Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 130
Only Krnovel
Episode 130 – No. 107, Gate Room – ‘The Secret of the Esper’ (21)
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 46
Current location: Tier 1, Room 107 (Gateway Room)
Sage advice: 1]
– Han Ga-in
It wasn’t difficult to get to the first floor of Esper.
It was enough to just go down the stairs, referring to the ship’s structural diagram hanging here and there, and the crew didn’t stop us at all.
After walking for a while, I stopped. According to the approximate location of the dungeon left in the note, this is roughly the location.
We arrived between the coffee shop and the swimming pool on the first floor. If you go down vertically from here, you will find a dungeon.
But I didn’t know the way to the dungeon, so how did I know that going straight down from a certain location was a dungeon? Did someone drill a hole in the boat?
Ari opened his mouth.
“There must be some stairs going down to the basement nearby… .”
“Is there a secret passage?”
“Surprisingly, it looks like it’s just an ordinary passage?”
“Ordinary passage?”
“It is difficult to modify the internal structure of a ship after it is built, so if you want to create something like a secret passage, you have to make it from the beginning when designing the ship. But look at the size of this ship. It’s definitely not big enough to be dried in secret. In actual history, it would probably have been built in a world-class shipyard. “I think it would have been difficult to create a secret passage with complex mechanisms.”
“Now that I think about it, there’s no need to create a secret passage or anything. Unless you’re a strange passenger like us, there’s no way you’d be searching the ship. “Even if we just make it a no-go except for those involved, the general public won’t even go near it.”
As he said that, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the door on the left wall.
‘Staff only’
Could it be that? They looked at each other and nodded.
It is time to begin the second Seongdong assault operation.
— Piyooooo!
Following Songi’s instructions, Pero immediately turned into a grotesque and started destroying the surroundings!
Many of the employees went upstairs to put out the fire, so there were only a few employees on the first floor, and even those few people were shocked when they saw the grotesque scene and began to run away.
We took advantage of that gap to open the door and go down the stairs.
*
As I was going down the dark stairs, I remembered the past.
A strong smell slowly stings the tip of your nose.
The smell that comes from the rotting body of a dying person, mixed with all kinds of secretions, blood, and pus.
The same smell that I experienced when I entered the security room in the Common Sense Media began to rise.
How did I come to be able to distinguish these smells? .
Another person who recognized the smell, Ari, held the gun tightly with a nervous expression.
After arriving underground, Songi illuminated the surroundings with the flashlight she was holding.
“Ahh! “What on earth is this?”
Only gloomy groans can be heard throughout the space.
It was in such a horrific state that it couldn’t even be seen as a human being, but as many as eight people were still alive.
They were dying, rolling aimlessly inside the rotting iron bars. It was difficult to guess what they had been going through.
Songi was so disgusted that she couldn’t move, so I took the flashlight.
Perhaps these are ‘preliminary sacrifices’.
I checked each one with a light, but they seemed to be completely out of their minds and only drooled and showed no proper response.
In the end, Ari shouted a little louder.
“Can anyone understand us?”
“It’s this way.”
A human voice that is rough and hoarse, but with a clear sense of will.
There was an old man with white hair on the side where the voice came from. The old man’s lower body was joined to his stomach.
I don’t know what it means to merge a human body and a stomach, but that’s the only way I can express it.
He had been left for so long that his hair and beard were almost touching the floor.
The closer I get, the more intense the stench makes my head hurt.
Paradoxically, the traces of excrement left around proved one thing. There must be a cause for there to be an effect.
The presence of excrement is also evidence of a steady provision of food.
“What is your identity?”
“Rather, I would like to ask. “Who are you?”
Ari, who came next to me, answered.
“We are also invited guests on this ship. “I thought it was an ordinary cruise ship, but something strange happened, so I looked into things to escape and ended up in this place.”
“You’re lying.”
“…”
“Say something that makes sense based on common sense. “An ordinary customer sensed the ominous nature of the ship and searched for it, coming to a place like this?”
“that… .”
“Well, that’s enough. Actually, it doesn’t really matter. “You probably have a lot of questions, right?”
With those words, the old man slowly explained the secret of the Esper.
“When was it…?” . My memory is fading now. The Esper was a 120,000-ton luxury cruise ship, the second largest in the world! When this ship departed, all the daily newspapers in Paris published articles about the Esper’s departure. It was a moment of glory.
Was it the second time? Was it the third time? Please understand that my memory is confusing. It’s a story that’s almost 40 years old. The Esper, which was sailing through the waters of the North Sea, began to sink due to a huge, unknown impact. Did she hit a glacier? Or was it the work of the devil, the source of all despair? You never know.
The ship sank slowly. We had no way to survive. Everyone waited for death in despair… .
Then came the devil’s touch. No, it would be right to say that we longed for the devil’s help. Because the captain was a devil worshiper! Maybe the whole tragedy was planned from the beginning and the captain sank the ship.
Markas, whom the captain had summoned to serve more than 10 people, made a suggestion to us. The contract was that we would give him banquets and sacrifices forever, and Marcus would grant us immortality.
Not everyone on board approved. Anyway, what kind of ship was the Esper? 120,000 tons! The largest luxury cruise ship that France boasts! It was a ship full of famous intellectuals and wealthy people of the time, people who were like pillars that supported the country. Would such people easily have sold their souls to the devil?
