Chapter 128

Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual

"But what's certain is that Blood Magic is a legal field."

Seome murmured, looking at Yeon-woo.

"Of course, a blood mage who burns through their own blood like this is nearly unheard of...."

"You said the blood's owner also suffers?"

Rawi asked.

"Then using someone else's blood should be illegal too, shouldn't it?"

"Apparently, the standard practice was to obtain consent for the pain before conducting research."

"Is that okay? Consent or not, the pain's the same."

Seome wore a benevolent smile.

"Nothing money can't solve."

"Dirty capitalist society...."

"Now you've properly learned The Gaps' identity."

"Then what about Yeon-woo?"

Rawi glanced at Yeon-woo. He was still composed.

"Is his case legal too?"

"It is, but...."

Seome wore an expression of lingering unease.

"...Wasn't the Blood Magic forced on you?"

"...You could say that."

"Then it would have been an abnormal, unsafe formula. Magic performed not on consenting blood, but on blood taken by force."

At that, Rawi tilted his head.

"What's the difference? Either way, blood is used for research."

"It becomes far more violent. Because the blood owner's condition is completely disregarded."

"Uh... is that illegal?"

"Strictly speaking, if it's your own blood, it's not."

"Ahh."

Someone else's blood — illegal. Your own blood — legal.

"But cases of using that kind of formula on one's own blood are virtually nonexistent."

"So legally it's fine, but since 99.9% of cases are illegal, the perception is awful?"

"To begin with, nobody would even think the blood used in such a dangerous formula was the caster's own."

"That bad?"

"As I said, it's a formula built without any regard for how badly the blood's owner might deteriorate."

This was why Seome's face had gone pale.

"It's mythological-scale self-harm, to put it plainly."

"Mythological...."

"From what I've heard, there was once an Artist who bravely declared they'd become a proper blood mage and used that formula in front of the Sensitivity Bureau."

"And?"

"They killed themselves the next day."

"......"

"They lasted long."

"......"

"......"

Seome and Rawi's gazes landed on Yeon-woo.

"I won't."

He denied it immediately.

"It doesn't hurt that much, either."

"I don't believe you."

"So it seems."

How unfair.

'But I don't know the exact reason myself.'

From what he'd heard, the Blood Magic Yeon-woo had learned had many drawbacks. Yet he hadn't experienced most of them. He'd just thought it was a chaotic discipline.

'Is it the hotel's influence? Or the character's body? Brain damage? Or maybe....'

Seome, who'd been watching the deeply pondering Yeon-woo, continued.

"...So the thing is, properly registered blood mages are so scarce they're practically nonexistent now."

"Because the perception is ruined?"

"Because the perception is ruined."

In this day and age, saying 'I'm a blood mage' got you 'please spare my life' as the first response.

"Blood Magic was also the primary field The Foundation utilized...."

As she said this, Seome watched Yeon-woo's reaction.

"......"

But Yeon-woo, astonishingly, showed no sign of recognition whatsoever.

"...You really don't remember?"

"...I'm sorry, but today is the first time I've heard the name 'The Foundation.'"

"That's another surprise."

He'd apparently lost his memories during the labyrinth-formation process.

'Truly a despicable labyrinth through and through.'

From what she could tell, Yeon-woo had been forced to learn Blood Magic during his involvement with The Foundation. Whatever field of Artist he'd been, they were excellent personnel.

Terrible things must have happened in the process. If Yeon-woo had now lost all those memories, he was squarely inside his own hell without knowing it was hell.

'And the fact that he keeps saying it doesn't hurt....'

Maybe he'd been in pain from the very start. Never knowing peace, he simply says he's fine.

"...But as I've been saying, if you never used anyone else's blood to begin with, then no matter what Blood Magic formula you research or employ, it isn't illegal."

"Even if it hurts?"

"It hurts, and that's exactly why they're rare. Most people won't endure that much pain to wield power. Especially when it's for someone else's sake, like in medicine."

"You said there are still salons and guilds researching Blood Magic?"

"Yes, medical salons especially. I've heard the prestigious ones even have government permission to use criminals' blood."

Yeon-woo's brain briefly seized.

"...They use criminals' blood?"

"Even a criminal is still human, so specifically, criminals connected to The Gaps."

"I see."

How insane.

'Isn't it problematic that this is legally possible?'

Naturally, if Seome spoke of it in such terms, these would be criminals too atrocious to warrant human rights consideration. Yeon-woo had no desire to defend such inhuman monsters, either. Absolutely not.

But a state is an institution that monopolizes violence. When the state turns cruel, civic sensibility erodes. The odds of it leading to a society that legitimizes violence were very high.

"......"

...Ah, so that's why 'The Gaps' is in such a state.

'Indeed.'

It made sense.

'At minimum, the system managing The Gaps is highly likely legitimizing violence.'

He thought of rule of law, procedural justice, national and societal security, policy efficiency, international norms, diplomatic costs — then set them all aside.

In the end, all he'd learned was that this society operated far more aggressively than he'd assumed.

"For reference, the lower ranks — Smelt and Harna — are targets for subjugation from the start. One's an inanimate state, the other's a monster, but they're as dangerous as Dokkaebi."

"The names are all so complicated... what about above those?"

"Next are Brime and Marvel. That's where the legal/illegal split begins. From what I know, these middle ranks retain or maintain human form."

"And above that...."

"From Lidmar, they're treated as real blood mages."

Rawi stroked his chin and asked.

"Is there one above that?"

"There is, but."

