Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 87

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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 87.

“Did you two have a good conversation?”

In the late hours of dawn, Lee Sun-hae discovered Baek Mu-jin at her residence and offered a crooked smile.

“…Should I call the police?”
“I’d prefer this didn’t become too much of a hassle.”
“I never invited my uncle here, so I’m curious how this came about.”
“Let’s drop the pleasantries.”
“I see you took that as pleasantries.”
“The conversation.”
….

The smile faded from Lee Sun-hae’s face, fresh from wrapping up filming. She was exhausted, on the verge of collapse, but the unfortunate truth was that she had no choice but to answer him.

While her best friend Hong Kyung-yeon had lost his memories and worried about all the wrong things, who else could she possibly confide in about these roiling emotions but Baek Mu-jin?

“He looked worse than you described.”
“Worse than my account?”
“I didn’t see him myself, so an exact comparison is difficult, but yes. He looked far more haggard than you portrayed.”
“That’s a delicate way to put it.”
“He didn’t look human anymore.”

To be honest, it was unsettling.

“I’m not sure if it was a hallucination or something else…”
“Right.”
“For a moment, I… how should I say it? That…”
“Did you quit the Director position?”
“You certainly have a way with words.”

Lee Sun-hae sat across from Baek Mu-jin and exhaled a hollow breath.

“He looked like the Water Ghost.”

Footsteps that made almost no sound.

A formal suit draped over a large, sturdy frame. Deep fatigue settling beneath the lenses of his glasses. His face was youthful for an adult, yet the downward gaze from his tall stature—wasn’t that something I already knew?

But to Lee Sun-hae’s eyes, seeing it again that day….

“….”

It was as if.

“…exactly like someone who had drowned….”

Or rather, more than that.

“He looked like a corpse.”

That’s why it was so chilling.

“Want to see some directorial eloquence?”
“I’m listening.”
“His neatly combed hair was soaked with water, clinging to his forehead and cheeks. His black suit hung damp and shapeless, having lost all definition. The gaze behind his glasses—it hardly felt alive at all.”
“That’s quite the directorial description, actually. Intriguing.”
“Those eyes were so wrong. It was only for a moment, but I saw it. I know what the eyes of a waterlogged corpse look like. For just that brief instant, his eyes looked exactly like that.”

His gaze remained clear and honest, yet it was grotesque beyond measure.

His face was still youthful, but his skin bore that distinctive pallor of someone submerged for far too long. His lips had taken on a bluish tint, and the air around his body reeked of terrible dampness.

As if he might be dragged back beneath the water’s surface at any moment.

“Truly, for less than a second—I saw him like that.”
“That would make excellent horror film material.”
“Ha, I won’t deny it. It was a disturbing experience, even for me.”

Lee Sun-hae rubbed her face and continued.

“…but that wasn’t the only problem, sir. It seemed like something had gone wrong with his emotions—perhaps even his memories. To exaggerate slightly, he looked like an entirely different person wearing Lee Yeon-woo’s face.”

She exhaled and asked.

“Is that what you mentioned before? The name, the tail, and the mask?”
“I’m glad it proved useful. You haven’t neglected your studies.”
“What exactly is that child’s situation? No, never mind that for now. What state has Lee Yeon-woo ended up in? Half dead? What does that even mean?”
“Didn’t you sense it to some degree through our direct conversation?”
“It’s just too difficult to explain in words. I can tell something has gone terribly wrong, but I can’t define that state….”
“You’re quite interested in that child.”
“You said it’s because of me.”

That voice was surprisingly calm.

“If I created this situation, I should take responsibility for it. Since I’m not in a position to take responsibility immediately, I need to understand how this mess will unfold.”
“….”

Yes, when I saw her then, she was definitely someone who chose hardship for herself.

Baek Mu-jin spoke.

“…Born with the destiny to become a villain.”

Lee Sun-hae, who had been pulling at her own hair, startled and asked back.

“What? What do you mean? Are you talking about Lee Yeon-woo?”
“Yet she persists stubbornly.”
“Such harsh words for such a remarkable student?”
“It was praise. You’re taking it poorly.”

