Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 55

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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 55.

I fitted the Elevator button into the empty socket. With a satisfying click and the pleasant friction of contact, the button settled into place, and light immediately illuminated.

The only key that could lead to the 14th Floor.

“….”

Lee Yeon-woo touched that light briefly with a gloved hand. Applying gentle pressure, I pressed down, and the Elevator began to ascend smoothly.

“….”

After several seconds had passed, the Elevator doors opened.

“…As expected….”
“Yes.”
“It will be difficult now.”

Before me lay a corridor shrouded in darkness, emanating a desolate chill.

“It will take considerable time to reach the Central Control Room.”
“Hello?”
“I do not believe reaching there is impossible. Though my physical condition is at its worst, I did manage to conquer Room 14 safely, did I not.”
“That is true.”
“I merely meant that rushing forward hastily will not resolve this matter.”

Given how weakened my body was, I needed to secure ample time to compensate for my condition.

“I must at least devise a means to ensure I do not die.”
“Correct.”
“This is quite….”

Lee Yeon-woo rolled his eyes dryly.

“You have a talent for exhausting people.”

* * *

“….”
“….”
“…Hello?”

Lee Yeon-woo adjusted his glasses and replied flatly.

“It’s fine.”
“Ugh.”
“Really, it’s fine.”

It was simply the absurdity of standing in the middle of the main kitchen of the Dining Area that caught me off guard.

“I wouldn’t say I lack interest in cooking, but I never imagined I’d dive into the food service business so seriously. Given how difficult self-employment is these days, I never foresaw such a future.”
“Pardon?”
“Of course, I’ve been mentally preparing for the past five years. Thanks to you kidnapping me and installing me as the Hotel’s manager, even the subsidiary dining establishment has fallen within the scope of my responsibilities.”
“Ugh.”
“Cuteness won’t get you out of this one. However, as an equal co-owner, I’ll overlook it this time out of courtesy.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”

Lee Yeon-woo swept his gaze across the kitchen staff. The moment he entered, they lined up as if measured by a ruler. Even the military probably wasn’t this sharply organized.

“….”

A gentle ring of the bell, and the staff scattered to their positions as if by prior arrangement. Two of them approached, guided me to an empty station, handed me an apron, and silently returned to their posts.

With a workspace secured, Lee Yeon-woo opened his mouth.

“…I’m experiencing a sensation somewhere between convenience and strangeness.”
“No.”
“Even if you tell me there’s no need, as someone who was once an ordinary office worker, I can’t help it. My sense of self as a common citizen trembles. I suspect something similar might happen at a major corporation owned by Baek Mu-jin.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t expect me to implement it. I only mentioned Baeksan Corporation as an example, nothing more. If something like that actually happened here, every subordinate would revolt.”
“No?”
“This Hotel really needs to implement the four major insurances.”

But the convenience was undeniable. With just a ring of the bell, I could delegate tasks to the staff without explicit instructions. It was proof that they and Lee Yeon-woo were connected in some way.

‘Ever since completing the tutorial, this kind of comprehensive communication has only grown stronger.’

Strange as it was, there was no point in questioning the absurdity of it all now.

‘Let me focus on what I need to do.’

Lee Yeon-woo tied on an apron—a plain black rectangular one with no pattern.

“This is my first serious cooking attempt since Baek Mu-jin.”
“Yes!”
“Coco, your role is crucial. There will be many failures before we achieve success, and you’ll need to consume all the failed dishes that result from them.”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“I’m surprised you’re this excited. You might actually make me laugh.”
“Hehe.”
“…?”

Lee Yeon-woo turned to look at Coco.

“Did you just laugh?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind… let’s move on.”
“Yes.”

The child could laugh. I gathered my scattered thoughts back together.

“First, I need to make up for the time I’ve lost because of myself as a variable.”
“Excuse me?”
“If that proves difficult as you say, then at minimum I must create a reason for him not to kill me.”

The Red Heart Experiment had already succeeded. This wasn’t spilled water that could be mopped up—it was evaporated water that couldn’t be recovered. As a result, Lee Yeon-woo had chosen to head to the kitchen.

