Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 4

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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 4.

The activities available to a user during the tutorial are severely limited.

Receiving low-difficulty guests, identifying horror elements within the Hotel, and exercising caution—that is the extent of it. Even the accessible areas are confined to the Lobby, Manager’s Quarters, Power Generation Facility, and Guest Room Floor.

“With nightmares accumulating to this degree yet remaining unavailable for immediate use, I find myself in quite an inconvenient position as a user. Once the tutorial concludes and nightmares are forcibly converted into levels, the currency in my pocket will be utterly worthless.”
“Yes.”
“Unpaid labor has already exceeded one hundred days….”

This is madness.

“….”
“….”
“…I must decline once more.”

Lee Yeon-woo spoke dryly, deliberately avoiding those round eyes that exerted silent pressure.

“I have no intention of accepting human guests. If I were to apply my operational methods from the game directly to reality, I would face not only social condemnation but also my face—adorned with silver bracelets—splashed across the nine o’clock news.”

He was currently in the Power Generation Facility.

“Quite the spectacle.”
“Yes.”
“I cannot discern which era of industry this belongs to, but the safety standards would certainly warrant a failing grade.”
“No.”
“…?”

Corroded pipes and massive machinery. Between them, mechanical humanoids—’workers’—labored with organic, grotesque movements.

“What do you mean, no?”

The expansive glass window of the Control Room framed the inefficient yet overwhelming spectacle in its entirety.

“In the game, only the extent of nightmares was displayed, but this is far more complex. It seems reality works differently. Perhaps that’s only natural.”
“Yes.”
“It appears we’ve exceeded the fuel storage limit. Where is the excess going? Does it disperse into the air? Or does it ignore the laws of physics? Or perhaps….”
“….”

The other party offered no answer.

The silence stretched on, but Lee Yeon-woo did not press further. He simply traced the flow of the creaking pipes with his eyes, following their path in silence.

‘Does he not know, or does he simply see no value in answering?’

…Probing an opponent who won’t engage in dialogue is no simple task.

‘I wanted to confirm whether this place is truly the Hotel from that game I spent 26 years in.’

Still unable to discern the true nature of this place, I moved my eyes with dry precision. In truth, I already knew where the excess fuel was going without needing to ask.

‘The structure is transparent, even with my eyes closed.’

The storage capacity for ‘nightmares’ increases in proportion to the Hotel’s level. But at this tutorial stage, we’ve already exceeded the threshold. If the tutorial ends like this, things will become quite interesting.

“I recall that when nightmares fill to capacity, they exert a profound influence on the Hotel’s nature.”
“Ahhh….”
“That is, assuming there are no bugs in the operating system. Is my memory correct, Building Owner?”
“―Yes, yes.”

The nightmares the Power Plant cannot contain become the Hotel’s flesh and blood. The Hotel feeds on this overflowing negative energy, grows from it, and determines its own nature and disposition.

And typically, the result is something quite sinister.

“A kind threat from our developers—that if you don’t level up in time, your work environment becomes hell. That’s what I understand it to be.”
“Yes.”
“Regrettable.”

That threat has persisted even now that it’s become reality.

‘But with the tutorial bug having triggered, this situation might actually be an opportunity.’

Unprocessed nightmares convert directly into user experience points. An unintended high-level shortcut has been booked, so to speak, but I pressed my thumb firmly against my temple.

‘An undesired promotion, how truly glorious.’

I had no intention of settling here. To return to society, I first needed to cross the threshold of this Hotel and understand what lay beyond. I could worry about my return plan later.

“….”

…The real problem would come when I, possessing this non-standard level, was thrown into reality.

‘I can already see the disasters waiting to happen.’

I didn’t know exactly what kind of accident it would be, but I could sense the ill omen. This Hotel wasn’t a simple building, and Lee Yeon-woo was currently bound to it.

Lee Yeon-woo habitually rolled his eyes sideways, staring at the intricately tangled piping.

“….”

I gazed at the faded, dust-covered world with apathetic eyes. My gaze descended lower.

‘That isn’t diligence—it’s exploitation.’

Its official name was ‘Mangled Laborer,’ though it was simply called a worker. A peculiar sentiment stirred within me.

