Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 110

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 110.

“Master.”

The Young Man opened the car door and asked.

“Shall I burn it? Everything is prepared.”
“What were you planning to do this time?”
“I was thinking of disguising it as a gas leak.”
“Oh, the poor Head Chef.”

Karel gazed down at the man—his servant—before him.

“Would it not sadden you if your sister knew you were orchestrating such things?”
“Both my sister and I are prepared to dedicate ourselves entirely to you.”
“Leave it as is.”

From within the darkly tinted car, he gazed out through the window at the Restaurant beyond.

“The moment I lay a hand upon them, their existence loses all value.”

Ordinarily, I would have killed them. Staged an accident, erased all trace of them. But the ‘Master’ of the sanctuary I now seek would not favor such methods.

‘To secure a suitable room, I must at least demonstrate the sincerity of appeasing the Castle’s preferences.’

At that, the servant seated beside him bowed his head.

“As you wish.”
“Ah, but one thing.”

He gestured with his eyes toward the gift and photograph held in his servant’s arms.

“Those should be burned.”
“It shall be done.”

Like a doll’s eyeball rolling across a surface, inorganic pupils absorbed the interior of the car. Those eyes, which could never be mistaken for human, divined and carved out the future.

“Have all the disciples I selected gathered?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Refine their forms gracefully, and tell them to wait.”
“I shall do so.”
“Perhaps I may yet have the opportunity to appreciate your culinary arts.”
“It would be an honor.”
“Then shall we venture to the Golden Cave….”

The man’s form—the Tasteless Guest’s form—wavered like heat shimmer.

Pallid skin devoid of all color. Ashen, coarse hair that spilled out haphazardly despite being bound tightly. Ears that rose to slight points, and between smiling lips, a glimpse of cool fangs. And eyes the color of deep red wine, as though they held the essence of aged blood.

Returned to his true form, he lifted his hands and examined them with his gaze.

“….”
“….”

The disciple in training kept their mouth firmly shut, not daring to look upon him.

“…Unknown Elder Woman….”

The predator’s form dissolved like watercolor upon the water’s surface, and as he combed his hair back neatly with his hand, he assumed the appearance of a composed East Asian man.

It was perfect camouflage, tailored to suit the preferences of one who favored orderliness.

“…This much should suffice….”

Perhaps I could even establish a restaurant of some sort in that place.

‘I do hope The Friend’s proposal remains valid.’

Something along those lines, perhaps.

“…Haha!”

At such a shameless thought, laughter escaped me.

How fed up would they be?

* * *

Meanwhile, Lee Yeon-woo had come to find the two guests’ room.

‘…Did I really forget?’

My thoughts came to an abrupt halt as I stared at my bleeding ankle.

‘No, this isn’t just a matter of forgetting.’

I mechanically cross-referenced the trail of blood on the floor with my current condition.

It was undeniable that the Wet Person had torn into my ankle at the Aqua Park. I even remember stopping by the 17th Floor Lodging afterward to change into fresh clothes. But after that, when I got on the Elevator….

“….”

The entire ‘process’ of the dozens of minutes I’d walked to reach this guest room simply didn’t exist in my mind.

‘No matter how much pain is converted into sensory information, I walked here without even noticing the bleeding severe enough to stain the floor?’

No, more fundamentally.

‘I knew I had an injury this severe and just changed my clothes?’

A chunk of time torn away. A sickening sensation, as though someone had forcibly carved out a section of my brain, crawled down my spine. There was only one guest in this Hotel who edited memories in this manner.

‘I interfered. I interrupted someone’s secret meeting right in front of this room.’

For reasons unknown, the Lover of Dawn had begun formal lodging at the Hotel after the Tasteless Guest. And now she had finally begun pressing the doorbell to this guest room in accordance with the Hotel’s rules.

And if she was following the rules, I couldn’t easily exercise force as the General Manager.

As the Hotel General Manager.

“….”
“Um, Lee Yeon-woo?”
“…Yes….”

…So that explains why I didn’t heal my ankle either.

‘I already knew back then that the Lover of Dawn had begun hunting. My future self, who lost his memories through her machinations, must have been guided to notice that sense of discord.’

