Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 146

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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 146.

▶ [Spatial Shift 2: Power Generation Room of Flesh and Machine]

“Flesh and machine…?”
“What’s this supposed to be?”
“It seems this is the Power Generation Room.”

After walking for some time, White Owl descended before a weathered Iron Door. It was the first door of a new pattern I’d discovered in this dreary Corridor.

“So machines are coming out this time, huh~”
“Ah, this feels ominous.”
“Isn’t everywhere here ominous?”
“It’s the feeling that’s unpleasant about this place.”

Kwon Do-hyun sensed something inexplicable emanating from beyond the door.

‘What is this feeling?’

Irritation, revulsion, anger—and beneath it all, a strange anxiety. As if I should scream at any moment. Yet defining it in a single word proved impossible.

“Why, does it look dangerous? So White Owl really did deceive us after all… ow, ow.”
“Kook-kook-kook-kook-kook-kook-kook.”
“What kind of owl makes such varied cries anyway?”

The wrongly accused White Owl relentlessly pecked at Kwon Seung-jae’s crown. Startled, Kwon Do-hyun carefully caught the fluttering bird and drew her into his arms.

“Jiji, don’t peck at things like that.”
“Hoo.”

At the sound—as if sighing and resigned to endurance—Kwon Seung-jae blinked.

“Is that even a person? Peel off the skin and take a look.”
“You’re a lunatic animal abuser.”
“Huff— huff—.”
“Now you’re both ganging up on me. I’m getting so sad I’m about to cry.”

Kwon Seung-jae shrugged and pointed at the door.

“So go in or don’t. If you really don’t want to, we can find another way.”
“Are you seriously asking me this right now? I’m not even confident about it.”
“Your eyesight’s better than you think~ Your Uncle believes in you~”
“No, I don’t believe in myself.”
“Does that matter?”
“Wow….”

Kwon Do-hyun alternated his gaze between the Iron Door and Kwon Seung-jae, then nodded.

“…Let’s go in.”

It was simply unpleasant, that was all.

* * *

▶ [Spatial Transition 2: Power Generation Room of Flesh and Machine]
▶ As the weathered Iron Door swung open, damp concrete and a rusted metal grating floor came into view.

“….”

▶ Where ornate crimson wallpaper had peeled away like flayed skin, damp concrete and massive metal masses lay exposed like viscera.

“This feels kind of….”
“The air’s pretty stale.”

▶ Acrid dust and thick metallic blood-scent, rusted metal and the smell of aged oil.

“Is it really okay to describe it as just ‘stale’?”

▶ An underground power generation chamber like the belly of some colossal beast—ancient metal pipes and dozens of massive gears meshing together, grinding with deafening roars.

“No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem to be at that level, does it?”
“Yeah, yeah, it seems like we’re getting slightly contaminated.”
“You’ve been saying contamination this whole time—what exactly does that mean?”
“It’s just what it sounds like. Going insane, physical deformation, that sort of thing….”
“Fuck—are you saying that’s happening to us right now?”
“Now I understand why my nephew hesitated in front of that door earlier.”

Kwon Seung-jae scratched his temple with the barrel of his gun.

“It’s been a while since I’ve felt this urge to just smash everything to pieces~….”

At those words, Kwon Do-hyun felt a sense of déjà vu and asked.

“Like, you’re just irritated and disgusted, right? A little nauseated?”
“I’d call it revulsion.”
“Right, yeah, revulsion. That’s what it was.”

Kwon Do-hyun realized something.

“It feels like I need to trample something, like my mind is getting frantic—this isn’t normal, is it?”
“If The Artist is at this level, the contamination is quite concentrated.”

Kwon Seung-jae looked at the White Owl perched on his nephew’s head.

“But why does that one seem perfectly fine? It’s getting more suspicious~”
“Probably less suspicious than Uncle.”
“Why are you like this to your uncle who risked his life to come find you, seriously.”
“Oh, no, it just came out reflexively….”

Now that he thought about it, that was a fair point, so Kwon Do-hyun rolled his eyes.

“Why… why are you even bothering the White Owl like that.”
“Since when were you an animal lover?”
“Well, I guess….”

There was something oddly endearing about the creature, and I didn’t want to see it being insulted.

“So if we just stay here, we’re going to die, right?”
“Wouldn’t it be worse than death~? Ever since we got here, I’ve had this strange urge to jump down.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ve been speaking informally this whole time—was that intentional?”
“No, it wasn’t like that.”

