Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 93

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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 93.

Meanwhile, the Wet Person was genuinely experiencing a sense of absurdity. Despite being Su-gwi—a creature close to a concept, with a twisted and tangled sense of self—he felt it keenly.

To summarize the situation:

‘Why are you taking their side…?’

I had come down out of boredom, that much was true.

They seemed far more entertaining than the middle-aged woman from before, and there were two of them, not just one. As playthings to amuse myself with while my busy friend was occupied, they were perfectly suitable.

But even I had rules to follow in this Hotel. More precisely, I had to follow them, and I intended to. This place was no different from my Aqua Park.

And yet….

‘Why am I helping them?’

Even watching from a distance, I found it bewildering.

I knew the prey was hiding. Because of the Hotel’s rules, I didn’t know where, but I also knew that with a few attempts, I’d soon have my fun.

But right after my friend descended into the Hunting Ground, all trace of them vanished.

‘I was only planning to get a taste anyway, but this is too much.’

I didn’t even get a taste—not a drop of blood on my blade!

“….”

No, I could have accepted that much.

‘That’s what my friend does anyway.’

But what truly made the Wet Person’s situation absurd was something else entirely.

‘Why….’

As The Wet Person drew closer to The Friend’s presence, the thought continued.

‘Why has he changed?’

Being a connected existence, I could sense it. Lee Yeon-woo had undoubtedly changed.

Still devoid of warmth, his nature sharper than before, yet his body had grown softer—closer to flesh than to water. For a creature of water like myself, this brought an unbearable anxiety.

It seemed he was treading the path toward becoming a living person once more.

‘Just moments ago, it wasn’t like this. He was my friend, just as before….’

He had changed in an instant. In a single moment, he had drawn closer to humanity. That made it unbearable for The Wet Person. He could abandon me just as suddenly as this.

‘You should be on my side.’

Lee Yeon-woo had always taken my side.

He listened to my stories, died with me. How many times had we sunk beneath the cold water? How many times had I been trapped and confined in the Tank?

‘You’re my friend.’

That’s why I believed.

Unless time itself could be rewound, unless a new story could begin anew, it was impossible to recover the lost warmth. Yet now that impossible thing was about to happen.

I felt an indescribable sorrow and injustice.

‘…If I kill them all again….’

I could see my friend standing beside the young-faced humans.

“….”
“….”

…Our eyes met.

“….”

Ah.

Su-gwi did not block his path.

‘What is this.’

I could only understand immediately.

‘Nothing has changed at all.’

The way he looked at me was the same as before.

A hint of indifference. A touch of bewilderment. Displeasure toward a specter who found joy in wrongdoing. And threading through it all, a faint sense of stability and trust.

Su-gwi called that a bond.

“….”

If The Friend had no problems, then The Wet Person had no reason to be angry.

Unlike humans, The Wet Person’s mood could return to normal in an instant with just one condition. There remained some lingering displeasure at having acted willfully without respecting The Friend, but well.

‘If that’s how it is, I suppose I can let it slide.’

I had not changed completely.

‘The coldness has faded, but my nature has grown sharper.’

But if the bond woven between us remained intact, The Wet Person could overlook it. Even if the contract were to unravel, this friend with those eyes would gladly die by my hand again and again.

‘That’s enough then.’

Having reached that conclusion, The Wet Person leaned against the railing of the rooftop of the moisture-drenched building.

The Friend, naturally pretending not to notice, came into view. And with him, the two playthings trying to survive by clinging to him as a lifeline. Watching The Friend’s expressionless face, The Wet Person’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“….”

I can roughly guess what you’re thinking.

‘No matter how I look at it, this plan is going to fall apart.’

Well, it doesn’t matter.

‘At that level, I could keep pace without much trouble….’

The lonely fish enjoyed most of the games played with the Friend—that irreplaceable companion who would never come again. Even if it was corpse hunting without finesse, bloated and burst, it felt quite fascinating when done alongside him.

So wouldn’t this kind of ‘game’ have its own charm?

“….”

…Still, you should take my side.

Su-gwi gazed at the Friend while plotting to sulk considerably.

Resentment was resentment, after all.

* * *

The Ghost City, weighed down by water mist and the dampness of decaying buildings.

The man who introduced himself as Lee Yeon-woo led Seme and Rawi forward.

But he was a taciturn person. Whether intentional or simply his nature, he walked ahead of them without bothering to engage in unnecessary small talk.

‘…Though I suspect it was intentional….’

Seme continued her thoughts while observing Lee Yeon-woo’s back.

‘The more I see, the more I think he might just be that kind of person naturally.’

Though the ground was slippery and muddy, he walked with unwavering composure and perfect consistency—as if treading across a ballroom floor, his steps were eerily quiet. That told Seme much.

