Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual - Chapter 99

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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 99.

When the brief respite came to an end.

Lee Yeon-woo returned as he always did, carrying the scent of blood that seemed to belong to him.

“Are you both feeling better now?”
“My body’s fine, I suppose. Yes.”
“I’m well.”

Having confirmed their responses, Lee Yeon-woo opened his mouth.

“I have a proposal for you both.”

And it was quite an unexpected turn of events.

“A proposal?”
“Yes.”

Lee Yeon-woo ‘suggested’.

“Would you consider boarding the Elevator?”

It was only natural that they would return to the City from the outer edges of the Hunting Ground.

* * *

As they began moving toward the City.

“I believe you’ll remember when I told you that place was dangerous.”
“Ah, yes.”

Gauging something—though what, it was unclear—Lee Yeon-woo broached the subject again at an odd moment. For someone who had merely dragged them along without a word of small talk until now, he spoke with surprising naturalness.

“That Elevator connects to dozens of floors, but the further down you descend, the more variables become difficult to control. In simpler terms, the difficulty increases.”
“What do you—”
“Basement Level 7, where you two are now, is relatively quiet and safe by comparison.”
“….”

Of course, a natural tone of voice didn’t make the content any less unsettling to hear.

“…Safe? Here?”
“Yes.”
“And there are dozens of floors like this going down….”
“If you had arrived through a different floor, I would have had difficulty finding you.”
“Should I consider myself fortunate?”
“You don’t seem particularly fortunate.”

Seme wondered if he should even be saying such things. I thought to myself.

‘For someone affiliated with the Labyrinth, his objectivity is remarkably aligned with human standards.’

As I was thinking this, Rawi asked.

“If this is Basement Level 7, then there are more floors above, yes? Are there dozens of floors going up as well?”
“No, going up from the Ground Level, there are fewer than 30 floors total.”
“Then would it be safer to go up rather than down—safer than here?”
“The Ground Level is more dangerous than most Hunting Grounds.”

He added in a parched voice.

“At least for those who haven’t been invited.”

Rawi pressed his lips firmly shut.

“….”
“…Listen.”

Seme spoke up in Rawi’s stead.

“Lee Yeon-woo came up on that Elevator, didn’t he? From the Ground Level?”
“That place takes the form of a Hotel. It’s where guests like the Wet Person you encountered before come to visit.”
“I see, so….”

Does that even make sense?

‘A Hotel where Dokkaebi stay?’

Such a thing exists? It shouldn’t, should it…?

As Rawi looked at Seme with eyes that asked ‘does something like that really exist?’, and Seme shrugged back with ‘how would I know?’, Lee Yeon-woo glanced at Seme’s oxygen respirator and added an explanation.

“I cannot guarantee what disadvantages you might face as non-official Guests upon reaching the 1st Floor. However, your chances of survival will likely be greater than the probability of finding a way out of here with the remaining oxygen.”
“Why?”

Lee Yeon-woo turned to look at Rawi. Seme did the same.

“….”
“Well, uh….”

Seme’s eyes, full of silent pressure, fixed intently on Rawi’s mouth. Rawi hastily covered his lips with his hand in defense. Then he attempted an awkward jest.

“Since we’re already in Q&A time, I thought I might as well ask~….”
“You’re both brave and annoying.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d consider it part of my charm.”
“It’s troublesome to waste oxygen like that.”
“That sounds oddly ominous, senior.”

Yet again, Lee Yeon-woo made no attempt to excuse himself or elaborate. As though the question wasn’t worth answering, he swept Rawi with a gaze as transparent as glass, then turned away.

“It would be best if you listened well to your senior.”
“….”
“Save the small talk for after we board the Elevator alive. This way.”

As he walked forward with composure, as though seeing straight through the Water Mist, his footsteps made barely any sound—as always. It meant he was controlling his body with near-perfect precision.

Watching his receding figure, Rawi swallowed a sigh.

‘…He never answered after all.’

Why he was helping them, that is.

Rawi shrugged with a sense of regret.

‘I wanted to hear it~….’

Rawi scratched the scar at the corner of his mouth with the gun barrel, smiling as he faced his senior.

But he simply averted his gaze.

* * *

And so,

“―Damn it!!”

A completely absurd chase had begun.

“Damn, damn, damn—why all of a sudden? I mean, seriously, why?!”
“Please shut up.”

Seme spoke through gritted teeth, but it did nothing to silence Rawi.

“Where’s the honor in this?!”

