Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 41

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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 41.

After the tutorial ended, I had received a notification like this.

[New Feature Unlocked]
Full Interface Activation
Management System Module Opened
Sensory Expansion
Existence Detection Enabled

When I opened the ‘Sensory Expansion’ tab, there existed an item called ‘Five Senses Stats’—the fundamental character attributes like health, agility, and strength in typical games.

“Thank you for visiting.”

And there was one fact that Lee Yeon-woo had momentarily forgotten.

“Good to see you.”
“How may I assist you?”

Those stats applied to The Human Guest without any filter whatsoever.

[Vision]
‘Your eyes perceive an elderly man with white hair and a beard.’
‘The Elder’s face displays sharp features and penetrating eyes.’
‘A strange, probing quality mingles in The Elder’s gaze as he observes you.’
‘He fixes his eyes upon you with persistent intensity, as if searching for some clue beyond your outward appearance.’
‘Within that gaze, you discern dangerous curiosity and deep suspicion.’

The translucent window’s guidance poured into my mind like an imprint.

“I’m looking to stay for one night.”
“One night’s stay, understood.”

[Auditory]
‘As the Elder opened his mouth, a low, measured voice resonated through the space.’
‘The Elder’s speech maintained precise inflection, and with each word I uttered, he collected samples of my voice.’
‘The Elder remained silent, as if searching for subtle discordance in my vocalization.’
‘The density of the Elder’s scrutiny toward me intensified.’
‘Within the silence, I sensed his interest in analyzing my speech patterns and contrasting them against specific information….’

Stop.

“….”

In the game, it might have been mere data, but reality was different. Every time the script swept directly through my brain, the back of my neck stiffened. Being forced to extract information from another person was… undeniably burdensome.

‘My body is already weakened. If the technology is directly linked to the brain, I can’t help but worry about overload. I must avoid another incident like last time—collapsing from a sudden spike in blood pressure.’

That was why I had remained confined to the Manager’s Quarters since completing the tutorial. I had been extraordinarily cautious about personal safety, but once a human guest set foot in this Hotel, I couldn’t avoid greeting them.

Why were human guests arriving one after another in the first place?

“I’ll assist you with check-in.”
“…I appreciate it.”

Lee Yeon-woo opened the ‘Management System Module.’

‘I hope nothing is missing from the list.’

The process of collecting information through the ‘Guest Management Policy’ within the module was crucial. Only then could I establish a checklist based on the ‘Response Guidelines.’

A pre-prepared list enhanced operational efficiency. When a new guest arrived, the system automatically classified available Guest Rooms.

“Hello?”
“…?”

[Visual]
‘I notice the Elder gazing at empty space beyond his shoulder.’
‘Though nothing should exist there, his gaze is fixed upon a precise point.’
‘An uncanny perceptiveness.’

Uncanny perceptiveness, indeed.

‘Can Coco see me?’

He was certainly no ordinary person.

‘It seems like he knows something after all.’

Lee Yeon-woo retrieved a guest room key from the board.

“I’ll show you to Room 9 on the 17th Floor.”
“The 17th Floor, excellent.”
“Before check-in, I should inform you of a few matters.”
“We’re still in trial operations, so there are shortcomings in our overall service, and some common facilities are unavailable? Which means meals might be difficult to prepare?”

I had suspected as much.

“Our nephew caused you trouble, I understand.”

Oh, this is awkward.

“I came to apologize and express my gratitude for the inconvenience he caused.”
“….”
“Could we speak for a moment?”
“…Of course.”

His name: Baek Mu-jin.

Chairman of Baeksan Group, South Korea’s leading corporation, and a major patron of the arts.

The rumors about Director Lee Sun-hae being part of a royal family weren’t baseless after all.

* * *

So I had suspected he wasn’t an ordinary person.

“Might I ask about that gift?”
“I brought a death row inmate.”
“…I see.”

I never imagined he would be someone so far removed from common sense.

“May I ask your reason?”
“The reason for bringing a gift is always straightforward.”
“You thought I would like it.”
“I regret to say it doesn’t appear that way at all.”

Most people wouldn’t dislike it, would they?

“This gift wasn’t meant for that one.”

Regrettable—Coco would have appreciated this gift.

