Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 69

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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 69.

I could no longer cower in this dead-end room. The hunter hadn’t completely abandoned this sector, and if I remained still, I would eventually be cornered. I needed a breakthrough.

‘There’s no choice.’

In the end, Lee Yeon-woo settled on the first method he’d considered earlier.

‘Taking the risk to move between rooms and hide.’
[No?]

In the darkness, Coco’s eyes blazed with displeasure as a text window materialized in the empty air. Was she still on about this? At this point, it was becoming absurd.

‘Please stop tormenting Room 14. I’ll run on my own two feet.’
[No?]

Ignoring Coco’s objection with practiced ease, Lee Yeon-woo silently pushed open the box door and slipped out. The moment my ear pressed against the cold wall, ominous portents seeped through the chill air.

For instance, that acrid scent—like lemon and mint mingled together.

‘This coffee smell is truly exhausting.’
[Tasteless Guest. Rude Guest.]
‘I concur.’

Lee Yeon-woo pressed gently at his aching solar plexus and tilted his head slightly to observe the other’s movements.

“….”

He was loitering at the far end of the Corridor. Fortunately, his gaze wasn’t directed this way—he was walking further ahead.

Lee Yeon-woo moved his feet as soundlessly as possible.

‘This isn’t a game.’

Moreover, this chase with the Tasteless Guest didn’t even exist in the original work. In other words, there were no fixed rules governing when he might turn around.

But….

[Coco. Guarantee.]
‘Is that so.’

In this Hotel, what could be more certain than Coco’s guarantee? Considering that, it seemed the Tasteless Guest walking ahead would not suddenly turn around.

‘Fortunately, the distance between rooms is not far.’

Feeling the exotic coffee aroma gradually fade, Lee Yeon-woo moved quietly and slipped safely into the first Room.

And what I discovered there was.

‘There’s a Cabinet.’
[Yes!]

An old Cabinet.

The system window’s text flickered briefly. Though somewhat sparse, the mere existence of a hiding place was enough. I opened the Cabinet door. The cramped space reeked of metal and mold.

But perhaps due to its age, I couldn’t completely muffle the sound of the metal door opening.

“Oh.”

Clatter―…

“….”
“…It was there, it was there….”

The sound of cutlery clinking drew rapidly closer.

‘Damn.’

I couldn’t afford to make another sound.

Instead of stepping into the Cabinet, Lee Yeon-woo concealed myself in the blind spot behind the Cabinet’s body. From the entrance at least, I would be invisible.

‘It’s circling.’

I held my breath, my body rigid. Faint light seeping beneath the Entrance was sliced and rejoined by shadows in an endless rhythm. The tap of a cane against the floor, a metallic screech like something scraping against a dish.

Through it all, the acrid stench of blood seeped in.

“….”
“….”

Clatter, clatter….

‘They’re passing by.’
[Yes.]
‘Thank goodness.’

The Tasteless Guest seemed to deliberate for a moment, then headed toward the far Room where Lee Yeon-woo had been staying. This was my chance. Once they finished searching that Room, they would inevitably return here.

‘I need to move. If they search this Room again, it’ll be harder to escape.’
[What?]

Coco’s window flickered with worry, but I slipped out from behind the Cabinet and pressed myself against the wall.

“….”
[Yes.]

Now.

The moment they disappeared completely into the far Room, I silently hurled myself into the next Room. Fortunately, this one had a fair amount of furniture.

‘Should I move two more Rooms then?’

No, no.

‘There isn’t enough time to risk going any further.’

I squeezed my body beneath a dust-laden desk. A cough threatened to burst from my lungs as the dust stabbed at them, but I gritted my teeth and held it back.

‘A reflex like this is nothing anymore….’

Then, footsteps passing through the Corridor vibrated through the wall.

“Hgh….”

A grotesque sound—neither laughter nor weeping.

“Hgh, hgh… ha….”
“….”
“Not here.”

Clatter.

“Where could you be?”

Clatter.

“Where are you, then?”

It felt as though I’d been invited to a banquet held in ruins.

Unfortunately, the Tasteless Guest was far from a bumbling tracker. He would be calculating precisely the likelihood that I’d already fled the source of the sound.

‘Then he’ll reach here soon.’
[Correct.]
[Tasteless Guest. Rude.]
‘So actions undefined by the Game feel like this.’

I suspected this mindset wasn’t so different from the Hotel’s other Staff Members.

‘But that’s not what matters.’

