Chapter 77

Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual

Some time ago.

"I'll need conviction."

It was probably just after serving The Guest Without Taste the 'Memory of the Hunt,' in the kitchen.

Yeon-woo kneaded his cold hands inside his gloves. He'd just made a suboptimal move—or rather, a move that could backfire. Beyond the system screen he'd just pulled up, The Guest Without Taste's position flickered.

"The guest's reaction to being served was ambiguous, but well...."

That, too, was a variable Yeon-woo had intended.

"The Guest Without Taste is the cautious type. Remarkably careful for someone so arrogant—probably the lingering influence of Velmareth's failed ritual. He's not simply a hungry vampire; he's closer to an analyst who refuses to repeat his failures."

"Correct!"

"I'm glad you agree."

It was fortunate that things hadn't deviated far from expectations.

Before serving the meal, Yeon-woo had noted that the opponent was not a mere predator, but a nobleman who demanded perfection. Know the opponent, and you know the breakthrough.

"There were three aspects I showed him."

What Yeon-woo had revealed before The Guest Without Taste, that is.

"Weakness, compliance, and an equal exchange. In your estimation, which did he respond to?"

"Third."

"Smart as ever. Correct. What he wants isn't simple prey—it's the 'Velmareth' itself, worth absorbing."

Being weak was meaningless. If he wasn't more perfect than the vampire, there was no reason to take the risk, and even if he transcended the flesh, Lidmar was already outmatched in blood by hierarchy.

A cooperative stance was equally useless. To someone noble to the bone, it meant nothing, and even by exploiting goodwill and compliance, Lidmar couldn't devour Velmareth.

"May I eat?"

"Hearing those words in your voice is considerably creepy. Anyway, yes—as you recall, The Guest Without Taste's choice was only ever that."

"Permission."

"Also correct. No hunter asks permission of its prey."

His mind was racing.

"I've been thinking about it since I stole a peek at his memories, but from a blood mage's perspective, it's ultimately... a battle for dominance. For authority."

"Yes."

"That teacher of his certainly taught him something useful."

"Hehe."

"Hilarious."

The truth was, yes.

He'd done it on purpose.

"......"

"Hello?"

"...I needed to know."

Since the most dangerous thing is ignorance.

Better to draw the opponent's thirst to the surface than leave it lurking. To signal, as an equal, that he was worth hunting, and to logically demonstrate the possibility of success.

If he'd simply left things alone, The Guest Without Taste would have lost to impulse and devoured Yeon-woo. Caution aside, he wasn't the patient type.

"So my recipes served their purpose, at least."

"......"

"Well, the things life makes you do... crawling into the jaws of death with my own two feet...."

Yeon-woo gave his hands a rough rub and swapped his cotton gloves for latex ones.

"My hands were shaking, you know. Openly revealing my weaknesses and even signaling the timing for the hunt. I knew a cautious type wouldn't lunge immediately, but it was still a gamble."

"Mm."

"With this, he'll have realized I'm an unstable Velmareth. All that remains is for him to verify his hypothesis. Only the time until he reaches 'conviction' is left."

It wasn't without its difficulties.

"The Guest Without Taste clearly responded to the meal."

"Correct."

"It doesn't simply mean he was taken by the taste—it also means his thought processes have begun tangling in complex ways, weighing the option of 'friend' I threw out and the weight of 'equality.'"

"Yes."

"Has his thirst grown as well?"

And.

"This was expected."

"Hello?"

"Not particularly."

"Mm."

"I suppose it's time for me to put up a fight too."

As if he wasn't busy enough, things were about to get busier.

"Can't even complain since I'm the one who invited this disaster...."

Yeon-woo had studied Blood Magic himself. He didn't know how its quality and quantity compared to others, but he'd learned enough to grasp the general common sense and relationships among blood mages.

"Blood Magic is ultimately a battle of egos. I know full well I can't beat a centuries-old vampire on the board he's laid out."

"Yes."

"But since the opponent is arrogant and cautious, he'll test my ego and tap each stepping stone rather than slaughter indiscriminately—so I've bought that much time."

And Yeon-woo couldn't simply sit idle during that time.

"First, I need to secure authorization for the Central Control Room. If I succeed, I can win even if The Guest Without Taste attacks. It's the most certain method."

"Yes. Yes. Yes."

"Second, I need to cook."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

Yeon-woo pressed his temple and spoke, staring into the air.

"If I can't win with A, I'll win with B."

If ego won't work, then humanity.

It wasn't simply a matter of 'making him grow fond of the Golden Egg-Laying Goose.' It was about making him 'choose' once more.

And choice always comes with responsibility.

"Because The Guest Without Taste isn't a monster who shirks responsibility."

"Yes. No."

"Exactly, that's precisely it."

When humanity is stimulated, what emerges isn't emotion but context. Not an object but a relationship. Not a reaction but a judgment.

What that meant was that weight would attach to his question, 'May I eat?' Because humans were, in the end, social creatures.