But I couldn’t fathom what he’d seen to bring a death row inmate here. At most, all he could have witnessed was the Hotel building itself. Was it thanks to Director Lee Sun-hae’s account, or perhaps….

“Our Hotel isn’t particularly well-known, but I wonder if you might have heard rumors about it.”

The answer came readily.

“Far from rumors, I didn’t even know such a hotel had been built in this location. Contrary to your concern, I’ve heard nothing about this place. Though I do know it’s a building erected atop corpses.”

Yet Lee Yeon-woo sensed something discordant in that sentence.

“I’ve smelled the stench of death in this Hotel. The thick reek of blood, the screams layered upon screams, prayers offered to a god that should not exist. Such things cannot be concealed merely by dressing them up so prettily.”

Baek Mu-jin’s words sounded as though he possessed supernatural abilities.

“To be honest, it would be difficult for someone like me to know with perfect accuracy. But anyone with even modest sensitivity would feel the discord. They would sense the wrongness. Just as Sun-hae, knowing nothing, felt the distortion in this place….”
“….”
“Sun-hae is doing well.”
“…That’s a relief.”

That was… somewhat reassuring to hear.

Though I didn’t know much, Baek Mu-jin appeared to be an expert in this field, and with him at Director Lee Sun-hae’s side, she would suffer fewer aftereffects.

‘Judging by his familiar manner of address, he seems to be family who cares for her.’

But this was certainly uncomfortable.

“The atmosphere and nature here are so ominous that I thought a gift of this caliber might suffice. I don’t know what to do with it or how to use it, but when you bring a death row inmate who’s hit rock bottom to a place like this… everyone is delighted.”

…Do I appear to be an oddly suspicious person now?

I felt a bit wronged. Where in this world could you find such an upright, blameless citizen?

* * *

That sense of injustice persisted throughout my tour of the Hotel.

“May I inquire what seems so unexpected, without causing offense?”
“I had assumed there would be at least water spirits… ah.”
“…?”
“It’s nothing at all.”

The gaze directed at me after this exchange was deeply unsettling.

‘What is this?’

I didn’t sense any overwhelming emotion. Yet simultaneously, the look was complex—if I had to discern something from it, it was a faint curiosity, or perhaps avarice.

‘That’s excessive for a first meeting.’

This was the gaze one might direct at an antique or a precious gem being appraised.

‘Wait. Does this mean he’s not seeing me as a person right now?’

Reading between the lines, it was clear he was the type to treat people as objects. But this felt different from that. More alien, more distant.

“….”

[Sixth Sense]
‘During your conversation with Baek Mu-jin, you sense an intangible “gaze” continuously fixed upon you.’

“…?”

[Allow Existence Detection?]
[Yes/No]

“….”

[No]

“…Then next, I shall guide you to the Lifestyle Zone. While we are not yet in the official operational phase, I believe it will be more than sufficient for you to infer the overall atmosphere our Hotel aspires to achieve.”
“Very well then. Please continue with the tour.”

Even as I explained the Grand Banquet Hall, the Buffet, the Dining Area, and the Rooftop Garden in succession, that peculiar scrutiny persisted. I considered pretending to understand, but abandoned the notion.

“Where shall we prepare your meal?”
“I understand the Buffet and Dining Area are currently operational.”
“An excellent choice. I shall arrange dedicated Staff Members in a quiet section to ensure your movements do not overlap with other guests.”
“I appreciate it.”

By the time the tour concluded, my mind and body were already exhausted.

‘…This is yet another form of pressure.’

What could the reason possibly be?

‘There is far too little information.’

It was certain that those peculiar glances had begun at the Aqua Park.

But why? What had they inferred from me, and what conclusion had they drawn? What sort of conclusion warranted such a gaze?

As though inspecting some long-established facility….

“….”

I returned to the Manager’s Quarters and deliberated further, but nothing changed.

“Regrettable.”
“Yes.”
“Indeed, dealing with people is perhaps the most difficult task of all.”

I pulled up the management module as though shaking off idle thoughts. Regardless, the Guest was still human, and I needed to prevent any accidents that might occur.

“…? A movement?”

I had anticipated the Guest would head to the Buffet or Dining Area for their meal at most. Yet unexpectedly, their footsteps came to a halt at the Rooftop Garden.

