Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 243: Room 202, Cursed Room - ’The Little Mermaid’ (21)

- Park Seungyub

“Agent Seungyub, do you have any questions?”

“I’m here to check on the request I submitted yesterday.”

“That request has been classified, so it’s currently inaccessible.”

“…Understood.”

Here we go again.

It had been four days since I parted ways with my hyungs and noonas and came up to the Seoul headquarters alone.

On the first day, I just took it easy.

It felt like there wasn’t much for me to do, and since I was considered an “agent,” the headquarters provided me with a luxurious hotel-like accommodation.

I even had carefree thoughts like, “Maybe if I just nap a bit, my teammates will have resolved Room 202 by the time I wake up, and they’ll be out in the world again.”

But the incomprehensible passage of time flowed on.

By the next morning, there was no mention of Kadaru’dah’s descent on the news or within the Administration.

I assumed my teammates had successfully stopped it.

Then, on the third day, as I was idly resting near the conference room, an older man suddenly grabbed my shoulder and spouted some absurd nonsense, “Stay strong. You must overcome the grief of losing your comrades.”

Only then did I start to piece things together.

Most of my hotel teammates had died.

Maybe I was the only one left alive.

I submitted two formal inquiries to figure out what had happened and why my teammates had died, but the same response came back each time.

“Classified.”

In short, it was a way of saying, “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

I belatedly scrambled to gather information, but it wasn’t easy.

Over the past two days, I realized that within the Administration’s headquarters, I was treated as someone with “special abilities deserving of agent status, but still just a kid.”

What on earth happened?

If my teammates had managed to stop Kadaru’dah’s descent, didn’t that mean they succeeded in some way?

Even if everyone except me had died in the process, given the Hotel system, a resolution notification should have appeared.

“…”

Thinking simply made the answer clear.

Why hasn’t a resolution appeared?

Is it because the Sea God’s descent wasn’t stopped?

If so, why hasn’t an escape objective appeared?

Because the descent is imminent.

Also, the fact that an escape notification hadn’t appeared even after arriving at the Administration headquarters hinted at something significant: if the Sea God descended, even the Administration’s headquarters wouldn’t be safe.

This strongly suggested that no place on Earth would be safe.

Realizing this oddly put my mind at ease.

If the Administration headquarters wasn’t safe anyway, there was no reason for me to stay here.

I should head back to Busan and figure out what happened.

Just as I was about to get up, a good idea struck me.

“Agent? Do you have another request?”

“Yes, I need operational funds.”

“Sorry? An operation? What kind of—“

“Agents are authorized to independently launch ‘Chaos Disaster Response Operations’ based on field conditions, right?”

“Uh, well… in that case, you’ll need to provide detailed—“

“It’s classified.”

“…”

“…”

“How much do you need?”

“10 million won.”

Time to take a taxi from Seoul to Busan!

***

“Director, do you remember the young agent we mentioned the other day?”

“Ah, you mean Park Seungyub?”

“He just departed for Busan.”

“…Weren’t you the one who reported that he likely doesn’t know much about the situation on Sea God’s Island?”

“My apologies. I assumed there wouldn’t be any issues since he’s so young.”

“It’s fine. Mistakes can happen. Have a car prepared.”

“You’re planning to go in person?”

“I’d rather not see you make a second mistake. Besides, I’ve heard that agent has a peculiar ability.”

***

As soon as the boy stepped out of the taxi, he heard someone calling him.

“Hey~! Are you Seungyub?”

Surprised that someone in Busan recognized him, Seungyub turned his head.

Across the street stood a sharp-eyed middle-aged man.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Park Jinseong.”

“Oh! I’ve heard about you from Grandpa. He said you were very helpful.”

“Haha… that was a little while ago. The matter regarding Agent Mooksung is truly regrettable. I feel a great sense of responsibility for it. They were, without a doubt, the pride of the Administr—“

“It’s fine.”

The boy’s expression as he spoke was genuinely unconcerned.

In his mind, death inside the Cursed Rooms wasn’t “real death” but more like logging out of a game.

As long as he was alive, the Hotel Party wasn’t over.

“…Are you truly fine?”

“I said I’m fine. Do you have something to say?”

Park Jinseong hesitated for a moment.

The fact that the boy was so unbothered by the deaths suggested a lack of deep emotional bonds with the purged agents.

Perhaps the boy really didn’t know anything.

Soon, he reorganized his thoughts.

When it came to the “Project,” everything had to be perfect.

No loose ends can be left behind.

“I have something to discuss with you. There’s a limousine waiting across the street. It would be better to talk there.”

“Understood.”

“…”

Park Jinseong walked while observing the boy.

Is he deep in thought?

