Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 52

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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 52.

What Lee Yeon-woo had done was simple. In the Game, he had lured them with blood packs; now he merely substituted parts of his own body instead. Fingers, ears, eyeballs—such things.

After all, they were merely blood clots mimicking human form.

“That way, when my true body is consumed, I can learn the technique of controlling my opponent from within.”
“….”
“Coco?”
“Yes.”
“You seem quite displeased.”
“Yes.”
“Oh dear.”

Lee Yeon-woo moved the hand he had just begun to regenerate. Groping through the darkness where nothing was visible, he reached toward the direction of the sound. His fingertips brushed against something soft.

He simply seized the monstrous cat and pulled it into his embrace. Coco displayed reluctance yet came along docilely as he drew her close. Lee Yeon-woo cradled her and spoke in a low murmur.

“Won’t you forgive me?”
“No.”
“How resolute.”

Yet the moment she remained still in his arms, it was as good as a declaration of surrender. A cunning cat would never fail to understand that—this was, in effect, a tacitly granted pardon.

“I am aware that I have done something mad.”

Lee Yeon-woo exhaled a deep sigh and felt his own face. Where his eyes should have been, the sockets were sunken and viscous. The texture was far from smooth.

Extracting only the eyeballs cleanly while in full sprint proved far more difficult than anticipated. This was his first time butchering a human form. As a result, the surrounding skin had been torn away as well.

“Yet the other areas were separated rather cleanly thanks to the phlebotomy instruments, were they not?”
“No.”
“How objectively you judge.”
“Yes.”

Coco’s mood remained in the depths of despair.

‘If I only had confirmation that Coco was the one who kidnapped me here, I could have turned the tables and mocked them for it. What a shame.’

I still didn’t know whether Coco had truly orchestrated my kidnapping or was merely an accomplice. After all, Coco clearly possessed gaps in knowledge about this Hotel and about me as well.

‘Though I can’t tell if they’re just pretending….’

Collecting my wandering thoughts, I continued speaking.

“…Thanks to having prepared sufficient transfusions beforehand, we didn’t reach a lethal dosage. As you know, every incision was made after careful calculation. Both in terms of speed and stability.”
“That is not well.”

Their vocabulary had expanded again. It was commendable.

“I’ll admit that my phlebotomy method was quite crude, but couldn’t you try to understand the circumstances? I never wanted to resort to such barbaric instruments.”

For parts that could be easily torn away—like ears or eyes—I used my hands. But anything involving skeletal structure was beyond my capability. I needed the aid of tools, yet I had nothing at hand.

“I even left behind what might be considered a more merciful electric saw somewhere in Room 14.”

Instead, I had collected every ‘phlebotomy instrument’ I encountered along the way into my inventory.

“….”
“At least with such things available, I could attempt this.”

This place was the world of a brutal adult Game. There was no way sane medical equipment would exist here.

‘Was it the Iron Maiden?’

A torture device—an iron cabinet with sharp nails driven into its inner surface.

Modified from its original form to restrain only specific body parts, it was a malicious instrument that proved humans were treated as less than livestock.

Its design held no consideration whatsoever for the possibility of keeping the subject alive.

‘That one,’

had been severed.

Upon attachment, I sever the affected area and extract blood.

Arms, legs, even small terminal tissues like fingers—it was a tool designed with pure efficiency in mind, focused on harvesting blood rather than inflicting pain.

Perhaps that’s why it was designated a ‘phlebotomy device’ rather than a ‘torture instrument’.

“Still, it poses no great threat to me. A normal body would have succumbed to exsanguination long ago, but I am fundamentally a mass of blood, am I not? I can regenerate, albeit limitedly.”
“No.”
“Yes, it’s not easy. I thought I’d studied adequately, but practice proves different. Nothing unfolds as I will it….”
“Yes.”

The Emergency Restoration Protocol—a technique I had acquired during my previous encounter with the Wet Person. It forcibly restores human form when scattered into a blood state.

‘Since it borrows the Hotel’s resurrection mechanism, it differs fundamentally from true regeneration.’

Strictly speaking, it designates the current state as ‘death’, then systematically enforces ‘resurrection’. It’s closer to restoration than recovery.

But what I needed now was pure recovery—filling in the missing portions of my body.

‘Which is why I’m enduring this ordeal.’

Drawing upon every scrap of knowledge I possessed, repairing my body left my mind spinning.

That ‘mind’ itself was likely nothing but a clot of blood, but the sensation was real. After all, wearing human skin meant even organs like the brain bore proportional strain.

