Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 67

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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 67.

The reason an alarm sounds when an ID card is forcibly removed is simple: the system recognizes it as an ‘abnormal forced shutdown.’

‘In other words, if you log out according to the proper procedure, no alarm sounds at all.’
[Yes? Yes.]

Lee Yeon-woo calmly surveyed the dust-covered server equipment.

‘According to the compendium, the Central Control Room has such stringent security that access and logout are impossible without complex procedures.’

In Ho-won, which had been a one-man dot game, implementation limitations meant this was left as nothing more than a simple systemic device: ‘an alarm sounds when the card is removed.’

‘But….’

Now that everything had become reality, those procedures would surely be fully implemented.

[That’s correct.]
‘Then there’s no reason to hesitate any longer.’

The card slot, biometric scanner, broken microphone, and keypad—having committed the locations of these worn console devices with their blue lights to memory, Lee Yeon-woo picked up the ‘memory card’ he’d found in the drawer.

‘Let’s see what we have here.’

Just how remarkable these people must have been.

* * *

Beep—

The door slid open with a sharp mechanical sound.

Cold air rushed out along with the rhythmic hum of cooling fans. Pale light spilled from the overhead fixtures, and the panels of server equipment lining the walls flickered like traffic signals.

The Female Operator who had just entered the Server Room turned to the Young Man.

“Working on something?”
“No, I just got here myself.”
“Ah.”

The Female Operator gestured for the Young Man to go first, and he inserted the card hanging around his neck into the reader. A short beep sounded, and a blue light illuminated the panel.

[ID verification initiated.]
[User: Research Team 2, Bohrslav.]
[Please proceed with biometric authentication.]

As the Young Man aligned his eye with the scanner, a cold light licked across his iris.

[Scanning.]
[Scan complete.]
[Mental wave stability within acceptable range. Access granted.]

“I’m telling you, it’s exhausting.”
“Weren’t you getting used to it by now?”
“Every time I have to turn my eyelids inside out.”
“Why? There are other methods.”
“I absolutely hate anything painful.”

[Please enter your task code.]

“Not everyone is as tough as you, you know?”
“Oh, I suppose.”

[Status: Logged in.]

“Rather than flipping my eyelids over one by one, I’d just give a finger instead.”
“Ugh, that’s exactly what I hate about it.”
“Stop whining. You won’t reach paradise with that kind of mindset.”
“If suffering is mandatory, what good is paradise anyway?”

The Young Man glanced over the panel briefly, then made an exaggerated gesture toward the Female Operator.

“Then, my lady, I wish you well.”
“You’re so gentlemanly it makes my heart flutter.”
“Hardly.”
“Hehe….”

The Female Operator stepped up to the console. She too inserted her card and waited for the voice prompt.

[ID verification initiated.]
[User: Research Team 2, Sterling.]
[Please proceed with biometric authentication.]

Unlike the Young Man’s turn, a sharp needle rose from the reader.

“Ow.”
“Stop it. You’ve mocked me enough.”
“What did I say?”
“You’re being cute today.”

Pressing her finger firmly against the rather thick needle, a small droplet of blood welled up with a soft prick.

[Scanning.]
[Scan complete.]
[Mental wave stability within acceptable range. Access granted.]

“Move over, coward.”
“Coward?”
“You’re blocking the keypad.”

[Please enter your work code.]

“That’s just it—not everyone is as tough as you, darling.”
“Is that so?”

[Status: Logged in.]

“But this method is cleaner, isn’t it? The iris scanner has plenty of instability issues. Last time, who was the one writing statements in the Surveillance Room all day because they exceeded the threshold?”
“Don’t be like that. The iris scanner didn’t fail on purpose either.”
“Now I have to be jealous of the console too?”
“Who knows?”

The Young Man shrugged.

“But it’s definitely a pain. I have to do this every time I log in and out. If that’s how it’s going to be, I wish they’d at least give us longer lunch breaks.”
“Asking for longer lunch breaks just because you did some authentication seems a bit greedy, don’t you think?”
“Damn it, nobody cares how hard we work. This is labor exploitation.”

The Young Man recited his work code into the microphone.

“Work Code 7-Delta. Experimental record verification, Watcher synchronization confirmation.”

The main screen flickered to life, displaying countless data points.

“How are our cute little lambs doing?”
“What can I say? They’re perfect.”

The Female Operator, who had been watching the screen alongside him, sighed.

“I’ve told you so many times already—we should really block that pathway.”
“Tell me about it. If the research specimens escape, who’s going to clean up that mess?”
“The Suppression Team, I suppose?”
“And we still have to write statements. Damn bastards.”

The Female Operator let out a small laugh.