He looked so absorbed, as though he wouldn’t notice if someone carried him off.

The sight was endearing yet so innocent that it made Park Jinseong feel a twinge of guilt.

Do I really have to kill this young boy with my own hands?

A sudden wave of doubt surged through him.

He wanted to order his subordinates to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, the words almost escaping his lips.

What kind of glory could I be pursuing? Even resorting to harming a child like this?

He sighed repeatedly, trying to steel his resolve.

The Project wasn’t about personal gain.

It was a grand vision to overcome humanity’s long-standing despair and innate frailties.

Suddenly, realizing that his sighing might appear odd to the boy, he turned his head.

And Park Jinseong screamed, “Ahhh! Kid! Watch out! Hey! You crazy kid!”

In the chaos of Busan’s six-lane roads—where cars seemed to compete in a death race, ignoring speed limits as though they were for lesser drivers—the boy was leisurely crossing the road.

Employees observing nearby rushed to the scene belatedly, and Park Jinseong’s anger flared.

“Are you blind? How did you let him run onto the road?”

“Director! Did you see what happened just now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the boy dropped a dice from his pocket while walking, and then he just casually followed it as it rolled onto the road!”

Too drained to even stay angry, Park Jinseong blankly stared at the road.

The boy wandered aimlessly, eyes glued to the ground, looking for his dice.

Meanwhile, the cars, as if by magic, naturally swerved past him without incident.

“…What ability does this agent have again?”

“I believe he’s referred to as a ‘child of extraordinary fortune’.”

“It seems like his ability activated as soon as we tried to eliminate him quietly. This approach isn’t going to work.”

“If we can’t lure him to a secluded spot, how about evacuating civilians from the area?”

“Not sure it’ll work. At this rate, even if we shot at him outright, it might still fail.”

“Sorry?”

“You could aim a gun at him, but just as you pull the trigger, your hand might slip, and the bullet would hit the guy next to you instead.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“Is it any more ridiculous than a kid strolling across six lanes of traffic, staring at a dice, without a scratch?”

“…”

“By the way, Director, I’ve heard this ability has a ‘weakness’…”

***

- Park Seungyub

“Ah! Why did it suddenly bounce away!”

The dice I had always kept with me since meeting my Patron suddenly fell to the ground.

Panicked, I chased after it without thinking, finally managing to pick it up.

But… where am I?

After picking up the dice and coming to my senses, I realized that the director, who had been walking beside me, was nowhere to be seen.

I had a feeling he might have been able to tell me what had happened to my missing comrades…

- Ring ring!

Suddenly, my smartphone buzzed in my pocket.

“Hello?”

“Seungyub, where did you run off to? You startled me.”

“Ah! I’m so sorry. My treasured dice suddenly fell to the ground.”

“Is that so? Well, if it’s something precious, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“I’m really sorry. I’ll head back to where you are—“

“Seungyub, don’t hang up. Listen to me for a moment.”

The director then launched into what he claimed was “essential knowledge for a young agent,” starting with a “complex” explanation.

He talked about the nature of the chaotic entities we were dealing with and somehow ended up discussing the current state of affairs in Russia.

My head was pounding!

Do real agents have to know all this?

I used to think I might want to try becoming an agent when I got out of the Hotel, but now I was second-guessing.

The long-winded conversation continued even after the director rejoined me.

He just wouldn’t stop talking, like a stereotypical chatty old man.

He went on about how things were when he was in high school and shared utterly useless stories that left me feeling mentally drained.

On top of that, whenever he noticed me zoning out, he’d quiz me on what he’d just said.

“D-D-Director!”

“Back when I visited France last year—hmm? Do you have a question?”

“My head hurts so much. Is this really the kind of thing you’re planning to tell me?”

“Haha! Seungyub, you need to build patience.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Of course, there are more interesting stories too. Are you curious about the tale of Sea God’s Island?”

“Yes!”

“That’s a story best told over a meal.”

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At that moment, I finally realized we had arrived at a small restaurant.

But why had we come to such an out-of-the-way place?

Isn’t he a high-ranking official with plenty of money?

Even after entering the restaurant, the flow didn’t change much.

The director kept staring at me intently while launching into difficult stories, and I couldn’t tell if the food was going into my nose or my mouth anymore.

“Seungyub.”

“Yes?”

“Is your head hurting a lot right now? From all the complicated stories?”

“Yessss…”

Something was strange.

The director’s demeanor had changed.

The warm, neighborly vibe he’d had earlier had completely vanished, replaced by a cold, stern air.

His hand moved inside his jacket.

Is he about to pull something out?

- Crash!

With the sound of a window shattering, a parrot flew into the room.

***

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