### Chapter 249 – Room 202, Cursed Room – ‘Mermaid Princess’ (27)
—
– Lee Eunsol
A melody floated through the air.
From Cha Jinchul’s entire body, an enchanting sound emerged, tickling the ears of the nearly 300 people around him.
How was it even possible for such music to come from his ‘body’ instead of his mouth? Jinchul didn’t seem to have a clue either.
Even though quite a few had moved to Sea God Island thanks to Grandfather’s scheme, there were still plenty of the so-called New Humans remaining in the lab. All those people had now turned into soldiers following Jinchul.
Under Jinchul’s control, the ‘Leaped Ones’ were making their way to Seoul, mindlessly boarding vehicles laden with weapons and gear from the lab. It was strangely enviable to see people looking so carefree in moments like this.
Our own hearts were still anxious and tangled up.
Simply put, our new plan was to calm the Sea God’s wrath. That sounded easy, but in reality, there were quite a few serious problems to tackle.
The first problem was whether Jinchul could hold out. Since we didn’t have time to visit Sea God Island to unseal Elena, Jinchul was the only one with a body resilient enough to withstand Ruda’s encroachment. But Ruda’s encroachment affected both body and mind.
As a result, since he received Ruda’s essence, Jinchul had been muttering endlessly about hearing ‘voices’. While Songyee was right next to him, recovering him during cool-downs with her bracelet, one had to wonder how long he could last.
The second issue was whether the Sea God would be satisfied. We couldn’t summon the apocalypse like the Sea God could, nor did we have any intention of doing so. Even if we dealt a major blow to the Bureau, it wasn’t about slaughtering everyone from the lower ranks to the high-ups.
Would the Sea God be satisfied with such a half-hearted revenge? Would he think it utterly insufficient?
The third problem was the fact that we had to fight the Bureau itself. Taking down a coastal research lab and going up against the Korean branch of the Bureau in Seoul were two entirely different battles. Did we even stand a chance?
The most concerning factor was, of course, the unmanned weapons. A significant portion of the powers owned by the hotel would be utterly meaningless in the face of the Bureau’s drones. No possession or illusions would work on them.
—
We didn’t have no answers regarding these issues.
The answer to the first question was simple: the time Jinchul needed to hold out wasn’t that long. Given the nature of the plan, he was bound to burn out while leading the Leaped Ones in the charge against the Bureau. As long as he could hold out until we got to Seoul, Songyee would do her best to help him.
The second problem’s answer was boiled down to ‘the Sea God seems to desire an end for himself.’ According to what Kain heard during the first attempt and Elena during the second, the Sea God awaited an end to this room. Therefore, if we could deliver at least minimal revenge and provide a satisfactory answer to the hotel, perhaps the Sea God would accept it.
The greatest challenge was the third one. This issue didn’t lend itself to easy resolutions. What would we do if the Bureau unleashed hundreds or thousands of drones to take us down?
To devise a response to this, Ahri and Kain set off to a different location. It would ultimately depend on those two. Should they fail…
“Are we supposed to blow the flute if the Sea God descends while we’re all just running away?”
“Huh?”
“Just kidding.”
I decided to drop such ominous thoughts.
*
[User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 107
Current Location: Layer 2, Room 202 – Cursed Room ‘Mermaid Princess’
Sage’s Advice: 3]
—
– Han Kain
At this point, while my fellow comrades charged toward Seoul, why the heck was I climbing a mountain with Ahri?
“What do you think?”
“Think about what?”
“The plan Eunsol laid out.”
“Honestly, I’m more curious about why we’re hiking right now.”
“I’m not entirely sure. What exactly did Eunsol mean by ‘the Bureau’s mistake’? Making an effort to biologically improve humanity? Is that really wrong?”
“No, where even are we?”
“I guess it could end in failure. From what I’ve seen, the Bureau in Room 202 seriously miscalculated. They failed to account for Ruda’s collective biocharacteristics. All it took was Jinchul controlling one powerful Ruda creature, and he gained control over the entire New Humanity, didn’t he?”
“But there isn’t even a path around us! This isn’t just stepping off the trail; it’s like we’re completely lost!”
“Still, this is merely our perspective as players who know the outcomes. For the Bureau, it was an issue hard to grasp without having experienced it first. These failed attempts build up, eventually pushing humans to their limits – watch your step!”
“Yikes! What’s that?”
“There are snakes in the mountains. And listen to me.”
“Please listen to me for once!”
A momentary silence descended. I sighed, deciding to go along with Ahri for this one.