Beneath the desk was no perfect hiding place. The moment the Tasteless Guest stepped into the room, discovery was inevitable. I listened intently to the circling sounds drawing ever closer.

‘I need to find the right moment to move again.’

Clatter.
Clatter.

“….”

Clatter.

‘Ah.’

The sound stopped.

‘Position-wise, it’s in front of the second room.’

Lee Yeon-woo immediately crawled out from beneath the desk.

Peering carefully along the wall, I caught sight of his silhouette beyond the entrance—he was peering into the second room. Beneath the crackling lights, his enormous shadow stretched across the Corridor, consuming every inch of space.

“….”

Lee Yeon-woo fell into contemplation.

‘…He understands the terrain far better than I do.’

There was certainly a possibility this was a trap designed to force me into revealing myself.

He had traversed this Corridor countless times. Meanwhile, I had fled in desperation without properly surveying my surroundings. If a trap were laid, his would prove far more effective.

‘Is moving to the next room truly the right choice?’

But then.

‘I can’t remain hidden here indefinitely.’

The opposite Room appeared vacant, and the distance for a diagonal crossing was far too great. There was only one option: rather than wait to be caught by the seeker, I would gamble.

‘I cannot remain here any longer.’
[Yes.]
‘Yes, I will be discovered soon.’

Lee Yeon-woo surveyed the Corridor once more. And the moment the Tasteless Guest leaned his head deeper into the second Room, I took my step.

“….”

And.

‘Oh no.’

There was nothing in that room.

“….”

Clatter.

“This is really….”

Clatter.

“You have quite the temperament.”

I knew the moment I stepped into this room.

That the end of this game of hide-and-seek was already decided from the moment I hid in the second room. I let out a rueful chuckle at the vast darkness descending over my head.

The shadow writhed as if alive, then came to a halt. Slowly, ever so slowly, it began to expand. I felt the presence behind me creeping down the nape of my neck like a tangible thing.

A moment of silence.

“….”
“….”

A lukewarm hand.

A hand large enough to cover my entire face descended with the deliberate slowness of a spider’s legs, wrapping around my shoulders. The faint sound of cutlery chimed softly near my ear.

When those fingers brushed against my neck and cheek, I found myself laughing without thinking.

Clatter.

“…haha.”
“May I eat you?”
“No.”

Even that was a question.

The large hand wrapped around my throat.

* * *

Being caught by the seeker did not result in immediate death.

Lee Yeon-woo silently wiped his neck. There was no trace on his white gloves. Save for a few drops of blood picked up during the chase and dust suspended in the stale air, he appeared remarkably unscathed.

“….”

How absurd.

A wave of deflation washed over me. Whatever scheme this was, my vision darkened, and when consciousness returned, I was no longer on the 14th Floor but in the Dining Room.

‘Ever since arriving at this Hotel, I’ve had the same thought each time in different locations, yet I cannot fathom the principle behind it. There is a faint scent of blood lingering, at least….’

Could this be a form of Blood Magic? The thought crossed my mind briefly, but upon seeing the magnificent feast laid before me, Lee Yeon-woo let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“…ha.”

There was no chase sequence in the Game, so I wondered what would happen if I were caught.

‘I’ve broken every rule this Hotel has, and yet here I am again.’

The Tasteless Guest—who devours Human Guests in the order of positive emotions, negative emotions, and blood. His consumption always takes place at the Dining Table.

Just like now.

“….”
“….”

Silence stretched between us. A stillness meant to observe me while simultaneously applying pressure.

‘So he’s decided to target my mind after all….’

And yet another thought emerged.

‘I should have surveyed my surroundings more carefully while fleeing.’

To think the reprieve I’d earned through such elaborate deception and the use of a blood-drawing device would end so pathetically. Whether the Tasteless Guest sensed my bitter resignation or not, he grinned with eyes curved like crescents.

“Let us dine together.”
“Dine, you say.”

Lee Yeon-woo knew what awaited behind this courteous invitation.

“Very well.”

Whether I refused
or accepted.

‘In the end, my emotions will be consumed.’

Much to my dismay, this was already the second penalty following The Wet Person.

* * *

Wherever blood had spilled, one could venture.

Thus, the Bedroom of this wretched spirit who had bled while sleeping was no exception.

There was no reason not to go to a place one could reach, not when certainty demanded it.

“….”

Within that space, the Tasteless Guest beheld a single Tarot card.

Unmistakably inscribed with the words: The Devil.

“….”
“….”
“….”

That became the reason for the second certainty.

“…So it is you.”

Perhaps he

had never known this person at all.

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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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