Chapter 125 |
Yeon-woo maintained his smile while inwardly swallowing a sigh.
'So events can trigger this way too.'
She'd been an uninvited guest whose behavior had been difficult to predict ever since reality set in, but if a formal event like this was occurring, it was nothing but welcome from his perspective. It meant fewer variables.
Above all, this person had always had a built-in affinity toward the 'General Manager.'
'No matter how many times the game cycled, the General Manager was always right there, unchanged.'
A guest who wished for happy memories to be eternal. Now that this was reality, that instinct must have grown even stronger. That was likely one reason she'd willingly entered the hotel's rules.
'Her ultimate target being me. Thanks to that, redirecting her attention from Seome to myself was straightforward.'
Before long, Lover of Dawn spoke.
"Tell me your memories."
One.
"What flowers were they?"
"Vivid red poppies."
Two.
"Do you love me?"
"Perhaps."
Three.
'It's choosing dialogue options.'
The same format was used for conversations in the game.
[We danced together]
[I once made you a wreath of flowers] <[You sang a song]
Answer correctly and the next options appear.
[Vivid red poppies] <[Nameless wildflowers]
[Golden sunflowers]
And then the next.
[I pity you]
[Perhaps] <[Yes, I love you]
A single wrong answer triggers a corresponding penalty. Not permanent, but best avoided if possible.
Judging by the absence of any worsening in his condition, Yeon-woo seemed to have answered correctly.
"Ah...."
Lover of Dawn, forehead resting against his shoulder, whispered.
"I'm sorry. I can't remember."
"......"
As was plain to see.
'...She's calm. Muted response.'
A Monster Guest who had flouted reality's constraints and done as she pleased — once inside the game's rules, she was cooperating as if by magic. Likely because the rules had caused her, too, to temporarily lose her memory.
'Of course, this is only when the correct answers are given.'
In the game's script, she was decidedly on the 'gentle' end. But in reality, 'gentle' merely meant she wouldn't kill you instantly — far from safe.
Even correct answers triggered a backlash that burst his heart. If he'd given a wrong answer?
'The thought alone makes me shudder.'
Yeon-woo patted Lover of Dawn. Not a game strategy — just a reflexive gesture.
Once this event was cleared safely, Lover of Dawn would become considerably more favorably disposed. She'd judge the 'General Manager' as a 'lover' who could fill her immediate oblivion.
Perhaps that was why she burrowed a little deeper into his arms.
"Hmm."
A full-grown adult, acting just like a child.
'Is refusing to grow up an eternal trait of this hotel's guests?'
Every single one of them was high-maintenance. Looking at what Lover of Dawn was doing, it was no different from a younger sibling coming home after bombing a test. That one had been terribly spoiled too.
"...Have you eaten?"
"......"
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
"......"
"Gone quiet again...."
Only then did Lover of Dawn rise from atop Yeon-woo.
She pressed a bird kiss to Yeon-woo's forehead, then left the Dining in the same unsteady gait she'd appeared with. She looked like someone who hadn't yet woken from sleep.
"...Hah...."
Yeon-woo dragged a hand down his face.
[Hello?]
"Not particularly."
As he always said — Hoone's difficulty was absolutely brutal.
"I don't think I'm going to be fine."
Even successful events came with penalties.
'All the more so now that this is reality. I'd already braced myself.'
What had been mere visual effects through a game screen — the blood — now translated into actual organ failure and blood-flow acceleration. Something inside was reversing course.
[......]
"...How unfortunate, truly...."
As if it had been waiting, blood surged up, and Yeon-woo clamped a hand over his jaw.
No wonder there were no users left.
***
[Blood Flow Anomaly]
: Love and a heart are alike.
Vitality Loss: escaping warmth
Blood-Flow Acceleration: a broken heart
Hemorrhagic Reaction: a flushing face
※Upon excessive stamina drain, Event 『Further Below』 triggers※
"...Yeon-woo?"
"Cough, ugh."
"Oh fuck, fuck wait. Why is this happening."
"Ugh, hrrgh... ack...!"
"Why are you doing this...!!"
Well.
"Calm...."
Calm down. It's a penalty.
***
Yeon-woo didn't think much of penalties.
Even when problems arose, pain was merely converted into sensory data. For someone whose system was structurally bound to recover, this amounted to little more than a notification. Not a delusion — an objective fact.
'A status ailment, essentially....'
But he acknowledged.
"......"
The sensibilities of those watching would hardly be the same.
"...Could we, um, at least get an explanation?"