“On one side, I’m occupied with regenerating my body, on the other, with overpowering the creature….”
“Yes.”
“Eyes are certainly far more difficult to construct. Limbs manage adequately once flesh clings to bone, but this field is entirely different. This neural network, or rather—was it this one? I’m losing my mind.”
“Hello?”
“Do not worry. Though eyes prove challenging for now, regeneration progresses steadily. The creature’s opponent currently amounts to only a finger’s worth of capacity. Now that I understand suppression is difficult at that volume, I need only increase intensity from here.”
“No.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”

I affirmed it.

“Truth be told, I’m anxious.”

What if I fail?

“That would certainly deal a significant blow.”

It hurt. It was exhausting. Though pain had been converted into “information” for my perception, the fatigue from the overwhelming torrent of data was undeniably real. Tearing apart my own body to feed a monster was hardly something a sane person would do.

“Did I decide too hastily?”

Fear of pain and death was inevitable.

It wasn’t even funny. I wasn’t anyone particularly remarkable, nor did I have the luxury to afford such gestures. Yet I’d done something foolish for someone—or something—with no connection to me whatsoever.

But,

“There is value in such foolish acts alone.”

That’s how life works. It doesn’t run on calculation alone. Efficiency isn’t always the answer.

“If things go wrong, I’ll regret it. But even if I could turn back time, I’d make the same choice. It makes me more myself. What else can I do?”
“….”
“…Ah, I think I can see something now.”
“….”
“No, wait. The retina is inverted… this is driving me mad.”

My haste made the assembly impossible. Lee Yeon-woo simply closed his eyes again.

Since things had come to this, it seemed better to focus on capturing the monster rather than regenerating my body. Diversifying efforts was only possible when circumstances allowed.

He listened to the tangled screams.

And so.

“….”
“….”

Drifting to sleep amid the approaching chaos.

* * *

And then, vision returns.

Jet-black hair, pallid skin, dressed in the formal attire of this Hotel—the new master of the Facility. And behind him, visible in the shadows… visible…

‘A door.’
‘It’s a door.’
‘An exit.’

An escape route.

‘I can get out.’

That singular thought consumed them entirely.

Nothing else existed in their perception, no other thought could form. They were either unaware of their own frenzy or had surrendered to madness regardless. Blinded by the certainty that this was their final chance. No—their eyes had been blind long before this moment.

So please.

‘I have to get out!!!’

Driven by desperation, I reached out my hand.

And seized him.

‘….’

Wait—did I actually seize him?

‘….’

Am I certain?

‘….’
‘….’
‘….’

…The scent of fresh blood was overwhelming.

‘…What?’

On the tip of my tongue.

Too much,
far too much.

* * *

In the second chase sequence, if the monster caught you, there were two possible death endings. Your body torn to shreds, or consumed whole. Lee Yeon-woo had analyzed the latter case as a kind of ‘reflexive behavior.’

The evidence was substantial.

‘The latter only occurred as a cutscene when blood packs were used excessively as bait.’

The original purpose was capture, but perhaps by picking up and consuming blood packs repeatedly, the monster had come to recognize the playable character as a blood pack as well. Nothing about it seemed remotely sane, so it would be easy to fall into that pattern of behavior.

I judged it would happen this time too. Having fed it pieces of myself all the way here, it would inevitably attempt to devour me as well. It had grown accustomed to the taste in such a short span of time.

‘Still.’

Despite having verified and practiced beforehand.

‘It’s overwhelming.’

I had managed to be consumed without incident. But holding the monster, holding these people together—it wasn’t easy. If I hadn’t gradually adapted through practice beforehand, it would have been far worse.

Heat that made blood evaporate. Bitter cold that cracked bone and joint. Light that seared skin and darkness that blinded the eyes. Amid the suffocating pressure consuming my entire body, the most terrible thing was something else entirely.

…They were terrified.

‘I’ve become sorry for them.’

On top of their already overstimulated state, the fear that I would devour them, or that the only exit would close forever—it all compounded.

In such a cramped space, being pulled, torn, hearing screams—my spirit naturally flagged. Hands clawed at me in desperation, resentment, obsession, or pleading—I couldn’t tell which. My mind reeled.

“….”

I had never thought this would be easy.

Starting with my fingers, I offered my entire body. With my own hands, I cut and tore it away. And gave it to the monster as food. When that wasn’t enough, I had to subdue them using a ‘self’ separated from myself.

It was a choice I’d made.

“….”

Yet it hurt. God, it hurt so much.

‘…Why did something like this have to exist?’

Blood mingles with blood, becoming one. Through that conduit, memories and sensations flow together. Beyond the terrible screams lies a living, writhing agony. Vivid despair. Not history preserved in amber, but a hell that still pulses and throbs with existence.

Why did something like this have to exist?

“….”

Lee Yeon-woo composed myself. I chose to compose myself.

I stood at a crossroads: whether to carry this hell eternally, or sever it here and now. And I was learning the technique. How to maintain composure even in this chaos.