…
I admit it. Yet there were many more who sold their souls. Death is such a scary thing. From what I remember, 90% of people got caught by the devil, and less than 100% of people said they would rather die. And they suffered endlessly and died here underground… . A long time passed like that. Those who made a pact with the devil never grew old or died, and sailed the ocean with their ships forever, while the captain, who wielded magical powers, endlessly procured sacrifices from somewhere.”
After a long explanation, the old man who introduced himself as ‘Vice Captain Harrison’ lowered his head wearily.
Ari opened his mouth.
“I think I left out one fact?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hey, Harrison. Vice captain of the great Esper. You’re 90% the one who sold your soul, right? Right?”
“…”
“I was confused because his beard and hair weren’t well maintained, but when I looked up close, it looked like he wasn’t even 60 yet. Did you say Esper made a contract with the devil 40 years ago? If you were an innocent person, you would have aged normally, so you would have been around 20 years old when you made the contract with the devil. There is no way you could have become the vice captain of such a huge ship. “Did you make a contract with the devil too?”
“Ugh… .”
“Besides, it’s strange that all the other sacrifices go crazy and die, but you’re the only one who’s fine. Actually, I have no choice but to be fine, right? “Even if you want to go crazy, you can’t go crazy, right?”
“…”
“But why did it end up like this? “Did you betray the captain?”
“You don’t know. You don’t know! You have no idea how despairing we were at that time. Have you ever put your hand into the winter North Sea? Even before my hands touch the surface, the bitter cold from the sea pierces my bones. We were destined to be trapped in it. I lived faithfully. I lived devotedly to the world. “I was never destined to die in a place like that.”
“It’s okay, just shut up. “Why is it like this?”
“… What you say is correct. I wanted to do this. Unable to even set foot on land, they wandered around this frozen sea for decades. Is there value in living a life of feeding the devil, wandering the frozen sea forever without ever being able to set foot on land? I told him to take a rest. “I canceled my contract with Markas and told him to take a break.”
The moment I heard that, my eyes widened without me knowing.
‘Breakage of contract’
I realized it right away when I heard it. This is it.
The immortal sailors who don’t die even if they kill, the solution to this ship that goes back in time and wanders the sea forever!
I asked a question right away.
“What should I do to break my contract with the devil?”
“I don’t know exactly. The only person who knows for sure is the captain. But wouldn’t it be a matter of her sinking this ship again?”
Ari tilted his head.
“Sink the ship?”
“okay. “If we sink this ship again by throwing it into the glacier, this whole nightmare will end.”
The ship is driven into a glacier and sinks. Can I do it this way?
Perhaps because of the smell, Songi, who had been far away, approached and asked.
“People on Esper are obsessed with dinner parties. Is that because of the contract? “Because we decided to offer sacrifices and a banquet?”
“You know very well. There’s nothing strange. “Dance and song have been an inevitable part of ritual ceremonies since ancient times.”
“Apart from the party, why are you asking about things like my age or where I’m from?”
“Marcus, the devil of the deep sea, hates everything on earth. He enjoys us offering up the humans on earth by brutally killing them. Just as the gods worshiped by ancient humans preferred lambs, Markas also prefers young humans.
But actually it doesn’t mean much. As long as you are not old and on the verge of death, age is lenient, and anyway, all humans are born on earth. “Nowadays, finding out the age or region of origin of a sacrifice means nothing more than a simple magical procedure.”
I also asked one more question.
“What is the meaning of the clock at the place of sacrifice?”
Harrison’s eyes widened.
“Did you even figure that out? Actually, I don’t know either. Only the captain knows exactly what it means. “But I heard that if the clock hand reaches 3, we will go to hell forever.”
I learned most of the general information about the ship.
The next goal has also been largely determined. An idea conceived by Harrison, a vice captain who had participated in evil rituals for many years. To sink a ship by hitting a glacier.
We looked at each other and nodded.
After a while, Ari walked around and made the suffering victims ‘comfortable’.
Finally, Ari appeared in front of Harrison.
“I don’t think you will die even if I kill you. “Is there anything you wish for?”
“Take me with you.”
“The lower half of your body is combined with your stomach? How do you want me to take it out?”
“Just cut off the upper body. “Please.”
“hmm. It’s too much. I’m sorry-”
As Ari was about to turn back, Harrison hurriedly spoke.
“Do you know how to steer a ship? This boat is not some kind of boat. It is a 120,000 ton cruise ship. “You sure don’t think you can operate it without specialized knowledge, right?”
“…”
I had to stop too. Harrison’s point is valid.
Is it really possible for us, without any relevant knowledge, to steer an enormous ship weighing over 100,000 tons and crash into a glacier?
Songi, who was listening next to him, motioned and Pero flew over.
“When did you come in?”
“It’s been a while.”
Songi seemed to be whispering something to Pero, and Pero soon transformed into a grotesque.
Apart from being transformed, Perot did not move. Song Yi instructed again.
“Pero!”
It didn’t move either. I felt like I was reading the mind of that giant bird.
It seems that he ordered Harrison’s body to be torn apart, and Perot didn’t even want to get close to Harrison because of the terrible odor it gave off.
In the end, after almost five minutes of Song-i’s persuasion, Pero ripped off Harrison’s body, clicking his beak as if he couldn’t bear it anymore.
…
About 5 minutes after his body was torn apart, the lower half of his body reappeared, as if ‘time turned back’.
I felt like this ordeal was slowly coming to an end.
Wouldn’t it be possible to somehow get this damn ship to the glacier with the help of the vice captain?
See next episode