'Must have been quite a shock.'
He felt it was something to be sorry about, but the emotional penalty from The Guest Without Taste meant it didn't land with much impact. Yeon-woo pondered what an appropriate response would be.
"It's not contagious."
"Excuse me?"
"It won't spread to either of you, so please relax."
"That's not what I was asking."
Seome, face hardened, continued.
"I was asking why your condition suddenly deteriorated."
"My heart burst."
Seome was struck speechless, and Rawi stared at Yeon-woo. To which Yeon-woo added.
"I'll patch it right back up, so there's nothing to fuss about."
"When the patient who just sprayed a fountain of blood says that, it makes us more anxious, not less."
"Now that I hear it, that's a fair point. Objectively, a blood-covered person saying this would look insane."
"I think you just look insane, period?"
"I'm mortified. I wanted to inspire confidence, but it seems I failed."
As Yeon-woo wiped the blood from his mouth, Seome asked.
"...Would you consider telling us more?"
At that, Yeon-woo, who had been drying bloodstains with a towel, rolled his eyes dryly.
'That the interaction with Monster Guests caused a semi-permanent status ailment as part of safe hotel operations....'
Could he say that?
'It might sound strange.'
The near-total absence of emotion made it impossible to gauge what would be received well and what wouldn't. But he'd learned that when he spoke honestly about what he'd been through, people's reactions tended to be poor.
'All I did was faithfully follow the hotel's rules.'
To think things had reached the point where he'd be depicted as someone out of his mind. A flash of something like hollow frustration or unfairness crossed him.
Then Coco's notification appeared.
[No.]
'No what.'
[Sane.]
"......"
Yeon-woo inwardly nodded. So he really wasn't sane after all.
"If, um, it's difficult to talk about, you really don't have to. You're under no obligation to tell us... and you just had an episode, so you should think about your stamina...."
"No."
He reflexively denied the grandiose term.
"It wasn't serious enough to call an episode."
"But...."
"I was simply deliberating how to explain it."
"If that's the case, then good."
"You're aware this hotel has various Monster Guests."
"Of course."
"I."
Yeon-woo stopped mid-sentence.
"I...."
"......"
'...Wait.'
Wouldn't this sound strange too?
'That I developed a semi-permanent status ailment through contracting and interacting with multiple Monster Guests?'
That a water-affinity contract from trying to save someone filled his lungs with fluid. That his body was made of blood, so it came out mixed when he coughed. That this latest ailment had stacked on top and burst his heart.
'Nothing's more embarrassing than being treated as a patient when you're not in pain.'
Could he say all this and have them just go 'ah, I see' and move on?
[No.]
'Agreed.'
[Yes.]
'No matter how I phrase it, it'll sound strange.'
As Yeon-woo sank back into deliberation.
"......"
"......"
...In the awkward silence, Rawi thought.
'I was taught that things like this exist.'
A Prohibition.
'Though I never expected to see one on my very first mission from the intermediary.'
A type of contract that forcibly prevented certain actions. His uncle had warned him: 'Don't go getting swindled by shady contracts.'
'And yet he keeps trying to say it, which means he might not even be aware the Prohibition is on him. It was placed without his knowledge, or perhaps forgetting it is part of the condition....'
The feeling was slightly nauseating.
'That General Manager character — there's something underhanded about him.'
Then it also made sense why Yeon-woo was in this state. As Rawi and Seome had speculated, he must have endured 'something' for the sake of this hotel's operation.
"You look like you need some rest. Why don't you come in?"
"I'll pass. I only meant to show my face."
"Wouldn't resting be better?"
Going out would only mean coming back even more tattered.
"I don't understand why you're so busy. It's not like this hotel can't function without you. You're a 'guest' like us, so I don't see why you'd rush off like this~"
He'd meant it in reference to the 'something' Yeon-woo was being subjected to on behalf of the hotel. But from the perspective of a 'General Manager' rather than a 'guest,' it was a jaw-dropping remark.
"......"
[Yes?]
'Quiet.'
His conscience already ached as it was.
"Has anything unusual happened in your room?"
"Same as always. Just a luxurious hotel room."
"I apologize for failing to keep my promise to visit again last evening. An unexpected matter came up."
"That's...."
After hesitating, Seome shook his head.
"That's nothing we should be receiving an apology for."
"Is that so."
"Is that what's been keeping you so busy until now?"
"I've also been looking for a way to get you out of this hotel."
Seome's hardened face spoke heavily.
"What you showed us earlier — are there conditions?"
