Escaping the Mystery Hotel-Chapter 234: Room 202, Cursed Room - ’The Little Mermaid’ (12)

- Yu Songee

I heard the sound of waves crashing.

My body would soon crumble, just like the foam dissolving on the sand.

In the heart of the dark, abyss-like ocean, when that incomprehensible entity rose, I gave up on everything.

It would have been better if I had lost my mind like Eunsol-unni earlier, who gouged out her own eyes.

But thanks to the power of the bracelet manifesting instinctively, my mind remained painfully clear.

So, I just decided to close my eyes and wait for death.

It might seem like a cowardly attitude, but I saw the Chat Window earlier.

Elena-unni seemed to have called Kain-oppa and taken him somewhere.

There’s no way the two of them are on a date in the middle of all this chaos, so they must have escaped, right?

…Let’s trust them.

- Splash!

From the dark depths, I felt something approaching me.

A twisted and grotesque form was drawing near.

I knew the end of this grueling first attempt at Room 202 was finally coming.

“If you’re going to eat me, please start with the head! It’s small enough for you to finish in one bite!”

I obediently leaned my head toward the monster.

- Splash!

It had been a long time since I last realized that my blessing was “Affinity”.

***

- Yu Songee

“Toto! Doesn’t it feel itchy to carry all of these things with you?”

- Grrr!

- Thud!

“There! Stay still! Can’t you keep your head in one place? Unni will make you feel better.”

What on earth is happening?

Let’s retrace the events step by step.

We arrived at the port to stop Lee Suho.

But we were too late.

As soon as we got there, the God of the Sea rose and brought everything to an end.

I held on against the madness stirred by the god, using the power of my bracelet, and simply waited for death.

Then, a massive sea turtle appeared, scooped me onto its back, and started swimming somewhere.

Does this make any sense?

I don’t know either.

To be fair, most things that happened in the Hotel went like this.

One never knew what might happen.

Logical predictions? The Hotel almost always defied expectations.

Calculated assumptions considering multiple possibilities? Those usually fail too.

1, 2, 4. What comes next?

At first glance, one would think 8 came next, then 16.

But from another perspective, it might look like 7 came next, followed by 11.

That was what people considered “logical progression.”

But the Hotel?

It was the kind of place that screamed, “You skipped 3 between 2 and 4!” and wiped us out for leaving out the 3.

So, I stopped trying to predict and decided to just go with the flow.

Looking at the barnacles stuck all over Toto (yes, that’s what I named the turtle), I couldn’t help myself and started peeling them off.

Toto, seemingly relieved, lifted its legs to show me where more barnacles were stuck.

Meanwhile, the god who rose with the force to shake the entire world left for some distant place.

Is it heading toward land?

I had no way of knowing.

Frankly, I was more concerned about the snake that had suddenly appeared next to me.

- Flick!

“Don’t lick me! You pervert. I’m a good girl, you know?”

I doubted the sea snake understood me.

It seemed like it just wanted to climb onto the turtle’s back too.

The sea rose surged, swallowing the remnants of Sea God’s island bit by bit.

At some point, the wails of the merfolk, audible even through the storm, fell silent.

Around that time, a rather extravagant yacht approached me.

Onboard was a young man with scales covering half of his body.

“Hello! The world seems to have ended. Want to ride the yacht together? You… Are you with the Administration? We had information that someone infiltrated the island—”

“Administration? I don’t know any scary people like that!”

“…”

“I’m good at scrapping barnacles from turtles!”

With that, he waved one of Toto’s front legs in the air, and the young man’s mouth fell open.

“Come aboard. I’ve seen enough strange things for today.”

- Thud!

Traveling the sea on a turtle’s back had its own charm, but the yacht was far more comfortable.

As soon as I climbed aboard, I felt at ease.

“Goodbye, Toto! See you next time, Pyoopyoo!”

“Toto? Pyoopyoo?”

“The turtle is Toto, and the snake is Pyoopyoo.”

“Their names are actually Asdalios and Kiorne—”

“Toto and Pyoopyoo are better.”

“…Fine, have it your way. So, Administration girl, what are your thoughts as you watch the island collapse?”

“Do you have anything to eat?”

“…”

***

The sight of canned food on the table sparked my appetite, even in this chaos.

This guy, who I assumed was Lee Suho, seemed odd.

The fact that he actually gave me food when I asked for it in the middle of all this meant he wasn’t exactly normal.

“It’s not much of a meal, but—”

“It really isn’t.”

“…What did you expect, steak?”

“As the eldest son of the Cheongseong Group’s chairman, I expected you’d be on some extravagant yacht.”

“Those yachts are too big to hide on.”

“So you’re basically a hiding rat?”

“Such harsh words. Serenade was chasing me down as if she wanted to fillet me alive, so I had no choice but to hide.”

From that brief conversation, I learned one thing: Serenade had been hunting him.

