Chapter 90

Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual

"......"

"......"

The girl's build was on the small side. Around the same age as Seome himself, perhaps.

But her hair was long, her entire body pale, and the gaze watching them was somewhere between intent and blind.

When he confirmed the kitchen knife in that slender hand.

"......"

Seome had no choice but to draw his own blade.

"...? Senior?!"

"Gun out."

Then he gave the command.

"Shoot!!"

BANG—!!!

Immediately after sniping the girl's eye, the two fled.

"Nonononono wait!!"

Having fired and still not believing it himself, Rawi leapt.

"Is it really okay to throw the first punch like this?! Aren't you supposed to grovel when you meet a Dokkaebi?!"

"There are Dokkaebi you can grovel to and ones you can't—didn't you see those eyes?!"

This was a Dokkaebi that had no intention of sparing them from the start.

"That's a hunter!!"

There existed Dokkaebi that particularly enjoyed hunting humans. Such Dokkaebi were, naturally, impossible to communicate or negotiate with. They found satisfaction only in the process of destroying humans.

The mage Seome, having keenly perceived this, had judged the moment he saw the creature: 'No other choice.' There was no other method.

"Running is better!"

"No, but still—!"

"It gives us better odds of survival!!"

Resisting tooth and nail.

That was precisely the choice most likely to satisfy this hunter-type Dokkaebi, and from that satisfaction, find a gap to devise a way to survive.

"Aha."

Rawi understood immediately.

"I'm about to put on every kind of insane performance."

CLICK, BANG—!!!

Rawi's bullet pierced the throat of the girl standing ahead.

Water droplets burst like a grenade with a POP!!, and Rawi let out a wailing string of words.

"We ran ahead of her—why is she in front of us, Senior...?"

"Is this your first time seeing a Dokkaebi use spatial compression?!"

"That's supposed to be spatial compression?!!"

The spatial compression he knew wasn't that terrifying.

When Seome swung his blade, the girl in the raincoat was already waiting in another zone. When a bullet struck, water scattered from the point of impact and swollen faces bloomed on walls and mirrors.

Like barnacles packed tight on a rocky shore, drowning corpses were everywhere.

"Fuck, stop!!"

Beyond fear, it was revolting.

"Ugh...!"

As fog seeped into his ears, scratching, he pulled the trigger.

"Rawi!!"

BANG!!! CRASH!!!

"Ugh, hh...."

"Calm down and look around!"

"Haaagh...!!"

The bullet he'd fired into the air had curved somewhere entirely wrong. Toward a house casting hallucinations of light—and the moment the bullet struck, something happened.

From beyond the window, beyond the wall, blue standing water burst forth. Like blood erupting from a gunshot wound, it flowed along the walls, squirming as though alive.

"Where were you hiding?"

"......"

"Rawi, let's go home."

"......!!!"

Goosebumps rose across his entire body as though ten thousand centipedes were crawling over him.

The voice behind the oxygen mask. A strangely innocent laugh mingled with horrific memories. He'd fired only one bullet, yet he felt as though his entire being were being mocked.

"Fuck—"

CLICK—when the gun spoke again.

"Snap out of it, you half-witted bastard!!"

"GACK!!"

THWACK—!!

Seome struck Rawi's head with the flat of his blade.

"Were you about to shoot me?!"

"No, no I wasn't—when did I—!!"

At Seome's words, Rawi belatedly realized where he'd been pointing the muzzle. None other than Seome's skull. Realizing something had gone badly, deeply wrong, Rawi's face went sheet-white.

Seome, reading Rawi's state, shouted.

"Calm down—the more you try to win, the stronger the labyrinth gets!"

He had grasped this labyrinth's true nature.

"This is a labyrinth that feeds on human fear!!"

"But, but right now that—!!"

"Don't think about winning—think about enduring! We're both going to die at this rate!!"

"Fuck, I must be losing it!!"

Perhaps it was Seome's voice, but the urge to keep shooting vanished entirely. He was right. The more they tried to fight, the more intensely this place laughed.

