Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 54

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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 54.

A feast arranged upon silver platters.

Artfully garnished dishes and pastries, sugar sculptures catching the light like jewels. The table adorned with linen napkins embroidered in gold thread and silver candelabras. The fragrance of flickering scented candles brushes against my nostrils.

Clink,
clink.

Roasted peacock preserved alive. Veal tenderloin crowned with cream sauce infused with luxury. Venison steeped in wine, rendered crimson. A boar’s head with rubies set into its eyes.

Clink,
clink.

Carp soup gleaming with the luster of tempered metal. The aroma of saffron and wine. Oysters and lobster hastily brought from the sea, steamed. Salmon jelly infused with herbs and gold leaf, suspended in clarified gelatin broth.

Clink….

Candied fruits. White wheat bread and butter rolls. A cheese platter. Marzipan and fruit tarts. The wine of kings, the king of wines. Spiced, warm. From the Rhine River, no. No. No.

No.

“….”

This is not a meal—it is theater.

In this place, I am always drawn into deep contemplation. I am made to behave as though I were human. The appearance of the dishes, their fragrance, their texture, the vessels upon the table, the candlelight. Everything is a device designed to enchant human senses and evoke the sensation of power.

Before all this, how grotesque am I—I who have lost my sense of taste?

What am I? What am I truly?

I am.

“….”

Clink.

Clink.

Clink….

* * *

Clink.

“Let me organize the situation.”

Lee Yeon-woo set down his utensils.

“The Tasteless Guest is a manifestation born from the desperate resolve of those who have lost their sense of taste. It’s a crystallization of that deprivation—the yearning to do anything, absolutely anything, if only they could taste again. And given how much they valued taste, their identity as gourmands and chefs must be deeply woven into its being.”
“Yes.”
“I wonder if the Tasteless Guest, as it exists now outside the Game, retains that same nature.”
“Hmm?”
“Is that not so?”

Now I was certain. This place was a fusion of the Game and actual history. If that were true, then the Tasteless Guest must possess its own unique narrative.

“Reaching an appropriate compromise with it is already a predetermined step. Just as with the Wet Person, leaving it alone solves nothing.”
“Yes.”
“So I must come to understand my opponent.”

In the past, I had been able to save the Director and his companions from the Wet Person precisely because I possessed clear information. Now, in a situation brimming with variables where Game knowledge could not be fully trusted, caution was paramount.

“A reckless approach would invite various penalties. Not as terrifying as those from the Wet Person, perhaps, but troublesome nonetheless. The loss of emotion….”
“Humanity.”
“I’m grateful you remember. Indeed, from the perspective of maintaining one’s humanity, it is hardly a welcome prospect.”

A person can be broken in a single day.

“When this was merely a Game, it posed no great problem. The Hotel General Manager losing emotion caused no significant operational damage. But now, the situation is different.”
“Yes.”
“To avoid that, understanding my opponent will require some time….”

I trailed off.

“I’m not certain I can endure it for that long.”
“Hm?”
“My body has grown far too weak.”
“Hm.”

And now, to make matters worse, I had a certain Monster friend taking up residence inside my body.

“Though fortunately, it remains dormant enough that it causes no significant inconvenience.”

The capacity was too vast to bring everything along, so I had selected only the essential fragments. Fortunately, the environment within seemed to have alleviated the suffering and despair that had tormented it, and the Monster appeared quite satisfied with its current circumstances.

‘If anything, it’s in a state of deep slumber.’

It felt as though it were indulging in all the sleep it had missed, accumulated and taken at once.

For me, having read their memories, it was a blessing. Simply by keeping it contained within my body, it was already seeing to its own comfort.

‘Though my insides do feel rather bloated.’
“….”
“…Did you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t mean I intend to expel it.”
“Hm.”
“Such a heartless cat.”

There were moments when it became troublesome. It stemmed from Coco’s peculiar nature—an unwillingness to tolerate any loss on my part outside the Game system itself.

“….”
“….”

A weary gaze locked between us.

“…Coco.”

Feeling the weight of the moment, I added dryly.

“Can’t you see these pitiful souls finally taking their rest?”
“Yes.”
“Now you’re lying too. Truly befitting a co-owner of Hotel One. You have no conscience.”
“Whine.”
“Ah, so you dislike it that much….”

Lee Yeon-woo took a sip of warm tea. In that moment, I felt the Monster within my body stir with subtle delight. How pitiful.

“I don’t wish to mistreat such humble companions who find joy in the warmth of a single cup of tea.”
“No.”
“Aren’t they cute?”
“No!”
“How resolute.”

I understood why Coco was acting this way. Perhaps it was because something else had taken root inside. A revulsion born from that writhing sensation welled up. No matter how docile it remained, its influence on me was far from negligible.