A single blue dot floating alone on the map. Lee Yeon-woo gazed at it quietly, murmuring to himself.

“Fortunately, there are no other guests using the Rooftop Garden today. Since our movements won’t overlap, there’s no need to restrict actions… but to be safe, it would be better to have a dedicated Staff Member standing by in the vicinity.”
“Mm.”
“What kind of response is that?”

The ‘Sixth Sense’ that Lee Yeon-woo uses is not merely a technique for locating guests.

An ability that can unearth almost all information about a target depending on how it develops. Though currently it was only at the basic stat stage, it was at least possible to confirm minimal dialogue scripts.

That’s how I came to see an unexpected conversation.

[You’re probably thinking, what kind of madman created a Dokkaebi in this modern age, aren’t you?]

A Dokkaebi?

[Who would have imagined that a Young Goblin would be born at this point in time.]

A Young Goblin?

[To summarize, a Young Goblin caught by Migun, who systematically accumulated blood and suffering… perhaps once a young artist.]
“….”
[Material that required such effort to erase from the world entirely. It would be harder to think such material wasn’t an artist.]
“…? What is this….”
[Bad personality? So you’re saying that kind, earnest young man couldn’t possibly have been an artist, the very embodiment of personality destruction? Is that what you wanted to say?]
“What are you talking about.”

It was Korean, but I couldn’t interpret it.

[Don’t sympathize too easily. Don’t judge carelessly either. Becoming a Dokkaebi in Migun’s gaze, trapped by this hellish calamity, suffering and dying without respite—isn’t that what’s happening?]
“No.”
[And yet he saved people. He lived as a human that way, and still extends goodwill. From what I see, that looks like he ultimately protected his ‘self.’ If he were as simple a being as you could sympathize with and judge, could he have done that at all?]
“No, not to that extent.”
“Yes or no?”

Something had gone wrong, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what or where it had started to go wrong.

[I’m not worried you’ll be devoured in a single bite before that existence.]
“But you don’t eat?”
[Who knows? It seems you’re entangled with blood magic, though.]
“Ah, that’s true.”

It seemed that learning blood magic typically led people to consume humans. Come to think of it, all the remaining records from the Red Heart Experiment mentioned cannibalistic urges and vampiric impulses as side effects.

Baek Mu-jin appeared to have concluded that Lee Yeon-woo was in the same predicament.

[Desires may be inevitable, but restraint is always possible.]

It wasn’t.

[Now do you understand why I said you were dangerous?]

And so Lee Yeon-woo became a dangerous element.

[To pity such a monster—that too is quite remarkable.]
“….”

More than that, I had become a monster.

“….”
“Hello?”

It was information sufficient to cause a crisis of identity.

* * *

“Let me organize this.”

Lee Yeon-woo dragged a whiteboard out from the corner of the Research Laboratory. Coco was curled up on a chair like a loaf of bread baking.

Lee Yeon-woo adjusted his glasses and pointed to the first phrase he’d written with a marker.

First: Dokkaebi.

“Our Hotel’s second Human Guest, Baek Mu-jin, called me a ‘traditional Dokkaebi.’ He even added the specific descriptor ‘a young Goblin born anew in modern times.'”
“Yes.”
“Given that the possibility of artificial creation has even been raised, it seems certain that Goblins exist as a real species in the world. However, the birth process and the result appear to be an extremely rare case.”
“Yes.”
“Furthermore, Baek Mu-jin evaluated me as displaying ‘compassion and honesty that a self-aware Labyrinth could never show,’ and said I was ‘the only one maintaining humanity.’ I cannot hide my joy at hearing that my social skills haven’t grown rusty.”
“No.”
“I won’t listen. Then let’s move on to the next point….”

Second, the soul.

“According to Baek Mu-jin’s testimony, Lee Yeon-woo’s soul is deep and clear—that of a pure ‘human.’ Truly, I received extraordinary praise. Now, applause.”
“Ugh.”
“I told you to do one thing—either sulk or clap. Pick one.”
“Ng.”

Yet Coco clapped dutifully anyway. At least regarding the soul, I had been officially recognized as human. I was in quite a good mood—enough to graciously overlook even this halfhearted applause.

