Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 72

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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 72.

[The Card of Truth Veiled by Friendship]
[Memory of Connection: Summer Flower’s Feast]

[Registering new recipe to compendium.]
[Yes/No]

[Yes]

“….”
“I like flowers too.”
“…I’ll prepare a bouquet.”
“Fill it with poppies.”
“Understood.”

She deserved as much.

“Let’s do it that way.”

This too was a tale from the time when dawn was breaking.

* * *

Sitting atop the desk with fingers interlaced, Lee Yeon-woo spoke.

“Now, all I can trust is reason.”
“Yes.”

Coco, clinging to the desk like melted Slime, answered in kind.

“Yes.”
“I heard you.”
“Yes.”
“Stop.”
“Yes.”
“I told you to stop.”
“Whine….”
“….”

I was exhausted to death, and yet here was this creature throwing a tantrum.

‘No.’

Stop. At that voice of reason, Lee Yeon-woo miraculously suppressed a sigh. He ignored the heat rising in his head. He murmured inwardly to himself as if brainwashing his own mind.

‘Sighing in someone’s face diminishes both their worth and mine. Just because my emotional state isn’t stable doesn’t give me the right to treat others unfairly.’

Of course, the other party isn’t human, but calm down. You are human. The essence of humanity is radiant reason. No matter how much of a monster that thing is, no.

‘No. Stop that too.’

Diminishing others to excuse yourself is an ugly thing to do. Sure enough, Coco’s expression grew even more sullen. The tail that had been swishing about in discontent came to a halt. It must have read my thoughts.

“….”
“….”
“…You understand, but I don’t normally think this way.”

Faced with no response, Lee Yeon-woo ran a hand through his hair. He felt like he was going mad.

‘At my age, and I’m doing this so well.’

Suddenly, a wave of self-loathing and displeasure threatened to overwhelm him.

Within the positive emotions lay something about connection. The feelings I’d accumulated through all our time together had evaporated. What remained was only irritation toward the suspect and stress from loss of control, so even the way I referred to it had become twisted.

‘When I first saw Coco, no.’

If I had first encountered Coco in a state of complete ignorance, I would have felt this way. If I had been dragged here by a complete stranger of a monster, not a game character I’d spent 26 years with.

‘But I can’t call a friend I’ve only just grown close to “that thing” or a Monster.’

I know I shouldn’t.

I don’t even know for certain if Coco was the one who kidnapped me. Right now, I’m trying to pour negative emotions onto a being I’ve spent five years with based solely on circumstantial evidence. How immature can I be?

‘Even if it’s true that Coco dragged me to the Facility, it doesn’t change anything. Looking for someone to resent by being swayed by emotions like this is too childish. I need to find a solution rather than get angry…’

Lee Yeon-woo looked at Coco. She was keeping her distance without even meeting his gaze. According to the Lee Yeon-woo in my memories, this was the point where I should have thought, ‘How cute she looks huddled up like that.’

“Yes!”

Quite rudely, I didn’t feel that way at all right now.

“Whimper….”
“I’m sorry.”

Coco, who had regained some vitality, drooped listlessly again.

I felt frustrated in turn. I could manage not speaking, but my thoughts were too tangled to organize in this complicated situation.

“I’m the one who’s wronged. It’s all because of the Tasteless Guest, no. No, wait….”

In that moment, the sensation of the Tasteless Guest’s cold, massive hand touching the nape of my neck returned vividly.

That vivid sensation of insects crawling across skin—the horrifying contamination of being devoured by another’s hand while stripped of control. Repulsive and filthy. Defiled.

And because I couldn’t quite shake that feeling….

“….”
“Hello…?”
“Sigh….”

Lee Yeon-woo roughly removed his glasses and set them down, then splashed his face with dry hands. My fingers trembled as I pressed my thumbs and ring fingers against my temples, fighting off an irritable headache—perhaps closer to phantom pain—as I did.

“Hello, hello….”
“Wait.”

