Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 122

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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 122.

My foolish sibling chose to live as though dead.

―It’s alright, Seme.
“….”
―You can use me.

That thing, which was perhaps nothing but an empty shell, reassured me in such a way.

Back then, when I didn’t even know my sibling was dead. My sibling’s words pulled me forward, alive.

In that damned suffocating darkness, through a mist that choked the breath from my lungs. In the Fox Den, saturated with the scent of that Forest. With a hand warm with life, they grasped me and pressed forward….

―Right now, there’s no one who knows this place better than I do.

All of you humans are the same.

“…but, that’s….”

Is that enough for you?

“That’s, somewhat….”
“Are you anxious?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Don’t worry.”

I looked at Lee Yeon-woo’s face.

“I will help you.”
―I’ll protect you.

Don’t make me laugh.

“….”

I had already wept for days on end.

Don’t live like that.
Do you have any idea how pathetic those who survive that way become?
You’re all truly selfish as dogs.

Words I didn’t mean, or perhaps words that still lingered deep within me—I spoke them anyway. Yet I remained curious. But I didn’t want to understand. So I questioned myself alone.

Why, in the end, do good people die young?

“…Yes.”
“There shouldn’t be any problems.”
“Of course not.”

Only me.

Again, only you all.

“There won’t be any problems.”

…My grip tightened on the hilt of the blade.

* * *

“Rawi.”

At the sound of his name, Rawi scratched his neck.

“So what’s the problem?”
“You understood without a single word being spoken. Impressive.”
“Reading the room is the one thing I’m good at.”

As the conversation drew to a close, Lee Yeon-woo called Rawi aside separately, suggesting that if he had the stamina, he might stop by the Dining Area to receive some refreshments.

Of course, the true purpose was hardly about refreshments.

“In this situation, I feel like I’d be sick no matter what I ate, and there’s no way Lee Yeon-woo wouldn’t know that.”
“Excellent—a talent with many uses. Continue to employ it well.”

Today, the praise had been unusually generous. Not only had I explained the Hotel General Manager in greater detail than usual, but it was suspicious enough to wonder if Lee Yeon-woo himself didn’t suffer from personality disorders.

“Anyway… what brings you here?”
“You’ll need to pay closer attention to Seme.”
“….”

Rawi glanced at the closed door, then turned his gaze back to Lee Yeon-woo.

“…I did notice something seemed off. Is your senior’s condition that serious?”

Rawi had his own concerns about this.

“He’s lucid more often than not, but honestly, I’m not sure if this is right. I only grasped the situation yesterday evening, but even before that, he’d suddenly space out like this.”
“I believe that’s also the influence of Lover of Dawn.”

Lee Yeon-woo walked ahead as I continued the explanation.

“The secret meetings with her are addictive. No matter how much memory is lost, every dawn the target’s judgment becomes clouded, allowing them to consent to the meetings—I believe that influence plays a role.”
“Hmm.”
“But the ‘secret meetings at dawn’ have never succeeded until now. If they did, all memories except those of meeting Lover of Dawn would remain intact, but Seme’s current state is….”
“The result of that?”
“Precisely.”

He walked with measured steps as he spoke.

“Lover of Dawn makes people recall the memories of those they once loved.”
“….”

Rawi paused, wanting to ask something.

‘…Is he speaking from his own experience again?’

Seme had Lee Yeon-woo to protect him, but given the current state of the Hotel, when Lee Yeon-woo first began experiencing this place, no one had been able to help him.

Whether there was someone else or not.

“…So the memories of meeting Lover of Dawn disappeared, and the ‘memories of those he once loved’ that the Dokkaebi made him recall remained intact, leaving him in this state?”
“His mind must be in chaos. Logically, his brain has no reason to recall this memory so vividly, yet he keeps recalling ‘that memory’ constantly and without warning.”

Lee Yeon-woo continued speaking as I pressed the Elevator button.

“Most importantly, that memory will be extraordinarily… vivid.”
“….”
“As if the subject and setting from that memory exist right before your eyes.”
“…I see.”

