? She isn’t a being captured by the hotel.”
That’s when it clicked. The belongings of the hotel participant Elena couldn’t be tracked, but those of the Sea God’s daughter, Elena, could be located.
“So I’ve realized one important detail. Elena is in the basement of the government office.”
Eunsol, who had been listening, interjected.
“Be precise. Not Elena herself, but the ‘clothes worn by the daughter of the Sea God’ in that photo are in the basement of the government office.”
“I get what you mean. Just because the clothes are there doesn’t guarantee Elena is there.”
We decided to track the clothes using the compass. Exiting the limousine, I squinted as I followed Ahri as she moved according to the compass.
Is there no better object to rely on? It seems tracking the clothes might yield something, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wouldn’t lead me to the place where Elena was trapped.
“Is it okay if I take a quick detour?”
“Teacher?”
“I want to observe the merfolk again, like I mentioned earlier. I’m confident I can gather important information for solving the room. Of course, if you don’t want that—”
“Sanghyun, you don’t need to ask us for permission. If you’re sure about your judgment, then follow it. No one here knows what needs to be done anyway.”
“Thank you.”
“Get your protective suit ready. Who wants to wear it?”
“I’ll wear it since I’m leading right now.”
—
– Park Seungyub
Struggling to maintain balance atop the colossal sea worm, I approached the mysterious girl only to hear her scream.
“AH! Don’t come any closer!”
I felt no need to respond.
“Please! Please don’t come closer! I’m not a bad person~!”
What a load of nonsense. Am I an idiot? Who’s going to believe I’m not controlling this monster while standing on top of its head?
Every time I took a step closer, the girl seemed to grow more terrified and stepped back. But no matter how big the sea worm was, there’s only so much space to back away.
“GRAAAAAH!”
The girl slipped back as she stepped too far. Seriously, how naïve is she?
— SWOOOOSH!
At that moment, the massive sea worm suddenly began to tremble violently! I too lost my balance and couldn’t hold on for even three seconds.
AH! How many meters will I fall if I drop from the head of this worm? Am I done for???
…
Something soft and warm caught me from below. That was when I realized the grace of the great cosmos was still with me, and my ‘destiny’ wasn’t over yet.
“Who—PERO?”
To my surprise, the entity that caught me was none other than Perro in their grotesque form!
I’d already heard how Perro in grotesque form couldn’t fly but had exceptional swimming skills. So, it wasn’t shocking that they were effortlessly swimming in the tsunami devastating Busan and caught me. But one thing puzzled me greatly!
How on earth did she know to come here? Didn’t she follow Songi onto Sea God Island?
By the way, what happened to that girl who fell earlier? Did she not make it?
— WAAAH!
The waves crashed. As the grotesque shifted, my body was mightily tossed, and I instinctively clung to its neck.
— GAACK!
“Oh! That sound was totally like a duck. Perro, hang in there! I’m about to fall!”
Fortunately, the grotesque, grumpy as it was, didn’t drop me. It managed to grab onto something.
“What—what’s going on?”
“It’s me!”
As if I had a close friend, the girl appeared out of the water!
“Hey, you’re not dead?”
The girl looked at me incredulously.
“If my ancestor is a fish, wouldn’t it be ridiculous to die in the water? But more importantly! You!”
“Uh? Uh?”
“I saw your formidable martial arts earlier! You don’t look like an age where you should be learning divine martial arts… wait, could it be? The mythical art of reversing age?! I heard that was imaginary!”
“You seem to be having some weird thoughts.”
“I can keep secrets. But more importantly, you caused a lot of chaos leading to numerous people getting hurt!”
“What the—”
“I was trying to save people alongside Kong! Did you think I’d harm someone just from looking at Kong? Look over there!”
Following the girl’s finger, I turned to see a gigantic iron box on the neck of the giant creature named Kong that I hadn’t noticed before, with numerous people trapped inside. Were they genuinely trying to rescue people?
“Hey! Seriously, who would think to rescue people from that monster? Shouldn’t it have a bow on its head or something?”
“A bow? That’s actually not a bad idea—but that’s not the problem! Quickly, you must find my flute! Without it, I can’t control Kong.”
I finally grasped what was happening. Ridiculously, this girl was trying to save people while controlling the monster, but when she saw me atop the creature, she panicked and lost her flute that controls it.
“Where’s the flute?”
The girl pointed to a car being swept away by the waves, which crashed into buildings.
“Do you see it?”
What does she mean, “Do you see it?”
“Since you’ve learned ‘Eye Technique,’ you should be able to spot it stuck by the tire of that car! Thankfully, the flute got lodged there while being swept away. Go fetch it!”
???
“Me?! Retrieve that? How on earth am I supposed to do that? With so many obstacles, it doesn’t even look like Perro could go in!”
The girl answered without a hint of concern.
“Are you talking about the marvelous bird accompanying you, Perro? I don’t understand what you’re worried about. You could just use the technique of walking on water. Are you planning to keep your identity hidden even in this situation?”
I was left speechless, unsure of what to say. I opened my mouth to ask the question that had been bugging me since earlier.
“Who the heck are you?”
The drenched girl smiled brightly.
“My name is Rilinganor, though some call me the third daughter of the Sea God.”
—
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