As though mocking them, wet footsteps approached from every direction.

"What, what do we do now?!"

"If it's come to this, that elevator really might be the way out...."

"That raincoat was blocking it!"

"We don't know if it's still there...!"

Seome seized Rawi's shoulder.

The wet footsteps were quickening. They raced past vistas packed with waterlogged flesh, through repeating corridors.

"......"

"Senior? Senior, you are going to save me, right?"

"Just shut up for a sec...!"

He grabbed Rawi—whose frame was far larger than his own—and dragged him into a crumbling shop. Seome shoved Rawi against the wall and hid alongside him.

Only then did Rawi regain his senses and shut his mouth with quick awareness.

"......"

"......"

...The sound subsided.

'No—it's diminishing.'

Not completely gone, but at the very least, the town's own noise that had been splitting their ears had ceased. Through the fading remnants, only the distant footsteps peculiar to the raincoat-clad girl could be heard.

But it was strange.

"...She doesn't not know where we are."

"Wow, really? We're screwed then?"

"Feels like she wants to play tag or something."

"If we play really hard, does she send us home?"

"I wouldn't know."

What was certain was that the other side was, for whatever reason, regulating the intensity.

"If only there were a clear reason, I could exploit it...."

To that murmur, the dazed Rawi replied.

"Maybe she likes us."

"You really are brimming with confidence."

But Rawi's rambling, half-delirious as he was, showed no signs of stopping.

"I've never been called ugly."

"So you want me to offer your pretty self as a sacrifice and escape?"

"You're pretty cute too, Senior. You're tiny."

"You want to die together?"

"Shall I shut up?"

"Yeah."

In the silence that had finally arrived, Seome dragged his hands down his face.

"...I want to cry...."

"Me too."

"I always thought I had bad luck with people."

"Excuse me?"

Seome naturally ignored Rawi and regained his composure.

'Obviously, we can't overcome this labyrinth.'

They were just one nine-year veteran mercenary and one greenhorn rookie. Labyrinths that would be hard-pressed to leave even one survivor out of a hundred-strong assault party were a dime a dozen.

This appeared to be that level of labyrinth.

'Otherwise, this vast expanse can't be explained.'

At a glance, it wasn't a puzzle or game-type labyrinth.

'If it were that kind, the difficulty would be insane but there'd definitely be a way out. But if it's a purely cinematic labyrinth, it wouldn't be strange for there to be no such gimmick at all.'

But.

"...That elevator...."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"No matter how I look at it, that's the only option."

"So we're screwed?"

Rawi asked with a gaunt smile.

"I don't think that Dokkaebi in the raincoat is going to let us through."

"Of course, us beating or tricking that Dokkaebi to pass is impossible."

"If she enjoys a fight, maybe three days and nights of nonstop gunfire would...."

"She doesn't enjoy fighting—she enjoys destroying us."

"That is a problem."

"Honestly, with our skill level, putting on a fight satisfying enough for her doesn't make sense either."

"Truly no way out in any direction."

"But here's what I'm curious about."

Seome murmured as though whispering.

"Why bother... regulating the intensity?"

Was there a need?

"To toy with us?"

"That goes without saying."

Seome batted away Rawi's words and elaborated.

"She let us go too quickly."

"In that brief moment, we nearly died."

"To squeeze out more fear? No—her disposition is too hunter-like for that. Dokkaebi like her tend to have low understanding of humans, too."

"A mayfly probably has a more stable life than this."

"The chase just now, too—instead of direct attacks, she circled and startled us, applying pressure. With a knife in her hand, no less."

"......"

Rolling his eyes, Rawi spoke.

"...Could that just be her hunting style?"

"You're saying this after seeing those eyes? Fine, keep going."

"Even a tiger with its eyes rolled back from hunger has its own hunting method."

"Uh... does it? I've never actually seen a tiger."

"Actually, neither have I, but hunting in general is more methodical among beasts than humans, isn't it?"

"For her to be methodical about us, we're less than ants."

"Then... I dunno? Is she really just savoring the rare prey that's wandered in?"