The moment they left the Harbor and set foot in the City, this place transformed into a hell of survival. It wasn’t solely the fault of the monster shrieking with an otherworldly wail.

Indeed, as befitted a Water Ghost, the Wet Person’s obsession was relentless.

“Where would a Dokkaebi find honor…!”
“It could exist!!”

Especially when beings like Lee Yeon-woo existed in this place.

The monsters here were all grotesque, horrifying, and surreal beyond measure. And among them, the Wet Person rushing forward at an insane speed was no longer in the form of a girl.

Clearly the shape of an adult man.

‘So this is how an ordinary Water Ghost reveals itself to be anything but ordinary.’

Seme muttered inwardly, clenching his teeth.

“Yeon-woo, Yeon-woo…!”

I screamed with the desperation of someone fighting for their life.

“Didn’t you say that Dokkaebi has certain rules it must follow?!”
“Yes, it broke the rules.”

Perhaps it was my imagination, but Lee Yeon-woo’s voice had grown flat—the tone of someone entangled in a tedious affair.

‘Is he… angry?’

But that was a concern for later.

‘First, I need to defend myself…!’

Before the Dokkaebi that was clearly charging forward with savage intent to cause harm, Seme’s hand instinctively moved toward the blade at his waist.

Lee Yeon-woo pressed down on Seme’s sword hand.

“Don’t draw your weapon.”

He spoke while blocking the rear.

“Just keep your eyes forward and run. Don’t look back.”
“Wait, surely you’re not planning to stay behind alone…!”
“I already told you.”

CRASH—!!!

“Don’t look back.”

SPLURT!!
A wet, tearing sound.

“Ugh…!!”
“It seems we need more time.”
“No, no…!!”
“Then what are you doing?”

As the cacophony continued, the grotesque monsters blocking their path burst into chunks of flesh before they could even touch them. Lee Yeon-woo shoved both of them forward with brutal force.

“―Run.”

It was a command more certain than any explanation or comfort could ever be.

“…Thank you.”
“U-ugh!!”

Seme grabbed Rawi and bolted forward.

“Senior, senior, senior!!”
“I understand you the first time—please, just stop talking!”
“Where’s the elevator, the elevator!!”
“At this point, you’re practically an artist of annoyance…!”

I couldn’t understand it.

‘Surely someone with Lee Yeon-woo’s abilities could handle even a Dokkaebi like that?’

It wasn’t idle speculation. That ‘something’ I’d witnessed back then—the technique Lee Yeon-woo was using now was nothing like it. Why wasn’t he using the technique he’d deployed just days ago?

Or perhaps,

“….”

He couldn’t.

I recalled those golden eyes, bright as the sun itself, and the perfect smile that seemed to match them—and that moment when Rawi had said he looked like he was merely ‘wearing a mask.’

I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what triggered the memory, but now it felt right.

Squelch―!!

“….”
“Hey,”
“…Don’t look.”

Thud, crack, crunch…!!
Screech, slurp. Riiiiip!!

“No, that’s—”

*Squelch! Thud, squelch! Squelch squelch squelch! Wet slick! Crunch! Crack! Click! Splurt! Rip! Grinding sound…! Whoosh! Splash! Slurrrp…! Metal thud! Gurgle, gurgle! Crack! Splurt! Thud! Wet slick wet slick, squelch squelch squelch! Metal thud!*

“Senior, that’s—”
“Don’t even listen.”

*Squelch! Thud! Thud! Click! Click click! Crack crack! Crack! Splurt! Sluuurp! Slurrrp! Squelch squelch! Crack! Splurt! Crunch! Gurgle gurgle! Thud! Thud! Thud! Crunch! Metal thud! Gurgle, splash! Metal thud! Squelch squelch squelch! Thud, crunch! Crack! Grinding sound…! Snap! Splurt! Wet slick wet slick! Crack!*

“It was happening all along when we weren’t watching anyway.”

*Thud! Thud! Splash splash! Metal thud! Crunch! Crack crack! Gurgle! Slurrrp! Squelch! Squelch squelch squelch! Click! Click click click! Splurt! Squelch! Thud, sluuurp! Squelch, crack, squelch! Crunch! Crack! Crack! Splurt! Rip, grinding sound…! Whoosh! Splash! Slurrrp…! Metal thud, gurgle! Gurgle! Crack! Splurt, thud! Crunch! Metal thud!*

“Worrying about it now won’t change anything.”
“….”
“So shut up and keep running.”

Becoming a Dokkaebi’s “sacrifice” meant exactly this.

