Chapter 182 |
The vampire's gaze landed first on Dan-cheong.
"……."
Seeing through her essence was no difficult task. An aged spirit, toughened to the extreme from weathering every trial the Gaps had to offer. She was no prey worth savoring, and so the vampire's gaze was dry beyond measure.
His eyes slid, as if gliding, toward Kwon Do-heon.
"……."
A young human, tense through and through yet with eyes still very much alive. Watching the vampire's gaze narrow, Kwon Do-heon knew by instinct. That this vampire existed somewhere within the year of memory he had lost.
And last.
"……."
The moment his gaze lingered on Seome, steeped in the scent of death and deeply etched with tragic scars,
"Well, now…."
Dan-cheong,
Kwon Do-heon,
Seome.
"What an entertaining combination, even seeing it again."
The hierarchy of his welcome toward them was chillingly blatant.
"What rare guests have come."
"Rare, my foot—I saw you licking your chops looking at this bundle of feathers."
"Then, shall you be joining me at the table after all?"
"None of that murderous invitation, thanks."
The Director shoved Kwon Do-heon's back with a thump.
"We didn't come empty-handed. Go on, kid."
"Haah, my lot in life, honestly…."
Kwon Do-heon, face twisted in every direction, rummaged through his bag. Then he tossed a hideous lump of meat—utterly out of place in this setting—onto the table with a thud.
It was the piece of flesh he'd inadvertently torn from the "Lover of Dawn" in the boiler room.
"Um…."
Kwon Do-heon mumbled.
"A gift. Here."
"A gift?"
"Effectively a bribe, though."
"How forthright."
"I did think about at least wrapping it, you know?"
"That you had such dedication is admirable in itself."
"But everyone just said to bring it as is."
"Aha, I see."
The vampire's gaze turned to the table. Toward the dark-red fragment of monster, suffused with the vivid aura of Black Magic, an unbearably acrid scent of poppies, and reeking of rotten blood.
After staring at it for a long while, the vampire parted lips drawn in a thin arc and spoke.
"Cha Do-hyeon, was it."
It was clearly a scheme hatched by that arrogant and cunning slab of meat.
"The 'Hanged Man's' intention seems to be mixed in as well."
"……."
"The 'Lover of Dawn,' though stripped of her status as a proper guest by Mr. Lee Yeon-woo, nonetheless remains a person of the General Manager who still resides in this hotel. This means she receives a minimum of protection."
"……."
"In this place where the General Manager's will is law, to dare carve out a piece of a labyrinth he keeps his eye on and offer it up as tribute. Even this petty trick of trying to evade a crisis excites me."
A blatant violation of the rules.
"There was a word for this sort of thing…."
"Cheat? Is that the one you mean?"
"Oh, you know it well."
The vampire smiled as if delighted.
"It was not entirely unexpected, but I will be honest—it does not put me in the most pleasant of moods."
To dare shove this sort of "illicit bribe" onto my table.
"But at the same time, it is amusing."
"I figured as much."
"Is it not so."
These imperfect, arrogant slabs of meat, all joining hands in a desperate bid to survive, cobbling together one crude "gambit" against this vast labyrinth.
"Even though those adding to the pot are far from few."
Impudent to the point of being truly laughable.
"Outrageous, and yet—what splendid craftsmanship."
"Uh, wait—"
"I shall gratefully accept the gift."
"Wha—?"
The man, as though aristocratic pretense was no longer needed, seized the blood-dripping lump of meat with his bare hands. Then, before their very eyes, he opened his mouth grotesquely wide.
CRUNCH—
CRACK.
"……!!"
"Would you look at that."
And began to chew and swallow the raw meat in great, rough bites.
Dark-red blood overflowed from his mouth as the chunk was crushed. The skin-crawling sound of flesh and bone being ground to pieces tore apart the elegant stillness of the luxurious restaurant.
"Fuck…."
Kwon Do-heon's complexion turned white as a blank sheet at the raw spectacle of feeding unfolding before his eyes. He pressed a hand over his mouth, swallowing down the bile and the curses rising in his throat.
"Haah…."
Presently, the sound of something passing down a throat ceased.
The man licked the bloodstains from the corners of his mouth with an abnormally long, red tongue, slow and deliberate, and looked down at the group with a face drunk on ecstasy. Greed rippled in his sunken red eyes.
"That was a most satisfying gift."
"Uurgh…."
"Dear me, is this your first time watching a vampire dine? How pitiable."
