Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 26

“…You say she went to Seoul….”

 

The idea that a person who ought to be crammed inside the 23rd floor of this hotel was in Seoul. It was utter nonsense. 

 

“Is this your doing?” 

 

“Yes—no?” 

 

“Perhaps this might actually be better.” 

 

‘Nightmares’, the core resource of the hotel, are literally nightmares. It is a collective term for all negative remnants such as memories, emotions, and situations experienced by a guest here. 

 

In other words, once a guest pays with a ‘nightmare’, they forget that specific nightmare. Exactly like how money disappears from a bank account when a payment is made. 

 

This was a setting clearly specified within the game.

 

‘I expected him to forget, of course, but I didn’t think it would fill the holes in his memory so conveniently like that.’

 

It was slightly surprising. It seemed that not all of the time spent here had been a nightmare to Hong Gyeongyeon. He had forgotten only the part concerning Director Lee Seonhae’s disappearance. 

 

“….”

 

He looked down at the gear sitting upon his palm.

 

The texture of shimmering scales,

 

‘…The sea….’

 

Or perhaps a texture akin to a lake. 

 

“…If I study this properly as well, I might be able to procure as many ‘nightmares’ as I want.” 

 

“Yes!” 

 

“Indeed.” 

 

He couldn’t leave everything solely to the hotel’s criteria of judgment. The risk involved in that was far too high. The moment the system defined a person’s entire life as a ‘nightmare’, it would result in utterly ruining a human being. 

 

‘But that is a matter for later, and right now, there is a more urgent case.’ 

 

They say it’s not over until it’s over.

 

“You make things quite exhausting for me.” 

 

“Exhausting?” 

 

“Yes, you naughty cat.” 

 

“No!” 

 

“Anyone can say ‘no.’” 

 

“Yes!” 

 

“Good heavens, to think you would be this honest.” 

 

He slipped the cogwheel into his pocket. It was a high-purity nightmare that he had no method of utilizing right now during the tutorial. 

 

“….”

 

Lee Yeonwoo stood before the elevator.

 

The high-performance elevator opened its doors quickly. Lee Yeonwoo pressed the button for the 23rd floor.

 

“….”

 

It wouldn’t press.

 

“….”

 

It wouldn’t press.

 

“….” 

 

“….”

 

It wouldn’t press this time either.

 

“Sigh….”

 

Despite tearing through those odds, it was a blank. 

 

“I’m going crazy.”

 

The tutorial had not been completed.

 

“Still, it wasn’t a completely meaningless attempt.”

 

So let’s hold onto a little hope.

 

“This game has many bugs, especially in early tutorials like this. Since an event happened to overlap with it, I might be able to resolve the situation on the 23rd floor through a management route using a bug.” 

 

“No….” 

 

“I will not hear that opinion. The point is, if we’re lucky, I might be able to utilize this bug on the 23rd floor. Provided I reach the 23rd floor in time, of course….” 

 

“No.” 

 

“My luck today truly is quite foul. To fail to enter a probability exceeding 80% of all things, is it the curse of a water ghost? The future is awfully bleak.”

 

“Yes.” 

 

“Naughty cat.” 

 

“No.”

 

* * *

 

I wish he would just give up at this point.

 

This thing didn’t accept the death of a ‘human guest.’

 

“There is still a way.” 

 

“….” 

 

“Let’s see just how much more foolish we can get.” 

 

“No….”

 

Coco curled up on Lee Yeonwoo’s shoulder.

 

* * *

 

Why do I resurrect?

 

As a scholar, this is a point that warrants suspicion.

 

‘Because it shattered the absolute premise that death is equal for everyone.’

 

Is it simply because it’s a game? Or because it is a world where reality is halfway mixed in? 

 

There is no need for such vague hypotheses. Precisely through what mechanism does the phenomenon manifest? Lee Yeonwoo had been tenaciously repeating experiments for a long time to grasp the underlying basis.

 

The goal was one: to secure the ‘Emergency Restoration Protocol.’ To precisely analyze this resurrection system and obtain the core circuits. Simply put, I wanted control based on my will, not a regeneration dependent on the system.

 

‘Why do I come back to life again?’ 

 

The answer is simple: because I am designed that way.

 

When specific conditions are met, the function operates according to logic. This resurrection is the product of a sophisticated algorithm, not a will to survive. I sought to dig out that operating principle.

 

“Hah.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo gripped the door handle of the emergency staircase, but as expected, it did not budge in the slightest. 