"And... he wants to consume a being superior to himself. But if his humanity is stimulated, my superiority will appear not as a medal but as an attitude."

"Medal? Attitude?"

"Things like respect, courtesy, responsibility, and patience."

"Hello?"

"Put simply, it means those things will stop looking like something 'that can be absorbed.'"

There was no guarantee he'd gain them by eating.

"Ego and blood can be swallowed. But humanity can't be replicated or absorbed."

Because the moment it was consumed, it would vanish.

"That will look not like an elevation but a clear loss."

"GWT. Calculating."

"Better calculating than not."

If a brain behind that much power had been empty, the opponent would have been far harder to deal with.

"Above all, what he truly wants to become is a perfect 'human.' He never undertakes a meaningless hunt. He's quite the nasty character himself."

Yeon-woo believed in the power of 'humanity.' If he hadn't, he wouldn't have bothered taking this difficult detour as a Velmareth.

"The moment humanity intervenes, the simple hunt he desired transforms in meaning and gains weight."

"Oh."

"I'll awaken the fatal contradiction—that the arrogance which wanted godhood also wants to be human—and make him carve patience and restraint into his own body and mind."

"Oh?"

"Making him sick of me, and of himself."

Yeon-woo's expression turned sheepish.

"Is that underhanded?"

"No? No? No?"

"You're right—my own neck's on the line, so debating fairness is childish."

"Correct!"

Of course, it wasn't an entirely safe plan.

"For one, there's no guarantee my 'hospitality' will effectively stimulate his humanity...."

"Mm?"

"I'll need to deliver the organized 'recipes' in order, and I'm not sure the time and circumstances will allow it."

"Openly?"

"I can't force-feed him, and even if I could, he's not the type that would work on."

"Correct...."

"And even if everything proceeds successfully, there are inevitable side effects."

He feared the... backlash of sprinkling 'humanity' on a vampire that had been in a mineral state all this time.

'If the software of a deranged centuries-old man turns emotional, it might become a disaster.'

He wasn't in his right mind to begin with, and imagining hysteria on top of that was dizzying. All the more so given that he still didn't know the full extent of the power the vampire possessed.

"......"

"......"

"...But that's something the future me will have to handle."

In any case, as long as the result—'surviving'—remained the same, that was enough.

"Honestly, the best outcome would be The Guest Without Taste taking a liking to me through this hospitality and viewing me as the Golden Egg-Laying Goose, but... I'm not sure, Coco."

"......"

"What do you think?"

"Mm."

"That's unfortunate."

Yeon-woo shared the sentiment.

"Can't trust a soul in this world."

"Yes."

Then what was humanity?

"Mm."

"I believe we've discussed this before."

"Yes."

"Decisive, aren't you."

"Yes. Yes. Yes."

"Calm down."

He wasn't about to launch into that tedious discussion again.

"This is about a practical problem."

"Practical problem."

"A being who wanted to become a perfect god came to this hotel and specifically craved human ordinariness and comfort. A person who wants to be at ease can't possibly be invulnerable."

Ego was the entrance through which the opponent came to hunt him. But humanity could become a trap that shackled the opponent's ankles and dragged him into a swamp.

"So I'll delay the hunt as long as I can."

"Food."

"Right—I'll need to serve meals with great care."

A sort of Trojan horse.

"No matter how I think about it, I doubt I'm at that level, though."

"Yes."

"...Still, if it goes well, maybe a Trojan... Pony, at least...."

"Pony!"

"...Is the word too cute for the situation?"

***

After that, too, Yeon-woo was diligent. He observed the opponent as steadily as the opponent observed him, and with the hotel's help, gathered information on The Guest Without Taste.

Based on that, he devised the recipes. Leading with goodwill neither of them would trust, whispering that these flavors couldn't be tasted any other time, he made the opponent swallow poison he could plainly see.

'That was successful.'

Yeon-woo as Velmareth was certainly being worn down, but he wasn't shaken as easily as expected, and that alone was enough. He'd bought sufficient time.

To one who hadn't been hungry, desire.

To one who'd gone cold, body heat.

To one who'd believed in eternity, time.

'I gave as much as I could.'

Though unused recipes remained, he'd given what he could because he didn't want to die. And as intended—or as hoped—The Guest Without Taste had followed.

Because Yeon-woo knew what he wanted.

'So having come this far, I don't want to say all that effort was in vain, or that it backfired, but....'

Yeon-woo finally opened his mouth.

"—Truly,"

Truly, really.

"Disgustingly,"

"Yes!"

"utterly, disgustingly underhanded."

Look at him pulling out cheats the moment he feels the pressure. Yeon-woo shot a revolted look at the legion barreling toward him. In what world was that the behavior of an adult who'd lived for centuries?

'Definitely not the character to be respected anywhere.'

The only reason you're getting this level of service is because you happen to be a guest at my hotel. That is not how you age gracefully.

All manner of fury boiling inside, Yeon-woo steadied his breathing as calmly as he could.

"Phew—...."

His breath still caught.

