Chapter 129 |
Day broke. That morning, at the Dining.
"......"
"......"
Seome and Rawi looked haggard.
"...You didn't sleep, I take it."
"...Who could sleep after that?"
"Oh, fair point."
"I'm thinking of going out and dying."
"Do calm down."
'No matter how I think about it, I pressed the button.'
Yeon-woo had said it wasn't that and left in a hurry, but still. The circumstances were too convenient. The anomaly had started the moment Rawi suggested 'let's leave together.'
"...So, um...."
Rawi looked at Seome.
"Can I ask you something, sunbae-nim?"
"Go ahead. Yesterday was so chaotic I couldn't say a word."
"What was that?"
He tapped his own ear.
"The thing that came out of Yeon-woo's ear."
"...Uh...."
"As a mage, you'd sense the nature of that kind of thing better, wouldn't you?"
"...Well...."
Seome had spent the night agonizing over the same question.
"...To my senses, it was closest to Gu."
"Oh, I've heard of that."
"You know this? An outsider like you? How?"
"I haven't seen it in person — I think it was in a manga or on TV...."
"Has the world gone mad? Why would that be on TV?"
"It's just a fantasy trope, I don't know the details."
"Really? Well, Gu is...."
As Seome opened her mouth, someone interjected.
"A hex."
"......"
"Vicious and cruel."
A man in a black suit — The Guest Without Taste.
"You seem to be having an interesting conversation. May I intrude?"
"If we say no, will you kill us...?"
"Haha, of course not. I'm refraining from anything that might earn Yeon-woo's displeasure."
"It looked like you'd already earned plenty."
"That too is an interesting remark. He is a demanding man."
"......"
When Seome fell silent, The Guest Without Taste curved his eyes wide.
"Exceptionally, I shall not count this as an 'invitation.'"
A promise not to consume them.
"...Please, sit."
"Then pardon me."
He seated himself naturally across from Seome and Rawi. Given the pair's habitual window-corner seats, The Guest Without Taste had positioned himself blocking the rainy floor-to-ceiling window.
The man lightly straightened his attire and asked.
"How did the topic of Gu come up? To my knowledge, it's an exceedingly crude and inefficient hex, virtually unused in the modern era."
"...It just...."
"Didn't you say it came out of Yeon-woo's ear?"
"......"
Seome dragged a hand down her face.
'So he'd heard everything and was probing.'
No point hiding it — she'd only get singled out by a Dokkaebi of this caliber for nothing.
"...We were concerned about Yeon-woo's condition."
"He is someone who doesn't look after himself."
"I saw something coming from him and wondered if it might be Gu."
"Hmm."
The man looked at Rawi, who was averting his gaze, and spoke.
"Since our young friend is here, shall I give a brief explanation?"
"Uh, um, thank you?"
"Not at all. Gu is a hex that primarily involves placing multiple insects in a jar, leaving them until the last one remaining, and using that survivor's venom as a medium."
"That's...."
"Yes, it's closer to a curse than a hex."
His explanation was quite concise and organized.
"But 'insects' is a loose term — quite a variety of organisms can be used. In the end, the core of Gu, or Shamanistic Gu, is 'confining living things and making them kill each other.'"
The man's gaze returned to Seome.
"And you saw that in Yeon-woo?"
"Just... a feeling. I've seen magic that used Gu before."
"A mage's intuition in such matters is trustworthy."
A mage was ultimately a mass of spiritual energy, particularly sensitive to others' magic.
"But it doesn't seem like you identified 'Gu' instantaneously?"
"......"
What The Guest Without Taste was saying was that Seome's talent as a mage was not exceptional.
"...That's true...."
"Then it must mean the mystical presence was prominent enough to be identified so quickly."
"...Yes."
"The Foundation did tend to undertake rather entertaining projects."
When Rawi turned to look at him, the man smiled.
"Then the materials used must have been 'people.'"
A face that looked genuinely delighted.
"......"
"......"
They were struck speechless.
'...No matter how convincingly he acts human, his essence is still a Dokkaebi.'
They couldn't let their guard down. To The Guest Without Taste, this situation was ultimately nothing more than capricious amusement. He seemed to hold this hotel dear, so this would be part of how he enjoyed it.
'If being someone's toy is the price of staying alive with all limbs intact, maybe that counts as lucky.'
Meanwhile, the man's face had returned to its 'human' configuration.
"Fascinating indeed. Gu attached to Yeon-woo."
"...What's fascinating about it?"
"Our young friend may not be aware, but this hex primarily functions to slowly and agonizingly drain the life force of a living person it's been fed to."
"Life force...?"
"It harms both body and soul. It can even attack in dreams. In a similar vein, it can dominate the soul and manipulate its will at whim."
"......"
"Making a person fall in love, binding them in fear, clouding their mind...."
His voice was conversational, yet carried an almost musical cadence.
"But it's a hex with many inconveniences. The destructive power is certain, but fine remote control is difficult. It is simply the hex I would recommend if one wished to slowly wither and kill a target over a very long time."
"...Thank you...?"
"Surprisingly polite."
"...No, wait."
Rawi turned to Seome.
"Then someone cursed Yeon-woo. There's a person behind this."
"That is precisely why I called it fascinating."
Once again, it was The Guest Without Taste who answered, not Seome.
"There can't be many beings in this hotel bold enough for that...."
After a moment's murmur, the man said.
"Oh, perhaps he wanted it himself."
"...Wouldn't it hurt?"
