Chapter 115 |
Yeon-woo pressed his forehead, avoiding the glasses.
"As expected, my suspicion was correct."
"Yes!"
"Though I didn't want to confirm it this way."
He recalled the situation at the time. When The Drenched One, in a foul mood for some unknown reason, had seized Yeon-woo's ankle, driving her claws in and tearing it apart.
'It bled so badly I had to have the staff clean the entire corridor.'
Thinking about it, it wasn't the kind of injury that should have been startling enough to forget. However severe the wound, pain was no longer pain to Yeon-woo after his successful Physical Improvement.
But it also wasn't something so trivial that a sea of blood could go unnoticed.
"It's that pain is virtually nonexistent, not that sensation is gone."
"At the time, I was simply unable to register any of those sensations."
The sensation of skin being torn.
The sensation of blood streaming down.
The sensation of the inside of his shoe turning slick.
"Reviewing the record 'I' left makes the culprit even more certain. This is no longer the realm of mere hypothesis. The influence of Lover of Dawn was undoubtedly involved."
"Yes!"
"Then the agitation at the time can be seen as an additional side effect of losing memories after encountering Lover of Dawn. I must have been quite shaken. In the end, the students' assessment that it was 'panic' was correct to some degree."
"Yes?"
"Why the reaction?"
"No?"
Coco, who had gone blank-faced, shook its head from side to side. An awkward imitation of a person. It said that 'the agitation at the time' was closer to extreme fury than panic.
Directed at not one but two guests who had dared to cause a scene in the hotel that Lee Yeon-woo himself managed.
"......"
For a moment, Yeon-woo was at a loss for words.
"...I'm not sure that's any better...."
"Hmph."
"If what you say is true, it means I lost my reason because I was so furious I couldn't think straight."
"Yes-no?"
"Ah, so there was some influence."
"Yes."
"Fair enough, since losing memory is an undeniable fact."
So the Yeon-woo of that time had felt not fear or helplessness but anger at the two guests' misconduct. And having lost his memory on top of that, his reason was simplified, causing him to experience his emotions more rawly.
He hadn't fully overcome The Guest Without Taste's penalty, either.
'It must have been so raw that it came across as panic.'
"Yes."
"I understand what the situation was."
He felt a sense of stability. Whether or not he lost his memories, he was consistent. It was unfortunate that this consistency took the form of anger toward disobedient guests. But in certain situations, consistency is a good virtue.
"I understand, but."
"Yes."
"What exactly should I do?"
"Yes...."
The two stared blankly into space for a moment. Yeon-woo was deep in thought, and Coco was thinking about nothing at all.
"......"
"......"
"...The me within the lost memories must have gone through the same process as now."
"Yes? Yes."
"Say that more clearly."
What he needed was outside help, desperately.
But even if things had changed a little, Coco was still Coco. It refrained from interfering with the user's gameplay as much as possible. Unless some disadvantage like Yeon-woo mistreating it came into play.
"Rotten cat."
"Yes."
"How unfortunate."
Yeon-woo wiped his mouth and continued.
"For now, it seems there's no choice but to repeat the routine I've maintained until Lover of Dawn checks out. I really don't want to take the Exorcism route."
"Yes!"
The penalty had long since evaporated any tenderness, but the memories of twenty-six years of gameplay remained. And the attachment born from those memories was slowly, gradually, refilling.
Meaning that Lover of Dawn, a being from within the game, was also someone special to Yeon-woo.
'I don't want to torment her.'
But.
'I can't allow actual harm to go unchecked, either.'
That was closer to 'this must not be allowed' than 'I don't want to.' In the end, having lost his Emotional Big Data, Yeon-woo had forgotten even the satisfaction that came from making the right choice.
"Let me recall when I played the game. Whenever Lover of Dawn was staying, I always paid close attention to hotel patrols and guest identification. Her behavioral patterns were, hmm...."
"Love!"
"Correct."
Yeon-woo nodded.
"She can't resist a Human Guest with deep love."
She was surprisingly active. She wandered virtually every floor except the Aqua Park. In the process, she searched for prey. To put it simply, prey in the throes of passionate love.
'My role is to observe Human Guests in advance and restrict movement so that likely prey don't cross paths with Lover of Dawn.'
Then he could determine what he himself had forgotten.
"So I must have checked on Seome's condition too?"
"Yes!"
"And you didn't tell me — what were you doing, Coco?"
"Yes? Yes."
He had a base stat called the 'Sixth Sense.' A skill encompassing the five basic human senses along with intuition that couldn't be explained by reason. It was enormously helpful in gathering information about guests.
And while Lover of Dawn was staying, 'Yeon-woo' would have tried to organize information about Seome and Rawi. He'd always played that way.
"......"
But the fact that he had no memory of profiling either of them in that manner meant....
"I've been got."
"Yes."
"She wouldn't have gone so far as to hand over this information, so Lover of Dawn must have preemptively erased it, knowing it would disadvantage her. The slower my situational awareness, the more rendezvous she can rack up."
