Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 230: Room 202, Cursed Room - The Little Mermaid (8)

I grabbed Liringanaur’s arm just as she seemed ready to step away.

“No way. The nightmare story was interesting, sure, but the real disaster is happening right now, isn’t it?”

“...”

“Don’t play dumb. The tsunami! We’ve rescued a good number of people, but how many have died from this disaster? It must be thousands, at the very least! And don’t even get me started on the property damage! It must be immeasurable.”

“Couldn’t it just be a natural disaster?”

“Don’t give me that. I saw it clearly when the tsunami hit! It wasn’t just waterming in from the sea; the ground split open and water surged up. Does that sound natural to you? And you! You arrived riding that monster—”

“Kongi.”

“—riding Kongi to rescue people within ten minutes of the tsunami starting. That kind of reaction would only be possible if you knew it wasming in advance. Just the evidence I’ve noticed so far already points to something fishy. If the Administration investigates, it’ll allme out anyway, so you might as well tell me the truth.”

“I’m not trying to hide anything... I just don’t know much myself. I responded early because I canmmunicate with sea creatures. About 15 minutes before the tsunami, the sea had already reacted.”

“Fine, you reacted quickly. But how do you explain the ground splitting open and water surging up?”

“That’s definitely not natural.”

“Then?”

The girl hesitated as if carefully choosing her words, before murmuring, “If the merfolk were involved in this disaster, it would never be the will of all merfolk.”

To my ears, this sounded less like a denial and more like anfession.

Even Liringanaur seemed to rgnize that the tsunami wasn’t natural and suspected that some entity or group within the merfolk might be responsible for such a supernatural calamity.

“If it’s not all the merfolk, then who?”

“Serenade-unni... She’s been acting... weird for a while now.”

Serenade. I recalled what Eunsol-noona had mentioned earlier—she was the Saintess of the Deep Sea and leader of the Sea God’s Island.

“She was alwaysnsidered a fitting leader because she was the eldest and was both rational and intelligent. But she wasn’t always so stubborn. About two months ago, everything changed. Elena-unni disappeared, and Suho-oppa, who protested, was exiled. Not long after, we heard he’d died. When I started questioning things, I was exiled to the mainland as well.”

“Suho-oppa? The son of Cheongseong Group’s chairman, right? Why would he protest Elena’s disappearance?”

“...It was a secret at the time, but there’s no point keeping it now that he’s gone. Suho-oppa and Elena-unni were lovers.”

“What?! That’s part of the story?!”

“Huh? Story?”

“I-it’s nothing. I was just surprised. Conti nue please.”

Apparently, Elena, the snd daughter of the Sea God, and Lee Suho had been in a relationship.

Why hadn’t the Cheongseong Group included such a crucial detail in their briefing?

The answer dawned on me quickly.

Given the significantnflict over the port’s ownership between the Sea God’s Island and Cheongseong Group, the revelation that a Daughter of the Sea God and the chairman’s son were romantically involved wouldn’t have beennvenient for either side.

Lee Suho himself might have intentionally kept it hidden.

...Still, imagining Elena’s reaction when she wakes up and finds out about this in her “NPC backstory” is amusing.

Maybe she’ll think of it as part of her acting background.

“The point is that Serenade-unni started behaving strangely at some point. She wasn’t the type to be so cruel to us—people who are practically family, even if we aren’t related by blood.”

Hearing about Serenade’s erratic behavior as the eldest daughter and leader of the Sea God’s Island gave me an idea.

Take Liringanaur to Sea God’s Island!

I didn’t know the details of what mymrades were dealing with there, but it seemed increasingly likely that Serenade was the villain of this scenario.

Bringing Liringanaur, a victim of Serenade’s actions, to the island might provide some leverage.

“Liringanaur,me with me to Sea God’s Island.”

“What? Didn’t you hear me? My sister exiled me!”

“My teammates are already on the island investigating. Your sister won’t be able to act like a tyrant anymore.”

“...You’re asking me to help the Administration bring my sister down?”

“Liringanaur, look around.”

Busan was ruined.

Not figuratively, but literally.

Cars andrpses floated everywhere.

Every visible building was packed with people waiting to be rescued.

How many people had died?

How much damage had been done?

“If the merfolk really caused this, the Administration will make sure you pay the price in blood. The non-aggression treaty? It’s already shredded.”

“...”

“I think you suspect your sister is responsible for this disaster, don’t you?”

In just a briefnversation, Iuld tell Liringanaur already believed her sister had either lost her mind or gone rogue.

“I believe ousting your sister is the best path forward for all merfolk. If you can’t, the entire merfolk race will have to bear thensequences of this disaster.”

Wow. I’ve outdone myself with my own words.

Even I have to admit I said an epic line.

“Eugh! Stop talking like you’re threatening me! And don’t just assume we’re responsible!”

“So? Are youming or not?”

“I’ll go! Fine! Maybe it’s about time I saw my sister again anyway.”

***

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 100

Current Location: Floor 2, Room 202 – Cursed Room ‘The Little Mermaid’

Sage’s Advice: 0

- Han Kain

I was startled first by Seungyub appearing in the chat unexpectedly, and then again when my updated Scenario Comprehension informed me about the “arrival of the Daughter of the Sea God, Liringanaur.”

Thankfully, meeting Seungyub in person helped clarify our doubts.

“...That’s how it happened. You understand now, right?”