I covered Coco’s eyes with my hand, then lowered the hand that had been cradling my face toward my neck.

“Huh?”

I rubbed at my sleeve frantically,

“No?”

then raked my nails across the skin,

“No.”
“…That’s right.”

Finally, I saw blood staining the white gloves.

“This is truly something I shouldn’t do.”
“Hello.”
“It’s not easy.”

My body had already grown weak from the tutorial. Even through the cotton gloves, my skin flushed easily, and unable to resist the urge, blood finally began to seep through. It wasn’t a small amount.

“This is really, it’s so disgusting.”

It was difficult to shake off the compulsion to wash, to scrub, to peel it away. It was different from simply feeling “dirty.” It felt like something was clinging to my body. Seeping in, lingering.

“If I just tear it off a bit…”

wouldn’t it get better?

“N-no?!”
“….”
“No! No! No!”
“So loud….”
“No!!”
“Ugh.”

The action that was about to follow was interrupted as Coco climbed onto my shoulder and wedged herself between my hand and skin.

‘Squishy.’

The damp sensation of the Monster attempting to restrain my actions. A chill ran through my entire body—repulsive, yet paradoxically, that foreign sensation severed the rising compulsion in an instant.

As the tail brushed across my face, I blinked.

“….”
“….”
“…Right, I can’t keep doing this. How shameless of me….”

In the wake of the tail’s passage, I covered my face with my hands and slowly steadied my breathing, working to recover my composure. Yet my mind churned relentlessly with the same refrain.

‘Don’t shirk responsibility.’

You’re not a child.

‘You can’t dump what you’ve done onto someone else. Even if they were the catalyst, the one at fault here is you. Own it and fix it.’

But he started it first.

‘Shut up.’

I needed to shut up.

“….”

I removed my hands from my face and roughly wiped away the blood droplets lingering on my neck.

“At my age, and yet such infantile emotional swings.”
“Infantile?”
“Since receiving my resident registration certificate, I’ve never been in such a pathetic state.”
“Resident registration certificate?”
“The South Korean Government issues an identification code to each individual.”
“Coco. Understand.”
“How utterly pathetic I’ve become.”

Exhaustion crashed over me all at once.

‘Positive emotions have run dry. I’m vulnerable to the negative ones.’

In the midst of it all, my reason was struggling desperately to return to who I’d been before. This, well.

“I suppose you could call it a dissociation of self.”
“Yes….”
“Yes?”
“Ah, no….”
“No, that’s not it. No.”

Please, just stop.

‘The other me is worried right now.’

First making judgments on my own, then bristling at the slightest correction of facts—what was I trying to accomplish?

The sensation felt profoundly unfamiliar. Lee Yeon-woo was absorbing everything around me with hypersensitivity. It wasn’t merely sensitivity; I was twisting every word into something sinister.

‘Remember this—you’re not in your right mind.’

Before I could continue conquering the 14th Floor, I had to master myself first. Lee Yeon-woo steadied and organized myself, issuing a command: acknowledge every action you take as worthless.

“…hah….”

Everything in the world felt suffused with negativity, enough to drive me mad. Now I understood a hundred times over why those who had faced the Tasteless Guest at Ho-won had surrendered their minds so listlessly.

“Brain surgery doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.”
“Yes?”
“This is unbearably tedious.”
“Yes?”
“It would be far easier to operate without emotions.”
“No?”
“What would you know about it anyway. No.”

Before I could finish speaking, Lee Yeon-woo’s brow furrowed. The urge surged again—to claw at my own skin until it peeled away. My gloved hand twitched irritably toward my throat, but—

Clang—!!

“….”
“….”

Rather than leap onto Lee Yeon-woo, Coco forcefully shoved the silver candlestick from the desk, sending it crashing to the floor. The violent clatter tore through the silence of the room.

“….”

My gaze, suspended in the void, shifted toward the candlestick scattered across the floor and Coco, perched precariously at the edge of the desk, watching me intently.

