Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 238
Only Krnovel
Episode 238 – No. 202, Room of the Curse – ‘The Little Mermaid’ (16)
[User: Han Ga-in (Jihye)
Date: Day 102
Current location: Tier 2, Room 202 – Curse Room ‘The Little Mermaid’
Sage Advice: 3]
– Han Ga-in
As we already felt during our first attempt, Serenade is very wary of us. More accurately, it can be seen as hostility towards the management bureau. In this situation, what should I say to persuade her to attract her and get her information?
I discussed several possibilities with my colleagues last night, but ultimately came to one conclusion. Even if no one else knows, Serenade must be informed that Sea God Island and, by extension, the entire Fish Man tribe are in danger of survival. The question then arises as to how on earth one knew that information.
The story we created to explain this is the ‘time turned back’ scenario. In fact, depending on your point of view, it’s not really a lie. Every time we enter, time in room 202 returns to the beginning.
Serenade opened her mouth for a moment after hearing what I said.
“What on earth is this about? “I’m sure the management is not doing this to make fun of me.”
You have to rush out. Before Serenade comes to his senses!
“Before we turn back time, we should tell you what we have learned. For your information, I know very well that ‘Lee Su-ho’ is alive and well and the governor is pursuing him.”
Serenade’s expression hardened.
“Lee Soo-ho’s purpose is the descent of Kadarudah. Also, as a disciplinary measure, Elena was confined by the governor to a hospital in the western part of the island that only the daughters of the Sea God can use -”
“stop.”
There is silence around. Serenade walked around in silence and then opened her mouth.
“I don’t know if you turned back time, but it looks like you guys gathered some unusual information.”
“…”
“Still, I think I need to check one more thing.”
“check?”
Instead of answering, she looked at us intently. What on earth are you trying to check?
[Advice: 3 -> 2]
[Body-butt Serenade!]
The moment I saw the notification, I was serenaded with a tugging sensation in my stomach. She flew through space out of nowhere, and when I headbutted her torso, Serenade flew more than 2 meters and hit the wall!
At the same time, Song-i and Jin-cheol, who were in the office, were shocked.
“Ehh! brother?”
“Go, Gain?”
I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know what was going on. Serenade, who hit the wall, stood up with a tired expression.
thud!
There is a knock on the door outside. Maybe a bodyguard or a secretary?
“Saint! What’s going on? Open the door right now and -”
“stop! “I’m fine, so don’t let anyone enter the office.”
“…Are you sure you’re okay?”
“okay.”
After a while, Serenade stood up and looked back at us as if nothing had happened.
“You must have something. therefore… . hour? great. It looks like you already experienced ‘my ability’ before turning back time. Still, it’s interesting. “There is no foreshadowing of my abilities.”
I understood the situation. Just now, Serenade tried to use her supernatural powers as the daughter of the Sea God on us, and I blocked her with a headbutt to her body.
… Crisis notifications only work when life is in danger. This means that Serenade tried to kill me a little while ago. My expression automatically hardened.
At the same time, I felt quite threatened. Serenade has the supernatural power to kill people instantly without any warning. What is the identity of this ability?
“Did you just try to kill us?”
Serenade spoke confidently as if asking what was the problem.
“You said you could turn back time? If that is true, at least one person would be able to survive even if they die. Also, you probably already know my abilities. You actually knew about it and stopped it, right? “No problem.”
I was speechless for a moment because I didn’t know whether to call it shameless or to say that this woman also turned around. As if trying to quell our anger, Serenade immediately began the next story.
“I believe it now. “Seeing as you haven’t hidden this mysterious story, I guess you need my help, right?”
“There are so many things I want to ask.”
“Let’s ask.”
We got quite a bit of information in the last episode. I also knew that the source of the curse was the descent of Kadarudach by Lee Su-ho, who is alive and not dead, and that if we do not do anything, the descent will take place between dawn and morning tomorrow.
However, one most important piece of information is missing. Externally, Kadarudah is the god of the fish people. Why on earth does he annihilate the fishman tribe as soon as the god of the fishman descends? Suho Lee said that the fishmen committed two sins. The sins committed by the first fishmen 800 years ago and the sins committed by modern fishmen.
We must know what this sin is. This must be Kadarudah’s motivation.
The story about sin was briefly summarized and delivered. Serenade had a strange expression on her face.
“That’s a difficult question to answer.”
“what do you mean?”
“I’m asking this because I don’t know the answer to one of the two questions. But let me answer from what I know. “The sin committed by the first fishman.”
One of the biggest mysteries of Room 202 is now starting to be solved.
“I think you already know that the ancestors of fishermen were originally poor fishermen. “They discovered a mysterious creature called ‘Rudach’ in an underwater cave 800 years ago.”
“You mean an animal that looks like a giant snail.”
“… Have you already seen that too? We consider Rudach a member of the household of God. Kadarudah, this means ‘father of Rudach’. The Forerunners encountered Rudach in the underwater caves and soon recognized Kadarudah as well. And the first contract was made when the fishermen held the Kadarudah and placed it inside their bodies.”
First contract. With those words, Serenade opened her desk drawer for a moment and took out a thick notebook.
