Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 117

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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 117.

“…Uh, well.”

Rawi, who had opened the door, continued hesitantly.

“What is this… how did this happen….”
“Seme got tangled up with the Problematic Guest, you see.”
“No, wait—the real problem seems to have been with Lee Yeon-woo.”

Rawi was shocked for the first time in a long while.

“Damn it, what is this… where do I even start….”
“Would you take him first? As you can see, I’m in quite a state.”
“This is insane, give him here. Damn it, I’m really losing it.”

He took Seme from Lee Yeon-woo. The man’s eyes were open and he was walking on his own two feet, yet there was no response. Either he was lost in thought or completely unconscious.

“What in the world is going on? Why is he like this? And why are you in that state?”
“Just lay Seme down on the Living Room sofa first. He’ll find his place on his own.”
“The Living Room sofa? No, never mind that—get inside quickly. You’re bleeding all over the place out here.”
“Rawi.”

Lee Yeon-woo called out to Rawi and came to an abrupt halt.

“May I come inside?”
“….”

Rawi understood the implication. If he carelessly let something ‘not human’ inside, the room would become an ‘open door.’ Lee Yeon-woo was teaching him not to let panic cloud his judgment.

Rawi’s gaping mouth suddenly hardened into a frown as he spoke.

“Damn it, if you keep bleeding outside, more strange creatures will be drawn here. Since we’re going to keep the door open anyway while we talk, just come inside.”
“A wise decision.”
“What….”

Rawi was about to say more when light suddenly flooded in from the Guest Rooms, and his words caught in his throat.

Beneath the blood-soaked shirt clinging to his body, the space where a heart should have been was grotesquely hollowed out, ribs exposed. One eye socket on his bare face was empty, the eye torn away. It was all too starkly visible.

“….”
“There’s nothing pleasant about seeing this.”
“Whoa—”

Lee Yeon-woo gently tousled Rawi’s hair with a withered hand where the bone joints were unusually prominent.

“It would be better if you didn’t come so close. You’ll get blood on you.”
“Is that something you should be saying after just ruffling my hair? More than that, your condition right now….”

Rawi looked back and forth between Lee Yeon-woo’s gaping chest cavity, his empty eye socket, and the hand that had just touched his head—astonished. Somehow, no blood had gotten on his hair.

“What about your wrists? Why is blood caked all over them? Why are only your hands clean?”
“I needed both hands immediately to bring Seme here.”
“So your hands were severed too? And you’ve regenerated them now? What about the rest?”
“It’s better to leave them consumed.”

Rawi was left speechless, unable to comprehend what he was hearing.

“I’ll take additional measures later.”
“What kind of measures?”
“I’ll need to do a blood transfusion.”

It was an ambiguous answer.

“In any case, be careful not to touch me. I’m not sure how my blood will affect you.”

At those words, Rawi, who had been hesitating, spoke.

“Assuming there’s a reason… then what about our senior?”
“He’s fine.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“The Problematic Guest was targeting Seme, so I simply humored him for a moment and came back. The urgent situation has been resolved, so don’t worry and just look after Seme.”
“You have no intention of listening to what I have to say, do you?”
“As you said, I did shed some blood in the process of resolving the problem, but I’ll be closing this door now. Before any other guests catch the scent and show up uninvited.”

With that said, Lee Yeon-woo closed the door and stepped into the guest room.

“I’ll be imposing on your hospitality.”
“…This is driving me crazy~….”

Rawi’s expression finally crumpled.

‘How can he try to act like an adult looking like that.’

Lee Yeon-woo, who desired to be ‘human’ more than anyone else, had just admitted that he was ‘not human’. That made Rawi quite displeased.

It was painfully obvious that the injuries were recent, and it was difficult to pretend not to notice.

‘Being an Artist isn’t all good.’

Having to constantly restrain the thought of ‘we seem like we could get along, should I mess around a bit’ was one thing. The Artist didn’t seem nearly as impressive as the Mages made it out to be.