I pulled the corners of my mouth upward with feigned composure. There was no benefit in showing anxiety in front of Rawi, who knew nothing.

“Yes, I’m listening.”
“I was worried because you suddenly seemed dazed.”
“I suppose my mind was elsewhere.”

He continued speaking.

“I apologize for causing you concern.”
“You might not be feeling well.”
“I’ve recovered, so it’s fine. It was a thought unrelated to the injuries you saw, so please don’t worry too much.”
“But that doesn’t seem….”
“This is a place with many guests of poor temperament, isn’t it.”

With my mind in turmoil, I offered Seme light reassurance. The intent was to convey that nothing as visually dramatic as what he’d witnessed had actually occurred.

‘Thinking of my blood scattered throughout the Hotel, the Tasteless Guest comes to mind as well.’

If he had been here, it would have been a true catastrophe. The Tasteless Guest reacts sensitively to bloodshed within the Hotel. Especially if it were the blood of Belmarés.

But seeing how unusually quiet the Hotel remains, I’m reminded anew that he is not here.

“….”

Wait.

[Sixth Sense]
‘It seems the Tasteless Guest will visit soon.’

‘I’ve brought misfortune upon myself by thinking of him.’
“Lee Yeon-woo?”
“Ah….”

I looked at Seme.

Even though Lee Yeon-woo sat in a chair, his gaze aligned almost perfectly with Seme’s. Seme’s body was small enough to warrant such a comparison, despite claiming to be sixteen.

“…Please try your best not to get injured.”

The words came out naturally.

“I understand it’s not something that happens simply because one wishes it, but there are guests who visit this facility with a particular preference for human blood.”
“That’s very Dokkaebi of them.”
“The best approach would be to ensure blood never spills in the first place.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“From experience.”

To lend credibility to his statement, Lee Yeon-woo readily affirmed it. The Tasteless Guest aside, hadn’t other guests experienced such things through the Game anyway?

‘Though strictly speaking, it would still be a lie.’

This wasn’t the time to preserve my own morality. I needed to instill caution by any means necessary.

‘If the Tasteless Guest arrives, the situation will truly become untenable.’

The place was already bursting at the seams. And now there’s a child here too.

“I’m telling you this because I’ve experienced it all myself. I know this sounds like unwelcome meddling, but I hope you won’t have to endure what I did.”

I had played through it as a game and enjoyed it, and afterward, I remained half a game character, so there were no problems. But these young ones—this was their actual reality.

“I wish I could have explained it more coherently.”
“No, no. It’s already sufficient.”

Seme, who had been hesitating, added more.

“You’re already helping us plenty.”

Seme’s expression as he said this was far from good.

‘And once again, the distance between us has narrowed.’

For a moment, the thought crossed my mind: perhaps they felt more affection the more I was injured. Before that assumption could lead anywhere, Rawi, who had been watching Lee Yeon-woo intently the whole time, finally spoke.

“Are those wounds inflicted by the Wet Person? Given that you warned us about water the moment we arrived, it seems they’re the culprit. The flesh was torn as if a bear had mauled it.”
“I forgot to mention that part. When the Wet Person is in water, they take on a form closer to a mermaid, and at that point, they use their entire body as a weapon. And….”

As Lee Yeon-woo spoke, he suddenly realized something.

“….”

…Perhaps it would be better to treat this place as a Game and explain it that way?

‘My brain isn’t functioning properly anyway, so this approach might actually be easier.’

Lee Yeon-woo decided to change how he perceived these two. He would treat them as new players encountering this insanely difficult Game for the first time. With that mindset, understanding became far easier than relying on vague emotions.

“…So….”

If it came to that.

“…Please ask me anything you’re curious about anytime.”
“Uh, I think that was already the case though.”
“I meant for you to treat me not as someone difficult to approach, but rather as a strategy guide.”

I’d never played any Game other than Ho-won, but I’d heard things here and there. Apparently, when so-called ‘newbies’ enter a Game with insane difficulty, experienced ‘veterans’ should treat them like precious porcelain.

Otherwise, they’d quit the Game, or so they said.

‘Now that reality has become a Game, quitting is no different from death.’