He showed no concern whatsoever for this dreadful Labyrinth’s environment.

‘Or perhaps he’s already controlling it perfectly.’

The black coat clung to his pallid frame without absorbing a trace of moisture. As he walked, his shadow stretched long across the ground, casting an ominous pall over everything.

He maintained the “most appropriate pace” without ever glancing backward—as if he could perceive every detail of their strides and breathing patterns without turning to look.

“….”

Calculated kindness.

His manner of guiding them forward transcended that of a mere benevolent guide. Yet the cold rationality and chilling distance emanating from him created an oppressive presence veiled in mystery.

‘Dignified and refined steps have no place in this Labyrinth….’

Seme remained wary of the strange incongruity radiating from this enigmatic figure. Yet the irony was that his composed, impeccable silhouette remained their only beacon in the darkness.

And then, it happened.

“―Stop.”

What was it?

The articulation was crisp and clear. Devoid of emotional fluctuation, the tone was utterly serene—like still water. It resembled less a command and more an extraordinarily courteous, measured warning.

“…Ah, yes?”

Seme only then realized those words had come from someone’s voice.

“Did I do something wrong…?”
“That wasn’t directed at you, Seme.”

By then he had already turned around, adding his words with a faint sigh.

“It was meant for the thing clinging to your neck.”
“…?”

To the bewildered Seme, Rawi spoke while gazing into empty air.

“Senior.”
“What is it.”
“I think… you need to see something.”
“….”

Only then could Seme understand what Lee Yeon-woo had meant by “stop.”

“…Oh.”

It was transparent.

“A jellyfish…?”

A damp presence within the thick water mist.

A transparent and luminous, jellyfish-shaped monster.

‘What is this now….’

It had merged perfectly with the Labyrinth’s dense fog, appearing as though it were merely a drifting part of the water mist itself. It clung so close that it was difficult to examine in detail.

A faint silhouette revealed through the transmission of light. A sensation cold and viscous. Its transparent tentacles gleamed with an eerie brilliance like shattered ice or glass, and it was unmistakably….

“….”

Wrapped around Seme’s neck.

“Ah….”

Seme, tense but composed, wiggled his fingers. The seasoned mercenary veteran never lost his nerve in such situations. He simply contemplated a solution.

‘How do I handle this.’

It had completely encircled Seme’s neck. A form more horrifying than a noose. Ensnared by something that looked too dangerous to touch carelessly, Seme’s lips trembled slightly.

He ultimately feigned distress toward Lee Yeon-woo.

“…Am I going to die?”

Since I had promised to ‘help them,’ this was essentially a call for rescue. It would be wiser for Seme to receive my assistance rather than fumble through it alone.

Lee Yeon-woo responded to the unspoken plea.

“That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

His low voice carried a faint weariness tinged with playful mischief.

“We reached an agreement to do precisely that, did we not?”
“….”

For some reason, Seme felt a sense of discord.

‘…He’s smiling.’

It was a smile so unmistakable that anyone could see it.

The sharpness that had defined his expressionless face vanished, and the corners of his eyes curved upward with a gentle warmth. The smile was supple and radiant—a far cry from the chill I had sensed from him mere moments before.

Yet there was something about it….

‘The feeling…’
“Do not be afraid.”

He spoke with perfect composure, his gaze fixed upon the jellyfish-shaped Monster.

“Since I said to stop, it will stop.”
“….”

His head tilted slightly.

“I’ve grown rather… accustomed to such things.”

The moment his gentle voice resonated, the surroundings fell into absolute silence.

Every movement that had stirred the air froze with surreal rigidity. The jellyfish’s transparent body seemed trapped in an impossibly narrow space, as if crushed by the extreme pressure of the deepest abyss.

“….”

distorts.

‘Ah.’

Tick-tick-tick, thud, crack.

Unable to move even an inch, yet resisting violently, the creature convulsed—its transparent membrane swelling as if it might burst, its tentacles seizing and trembling in spasms.

“Ah….”

A cataclysm unfolding in silence. I feel an overwhelming pressure that makes my ears ring.

Across the hardened body, golden fracture lines spread like unsettling crimson patterns of blood. A sound like something cracking echoes—or perhaps it doesn’t. And then.

Clang―!!!

“….”

It ruptures as if to emit a sound.

“…This is….”

…The shattered fragments reduced to transparent, pristine elemental particles—like clear spring water.

“This…”
“My apologies.”

Lee Yeon-woo adjusted his coat sleeve with indifference—not a single drop of blood had touched it.

“You must have been startled.”
“No, I….”
“The fragments didn’t scatter, did they?”

Words failed me.

‘What just happened?’

Perhaps it’s a mercy not to know. Had I possessed even the slightest knowledge of ‘that,’ I might have lost my mind. Seme’s soul was screaming, suppressed beneath the weight of its danger.