Chewing the bland, swollen noodles from the can, I pondered. Kain-oppa must have escaped by now—I decided to believe that.

My job now is to find something out.

But how?

Should I use the bracelet to show him hallucinations?

This wasn’t just some random person; this was someone akin to a high priest or a saint who resurrected an evil god.

Even if it worked, I doubted it would instill fear in him.

So, I decided to take the direct approach.

“Why don’t we just be honest with each other?”

“…”

“Open up your heart, Oppa.”

“Why the hell am I your oppa?”

“Fine, handsome mister?”

Lee Suho let out a long sigh.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. The conclusion is near anyway, so there’s no harm in lightening our burdens.”

Conclusion?

“How about this: Administration girl, I’m sure you have plenty of questions for me, but I also have some questions for you. Let’s take turns. Since you know it’s all coming to an end, let’s not waste time with pointless mind games.”

This wasn’t what I expected.

I thought he’d aim for some lofty position as ruler of a god-controlled world.

But from our conversation, it seemed like he thought his death was imminent.

“Fine. I’ll go first. Why the hell are you pulling all this insane crap, you crazy bastard?”

I couldn’t help but sound harsh—it had been a rough day.

“Starting off strong, huh? But it’s simple really, I’m making the merfolk pay for the sins they’ve committed.”

“The sins of the first—”

“Stop. It’s my turn now, isn’t it? We agreed to take turns.”

“…”

“How is Elena? What state is she in?”

“After causing this chaos, you’re still worried about Elena?”

“Answer the question.”

“Serenade had her locked up, drugged so heavily she couldn’t wake up. We managed to rescue her, but thanks to your chaos, she’s probably dead by now.”

Hearing my response, Lee Suho looked up at the sky with a distant expression.

“Now it’s my turn. I don’t know what sins you’re referring to, but aren’t those sins committed by the first merfolk? It’s been 700 or 800 years since they died—does it make sense to blame their distant descendants?”

This was where I couldn’t understand anymore.

It made sense for Kadaru’dah, the god, to act without distinguishing individuals.

Gods didn’t punish a single ant for biting them; they exterminated the entire colony.

But Lee Suho?

He was—or had been—human.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“What?”

“I never punished the merfolk for their ancestors’ sins.”

“Huh?”

“I only made them pay for the sins they committed in the present. Of course, the resurrected Kadaru’dah might care about the past, but that’s not my concern.”

The merfolk bore two great sins: the original sin of their ancestors and another committed by their descendants.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Lee Suho claimed he was punishing the latter, not the former.

Kadaru’dah, however, might have judged both.

“It’s my turn now. Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to control Asdalios and Kiorne? Even Kadaru’dah’s minions don’t listen to me.”

“Toto and Pyoopyoo?”

“…How did you control Toto and Pyoopyoo?”

“Um, it’s the power of the Blessing granted to me by a great being at the Hotel.”

“That’s quite the sincere answer. But it feels like you told me nothing.”

“You’re mistaken. I told you everything.”

“Fine, let’s leave it at that. I didn’t press hard on my first question, so I’ll overlook this one too.”

With that, Lee Suho stopped asking questions.

It seemed he was only curious about Elena and my blessing, “Affinity”.

Exhausted, I mindlessly finished the swollen noodles.

Lee Suho left briefly and returned with a new can.

“Gochujang stir-fried meat?”

“This will make it more palatable with the noodles. I forgot I had one left.”

“You should’ve brought it earlier.”

“My apologies.”

The combination of gochujang stir-fried meat and the noodles was indeed much better.

Just then, the sky suddenly lit up.

“Ah… The conclusion is upon us.”

“What… What is that?”

Seeing my surprise, Lee Suho looked even more perplexed.

“You’re from the Administration, and you’re asking me? Isn’t this one of the Administration’s weapons, deployed when things go to hell? I think it’s called the Terminator?”

“Terminator?”

A beam of light descended from the sky.

It didn’t seem like a missile; there was no visible physical object, only a slow-moving mass of light heading toward the sea.

Strangely, the overwhelming presence I’d felt from the god earlier was now emanating from this light.

A calm voice came from beside me, “Life is only lived once. It’s not about living long but living meaningfully. In that sense, I guess my life wasn’t too bad.”

Lee Suho!

Are you reaching enlightenment now?

Have you achieved some sort of nirvana?

How dare you find peace on your own.

Annoyed by his attitude, I retorted.

“Mister.”

“Yes?”

“Any last words?”

“I’ll tell you something interesting. We’ll meet again. And next time, things won’t go the way you think they will.”

The light descended.

A brilliant radiance, containing the combined efforts of an organization that had protected the world against unfathomable demons, struck the surface of the sea.

- Flash!

In the final moment, the emotion I felt was, strangely, joy.

I could feel the culmination of human civilization, built by 7 billion people over thousands of years, encapsulated in that single beam of /genesisforsaken