I swallowed the blood that had surged back up and continued speaking.

“I would appreciate your forbearance. My body has merely grown somewhat sluggish—there’s no serious problem. Besides, the Wet Person who had been lingering in my lungs has already departed for the Aqua Park….”

Coco lowered its head.

“Whine.”
“Coco.”

Upon hearing its name, Coco finally offered an affirmative response.

“Yes.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“No?”
“Ah, indeed.”

It hadn’t understood at all.

‘Truly a wicked cat.’

Coco cared nothing for the welfare of anyone but Lee Yeon-woo.

“Anyway, our friend’s problem is secondary.”
“Huh?”
“Is it really something to dislike that much? I didn’t call you a friend in earnest—it was more of a pronoun. Since I’m currently protecting you, I consider such intimate terminology a bare minimum of social courtesy.”
“Huh?”
“…Though I suppose The Wet Person wouldn’t care for the term either. Yes, I’ll be more careful. But returning to the original subject, if I may.”

What mattered now was the Tasteless Guest.

“What should we do?”

The Game had offered no contingency for this scenario.

“When I played Hotel One, my playable character was at least not in a state of blood clots like this. From that point onward, all fundamental premises twisted out of shape.”
“Yes.”
“It’s clear now that I can’t rely solely on the Game’s system rules.”

It could serve as reference, but its limitations became apparent once application grew complex. Especially now that I knew the Tasteless Guest was connected to the Red Heart Experiment.

‘The Tasteless Guest is manageable when The Human Guest isn’t around.’

Even with The Human Guest present, it amounts to the same thing. At most, it begins by stealing the pleasure of dining. That stolen emotion expands until, eventually, it drains all the blood.

“….”

Every transaction rests upon a ‘purpose.’

“Let me search for a ‘commodity’ I can offer.”
“Yes.”

From there, I could calibrate things accordingly.

* * *

The first thing Lee Yeon-woo examined was the records.

“Let’s see.”

Records of entertaining the Tasteless Guest.

“Today’s meal is….”
“Yes.”
“Quite elaborate, as always.”
“Indeed.”
“Usually a two or three-course composition.”

It began with delicate dishes, progressed to weightier fare, and concluded with dessert.

Multiple dishes were presented simultaneously on the table for each course—a style closer to French service than the Russian service familiar to modern diners.

“The Tasteless Guest has always dined this way. For someone who claims to taste nothing but blood, they certainly enjoy quite luxurious meals.”

Whether they truly enjoyed it remained uncertain, but Lee Yeon-woo fell into contemplative silence.

“…The European upper classes generally favored this style of dining.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact country or era… but let’s examine further.”

Lee Yeon-woo murmured while scanning through the records.

“France, Austria, England, Poland…. This style of cuisine overlaps with European upper classes broadly, so it’s hardly a distinctive clue. The silver tableware and composition of meat and seafood are also quite common.”
“….”
“…Ah.”

Wild boar dishes.

“Let me check the previous records as well.”
“Yes.”

The Tasteless Guest primarily frequented the Dining Area. Especially when human guests were absent, they appeared more often there, where more specific orders could be placed.

Lee Yeon-woo reviewed the records from the past several days and nodded.

“All the main courses are based on hunting.”
“Yes?”
“While we’re still far from actually distributing ingredients through hunting, that’s not the point. Historically, these are all hunting-based dishes. From the perspective of ingredients, that is.”

Deer, roe deer, wild boar.

“And the Mufflon.”

It appears in the Game of Hotel One, but it’s an animal that actually exists in reality.

The wild sheep known as the Mufflon is found in Europe and Western Asia, and around the 17th century, it was introduced to Europe for hunting purposes. At that time, it was clearly an exclusively aristocratic menu item.

“Rabbits, squirrels, badgers, pheasants, geese, ducks, pigeons…. As you can see, they’re all typical game animals. It’s somewhat different from how it was in the Game.”

In the Game, the Tasteless Guest simply enjoyed luxurious feasts. But now that this has become reality, such an obsession with main courses centered on game meat was a striking change.

“Game meat.”
“…?”
“…Game meat was typically butchered and used on the same day, wasn’t it? What about the alcohol? Wine. Ah, beer consumption wasn’t insignificant either.”
“…?”
“But what was primarily consumed in the Dining Area was wine. Beer was for everyday use. The consumption zones… the kitchen side… yes, the sauces… heavy and rich ones were preferred.”
“…??”
“They seem to enjoy elaborately decorated dishes. It doesn’t particularly symbolize anything, but….”

A thought wasn’t entirely absent.