In his defense, he hadn't blindly trusted the information he had.

'Of course I considered it could change.'

Having injected humanity that wasn't originally there, he'd been prepared for at least this much. The Guest Without Taste's demeanor had already changed completely from the game. There was nothing to gain from clinging to that.

'I'd also predicted the possibility that the opponent would show this kind of agitated reaction.'

No.

'But even so, isn't this a bit much?'

Even factoring in the 'ego-shaking' phase between positive and negative, the shell was supposed to come after that. This was like sampling a taste test and then charging in to buy out the entire stock.

How could anyone be this uncivilized?

'A man without a shred of manners claiming to be a nobleman.'

Vaulting over a Watcher's hand as it lunged from around a corner, Yeon-woo spoke.

"I'm going to buy something."

"Yes!"

"Something better than what I have now, and I'm going to swing it."

Just let me build up some resources—I'll show you what a real attack looks like. His eyes were bloodshot.

"I won't let any of you get away with this."

CLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTER!!!

'...Making all that racket when you can't even be bothered to run yourself.'

The noise poured in from above, below, left, and right until his ears ached. Auditory hallucinations of laughter and screams blended together. Severed wires lay submerged in the blood on the floor, sending jolts through his ankles with each step.

He'd been concentrating on that sharp sensation for only a moment when,

In that instant.

"......"

The presence that had been pressing close behind him, tightening around his throat, cut off abruptly.

Yeon-woo rolled his eyes with mineral flatness.

'He hasn't lost me.'

Nor could he have possibly given up the hunt.

'Then the conclusion is...'

He'd noticed my destination and raced ahead to block the path. That would be precisely why The Guest Without Taste was absent from among the swarm of Watchers.

What was he supposed to do with this horrifying feeling of being placed atop a massive dinner plate, waiting to be served?

Yeon-woo let out an irritable breath.

"Hah...."

"Hello?"

"......"

"Yes! Hello!"

"Soon...."

If only hand-to-hand combat were an option, it would have been easier. Striking something in a human shape was within Yeon-woo's capabilities. But there was no way this body could wield a weapon.

Especially not against this many Watchers.

"The Central Control Room."

Yeon-woo spoke to Coco, hanging at his neck.

"Won't you help?"

"...Yes?"

"There's no time."

The Central Control Room door didn't simply open. Three ID Cards had to be inserted, then three seconds of waiting. The door that opened would close after three seconds. Going straight there would only result in capture at an unopened door.

"The door needs to be opened in advance."

And his running speed had its limits. He was in no position to shake off this horde of monsters—all fixated solely on him—and reach the inside of the Central Control Room safely.

Yeon-woo passed over the three cards hanging from his neck as he ran. Dodging and ducking while looking ahead left him no room to spare, but he could feel Coco's body being pressed down by the thickened cards.

"......"

"Please."

He knew Coco didn't assist with gameplay. But.

"This has already gone far beyond anything you could call a game."

"......"

"This isn't a game. If you wanted to call it one, that many people shouldn't have died. It's been a long time since it stopped being a game, and you're no longer a guide inside one."

CRASH—!!

A panel collapsed, blocking the way ahead.

Monsters—monsters—terrifying, horrific monsters packed the space in front of him. They crawled like a zombie horde. Gritting his teeth, Yeon-woo wrenched the broken door beside him off its frame.

He drew a sharp breath.

"......"

"Let me—!!"

Shaking off the lunging Watchers with the old door panel, he shouted.

"Let me trust you, just a little!!"

In that instant, the faint weight on his shoulder vanished.

"—...!!"

Into the blood-reeking corridor, a dense, murky scent of water abruptly flooded in.

From between the blood on the floor, a towering column of water surged up violently from nowhere. Sheets of ice-cold spray flew in every direction, and grotesquely swelling puddles whipped around like serpents.

They mercilessly coiled around the ankles of the Watchers that had been charging in.

"...Hah...."

"AAAAAH...! AAH... AH! AAAGH!! AAAAAGH!!"

The screams of toppled, flailing monsters filled the corridor.

It was a bizarre, miraculous situation wrought by The Drenched One's mischievous intervention—having grown too bored on the 23rd Floor and crawled down to the Hunting Grounds.

"......"

"—AAAAAAGH!!"

"...I swear, this hotel never gives you a moment to be sentimental."

"AAH... AAGH!! AH! AAAAGH—!!"

"Maddening."

SQUELCH—!!

Ramming a pipe into the Listener's mouth with considerably more ease, Yeon-woo let out a dry laugh. Between his irregular breaths, arid muttering leaked out.

The sensation of his still-empty shoulder was vivid.

"At this rate, I couldn't cut ties even if I wanted to."

The satisfaction of a situation spiraling out of control finally rolling back within his calculations.

There was no euphoria or overwhelming relief, but merely the fact that he had, with his own hands, wrangled two or three variables that had been veering by a hair's breadth all the way to this point. That alone whispered in the back of his mind:

—It was exhilarating.