Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 228
Only Krnovel
Episode 228 – No. 202, Room of the Curse – ‘The Little Mermaid’ (6)
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 100
Current location: Tier 2, Room 202 – Curse Room ‘The Little Mermaid’
Sage advice: 1]
– Han Ga-in
After we started searching through government offices with Ari, we felt countless times how fortunate we were that we were ‘Administrative Bureau agents’.
Let’s look at our party objectively. There are six people, including Seung-yeop, who is outside the island, the doctor who left to observe the fishmen, and Elena, who was sealed. The act of 6 people crowding around is bound to attract attention, and even the girl in front is wearing a bizarre outfit that resembles an unidentified space suit.
Common sense tells us, wouldn’t a group like this automatically create a photo zone just by walking on the side of the road, and citizens would eagerly take pictures and post them on social media? This is the worst combination to do anything while hiding. However, we are agents of the Management Bureau, and this world is a stage where the ‘Control faction’ Management Bureau operates openly. Therefore, as long as you have a badge that is equivalent to a horse badge, there is no need to hide in most situations.
They openly displayed their badges, drove out government office workers, and headed to the basement. Since we had the justification that we had come to investigate the casualties of the Cheongseong Group, the Fishman employees had no way of stopping us.
My sister felt uneasy because she thought it was too loud.
“Grandpa, don’t you think you need to hide a little?”
“we? Eunsol, does it seem possible to you? Above all, do you think that protective clothing can be hidden?”
“… That’s right.”
“In the first place, the islanders are watching us, so where are we hiding? Rather, in times like this, it is right to wield ‘authority’ and just get out of the way. “Are there always police or detectives lurking around?”
Songi also opened her mouth.
“Even if the employees are like that, what if Serenade shows up? “It seems like the saint also has unidentified supernatural powers.”
Ari responded as if it was no big deal.
“The governor is probably praying on the outskirts of the island right now.”
“pray?”
“When I asked you earlier, I heard that when ‘Kadarudach’ is having nightmares, a saint prays to ease the pain of God. “It is a very important and sacred ceremony on the island.”
After arriving at the first basement level of the government office while talking like this, we lost our way for a while.
“Ari?”
“… The compass tells me to go further down.”
“There’s no door to the basement? Even on the structural map, there is nothing other than the first basement floor. “I don’t think the underground parking lot is suitable due to its location.”
Ari’s compass is clearly telling him to go further down, but there is no way to get downstairs. After wasting time wandering around for a while, we finally made a decision.
“You, come here.”
“…”
“Should I drag you along?”
Without hiding his anxiety, the grandfather picked out a person who seemed to have a high rank among the Fishman employees who had been hovering around him.
“Be honest. “The way down!”
“Oh, I think there’s a misunderstanding. “The provincial government building ends at the first basement level.”
“hey! Don’t you know that if you shake it off anyway, everything will come out? “I came here because I knew there was more down there, so open the spout right now!”
The employee seemed to have some strength of his own and resisted Ari and Grandpa’s threats. However, the moment Songi gestured, the employee’s mouth dropped open.
“ah! ah! ah… !”
“Song, what did you show the employee?”
“The illusion of the floor collapsing. “Have we shown our will to go, even if it means breaking things, if the situation arises?”
I don’t know if I submitted to that will, or to the intimidation of Songi’s supernatural power. The employee looked like he had given up on everything and dragged us somewhere.
“When the saint comes back, I will never let you go!”
“We will take care of that, so you do as we are told.”
Strangely enough, the road leading down to the first basement level was connected to the second floor. This is why, no matter how much we searched the first basement floor, we could not find a passage leading further down.
As I went down the stairs in the dark passage, the employee stepped back with a somewhat fearful expression.
“… I told you everything, right? “I’ll just leave.”
“Go see.”
When the employee left, Jincheol asked.
“Can I just send it to you?”
“What if I take you there? Originally, the key to this type of ‘coercive investigation’ was to maintain a certain line. Actually, I’ve already crossed a line. “It is possible because there is no saint.”