"Like a hard candy to be saved?"

Too weak to survive without being handled gently—was she reluctant to lose us too fast?

"...So then... why...?"

As far as Seome could sense, the raincoat-clad girl could have finished them in a single bite. No, less than that. It'd be a miracle if she could even taste something that microscopic—why bother savoring it?

'I'm not even sure she's capable of that kind of fine control.'

Seome was growing a bit incredulous.

"Of course, Dokkaebi like that do exist."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Those Dokkaebi are usually unimaginably strong."

"Ah shit, we're screwed."

"No—let's try a change of perspective. Whether she's stronger or weaker doesn't matter since we're screwed either way. The fact that we're a single bite to her doesn't change."

"But if she has an understanding of humans, there'd be some shift, wouldn't there?"

"Uh...."

After deliberating, Seome said.

"We'll be tortured more carefully?"

"Fuck, I'm taking back what I just said."

"I'll try to root for you."

Seome bit his lip hard.

"......"

...But something was still off.

The opponent was a hunter-type Dokkaebi. Seome and Rawi were fragile mercenaries who could die from a single gesture. Wringing out fear, savoring slowly—that didn't suit a hunter.

'No, even if that were actually the case....'

Thinking it over, she'd released them far too quickly.

'If this is truly a case of careful, deliberate savoring, it's practically consideration.'

And a hunter-type Dokkaebi showing consideration to humans? That made no sense.

But if the raincoat-clad creature had truly been acting on whim, Rawi and Seome should have been far more battered than this. It wouldn't have ended with a brief scare.

Then the reason the Dokkaebi was regulating its intensity wasn't personal preference, but....

"...Hold on."

"Please say something, I'm dying of fear."

"Is the elevator really the exit?"

"Oh."

The blood drained from Rawi's face. But Seome had to speak.

"What if that Dokkaebi has a master?"

It was one of two things. The Dokkaebi was weaker than expected and couldn't pursue them to the end, with a separate being more fitting for this labyrinth—

Or beyond that elevator existed something beyond imagination.

"Being more hopeful, the labyrinth itself might have rules restraining that Dokkaebi from running wild, but that seems too optimistic...."

"What if we assume it could be true?"

"There are labyrinths with that concept sometimes. Game-type labyrinths. Even the Dokkaebi are restricted, and regardless of difficulty, at least one escape route is always built in."

"But this doesn't feel like a game to me."

"That's why I said it was too hopeful."

After a moment's thought, Seome raised his blade with compassion in his eyes.

"I hate to say this, but—"

"Then could you not?"

"Want me to kill you in advance...?"

"Please spare me."

Seome looked at the young artist with pitying eyes.

"Rather than being tortured in fog for eternity, having the choice to die cleanly while you still can would be a blessing."

"Since we're screwed anyway, let me live a little longer. If this labyrinth does have rules for getting out, I'll try to figure them out."

"Fair point."

The one who'd been saying all along not to give up easily was Seome himself. Unless the other asked first, he couldn't capitulate this quickly.

"True, it could be."

There might be rules that allowed escape.

"Variables can appear anywhere."

"Right?"

"I don't know everything about labyrinths either. Including this one, this is only my second time in a labyrinth of this difficulty. I got out alive by luck last time, so there's no law saying it can't happen again."

"Well said, Senior."

"If we find the rules restricting that Dokkaebi, or if we persuade the one above it, we can get out even if it takes time. The higher-up might not be a hunter-type."

"That gives me some hope."

"Of course we'll need to prepare. Whether it's finding rules or finding a way to persuade. For the record, I'm not talented in that area—are you good at studying?"

"If you want my second-year high school grades, roughly Tier 5...."

"I've never been to school, but I can tell that's a low tier. How about eloquence? Negotiation skills?"

"If I had those, I'd have become a lawyer or a diplomat."

To that, Seome didn't answer. Rawi didn't continue either.

"......"

"......"

That was when.

"...Senior."

"Shh."

A presence was approaching.

'Coming this way.'