Baek Mu-jin tended to trust what he saw, heard, and felt. His ability to evaluate the worth of something was unparalleled.

“It would have been easier if she were simply a villain.”
“Really, even a curse like this?”
“Do you know what that Labyrinth is? What that Hotel is?”
“Isn’t it a psychiatric hospital for monsters?”
“In a sense, it’s similar.”

She grasped the context quite well.

“But to put it more bluntly, it’s not a psychiatric hospital—it’s a hunting ground.”
“A hunting ground… Are you referring to Venatio? That thing where beasts and gladiators fight?”
“Within the knowledge you possess, that comparison fits best.”

Though far more exhausting than that, I must admit.

“The structure of that Labyrinth is simple. The more humans suffer and anguish, the more its Guests delight. Even the Hotel itself does. Strictly speaking, humans there aren’t Guests at all—they’re prey or quarry.”
“You’re saying it’s not even a psychiatric hospital….”
“A hospital exists to heal, but if you received that impression, it’s solely due to the influence of one person: Lee Yeon-woo. Fundamentally, that Labyrinth feeds on human negativity as its primary sustenance.”
“I see.”

Baek Mu-jin continued speaking while sipping tea he’d never actually served.

“So the most basic structure would be this: enchant humans with a magnificent facade and service, then have the true Guests toy with them or savor them….”
“….”
“That’s how such a deep and vast Labyrinth sustains itself.”

His words weren’t wrong. In fact, the most fundamental gameplay of the Horror Hotel Management Simulation Game called “Hotel One” was exactly that. Even the developers had conceived of this structure first.

Preventing casualties depended entirely on the user’s competence and disposition. Not just skill, but that obsessive determination and fixation—the kind that drove one to achieve the “No Kill” Achievement at any cost.

“…uh….”

Lee Sun-hae, who knew nothing of this, felt her mind growing dizzy.

“…Couldn’t we just kidnap him?”
“If you’re truly curious to see the entire world flip upside down, by all means try. I won’t stop you, though I won’t cheer either.”
“You’re serious.”

She felt as though she might burst.

“Why would the entire world flip upside down?”
“That Labyrinth appears to be quite popular among the lesser spirits. If they were to lose a sanctuary they’d finally grown fond of, who could possibly manage their temperament?”
“Lesser spirits… you mean Dokkaebi, right? The Sentient Species?”

Sentient Species—the academic designation for those entities known in Korea as Dokkaebi.

“Why specifically him?”
“He has considerable skill in training creatures.”
“Pardon?”
“Fundamentally, his emotions are duller than average, he possesses perfectionist tendencies, and he prioritizes efficiency and rationality. He’s gifted with many talents and carries strong pride, but above all, his ability to enchant living beings is exceptional.”
“….”
“Moreover, he’s made the Labyrinth his nest. That child gains more the further he abandons his humanity, and loses more the further he preserves it. Had he found even the slightest easier path just once….”
“….”
“You wouldn’t have survived.”

Baek Mu-jin stroked his chin while examining the newspaper.

“But now even that small humanity is being eroded. When I first saw him, it was warmth; this time, emotion. If what you say is true, it could also be memory. What do you think comes next?”
“How would I know that?”
“I’m not sure you understand my meaning now.”

Flap—
He turned the page of the newspaper as he spoke.

“That child is placed in an environment where becoming evil is far too easy.”

It’s the fate he was born into.

“Yet he said he would endure, so he will endure—traditional Dokkaebi despise lies, after all. Of course, the form in which he perseveres may not sit well with you.”
“…What….”
“Let’s see, based on everything said so far….”

Baek Mu-jin’s voice remained composed as ever.

“Either Lee Yeon-woo’s humanity is wearing away, or he’s splitting into two.”
“….”
“In any case, since he said he’s making an effort not to lose ‘himself,’ it must be one of those two scenarios, wouldn’t it?”

Lee Sun-hae laughed as if finding it absurd.

“You certainly act like you’re hearing this for the first time from me.”
“There’s a guardian assigned to you—why would I go through such tedious trouble?”
“You say ‘surveillance personnel’ quite boldly.”
“Remember that the purpose is protection above all else. For now, you’ll need that protection.”