I slowly withdrew my hand from my throat.

“…I seem to keep repeating myself. I apologize.”
“No.”
“It’s more effective than I expected.”

I smoothed down my wrinkled jacket with deliberate precision, my eyes rolling briefly. After a moment’s consideration, I offered a smile without the slightest hint of disturbance.

“I appreciate you deliberately avoiding contact. Thank you.”
“No….”
“From now on, just listen to only the pleasant parts of what I say. Do you understand, Coco? I’ve lost control, so you need to filter what you hear. I’m asking you to do this.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“I apologize again. I’m sorry in advance. I’ll do my best to manage….”
“Yes.”
“Right.”

I took a deep breath.

It’s fine. I already know the trick. First, I need to separate the personal from the professional.

‘Don’t let my feelings become my demeanor.’

Step outside emotion and see reality clearly.

It wasn’t that difficult. I knew this already.

What was stolen was emotion, not reason. My memories remained intact. I had managed well until now—I could take pride in that. Those memories would sustain me now.

‘It’s not difficult.’

Admit it. You don’t want to accept how you’re falling apart.

‘I’m just following what I remember.’

I’ve done this countless times—responding to new situations in light of past experience.

The scale had merely grown. It wasn’t difficult. Nothing had become more complex. The problem before me now was one I had faced countless times before—only the circumstances and context had shifted slightly.

‘I used to have confidence in this kind of work. Now that confidence has vanished, yet I know only this fact: that I am capable of doing it. And because of that, certainty remains.’

Moreover.

“….”

Remember that all emotions are two-sided.

“…There is no emotion anywhere that ends cleanly.”

Just as there is exhilaration within anger, and relief within sorrow.

“I simply… became flustered for a moment because things I took for granted disappeared. Because it felt unfamiliar, because I was afraid, I wanted to sustain myself with whatever remained. That’s natural. There’s nothing strange about it.”

Therefore, I can improve further. Having descended this far, all that remains is to climb back up.

“Break what’s flawed.”
“….”
“Let’s reassemble from the beginning.”

As perfectly as possible.

Lee Yeon-woo set his glasses down on the desk. Even the forced smile I’d been attempting to muster crumbled stiffly. Each time, I’m reminded of my own ungainly nature.

I really am not someone suited to smiling.

“Then that’s enough.”
“Really?”
“….”

Instead of answering, I hesitated before stroking Coco’s head with a stiff hand. The soft, gelatinous texture beneath my fingertips sent revulsion surging from my core, but I had not lived long enough to be swayed by such things.

“…It won’t take long.”

Lee Yeon-woo confirmed the hunting dagger floating beyond his inventory.

“….”

[Noble Mercy]
[To chase a fleeing beast for long is beneath dignity. When its breath grows ragged, the Nobility draws near and severs it. Whose blood is this? Does it belong to the one who wields the blade, or to the one who bleeds?]

“….”
“….”

[Critical Hit on targets with 20% HP or below (damage reduced if HP condition not met)]
[Inflicts temporary status abnormality ‘Excessive Bleeding’ upon attack]
[Upon use, triggers ‘Agitation’ judgment on adjacent targets]

Ah….

‘Ah.’

The light drained from Lee Yeon-woo’s eyes.

‘I really don’t want to do this.’
“I understood.”
“In that case, ‘I understand’ would be more appropriate.”
“I understand. Hello?”
“No, that lacks coherence.”

As if I wasn’t reluctant enough, there was the matter of what the old me had done.

“You were quite defiant just now, weren’t you?”
“Fine.”
“Compared to the image you’ll need to project going forward, you were far too rigid in front of him.”
“Fine!”
“You’ll have to cover the lack of plausibility with acting skill.”
“Hehe!”
“Is that even remotely reasonable for someone whose entire life has been dedicated to research?”

It wasn’t.

“If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve gone to drama school.”

The bar was set far too high for someone with a degree in life sciences.

