Chapter 132: Room 107 - The Gate Room, The Fourth Trial (23)

Chapter 132: Room 107 - The Gate Room, The Fourth Trial (23)

User: Han Kain (Wisdom)

Date: Day 46

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

Sage's Advice: 1

- Han Kain

- Bang!

With a deafening crash that sounded like a hammer strike, the door shook violently.

Ahri urgently called out, "Perro! Can you use that wail again right now?"

Songee, naturally acting as Perro's spokesperson, responded.

"Not right now, maybe in about 10 more minutes—"

- Crack!

Before Songee could finish speaking, a sharp object pierced through the window glass of the captain’s cabin door.

"What the heck is this!"

- Bang!

Ahri immediately shot the hand holding the spike, but the fight had only just begun.

There was another loud banging sound.

Someone brought an oxygen tank-like object and started pounding on the door!

It was clear that the door would not hold much longer.

With no other choice, I turned to look behind me.

"Harrison! You don’t expect us to handle all these people by ourselves, do you?"

"Of course not. I’m preparing my own moves, so just hold out for a bit."

As he said, Harrison was busy fiddling with the control panel and inscribing something on the wall.

Seeing the scene of the spike breaking through the glass gave me an idea.

"Both of you, give me all the capsaicin spray you have."

I gathered all the spray bottles we had.

- Ssssss! Ssssss!

"Ugh! What the heck is this!"

"Mustard gas? It’s bright red! Where did they get this stuff?"

I sprayed the area beyond the broken glass window, not aiming at anyone in particular but just filling the area with the irritant, which bought us some time.

- Bang! Bang!

"Ah!"

"Kain-oppa! Are you hit?"

"No, it just grazed me."

The staff members started shooting through the broken window, forcing us to back away from it.

The door’s hinges were soon pried loose by the battering, and as the door finally broke down, something grotesque erupted from the floor accompanied by an eerie noise, blocking the entrance again.

Harrison must have done something.

A disgusting mass of tentacles and flesh held together by sinew blocked the way.

Beyond the barrier, dozens of people could be seen glaring at us with murderous hostility.

Without the door, we could now see each other clearly.

Amidst the tension, a voice filled with killing intent rang out.

"You bastard! I’ll skin your face alive! Don’t think this flesh barrier will hold for long!"

As I pondered whether to curse back, Grotesque Perro suddenly lunged at the opposition, opening his beak!

Perro tried to unleash his wail without warning, startling us.

I quickly expanded the filter and covered my ears.

Those who had experienced Perro’s wail before also quickly covered their ears and dropped to the floor.

“...”

“...”

“...”

What?

Perro just opened his beak and did nothing?

“...”

"That damn bird tricked us!"

Wow! Perro’s smart!

Was it a bluff?

My admiration was cut short as a man with a square beret and a staff appeared from the enemy ranks.

As he tapped the wall with his staff and chanted something, the flesh barrier began melting away.

Feeling dumbfounded, I shot Harrison’s head again.

- Bang!

"Were you planning to turn us into that?!"

"And you’re surprised after blowing my head off twice?" Harrison responded indignantly.

I was momentarily speechless.

I turned to Ahri.

"How did you know what would happen?"

"Just a feeling. Whatever spell he was preparing, I felt it would sweep us away too. But he’d at least make sure he wasn’t affected."

- Crack!

Grotesque Perro returned, smashing Harrison’s reattached flesh with an enraged peck.

...This won’t be the end.

Predictably, Harrison’s voice echoed throughout the ship.

"It’s too late! I have already become one with the 120,000-ton Esper Ho. A body made of flesh is like clay. I have shed the frail body of a mortal and gained a body of steel."

Sage's Advice: 1 → 0

Jump to the side immediately!

- Boom!

Before I could react, my body was flung through the air, crashing into the wall of the captain’s cabin.

What on earth was that?

It was as if the ship had grown muscles.

A giant muscle made of fused flesh lifted the metal floor of the captain’s cabin and hurled me roughly.

Is this the unity of ship and man that Harrison dreamed of?

“...”

But this damned Advice again...

Can’t it give me a heads-up 10 seconds in advance instead of 0.3 seconds before the danger?

I began to wonder.

Sometimes it gives enough time to react, but other times it warns just before the danger hits, rendering it pointless.

There must be some secret behind this difference.

The impact against the wall was so strong that I could barely move.

It felt like I was hit by the tongue that had emerged from the swimming pool floor before.

The pain was so intense that my entire body went numb, but my thoughts became clear.

I felt my consciousness become hazy from the impact.

Holding onto my fading consciousness, I thought about the "Clock of Contracts."

What is the meaning of the numbers the clock hands point to?

The first hypothesis was the number of time reversals that had been performed.

However, according to the captain, the Esper Ho was already sinking when it first made a contract with the demon.

The demon must have reversed time once back then, so if the clock hands were based on the number of time reversals, the hands should have started at 1, not 0.

Another hypothesis was the number of sacrifices made.

But that didn't fit either.

The Esper Ho had been wandering the sea for 40 years, likely offering many sacrifices, so it was strange that the hand was at 0.

Even on the now-lost first night of the past, a preliminary sacrifice had already been made before Grandpa Mooksung, so it couldn't be 0.

Of course, this stage was technically "created when we arrived", so it might only count from when we entered.

However, neither hypothesis explained why the hands moved to 2 when the party was disrupted.

Time didn't reverse, nor was a sacrifice made at that point.

Eliminating these hypotheses one by one led to another hypothesis.

The number of contract violations.

The revealed content of the contract between the Esper Ho and Marcas was that the Esper Ho offered feasts and sacrifices, and Marcas granted immortality.

When the first hand moved, we interrupted the ritual where Grandpa was being sacrificed.

I didn’t know exactly what happened then, but Elena likely destroyed the sacrifice ritual site.

Since the sacrifice wasn't made properly, the hand moved one notch.

In the recent situation where the second hand moved, Perro turned the party into a scene of madness with its wail.

Since the party couldn't proceed normally, the hand moved another notch.

Only one notch is left until it reaches 3.

All these assumptions and the information obtained from Harrison formed our Plan Z.

My consciousness was fading.

I looked towards Ahri and thought, “Plan Z, you'll handle it well, right? I trust you so I’ll be taking a nap now.”