Rawi sat Seme down on the sofa.

“There we go.”
“….”
“…He’s really out of it….”

Even so, watching Seme stare blankly out through the floor-to-ceiling window at the rain, Rawi muttered. Then Lee Yeon-woo, who had been quietly following behind them both, added his words.

“He’s in ‘recollection’.”
“Recollection…?”
“He’s likely recalling certain past events right now. The most important ones in composing who Seme is—specifically, events related to ‘love’.”
“Suddenly such a grand word comes out.”

At Rawi’s murmur, Lee Yeon-woo laughed softly—a rare occurrence. His gaze was like that of someone looking at a younger sibling or a child. It was a smile I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Are you embarrassed?”
“No, it’s not like that….”
“At your age, it’s a word you’d dislike for being cringeworthy.”
“How long have you been alive, anyway.”
“I can assure you, longer than you, Rawi.”
“….”

Of course, since he’s a Dokkaebi.

‘But he died around the same age as me, so what’s the difference?’

Rawi had already heard plenty of stories from Seme, a veteran of the Mercenary Corps. He’d only been a Dokkaebi for a few hundred years himself, so it wasn’t like he was ancient. Was that really such a big deal?

‘The way he talks, you’d think he was
some kind of
grandfather. Is this how all traditional Dokkaebi act?’

He treated me like a child without even considering what I looked like.

“So anyway.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you look like that, really.”

I couldn’t understand it.

“Before, didn’t you use some kind of recovery technique? There was a blood smell, but no actual wounds. Or maybe some item? A potion or something like that?”
“Such things do exist, but….”
“The Labyrinth is really something else, isn’t it.”
“It may be a unique characteristic of our Labyrinth. I don’t know how other Labyrinths operate. I’ve never left this one.”
“Wow, you really know how to make things sound depressing.”
“I wasn’t seeking sympathy.”

What was he thinking?

“…So….”

Lee Yeon-woo, drawing out his words, added:

“I felt I should say it myself—that right now, I have no will to leave this Facility.”
“Is there a reason?”
“I’m worried.”

Drip. Still bleeding, I spoke with my face.

“That you might ask me to leave together.”
“….”

Rawi bit down hard on his lip before speaking.

“…I won’t. We’re already struggling just to survive as it is. Someone like Lee Yeon-woo would find their own way out without our help anyway.”
“So you’re already hoping I’ll leave this place.”
“Damn it, you got me.”

Lee Yeon-woo was right. Rawi had already grown attached to him. Though it was too faint and shallow to call it true affection, I found myself wishing this person—so irritatingly virtuous and capable—would survive.

“So what is it then? What’s this really about? Why do you keep dancing around the point?”
“I shed some blood appeasing the Problematic Guest.”
“I don’t think I’m asking because I don’t know that, honestly.”
“It appears the Lover of Dawn found something quite compelling about Seme.”

Rawi muttered in response.

“If that’s her type, isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“So you did think of her as a child.”
“Please keep that confidential.”
“I suppose.”

He gestured toward Seme, who still sat on the sofa gazing out through the expansive window.

“This is the result that occurred while I was interrupting their secret meeting.”
“Wait, what—you’re being awfully vague, aren’t you?”

Lee Yeon-woo, ignoring Rawi’s complaint, continued.

“There’s a Monster Guest who parasitizes the happy memories of the Human Guest, seeking to preserve them. Perhaps because she loved that person in those memories so deeply, Seme ultimately opened a door for that guest.”
“Opened a door? When?”
“While you were sleeping, I’d imagine. Since she visits at dawn, it would have been difficult for someone as virtuous as you—going to bed early and living such an upright life—to notice.”
“Virtuous? That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that. Anyway, so that means….”

Rawi asked hollowly.