“I still haven’t adapted to it.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe you could adapt even to such contamination?”
“Yes.”
“That optimism of yours is also something to be wary of.”

I blinked, shaking off that sentiment.

“I don’t think I’ll ever grow accustomed to this sensation—as if insects were crawling through my brain.”

The Power Plant was the worst workplace imaginable, where water contamination and mental corruption occurred simultaneously. The Operator could be attacked by workers crawling up from below while managing nightmares, but the real problem came from within.

The longer one remained here, the more waves of revulsion and euphoria crashed down upon the mind.

‘That’s why Operators who stay in the Power Plant beyond a certain duration end up throwing themselves down there.’

I didn’t understand the logic behind it.

‘Did I want to grab them by the collar and fight face-to-face?’

Such was the corruption of contempt taking root within me toward them.

‘When disgust and exhilaration reach their peak, yes—such thoughts might indeed emerge.’

He would come to understand this if he remained here much longer. Already, base emotions toward those workers were beginning to fester. Since vermin deserved only scorn and humiliation, I had to utterly destroy them.

Ah, wait.

‘Stop.’

I was becoming corrupted.

“….”

He quickly restored his thoughts to their usual state.

“…Perhaps because it’s still early on. Restoring my mind to its original condition isn’t particularly difficult, but it seems this place isn’t somewhere worth staying long-term.”
“Yes.”
“I had hoped to conduct a deeper discussion with the Power Generation Plant staff today, but regrettably that won’t happen. For the sake of harmony between labor and management—for everyone’s peace—”

I needed to leave now.

“We’ll do it next time.”

I was beginning to want to throw myself away.

* * *

I returned to my Lodging.

Beyond the window, darkness still lingered, and rain fell.

“….”

I was curious about what lay beyond.

“…I’m curious about how my project is progressing.”
“Yes.”
“How my family is doing, what my colleagues think of my disappearance. I was involved in quite a few projects—how are those unfolding now?…”
“Yes.”
“You said I didn’t enter the game—rather, the game emerged into reality. Even if the interpretation was incomplete, it would be a similar situation, wouldn’t it? So what has become of me?”
“Yes.”
“There is too much I don’t know.”

I was exhausted. It was a fatigue born of my own incompetence. I found it unbearable to endure such helplessness in myself.

A hundred days had passed, and I remained weak, ignorant.

“There is no teacher here to enlighten me about what I don’t know.”
“No.”
“However lacking in conscience you may be, I would prefer you not suggest that teacher is you.”
“Yes, no.”
“Is there a teacher here besides you?”
“Yes.”
“That is… interesting news.”

My tasks were already dwindling. Without raising the Hotel’s level, guests would not increase, and my routine as manager had become mere repetitive labor, my hands long accustomed to the motions.

‘Even if bugs bring the highest-difficulty monsters, they are merely entities within data I have already memorized. Reality may differ in countless ways, but… that is not what I desire.’

I equated my current ‘tedium’ with ‘safety’. What I needed now was not excessive stimulation, but ‘knowledge’—wisdom to guide my choices in the days ahead.

“Can I meet this teacher within the areas I can currently access?”
“Yes.”
“Can this teacher communicate with me directly, as you do, Coco?”
“No.”
“Does this teacher take the form of informational material?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”

I understood.

“You’re referring to the books in this place.”
“Yes.”

The Operator’s Lodging was lined with bookshelves from corner to corner.

In the game, they were non-interactive elements, but now that this had become reality, I could freely pull out and open any book I wished. When I opened one, it was densely packed with text.

It could certainly help resolve Lee Yeon-woo’s ignorance.

“I agree with your assessment. If we’re to accomplish anything during this tutorial phase, we’ll need to read books like these.”
“Yes.”
“Still, I would have preferred to keep my distance.”

Knowledge is always precious, but not this time.

There was no guarantee these books were safe from mental contamination.

The setting of this game, Ho-won, was rather complex.

“A murder hotel designed to procure resources for the Pseudo-Unethical Research Facility….”
“Yes.”
“When summarized like this, the setting excess is almost absurd. It’s as if every horrific and tragic subject in the world has been crammed together.”
“No.”
“Of course, there could be even darker depths—the real world often surpasses fiction in its horrors.”
“Yes.”
“But I had never seriously contemplated such matters before.”