I recalled Seme from last night—sitting on the Sofa before the rain-streaked window, eyes vacant and glazed as if staring at the word “Uninhabited Island” held in his mouth.

“It’s enough to drive someone out of their mind.”
“There’s a high probability of impulsive behavior.”
“Impulsive behavior?”

As I stepped into the Elevator, I asked the follow-up question.

“What does that feel like?”
“….”

Seeing me like that, Lee Yeon-woo let out a soft laugh.

“You’ve never been in love, have you, Rawi?”
“Huh….”

I was somewhat taken aback.

‘I’ve never seen him smile like that before.’

It felt like filling in a new slot in the Game character encyclopedia.

It was entirely different from the faint smile he wore sparingly. The way his eyes curved deeply was so elongated and vivid—like the way people describe a fox’s smile.

“….”

He seemed like a different person entirely.

“My apologies for the jest. But don’t take it to heart—if someone your age had experienced genuine love, that would be the real surprise.”
“Isn’t that still teasing?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Good grief.”

This human had an unexpectedly playful side. Rawi let out a hollow laugh, as if exasperated.

“From what I see of your usual behavior, Lee Yeon-woo, you seem like a workaholic who’s never experienced a passionate romance.”
“You hit the bone dead center just now.”

Lee Yeon-woo admitted it readily.

“But love isn’t limited to romance alone, is it?”
“The way you speak, it seems Lee Yeon-woo has experienced a deep love at least once.”
“Family, perhaps.”
“Family?”

An unexpected answer from someone with such a cold expression. Rawi continued with a bright smile.

“You must be close then—I’m jealous, honestly. Before I came to the Gap, I had a huge blowout with my parents and ran away.”
“You ran away from home.”
“I did, but when Lee Yeon-woo says it like that, it makes me feel pathetic.”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
“Everyone feels that way when they’re around someone accomplished.”

Rawi scratched his chin with the muzzle of his gun, then asked carefully.

“…You haven’t forgotten about that, have you?”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“Your family.”
“I have no certainty about it.”

Lee Yeon-woo gave a light shrug.

“What remains might be all that was left after being stolen away without my knowing.”
“That sounds plausible enough.”
“I was joking. I do remember those people.”
“Hmm….”

Yet for all that, he’d referred to them as ‘those people.’

‘Not exactly an affectionate way to speak, is it? And he called them family.’

There was a distance in those words.

Rawi suspected that “what remains after being robbed unknowingly amounts to this much” was the accurate assessment. Regardless of how many years Lee Yeon-woo had been trapped in the Facility.

“Anyway.”

Returning to the original topic,

“What does it matter? Does understanding love change anything?”
“I’ll turn the question around—what do you think love is?”
“Well, that’s….”

Rawi answered with rolling eyes.

“Impulse?”
“That’s not entirely wrong.”

Lee Yeon-woo accepted a paper packet that reeked of savory fried oil from the Staff Member and gave it a gentle shake.

“Would you like some?”
“What is it?”
“Fish and chips.”

As Lee Yeon-woo handed over a piece of fried fish, Rawi’s expression turned incredulous.

“Are we allowed to eat like this?”
“It’s the errand boy’s privilege.”

Rawi took a bite of the steaming fried fish and blinked.

“Everything tastes good here.”

Lee Yeon-woo offered no reply, instead exhaling a small breath like a scoff and shrugging his shoulders. His expression suggested agreement. Rawi brushed the fried crumbs from his hands and asked.

“So? What was the reason the lesson on love was conducted?”
“People who have tasted intense love sometimes feel an addictive quality to it.”
“Are you talking about dopamine?”
“Clinging only to that isn’t healthy love.”
“Doesn’t love inherently come with some degree of addiction?”
“Not everyone experiences it that way.”
“Then?”
“Lover of Dawn is that kind of person.”

Lee Yeon-woo tossed the entire paper packet of remaining snacks over to Rawi.

“So whenever you have the chance, just make sure Seme doesn’t hurt himself.”
“Am I the only one eating this?”
“You should share it with your roommate.”
“That’s not what I meant—”

Rawi opened his mouth awkwardly while holding the paper packet.

“….”
“Speak.”