“Is this the catastrophe our tiny senior brought upon us?”
“They won’t remember it themselves.”
“Won’t remember?”
“That Guest devours memories. If you interrupt them mid-session, they only forget what happened that dawn.”
“I never interfered, so it must be something Lee Yeon-woo did.”
“Mostly, yes….”

Thud.
Lee Yeon-woo stumbled slightly before collapsing into the chair.

“….”
“Sigh….”

Rawi wiped his face and continued his questioning.

“…You really won’t tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“Why you ended up like this. I think this is the third time I’m asking, isn’t it?”
“They kept interfering, so this time they demanded a toll.”
“A toll?”

Rawi’s brow furrowed.

“What kind of toll leaves someone in this state?”
“Proof of love.”
“What the—”

Rawi’s expression hardened as the pieces fell into place. Seme’s vacant state every dawn for days. Lee Yeon-woo’s wretched condition. And those words just spoken: “kept interfering.”

“Our senior’s been vacant every dawn… you’ve been stopping them every night, haven’t you?”
“….”
“That’s why your senior remembers nothing. And today, that Dokkaebi finally snapped and tore out your eyes and heart under the guise of love or whatever nonsense?”

Lee Yeon-woo, offering neither confirmation nor denial, coughed up blood with a wet, gurgling sound.

“―Cough, hack!”
“Damn it—”

Rawi, startled mid-sentence, grabbed Lee Yeon-woo’s shoulders.

“You won’t let a person speak. This is some sophisticated scheme to silence me, isn’t it? No, it can’t be. Damn it, really. Wait, wait, hold on. What am I supposed to do in this situation? Do we have a potion? Is there a potion?”
“It’s fine….”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean!!”
“The bleeding is severe, that’s all. No need to make a fuss.”

Lee Yeon-woo pushed Rawi away and pressed his hand against his mouth.

“It’s uncomfortable, so would you maintain some distance?”
“Is that a provocation?”
“Rather, as I mentioned, I’m running low on blood.”
“…Uh….”
“….”

Above the palm covering his lower jaw, Lee Yeon-woo’s eyes curved into crescents.

“I might bite you.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly that posture.”

His expression, which had grown calm once more, was now composed. Lee Yeon-woo wiped away the remaining blood with the hand that had been covering his mouth. At his composure, Rawi grimaced but obediently stepped back.

‘No heart, yet spitting blood. Or rather, how is he even alive in the first place….’

Rawi vaguely recalled that Medical Field scholars sometimes mentioned similar procedures were possible. As he pondered this, he remembered knowledge of the Gap that Seme had once shared with him.

“…I’m asking just to be sure, but were you a Blood Mage, Lee Yeon-woo?”

Lee Yeon-woo, who had been staring at Rawi, answered.

“I was wondering when you’d bring that up.”
“Insane. So it’s actually true.”
“Rawi, you seem to have far less information than I anticipated.”
“You might as well just insult me directly.”

Saying his head was completely empty.

“That wasn’t my intention.”
“Sure it wasn’t.”
“Your ears don’t seem as sharp as your eyes.”
“Is that really the issue right now?”

A Blood Mage, of all things.

‘Back then, Uncle definitely said that Count Dracula or whoever also knew Blood Magic….’

He’d warned me especially to be careful, since there hadn’t been a single sane Blood Mage in the past thirty years. Rawi’s expression twisted oddly. Could a traditional Dokkaebi actually be a Blood Mage?

‘Because they were once human?’

With Rawi’s shallow knowledge of the Gap, finding an answer to this question was difficult. But still, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he opened his mouth.

“No, wait—your hands were definitely white?”
“White, you say. So that’s how your eyes perceive it.”
“You’ve never killed anyone with Blood Magic anyway.”

Rawi asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“And if you were that powerful, you should have fought back. Why are you just letting yourself be torn apart? Someone with your abilities—why didn’t you resist?”
“There was an exchange between us.”
“An exchange?”

Lee Yeon-woo replied curtly.

