Chapter 101 |
"......"
Seome understood Rawi's confusion.
'It was a strange situation from start to finish.'
Even with a blade lodged in his neck, the man had calmly sent the elevator up.
Was it safe to trust someone who staged his 'sacrifice' so dramatically? How had he been that composed with a blade in his neck? Or was this entire thing a calculated performance?
But even legitimate doubts felt uncomfortable to act on.
'Because it must have been a first.'
Seome looked at Rawi, head in his hands.
'Seeing someone throw themselves away for others.'
"......"
"......"
Something he might have thought he'd never encounter in his life, something he believed he'd never receive—this 'ideal thing.' However briefly, however illusory, hadn't they just witnessed it?
'It'd be a lie to say it wasn't tempting.'
Lee Yeon-woo was deeply suspicious. He had too many discrepancies, too many secrets, and was dreadfully perfect. He fit best as part of this theater.
So it wasn't trust.
"...Rest for a bit."
"...What about you, sunbae-nim?"
"I have a lot to think about."
"So do I."
"Can't be helped."
It was wanting to trust.
If a being like 'Lee Yeon-woo' truly existed—
It would just be so... nice....
***
"—How do you do, our dear Inspector friend!"
A middle-aged man waved his hand, and the traffic police officer who'd been blinking gave a nod.
Tweet!
"Still a man of few words, I see. Anything fun happening lately? There must be~?"
Tweeeeet....
"Right, right, that's what I'm saying."
The man made a pitiful face and showed a photo on his phone.
"This here's our dear nephew, yeah? Nice and tall, good-looking, right? But the kid says he's embarrassed to be seen with me and wants to go independent~ Can you imagine how hurt this uncle was?"
"......"
"Come on, hear me out. But what can you do, I thought fine, go roll in the mud for a while—and then the little punk just vanishes without a word! Can't tell if he fell through the earth or shot into the sky...."
"......"
"Almost done, I promise. So I did some digging, and guess what the Haeyeong Master told me? Apparently some rare entity or labyrinth popped up five years ago and it's been absolute chaos lately~"
Only then did the Inspector turn to look at the man.
"The Foundation's labyrinth-ification project was successful."
"Oh boy, here he goes again."
Whether all Tarot Card holders were like this, he didn't know. Perhaps it was all those thoughts crammed in his head, but the man had a habit of leaping across logical steps without warning.
The man propped his chin on his thumb and rolled his eyes sideways.
"Let me see, let me see~... The Foundation, yeah, I know 'em well. The cornered leadership offered up their entire headquarters as a sacrifice and attempted a massive labyrinth-ification project.... Fitting for a villain gathering, there was internal strife too, and the energy went berserk and they self-destructed—that's how the case closed, as far as I know."
So.
"The labyrinth that swallowed our nephew is connected to The Foundation?"
"Would you like to file a request with the vigilante corps?"
"Why else do you think I came?"
Having said that, the man muttered to himself.
"But why Korea of all places? Their headquarters was in Europe."
Tweeeeet—
"Well, I'm already out of his mind. Fine, fine, uncle's leaving."
Grumbling theatrically at the Inspector resuming his duties, the man turned away. He'd taken about three steps when he realized something odd.
"......??"
Wait.
I didn't pay the consultation fee?
"He... told me that? You? Without so much as a bowl of soup?"
Tweet.
"Is one of us about to die?"
Tweet.
"Lord, what kind of person doesn't communicate?"
The man's expression turned deeply uneasy.
"What on earth is going on...."
Had the Korean Peninsula been cursed?
***
"......"
He'd said he would give up his spotless career, but.
"Hello?"
"...I'm not sure."
Even having resolved to 'be a faithful hotel administrator,' he had no idea how to go about it concretely.
"Above all, can I actually pull it off in front of people?"
"Yes?"
"You're mistaken. I'm someone who cares enormously about how others perceive me."
"No?"
Leaning against the gently ascending elevator, Lee Yeon-woo sank into thought.
'This hotel won't release Human Guests until a minimum amount of Nightmares has been collected.'
It had been the same during the game. Not that there was a specific function for it. The structure itself simply offered no way to send Human Guests out before a certain threshold of Nightmares had been generated.
'As if it doesn't even acknowledge their existence otherwise.'
So Lee Yeon-woo had set the goal of 'making the Human Guests frightened.' Because Nightmares had to accumulate before the option to release them even appeared.
But.
"......"
"No."
"...I didn't say anything."
"No."
"I was merely deliberating, wasn't I?"
"No."
"This is troubling."