It just slipped out naturally.

“What exactly do you mean by wanting to jump?”
“Literally suicide? From your reaction, Nephew, you’re not feeling that way?”
“Just… irritated and suffocated, I guess.”
“I can’t even tell who I’m angry at, so my head’s spinning.”

Kwon Seung-jae looked around the space.

“How did they cram something like this into a hotel?”

▶ [Selective Observation: Massive Steam Engine and Pipes]
▶ Countless gears spin relentlessly, driving steam through colossal pipes.
▶ Beneath the terrible metallic screech, the ragged breathing of some creature mingles with the sound.
▶ It feels as though someone is forcing the heart of this abnormally vast space to beat by carving away their own blood and flesh.

“…”
“Don’t you see anything?”
“Well, there’s a lot, but… there’s no way out right now.”
“Why is White Owl just standing there?”
“Hey, stop picking on White Owl!”

▶ [Selective Observation: Rust-Corroded Valve]
▶ A valve so deeply rusted it cannot be turned.
▶ The moment your hand approaches, a searing heat rises as if to burn you, and a faint cry of agony seems to echo through the pipes—a phantom sensation.

“I didn’t even touch it, so what—”
“Screech.”
“Don’t touch it?”
“Screech.”
“Ah, that was a warning.”

It seemed to mean: if you touch it, this is what happens—so don’t.

“I can’t tell if that’s considerate or inconsiderate.”
“Hoot.”
“Oh, it’s flying again.”
“Was the ceiling too low before, so it couldn’t fly~?”
“You’re not being sarcastic, are you?”
“No, of course not~….”

Kwon Do-hyun furrowed his brow at the oppressive presence emanating from the mechanical apparatus and quickened his pace. Fleeing the terrible roar and heat, the two of them followed White Owl through the thick shielding door deeper into the Power Generation Room.

‘If it were just the two of us, we’d never find our way out of here.’

As they navigated through a labyrinthine space that was bewildering in an entirely different way than before, the vista beyond the next door transformed.

▶ [Space Transition 3: Central Control Room of Command]

“Huh.”
“Seriously, how many spaces are there?”
“The Baek Hotel was always like this.”

▶ A cool, mechanically sterile space suffused with an eerie blue luminescence.
▶ The floor and walls are encased in cold silver paneling. Hundreds of thick cables, tangled like intestines, writhe across the floor like tentacles and stretch toward the walls in chaotic profusion.
▶ An alien architecture that ominously merges a ruined research laboratory with a control room.

“There’s something unsettling about this….”

Kwon Do-hyun held his breath, gripping his pistol as he examined the walls.

▶ [Selective Observation: Crackling Monitors]
▶ Dozens of antiquated cathode ray tube monitors densely covering the wall.

“Cathode ray tubes?”
“They’re outdated technology for research facilities~”
“Does Uncle think this place looks like a research laboratory?”
“I have my suspicions.”
“About what exactly….”

Most of the screens are filled with crackling static, but as he drew closer, the images distorted grotesquely, revealing empty hotel corridors or blood-soaked spaces of unknown origin.

It was as if something beyond the monitors was peering back at them.

‘This is unpleasant in a different way than before.’

When I lifted my head to look at the ceiling, an even more disturbing sight unfolded.

▶ [Selective Observation: Surveillance cameras blinking red]
▶ Countless surveillance cameras densely installed throughout every corner of the ceiling, leaving no blind spots.

“Those are… operating right now, aren’t they?”
“I’m not sure if they’re actually functioning or just decoration?”
“The power’s on though.”

Red light flickers from the lenses. With mechanical whirring sounds—zing, zing—the lenses all move in unison, tracking their every movement.

There’s an unmistakable certainty that someone at the center of this massive system is watching and controlling everything.

“….”

It was at that moment when Kwon Do-hyun’s face went pale under the overwhelming presence that transcended perception.

“Hey, that one.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Isn’t that the Police Officer?”
“Police Officer… police? Police?”
“Yeah, a bird is flying over there right now.”

White Owl was flying toward the darkest corner of the damaged Central Control Room, where only the blue glow of monitor screens illuminated the shadows.

“What, what is it. When did it fly off.”
“It flew off while you were spacing out, you idiot. Get your head in the game. That’s not something you should be staring at so intently.”
“Damn it, are you telling me to look or not to look…?”

But soon enough, a man entered Kwon Do-hyun’s field of vision as well.