"Yes."
"Now I understand why the memory-less me was stubbornly trying to see those two. I'd originally thought it was simply out of concern, but if they'd become Lover of Dawn's targets...."
No, wait.
"But even so, there's something that doesn't add up."
"Yes? Yes."
"Lover of Dawn has been an uninvited guest, ignoring this hotel's rules and roaming as she pleased for nearly five years. Even when she was gnawing away at my memories, she was always operating outside the rules."
"Correct."
"And now, of all times?"
She'd go to a Human Guest's door, ring the doorbell, and carry out the 'Secret Rendezvous of the Dawn' — in other words, willingly submit to the official rules that bind her into a manageable state?
"There's a high chance Seome was prey that made her mouth water, but, well."
Yeon-woo's eyes narrowed like a snake's.
"That's not all you want, is it?"
"Hmph."
"You realized it during all that time you spent rudely roaming this hotel. That no matter how you interfered with me through loopholes outside the rules, you couldn't do anything to me."
Because Yeon-woo was already firmly bound to this place.
"Yeah, if that's the case...."
It was a bit absurd, honestly.
"Is she insane?"
"Yes."
"What on earth is her reason?"
"General Manager."
"That's not a problem I can do anything about right now."
"Correct."
"I'm already dying of overwork just running the hotel, and now this...."
The vampire had pulled the same thing, and now this guest's target was him too. At this point, he genuinely had to reevaluate The Drenched One.
"But if I'm the ultimate target, it also explains why she wandered the hotel without formally registering as a guest. She didn't come here to stay — she came to see me."
"Lover of Dawn. No. Meta-Cognition Guest."
"That's a point I find curious as well...."
As far as he remembered, Lover of Dawn had just barely failed to meet the criteria for 'Meta-Cognition Guest.'
"But the circumstantial evidence so far speaks clearly."
He couldn't ignore it.
"Identifying the process and cause through the result is also the work of research. I'm quite accustomed to this sort of thing. So if Lover of Dawn's objective truly was me...."
"Central Control Room. Authority."
"Ahh, that's the piece. Since I've further integrated with the hotel through control authority, as an unauthorized intruder, she had to devise another approach. That's why she changed course."
In other words, she'd decided to try the legitimate route. Just as The Guest Without Taste had followed the game's rules at the dining table, at minimum, to increase his success rate at feeding.
"Submitting to this hotel's rules means Lover of Dawn also accepts the risk of penalties, but at the same time, she gains the systemic coercive power that the rules guarantee."
"Bait. Offering. Mage."
"Mage, you say. I thought she was putting in an unusual amount of effort — so she did covet Seome as well. He must have been a guest that suited her palate. And beyond simply suiting her taste, if she did that...."
How unfortunate.
"She calculated that I would absolutely intervene in the rendezvous to save him."
Not a single Monster Guest that came here was anything short of a problem customer.
"If the situation has come to this, I can't just waste time on halfhearted disruptions."
"Hehe."
"Now that she's entered the hotel's rules, the stage of turning a blind eye and letting things slide, like before, is over."
If Lover of Dawn established herself as a legitimate guest, even his authority as General Manager would be limited in its power and justification to forcibly control her. He'd be the one on a leash instead.
"How unfortunate."
"Your vocabulary has grown. That's right, it isn't a good thing."
Yeon-woo lazily rolled his amber eyes.
"In that case, I'd rather...."
【Wouldn't it be more fun to just go berserk?】
"......"
"......?"
"Oh."
"Good grief."
Yeon-woo, his eyes returned to black, instinctively touched his brow at the strange sense of wrongness. He couldn't understand why he'd done that, but something. Just now, every part of my body underwent a change....
"Why on earth can't this be fixed?"
His grasp of the situation was fast.
"I've never coded 'General Manager Mode' to trigger on its own."
"Yes? Yes."
"I wasn't scolding you."
He was simply frustrated.
"...Yes, but I admit that side is more advantageous."
In terms of the two Human Guests' survival, and subsequent management of the problem guest.
"It would be best to prevent that person from fully integrating into the rules. If I let her toy with the rules clumsily, like with The Guest Without Taste, those innocent friends could suffer... permanent penalties like mine."
"Agreed."
"I disagree."
On this point, their opinions simply wouldn't converge.
"Then what shall we try?"
"Trauma."
"Did I even teach you that word?"
"Yes. Yes. Yes."
"But, it has merit."
He didn't literally mean to trigger trauma. But as with most Monster Guests, he could probe the most decisive vulnerability they carried.
"If I make her lose her reason enough to leave the rules on her own, so utterly that she can't even think about coming back...."
Using only the settings from the original game wouldn't be enough.
"I believe there were some useful elements in the interactions. Good. I can leverage those. If I give a part of myself as she wants, it won't be hard to infiltrate it and read the other side."
"Yes? Yes."
"I'll need to actively set a trap on my end."
The general plan was coming together.
