Chapter 87

Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual

"Did the conversation go well?"

Late at night, Seon-hae discovered Baek Mu-jin in her home and twisted her lips into a crooked smile.

"...May I call the police?"

"I'd rather things not become too troublesome."

"I don't recall inviting our dear Uncle to my home, so how did this come about?"

"Let's leave the small talk here."

"You think that sounded like small talk?"

"The conversation."

"......"

The smile vanished from Seon-hae's face—she'd just come from finishing a shoot. She was exhausted to the point of collapse, but the unfortunate thing was that she had no choice but to answer.

With even her closest friend Hong Gyeong-yeon having lost her memories and worrying about the wrong things. Who else could she vent these boiling feelings to, if not Baek Mu-jin?

"He didn't look well."

"Worse than I described?"

"Since I didn't see your version firsthand, an exact comparison would be difficult, but yes. He looked far more haggard than what you'd described."

"A cute way to put it."

"He didn't seem like a person."

Honestly, it was eerie.

"I don't know if it was a hallucination or what...."

"Go on."

"For a moment, how should I... it was...."

"Have you quit directing?"

"You have such a way with words."

Sitting across from Baek Mu-jin, Seon-hae let out an empty breath.

"He looked like a Water Ghost."

Footsteps that made almost no sound.

A suit wrapping a large, sturdy frame. Eyes in which deep fatigue had settled behind the lenses. A face too youthful to call an adult's, yet the gaze pressing down from that tall height. That much she'd already known.

But to Seon-hae's eyes, what she saw again that day....

"......"

As though.

"...Like someone who'd drowned...."

No, more than that.

"He looked like a corpse."

That was why it had been chilling.

"Shall I show you a director's vocabulary?"

"Let me hear it."

"Hair that had been swept back neatly was wet, clinging to his forehead and cheeks. The black suit hung damp and shapeless. And the gaze behind those lenses... simply didn't feel alive."

"Quite the directorial description. Interesting."

"Those eyes were too strange. It was only for a moment, but I saw it. I know what the eyes of a bloated drowning corpse look like. For just an instant, his eyes looked like that."

Even though the gaze was still clean and honest. That was how grotesque it had been.

The face was still youthful, yet the skin carried the pallor of someone who'd been submerged for a long time. His lips were a bruised blue, and the air around him was thick with terrible humidity.

As though he'd be dragged back below the surface at any moment.

"Really, in about—maybe less than a second... I saw that."

"Would have made great material for a horror film."

"Ha, I won't deny that. It was a rattling experience even for me."

Seon-hae rubbed her face and continued.

"...The problem wasn't only that, Sir. It seemed like there were issues with his emotions—maybe even his memories. With only a slight exaggeration, he was like a completely different person wearing Yeon-woo's skin."

After exhaling, she asked.

"Is that what you were talking about before? The names, the tails, the masks?"

"I'm glad it was helpful. You haven't been slacking on your studies."

"What exactly is that child's situation? No—putting that aside. What state has Yeon-woo ended up in? Because he half-died? What does that even mean?"

"Didn't you get some sense of it through direct conversation?"

"That's exactly why I can't put it into words. I can tell something's gone very wrong, but I can't define the state...."

"You're quite taken with that child."

"You said it was because of me."

Her voice was unexpectedly calm.

"If I caused the situation to become this way, I need to take responsibility. Since I can't take responsibility immediately, the least I can do is understand how this mess is unfolding."

"......"

Yes, even when he'd seen him, the child had clearly been the type to invite hardship upon himself.

Baek Mu-jin spoke.

"...He was born with the fate of a villain."

Seon-hae, who had been tearing at her own hair, whipped around in shock.

"What? About whom? Are we still talking about Yeon-woo?"

"And yet he's clinging on for dear life."

"Saying something like that about such an admirable student?"

"It was a compliment, and yet you take it badly."

Baek Mu-jin was the type to trust what he saw, heard, and felt. His ability to appraise the value of things was unparalleled.

"It would have been easier if he'd simply been a villain."

"Oh come on, a curse on top of everything?"

"Do you know what kind of place that labyrinth—that hotel—is?"

"A mental hospital for monsters?"

"In a way, that's similar."

She grasped the context rather well.

"But to put it more bluntly, it's not a mental hospital—it's a venatio."

"Venatio... you mean like the Roman spectacle? Beasts fighting gladiators?"

"Within the scope of your knowledge, that's the most fitting analogy."

Though in reality, it was far more consumptive.

"The structure of that labyrinth is simple. The more humans suffer and agonize, the happier its guests become. Even the hotel itself. Strictly speaking, humans there are not guests but prey or game."

"If it's not even a hospital...."

"A hospital is meant to heal, so if you got that impression, it was solely due to one person: 'Lee Yeon-woo.' Fundamentally, that labyrinth feeds on human negative energy."

"Ha."

Baek Mu-jin continued, sipping tea he hadn't even been served.

"So the most basic structure would be this. The lavish exterior and service lure humans in, then the true guests play with or savor them...."

"......"

"Because that's how such a deep, vast labyrinth sustains itself."

His words weren't wrong. The most basic playstyle of the horror hotel management simulation game 'Hotel One' was indeed that. Even the developers had conceived that structure first.

Preventing casualties was entirely dependent on the user's competence and disposition. Not just skill, but the fierce will and obsession to achieve the 'no-kill' accomplishment.

"...Uh...."

At any rate, Seon-hae—who knew nothing about any of that—felt her head spin.

"...Can't we just kidnap him out?"

"If you're truly curious to see the entire world turned upside down, give it a try. I won't be cheering you on."

"Honestly."

She felt like she would burst.

"Why would the entire world flip?"

