### Chapter 237 – Room 202, Cursed Room – ‘Mermaid Princess’ (15)
—
– Park Seungyub
“Strange? I’m pretty sure this is the place.”
“…”
In our second attempt, the doctor and I were tasked with finding Rilinganor, who had been exiled to Busan. However, searching for the ‘home’ Rilinganor mentioned proved to be trickier than expected.
Honestly, it’s not my fault. Rilinganor didn’t provide a detailed address. All she did was point to a ruined building while riding on a giant sea worm called ‘Kongyi’.
Trying to locate a building I’d seen in a tsunami-ravaged city within intact Busan was no easy feat. At that moment, the doctor beside me chimed in.
“Seungyub! Is that a villa over there?”
“Huh?”
As soon as I looked at the villa he pointed to, my knees instinctively buckled. Was it here? Was it there? My vague memories suddenly came flooding back.
“How did you find it? I was confused even after hearing it myself.”
The reason turned out to be simpler than expected.
“It’s broad daylight, but they’ve closed the balcony and windows tight like a darkroom. Probably the merfolk wanted to avoid being spotted by outsiders, but that action just makes them more noticeable.”
“I see!”
Thank goodness we found it quickly.
—
– Lee Eunsol
“Yeah. Yeah. Good job!”
The report from Seungyub had just come in. That was quick.
“Did they find the third daughter?”
“Yes. Apparently, they found her right away and convinced her to head to Sea God Island.”
“That was fast? I thought she’d stubbornly refuse, especially since her sister kicked her out.”
“They said they convinced her by saying there’s a huge crisis on the island.”
“Can’t argue with that. So now, it’s our turn.”
While Seunghyun and Seungyub were tasked with locating and persuading Rilinganor, my grandfather and I needed to scout the Cheongseong Group’s situation and find a way to locate Lee Sooho.
How on earth are we supposed to find Lee Sooho? Nine people searching a massive island like Jeju? Impossible. The very entity ruling the island, Serenade, already couldn’t locate him. There’s a good chance Lee Sooho’s using supernatural means to hide.
So we came up with a straightforward idea. Request assistance from the Administration Bureau!
If they send in more people or deploy reconnaissance satellites, we might find a way. However, both Ahri and my grandfather cautioned that it wouldn’t be easy. Regardless, since we had a plan, Grandpa had been on the line talking to someone from the Administration Bureau.
“Are they saying it’s difficult again?”
“It’s not easy. The reasons are the same: they say there’s insufficient evidence.”
We already knew from our first attempt that if we didn’t find Lee Sooho today, Kadalu would descend and cause a major catastrophe.
But how do we explain this to the characters within the scenario? “We’re from the outside world!” isn’t exactly something we can say.
The Administration Bureau possesses human and material resources unrivaled by most groups in this world. That doesn’t mean they have excess resources.
They also have the task of protecting the entire universe. Therefore, resources are always scarce, and any additional support requests need solid evidence.
Just as my grandfather and I were lamenting that we might fail our second attempt and lose out, help unexpectedly came from an unusual source. Suddenly, Grandpa received a phone call. It was from Park Jinchul, the head in charge of the Busan branch of the Administration Bureau.
“So, you’re saying support from 22 search drones and Strike Team 1 is possible?”
“That’s correct, Kim Mooksung. It might not be enough, but it’s the best I can do.”
“I actually want to thank you. Extracting this amount of resources wasn’t easy… What’s the timeline?”
“The drones can be launched immediately, but the Strike Team won’t be able to enter Sea God Island until the evening. I’ll be going too.”
“Wait, what?”
I was surprised to hear that the head himself was coming to Sea God Island. He didn’t seem like someone suited for fieldwork.
“Kim Mooksung, honestly, your request for support is very weak. It consists merely of a gut feeling and some speculation.”
“… I acknowledge that.”
There was no denying it. The information we acquired from our first attempt seemed like mere storytelling to the NPCs in this scenario.
“But I’ve had similar gut feelings in the past.”
?
“Your request stated that ‘there’s a possibility that Lee Sooho is alive,’ right?”
“That’s correct, but….”
“I’ve met Lee Sooho around four times over the years. Each time, I felt a shameful impulse to tell others about him.”
“Impulse?”
“I pride myself on my ability to read people.”
That made sense; he must have reached a high position in the Administration Bureau because of it.