As it turned out, Baek Mu-jin had already heard the account from the men who had accompanied Lee Sun-hae.

“Then perhaps it would be better for his sense of self to split in two in order to preserve ‘Lee Yeon-woo’. After all, he did respond toward the end, didn’t he?”
“He definitely responded to the three characters of the name ‘Lee Yeon-woo’. I’m certain of that.”
“And the Hotel General Manager?”
“He responded to that as well.”
“Then it hasn’t clearly divided yet….”
“So how different would the two be?”
“They could be the same.”

Seeing how he clung to remaining pristine even through all of it—such stubbornness was no ordinary thing. His nature wouldn’t go anywhere, so even if he truly did split, a clean separation would be difficult.

No matter how much one separates and preserves, how much difference could there really be between what exists and what doesn’t?

“….”

I was curious how he would compose himself.

“If the same body uses the same mind, then it cannot be called different either. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I don’t quite understand.”
“I haven’t witnessed it directly myself either.”
“What, explain it more clearly.”
“Appearances aside, I’m quite a busy person, so it’ll be difficult for a while.”
“A person like that breaks into his nephew’s house uninvited?”
“Thanks to that, I heard an interesting story.”

It seemed I would need to visit and check on his condition when time permitted.

“It would be a waste to leave something so precious unattended.”

Baek Mu-jin does not lay hands on what is precious. For something to be truly precious, it must exist naturally. But if it ultimately remains ‘precious’….

Shouldn’t I establish a more favorable relationship than now?

* * *

“….”
“….”

And Lee Yeon-woo found himself lost in deep contemplation.

“…Something….”
“Yes.”
“It seemed wrong somehow.”
“Yes.”
“What could it have been?”
“Yes….”

Coco sat in the same posture, front paws crossed, staring blankly into empty space. Observing that vacant response—as if counting dust motes suspended in air—Lee Yeon-woo determined it unwise to seek counsel from that quarter and murmured again.

“There’s no way to know.”

It was unsettling.

“‘Take care of yourself’ is a common farewell, but human language carries nuance even in identical sentences. That wasn’t merely ordinary concern for someone who neglects their own well-being.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“If you don’t understand well, you may simply say so, Coco.”
“Yes.”
“A splendid answer, befitting an honest cat.”

Truthfully, I myself was uncertain. My entire database of emotional data had vanished. Without past situations to compare and analyze against, I wondered: ‘Am I being oversensitive?’

But then, what was it?

‘What had I been worried about?’

What concern was it truly about?

It was too much to dismiss as mere sensitivity and mood. There seemed to be something I had yet to grasp—some untold story.

‘Perhaps it stems from accepting my own reassurances as lies, but something… something more fundamental than that… there was definitely something.’

Yet it was only natural that Lee Yeon-woo could not comprehend the situation.

‘What on earth…?’

He did not understand the physiology of the Gap Society.

As a rational adult, it was rather difficult for me to accept the thought that I might be dominated by a powerful black flame dragon and develop a split personality.

Though I’ve omitted much, the summary was roughly that kind of situation.

“….”
“….”
“…Hmm.”

And such doubts and unease quickly dissipated. The Tasteless Guest’s penalty was functioning reliably even in his absence.

‘In a way it’s an advantage, but since there’s neither carrot nor whip within me now, I should be careful.’

Still, with a considerably lighter heart, Lee Yeon-woo rose from the desk in the Manager’s Quarters.

“It doesn’t seem like immediate problems will arise.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“And first, there’s something more important than that.”
“Yes?”
“It’s eating.”

Lee Yeon-woo declared matter-of-factly.

“Today I can finally escape this newborn sunfish existence.”

Time had been delayed somewhat while attending to Director Lee Sun-hae.

In an emergency, the caregiver was supposed to put on the oxygen mask first, then help the child. That principle hadn’t changed even though the setting had become the Horror Hotel.

And the caregiver of this hotel was Lee Yeon-woo.

“….”

[Maintenance function activated.]
[Beginning the Hotel’s renovation.]

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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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