He'd imagined several scenarios, but Coco had rejected them all. Meaning what Lee Yeon-woo had envisioned wouldn't qualify as 'minimum Nightmares.'
Even so, as someone who'd been an ordinary law-abiding citizen, Lee Yeon-woo couldn't help but be confused.
'What kind of showmanship would satisfy this hotel?'
Before that—what were the criteria for 'Nightmares'?
"...Thinking back to the game, simply staying here didn't increase a Human Guest's Nightmares. They grew the more horror elements and Monster Guests the guests encountered...."
"Yes."
"When Director Lee Seon-hae was here, the Human Guests got thoroughly entangled with a Monster Guest. They got caught up in events too. Looking at it this way, the criteria haven't changed much from the game."
"Yes? Yes."
"Judging from that reaction, there are differences after all. Then again, if even Monster Guests have changed, there's no reason Human Guests wouldn't."
It might not be solely a Human Guest issue. Director Lee Seon-hae's group had been so intensely embroiled that recalling that time wasn't much help.
'Apologies to everyone who suffered through it.'
Deliberating, Lee Yeon-woo murmured as if asking the hotel itself.
"Would it be enough to simply have them encounter scary elements frequently...?"
"......"
"Truly unhelpful."
He turned his gaze from the predictably silent 'hotel.'
"I need to know the criteria before I can hold any lines."
If possible, he wanted to send the Human Guests back with their minds and bodies intact. But the situation didn't allow it. Not 'difficult'—impossible.
But that didn't mean he wanted to torment them indiscriminately. Lee Yeon-woo was no sadist. Watching others suffer would clearly be bad for his own mental state too.
"Eee."
"Granted, it's a better choice than letting them die, but if possible, wouldn't it be better for both me and the Human Guests if the experience stayed within recoverable bounds?"
"Eeee...."
"I will not entertain objections without logic."
But really, how far?
"What about haunted-house-level scariness...?"
"Yes?"
"Even that doesn't count as Nightmares?"
"Yes."
"Difficult...."
He traced the edge of his lips.
"The only study I've done in this direction is criminal psychology."
"Yes?"
As a liberal arts elective, that is.
"But I can't apply what I learned there. It's barely relevant to my current situation. Unless I'm switching careers to law enforcement, where would I ever use the experience of writing a psychological analysis report on a serial killer with dozens of victims?"
"......"
To Coco's silence, Lee Yeon-woo responded immediately.
"I won't be using it."
"Eee."
"Must've lost my mind."
"Eee...."
Leaving a deflated Coco behind, Lee Yeon-woo continued.
"I think horror games or horror films would be about the right level."
"Eeeeeee."
"Where did you learn to whine like that?"
No—calm down.
"......"
He calmed down.
"...Repairing the emotional cognition circuit didn't restore the lost big data, so my nerves fray quickly. And there are limits to overcoming that sensitivity through reason alone."
"Yes."
"Unless your counterargument is logical enough for me to accept, I'd ask that you refrain. I'm sincerely asking for both our sakes."
"Yes? Yes."
"Thank you."
Lee Yeon-woo's knowledge occupied two extremes. Either harmlessly haunted-house-level, or brutally violent-crime-level. Neither was usable here.
So wouldn't horror films—the middle ground—be appropriate?
'Fiction, so no real harm, yet suitable for evoking visceral fear....'
And that brought someone to mind.
"......"
Director Lee Seon-hae.
"Good thing I kept her business card."
"Yes? Yes."
"The moment this hotel gets internet access, I'll start with horror films. I should have taken an elective in this field. At the time I avoided it, thinking it wasn't my path, but now I have regrets."
"Yes."
"Director Lee Seon-hae and writer Hong Gyeong-yeon's duo is especially renowned for its realistic horror. It'll certainly be a great help in managing this hotel."
"Yes...."
"To be this disappointed."
Monsters were monsters, after all.
"No?"
What was not 'no' about it?
"But at this rate, things truly are bleak. If I fail to maintain the proper line and someone dies, murder will be added to my already illustrious criminal record."
"No."
"I feel this often, but my education is lacking. No matter how unexpected the situation, I've played this game for years—to be this inadequate...."
Even referencing horror films, the result would need to be scarier than a haunted house. So which films should he reference? Director Lee Seon-hae's films were scary, sure, but watchable.
Among the films I've seen, there must be something useful—
"......"
...No. Absolutely not.
'No.'
This was off limits.
"Yes."
"Your vocabulary only improves at times like these."
"Yes!"
"No."
"Kill!"
"Coco, please."
