Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 88

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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 88.

“….”

The corners of my eyes, slit like a serpent’s, trembled faintly.

“…Senpai, are we going to die today?”
“I really want to cry.”
“No, don’t cry—just answer the question.”
“I want to go home….”
“I feel the same way.”
“Sigh.”

Seme answered with an exhausted expression.

“At least it doesn’t seem to be a Labyrinth of ordinary difficulty.”

Even if I complained aloud, I still had to do what needed to be done. No matter how geometrically our survival odds plummeted, surrendering to despair would solve nothing.

“If I collapse and start sobbing, just run. I don’t want to watch a precious artist die like this….”
“Senpai, why do you always say such things?”
“Of course I’ll do my best—I promised to help you.”
“That’s actually so moving that now I want to cry too.”

Rawi, who had been hesitating, ran his fingers through his short hair. The scarred corner of his mouth stiffened awkwardly.

“…This isn’t an ordinary situation at all, is it?”
“We might have run afoul of a bad-tempered Dokkaebi.”
“It’ll be difficult to escape alive.”
“Don’t prepare yourself mentally just yet.”
“But still….”

Rawi murmured in a whisper.

“This place is frightening.”

The disturbance began at the Rocky Shore.

Squelching, damp footsteps. Yet contrasting sharply with them were the children’s bright, innocent faces. It was, of course, a Monster, and when I killed it and checked again, it bore the appearance of a corpse bloated and burst by water.

But that wasn’t all.

“I hear strange sounds coming from the seawater.”
“Try not to listen if you can. It drains your strength….”
“I wish I could do that too.”

Those were two voices. Sentences I had never spoken before were bleeding through the sound of waves. My own voice was manageable, but when I heard Seme’s voice, confusion overwhelmed me.

Each time bubbles burst, it sounded like children singing in chorus, or perhaps the desperate gasping of someone drowning overlapped with it. Rawi felt a chill creep down my spine.

“Strange things appear too.”

The shadows between them appeared as three instead of two. Or sometimes one would vanish, disappearing entirely. Wet footprints not belonging to them would race ahead of us both.

The bloodied fish that had thrashed upon the rock plunged into the sea as if committing suicide. Each time foam crashed against the stone and burst, I saw laughing faces, wailing faces.

“That’s….”
“I told you not to dwell on it.”
“….”

Among them was my own face as well.

“…I’m trying.”

I approached what I thought was someone there, only to find a corpse wearing my own face. In the pooled water, our reflections began to exchange places. I saw Seme’s face, and Seme saw mine.

‘Were the fragments in the rock crevices that looked like seashells actually human fingernails?’

The sound of something clicking and clacking as it was swept away by the waves resembled the tapping of a wooden door. I tried to cover my ears but gave up. I had learned by now that it would reach me regardless.

“This place isn’t safe either, is it?”
“Once we’ve rested enough, we should move on.”

We were inside a Shipwreck. Seme rose from where she sat.

“Seal the oxygen respirator again, as tightly as you can. Since I spent quite a bit on it, you should be able to use it without problems for about a week.”
“Thank you for this, but… you’re sure you’re okay, senior?”
“To be honest, my mind feels a bit scattered. The water composition here seems strange. I’m no alchemist, so I can’t say for certain.”

Rawi made a self-deprecating remark.

“Live long and well.”
“Dying at sixteen would certainly be unfair.”
“Even hearing that again, it’s an age the human rights commission would take a report on.”
“There are no human rights in the Gap.”
“I know that.”

Seme, a veteran of the Mercenary Corps, was sixteen. Rawi, a rookie, was nineteen. While not quite as resigned as Seme, Rawi still felt a pang of injustice at the thought of dying in this place.

He made a whimpering sound, his eyes widening pitifully.

“I even wrote a will, but that doesn’t mean I was saying I’d die right away~….”
“Oh, you did? Good thinking. Wise for a rookie.”
“It sounds so sincere that it makes me even sadder.”
“You’re really annoying.”

Seme glanced around before asking.

“…How many bullets do we have left?”
“Enough for about three days and nights of continuous use?”
“That should be enough for us to share until the oxygen respirator breaks.”
“Senior.”