“is that so?”
After the Bureau began asserting its authority, everyone had to follow Grandfather and Ari’s judgment. This is because the rest of the people had no sense of the scope of what the agent was allowed to do.
The door to the second basement floor, or below, was opened. At the same time, everyone was speechless.
*
— Snap! Slap!
“How on earth can there be a place like this in the basement of the provincial government building?”
— Cheap!
The stone floor is full of moisture, and you can hear the sound of water every time your feet leave the floor. After tracking down the clothes worn by the sea god’s daughter and entering the basement of the provincial government building, we were faced with an unexpected underground cave.
“It’s the opposite in order. “There is not a cave underneath the provincial office, but it should be seen that the provincial office was built on top of a cave.”
“What do you mean?”
“The story is that the provincial office is not the key, but this cave is the key.”
— Slap!
An eerie atmosphere, a cave full of moisture. There was moss everywhere and creatures resembling snails wriggling here and there. It’s not a good place for mental health. Fortunately, it was bearable because I came down with everyone, not just myself. Thanks to the light from the headlamp attached to the protective suit worn by Ari in the front, visibility was secured.
Ari, who had been walking for a while, opened his mouth.
“I think we’re almost there… . “According to the compass, it’s right around here.”
“What smell is this?”
When I stopped for a moment and focused on my sense of smell at Jincheol’s sudden words, I also began to sense a strong smell that I could not describe in words. Soon, other colleagues also smelled it and started to panic.
“What, what? “Is it a fishy smell?”
“It smells like a homeless person who hasn’t washed for a very long time, doesn’t it?”
“Doesn’t it smell like rotten meat?”
My nose felt like all these smells my colleagues were talking about were mixed together. The smell of fishy fish, the smell of not being washed for a long time, rotten meat, and even the smell of excrement mixed together to create an olfactory terror that is as intense as hell!
This was enough to make me wonder if it was not just a smell, but some kind of mental attack. The moment when everyone couldn’t take their feet and stumbled because they couldn’t bear it –
[Advice: 1 -> 0]
[Bend down immediately!]
Before I even came to my senses, my back was already bent. At the same time, a sharp scream was heard from behind.
“Ahh! “Kaaaaak!”
As everyone turned their heads in shock, a fountain of blood spurted out from Jincheol’s wrist! hand! Where did Jincheol’s hand go?
“Everyone hide behind me!”
At Ari’s sharp shout, everyone came to their senses and frantically hid behind their ‘protective clothing’.
— Ting!
A loud noise coming from the protective clothing. Only then did I realize the true nature of the attack earlier. From the other side of the dark cave, something invisible but very sharp flew towards us!
At the same time, terrible cries were heard from all directions.
— Oooooh! Kiriririk!
An immeasurable movement occurred outside the direction illuminated by the headlamp. A dull noise piercing my ears, something squishy crawling on the floor, hundreds of feet climbing the cave wall. I was filled with tension as I pictured images of horrible creatures in my head that made my head heavy just by thinking about them.
While everyone was preparing for battle, a thought occurred to me. How on earth do I feel the movements of beings that I can’t even see? Is this some kind of extrasensory experience that I first experienced in the hell of the labyrinth?
“ceiling! “There’s a really big guy coming from the ceiling!”
Ari waved his arms at the same time as his sister cried out as she sensed movement in the dark. A sharp force cutting through the air split something approaching from the ceiling.
At the same time, a thick liquid poured out and everyone took a step back.
What should I do? Should I at least be possessed by those monsters? But the shapes of the monsters were still not visible to my eyes. In fact, I don’t even know if I felt the movement of those monsters.
Something stretched out quickly next to me! Who is the target? Even without seeing it, I felt that the other person was targeting Songi. In a split second, I felt a pulling sensation in my belly button, and Songi and I fell to the floor at the same time.
“Aaaah! Oh, brother? Suddenly – teleportation?”
Instead of answering, I stared into the air where the opaque tentacle had come from.
“Dóminus técum. óra pro nobis peccatóribus.”