"But this hotel enjoys such things. It would be of great help to its growth."
"Growth? The hotel?"
"Is he not the sort of person who would curse himself if it benefited the hotel?"
"......"
"...What a fascinating topic...."
He soon rose from his seat.
"I believe this made for a pleasant meal. I shall withdraw at this point. Though this conversation did not take place at my table, it was a meaningful time."
"...Yes, it was an honor."
"One piece of advice before I go: it would be best not to keep him too busy."
"......"
"This hotel needs him."
Still that crescent-thin smile.
"Take care not to earn anyone's displeasure."
With a light bow, he left the Dining.
"......"
"......"
...It was the kind of meal that sat like a stone.
***
The pair, wordless for a long while, opened their mouths the moment they returned to their room.
"Whose displeasure?"
"From whom?"
The words came almost simultaneously.
"You were thinking about that too, sunbae-nim?"
"What else would I think about, stuck in this hotel?"
"True, but really — whose?"
"The straightforward answer is the hotel itself."
Seome spoke with a creased brow.
"...That black coat from yesterday has been on my mind."
She asked.
"Did you see anything different? I'd thought it was just an ordinary outer garment, but thinking back, the coat Yeon-woo wore from the Hunting Grounds onward was always that excessively deep black."
Rawi looked at Seome.
"Can I be honest?"
"Go ahead. We can take it back later."
"I didn't sense a thing."
"You didn't sense anything?"
"Just... a uniform-colored outer garment...."
After hesitating, Rawi rubbed his face.
"The only time I felt something was when it moved yesterday."
When it had been choking Yeon-woo's neck.
"It was like a pit of corpses too deep to see the bottom."
"Creepy phrasing."
"So deep you can't see anything, but the stench of death is overwhelmingly strong...? Actually, it was so enormous it didn't register at first."
"That's scary too."
"I also felt it had absolutely no intention of separating from Yeon-woo."
"...Ah...."
Seome's expression darkened.
"What if that really is this hotel?"
"...Can't really deny it."
"When you brought that up yesterday evening, honestly, I was glad."
She recalled Yeon-woo's face when Rawi had said 'let's leave together.'
"It looked like Yeon-woo wanted that too...."
Perhaps a face that wished for it, even just a little.
"But right at that moment, the 'black' moved, and Yeon-woo bled from his face, and on top of that, the Gu from inside his body came crawling out."
"Still chaotic just thinking about it."
"That Gu — I don't know how much of Yeon-woo's own input went into it — was probably placed by the General Manager. That's the only way enough 'resources' can be generated to sustain this hotel."
"But that...."
Rawi hesitated and asked.
"Wasn't it only triggered when he was called?"
"Come to think of it, maintaining a labyrinth this size couldn't be handled by just those brief episodes. Push it that far and Yeon-woo might break entirely — and at that point, it'd be better to...."
"Do it little by little, many times?"
"Or perhaps not even the smallest personal freedom can be allowed."
What a rotten labyrinth. She'd never encountered one that wrung a person this mercilessly. And targeting just one person at that.
Though, of course, that was a measure reflecting Yeon-woo's own wishes.
"It really has no intention of letting him go."
"...So what?"
"......"
Seome looked at Rawi.
"Aren't you being too hopeful?"
"And you're being too pessimistic."
Rawi scowled. His already unfriendly features looked even more menacing.
"Both you and Yeon-woo are so tangled up that simple ideas apparently don't occur to you. Can't we just act first and think later sometimes?"
"You'll die doing that...."
"Oh, come on."
He looked put out.
"The point is, Yeon-woo wants to leave too."
At least to Rawi, that was the most important thing.
"You're both smart people, so I trust something can be worked out."
"If you're going to lie like that, won't your lips float when you bathe?"
"I'll admit I don't fully believe it, but anyway — isn't Yeon-woo's golden hour running out?"
"Right. At this rate, it won't be long before he's completely devoured."
Fully offered, just like Seosang.
"...That's...."
"You don't want to see that."
"......"
"That's why you lost it yesterday."
"...Right...."
Rawi was right.
"...I didn't want to see it."
The reality that Yeon-woo, too, would 'become that,' and she would go on living because of it. The desperation of knowing another round of that nauseating cycle was imminent.
"...Looking back, it was a trauma response."
"That's what it looked like."
"I'm ashamed. Toward you, and toward Yeon-woo."
"Yeon-woo gave you a proper dressing-down. I'm the type to hold grudges a bit longer, though."
"I'd rather get dressed down and be done with it... I'm exhausted...."
"You think I had it better, getting woken up in the middle of the night?"
Rawi sighed.
"So, like... can't we at least try?"
"......"
"We can just make an effort, can't we?"
"...You're right."
Seome nodded.
"Then we need to convince Yeon-woo first."
"Shouldn't we cut through your baggage first?"
"Do you have any idea how hard it is not to step on mines in a minefield?"
"When you put it that way, I've got nothing to say."
"So."
She looked up at Rawi.
"Where is Yeon-woo right now?"
***
And so they witnessed the trail of water stretching conspicuously onward.
"......"
"......"
...Elevator, 23rd floor.
Aqua Park.
***
Indeed, Yeon-woo was at the Aqua Park.
He'd been here since last night.
"Friend."
"......"
"Friend?"
Seeing her submerged in the pool, clinging to his ankle with a death grip, Yeon-woo thought seriously.
"......"
What was she, not even cute, doing pulling stunts like this?
Did she actually think this was working...?