As Seome hesitated, Yeon-woo answered in her place.

"It's called Velmareth."

"......"

"...A mass of liquid blood that can hardly be called human."

"...Uh...."

Rawi smiled awkwardly.

"Quite a cutting self-assessment."

"It wasn't a magic I learned by choice."

"That much is evident."

Rawi dragged a hand down his face, studied Yeon-woo quietly, and then asked.

"...Is there really no way out?"

"......?"

"It's embarrassing to say this now, but honestly, I've gotten attached."

He grinned with that upturned smile.

"Leaving you behind and getting out on our own would feel pretty lousy~"

Rawi didn't know much, but he understood that Yeon-woo had been swept into unfair circumstances. And that despite it all, Yeon-woo had been working to get them out alive.

Where in the world would he meet someone like this again?

"From the looks of it, you don't know much about the outside either. Been cooped up in a labyrinth? I know a great fried chicken place. I'd love to take you there sometime — what do you say?"

"A rather hopeful statement."

"You're not dead, you're perfectly alive. What's stopping you? One look and it's obvious — you haven't given up, you're just staying because there's work to do here. Right?"

"I'm not the type to give up easily."

"So let's go out together. There's tons of fun stuff — outside, in The Gaps too. This hotel's dazzling and all, but... honestly, it must be suffocating."

'Suffocating' didn't begin to cover it.

"You should get a vacation once in a while."

There was no reason for a 'good person' like him to be stuck here doing this.

"If we look into it, maybe there's a way? Our Seome sunbae-nim here has tried all sorts of things, and my grades were a mess, but I'm the type whose brain works pretty well in a pinch."

"......"

"If we put our heads together...."

"...Ugh."

"Huh."

"Khrgh—,"

Gunk.

The sound of an airway blocking.

"Uurgh...."

"Huh, fuck."

"Uwegh, kack, ghrk."

"FUCK HOLD ON...!!"

Yeon-woo coughed blood and clawed at his throat.

Something extending from the pitch-black coat was constricting him....

***

[No!]

Coco was frantic.

[No! No! No! No! No!]

'Calm down.'

[NO!!]

'Please calm down.'

It was distracting.

'I wish everyone would just hold still.'

It was merely an ordinary penalty, left behind by Lover of Dawn.

This 'Blood Flow Anomaly' penalty appeared frequently in the presence of NPCs with high affinity. Its timing was random, like The Drenched One's, but certainly.

It inevitably triggered more often when surrounded by people close to him.

"Ah...."

His body being a mass of blood to begin with seemed to make the 'Blood Flow Anomaly' hit harder.

'Guess the imprinted body circuitry can't do anything about a game-defined penalty.'

The world was genuinely spinning. The pain was only registered as sensation, so it didn't really matter. But pain and mental chaos were truly separate issues.

"S-sunbae-nim, why is it doing that? Why is this thing stuck to him...!"

"Don't touch it! It's not ordinary clothing — it could be an Erosion-Type Dokkaebi, keep back!"

"But fuck, the man can't BREATHE right now!!"

He was breathing.

"Can't you see it's choking him?!"

It wasn't.

'Our house cat isn't that malicious.'

Appearances aside, it was actually trying to help Yeon-woo by tilting his head back to clear his airway.

'It lacks first-aid knowledge, so it does look like it's just strangling him.'

Still, to be misunderstood like this. Then again, Coco seemed to be in quite good spirits.

[Yes!]

'Being a rotten cat, it enjoys the villain treatment....'

Its future was concerning.

"...! Oh, that...!!"

"Fuck, this is insane."

Yeon-woo felt his right ear go moist and pressed a hand over it.

"What the hell have you been carrying around in your body...!!"

He wished they wouldn't scold the delicate No. 14 so harshly.

'It must have been startled that its home is falling apart.'

[Yes!]

'The fact that you look twice as pleased is truly maddening.'

[Hehe!]

'Now is not the time to laugh.'

Oh, please.

When Yeon-woo blocked the right ear, it came gurgling out the other side. Fair enough — if your house was on fire, running was the right call. True, but the timing was a bit.

'Can't you just stay inside?'

The terror of No. 14 transmitted directly. Stretching out to pat and grope Yeon-woo's face and body in a tactile exploration, politely inquiring.

Roughly translated into language, it felt like this:

[Did we come out wrong, by any chance?]

[Your body seems a bit broken — is there a problem?]

[Pardon us, but would it be alright to stay inside?]

Yes, yes, fine. Really fine. It wasn't a big deal.

Yeon-woo firmly pressed both ears, stuffing No. 14 back in. They trembled with fear but began an orderly return. It didn't take long for all of No. 14 to reenter.

Right around when Lover of Dawn's penalty subsided.

"......"

"......"

Yeon-woo looked down at his blood-soaked gloves.

"...Hah...."

...A whole new breed of chaos.

***

And so, Yeon-woo was harassed by his staff.

"I'm not leaving."

"......"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"......"

"I distinctly said I'm not abandoning you...."

They weren't even poorly socialized puppies, yet the separation anxiety was critical.

'How did they even know about my conversation with those two?'

[Sixth Sense]

'The friend in the water is watching you.'

'Good grief.'

No — why were you involved too, Drenched One?

'With nothing better to do, are you now claiming you're a formally employed staff member?'

And Guest Without Taste, why are you really here?

"Where are you going?"

"You and I don't even have a contract."

"How cold. Aren't we friends?"

"Have you lost your mind?"

He was so wronged he might need to draft a formal complaint.