Chapter 155 |
Around the time the General Manager was reining in his (prospective) staff, back to Room 1209.
Do-heon's eyes wavered.
"I just... thought it looked like he was helping us...."
He faltered, then continued.
"And he actually did help."
"Who's attached to that General Manager's side?"
"Uh, the cat? Or the staff?"
"That's what people call a labyrinth. No need to measure--that one is a genuine monster."
Seung-jae wagged a finger.
"Chase it off."
"Right, obviously grab a club and chase it off. That's my special meal tomorrow and I'm not watching someone else paw at it. Labyrinths especially lack the human heart of compassion."
Seung-jae's words were brutal in their realism.
"Around here, they usually call that process 'receiving Offerings.' Labyrinths are cunning and shrewd. They put the prey at ease, show kindness, make them tie themselves down of their own free will. The moment you see that thing as a savior and open your heart, you become the labyrinth's perfect Offering."
Do-heon tried to push back.
"The General Manager is, I still don't fully get it, but... he's different from a labyrinth, isn't he? An indigenous Dokkaebi or whatever. Is it still the same?"
"Even if the Manager means no harm, I've said it already. How can you trust a young Dokkaebi who was born and raised in a labyrinth like this--one that holds a cosmic-scale vessel, no less?"
He explained with uncharacteristic calm.
"He could have been persuaded by the labyrinth, deceived, or dragged in without realizing. He's probably already half-Offered himself."
Seung-jae looked at Hyeon Si-gyeong.
"Am I wrong, Si-gyeong?"
"He is an entity belonging to the labyrinth. Temporary outings may be possible, but permanent separation is not."
"There you have it. He's already part of this labyrinth."
He added.
"So put away the useless pity and sympathy. The worst pain comes from getting stabbed in the back by someone you trusted. We've got our own necks to worry about, understand?"
Do-heon bit his lip hard. His uncle's words made sense in his head. This was a place called a labyrinth, where the common sense of reality didn't apply.
But why, then, did the blood-stained memo they'd found in the Greenhouse keep pricking at a corner of his chest? Even without knowing the precise reason himself.
'Is it really just a farmer protecting his livestock?'
Then, Hyeon Si-gyeong, who'd been sharing the same sofa, spoke in his characteristic dry voice.
"It may not necessarily be due to a labyrinth's possessiveness."
"Our Inspector friend always has to play devil's advocate whenever I'm the bad cop."
"Not wanting to be disliked is a social creature's instinct."
"Well then. Eloquent as ever."
Seung-jae's banter lightened the heavy atmosphere. Hyeon Si-gyeong blinked his Sanpaku eyes slowly and looked at Do-heon.
"This hotel compulsively enforces rules. The shell called 'General Manager' is likely bound by those rules too. It could simply be a systemic limitation of the labyrinth."
"He protected us because of the rules?"
"Or, as I discussed with the teacher on the way here."
He rolled his eyes.
"Something that hasn't been fully consumed by the system may be desperately resisting behind a mechanical shell."
Hyeon Si-gyeong's offhand remark complicated Do-heon's feelings.
A system's agent fattening them as Offerings, or an ally exploiting the system's gaps to keep them alive. He couldn't be certain which was the truth.
When Do-heon scrunched his brow in conflicted frustration, Seung-jae clapped his hands.
"Alright, this old man's hit his limit. Used the brain too much."
He stretched, back to his usual genial smile.
"How about we save the rest for tomorrow morning~? Haven't slept at all and we've been knocked around too much. A person's gotta rest sometimes. It's not like there's a time limit."
"Huh? No, wait... didn't you say back at the Greenhouse that you'd explain the memo? When we saw that woman's diary?"
Do-heon reached into his bag for the silver comb and the bloodstained memo, but Seung-jae waved his hands in alarm.
"Whoa! Put it away, put it away. Why are you pulling that cursed thing out now?"
"You said you'd tell me."
"And I will! But that exhausting conversation can wait until tomorrow morning with clear heads. After everything out there, if I bring that up now I'll get nightmares."
"You got me all curious and now--"
"Didn't you say this is a Safe Zone?"
He shrugged.
"We'll probably have to go to Room 1208 in case we violate some rule, but nephew, don't sleep on the living room sofa--use the bedroom. I'll drag the Inspector out before his eyes roll back any further."
"Huh? You're really leaving? Leaving me alone?"
"Time to get independent~"
With that, he hauled the sofa-bound Hyeon Si-gyeong to his feet, flashed a grin, waved once, and left.
"Sleep tight, see you in the morning."
"Rest well."
Hyeon Si-gyeong, too, offered a light bow--warmer than before--and departed with Seung-jae.
"...Seriously, what...."
Left alone in the vast suite living room, Do-heon let out a hollow sigh, carefully cradled the white owl looking up at him from his shoulder, and headed for the bedroom.
> Would you like to rest in bed? [Yes / No]
"......"
> [Yes]
"......"
"......"
He switched off the bedroom light.
Sitting on the bed, he hugged the owl tight and spoke.
"...It's strange. Somehow... it's not as scary as I thought it would be."
What on earth happened during that lost year?
"It feels like a dream. It's an unfamiliar situation but I can't register it as unfamiliar, and I just speak and move as if it's all natural. Why is this happening? I don't know, ■■■."
The owl was still watching him. Rawi couldn't see that, and continued speaking to ■■.
"It is bewildering, but the moment something actually happens I act naturally... I have so many questions but don't really feel like asking... and my feelings toward the General Manager are complicated."
By all accounts, a kidnapper and extortionist. The master of this monster den, so presumably a monster himself.