“This is information left about the primordial memories that the daughter of the sea god of that era contacted 438 years ago. According to the data, the sea god gave fishermen ‘the right to become children and participate in the cycle.’”
“What does that mean?”
“Listen slowly. Even our ancestors at that time did not fully understand the contract. Our ancestors simply made the contract, ‘If you worship the sea god, you will be able to catch a lot of fish.’ I understood it to that extent. This interpretation is not entirely wrong. Our ancestors were able to collect quite a lot of fish in return for their contracts. “They say there are a lot of fish on the island.”
If you receive a benefit, you need to pay for it.
“As time passed, our ancestors finally understood the true meaning of the contract. Within 10 years, our ancestors’ bodies began to adapt to life underwater. “Some of those who participated in the contract said that their lungs shriveled and their gills protruded, making it difficult for them to breathe on land.”
“Literally, you become a ‘fishman.’”
“Becoming a member of a strange race and living forever in the sea. This was the true meaning of the contract made between the sea god and our ancestors. And our ancestors rejected this fate.”
Ari, who had an interesting expression on his face, asked.
“What method did you use?”
“To understand that, you must first understand the creature called Rudach. Rudach is simply a ‘hive creature’. “They are similar to bees, which live in the sea with supernatural spirituality.”
“Supernatural bees that live in the sea?”
“And that Rudach has a ‘queen’ entity. It is a being that can control the entire colony. “Like a queen bee.”
After listening to this point, I understood one thing.
“That queen bee individual is the daughter of the sea god.”
“that’s right. Since the first fish people accepted Rudach, all fish people are born with Rudach in their bodies. During this process, if she is born with the ‘Queen Rudach’ entity, she awakens several supernatural powers and becomes the daughter of the Sea God, who can contact her primordial memories.”
Suddenly, it felt like I was listening to a lecture on the ecology of supernatural creatures.
“However, among the abilities that this Queen Rudach has is the ability to control the ‘growth’ of other Rudach.”
Other rudach growth controls?
“It is probably originally a force to prevent too many queens from occurring within one Rudach population. It is the ability to prevent the growth of other queens born first so that other individuals cannot grow as much as they do and threaten the queen’s position. And, strangely enough, this ability saved our ancestors.”
Ari said with a puzzled expression.
“So, are you saying that the current fish people are the result of your sea god’s daughter, who currently holds ‘Queen Rudach’, completely suppressing the growth of other Rudachs?”
“Not only the growth of other Rudach, but also our own growth has stopped. So, all the rudach in the bodies of sea god island fish cannot grow further in a fluid state. Accordingly, the transformation of the body also stops at the point where some scales appear.”
After listening to a story that felt like a complex ‘supernatural biological ecology research’, the conclusion was simple.
To put it simply, Rudach is a sea bee, and just as the queen bee controls the worker bees, the current fish-man is the result of the sea god’s daughter forcibly preventing Rudach from awakening in her own body as well as other fish-people.
It may seem like a dictatorship to say it this way, but thanks to preventing that ‘growth’, the fish-men can still live on land in human form. No fishman would want to turn into a fish and go into the sea. In the end, the daughters of the sea god saved the fishman in a true sense.
“That is the first sin. Should we say that it is a sin that has continued from the beginning to the present?”
“I told you something important that I know. “Now I also want to ask you one thing.”
Serenade turned the question to us.
“Why on earth was the sea god so angry?”
“yes? that… . If what you’ve heard so far is true, isn’t it because you received benefits from the Sea God and didn’t pay anything in return? “If I had to pay the price, I would have had to turn into a fish and live in the sea.”
Serenade shook her head.
“If it’s such a big sin, why are you punishing it ‘now’? “It must have been 800 years.”
I hit my knee without realizing it. That is correct. If remaining on land using Rudach’s ecological characteristics is a crime, then why is Kadarudah only now punishing it? This has been happening not for 80 years, but for 800 years.
Serenade answered as if asking herself.
“Actually, I think this ‘first sin’ has already been forgiven on Sea God Island.”
“Are you forgiven?”
“Of course it’s kind of wishful thinking. But there is a basis. First, even though we live on land, we still worship Kadarudah as our god. Second, fish people still live with the sea. While they are alive, they live on an island, and after they die, they are buried in the sea. Third, Kadarudah has not punished us for the past 800 years, except for giving us nightmares.”
I know what you mean.
The fishman still lives in the sea and worships the sea god, and Kadarudah has not punished him except for giving him nightmares for 800 years. So, their interpretation is that the Fishman’s first sin of refusing to live in the sea has already been forgiven.
So, what exactly is the ‘second sin’?
As if she had guessed my question, Serenade’s mouth opened again.
“The problem is the second crime. It is clear that we have sinned something new. We know this too. “But there is one problem.”
“What is it?”
“I mean, I don’t know what the crime is.”
“yes?”
“It’s not a joke. About 20 years ago, Kadarudah became incredibly angry, and the daughters of the Sea God vaguely sensed that anger. But no one knows why the sea god is angry for 20 years. This is the biggest problem with the second sin.”
Songi, who was listening blankly, said.
“to… . “Wouldn’t that be environmental destruction?”
Serenade responded with a snort.
“You’re probably thinking that we haven’t even thought about it, right?”
Silence fell in the room.
See next episode