It wasn’t something that ended after a few knife wounds. The stronger the hunter’s instinct in a Dokkaebi, the truer this became. They craved human destruction and suffering—whatever form it took, they wanted negative sensation.

Of course, knowing that didn’t make it any easier to accept hearing and witnessing it directly….

“It happens sometimes in the Gap too.”
“So, ugh, you’re saying I should get used to it…?!”

What exactly was happening out there? Just from the sounds, Rawi’s expression suggested he was on the verge of losing his mind in horror.

Seme, a water-attribute mage, couldn’t bring himself to explain to Rawi what Lee Yeon-woo’s current state actually looked like. After hesitating, he added:

“It’s actually better when it happens like this….”

Outsiders sometimes managed to enter the Gap.

If they were lucky, they were artists. If they were unlucky, they were mages. Those who had lived outside and ended up in the Gap through unavoidable circumstances. They rarely lasted more than a few days before dying in an instant.

It was probably because they never imagined the Gap could be such a hell.

‘Of course, if they’re artists, things are usually quite different.’

He watched Rawi running with a pale face.

‘He would gain the favor of nearly every mage.’

But precisely because of that, it was better to adapt to this much. For Seme, hearing ‘such things’ was hardly pleasant, but he gritted his teeth and grabbed Rawi’s arm.

“Run. Faster.”
“Running faster won’t—!!”
“At least we can stop hearing that sound!!”

His voice rose, bitter with frustration.

“Don’t you understand the situation?!”

The Dokkaebi had broken the rules.

I don’t know why. I don’t know how it was done.

But a Dokkaebi capable of breaking the rules of a Labyrinth of this magnitude—well, it had always been that way—would be something they couldn’t endure for even an instant. That’s why Lee Yeon-woo was bearing it in their stead.

“That person won’t die now, won’t die! It should have been that way all along! But damn it, if we want to stop hearing that sound, we have to get on the Elevator and escape this place!!”

Only then.

“Only then can we stop this madness…!!”

Seme released his hand.

“So please. Just shut up.”
“…Hah….”
“Run.”

Rawi clenched his teeth and silently increased his pace.

The remains of Drowned Corpses and corroded rebar littered the ground. A putrid stench emanated from all directions, the impossible humidity made even the mind feel damp, and grotesque monsters lunged at them.

But every monster that blocked their path burst apart.

“Damn it.”

They managed to reach the Elevator.

“Damn it, seriously….”
“―Board now.”

Thud―!!
A powerful force shoved against my back, and I tumbled inside.

“…!!”

Through the slowly closing Elevator doors.

“…Yeon,”

A blade lodged in his throat,
Lee Yeon-woo came into view.

[Go up.]

Perhaps the blade embedded in his throat prevented any sound from escaping, for he issued the command in silence, his lips forming the words alone.

Behind him, the Dokkaebi raised the blade once more. Until the doors sealed completely, Lee Yeon-woo maintained his composure, his gaze never wavering from us.

And thus.

“….”
“….”

…the doors closed.

“…Ah….”

Beyond the Elevator doors as the button pressed and we ascended, nothing could be heard.

* * *

As expected, there was no ‘pain’.

‘Only sensation.’

I wiped blood from my throat, ignoring the gurgling crimson that continued to flow as I pulled up an interface screen in the air. I needed to confirm that both guests had made it safely upstairs.

‘The Elevator is clearly Hotel territory, so I should be able to see it now.’

And then a single dot appeared within my field of vision.

“…?”

My eyes narrowed slightly, blood still trickling down my face. I had definitely pushed two people into the Elevator—Seme and Rawi.

‘Are they being counted as a party and displayed as one? No, Ho-won’s Human Guest system doesn’t work that way.’

If there were two guests, there should be two dots. So was this a system error, or….

“….”

The image of Seme’s face flashed through my mind—unusually sharp senses and a precocious demeanor for a sixteen-year-old. But I didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on that unsettling discrepancy right now.

I pressed my hand against my throat and slowly opened my mouth.

“Let’s talk….”
“….”
“Let’s have a conversation, shall we?”

Grabbing the head of this foul-tempered Water Ghost had come first.

“Are you perhaps insane?”
“….”
“You’re not?”

There’s no way that’s true.

I held The Wet Person’s head firmly, my expression darkening. The fact that it surrendered so readily only infuriated me further. And when it even bent its waist to make itself easier to grab, my anger doubled.

The creature whose head I held was grinning in circles. It really must be insane.

“The fact that you appear genuinely pleased is deeply offensive.”
“….”
“Hah.”

At that age, would anyone really want to do this?

—————
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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