Chapter 156 |
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
"......"
"Hoo."
"Shh, be quiet."
Do-heon whispered. He unconsciously clutched the white owl in his arms tighter.
"Kkuuuk."
The owl, too, seemed to sense the ominous presence--its feathers were puffed out far more than usual. At the end of the wet footprints, through the half-open bathroom door, thick darkness gaped and writhed.
> A damp, fishy smell of water seeps out.
> Would you like to check inside the bathroom? [Yes / No]
'...If I don't check, those footprints might crawl up onto my body later.'
In this place, ignoring and avoiding danger often led to far worse outcomes. Do-heon pulled the worn revolver from his bag with trembling hands and carefully pushed the bathroom door open.
Creeeak--.
"......"
> [SYSTEM] Event 『How Breathing Stops』 encountered.
"...What the fuck."
Do-heon froze in place.
The bathroom was thick with dense water mist. In the vicious humidity that stabbed the lungs, the sink's faucet was firmly shut. Yet the basin was filled to the brim with dark, murky water.
From some unknowable source, the phantom sound of water endlessly lapping circled his ears.
'No way.'
And before that sink, someone was there.
> [Optional Observation: The Figure at the Sink]
> Someone in a soaking wet shirt has their face plunged deep into the murky water pooled in the basin.
> The water is still, but a strange noise can be heard.
White shirt and black dress trousers.
"...General Manager... sir?"
He didn't move a fraction. Truly like a corpse sunk beneath the water. And yet to call him dead, his body still maintained an upright posture. A grotesque sight.
"What are you doing in there...."
"Hooeng."
Just then, a red guide window force-popped into Do-heon's vision.
"......!"
> [SYSTEM WARNING] If the subject is not pulled from the sink, this room's water system will be fully contaminated and submerged.
> Would you like to forcibly extract the subject? [Yes / No]
'Water system? Submerged?'
Difficult words in the sudden chaos--he didn't immediately process them.
'The entire room will be flooded?'
"Hoo!!"
"Oh, fuck...!!"
No time to flee or deliberate.
"Ah, fucking hell!"
> [Yes]
Do-heon's gun hand shook violently as his other hand grabbed the soaking shirt's shoulder and wrenched it back. An ice-cold sensation shot up through his fingertips.
"Get out, now!!"
SPLASH--!!
"Urk,"
Murky sea-like foam sprayed in every direction as the upper body that had been jammed in the sink was yanked backward. Do-heon couldn't handle the soaking weight and stumbled, landing hard on his backside.
"Agh, ow...!"
> Successfully extracted the subject.
> [SYSTEM] The subject's attention is now fixed on you.
"Wh-what? Attention, what does that--"
"Hoo-- HOO--!!"
"No, wait--!!"
Flutter-flap--the large owl's wings struck Do-heon's face repeatedly. Sharp talons gripped his collar and forcibly hauled him to his feet.
"Urghk!!"
In the midst of his startled confusion--
"......"
"......"
Drip. Drip.
Water droplets fell along a pale jawline.
Do-heon looked up at the face of the figure casting a wet shadow over him, and went completely rigid. It was not the machine-like 'General Manager's' perfect shell he'd seen in the Dining.
> ■■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■ ■■■ ■■.
> ■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■.
> ■■■ ■■■ ■ ■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■■■■, ■ ■■ ■■■ ■■, ■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■.
Moisture-seeped skin. Hair plastered to the forehead and cheeks from the water. A bare face without glasses. Empty eyes. An expression dry as bone despite the wet, yet weariness flickering like water mist.
As though bound in the most dreadful manner to some place--the face of a wretched specter....
'Ah.'
I've seen this before. Room ■■■. Beyond the transparent Wall Fountain's mirror, the figure that had rippled behind the blue water membrane. That was the same. That face. The same one from back then. That, that. That.
'What was that? What did I see?'
Do-heon backed away.
'Why isn't that wretched sight unfamiliar....'
Crack,
The sound of a joint coming loose.
"Haahh,"
The whatever-it-was--General Manager or otherwise--slowly craned its neck toward Do-heon. Murky black eyes pierced him. Golden pupils stared.
"D-don't come closer...!"