▶ Amid tangled wires and blinking panel lights, a man in a fluorescent vest and traffic police uniform stands upright.
▶ You have discovered ‘The Hanging Man’ Hyun Si-gyeong!

“The Hanging Man?”
“Yeah, you know about that too?”
“What is this…?”
“Ah, explanations later.”

Kwon Seung-jae approached the figure standing vacantly, staring upward.

“Hey there, our friend the Police Officer! What are you doing here~ You’re scaring me half to death.”

He patted the man’s shoulder cheerfully, but—

“…His eyes have no focus. Is he actually okay?”
“What the hell? Why is he like this?”
“He’s not responding at all, which is a bit…”

Kwon Do-hyun approached cautiously, keeping his gun lowered.

▶ A [Silver Whistle] is clenched firmly between the man’s teeth.
▶ Wheee-… peep… wheeee-…
▶ Every time the man breathes, the whistle in his mouth emits mechanical metallic sounds. It’s as though his natural respiration is forced through it, producing an artificial noise.

Grotesque was the only word for it.

“Didn’t Uncle say something about contamination earlier? Isn’t this what he meant? If someone’s completely shattered like this and shows no response, doesn’t that mean his mind is just… gone?”
“That’s not it.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because he’s always been like this.”

At those words, Kwon Do-hyun studied Hyun Si-gyeong’s rigid face with a suspicious expression.

▶ A face as expressionless as a machine, eyebrows and eyes devoid of emotion descending with an eerie quality.
▶ I examined the man’s pupils closely. One eye with heterochromia was wide open, yet the pupil remained unfocused, staring into the void.
▶ These were not the eyes of someone broken by terror or driven to madness.

In that moment, Kwon Do-hyun caught his breath.

▶ He was not looking at this cramped room at all.

A space that had seemed infinitely vast to me was infinitely narrow within his field of vision.

His consciousness remains fixed upon the cosmic architecture of this vast structure—an immense causal chain beyond the grasp of human cognition, performing infinite calculations across an incomprehensibly complex framework.

His mind converts this overwhelming structure into numerical values, his brain burning through calculations of dizzying complexity.

“….”
“That’s far enough.”
“Hah.”

Kwon Seung-jae calmly covered his nephew’s eyes, then brushed his chin thoughtfully.

“I had no idea you could even share the visual perception of an Arcana member. You haven’t seen everything, but the last time I checked, it wasn’t nearly this extensive, was it?”
“That’s a year later, which I don’t even remember?”
“From your perspective, it probably sounded like a future scenario. Either way, back then you couldn’t perceive this much. I wonder if you’re getting some assistance from this facility’s system?”
“It… seems… like it….”

An incomprehensible macroscopic perspective. The moment Kwon Do-hyun’s consciousness brushed against that strange and boundless vision, nausea surged upward.

“My head feels like it’s about to split open.”
“Is it contamination? Or from peeking?”
“The latter, I think.”

Above his throbbing head, White Owl descended from the surveillance camera with a soft flutter. Whether it was mere imagination or not, the sensation felt as refreshing as an ice pack being placed there.

“So much information flooding in at once that your mind’s buffering like an overloaded computer.”
“This is why detection-type artists are so valuable—they catch on fast.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it’s a miracle my brain didn’t explode.”
“That’s because she can do this as naturally as breathing. It’s not something just anyone can manage.”

In other words, her consciousness was so absorbed in observing this entire space that her awareness of reality had temporarily logged out. Kwon Seung-jae shrugged.

“So she’s not insane, but communication is impossible right now. I wanted to hear what you learned while moving separately, but that’s unfortunate.”
“Regardless of the reason, this person can’t do anything in her current state. It’s past midnight, and the Hotel General Manager warned us about the ‘dangerous guest’ appearing anytime. We can’t stay here….”
“Right, right. We’ve already secured our barley sack, so let’s bolt—to the lobby or anywhere else.”

The moment the two of them were about to turn and leave with Hyun Si-gyeong in tow—

“Run.”
“…What?”

White Owl whispered in a hushed, measured tone, then ruffled its feathers sharply and let out a piercing cry. An alien scent seeped into the Central Control Room, which had reeked only of burnt machinery from overheated equipment.

Enchanting, yet ominous, and faintly metallic.

“…The scent of poppies….”

A dangerous Guest was approaching.

* * *

At that same moment, the Hotel General Manager stroked his chin.

“Should I step in?”
“No?”
“Then let’s observe.”

Appearing too often only depletes one’s mystique.

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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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