“Good. Let’s move on to the next point.”
“Yes.”

Third, the Labyrinth.

“Baek Mu-jin suspects that I am trapped by the first owner of the Labyrinth. Here, ‘the first Labyrinth’ appears to refer to this Hotel… So it was indeed you who kidnapped me, wasn’t it, Coco? Now that we have a third party’s testimony, are you still planning to deny it?”
“Yes.”
“You certainly have conviction. Very well. Let’s continue.”

I twirled the marker lightly.

“Baek Mu-jin judged that by my being trapped in this Labyrinth, I serve as a kind of filter—blocking ‘all manner of unsavory things,’ that is, monster Guests and horror elements. He seems to be referencing the role that a game character performed.”

Ho-won could be played in various ways. My preferred method was the ‘step over me’ strategy. Until I was defeated, no Human Guest would be allowed to die.

Remarkably, Baek Mu-jin seemed to have seen through my playstyle. The fact that he even used the phrase ‘repeating death’ suggested he had managed to read the Hotel’s records fairly well.

“Reading between the lines, ‘artist’ appears to refer to a type of superhuman. The fact that he could read the Hotel’s records, or my character’s physical data… it’s likely because Baek Mu-jin himself possesses such an ability.”
“Yes.”
“Important information has emerged here.”

I removed my glasses. My eyes, now cold and sharp, fixed upon Coco.

“I’ve been erased from the world?”
“….”
“Coco, would you care to explain?”
“Hello?”
“I’d prefer not to believe that’s an appropriate response to the current situation. You were trapped in this Hotel for approximately five years, including the resurrection period, but there’s no way you could be completely erased from the world in such a short span. Yet you say I’ve been erased? What does that mean?”

Baek Mu-jin is the chairman of one of Korea’s leading corporations. A figure who regularly appears in political circles, wielding influence that runs deep and wide across the globe.

Yet such a powerful man couldn’t locate a single researcher named Lee Yeon-woo.

“It appears that during the process of my kidnapping to the Hotel, some administrative or cognitive defect occurred. Is my assumption correct?”
“Yes….”
“Thank you for answering honestly.”

It was better to know the cause than to remain ignorant.

‘At least my family and friends won’t lose sleep worrying about me.’

If even one person remembered me, a major corporation like that would have had no trouble finding information on an ordinary citizen. For the phrase “erased from the world” to truly apply, I had to be completely forgotten.

It was reassuring to think that everyone else was living well without me, yet at the same time….

“It felt so lonely.”

My heart felt heavy and unsettled. It was worrying that they couldn’t live without me, but it was equally unfair that they lived so well having forgotten me.

“I’ll address this matter once I leave the Hotel in the future.”
“Yes….”
“As a courtesy to a co-owner, I trust you’ll prepare a proper solution to this matter. Do you understand? I trust you, Coco. I trust you.”
“Yes…!”

Coco’s expression remained unchanged, yet she seemed to be making some kind of vow. Lee Yeon-woo would only realize much later that had he known what result that vow would bring, he would have certainly stopped it.

Of course, that was a matter for the distant future.

“Coco, promise me!”
“Understood.”
“Yes!”
“It’s not ‘yes’… Ugh, why am I assigning project tasks to my team members here? And over a matter concerning my personal life, no less? This is absolutely maddening.”

And finally, the last agenda item: blood magic.

Lee Yeon-woo adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.

“Blood magic is—I expected as much, but it’s even more… well….”
“Dangerous.”
“You’re actually speaking.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”

Blood magic was being treated as far more perilous than I had imagined.

“Generalizing public opinion from a single perspective is clearly a statistical fallacy, but… given the nature of the source, I can’t help but be concerned.”
“Yes….”
“What exactly is the image of blood magic? According to Baek Mu-jin, it seems closer to cannibalism or vampirism. If this continues, I can already predict how people will treat me once I start interacting with them.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t help that Baek Mu-jin found out, but from now on, I’ll have to hide my use of blood magic as much as possible. That way, I can at least maintain minimal human relationships.”
“Nenio.”
….
“Hello?”

I must be losing my mind. Lee Yeon-woo squeezed his eyes shut.

“At this rate, my dignity… my honor… my social standing….”
“Hello?”
“No.”

My pristine career.

—————
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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