“I’ve felt the urge to kill that guy, Lee Sooho, at least a dozen times. After holding it in, when I received a report that he’d suddenly died, I felt relieved, but at the same time, I got chills. He didn’t strike me as someone who would die easily. After hearing your report just now, those chills came back.”
With that, Jinchul promised support and hung up.
“Grandpa, what is this all about?”
“The guy’s clearly been plotting to revive an evil god for a while.”
“Are they really debating whether to kill him based on the fact that he’s just a weird guy?”
“Well… I’ve felt that gut instinct a few times in my life. That guy will cause trouble eventually. But that the head is coming personally is surprising. Maybe he has a personal grudge?”
They say skilled detectives can spot a criminal just by observing their gait. Such expert intuition isn’t mere guesswork; it’s akin to instantaneous judgments based on countless circumstantial evidence.
Did Jinchul have a similar intuition? Or, as Grandpa suspected, could it involve ‘personal reasons’?
At least I gleaned one truth: before becoming the Sea God’s champion, Lee Sooho seemed to be a person who radiated madness.
Regardless, with this, I felt we had completed what we needed to do. Seunghyun and Seungyub had succeeded in finding and persuading Rilinganor. We managed to gather intel on the Cheongseong Group and secure support from the Administration Bureau. Now, only those with the most critical roles were left.
Han Kain, Cha Jinchul, Kim Ahri, Yu Songee. Could they persuade Serenade and lift Elena’s seal?
Grandpa nudged me.
“I think Seunghyun is arriving in front of the other building. Let’s head to Sea God Island. The limousine is ready.”
This time, Seungyub was heading to the Administration Bureau branch in Seoul, citing the info he got from Rilinganor as a reason. That location was precisely what we considered the safest in Korea.
But is it still safe with an evil god about to be reborn? Who knows?
—
– Han Kain
“I just got a security message from my sister.”
Ahri perked up her ears.
“What does it say?”
“Rilinganor has been found, and the doctor is on their way. They’ve also roughly scouted the Cheongseong Group, and most importantly, the Administration Bureau is sending reconnaissance drones and special forces.”
In the meantime, Ahri had already pulled out her phone to check the message from my sister.
“Wow, they managed to secure search drones? There are fewer than 200 of those across Korea.”
“They’re different from regular drones, right? I wonder if 20 drones would be enough to search Sea God Island in half a day.”
“It should be more than enough. But if Lee Sooho has deployed some insane invisibility magic, that’s another story…”
While others seemed to have completed their missions, we hadn’t even started. We were still on our way to Sea God Island. The limousine had just entered the seaside road leading to the island.
I tapped the front seat.
“Hyung, be careful.”
“I know.”
Soon, the limousine stopped in the middle of the road. An ominous fog spread out before us, stretching across the road, only to dissipate.
“Who could have conjured this? Lee Sooho? Serenade?”
“Well… that’s something we need to find out.”
Before long, the limousine started moving again, gliding along the coastal road. The occupants in the back seat fell into silence. We had roughly sketched out a plan to persuade them, but would it really work? Honestly, it’s hard to believe even from my standpoint.
Noticing my anxious expression, Ahri chimed in.
“Act with confidence. Usually, confidence counts for half in scenarios like this.”
“What about the other half?”
“Luck. That’s why I wanted to have Seungyub on our side.”
Around lunchtime, we arrived at Sea God Island much earlier than during our first attempt.
—
“Welcome, Administration Bureau representatives from the mainland.”
“Hello. We’re honored to meet the Sea Goddess.”
“Just call me the governor. That’s my official title.”
That part was the same as the conversation we had before. But now, it was game time.
“Governor, our visit must have come as a surprise.”
“…It has, indeed. I had set up a meeting schedule for you, but since you insisted on meeting right away, I was forced to cancel my agenda. I hope you have a good reason for this.”
Taking a silent step closer, my gaze shifted smoothly between the ceiling and the window! Creating an air of importance—it’s a personal skill I honed in the hotel.
Seeing my actions, Perro swooped in, landing on my shoulder, donning a look of melancholic sorrow. At just the right moment, Jinchul took a step back and slammed the door shut.
“What on earth are you trying to say—”
“Governor, you need to remember my words closely. We are now meeting for the second time. I used a special means from the Administration Bureau to turn back time. In the lost timeline, Sea God Island was destroyed by Lee Sooho.”
Serenade’s eyes widened in shock.
“And Governor Serenade, you have entrusted the future of the island to us, wagering on what lies ahead.”
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