 

“How harsh.” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“I already expected as much, but using the stairs will be impossible.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

The cat looks amused. It is a laughable psychological battle.

 

Lee Yeonwoo already knows the answer. These seemingly meaningless futilities he is performing now were merely verification steps to turn hypotheses into certainties.

 

He continues his thoughts.

 

‘Who is the entity that judges that I must live?’ 

 

That judgment is not made by Lee Yeonwoo’s brain or heart. It is determined right there, in the blood. His blood contained data of ‘Lee Yeonwoo’s’ accumulated emotions, memories, form, and purpose.

 

‘Who defines my death?’

 

Death is not an event defined by an external observer. It was identified as a specific state judged within the blood. Do you know what that means?

 

Even if the heart stops and brain waves cease, survival continues the moment the blood deciphers that ‘it is not over.’ In other words, as long as blood remains, Lee Yeonwoo cannot die.

 

‘Whose command is the restoration, and through what mechanism does it operate?’

 

This is a command system engraved in the blood and the hotel, or some unknown mystery. Whether it is a sigil granted by the system designer or a function born from the environment of the game remains unknown.

 

However, if the analysis is finished, there is only one path left for a researcher.

 

Utilize it, And apply it.

 

“….”

 

Lee Yeonwoo boarded the elevator again. A chair he had brought from the lobby was gripped in one hand.

 

His gaze, scanning the elevator ceiling, stopped at one spot.

 

“…As expected, I knew it would be there.” 

 

Perhaps thanks to a design that faithfully reflected reality, a maintenance hatch came into view. Lee Yeonwoo forced it open without hesitation.

 

A dark passage appeared. No, in truth, he could barely see anything. Only the light coming from the small hole in the elevator uniquely illuminated that long, high shaft.

 

“No. No. No….” 

 

“….” 

 

“No!”

 

Lee Yeonwoo reached out. He tried to step up. He had long since taken off his white cotton gloves. He had already cast aside his uncomfortable suit jacket. Only one thing mattered to him now.

 

Whether he could actually climb up through here.

 

‘In the tutorial stage, there are restrictions on using stairs and elevators.’

 

If this world is a game, it means he must ultimately move only within the space defined by the system. In other words, he had to target the blind spots the system had not anticipated—the ‘gaps that have never been expressed.’

 

‘Just like this passage beyond the ceiling.’

 

The problem is physical strength. 

 

“…One wrong move and I might die….”

 

If his body were intact, he would have tried to hang on and climb up somehow, but with his current physical condition, it was too much. If it were a situation without risk, he might have repeated reckless attempts, trusting in the resurrection mechanism, but….

 

It was before his thoughts even finished.

 

“…!”

 

—CRASH!!!

 

“—Kh, agh…!!!” 

 

“No.” 

 

“…Heh….”

 

Ah.

 

‘Ah, seriously.’ 

 

It hurts.

 

‘It’s going to kill me.’ 

 

His spine screams. The back of his head throbs as if it might shatter, and every joint in his body feels twisted, making it difficult to even take a single breath. This was the result of falling after trying to hang on with pathetic grip strength.

 

‘To think that just because a person fell backward a bit, it would break down to this extent… My state truly is a sight to see.’ 

 

Indeed, where would this body of his, like wet Hanji paper, go?

 

“No.” 

 

“…Phew….” 

 

“No.” 

 

“Get out for a second.” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“You’re quite obedient.”

 

Gauging his physical condition, his ligaments were swollen. Since this wasn’t an ‘official injury’ defined within the game rules, he felt the pain. It was raw, unadulterated pain that did not receive the protection of the system.

 

Thanks to that, his synapses burned sharply. What a feeling, having one’s brain poked and prodded.

 

“How ridiculous.”

 

But even so, he doesn’t die.

 

‘Because this, too, is not a death defined within the game rules.’

 

As long as Lee Yeonwoo exists as the ‘General Manager,’ he will not die even in this tattered state. It was exactly the hypothesis he had derived while racking his brain throughout the sleepless dawn.

 

“Ha, haha…!”

 

It felt truly insane.

 

‘This works, but that doesn’t!’

 

The boundary between reality and the game set by this hotel was agonizingly selfish and narrow-minded. It was as if it were desperate to keep Lee Yeonwoo himself bound as the ‘General Manager’!

 

“Right, so this doesn’t work either.” 

 

“Yes. Yes. Yes.” 

 

“But that doesn’t mean I’m out of options.” 