"I want to defend him."
"Yeah."
"That he's not that kind of person. That inside there is surely ■■■, that person."
"I understand."
"Why am I alone right now?"
"You're not alone."
"Why did everyone leave me behind...."
His hands holding the owl trembled faintly.
"...We were supposed to leave together...."
To that, the owl in the darkness--neat-haired, navy-eyed--spoke.
"I'm sorry."
The owl embraced its junior and comforted him.
"But everything will be alright."
"You insane people."
"Just hold on a little longer, and you'll get out."
Then whispered.
"We'll get out too, eventually."
It was only a matter of time.
That was all.
***
"......"
"...Mmm."
How long had he slept?
"Hm...?"
A damp, chilling cold woke Do-heon on its own.
"What?"
The hotel room had been perfectly comfortable before he fell asleep, but now the air was as heavy and humid as lying in a fog-filled basement.
'Was it raining so hard that water seeped through a window crack?'
Half-asleep, he tried to sit up, and felt icy moisture wrap around his bare feet dangling off the edge of the bed.
Sleep fled instantly.
"Huh?"
Splash.
"Wait?"
But his foot, already in motion, couldn't stop, and the moment it hit the floor, cold water soaked through his sock. Do-heon reflexively curled up and yanked his legs back onto the bed.
"Wh-what is this?"
The lights were still off from last night, but as his eyes adjusted to the dark, the state of the floor became clear at a glance. Directly beneath the bed, the carpet was soaked through, forming a pitch-black puddle. This was no ordinary leak.
Do-heon's gaze traced the puddle's shape.
> [Optional Observation: Puddle Beside the Bed]
> The carpet is drenched.
> The water pooled on the floor carries a fishy, murky smell, as if mixed with a small amount of blood.
"Fuck, when did this...."
Do-heon held his breath and climbed carefully off the bed. The carpet squelched underfoot. His eyes followed the water trail across the floor.
'It's not just one.'
Squelching wet marks were stamped at regular intervals. As though someone had walked in on bare, soaking feet. He scanned the guide window that floated before him.
> Wet footprints begin at a half-open [bathroom door] and trail all the way to the bedside.
"...Insane."
Do-heon sucked in a sharp breath. Every hair on his body stood on end as terror climbed his spine.
The direction of the footprints. They had clearly walked from the bathroom toward the bed. But when Do-heon's gaze followed the prints back toward the bathroom, his face went white as a blank sheet.
'No way.'
> Clear footprints approaching the bed remain.
> But there are no traces whatsoever of them walking back or leaving the room.
"......"
Footprints coming in existed.
Footprints going out did not.
The entire time he'd been dead asleep, something soaking wet had stood silently at his bedside, looking down at him.
'And if there are no returning footprints,'
it was still here....
"......"
Do-heon creaked his head around, slowly scanning the bedroom's darkness.
'Where did it go?'
Where are you, right now, in this room?
"Hooeng."
"C-come here."
Drip.
Drip.
"Hurry."
He pulled the owl close.
In the quiet room, the sound of cold water droplets striking the floor from some corner began hitting his ears with spine-chilling clarity.
***
"Haha."
The General Manager pressed his forehead.
"Just because I showed a little love to my precious new users, they pull this insubordination."
"Rude staff."
"You said it, Coco."
Yeon-woo gently stroked the squishy belly of Coco in his arms, then set it carefully on the bed. Standing before the full-length mirror, he straightened his attire and continued.
"A Monster Guest who has entered a Contract is no longer a guest but my employee. Therefore, under our hotel's rules, a contracted entity's events should no longer trigger. And yet...."
He cinched his necktie tight and smiled with golden eyes at 'himself' in the mirror.
[This impudent Water Wraith has gone and shoved her face into the guest room sink.]
Words spoken to Coco, and to himself.
[The first of the Drenched One's events: 『How Breathing Stops.』]
[If the intervention condition requires directly extracting the Drenched One, so be it.]
[It's an event where Distraction is possible, and since she's already under Contract with me, this is effectively a cute little protest.]
[Though 'cute' might be generous, given how rough it is.]
[His heart is in a fragile state as it stands. Will I end up shouldering another penalty?]
[The rules may have been modified, so there's reason to hope for a mitigated outcome.]
Looking at 'himself' in the mirror--soaking wet, his pale bare face exposed--the General Manager soon smirked.
[Thanks to this, I get to try something interesting.]
[I'll have to see how it goes.]
[But there's nothing to lose from experimenting.]
He spoke.
[Then shall I pay a visit to the guest's room?]
When the General Manager extended his hand to Coco, the Vantablack cat climbed onto it naturally.
"Reflecting on my past conduct, I'll offer help--but in a manner befitting this place."
"Hotel One-worthy terror."
"Though honestly...."
He tilted his head.
"I'm not confident."
"Hello?"
"I'm not sure. Squeezing through the hotel's rules means I'll probably get caught up in it too."
"Very good!"
"Even so, I won't harm any Human Guest."
The General Manager added.
"Unless I rewind time."
Arriving at the bathroom, he stepped into the pristine white bathtub and stood upright inside it. Coco hopped down from his shoulder and crouched flat before the drain.
Then the General Manager's body dissolved into blood.
"......"
"Yes!"
SPLASH--!
Coco gathered all four paws atop the narrow drain, stamped them a few times, and then squirmed down into it. Black ink and scarlet blood trickled quietly into the plumbing.
And so, quite regrettably, as always....
[I do wish the guests would appreciate this dedication of mine.]
The overtime was getting longer.