For just a moment, I need only forget that I am human.

‘Set aside emotion. Focus on calculation.’

Then the work proceeds swiftly.

“….”

In truth,

it wasn’t even difficult.

I can escape.

‘….’
‘….’
‘…Really?’

Yes.

Let’s go together.

* * *

The Concrete Corridor, slicked with blood and fragments of flesh.

“….”
“….”
“….”

How much time had elapsed?

Lee Yeon-woo crawled through the carnage and debris, dragging his battered frame until he collapsed against the wall, gasping.

“Ha….”

Every muscle in my body had gone slack.

Before me lay scattered masses of viscous matter—some resembling pulped flesh, others like the desiccated byproducts of something thoroughly drained.

The monster’s remains. What was left after I had consumed it.

“Ha, haha.”

Lee Yeon-woo covered his mouth with trembling hands, exhaustion making them shake.

“That was… dangerously close.”
“Yes!”
“I agree, Coco.”

My entire body was drenched in blood. The emergency restoration protocol had completed successfully, but the aftermath—rolling through pools of crimson—had left its mark.

Perhaps the tension had finally broken now that the gamble had paid off.

“Truly,”

Thick veins bulged across Lee Yeon-woo’s pallid face. As reason returned, fury followed in its wake.

“I must be insane.”

Wretched things had done wretched deeds.

* * *

A fragment of my own body—the entity that is “I”—harbors an instinctive compulsion to subsume whoever absorbs it. The monster that had attempted to devour Lee Yeon-woo could not escape this fundamental nature.

This was separate from the question of whether it had undergone “conversion.” Lee Yeon-woo found himself forcibly sharing all the memories and sensations of the Room 14 monster, just as had happened with the Tasteless Guest before.

“This is truly repugnant. What on earth is the meaning of—”
“Hello?”
“I suspected it might be actual history. Just as the Wet Person was, I thought the monster in this Room 14 event must have been a real entity that once existed.”

I thought.

“But the scale of this is far too immense.”

The monsters within Ho-won are manifestations of negative concepts. The Wet Person was born from the deaths of the drowned, for instance. Yet the memories contained within this event’s monster followed a different trajectory.

It wasn’t merely a matter of numerous victims—the region serving as the backdrop itself was fundamentally alien.

“The language used by the researchers, the interior design, everything was entirely different. The victims’ ethnicities were… varied. Synthesizing it all, this wasn’t a localized incident confined to a single building or organization.”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”

I had hoped for a denial.

“…This is Ho-won?”

The Ho-won I knew was nothing like this. Certainly, there were countless undescribed settings, but it felt as though every undefined gap had been filled with grotesque realities.

“The Game isn’t merely manifested reality. This is… the Game and reality merged together?”
“Yes.”
“….”

I removed my glasses and splashed my face with water.

“…What kind of madness is this.”
“Hm?”

There were moments when absurdity reached its absolute peak.

‘Where exactly was my Game being exploited?’

At this point, the Game had been used to capture reality itself. I had read through such an absurdly vast history that there was no way Ho-won could have contained any of this originally.

“….”
“….”

Calm down.

“…sigh….”

Calmed.

‘The results aren’t bad, so it’s fine.’

If it was a truth I’d face eventually anyway, I simply learned it a bit earlier. Information acquired sooner always increased survival rates. Besides, I succeeded in the end, didn’t I?

“Do something insane enough times, and it becomes experience.”
“Pardon?”
“Yes.”

Whether ground through filters, torn apart by chainsaws, or shoved into a monster’s maw—the fundamental agony was remarkably similar. What mattered was that I had grown quite accustomed to the sensation of functioning as a being of blood and gore.

That familiarity was what allowed me to survive this time as well.

“But this time, I truly stood at death’s threshold. What I did in the Ventilation Shaft—grinding myself down—was an attempt outside the system, but this constitutes death as defined within the Game itself.”
“Yes.”
“Fortune favored me. Thanks to the systemic instincts I’d honed through my body, I managed to avoid the fatal points. So it seems I escaped the death verdict.”
“Yes.”
“Drinking blood excessively beforehand helped too. They say for those who’ve mastered blood magic, more blood is always better. I lost so much blood wrestling with this creature in my mind.”
“Hello?”
“Truth be told, I’m still not in great shape. My mind’s scattered, and my body won’t obey. I didn’t realize evading the Game system’s gaze would be this difficult. It felt like my brain was being torn apart….”

Lee Yeon-woo staggered to his feet. He turned the doorknob.

“Now then, time to head outside,”
“May I eat?”

He closed it again.

“….”
“….”
“…Hello?”

At Coco’s hesitant question, Lee Yeon-woo responded with an expressionless face.

“…Maybe not?”

The situation looked decidedly uncomfortable.

Why are you there?

—————
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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