“Management never listens to us lower-level workers no matter where you go.”
“They say there’s a budget shortage lately? What’s the real problem?”
“Pride, maybe?”
“Oh, we’ve got some honorable knights on our hands.”

The Female Operator leaned against the Young Man’s shoulder and asked.

“So, did you finish checking everything?”
“No… wait a moment…”
“Honey?”
“…Okay, done!”

Smack!
The Young Man blew a kiss.

“Is this really not bothersome? Just to do one thing, we have to go through that tedious authentication process?”
“It is inefficient, I’ll admit.”
“And it’s the same when we leave. I wish they’d made a remote terminal we could operate. I’m sick of this dreary Server Room.”
“No branch has ever developed that kind of technology.”
“It’s really frustrating.”

The Female Operator spoke into the microphone.

“Session terminated. Logs saved.”

[Saving data.]
[Shutdown initiated.]

“….”

[Please proceed with exit authentication.]

“You first, sir.”
“Damn it.”

The Young Man brought his eye to the scanner again, and the Female Operator pressed her fingertip against the blood recognition panel.

[Session termination complete.]
[Please remove your ID card.]

“Got it.”

Both of them withdrew their cards from the reader. The Female Operator hung her card around her neck and asked.

“Do you have any schedule from now on?”
“That’s something our Section Chief would know, isn’t it?”
“The Section Chief ordered us to do this—want to have some fun?”
“My, if you act so irresponsibly, you won’t enter paradise.”
“So what.”

The Female Operator kissed the Young Man’s cheek lightly and whispered.

“What we’re building is a paradise for sinners.”
“…You really are tough, aren’t you.”

As the shadows overlapped.

The ‘memory’ came to an end.

* * *

“….”
“Hello?”
“Not really.”

I hadn’t been curious about the love lives of criminals.

‘So couples exist everywhere, do they.’

They resembled monsters wearing leather masks, but this was still a gathering of people. So they would fall in love and care for one another. It was possible, certainly, but….

‘How unpleasant.’

When had I ever become curious about such trivial matters.

“….”

Lee Yeon-woo lightly brushed my thumb across my lips. The words had spilled out carelessly, but the less I spoke, the better.

‘The Auditory Supervisor misses nothing, not even the smallest sound.’
[Yes.]
‘In any case, this perspective is surprising. It’s different from the memory card I found in Room 14. That one didn’t deviate much from the image I remembered, but this one….’

How to describe it.

‘It’s been rendered with remarkably intimate details.’

Ho-won’s description had only stated [a card containing a moment between two staff members]. Whether they were lovers or not had never been specified.

“….”
“….”

My brow furrowed slightly.

“…Something….”

Ever since earlier, my words had been carrying a strange distortion. What could be causing this side effect? The purification sample? The stale air? Or was it something that happened every time I looked at a memory card?

‘Wait, every time?’

I didn’t have any memory of seeing that many memory cards.

Rolling my eyes, I recalled the ‘small book’ that should be in the Kitchen. A gift that wasn’t quite a gift for the Tasteless Guest. When I made that, surely….

I pressed my lips together, then released my hand.

“…There is a problem, it seems.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”

The exact cause remained unclear, but it appeared to be primarily connected to ‘memory cards.’

‘Does this interfere with obtaining authority over the Central Control Room immediately?’
[No.]
‘In that case.’
[Later?]
‘Hearing you say that makes me feel like a careless patient who never goes to the hospital when needed.’

Oddly, I felt no sense of urgency. Whether it was the Hotel General Manager’s stabilizing effect, my naturally resilient mind, or something else entirely, I couldn’t say.

‘Thanks to that, I understand how to properly deactivate this.’

Returning to the main point.

What I needed were biometric data, mental resonance, and an access code. The access code wouldn’t be difficult to find—it was already written on the ID card plugged in, so I just had to enter it into the keypad.

‘Mental resonance is the same.’

What mattered was mental stability. As long as the biometric authentication data was prepared, I could pass without issue. At least the current me was perfectly sound.

‘And….’

I looked at the corpse draped over a chair in the corner of the room.

‘Everything I need is right here.’
[Pardon?]
‘Yes.’

The Corpse in Research Coat.

‘And conveniently, this person’s ID card seems to match.’
[What? What?]

The severed lanyard around the neck aligned perfectly with the card’s attachment point.

I couldn’t use iris recognition as-is. The corpse had been dead for quite some time. And I couldn’t simply use dead blood either. The console recognized only the freshest blood—as if it had just been drawn moments ago.

But who was Lee Yeon-woo? Though fortune had played its part, I was a perfected Belmarés.

‘Mimicking someone else’s blood is something I can manage.’