I pulled several hardcover volumes from the shelves. Even a cursory glance revealed knowledge I lacked, setting aside the inexplicable unethical nature of it all.

Behind the lenses of my glasses, my eyes moved rapidly across the pages. Perhaps it was imagination, but my head throbbed.

“I believe people like me are ordinary. Or rather, common. Few players seriously contemplate the morality and ethics of a game’s setting.”

Especially if it carries an adult rating.

“Yet despite that, I held affection for this story. That’s why I went to such lengths—spending considerable money to acquire the copyright. I never intended to go that far….”
“No.”
“I genuinely love this game. It’s not the sort of mainstream taste I’d boast about in public, but a young man freshly into adulthood can become terrifyingly obsessed once something captures him.”

I had started this game around nineteen, shortly after my study abroad was decided. Since then, Lee Yeon-woo had walked alongside Hotel One.

“It’s become my daily routine.”
“Daily routine.”
“….”

Lee Yeon-woo studied Coco as if gauging her, then broke into a smile. It was a flawless shift in expression.

“Imitation is the beginning of learning. Excellent.”
“Excellent.”
“You’re doing well.”

The beauty of a game becoming reality was that interactions previously impossible now flourished. Lee Yeon-woo desired for Coco to learn the ways humans communicate, and Coco transformed in accordance with that will.

She often echoed his words. I don’t expect it will lead her down the path of learning as Lee Yeon-woo intends. I merely anticipate. Coco will wield human language with greater dexterity.

“Affection and reflection don’t always follow the same trajectory. I quite like this Hotel’s setting. I like it, but this was only acceptable as a setting. In reality, it’s illegal and sinful.”
“No.”
“According to universal human nature and legal codes, it is. I still don’t know exactly what kind of creature you are. The game never clarified it. So I can understand not adhering to human ethics.”
“Yes.”
“But there are domains I can respect and domains I cannot. Your ethical framework often doesn’t align with mine. Can you understand that?”
“Can you understand that?”
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m having a conversation with a recording device rather than a person.”

For now, she seemed merely to mimic human speech. But if will existed within that mimicry, then it could be called language.

Only then did Lee Yeon-woo return to the original subject.

“….”

I gazed dryly at the thick books before me.

“…Knowing nothing leaves me uncertain where to even begin. This is why ignorance is a curse—when you don’t know what you don’t know, time simply slips away.”

I skimmed through the contents lightly, but they remained unhelpfully obscure. I selected only those books whose content I could grasp. Even so, the pile was considerable.

“Still, it’s not heavy.”
“Yes.”
“This is only possible because I’ve become one with the game character. The act of removing or lifting books from a shelf is defined within the game as well. And it’s only natural that a game character doesn’t feel weight.”
“Yes.”
“With this frail body, I can lift such a collection without effort. Have the laws of physics been stripped away? I’d praise it as efficient, but it’s far more unsettling than that.”
“Yes.”
“So it seems those laws apply to the Hotel as well, but I wonder what it will be like outside the Hotel.”
“I wonder.”
“If I’m fortunate enough to leave this Hotel, it seems like something I’ll need to investigate alongside my return to society. At that time, Coco, I’m uncertain whether you’ll be able to remain by my side.”
“No.”
“What exactly are you saying no to…?”

The book settled silently onto the desk.

“I’m grateful that the conditions for studying are sufficiently prepared.”
“Prepared.”
“Well, since this space originated from Research Facilities, it’s only natural. Rather than an ivory tower of knowledge, it’s more akin to a vast tomb, but for now, it suits me well enough.”

The Manager’s Quarters contained three Research Facilities. Within the game, they were used to develop various recipes and weapons. It was an optimal place for studying.

I opened the book.

“…”

I closed it.

“…sigh…”
“No, hello… hello.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s fine.”
“Actually, no. I find it quite unpleasant.”

This Hotel was a remnant of the Scientists of Foreign Divine Power. They had lured people with promises of luxurious accommodations at bargain rates, only to extract them as test subjects and spread their fanaticism.

‘After so much transpired, the negative energy that accumulated gave birth to this Hotel.’

Hotel One.

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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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