Escaping the Mystery Hotel

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 46

Current Location: Floor 1, Room 107 (Gate Room)

Sage's Advice: 1

- Han Kain

Moving down to the first floor of the Esper Ho wasn't difficult.

We used the ship's floor plans hanging around and simply followed the stairs down, without any interference from the staff.

We walked for a while and then stopped.

According to the memo about the approximate location of the underground prison, it should be somewhere around here.

We arrived between the coffee shop and the swimming pool on the first floor.

If we went straight down from where we were standing, we’d end up in the underground prison.

But how did the past me figure out the path to the underground prison?

Who drilled a hole in the ship?

Ahri spoke up.

“There should be some stairs leading down around here…”

“Is there a secret passage?”

“It’s probably just a normal passage.”

“A normal passage?”

“It’s difficult to modify a ship’s internal structure when it's constructed, so secret passages would have to be planned during the ship’s design. But look at the scale of this ship. It’s too large to have been built secretly. It was probably constructed in a world-renowned shipyard. Building complicated secret passages would have been difficult.”

“Come to think of it, there’s no need for secret passages. Regular passengers wouldn’t be snooping around like us. Just a restricted access sign would keep most people away.”

She pointed to a door on the left wall as she spoke.

Restricted Access

Could it be that?

We nodded at each other.

It was time to start the second part of the “Make a noise in the East, then strike in the West” plan.

- Piyoooo!

At Songee’s command, Perro immediately transformed into his Grotesque form and started wreaking havoc!

Most of the staff had gone upstairs to put out the fire, leaving only a few of them on the first floor. They fled in terror at the sight of Perro’s Grotesque figure.

We took the opportunity to open the door and go down the stairs.

***As we descended the dark staircase, memories flooded back.

The strong smell that pierced our noses.

The stench of bodily fluids and pus mixed with the smell of blood and the rotting flesh of someone dying.

The kind of smell we experienced when entering the security room during the Common Sense Renovating Media incident.

How did I become someone who could recognize these smells?

Ahri, also recognizing the smell, gripped her gun tightly with a tense expression.

After reaching the basement, Songee shone her flashlight around.

“Ugh! What is this?”

Moans of agony filled the space.

There were eight people…

Though still alive, the condition of their body was so severe that they were nearly unrecognizable as a human.

They were dying, rolling around inside rusting iron bars.

It was hard to guess what they had been through.

Songee, unable to move due to the stench, handed me the flashlight.

These guys must be the “reserve sacrifices”.

I shone the light on each one, but they either drooled mindlessly or were unresponsive, likely having lost their minds.

Finally, Ahri shouted loudly.

“Can anyone here understand us?”

“This way.”

A voice, rough and strained but full of determination.

The voice came from an old man with white hair.

The lower half of his body was fused with the ship.

I didn’t understand what it meant for a person’s body to be fused with a ship, but that was the only way to describe it.

His hair and beard were long enough to touch the floor, indicating how long he had been there.

The smell was so intense that it made my headache.

Paradoxically, the traces of excrement around him proved one thing: there must have been a continuous supply of food, as cause precedes effect.

“What’s your status?”

“I should be asking who you people are.”

Ahri, who had approached, answered, “We’re guests invited to this ship. We thought it was just a normal cruise, but something strange happened, so we’ve been exploring to escape and ended up here.”

“Lies.”

“...”

“Think logically. Would ordinary guests sense something amiss and explore the ship to find this place?”

“Well…”

“Never mind. It doesn’t really matter. You have many questions, don’t you?”

With that, the old man slowly began explaining the secrets of the Esper Ho.

“When was it…? My memory is hazy. The Esper Ho was once a grand 120,000-ton luxury cruise liner! When it set sail, every newspaper in Paris covered its departure. It was a moment of glory.

“Was it the second or third voyage? I’m not sure anymore. It’s a story nearly 40 years old. While navigating the North Sea, the Esper Ho began to sink after an unknown impact. Was it an iceberg? Or the work of demons? I can’t say.

“The ship sank slowly. There was no hope for us. Everyone waited for death in despair… Until the hand of a demon reached out for us. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say we longed for the demon’s reach. The captain was a demon worshiper! Maybe he planned this tragedy from the start.

“The captain sacrificed more than ten people to summon Marcas, who offered us a deal. We would provide eternal feasts and sacrifices to Marcas, and he would grant us immortality.

“Not everyone on board agreed. The Esper Ho was a renowned 120,000-ton French luxury liner, carrying many distinguished intellectuals and wealthy people, the pillars of society! Such people wouldn’t easily sell their souls to the demon…

“I will admit that in the end, a majority accepted the deal. Death is just that terrifying. From what I can recall, about 90% of the people accepted the demon's hand, while less than 10% chose to die. They have been suffering and dying in this basement ever since.