An unknown song can be vaguely heard from behind. A tone that tickled my ears filled the cave filled with war clouds. First a song, then a flute? As mysterious music filled the cave, the monsters that had been threatening us just a moment ago suddenly began scattering in all directions like obedient pets.
As the chaos in the room slowly subsided, the first intelligible words were heard from behind.
“They really are helpless people. “The staff who guided me when I asked them to do so was very serious.”
It’s a serenade. His grandfather answered in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
“Governor, I was a little forceful, so please take care of the staff.”
“That’s a story I’m really thankful for.”
“But it looks like we have a lot to talk about. “What are all these monsters?”
“First, come over to me. By the way, did you say Agent Cha Jin-cheol? “Quickly pick up the severed arm and -”
Before the serenade ended, my brother picked up the wrist that had fallen on the floor and reattached it to the affected area as if it was no big deal. Is it true that not only Serenade but also us are affected by that? He looked at his brother’s arm with an expression like this.
Of course, the arms naturally clung together. It took less than 30 seconds for his brother to move his arm normally.
“what? Why is everyone so surprised? “Is this your first time seeing my regenerative power?”
Serenade showed a reaction that was unclear whether it was admiration or surprise.
“Hey~! These are very great people. “Please stop making more of a fuss and come this way.”
I feel like a child who got into trouble and got caught by his parents. I felt like her grandfather, Na Ari, who was confident when dealing with the employees of her provincial office, was quite cautious when it came to serenading her. Is this a line that even a Bureau agent must follow? As she was thinking this, she somehow felt like a junior agent learning from the actions of a senior agent.
“Governor, we admit we were rude. But, do you want to hear an explanation about the monsters hidden in the basement of the provincial office?”
Serenade took one look at the gathered us and seemed to think for a moment.
“What are you going to do if I take you outside?”
“…”
“You’ll probably do something similar again. If I told you that I had vacated the building, you would probably scare the employees. Oh, there’s no need to scare me now? “Have you figured out the way to the cave?”
“I know.”
Serenade sighed, looking shocked at Ari’s shameless answer.
“Let me tell you what this place is. The people trapped here aren’t just monsters. These are… . “These are our unfortunate possibilities, our compatriots who have not grown up in a desirable way.”
An unfortunate possibility. Compatriots who did not grow up in a desirable way.
What does it mean? Unable to bear her curiosity, her grandfather asked.
“Governor, I’d like you to explain in more detail.”
Serenade tilted her head.
“Can’t you understand after listening to this point? These are people who failed to awaken to the fishman race. There are about 3 or 4 people from all over the island every year. “After being sent underground for a long period of time, so many people have gathered.”
What’s the story? I don’t know why the words ‘awakening to the fishman race’ appeared out of nowhere. What kind of ‘awakening’ is needed for humans to grow as humans? And is it possible to become such a miserable monster just because you failed to awaken?
Could it be that the fish people are not fish people from birth? Now that I think about it, I remember what the doctor said.
“These people are still our compatriots, even though they have lost most of their intelligence. “The proof is that it is following my control now.”
“Follow your control?”
“yes.”
At that moment, I heard my sister’s sharp voice.
“Aren’t we exactly following your control, but the ‘Daughter of the Sea God’? “Looking at the items in that box, several thoughts come to mind.”
“… What on earth is that box?”
“It’s obvious to me, so don’t pretend not to notice. That box on the cave wall. What’s in the box? “The things sticking out look similar to pieces of clothing?”
“…”
“Let me take a guess. Do these monsters, or rather their ‘compatriots’, instinctively follow the sea god’s daughter? Are you even smelling it? Or are there any pheromones coming out of your body? “Anyway, I think they put your sister’s belongings in that box to trap these compatriots in the cave.”
“You really have good eyes. Anyway, I think you understand the situation now.”
Serenade turned back without further explanation. As I followed her out of her cave, I realized why Serenade kindly explained the situation in her cave in her own way.
The saint made an excuse to the ‘Administrative Bureau’ that she was not using this monster for evil purposes.
See next episode