It was proof that the "gift" they had offered had struck precisely true. A labyrinth that has received a complete offering will gladly pay the price in kind. The "Guest Without Taste" declared in an utterly gentle voice.
"I shall see to it that the repayment for this gracious hospitality is made in full at a later date."
"Repayment, you say—and when might that 'later' be?"
"You will find out in due time, staying at this hotel."
"Dokkaebi, the lot of them."
"However, by way of cheering on your little 'game,' allow me to offer one additional clue."
Having passed Dan-cheong and arrived before Kwon Do-heon, he leaned in close as though whispering a secret prophecy.
"Did you know?"
"Wh-what?"
"Drowning victims are always crying."
The man's eyes curved to narrow slits.
"That is why they are fond of sweet things."
The form and manner may have been grotesque, but it was an unmistakable piece of "advice."
* * *
But the next trial Kwon Do-heon faced was a challenge that exceeded all imagination.
Distorting the surface of the main pool as it surged upward, a brutally cold column of water formed a colossal shape. A fish whose essence had become both person and water, formed from the gathering of drowning victims. The form of the "Drenched One."
The very concept of the drowned, the re-embodiment of the terrors known as water ghost and killer. An ordinary person would not have been able to so much as scream under that overwhelming sense of helplessness and the crushing, suffocating pressure of the deep.
Before a predator of an ancient labyrinth where human reason and face-saving held no currency,
"……."
Kwon Do-heon simply felt conflicted.
Befitting a collective formed from countless water ghosts, the bluish form shimmered strangely, blurring the boundary between female and male bodies into something indeterminate.
The Water Wraith looked down with flat eyes at the colorful candy Kwon Do-heon held out.
"……."
"……."
Then she stared fixedly at Seome.
"……."
"…Hoot."
Seome seemed to be making excuses. Kwon Do-heon thought he could hear something like "the kid's a good one." Given his experience thus far, he had a sudden feeling he probably hadn't misinterpreted it.
Kwon Do-heon was starting to feel wronged.
"I mean, they said you liked sweet things, so…."
"Hoo."
"Whose side are you on, really, sunbae-nim?"
The Water Wraith, who had been quietly watching the two converse, clicked her tongue at last. Sharp teeth were faintly visible inside a mouth that split open like a gash.
"You think to buy my heart with this gaudy lump of sugar?"
"So candy really doesn't cut it."
"Those were good because my friend gave them. What he offered had a worn-in tenderness from his own hands, and yet a living thing with nothing but bones left dares try to flatter me with this cheap sweetness?"
"Bones…."
Kwon Do-heon felt conflicted. Seome felt conflicted too. The kid really was a good one.
"Hoot."
"Ah, fair enough."
"Sigh."
"That's really too much."
The Water Wraith rolled her eyes sideways as if sick to death of it all.
"What you offered that vampire is no different from my friend's blood."
"Excuse me? No, excuse me? What?"
Seome hooted a "Hoot" and kindly advised him to shut his mouth now. Kwon Do-heon shut his mouth. Somewhat mollified by that, the Water Wraith spoke.
"Was my friend's blood not planted in that arrogant puddle of gore? There exists one who receives and enjoys that thick humanity all to himself, and yet to me you offer only this paltry thing to make do? Unless it is a deliberate insult toward me, there is no explanation."
The sense of injustice rose to the tip of Kwon Do-heon's tongue, but he did not open his mouth. He knew now that refusing to yield anything unless a complete offering is presented was the natural order of things in this world.
"If you truly want something from me, bring me something that suits my palate."
"I beg your pardon most humbly, but might I ask what that would be…."
"Room 444."
The Water Wraith's bluish fingers slashed through the air.
"Just this once, I will open that path in my master's stead—count it as an honor."
"In your master's stead?"
CLACK—
The sound of a door opening.
"Wha…."
From somewhere, the sound of a "door opening" was heard with unmistakable clarity.
"Where is that coming from—"
"Get out of my sight."
"Is that really necessary?"
"Tch."
The Water Wraith swept her colossal tail with a fluid motion, as if to fill the entire pool. A destructive plunge that seemed capable of collapsing the whole Aqua Park churned up a cold, massive whirlpool.
And with that, the Water Wraith vanished into the deep water. A thoroughly cold-shouldered exit.
"Wow, seriously—what did I even do?"
"Sigh…."
Beside the aggrieved Kwon Do-heon, only Seome let out a peculiar cry.
* * *
"Lucky you came back alive."
Cha Do-hyeon was impressed.
"Why so merciful? Did she eat something wrong?"
"Hoot."
"And what's this one saying now?"