It didn't seem to be actively searching for them.

Just footsteps passing along the path by the building where they hid. Yes—the footsteps of about three people.

Seome sensed something incongruous about them.

'The sound is dry.'

At the very least, they didn't belong to the raincoat-clad girl who'd been tormenting them, nor to the monsters they'd been encountering throughout. Every one of those presences had been damp, like this fog.

'Then whose are these....'

Seome carefully peered over the broken wall.

"......"

...People?

'Three of them.'

Three people dressed in black and white.

The distance was too great to see clearly. Seome gestured to Rawi, whose eyesight was better. It seemed the pride about his sharp vision hadn't been bluster—he gave an immediate answer.

"People... I think?"

"Anything unusual?"

"That they completely don't fit this damp city?"

"What's your impression?"

"The one walking in front seems to be higher-ranking."

"A hierarchical relationship?"

"From what I can tell, probably...."

Rawi furrowed his brow.

"...But for that, they seem a bit young."

"How old, roughly?"

"The leader? Looks about my age. No, maybe slightly older?"

"So early twenties at most."

"But looking longer, they could also pass for a high schooler. Um, young master vibes."

"Young master...? In a place like this?"

"The hierarchy with the people behind them is really stark...?"

Rawi continued, sounding unsure himself.

"I'm getting real 'won't let a single drop of water touch those hands' energy from them."

"That sounds extremely compulsive."

"Almost like germaphobia."

"That'll do."

Seome whispered and pulled Rawi back down.

"For now, we stay hidden and—"

"Uh, eyes."

—They'd made eye contact.

Before he could even voice it, Seome clamped Rawi's mouth shut and pulled him back. Seome himself had made eye contact, too.

'Shit.'

A smile split devastatingly wide,

and eyes so black their depth was unknowable.

Two staff members standing behind a young man, wearing entirely different faces yet making the exact same expression.

Were staring at them.

"......"

"......"

Killing intent and revulsion.

It was not merely wariness toward intruders. It was a hatred born of blind faith—as though repulsive filth had rolled into the field of vision of a master who must be kept immaculate.

From them came a slow, grotesque sound.

"......"

Haah... nng■....

"...Hah...."

■■■■....

Their bodies locked rigid.

The keen cutting through the fog began faintly, as though coming from far away, then swelled to a horrific volume.

It was a tangle of sounds like someone's throat being forcibly wrung and the screech of metal, knotted together.

"...This is...."

"Enough."

A sinister trembling—impossible to tell if it was a wail or laughter. An unstable rhythm that cut out moment to moment, then burst forth convulsively, wringing both their hearts like a vice.

■■■■■■■—!!

"......"

Fuck, seriously—please spare us.

Rawi squeezed his eyes shut and clamped both hands over his own mouth. Seome forced himself to ignore the cold sweat streaming down his spine, held his breath, and leaned his head against the flimsy wall.

The keening, fit to tear their eardrums, echoed in layers from every direction, devouring the space.

"Phew...."

He'd like to believe it was just his imagination.

'The sound is getting closer.'

It wasn't simply someone walking past. The distinct sound of shoes turning deliberately toward them was mingling with the keening, heading straight for where they hid.

Seome shut his eyes tight, as though to block out the approaching presence in the fog. With those gazes and this welcome, their fate was as good as sealed.

'We've been spotted.'

Since when, he didn't know.

'I hope they at least kill us cleanly.'

Thud, thud.

Against the shoe-steps growing ever clearer, that was all Seome could hope for. Rawi seemed to have realized it long ago too—his hands clasped as though in prayer, trembling.

And then the footsteps that had drawn right up to them—stopped.

"......"

With the suffocating keening, they cut off as though it had been a lie.

"......"

"......"

...What met them beyond the half-collapsed wall were 'human' eyes.

***

'...Why are there kids here?'

Two youthful faces, both ashen with terror.

'Must be insane.'

Such was the thought of Lee Yeon-woo, who had just completed approximately eight months of physical improvement work and had barely finished the maintenance—body and mind in tatters.