"She touched people with their whole futures ahead of them. She should have expected this much."
Yeon-woo looked at Coco and asked.
"Did I disrupt the Secret Rendezvous at dawn today?"
"Yes. Yes."
"Having an answer sheet is a good thing."
He was glad it provided at least this much help. It made the friendship — or pseudo-friendship — they'd built feel worthwhile.
"Then it appears the one targeted by Lover of Dawn is Seome. The kind of prey she covets isn't the distrustful-of-humans type like Rawi."
That type was difficult to deceive in the first place. As rendezvous accumulated, the target's judgment deteriorated, but. The first time she had to lure them out, the Human Guest was still in their right mind.
"I'd had a nagging feeling since the Hunting Grounds. Seome was unusually precocious for his age. Based on what I've gathered so far, it sounds like 'The Gaps' is a world that forces that kind of growth, but...."
"No?"
"That's right, even accounting for that."
Yeon-woo continued as he rose from his seat.
"Everything seems too familiar to him."
In twenty-six years, there were aspects that felt odd for someone who'd merely become accustomed over time.
"Above all... even though Rawi is technically his junior, Seome tends to see him as a child, despite Rawi being both older and considerably larger in build. That's something that's given me a sense of unease for a while now."
"Yes!"
"Of course, I don't know much about The Gaps, so perhaps everyone there is that precocious. But this alone is enough to confirm that Lover of Dawn would have been drawn to Seome rather than Rawi."
"Hehe!"
"Let's take a look."
Just as the Yeon-woo within his lost memories would have done.
"I need to understand the person called Seome."
***
[Sight]
'Between the index and middle fingers of his left hand, an oval callus remains, but its edges have faded.'
A callus formed by someone who held a pen or similar instrument for extended periods. A habit used only briefly wouldn't leave such a distinct shape. A trace of a vocation that involved 'writing.'
But a naturally worn callus has blurred edges. Softened skin, because it's no longer used repeatedly. It means he isn't writing now.
'On the palm of his right hand, at the base of the ring finger extending to the little finger, there is a callus.'
'The surface of the callus is smooth, but there are fine cracks along its edges.'
A smooth callus means the surface has been continually compacted. Cracks at the edges are the result of fatigue accumulating in old tissue. It means the act of gripping a blade is still being repeated.
Seome is a swordsman who has used a blade in real combat for a considerable length of time.
'At roughly a fifteen-degree angle, the inner side of the thumb and the side of the first joint of the index finger are worn as though facing each other.'
Traces of using the friction line between thumb and index finger for balance. A method that draws the center of gravity into the body. A swordsmanship closer to defense and survival than attack.
Then?
'The skin of his right hand is redder than his left.'
'The temperature of his right hand is higher than his left.'
Redder skin and higher temperature indicate greater use.
"......"
'His height appears to be in the late 160cm range, and his weight approximately 60kg.'
Isn't that strange?
'His shoulder line is narrow, and the contours of his muscles show through faintly.'
'His wrists are thin, and his muscles don't protrude when he moves his body.'
'The veins on the back of his hand appear smooth.'
An untrained body, somewhat below average.
'His toes point forward, his center of gravity resting on the metatarsals.'
Ready to move at any moment.
'His shoulders and pelvis are tilted in opposite directions.'
A posture calculated to disperse incoming attacks.
'His right hand is curled into a loose arc.'
Even when not holding a blade, he leaves space in his hand for one — that familiar with a sword.
And.
"......"
'His fingernails are cleanly trimmed.'
'On the lower edge of his right thumbnail, a faint nick.'
Nails that do not grow.
"......"
A body that does not develop.
"...Yeon-woo?"
"Seome."
"Oh, yes."
"You're very young."
"Excuse me...?"
Yeon-woo simply fell silent.
'If this is the case, I suppose I'm partially cleared of the charge of confining a minor....'
[Yes!]
'Confinement is still confinement regardless.'
Seome is wearing another person's body.
***
[Sixth Sense]
'In the mirror, she cannot find "Seome."'
***
"We worship the Fox God, you see."
The adults said.
"A fox...?"
"That's right."
"The ones that live in the forest?"
"Those are the messengers of the god. They watch over the village in the form of animals."
"Does the Fox God have a fluffy tail too?"
"The god has no tail."
In a gentle voice, with a tender gaze.
"The forest keepers always say it, don't they? Don't enter the forest at night, you'll lose your way."
"We've never gone into the forest after dark."
"That's because the forest itself is the belly of the god."
What frightening words.
"A world of the divine that the likes of us could never comprehend."
Drawing shoulders close with a kind touch, the adult asked.
"Seome, you sensed the danger, didn't you? Even before we told you, you definitely felt something in that forest."
"I did, but I...."
"That is exactly what it means for you to have the talent of an Artist."
"An Artist...?"
"Oh, what a great blessing!"
They smiled.
"You are the being closest to the divine!"
"......"
In Seome's village, 'Artist' meant that kind of existence.