He had a strong stomach. Strong enough to come first anywhere. Gore, whatever—plenty of people dragged him along to R-rated films. Not his taste, but watching was never a problem.
'Because it's fiction.'
Because it's not real.
'If it became reality, that's a different story.'
He'd given up his spotless career, not given up being human. No matter how far gone he was, he wasn't insane enough to munch popcorn in front of someone being ripped apart like in a movie theater.
"Isn't this an unreasonable assignment for someone who's lived a single-track science career?"
"No?"
"Don't look at me as if you've found good material. I mean don't apply the knowledge in my head to such an unethical field. Those weren't real stories."
"No!"
"Still a difference of opinion, I see."
In the first place.
"I can't even be sure that simply being cruel and scary qualifies as 'Nightmares.'"
"Yes? Yes."
"What would be the most rational approach?"
Accumulate less sin for myself, reduce others' suffering.
'And still safely send them out of this hotel.'
The psychological trauma couldn't be too severe either. A sound body didn't mean—for example—that everyone who returned physically intact from a battlefield lived out their natural years.
'They could destroy themselves.'
Collecting 'Nightmares' would presumably make them forget, but he couldn't be sure it was permanent.
The human psyche was important. It was the mind that could ruin even a healthy body. So ideally, the experience would stay within recoverable limits.
"......"
...For example....
"...Losing the emotional big data is having a bigger impact than I imagined. I can't even gauge others' emotions, which makes walking the line that much harder."
"Yes!"
"Your opinion to 'just go all-in and cross the line since things have come to this'—message received. We really are destined to disagree to the bitter end."
Several ideas had occurred to him, but Lee Yeon-woo couldn't reach a conclusion.
"For now, guaranteeing the two guests' safety takes priority over 'making them frightened.'"
The immediate priority was protecting the Human Guests.
Frightening them, accumulating those damnable 'Nightmares,' sending them out—that didn't have to happen right this moment. Even if time was wasted, that wasn't more important than human lives.
"Let's set aside studying hotel showmanship and think it through carefully in the time we have."
"Eee."
"I did issue orders to the staff, but I'm not sure everything went smoothly. The lobby must have been full of Monster Guests—I wonder if they were alright. First thing after arriving, I'll designate them as guests...."
"Yes."
"Room assignments will need attention too. Would it be safer if I posed as a fellow guest and accompanied them?"
Lee Yeon-woo let out a faint sigh.
"...I'll have to lie."
He wished there were a better option than this.
'It must be my own inadequacy that I can't think of anything better.'
A shame.
"If I see those kids again, what should I say first?"
"Yes? Yes."
"Then again, this isn't your area of expertise, Coco. Comforting others for the sake of human peace of mind."
"Yes."
"Then shall I start by getting them into a room? The safest place for Human Guests in this hotel is a guest room. They'll need a proper place to rest...."
"Yes!"
"I'm grateful you have a sense of self as a co-owner. At the very least, you don't tell me to neglect customer service."
"Diligent Coco."
"I know."
Lee Yeon-woo shrugged.
"I just hope nothing went wrong in that short time."
They weren't ordinary 'students.' They were capable and sharp. They'd be fine. He'd been checking the interface, and the Monster Guests hadn't shown any particularly problematic behavior either.
'Even if there are things that nag at me....'
"......"
The elevator, unusually sluggish today, soon came to a stop at Floor L.
"......"
He stepped out of the elevator.
And Lee Yeon-woo was greeted by a throng of Monster Guests.
"—Oh, at last!"
"It has been too long, Manager."
"Monsieur, a fine evening, is it not?"
"......?"
...Wait.
Lee Yeon-woo looked once at the monster kissing the back of his hand, once at the two Human Guests watching from the sofa, and once more at the monsters crowding before him.
"......"
Don't do this.
'The kids are watching.'
***
"......"
He was greeted by a multitude of Dokkaebi.
In unknown languages, or in silence, the Dokkaebi approached him. Some smiled, some waved fans, some simply watched.
Some even showered the back of his hand with kisses of reverence and respect.
"......"
"......"
Rawi could feel himself stealing glances, but Seome chose not to comment.
Lee Yeon-woo exchanged brief words with the Dokkaebi and looked their way.
"...Oh."
"...Sunbae-nim."
"Yeah."
Rawi had unmistakably seen the same thing.
No mist was needed to tell. Surrounded by monsters mimicking human form, what Lee Yeon-woo's gaze conveyed was clear.
"Just...."
It was joy, stained with fatigue.
"......"
Relief that two mere mercenaries were alive,
and gratitude.
'...Shouldn't you not be like that?'
For a great many reasons.