At the dry prompt, Rawi asked uncomfortably.

“You’re not giving me this and then assigning me to monitor my senior, are you?”
“I thought appropriate late-night snack compensation paired with proper work instructions constituted excellent personnel management, but it seems that approach doesn’t work with people these days.”

Lee Yeon-woo responded with considerable audacity.

“Is that also old-fashioned?”
“Would I say otherwise?”
“Unfortunately.”

Lee Yeon-woo rolled his eyes before promptly admitting it.

“Yes, I’m assigning you to monitor him. Do you have a problem with that?”
“You don’t even look the type, but you really say whatever you want. You work outsourced mercenaries at night without even paying overtime.”
“I’ll count the snacks I provided as included in your comprehensive wage overtime compensation. Even if you report this to the Labor Bureau, they won’t be able to send an inspector here, so give up.”
“Are you really going to do this?”
“I’m joking.”

What on earth had been so amusing? His eyes curved with delight.

“I don’t lack conscience enough to exploit someone over mere snacks.”

Lee Yeon-woo added with a smile that savored the reaction.

“If there’s nothing more to say, shall we part ways?”
“Wait, hold on a moment.”

Rawi caught Lee Yeon-woo’s arm.

“What are you doing right now? Where are you going?”
“I have someone I need to see.”

He brushed Rawi’s hand away with quiet composure and continued.

“Since you’ll have difficulty managing alone, I’ll visit you this evening.”
“Ah….”
“Rest for now.”
“No, I—”

Lee Yeon-woo turned away without hesitation.

….

His footsteps were barely audible.

“…He really only says what he wants to say….”

* * *

….

After hearing the story, Seme spoke thus.

“…Isn’t he the Hotel General Manager?”
“Pardon? All of a sudden?”
“The timing fits, doesn’t it?”

Seme continued speaking while stirring the still-warm and crispy fried food.

“From the start, what we asked in the Dining Area wasn’t what kind of being the Hotel General Manager is.”

It was something else.

“We asked what it meant that the Hotel General Manager cherishes Lee Yeon-woo.”
“Ah.”
“I keep noticing it, but you’re quite skilled at deflecting conversation.”
“So now….”
“When Lee Yeon-woo explained the Hotel General Manager, didn’t you feel something odd?”
“…What….”

Crunch.
The fried food crumbled in my mouth.

“Well, about the Hotel General Manager that Lee Yeon-woo described.”
“Yes.”
“He was certainly cold-blooded, wasn’t he? Few emotions, excessively rational, described as the very embodiment of Hotel Management service. I’d say he seemed closer to a machine or system than a living being.”
“Well, yes, I suppose so.”
“But then, who gives the orders?”
“…?”

Seme spoke again, addressing my furrowed expression.

“Lee Yeon-woo said it himself—he ‘absolutely internalizes directives deemed rational.'”

A being whose identity is defined solely by role and duty. Certainly, there may be aspects of coercion and violence, or perhaps excessive indifference bordering on cold-bloodedness.

Such a ‘tool’ cannot think for itself.

“Of course, I don’t think he’s literally at the level of a sword or gun. Since you said he isn’t without emotion, there must be a distinct self in there somewhere.”
“…But that means….”
“Someone needs to exist beside the Hotel General Manager to determine the direction of Hotel Management. Haven’t you found it strange? For a place where Dokkaebi dwell, this Hotel is excessively human-friendly, isn’t it?”

Seme tilted his head.

“Would there be any need for that, really?”

This Hotel could have been far more sinister. Perhaps it should have been.

“Under the guise of rules and etiquette, someone is deliberately inputting ‘inclinations’ into the Hotel General Manager—restricting the Dokkaebi’s behavior and preventing The Human Guest from being crushed beneath The Monster Guest’s overwhelming presence.”
“Is such a thing even possible?”
“How would I know?”

Seme spoke while peering into the paper packet still warm to the touch.

“What exactly is Lee Yeon-woo doing, and how does he convince the system that it’s a ‘rationally justified directive’?”

There was no way to know.

“…”
“…”

Perhaps.

* * *

Why was this Hotel being operated? How?

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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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