Rawi looked at his temporary senior.

“Are you going to help me?”
“….”

Seme shrugged.

“You’ve got quite the personality.”
“Huh, me?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll die before you do.”
“Swinging between reassurance and frustration.”
“It’s fine to be purely happy about it. Working as a Mercenary Corps in the Gap means you’ve already abandoned that much shame.”
“Learning something new again.”
“More than that….”

An old navigation chart embedded in the wooden plank wall. Seme swept his hand through the empty air as if tracing it.

“…For some reason, it feels like they know us.”

Seme’s name and Rawi’s were written with an eerie density. Clean and antiquated like passages from scripture, yet packed so tightly they were difficult to discern.

“I don’t think I haven’t made enemies while working as a Mercenary Corps, but at least I’ve never done anything to catch the Dokkaebi’s eye. And I don’t have the capability for that anyway….”
“Just to be safe, I should mention I don’t know much either. Until I entered the Gap, I lived fairly cleanly. As for my family, I have no idea how they’ve lived… well.”

Rawi spoke while looking at the Wet Person’s passenger manifest.

“Senior, would you take a look at this?”
“Huh.”

Seme asked in that characteristic weary voice.

“Can I pass out?”
“Can you? Not a chance. Then who’d protect me?”
“What am I supposed to do with that personality….”

The manifest bore both their names, with the cause of death recorded as “drowning.” A curse disguised as something other than a curse directed at two people who were very much alive.

“…Ah….”

Perhaps it looked like a prophecy.

“An R-rated flesh party would’ve been better.”
“It wouldn’t have been ‘would’ve been better’—it would’ve been better, period.”
“Right, as expected.”

If only there were clear enemies and visible traps. In a situation this ambiguous and unsettling, neither Rawi, the newcomer, nor Seme could grasp what to do or how to proceed.

“….”

Seme peered beyond the Navigation Room where they were hiding.

The Wet Person stood in a line down the Corridor, then vanished with a sound like crashing waves. Only wet footprints remained where he’d been—and only then did I realize what I’d heard wasn’t the sound of waves at all.

“…What a terrible temperament….”

Dokkaebi were all like that, or so they said, but this one was exceptionally vicious.

‘And the range is enormous.’

I couldn’t fathom how vast this Labyrinth truly was.

Even for Seme, a mage with innate immunity to Labyrinths, even with her water affinity, there were limits to comprehending and enduring this place.

‘What’s his purpose? Mere amusement? Or does he want something specific from us?’

If he had a clear objective, I could at least attempt negotiation.

Some Dokkaebi grew stronger by consuming people, while others could only survive under specific conditions. What made it worse was the possibility that he might simply be playing these ‘games’ for no reason whatsoever.

That was simply the nature of Dokkaebi.

“Utterly unpredictable.”
“Pardon? Me?”
“No, the Dokkaebi.”
“Ah, I see….”
“Let’s move.”

The bloated, burst corpse didn’t return. Upon inspection, it didn’t appear to be a trap, at least—though unease lingered. But moving now seemed the better choice.

“…Senior.”
“We have no choice.”

Seme shook her head.

“You’d want to say it’s strange, wouldn’t you? Suddenly, the Monsters aren’t coming. Even if it’s not a trap, you’d probably suggest that there’s a natural predator of those Monsters in this area.”
“…That’s right.”
“But do you know what’s most important in the Labyrinth?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure?”
“Remaining an interesting existence.”

I had to play my part.

“You need to become something unpredictable to this Labyrinth.”
“…Will that increase our survival rate?”
“At least it’s better than hiding quietly and boring your opponent to death.”
“I suppose we have no choice.”

Rawi wasn’t foolish enough to refuse when the path was laid out before him.

“Senior, take the lead.”
“Keep a careful watch around us.”

Seme tapped the corner of his eyes lightly. Since Rawi’s specialty was “marksmanship,” it would be better for him to cover the rear, even for a veteran like Seme.

An artist was someone who possessed unconventional talent that transcended the experience of a veteran mercenary.

* * *

“…A Village….”

Seme, having murmured thus, corrected himself.