“Alright, alright. You have a point; the Bureau probably had their reasons. I had my own thoughts while struggling in the hotel—there are so many monsters in this world, and humans really are weak creatures.”
“An ongoing concern for the Bureau. Across all factions.”
“I understand their effort or intention to overcome that. I get that they used snails for experimentation. We ourselves eat pigs and cows every meal. I’ve heard cows and pigs are actually quite intelligent. But I feel like the fundamental approach is off.”
“Fundamental approach?”
“Focusing on sorcery, magic, and hybridizing with supernatural beings—shouldn’t we be concentrating on the path of ‘science’ instead?”
“Now I get what you mean. That’s definitely a fundamental difference between the isolation and control factions. But it’s ambiguous where science ends and magic begins. Astronomy started as astrology, remember?”
I could follow this line of reasoning.
In a world where gods and devils coexist and magic and superpowers are alive, does it even matter to distinguish between magic and science? From a certain perspective, perhaps the forces that constitute the universe are called science when we understand them, while those we don’t understand are termed magic.
As I recalled our current conversation and yesterday’s meeting, a fresh question emerged.
“So, Ahri, it seems like you still don’t agree with our sister’s plan.”
“That’s right.”
“Then why did you agree? If it weren’t for you, our sister’s plan might have just been buried.”
When our sister first proposed attacking the Bureau during dinner, many of us were against it. Putting values aside, we simply didn’t believe we could beat the Bureau.
To be more precise, we had no faith in overcoming the ‘legion of unmanned weapons.’
Thus, it was an unexpected twist that our sister’s plan gained traction thanks to Ahri. She suddenly suggested that there might be a way to take down the Bureau, at least within the confines of the Korean branch.
After a brief silence, Ahri murmured, her face marked with complex thoughts.
“A student’s desired answer can differ from what the examiner wants.”
The examiner’s desired answer… the hotel’s desired answer?
“Eunsol’s answer deviates from human norms. And whoever created the hotel isn’t exactly human.”
“…”
“I can’t agree with the proposed answer, but it does feel like one the hotel would appreciate.”
Strangely enough, hearing those words triggered a powerful sense of kinship. Isn’t that something those teachers in South Korea would love to hear?
“Get the examiner’s intent!”
Students taking a test sometimes have to write answers not because they wanted to, but because they believed the examiner would like it instead. It felt like Ahri was tapping into that psychology.
“If we could add a bit more,”
“Add a bit more?”
“I think it’s about time we wrap up this room. It feels like it’s time to end it.”
By then, Ahri suddenly came to a halt.
“Here it is.”
I couldn’t see anything. Is there something only Ahri could feel? Suddenly, she pulled my hand and guided me beside her.
“Don’t you feel anything?”
“Ugh, it’s kind of suffocating.”
“Suffocating? Not refreshing or cool, but suffocating?”
“It feels like something heavy is pressing down.”
For the first time, the playful expression Ahri had maintained while climbing the mountain darkened slightly.
“Yeah…”
“Am I sensing something weird?”
“No.”
Ahri muttered something strange and brushed the air. The next moment, an opaque door appeared out of nowhere!
—
Bizarre. On the other side of the door stood what seemed to be a tiny wooden hut. Behind the hut, a dark passage was visible.
There were no handles on the door. It seemed you could only open it from the other side, not from where we stood.
“What kind of magic is this? What’s that shrine? Is there someone inside?”
Instead of answering my question, Ahri continued muttering strange words.
…
Is this the end? Ahri was silently gazing at me, her expression having shifted to placidity.
“Do you remember what my grandfather and I said before? The reason we entered the hotel.”
“The goal was to find the power to stabilize reality.”
“Have you thought about that?”
“I just thought it was a confusing statement.”
“The statement that something is needed to stabilize reality means, on the flip side, that the reality we’ve been living isn’t stable.”
Now that was enlightening.
“I’ll show you what that means. Do you see the person on the other side of the door?”
As she said, near the wooden structure on the other side stood a person, paralyzed like a statue. Their build was relatively small, definitely not a woman. Anything beyond that was hard to tell through the opaque door.
“Possess that person and open the door. Then it will all end.”
As I approached the door as directed, Ahri added,
“Never cross the tunnel.”
“Huh?”
“Do you see the house beyond the door? Don’t you dare cross the tunnel behind that house. If you do, everything will end—on multiple levels.”
Slowly, my consciousness floated into the void. It was the same possession I’d done dozens of times before… But this time felt strangely different. Paradoxically, it felt like I was possessing a body far away—very, very far away.
When I regained awareness, I found myself awakening on the other side of the door.
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