“Why do you think I told you not to touch the blood?”
“…That was….”

A Blood Mage’s blood is said to possess consciousness.

‘…If that person really is a Blood Mage, then that blood too….’

That’s what Uncle had said. That’s why it’s dangerous. That blood can rot where it touches, corrupt it, or even consume it entirely.

So he’d warned me—if I didn’t want to be devoured by a single drop of blood, I should be careful.

“I think I’m starting to understand something now.”

Rawi continued speaking.

“So the heart or eyeballs that the Dokkaebi consumed—they can still move according to Lee Yeon-woo’s will? Because the Blood Mage’s blood has a sense of self?”
“I should retract what I said about lacking information.”
“So you deliberately fed him your own flesh to dissect the opponent from within, is that it? If you do that, Lee Yeon-woo can easily, something…”
“It seemed easy, unfortunately.”
“Who said it seemed easy?!”

Though Rawi raised his voice, his complexion remained ashen. It was because Lee Yeon-woo had not denied his hypothesis. He simply pressed his temple with his thumb, offering neither confirmation nor denial.

“Starting from the belly is faster and more certain than circling from the outside. I cannot claim it is easy from a personal standpoint, but the efficiency relative to investment is quite favorable.”

An investment with good efficiency. At those words, Rawi felt his breath catch in his throat.

“One common trait among the monster guests who come to this Hotel is that each carries a profound deficiency.”
“You intend to exploit that? It hardly sounds like the conduct of a sane mind.”
“That is also unfortunate.”

That manner of speech was becoming unbearable.

“What exactly do you gain from going this far? Satisfaction? Self-gratification?”
“Of course it is self-gratification.”
“Seeing you go to such lengths just to save mercenaries like us, I have no idea what face you expect us to show as we breathe.”

It might have been better if he had at least complained. But Lee Yeon-woo was the type to speak little on such matters. This time too, he merely regarded Rawi with an impassive gaze.

“Rawi.”

His voice unwavering.

“Do not misunderstand.”
“Misunderstand what.”
“I sought to resolve a problem that arose in my territory through my own methods. I did not do this to place you all in my debt.”
“Does saying so make it not a debt?”
“Then what of this.”

His appearance was still ghastly, blood dripping steadily, yet not a trace of self-pity could be found in him.

“You called me senior from the very beginning.”
“That was, back then….”
“It is a senior’s duty to bear the danger first.”

Lee Yeon-woo, speaking those words, must have died around twenty years old at most. And now he could never age again for the rest of his existence. He had already been given a proper funeral rite.

“With this, Seme is safe without injury, and I have obtained leverage over that Guest. That is all.”
“What do you mean, that is all.”
“I meant you should not exhaust yourself with needless guilt or remorse.”
“But…!”

At that, Lee Yeon-woo asked.

“Do I seem strange to you.”

He looked exhausted.

“There is nothing more ordinary than one person helping another.”
“…Actually, that’s not quite true….”
“Is that so.”

Then he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Still, I regret it.”
“Ha.”

Rawi let out a hollow laugh.

This was already the second time today he was thinking it, and he understood well why he was trapped here.

* * *

“….”

Lee Yeon-woo, stepping out after opening the door, let out a long sigh.

“Sigh, really….”

The Hotel was truly exhausting.

“I was just trying to rest.”
“Do you not require assistance, The Friend?”
“Your very existence causes me harm.”
“It seems anemia makes you more honest.”
“Do you dislike it?”
“I find it quite agreeable.”
“I must be losing my mind.”
“I enjoy our conversations, even like this.”
“I have few pleasant memories of such exchanges.”

Lee Yeon-woo wiped his blood-dampened face and asked.

“Your appearance has changed. What should I call you?”
“A change in appearance does not alter one’s essence.”

The tall Oriental man with black hair and a pallid complexion bent slightly at the waist as he smiled.

“Please call me the Tasteless Guest.”

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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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