“…It’s closer to a City than a Village.”
“Is it that large?”
“Yes.”

Seme surveyed his surroundings. The water mist still made it difficult to discern the terrain, but he could tell this place was quite expansive and well-formed.

Like a Village that had actually existed.

“…It’s the Labyrinth, so in a way, it makes sense….”
“Are Labyrinths usually this expansive?”
“No, this place being special is correct. However, a Labyrinth is typically constructed based on actual events or memorable stories.”
“So this place could be an actual city to some extent, then.”
“But generally, they’re made smaller than this.”

Ultimately, a Labyrinth could only become a film or documentary.

“Even if created from actual events, it’s difficult to capture everything. In reality, documentaries also cut what needs cutting and only convey information that viewers need to know.”
“Well, there would be various constraints….”
“But if it’s this expansive, it means it has enough power to contain that much.”
“Are we done for?”
“That’s why I’m telling you not to give up on life already.”

Seme drew his sword.

“You won’t die before I do. Probably.”
“Probably?”
“What do you expect from a mere mercenary.”

Seme wasn’t remarkable enough to offer certainty or promises in a situation like this. I’m merely a competent mage. Since we’ve come this far, I’ll do my best to protect you, but I couldn’t say I’d get you out alive.

“Sigh, I really hate this kind of thing….”
“You can’t watch horror films?”
“Jump scares are what I hate most.”
“We haven’t had any of those yet.”
“That’s why I’m not face-down crying yet….”

In the middle of the Village, a Table laden with food. Everyone seated around it was drenched. In fact, if you blinked twice, it wasn’t even “food.”

Only a single Drowned Corpse lay there—something that could hardly be called human in form.

‘…Why did I think that was food….’

Even my brain was being wrung out.

“…Let’s keep moving.”
“Did you discover something, sir?”
“I’m not certain.”
“Still, I’d like to hear what you found.”
“Well, it’s…”

Seme spoke as we passed the motionless figures—no, the Drowned Corpses—sprawled across the ground.

“There’s a different area separate from this place.”

Notably, it had far less moisture.

“I’m not sure if it’s intentional or what, but that small zone is oddly devoid of water. So I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is… but at least we might be able to escape this fog.”

That alone held tremendous significance for them.

In the empty Village, windows occasionally glowed with light. Someone smiled and waved. But both of them already knew from repeated experience that no one had smiled, and no one had waved at all.

Entering would only reveal empty houses with water stains left behind.

“…I hope that area doesn’t feel like those houses.”
“If it does, I’m not sure I can endure it.”

Inside the house lay framed photographs. The backgrounds shifted gradually. From the Cathedral to the Rocky Shore. From the Rocky Shore to the Shipwreck. From the Shipwreck to the Cave. From the Cave to the Cliff. From the Cliff to the Village.

‘And in the last photograph we saw, both of us were lying in coffins.’

The way our faces in the photographs blurred with water, becoming increasingly grotesque, troubled me. Such a prank would be meaningless unless it were a warning or prophecy.

After walking for a long time, no more Monsters attacked us. In that eerie silence, it was Rawi who spoke first, as always.

“It’s probably just my imagination.”
“Let me hear it anyway.”
“Being here like this… it feels like we’re dead.”
“It’s just your imagination.”
“I suppose so…”

The silence was unnaturally profound.

“Get used to it.”

Rawi spoke with casual indifference, as though stating the obvious.

‘…At least I have the oxygen respirator for now, but I can feel my condition deteriorating bit by bit.’

I pressed my numb ears firmly, thinking to myself. It felt exactly like drowning—like a child pulled under.

‘Is the water mist seeping in through my ears too?’

I was beginning to lose my mind.

We walked in silence for a long stretch. It would be more accurate to say my stamina was depleting. We had brought provisions, but that was beside the point—this place had something that devoured human vitality itself.

After walking for quite some time, it happened.

“…That’s….”

Unexpectedly, an Elevator came into view.

“….”
“…Damn it, what the hell.”

…And standing before it, a girl.

The Wet Person, completely drenched.

“….”
“….”
“…Ah, damn it….”

Dying together would be faster than dying one after the other.

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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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