I seized the corpse’s shoulder and lowered my head.

“….”
“…?”
“Hah.”

Do I really have to go this far?

[No?!]

Crunch—!!
I bit down on that neck.

Hard enough to draw the already blackened blood that had long since congealed.

‘I’m really trying everything, aren’t I?’

The nauseating, metallic stench of putrefaction flooded my senses. My human rationality screamed in horror as though I’d inhaled the very depths of a sewer. Naturally, that should have been my reaction.

Yet the moment that rotten blood slid down my throat, Belmarés savored it as a delicacy.

“….”

A thirst quenched with such exquisite intensity that it sent shivers down my spine. A delicious chill.

‘…What is this….’

The perfected Belmarés felt no vampiric compulsion, yet simultaneously was a connoisseur of blood more than anyone else. And yet, even this corrupted blood tasted sweet.

Cold sweat traced down my spine as I hastily pulled away.

“…Ah,”

So this is it, truly—I am,

‘Spoiled.’
‘Contaminated water.’

….

‘I shouldn’t consume this.’
‘I shouldn’t fall ill.’

…That’s right.

‘Will it be fine?’
‘It will taste terrible.’

Though contrary to your expectations, it had flavor.

I brushed my fingertips across my solar plexus. The tenants, usually docile, were in absolute uproar over the sudden influx of corrupted blood. At their protests—tapping insistently against the stomach lining—Lee Yeon-woo couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

The dizzying euphoria that had surged moments before crumbled away so absurdly.

“Hello?”
“Indeed, it is quite the delicacy, though….”

I spoke with a hollow laugh.

“Not a pleasant experience.”

What does it matter if I’m not human anymore?

‘Because of this, I was able to save Director Lee Sun-hae. I have no regrets.’

It’s enough if I simply live as myself, as I am.

That’s all that matters.

* * *

“….”

Lee Yeon-woo emerged from the Server Room and examined the second ID card.

‘I was somewhat cautious of the Tasteless Guest, wondering if blood from a corpse would also be recognized as a bloodshed situation. But it seems that blood already dead has nothing to do with it.’

The same had been true when playing Ho-won.

‘Thanks to that, things went smoothly this time as well.’
“….”
‘What’s the problem now?’
[Yes.]
‘What is it?’
[It’s not well.]
‘I didn’t exactly enjoy drinking the blood of a corpse either. But hearing it from you, the prime suspect who dragged me into this Hotel in the first place—how unfair. Was this really the time for me to worry about hygiene?’
[Whimper.]
‘If anyone wants to cry, it should be me.’

My hand trembled slightly as I straightened my shirt collar.

‘Never in my life did I think the day would come when I’d bite into a corpse’s throat.’

The Slime inside my body even complained that I’d consumed something spoiled.

I needed to accelerate my vampiric proficiency. This primitive form of consumption through the mouth was mercilessly stripping away the last shred of dignity I possessed as a human.

‘Regardless, the blood I absorbed proved useful.’

Using the corpse’s blood as a medium, I temporarily restructured my own blood composition. A meticulous disguise. It had been enough time to deceive the server apparatus.

‘I could develop this method further.’
[Yes?]

From the perspective of Blood Magic, blood is not merely a liquid. It is a vessel that carries information. For now, I can only mimic its properties, but as my proficiency grows….

‘It might become possible to read the memories and emotions imprinted within blood.’

By consuming it, or being consumed.

“….”
“….”

Lee Yeon-woo’s expression suddenly hardened as the thought reached that point, and I erased the imagination.

‘I should stop there.’
[Yes.]
‘Unless there’s an unavoidable reason, it’s still unpleasant.’
[Yes.]

I adjusted my glasses and surveyed my surroundings.

‘I just need one more ID card.’

Of course, obtaining just the ID card wouldn’t be enough. That would essentially lead to a bad ending. If I failed to acquire all sixteen records, I would become a specimen in the Central Control Room.

For someone like me with an overwhelming amount of work to do, that was unthinkable.

‘I wish I could obtain memory cards and sealed records as well. Having only one so far—when will I finally be able to enter the Central Control Room?’
[Yes.]
“….”
[Yes?]
“….”

I picked up the blood collection instrument.

[No?]
“…Sigh.”

Feeling my stomach churn with displeasure, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

‘I’m going insane.’
[No!]

Thunk!!
I plunged it straight into my arm.

‘Nothing ever goes right.’

Exactly ten seconds later, I felt like I was going to vomit.

* * *

“Ah.”

The Blood-Loving Guest stirred awake. A grotesque smile spread across his lips.

“Finally?”

The hour of the hunt had dawned.

—————
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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