It was Hyeon Si-gyeong who answered.
"She says she chased him out because she was angry he gave the good stuff to the vampire and only brought her candy."
"How did a kid like this end up being the protagonist of this episode?"
As deep exasperation filled Cha Do-hyeon's eyes, Kwon Do-heon trembled with indignation.
"You think I asked to be the protagonist?"
"The story's central character doesn't know anything, so the plot's stalling."
"You think I wanted to lose my memory?"
"Even so, don't you get a gut feeling at a glance? That instinct of 'if I stick my neck out, I'm dead'—isn't that on a primal level?"
"When did I ever stick my neck out?"
"Why on earth did our Director send the kid alone?"
The Director, looking burdened, spoke.
"That one blocked me."
"Ah, the owl staff member?"
Cha Do-hyeon nodded as if that made sense.
"True, the older the water ghost, the more it dislikes mages."
"Even so, I know those water-ghost bastards' tempers, so I tried to go along…."
"If the labyrinth staff member says you're not one, then you're not—you made the right call."
Cha Do-hyeon pointed to the owl perched atop Kwon Do-heon's head.
"That one's got a talent for finding the way, too."
"Hoot."
It meant she wouldn't deny it.
"And while our student Kwon Do-heon was busting his ass, I wrote up a script."
"Please, Actor Cha, watch your language in front of a student."
"The Director lives with curses on her lips too, and yet you're all only hard on me."
At that, the Director declared with full confidence.
"I have a reason."
"Is it acceptable to overlook personal failings under the pretext of Word Spirit?"
"Just hand over the script—we need to know what's going on."
"How to get into Room 444, in simple terms."
He held out the Black Script.
"Here."
1. Find an empty corridor.
2. Repeat the correct action exactly four times.
3. Take shelter in the emergency stairwell.
4. Check the room numbers one by one.
5. Enter Room 444.
"Simple, right?"
"Damn it all, easy to say."
The Director grimaced.
"Is that 'correct action four times' even possible? Is this really something this young one can do?"
"The previous 'Lee Yeon-woo' seemed bothered by that too, so he apparently lowered the bar to something like 'blinking.'"
"He was that considerate? The more I hear, the more it takes my breath away…."
As the Director clicked her tongue and Cha Do-hyeon shrugged, Kwon Do-heon asked.
"That script or whatever it is—can it read past events too?"
"In a limited way? In this case it was possible because that water-ghost lady gave permission, but as a rule, it's difficult."
At that, Kwon Seung-jae, who had been resting his chin on his gun barrel, tilted his head.
"Things are turning out stranger and stranger~…."
From start to finish,
"Even the labyrinth folk are lending a hand, and something's taking shape."
"Taking shape how? All I see right now is utter chaos."
"Si-gyeong."
Ignoring his nephew, Kwon Seung-jae turned to the policeman with the whistle in his mouth.
"What are you looking at right now?"
"……."
Hyeon Si-gyeong did not answer.
He simply gazed at a single point in the empty air, fixedly.
For a very long time.
* * *
"……."
"My lady."
"That form of address—would it be difficult to adjust it somewhat?"
A neat yet somewhat flustered voice spread through the lightless dark.
"What are you looking at?"
"I am watching the person who is watching me."
One day, "a part of Lee Yeon-woo," which had seeped into the shell of the "White Crow," answered calmly.
"I hope the message got through."
This was the first and last chance permitted. Even as Lee Yeon-woo calculated the penalties and the weight he would have to bear, he never withdrew the hand he had extended.
"If things conclude as planned, you too will follow the procedure of adding your name to our hotel's contract. Do you have any objections?"
"I'm… fine. No objections at all. As long as I can remain by your side, my lady, wherever that may be."
"I will guarantee you a definitive result so that you will not regret the trust you have shown me—so that you will not have to settle for a mere substitute. I promise."
Lee Yeon-woo believed that was right. To promise to become someone's family meant that both sides had to make at least a minimum effort to be truthful with each other.
Even if its essence was yet another act of hypocrisy, Lee Yeon-woo wanted, with all his might in every moment, to be right. He wanted to say: we all carried heavy stories.
"Greta, you were loved. Without question."
"……."
"I will prove it to you."
"……."
It was a statement that affirmed the entirety of a life denied for centuries.
Knowing full well how foolish and heavy it was to shoulder another person's memories and emotions, he willingly appointed himself the witness for two people. For no other reason than that he himself wished it so.
The girl leaned against his back, her huddled body trembling small, and nodded.
"Yes."
A faint weeping crumbled down.