I could manage flattering my superiors or creating a domino chain of bomb shots at a company dinner venue. But this? This was an entirely different realm altogether.

“It’s not an act of living—it’s an act of survival, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“I suppose that makes immersion far less difficult.”

With my very life hanging in the balance, desperation came naturally. Failure meant a bloodbath.

“The material is good, so I’ll have to give it everything I’ve got.”
“Coco! I guarantee it!”
“What exactly are you guaranteeing based on? What do you see in me?”

Lee Yeon-woo nodded dryly.

“But I know I should be grateful at times like this.”
“Hehe.”
“Thank you for your encouragement.”
“Hehe!”

It had to work out.

It simply had to.

* * *

Otherwise, I couldn’t endure it.

“….”

Yes.

To be honest, it was grueling.

“….”
“Hello?”
“No.”

Inside the Elevator ascending to the 14th Floor once more.

“You don’t seem to be doing so well.”

Lee Yeon-woo stood rigidly before the elevator doors, his gaze fixed upon them. Yet his hands trembled imperceptibly, and cold sweat continued to bead across his skin—physiological responses he could not suppress.

“This feels different from fear, somehow.”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t seem like something that can be lumped together as mere stress, either.”
“Yes.”
“I regret this.”

Extreme stress, unfiltered and raw, crashed directly against the detonator of his mind. He controlled his breathing with mechanical precision.

“It’s not that I was originally incapable of feeling emotions of this kind.”

Ding—
The elevator arrived at the 14th Floor.

“So….”

The metallic scent of blood brushing against my nostrils, and the brutal traces scattered throughout the floor.

“….”
“….”

I’m going to lose my mind.

“Hello?”
“I’m not sure.”

Near my ankles, Coco—who would normally have clung to the hem of my pants as an excuse for anxiety—lay obediently at a distance of precisely one palm’s width from the tip of my shoe.

Perhaps it had been since that incident at the Lodging. He seemed to understand that my aversion to contact, my sensitivity, had reached its peak. In that regard, Coco’s perceptiveness was remarkable.

“I appreciate your consideration.”
“Coco. Help.”
“You’ve been of great help.”

It was praise as dry as bone, yet Coco’s tail curled slightly at the tip.

“What a pathetic thought.”
“No.”
“I just wish I could rest without any worries.”
“The Lodging. The Bedroom.”
“Lying there won’t solve this problem, though.”
“That’s correct.”
“I wish I could have escaped if the situation allowed it.”

The Elevator doors remained open.

“This really isn’t easy….”

Lee Yeon-woo’s lips curved gracefully as he gazed beyond.

‘What if I die?’
‘There are too many Watchers here.’
‘I don’t want to suffer.’

Only the worst possible endings came to mind.

‘I’m exhausted.’

Lee Yeon-woo, who had been smiling with his eyes downcast, shrugged his shoulders.

“How am I supposed to conquer the 14th Floor like this?”
“Hello?”
“Yes, I’ll still try my best.”

Lee Yeon-woo stared at his reflection in the Elevator wall. An unwrinkled suit, a perfectly knotted tie. The Hotel General Manager’s appearance in the mirror was impeccably composed.

But the blood pulsing through my wrists, twisted with bone-crushing force behind my back, throbbed at my temples. I didn’t want to die. What had I done to deserve this….

“….”

Suddenly, the sensation of hands gripping my throat returned to me.

With gloved hands, I roughly rubbed the back of my neck. Though not a drop of blood stained the bare skin, the cool touch of my assailant’s hands seemed to crawl beneath my skin, twisting my insides.

“No.”
“I see.”

Just before blood could spill, he dropped his hand with a mechanical motion.

“A fair point.”

With a calm voice, he pulled the wrinkled sleeve taut and smooth.

“So, just for a moment….”
“Yes.”
“Let’s take a brief rest.”
“Yes.”
“I apologize.”
“No.”
“What a dreadful person.”

What was he talking about taking a rest for, when he hadn’t done anything at all?

—————
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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