“In situations like this, there are typically two strategies. Provide a substitute, or become the goose that lays the golden egg. If escape is impossible, you must find a way to avoid being treated carelessly.”
“Ah.”
“Your admiration embarrasses me. There’s nothing remarkable about it. It’s merely common wisdom that anyone would know. Yet despite saying this, providing a substitute for myself is realistically impossible.”

Of course it was.

“The Tasteless Guest desires a completed Belmarés. Because he himself is an incomplete failure, he covets the successful version—a desire as absurd as Emperor Qin Shi Huang drinking mercury in pursuit of immortality, and yet… in another sense, it possesses a certain logic.”

Blood Magic is a discipline perfected through consumption and being consumed. There existed a genuine possibility that by devouring Lee Yeon-woo, the Tasteless Guest could achieve completeness.

“Of course, this represents a considerable gamble for them as well. Simply because they consume me doesn’t mean my rather filthy blood will be absorbed so obediently, does it?”
“No!”
“It’s embarrassing to speak ill of a part of myself, but yes—you’re correct. Even the blood I lost in Room 14 remains undigested by the Tasteless Guest.”
“Hello.”
“That’s also true. With me—the sole success case—standing before them, it would be a shame not to attempt it, regardless of how great the risk of being consumed in turn might be.”

It was hardly a pleasant prospect.

“Since blood superiority lies with me, even if I were consumed, there’s a considerable chance I could seize control of my opponent from within. But then again, I have no desire to throw myself into such a gamble.”

At that, Coco fixed her gaze upon me.

“Yes?”
“Room 14 was a different case.”
“Yes?”
“It was different.”
“No?”
“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue dryly.

“…Right. That gamble succeeded by fortune in Room 14, and that’s enough.”
“Yes.”
“Back then, the monster’s consciousness was faint, which is why I could swallow it. But the Tasteless Guest is an opponent of an entirely different caliber, isn’t it? My foremost priority is ensuring that I don’t die.”
“Yes.”
“Since I can neither surrender myself nor transform him into Belmarés, only one method remains.”
“The golden egg?”
“Precisely. I must become an existence too precious to dare touch.”

Fortunately, the Tasteless Guest possesses enough intellect not to kill the goose for its egg. Despite having already tasted my blood, it didn’t attack. Rather, the cunning with which it extended its severed hand and spoke falsehoods was proof of this restraint.

“Then the question becomes: what golden egg shall I present?”

Something enticing enough to buy time—or guarantee survival.

The saving grace is that the opponent’s most cherished value is gastronomy. Had they treasured honor or protocol instead, such an approach would never have been possible.

‘If I could fill that gap….’

I fell into thought.

“….”
“Hello.”
“Yes, certainly… they don’t seem like the type to fall for such petty tricks. Negotiating based on vague goodwill from an opponent I can only dimly discern carries both the risk of failure and the possibility of backfiring entirely.”

If my opponent was a noble possessed of refined intellect, they would hardly be satisfied with a single dish and withdraw. Rather, this meticulous hospitality could become poison that only inflamed their desires further.

The possibility of miscalculation. The probability of adverse effects.

“It could be quite dangerous,”

Coco, who shared all those variables of failure in my mind, asked.

“Hello?”
“No, but that’s no reason not to do what I can.”

I quietly lifted the corners of my mouth.

“The world belongs to those who dare to try.”

Whether this would prove a miscalculation or an unexpected stroke of divine providence, I could not know. I quietly drew my blade.

A crimson membrane gleamed beneath the light, reflected across the sharp edge.

[Butcher’s Hour]
[Warm blood seeped into every pore of the metal, staining it crimson. The blood swallowed until it could drink no more now pours forth. Trust this blade, honed through flesh and bone, through screams.]
[When crafting dishes for specific guests, quality grade increases by +1]

I recited it calmly.

“Then, let’s give it a try.”

I had to satisfy the palate of the Tasteless Guest.

* * *

Lee Yeon-woo placed food into Coco’s mouth and asked, “How does it taste?”