“Those who made the contract with the demon neither aged nor died, drifting eternally on the ocean, with the captain continuously procuring sacrifices through magical means.”

After finishing his long explanation, the old man, who introduced himself as Vice Captain Harrison, bowed his head wearily.

Ahri spoke up.

“It seems you left out one crucial detail.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hey, Harrison, esteemed vice-captain of the great Esper Ho. You’re among the 90% who sold their souls, aren’t you?”

“...”

“Your unkempt beard and hair made it hard to tell, but up close, you don’t even look sixty yet. You said the contract with the devil was made 40 years ago. If you hadn’t made the contract, you should have aged normally. So, you must have been about twenty at the time. Actually, that’s unlikely. There’s no way you would have been the vice-captain of such a large ship at that age. You made the contract, didn’t you?”

“Ugh…”

“Besides, it’s strange that only you are sane while the other sacrifices are losing their minds and dying. You’re the only one who seems fine, aren’t you? The truth is you can’t lose your mind, no matter how much you might want to, right?”

“...”

“Then why are you in this state? Did you betray the captain?”

“You don’t understand. You have no idea how desperate we were. Have you ever put your hand in the winter waters of the North Sea? The icy chill pierces your bones before your hand even touches the water! We were doomed to be plunged into that. I lived a sincere life. I dedicated myself to the world. I wasn’t meant to die in such a place—”

“Enough. Just tell me why you’re in this state.”

“...You’re right. I wanted to end it. We’ve been drifting aimlessly in the frozen ocean for decades without touching land. What’s the point of living eternally if all we do is feed the devil, without ever setting foot on land? I just wasn’t worth it. I wanted to break the contract with Marcas and rest.”

Upon hearing that, my eyes widened involuntarily.

Breaking the contract

As soon as I heard it, I realized.

This is it.

The way to end this ship's eternal drifting, reversing time, and the immortal staff.

I immediately asked, “How do we break the contract with the demon?”

“I don’t know exactly. Only the captain knows for sure. But wouldn’t sinking the ship again do it?”

Ahri tilted her head.

“Sinking the ship?”

“Yes. If we crash the ship into an iceberg or something, sinking it again should end this nightmare.”

Sinking the ship by crashing it into an iceberg.

Will that work?

Songee, who had been standing far away due to the smell, approached and asked.

“Do the people of the Esper Ho obsess over the dinner party because of the contract? Since they promised sacrifices and feasts?”

“You’re well-informed. It’s not strange. Since ancient times, rituals have always involved song and dance.”

“Okay, but why do they ask for age and birthplace?”

“Marcas, the Demon of the Deep Sea, despises everything on the surface. He enjoys us cruelly killing and sacrificing surface dwellers. Like the gods of old who preferred lambs, Marcas prefers young humans.

“But it holds no significance. As long as the sacrifice isn’t about to die of old age, Marcas doesn’t mind. Knowing the age and birthplace of the sacrifice is just a ritualistic formality.”

I have one more question.

“What’s the meaning of the clock at the sacrifice site?”

Harrison’s eyes widened.

“You’ve figured out that much? I don’t know exactly. Only the captain knows. But I heard that if the clock’s hand reaches 3, we’ll be eternally damned.”

We gathered most of the information about the ship.

The next goal was also roughly set.

The idea proposed by Vice Captain Harrison, who participated in the wicked rituals for decades: crashing the ship into an iceberg to sink it.

We nodded at each other.

Shortly after, Ahri walked around and mercifully ended the suffering of the victims.

Finally, she stood before Harrison.

“You probably won’t die even if I kill you. Is there anything you want?”

“Take me with you.”

“Your lower body is fused with the ship. How can we take you with us?”

“Just cut off my upper body. Please.”

“Hmm. That’s a bit much. Sorry, but—”

As Ahri turned to leave, Harrison spoke urgently.

“Do you know how to steer this ship? It’s a 120,000-ton cruise liner, not a small boat. You don’t think you can steer it without professional knowledge, do you?”

“...”

I had to stop too.

Harrison’s point was valid.

Could we steer this massive ship into an iceberg without any relevant knowledge?

Songee gestured, and Perro flew over.

“When did he get in?”

“A while ago.”

Songee seemed to whisper something to Perro, who then transformed into his Grotesque form.

Even in his Grotesque form, Perro didn’t move.

Songee issued another command, “Perro!”

Still, he didn’t move. I sensed Perro’s feelings.

He was probably commanded to tear Harrison’s body apart, but the foul stench was keeping him from getting closer.

After nearly five minutes of persuasion, Perro reluctantly tore Harrison’s body apart.

“…”

About five minutes after tearing him apart, Harrison’s lower body started to regenerate as if “time was reversing”.

It felt like the end of this trial was nearing its conclusion.

If we manage to crash this damned ship into an iceberg with Harrison’s help, we could solve this.