‘That’s right—I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.’

It was clear and transparent, yet darkness enveloped everything around it.

“I… that is…”

A void compressed from all light and warmth.

A geometry that expanded soundlessly, transcending conventional form. An abnormal distortion—as if the structure of one dimension had been crumpled into another.

Within that darkness, luminous golden threads, infinitesimal and radiant, unraveled and interwove endlessly. It was a mad weaving—the most exalted form, yet simultaneously resembling the blueprint of eternal suffering.

“So…”

I forced my reluctant mouth open.

“I’m truly sorry.”
“Are you apologizing to me?”
“I was careless. My mind was terribly weak…”

I scanned the floor, but found no trace of the jellyfish remains that had been concealed within the water mist. Perhaps it was simply the moisture-laden ground.

‘Or perhaps it vanished along with that transparency.’

Seme, composed of water-like essence, pressed her lips firmly shut.

‘But that… more than that, why…?’

Seme’s gaze turned toward Lee Yeon-woo.

“…”
“…”

A “perfect” smile that captivated the eye.

“That…”

This time, my mouth wouldn’t open even by force. The lips I’d barely parted suddenly felt heavy under Lee Yeon-woo’s sharp gaze. So heavy.

And so, in the end, I cannot turn away—I am forced to think about it.

“….”

…Were his eyes originally golden…?

“….”
“…Senior.”
“The Water Mist was so thick I couldn’t see anything.”

Before Rawi, the newcomer with far superior vision, could open his mouth, Seme spoke.

“Right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“It almost became dangerous.”
“You’re right, Senior.”
“Good thing.”

Ignoring the cold sweat trickling down my back, I looked at Lee Yeon-woo.

“If you hadn’t helped us, we would certainly be dead.”

I forced my brain, which was processing all these horrific truths at an abnormally rapid pace, to settle down.

“Thank you, Lee Yeon-woo.”
“….”
“For helping us.”

He asked.

“Was I of use to the Unknown Elder Woman?”

Seme, who had been biting the inside of his mouth, answered promptly.

“Of course.”
“Was it satisfactory service?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Indeed.”

In the moment Lee Yeon-woo blinked once.

The geometric pressure that had been crushing the empty air drained away like a receding tide, and the unsettlingly artificial smile vanished without a trace.

One layer at a time, naturally.

“There is no need for apologies or gratitude.”
“….”
“It was something I could do.”

Golden pupils looking down at us, black irises within them.

‘The same dry expression as when I first saw him.’

Like air deflating from a balloon, the moment Seme faced the indifference that had become familiar, she felt the tension drain from her rigid spine.

The grotesquely perfect smile and the alienation that had crushed her soul had vanished as if they were mere illusions.

‘That wasn’t the terrible something we saw before.’

It was distinctly different from ‘that’—the living porcelain doll, the machine powered by blood.

The man before her was not without fear, either. Yet despite his taciturn nature and inscrutability, there was a warmth about him—the most human way of caring for and guiding them through this Labyrinth.

‘I never thought I’d find that rigid, serpentine face reassuring.’
“Relax. Despite my appearance, I’m not so unprincipled as to devour Migun.”
“No, I—yes. Thank you.”

Seme awkwardly followed in his footsteps.

‘Would he even be aware that he transformed like that just now?’

But Seme chose not to ask. The fact that the entity sharing his body seemed indifferent to what they had witnessed was fortune enough for a lifetime.

Seme exhaled a sigh of relief without realizing it.

‘I don’t know exactly what it is, but still.’

It was when she forced strength into her trembling hands and clenched her fists.

“…I apologize for frightening you.”
“….”

…Ah.

“…No, it’s fine.”

Seme stammered out a response.

“It’s alright.”

My chest felt utterly hollow and suffocating.

Just moments ago, he had shown me that grotesque spectacle. Now, with the exhausted face of someone ready to collapse, he maintained that composed adult demeanor throughout, offering me an apology as if nothing had happened.

‘An apology? That’s not even funny.’

A strange emotion suddenly surfaced in a corner of my chest where fear should have taken root.

‘Yet he wears a face just as immature as Rawi’s…’

Of course, if we’re judging by appearance alone, Seme himself had the least right to say anything.

“….”
“Senior?”
“Watch your step.”
“Ah, yes.”

Even so, Lee Yeon-woo’s footsteps remained perfectly steady.

‘Completely controlled movement.’

It reminded me of that ‘thing’ with golden eyes from just before, yet strangely, the same terror didn’t wash over me. Perhaps it was my imagination, but a small, familiar silhouette seemed to overlap behind his back.

A youthful voice whispers.

―Seme.
‘…I’m losing my mind.’

So then, what exactly

is your true identity?

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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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