“How does it taste?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Would an ordinary person find it delicious too?”
“No.”
“I see.”

Another failure.

I took comfort in watching Coco accept the food with evident pleasure, even as my mind spiraled back into contemplation.

“It seems expecting sophisticated results from such elementary materials at the game’s outset is simply unrealistic.”

My objective was to restore the sense of taste to the Tasteless Guest—to grant them the experience of flavor they once knew in their human form. Success would mean they could taste the simplicity of an ordinary meal.

“Since they too are merely a mass of blood clots, I’ve been attempting to reconstruct the sensation I felt when drinking blood as a reference point. But naturally, such experimentation cannot conclude in mere days. It’s a consideration I’ve long anticipated.”

I believed nothing was impossible, yet this remained fundamentally a matter of research. Creating samples one by one and verifying results demanded far more time than I possessed.

“I believe the first phase of experimentation should conclude here.”
“No?”
“You’ve already consumed quite enough.”

It was fortunate the staff assisted me; otherwise, the kitchen would have ground to a halt long ago. The dishes I’d created already exceeded a hundred, and every combination I’d preconceived had failed long since.

I traced the edge of my lips thoughtfully.

“It seems I must make use of the Hunting Ground after all.”

The Hunting Ground—a space existing beneath the Hotel.

It was a specialized zone for acquiring culinary materials and nightmare resources. I had never utilized it for such purposes, yet I was certain the materials there could satisfy the Tasteless Guest.

“I had intended to visit after completing my physical enhancement, but upon reflection, it seems safer than the path toward the Central Control Room.”
“Yes.”
“I have my reasons for confidence.”

I lifted a plate.

“Let’s head to the Aqua Park, Coco.”
“Yes.”

In the end, the world runs on connections.

* * *

“Friend.”
…

At his call, the Wet Person surfaced above the water.

…
“Yes, it’s good to see you. It didn’t take too long, did it?”
…
“Then I’m relieved.”

Today it had taken a male form. The hair still hung long like seaweed, but the expression was fiercer than before. For a moment, I wondered what determined its appearance, but I quickly dismissed the thought.

I offered the plate I had prepared.

“I wanted to ask for your assistance, but I felt awkward making the request empty-handed, so I brought some food. I’m not certain if it will suit your palate.”

On the plate sat a fluffy baked soufflé cake.

…
…

It seemed to enjoy it immensely.

Good. That worked out.

Its taste hadn’t changed.

“I worried that as the Hotel changed, your tastes might have shifted as well.”
“….”
“Yes, I’m delighted too. When you eat so deliciously, I feel a sense of accomplishment as the one who prepared it.”
“….”
“Ah… you mean the whipped cream. If you wish, I could increase the amount, but isn’t it too sweet?”
“….”
“Indeed.”

Before the contract, the Wet Person was a guest who didn’t eat. But after the contract, they primarily enjoyed sweet desserts. The bestiary entry came to mind—they craved tastes diametrically opposite to the salty sea.

‘Even so, they really do love sugar.’

Could a Water Ghost develop lifestyle diseases?

‘Surely not.’

Lee Yeon-woo scooped up Coco, who was eyeing someone else’s soufflé cake with longing. I caught the flailing soft paws and held them still. It was clear they had a black hole for a stomach.

Perhaps it was a Western spirit’s nature as well. Or perhaps something learned with age. As I watched them naturally enjoy the dessert with fork and knife, I added a remark.

“I’ll bring them often.”

After all, they were a friend.

‘I should take responsibility for the relationship.’

Even though they ate, the Wet Person never came directly to the dining area after the contract. It was natural—leaving the water brought them considerable inconvenience.

“Even before, they never took the initiative to eat unless I brought it to them.”
“….”
“If you ask from within the water… then I’ll research how to prepare it so the taste doesn’t change even when consumed underwater. After all, you’d surely prefer to eat in a comfortable place.”
“….”
“Well, I suspect it will take some time. I have too many urgent matters to handle right now.”
“….”
“Yes.”

After confirming the empty bowl, I broached the main subject.

“Will you help me hunt?”

The Water Ghost laughed deeply.

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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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