 

“No. Options, no….”

 

He lightly ignored Coco’s dissuasion.

 

He could not tolerate seeing people die in the space he managed. Even more so if he was on terms of politely exchanging business cards with that guest; he certainly couldn’t leave them to die.

 

“In truth, I didn’t want to go as far as using this method, but dear me… I have no other choice.”

 

Regrettably, a ‘foolish move’ still remained.

 

“We’re going to the staff quarters.”

 

The truly, absolute, most foolish method of all.

 

* * *

 

There is something called Botulinum toxin. To use a word people might know, it’s Botox.

 

“Isn’t it a quite familiar word?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“Originally, its purpose was a treatment for facial muscle spasms. But a side effect was discovered. They saw a cosmetic effect where wrinkles were reduced. As a result, it is now widely used for wrinkle removal and cosmetic procedures.” 

 

“No. No. No….” 

 

“Do you know Minoxidil? It’s also called Rogaine. Its original purpose was a treatment for hypertension, but a side effect of increased body hair was discovered. As a result, there are cases where it shifted to a hair loss treatment and became a hit.” 

 

“No, no. No. Side effect. No.” 

 

“Why should I be unable to do it? Is there any reason Blood Magic should be any different?”

 

The resurrections he had experienced countless times are not miracles. They are reproducible restoration algorithms.

 

“This, too, is ultimately an academic field and a science.”

 

He had conducted many experiments.

 

He incised the left forearm to check the median nerve and observe the blood’s reaction. He stabbed the right thigh to analyze blood coagulation tendencies.

 

He attempted direct stimulation of the liver capsule by incising the lower ribs. He induced finger joint separation and reattachment. Approached just before nerve damage. 280ml blood loss. No repair. No reaction. Recorded the defensive reactions of the blood after inducing intra-abdominal bleeding.

 

Restored bone tissue did not match normal joint structure. Restricted the use of analgesics and anesthetics to remove additional variables and external factors. Focused on maintaining consciousness to observe sensory reactions and autonomous blood reactions.

 

Recorded pulse rate, blood pressure, and pain response during bleeding—it was successful. But he couldn’t produce meaningful results. Additionally, he conducted deep experiments amounting to 81 trials. But it remained the same.

 

It was because he could not make contact with the full structure of the blood. An error arising from ignorance. A misfire. A failure. 

 

“There was a reason this hotel had books on Blood Magic.”

 

It has a major connection to this body and this hotel. It was created through this. At the very least, there is a relationship. Or it can be interpreted through this. Lee Yeonwoo is a human, data, and a lump of blood.

 

The basic mechanism identified is simple. Detect conditions. Call resources. Invoke shape memory. Attempt to access ego and will. Reconstruct the body….

 

“But it’s difficult to utilize this. I am the subject to whom the sigil was applied, not the person who engraved it. Since I’m in a moronic state of knowing nothing, of course I can’t utilize it.” 

 

“No….” 

 

“If you wanted to stop me, you should have taken action before things reached this point. I am simply doing what I must do right now, and insisting on my own way for the things I must take responsibility for.”

 

And he added.

 

“I hope that you, Coco, can also become a mature soul to exactly that extent.” 

 

Blood contains five things. Life, memory, emotion, will, and soul. The closer one gets to the soul, the deeper the knowledge. He had merely identified it arbitrarily; he did not understand it.

 

‘If only I had time.’

 

If only he had more time, it would have been entirely possible. 14 months would have been more than enough to analyze even the realm of the soul at the latest.

 

‘But I don’t have that luxury right now.’

 

He must succeed right now, in this very spot.

 

Lee Yeonwoo swept back his disheveled hair away from his bloodshot eyes and the battered side of his face. An injury obtained while falling from the elevator. Even from a brief touch, thick bloodstains were smeared onto his palm. 

 

‘Now that I’m in this state, I have more than enough experimental material.’

 

Blood Magic is a convenient academic field where almost any phenomenon can be implemented as long as there is blood. In the end, Lee Yeonwoo, a researcher to the bone, can’t help but think this even in a situation like this.

 

—Is this not truly excellent cost-effectiveness?

 

“No.” 

 

“Good.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo laughed. It was absurd. It was also pleasant.

 

He was now attempting to force a connection to knowledge.

 

“Let’s see….”

 

His blood-stained fingers leisurely drew the magic square he remembered.

 

“…Let’s ruin it, the forbidden ritual.” 

 

There is a sacrificial offering here as well.

 

Right?