Do-heon reflexively aimed the gun. But the thing came regardless, reaching a wet hand toward him. Bloodless lips parted slowly.
[■■,]
You must,
[■■■ ■.]
hold your breath.
"......!!"
A metallic voice like dozens of drowning victims whispering into his ear at once, lungs full of water. Less a killer's curse, more the dying scream of someone still alive gasping to the living....
In that instant, Do-heon's breathing was forcibly halted.
> [SYSTEM] Affected by status ailment [Underwater Sensory Delirium].
> Vision darkens to a murky blue-black; breathing becomes labored.
> A delirium begins, as if the entire brain is being submerged.
"Kghk, gkh...!"
A vicious hallucination of black, murky water flooding in through nose and mouth. His lungs felt as if they would burst. As Do-heon clawed at his own throat and gasped, the Water Wraith closed in.
Corpse-cold hands covered Do-heon's cheeks and lips.
"...!!"
"......"
"...! ......!"
He thrashed reflexively, but soon Do-heon's resistance ceased.
"......"
"......"
Something was wrong.
'...It's not attacking.'
The hands cupping his face held no violent force. Not a trace of killing intent or hostility--only a cold, stinging body temperature transmitted through.
As though teaching a drowning child 'this is how you hold your breath to survive.' A cautious touch, so alien to every monster he'd encountered in this place.
"......"
The Water Wraith's empty eyes gazed quietly down at Do-heon.
'...It looks like it's in pain.'
The one suffocating to death right now was him. So why did the one blocking his airway wear that expression? Was this the General Manager? Or something else? Enemy or ally?
Were you, too, someone from the year I've forgotten?
"......"
"......!"
Then, faintly, it smiled.
[...Well done.]
Had that been an auditory hallucination?
Between the sounds of water droplets bursting, the faintest whisper seemed to graze his ear.
"Haah, gkh, cough!"
When his jaw was released, ragged breath burst free.
Do-heon's trembling hand let the revolver's grip slip. An inexplicable ache and sense of connection swelled within him. This was unmistakably his first time experiencing this, and yet it felt as though he'd received this kind of comfort before.
"Haahh... hkh...."
A name flashed through his mind, and he looked up. Desperation surged.
"Mr. ■■■."
The instant Do-heon called that name in a hoarse voice--
"Wh-wait...!"
The Water Wraith's pale form began dissolving like a watercolor painting melting in rain.
The once-perfect human shape melted into a liquid of blood and black mucus, then oozed and reversed back toward the narrow, dark drain on the bathroom floor.
"No, wait! Mr. ■■■!"
Trickle... glug.
Soon the black blood vanished completely down the drain.
"■■■...!"
> [SYSTEM] Event 『How Breathing Stops』 concluded.
> You have successfully extracted 'the Drenched One'!
> You experienced extreme terror. A large volume of [Nightmare] resources has been generated and collected.
"......"
Do-heon collapsed to the floor.
The heavy moisture that had engulfed him inside and out dissipated, and the cold bathroom tile's texture returned. The delirium that had strangled his breathing vanished as if it had never been.
The sink was pristinely empty as though nothing had happened, and the puddles and squelching footprints that had drenched the floor had all evaporated.
No trace remained. As though it had been a nightmare.
"......"
"......"
Do-heon stared blankly at the revolver lying on the floor. The white owl on his shoulder pressed its head against his wet cheek and gave a low, soft hoo, as if asking after him.
"......"
"Hooeng."
"...I, I just."
Do-heon swept back his wet hair with trembling hands.
"What did I just call that person?"
Even the General Manager's introduction had slipped from memory.
***
Meanwhile.
Trickle, glug.
The blood that had traveled through the pipes back to the Operator's Quarters bathroom coalesced again into Yeon-woo's form.
"...Phew."
"Hello?"
> [SYSTEM WARNING] Self-intervention penalty triggered for 'Drenched One' event!
> Physical abnormality: [Wrist and arm joint spasms] onset. Hand command input failure rate increased by 20%.
> Physical abnormality: [Sudden heart rate drop] onset. Cardiac arrest precursor (1% chance of immediate command input failure).
> System abnormality: Bathroom command response speed reduced by 50% (persists for 2 days).
"Oh, so it applies to me as well?"
"Yes! Coco! Help!"