That had to be prevented.

“My situation differs from yours. I recover quickly even when injured, and I possess considerable information about this place. I’ve even become familiar with certain guests.”
“….”
“If you could have left the Hunting Ground as you were, that would be one thing, but now… I’d recommend you do your absolute best.”

Moreover, Lee Yeon-woo was a user who could even employ cheats, albeit in limited ways.

“To continue the explanation, the Wet Person is an entity subordinate to this Hotel. Though I say subordinate, their range of activity is quite extensive. In human form, they wield a blade; in mermaid form….”

Lee Yeon-woo glanced down at my now-intact ankle.

“I use my entire body.”
“Is that why your ankle is so badly sprained?”
“If I’ve caused you any alarm, I apologize, but it wasn’t such a serious injury.”
“For something so minor, you seemed to be in quite a panic when you first came in.”
“Well, panic, you say.”

Suppressing the rage of wanting to shave off every strand of hair and turn myself bald would certainly qualify as panic, if anything. Why did that bastard never bother to hide that filthy nature of his? It was incomprehensible.

“I’m not sure what to tell you, but first of all, I’m not as rational a person as all that.”
“You seem quite rational to me.”
“It’s probably not as much as you think.”

I was emotional enough that the back of my head ached from the troublesome entanglement with that cursed nemesis.

Seme interjected among them.

“Forgive me, but didn’t you say that Dokkaebi called ‘The Wet Person’ only takes the form of a mermaid when submerged in water?”
“Yes, that’s what I understand.”
“Then why would Lee Yeon-woo….”
“….”

Ah, this seems rather suspicious.

‘What business would I have going into the water.’

It sounded as though Lee Yeon-woo had gone to find The Wet Person directly.

‘That’s exactly what happened.’

I went to bring food—didn’t want to become a heartless boss who wouldn’t even provide staff meals.

But at this rate, I could end up being implicated as an accomplice. Given the behavior I’ve shown so far and the injury just now, even if it doesn’t go that far, surely they’d sense some connection.

‘This isn’t the right moment to appear as someone who has an intersection with that bastard.’

Just as I was deliberating what lie to tell, Seme asked.

“You mentioned earlier to be careful even with the bathroom and sink, didn’t you?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Is it because The Wet Person can infiltrate those places as well?”
“You understand well.”
“….”
“….”

…Lee Yeon-woo suddenly realized what they were thinking.

‘That’s not it.’

That wasn’t it at all.

For a brief moment, thinking of my friendship with The Wet Person, I wondered if I should just confess right now—’I was the one who came to your bathroom’—but I closed my mouth instead. If I denied it, there was no other way to explain.

‘Let’s just say you’re a pervert who invaded my bathroom.’

I should have controlled my temper better. This is what karma looks like.

* * *

‘The silence stretches on.’

A face neat and well-crafted, yet so pallid it seemed almost fragile.

‘This must be an affirmation, probably.’

Seme’s gaze dropped to Lee Yeon-woo’s pant leg.

“….”

I recall the blood that vanished with a single gesture of his hand.

Even a single drop of blood seeping into the dress pants—he had wiped it away. The mangled bones and flesh, the clothes, all traces had now disappeared.

‘…In the Gap….’

It’s a sight one sees often. Blood, bones, flesh.

‘But they all wanted to live.’

Desperately, they clung to life. If they had lived, they would have craved more. Many died, and many witnessed fates worse than death—yet none of it was by choice.

Unless one was blinded by a living god or strangled by the past, no one could coexist with death in such orderly fashion. Not in their right mind.

‘It couldn’t be.’

Are you truly mad as well?

“You mentioned staying in Room 4, correct?”
“Yes, Seme.”
“However, I could not find Room 4 anywhere in this Hotel.”
“I’ll show you the way.”
“It doesn’t seem to be a room one finds easily.”
“If you know the path, you can find it easily.”
“Easily, you say?”
“Everything in this Hotel is like that.”
“I see.”

A guest bound by the rules.

“I understand….”

…Isn’t it you who should be fleeing, not us?

That thought crossed my mind.

* * *

I wanted to see you.

Seme, what about you?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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