Seungyub, who had just arrived on the island, explained at length everything that had happened to him.

In summary: he tried to escape, euntered Liringanaur, the third Daughter of the Sea God, gained valuable information from her, and then rode an enormous sea worm with her to enter the island.

Three key points stood out in Seungyub’s aunt:

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

Firstly, the root cause of everything—Lee Suho was romantically involved with the snd Daughter of the Sea God, Elena.

Sndly, a massive tsunami had devastated Busan, and its origins seemednnected to Sea God’s Island.

Lastly, the merfolk suffer from unexplained nightmares.

“Seungyub, where’s Liringanaur now?”

“She has a hiding place on the island. She’s staying out of Serenade’s sight. She gave me the address.”

“Then let’s go right away. We need to ask her some questions.”

As we headed to the limousine, Eunsol-noona turned to Seungyub with a slightly uneasy tone.

“But Seungyub, wasn’t your role to escape? You’ve done an excellent job bringing Liringanaur, but with you here, isn’t the escape route nowmpromised?”

After a brief hesitation, Seungyub quickly responded, “It wasn’t my choice—it was Fortune’s doing.”

“Fortune?”

“I had a bad feeling about staying in Busan. In hindsight, given the tsunami, it was an accurate instinct!”

“Well done.”

“So I booked a long-distance bus to leave. But just as I was about to board the bus—”

“What happened?”

“Something bizarre and inexplicable happened, and I missed the bus. Not long after, the tsunami hit, and the bus was swept away.”

“Really? Then there was no avoiding it. Good job~!”

After a 30-minute drive in the limousine, we arrived at Liringanaur’s hiding spot just as the sun began to set.

In ournversation with her, we uvered a few additional truths.

First, even when all three daughters were active on the island, most of the power lied in Serenade’s hands.

Meeting Liringanaur in person made this clear—she seemed no older than her mid-teens and didn’t appear suited to ruling the island.

Elena, however, had been more involved in island affairs, held some influence, and had her own supporters.

Ahri, listening attentively, asked, “If we find Elena, can we use her tounter Serenade?”

“Pardon? Do you know where Elena-unni is?”

“Just answer my question.”

“Elena-unni had more influence because of her involvement in affairs. She had her own supporters. In short, to the islanders, sheuld be seen as a viable alternative to Serenade-unni.”

“This flute—it’s a holy artifact from the Sea God, right?”

“Technically, it’s been passed down for generations—”

“Do the other Daughters of the Sea God have the same item?”

“Yes.”

“Wait here. We need to discuss something.”

In a side room, Ahri laid out her thoughts, “This seems like the logical path for the scenario. We don’t know Serenade’s full secret yet, but all signs point to her as the Adversary. And she isn’t just some evil being wielding dark powers—she’s a political leader with a state’s administrative system backing her.”

Eunsol-noona responded, “So we bring back Elena to destabilize Serenade’s position?”

“No matter how much we accuse Serenade of wrongdoing or expose her faults, it won’t be enough without an alternative. For the islanders, only a daughter of the Sea God can lead. Liringanaur is too young to be seen as an alternative. But if we bring back Elena, who has supporters, and reveal Serenade’s misdeeds, we can shake her position.”

Grandpa nodded.

“Beyond the in-scenario logic, from the Hotel’s narrative perspective, freeing a sealed participant is always crucial to resolving a room. Ahri’s theory aligns with this. In this room, Elena’s role is likely Serenade’sunterbalance.”

Eunsol-noona agreed.

“Elena might even have knowledge of Serenade’s weaknesses or wrongdoings that we don’t yet know. Serenade might have imprisoned her not only to silence her but also to protect herself.”

Summing up, Ahrincluded, “We now have a way to find Elena’s location. The Daughters of the Sea God all have the same flute, right? I’ll use Liringanaur’s flute to track it. Thempass will point in two directions—one being Serenade’s. The other will be Elena.”

The plan was set in motion. Ahri began tracking Liringanaur’s flute, and Liringanaur, intrigued by the idea of rescuing her sister, joined us in the limousine.

***The limousine sped down the darkened roads of Sea God’s Island.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind: Why was Elena sealed?

Sealing wasn’t random.

The sealed participant was always the one with the most critical abilities for the cursed room.

For example, in Room 201, I was sealed because I was the only one capable of entering the space where the “Eye of Zero Dimension” resided without penalties, thanks to the mental protection provided by my Status Window.

So, what’s the reason for Elena’s sealing?

Is it her Justice?

It’s unclear if the enemy was even human.

Or is it something as nebulous as the Ominous Imagination?

Could such a vaguencept really be the most crucial ability?

Every theory Injured up felt plausible, yet none struck me as definitive.

Additionally, the “nightmare” phenomenon mentioned by Liringanaur lingered in my mind.

Being another Daughter of the Sea God, Elena must have been exposed to those nightmares as well.

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if unsealing Elena was a mistake.

But I pushed the thought aside.

Speculation of this nature felt akin to denying the very rules set by the Hotel.

After all, the direct link between unsealing participants and resolving a room was a rule explicitly established by the Hotel itself.

“Ah!”

Liringanaur’s exclamation broke the silence, drawing everyone’s attention.

She stammered nervously, startled by her own realization, “I-I think I know where w-we’re going. I’ve been there before....”

“Where?”

Her answer caught everyone off guard, “A psychiatric hospital. I don’t go there often.”