"How kind of you to organize it for me. Much easier to review. Thank you."
It had a different feel from the interface he'd been using. Far more streamlined.
"Hmm...."
The General Manager stepped out of the tub after reviewing the penalties.
"Most of these can be ignored with administrator privileges. If I drop out of General Manager Mode, that'd be a different story, but for now there's no impact on operations."
"Correct!"
"Now where's a towel...."
"Coco! Help!"
Coco leapt down and trotted back with a towel perched on its head.
'I'm fairly certain it can change forms, so why does it insist on staying that shape....'
"No?"
"You'd still be a wonderful partner regardless of form, Coco."
"Understood!"
"So it was a deliberate choice."
The General Manager picked up the towel and calmly wiped the water from his face.
Unlike before, there was no basin-full of blood to vomit, no writhing on the floor in agony. The results of having his physical circuitry preserved within the hotel system were paying off reliably.
Before long, a subtle spasm hit his wrist joints, and his heart lurched and beat erratically--
"......"
"Yes!"
The General Manager forcibly reset his body.
"Wonderful! Satisfactory!"
"For this level of penalty, it was a worthwhile performance."
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
Coco leapt onto his shoulder and praised him. Then, roughly three seconds later, it gently asked.
"Hello?"
At the partner's gentle chiding, the General Manager smiled.
"Don't worry. This time it truly doesn't hurt. Thanks to backing up the physical circuitry to the hotel system on the 14th floor, these minor debuffs are perceived as nothing more than simple numerical modifiers like 'increased command input failure rate.'"
Even those were currently blocked.
"Unlike in the past, there'll be no crawling on the floor from pain with its ambiguously lingering reality."
"Yeon-woo? General Manager?"
"Yes, both. So please don't worry."
"Heehee!"
The General Manager exited the bathroom.
"It was more enjoyable than I expected. Is this what an immersive theater actor feels like after leaving the stage? More importantly, the results are excellent."
"Coco. Guarantee."
In the interface window floating in the air, Kwon Do-heon's Nightmare stack had shot up in a single bound to just below the checkout threshold.
"Lovely."
What if he'd let the Drenched One run the event herself?
'Obviously.'
"Temper."
"Precisely."
Given that Water Wraith's temperament, Do-heon would genuinely have been in mortal danger.
"My hijacking of that event to implant only visual terror and drowning delirium, without physical pain, was an exceptionally rational and efficient choice."
"Hijacking?"
"It can mean seizing a mode of transportation, but... it can also refer to stealing an active connection to seize server authority, or intercepting an already-registered domain name."
"Authority seizure."
"Yes, what I did was closer to that."
He had no idea how much energy it had cost to wrestle with the Water Wraith before Do-heon arrived.
"......"
By that logic, was it closer to the former meaning after all?
'Hard to say.'
Anyway.
"I've certainly prevented the unfortunate outcome of that young man viewing me too warmly."
Using General Manager Mode as the base while simultaneously deploying the original Yeon-woo Mode. Since the performance hadn't been false, he trusted the uncanniness and fear had been well-conveyed.
"Wonderful actor."
"You flatter me."
He straightened his disheveled shirt collar and murmured.
"But horror acting really isn't my forte."
"Eeing...."
"Didn't it seem too much like a cliche ghost from a B-grade horror film? 'You must hold your breath.' After saying it with my own mouth, it felt so contrived I wanted to slink down the drain right then and there."
The 'Yeon-woo' of that moment had been genuinely worried, but from a directorial standpoint.
"But results are results, so I'll accept them gratefully. Mr. Kwon Do-heon showed quite an admirable reaction to the scare experience I prepared."
The General Manager gazed quietly at his own pale hand.
How far he had strayed from the human orbit--he knew better than anyone. The horror on Do-heon's face was the most conclusive audience reaction proving it.
"......"
"Hello?"
"No, just... a strange feeling, I think."
He tilted his head. Nothing serious.
"I can only hope tomorrow is an easier day than today."
With that flat soliloquy, the General Manager began calculating the hotel's next schedule.
"First, I'll need to have a word with our Water Wraith."
"Coco. Agree."
"This kind of insubordination--she's truly lost her mind."
"Agree one hundred percent."