"It seemed like a labyrinth popular with foreign spirits. If their beloved resting place were to be stolen, who would bear the brunt of their tempers?"

"Foreign spirits... you mean Dokkaebi, right? The, um, Recognition Species?"

Recognition Species. The scholarly term for the beings called 'Dokkaebi' in Korea.

"Why that place?"

"He showed a talent for taming."

"Pardon?"

"His baseline emotional sensitivity is duller than average, he has perfectionist tendencies, and he values efficiency and rationality. He has many talents, strong pride, and above all, an outstanding knack for captivating living things."

"......"

"And on top of that, he's made such a labyrinth his nest. That child gains more the more he abandons his humanity, and loses more the more he preserves it. If he had looked for the easier path even once, even just a little...."

"......"

"You wouldn't have come out alive."

Baek Mu-jin stroked his chin and glanced at the newspaper.

"But now, even that small remaining humanity is being eroded. The first time I saw him it was warmth; this time, emotions. If your account is correct, perhaps even memory. What do you think comes next?"

"How would I know that?"

"I wonder if you understand my words now."

FLUTTER—

He turned the page and spoke.

"That child is in an environment where becoming a villain would be far too easy."

That was the fate he was born into.

"But since he said he'd endure, he'll endure—traditional Dokkaebi despise lies. Of course, the form in which he endures may not be to your liking."

"...Well...."

"Let me see, based on everything so far...."

Baek Mu-jin's voice was, as ever, nothing but composed.

"Either the humanity called 'Lee Yeon-woo' is being worn away, or it's splitting in two."

"......"

"Since he said he's working not to lose himself, it would be one of those two, wouldn't you think?"

Seon-hae laughed as though she couldn't believe it.

"You were acting like you were hearing this from me for the first time?"

"I have guards attached to you—why would I bother with such roundabout methods?"

"You say 'surveillance personnel' with such confidence."

"Remember that the primary purpose is protection. You'll need the guards for a while."

True to his word, Baek Mu-jin had already heard from the men who'd accompanied Seon-hae.

"In that case, the self splitting in two might actually be better for preserving 'Lee Yeon-woo.' In the end, he did answer at the very last moment, didn't he?"

"He definitely answered to the three syllables 'Lee Yeon-woo.' That much is certain."

"And 'the General Manager'?"

"He answered to that one too."

"Then perhaps it hasn't clearly split yet...."

"Would the two be... very different?"

"They could be the same."

Given that he was desperately trying to remain clean through all of it, that stubbornness was no ordinary thing. His nature wouldn't go anywhere, so even if they truly split, a clean separation would be unlikely.

No matter how carefully you separated and preserved them, how much difference could there be between having something and not?

"......"

He was curious to see how the child would compose himself.

"If they share the same body and the same mind, then they can't be called different either. Right?"

"I don't really understand."

"I haven't seen it firsthand myself, so."

"What, tell me something more concrete."

"Busy as I may look, I won't be able to manage it for a while."

"A busy person who breaks into his niece's home?"

"Thanks to that, I got to hear an interesting story."

If time allowed later, he'd need to go check on the child's condition.

"It would be a waste to simply leave something so precious unattended."

Baek Mu-jin didn't touch 'precious things.' Something was only truly precious when it existed naturally. But if, in the end, it remained 'precious'—

Shouldn't he form a more amicable relationship than the current one?

***

"......"

"......"

And Yeon-woo was lost in deep contemplation.

"...Something...."

"Yes."

"Seemed off."

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"Yes...."

Coco sat in the same posture, front paws crossed, staring into the air. Judging by that blank reaction—as though counting motes of dust—Yeon-woo determined that seeking counsel from this quarter was inadvisable, and murmured again.

"I can't figure it out."

It nagged at him.

"'Take care' is a common parting remark, but human language has nuance even within identical sentences. That wasn't merely the level of concern for someone who doesn't look after their own body."

"Yes? Yes."

"If you don't understand, it's fine to say so, Coco."

"Yes."

"An admirably honest answer, worthy of a cat."

Honestly, Yeon-woo himself was uncertain. His entire big data on emotions had been wiped. Unable to compare and analyze against past situations, the thought 'Am I being oversensitive?' also occurred.

But then—what?

'What was she worried about?'

What had the concern truly been about?

To dismiss it as mere sensitivity or mood felt insufficient; the nagging wouldn't fade. There seemed to be a story he hadn't yet grasped.

'Part of it was probably that she took my assurance of being fine as a lie, but there was something else, something more fundamental that... really seemed to be there.'

But Yeon-woo's failure to grasp the situation was only natural.

'What on earth...?'

He didn't know the ways of Gap society.

As a sensible adult, it was somewhat difficult to arrive at the thought that he was being worried about developing a split personality dominated by a powerful dark dragon.

Much was omitted, but in rough summary, that was more or less the situation.

"......"

"......"

"...Hmm."

And this questioning and unease, too, scattered quickly. The Guest Without Taste's penalty was functioning reliably even in his absence.

'In some ways it's an advantage, but with neither internal carrot nor stick, I'll need to be careful.'

Nevertheless, Yeon-woo rose from the desk in the Operator's Quarters with a considerably lighter frame of mind.

"I don't think any immediate problems will arise."

"Yes? Yes."

"And first, there's something more important."

"Yes?"

"Namely, me."

Yeon-woo declared flatly.

"Today is the day I can finally stop living like a newborn ocean sunfish."

Attending to Director Seon-hae had delayed things a bit.

In an emergency, the guardian puts on their own oxygen mask first, then assists the child. That principle hadn't changed even with the setting becoming a horror hotel.

And this hotel's guardian was Yeon-woo.

"......"

[Maintenance Function activated.]

[Beginning hotel renovation.]