"What do you mean?"
"The deterioration."
The hand gripping the blade tightened.
"The timing was too convenient. If I saw correctly, it happened right after you made eye contact with Rawi at the door."
There was unease in his manner.
"It also reminded me of... curses I'd seen during mercenary work."
"A curse."
"As you know, mages are the ones who best read those kinds of flows. Perhaps I could be of some help."
Seome had reached the same conclusion as Rawi.
'A Prohibition.'
But he took it a step further.
'It's a restriction preventing him from building bonds beyond a certain level with outsiders.'
In the game's system, it was a status ailment triggered by being in the presence of NPCs with high affinity toward the user. But Seome had no way of knowing what kind of status ailment Lover of Dawn inflicted in Hoone.
"So if I could at least know the conditions...."
"A blood-flow anomaly occurs when I'm around people who like me."
"Oh."
"The two of you."
Yeon-woo's golden pupils held Seome's and Rawi's faces.
"Are more favorably disposed toward me than I'd expected."
The tone was like an adult scolding a child for running near traffic, and Rawi's eyes creased.
"I don't think we're the ones who should be worrying."
"Perhaps not."
"It's a profoundly inhumane curse, isn't it?"
"It may be."
Yeon-woo brushed off the curse on himself with practiced nonchalance.
"Most things in this hotel are not human."
"Ha, no...."
His heart bursts when someone is kind to him?
'No matter how powerful a blood mage is, there's no way that doesn't take a toll.'
The night he'd brought back the dazed Seome, Yeon-woo had looked tired. Even if he could regenerate from fatal injuries without dying, he surely felt the pain and exhaustion.
So this was, ultimately, a curse designed to isolate Yeon-woo.
"...I'm not sure how well you understand your own condition, but this is genuinely serious."
"I'll leave the interpretation to your discretion."
In truth, the 'Blood Flow Anomaly' penalty was meant to scare the user through visuals — blood running from the eyes or nose for shock value. In a word, all image, no substance.
But rendered in reality. It connected to actual blood flow — his heart included — and with Yeon-woo already in a waterlogged state, the penalty's damage was doubled.
"......"
"......"
Of course, Rawi and Seome had no way of knowing that.
"...Let me take a look."
Seome stepped forward.
"It's not a curse designed by any method I know, but given time for reverse analysis, I may be able to identify the counter-curse. I am a mage, after all, and I've picked up all manner of miscellaneous knowledge."
"I'll pass."
"Why? At this rate, the damage to you will compound, and you may never be able to leave this labyrinth. You can't be unaware of what this curse means."
"Yes, of course."
Yeon-woo answered dryly.
"It's a declaration of affection."
"Something like that...."
Seome spoke again.
"Where in the world is a curse that bursts a person's heart called a declaration of affection? I don't understand why you defend this labyrinth's cruelty to this extent."
"Don't mistake this for something it isn't."
Yeon-woo looked down at him.
"I'm simply acting in whichever way is most comfortable for me."
"Is a curse like that comfortable?"
"More comfortable than watching someone else get torn to shreds and cleaning up the aftermath."
Seome was struck speechless.
"......"
"I am in full control of myself. All of this was a means I needed, so it is not a matter for you to intervene in carelessly. Do you understand me?"
"...Yeon-woo."
"If you clumsily meddle with this chain of cause and effect and both of you get caught in the crossfire, how do you intend to take responsibility? Put away the needless sympathy and think about how to get out alive."
"What about you?"
Then what about you?
"Do you have no intention of getting out alive?"
"Why would you think that."
Yeon-woo roughly straightened his bloodstained shirt and stood.
"There are tasks I need to finish before sunset, so I'll step away briefly. This time for certain, I'll come back when night falls."
Heading for the door, he added.
"I've concluded my conversation with Lover of Dawn successfully. As long as Seome doesn't seek her out first, she won't be coming to this room anymore."
"Do you intend to tell us what you did?"
"I'm fine."
A plain tone.
"So it would be better if the two of you... kept me at more of a distance."
"...That's...."
"What was needed to get out of here safely was an appropriate distance and an appropriate trust."
"Yeon-woo?"
"I forgot that for a moment."
He wore a slightly unfamiliar smile and said.
"People really are difficult."
With those words, Yeon-woo left the room.
"......"
"......"
And when Rawi looked down, Seome was.
"...Oh boy...."
Wearing a frightening expression.
***
Kind people die young.
In the most terrible, miserable way.
"......"
Then wouldn't it be better to....