“…Was it Germany? Or Austria?”
“Huh?”
“No, wait. I was trying to recall which country and era’s food culture this belonged to.”
“Food culture?”
“The Tasteless Guest has consistently obsessed over luxurious feasts since arriving here, and these particular characteristics are changes that occurred when it became reality. We need to examine this carefully.”
“Food culture…?”
“Germany and Austria are quite close to each other. It could be outside that region too. But with just this, I can’t pinpoint a specific country or era. The clothing is modern-style as well. However, if they were using silver plates in actual daily life… hmm.”
“Yes?”
“…The 16th to 18th century? No, the practical use of silver tableware with game-centered cuisine would be from the late 17th to early 18th century. And that’s precisely when the Mufflon was introduced….”

After the mid-18th century, the practical use of silver plates declined. After that, they were typically used for symbolic or display purposes. From the 20th century onward, needless to say, they served as commemorative items.

“All the tableware used are silver plates. It seems nearly all the silver plates we use at our Hotel have been brought out. Given how strongly they reject porcelain plates, I’d estimate they were upper-class from at least the 17th century to at most the early 18th century.”
“….”

Coco, who had been kneeling and looking at the interface alongside me, lifted her head and met my gaze. I blinked and asked.

“What is it?”
“…No.”
“What’s wrong?”

A peculiar unease lingered, but regardless.

“The fact that they embrace French haute cuisine while clinging so obsessively to silver tableware suggests they’re not from after the early eighteenth century. From the mid-century onward, ornate porcelain became the fashionable choice for formal banquets.”

Yet their insistence on silver meant they were a classical figure indeed. Despite the modern clothing they wore, it was fair to say they were a soul trapped in the past, unable to escape it.

“If we’re speaking of this period and region, the Holy Roman Empire comes to mind, though hunting grounds and silver tableware alone make it difficult to pinpoint.”
“….”
“The Tasteless Guest insists on silver tableware yet pours coffee directly into their own cup and even serves it to those at the same table. And yet they don’t enjoy chocolate. If that’s the case… Bohemia is far more likely than Vienna-centered Austria.”
“….”
“Prague nobility used silver tableware for centuries and quickly adopted coffee through Vienna’s influence, but chocolate remained a luxury item to the very end. Hunt-based banquets, an obsession with silver, and the attitude of treating coffee as the language of society.”

By that logic?

“A typical early eighteenth-century Bohemian nobleman.”

In the end, they would have been merely one region under the Holy Roman Empire.

“The structure was a loose confederation of hundreds of principalities, duchies, counties, and free cities beneath the Emperor. If they, as an upper-class figure of that era, took silver tableware and hunt-based banquets for granted… there’s every possibility they were a territorial lord of a principality.”
“….”
“….”

A brief silence. Lee Yeon-woo muttered low, fatigue coloring his voice.

“…You really do go far.”

But the work had only just begun.

“Eighteenth-century aristocratic food culture. Yes, it was never mere gastronomy back then. It was a means of expressing identity—so much so that families conveyed their symbols through cuisine—and it was equally a symbol of authority and hierarchy, proof of the luxury one could afford.”

The crucial keywords here are hunting and banquets.

“For the nobility of that era, hunting and feasting were powerful means of self-affirmation. If the person had genuine appreciation for gastronomy itself, the significance would have been even greater….”
“….”
“In Europe at that time, one of the criteria distinguishing humans from beasts, and the divine from the demonic, was reason itself. They prized restraint and sensory refinement. But the Tasteless Guest destroyed all of that through the Red Heart Experiment ritual.”
“….”
“In aristocratic society, sharing a meal together was an expression of goodwill and trust. After this incident, he would have ceased to be a nobleman—perhaps not even human anymore. In effect, it amounted to political retirement or exile.”

Though his attire had modernized, he still clung to the dining customs of that bygone era.

“This suggests his obsession with taste far exceeds his pride as a nobleman. The cheerful sounds that emanate when the Tasteless Guest moves—the kind you’d expect at a convivial feast—stem from a similar preoccupation.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.”
“If he truly were a nobleman, his pride would have been considerable, and his insistence on silverware suggests a certain rigidity. The shock of becoming inhuman must have been profound. The question is whether he has evolved since then, or regressed.”

Lee Yeon-woo recalled the Tasteless Guest as he had observed him when Hotel One was still a Game.

“Unlike simple linguistic quirks or unnatural gestures, this guest is quite perceptive. It’s not an act of feigned stupidity at all. Rather, the impression is stronger that his insight outpaces his body’s ability to respond. Like some massive vehicle that’s difficult to coordinate….”
“A massive vehicle.”
“Indeed.”

Which meant, in other words.

“Negotiation would be possible.”

Genuine communication could be established.

—————
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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