Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 37

“Then shouldn’t you give me an explanation now?” 

 

Having finished her meal, Lee Seonhae asked while lifting her teacup. 

 

“It’s already been several days since I came here, yet you haven’t given me a single explanation.” 

 

“Is that so?” 

 

“At this point, I’m starting to feel a bit slighted. Looking closely, you really have a lot of mischief in you, Elder.” 

 

“It wasn’t so much mischief as it was that you weren’t in a proper state to hear my story until now.” 

 

“Ah, that certainly pricks my conscience. I’ll admit that much.”

 

It had already been five days since she had been brought back to Seoul by him.

 

For the first two days, Lee Seonhae didn’t take a single step out of her room, and for the remaining three, she spent her time in consultations with a doctor he had summoned.

 

It was an undeniable fact that she had only now come to her senses a bit. 

 

“So I waited quietly. Honestly, I was out of it, but you were so, so busy, Baek Mujin-ssi, that there wasn’t even a moment to talk to you. You understand what I’m saying, right?” 

 

“Indeed.”

 

Her uncle, Baek Mujin, set down his cup. A thick scent of medicinal herbs wafted from it. As a child, Lee Seonhae had always wondered what was inside that teacup.

 

“Fine, then. What are you curious about?” 

 

“…Is it really okay for me to know?” 

 

“Normally, it would be difficult.” 

 

“And why is it difficult?” 

 

“The reasons are varied.”

 

He laced his fingers together and calmly continued his explanation.

 

“In the first place, it cannot be seen, senses are limited, and there are institutional issues as well. Above all, most people think of these things as mere fiction even when told…” 

 

“No, wait, just a second.” 

 

“Even if I explain it right now, you won’t be able to understand it.” 

 

“Pardon?” 

 

“You have talent, but in the end, you failed to awaken. Therefore, no problems will arise even if I resolve your doubts, but it will be a strain for you to live in this society.” 

 

“This ‘society’ you’re talking about, Uncle, is it like…”

 

Lee Seonhae racked her brain. If she were to substitute his words into terms she could understand as much as possible, then, yes.

 

“Is there something like Harry P○tter’s wizarding world? In reality? Truly?”

 

“Was there such a movie?”

 

After seeming to measure something for a moment, he soon opened his mouth. It was an affirmation. 

 

“In some ways, one could say it is similar.” 

 

“No, seriously?” 

 

“Though many parts would be very different.” 

 

“How is it different?” 

 

“It is cruel, dry, and crude.” 

 

“That’s…” 

 

“Shall I put it simply?”

 

Baek Mujin lifted his cup again. The herbal scent drifted over.

 

“In this world, the concept of human rights does not exist.” 

 

“…It doesn’t exist?” 

 

“You likely know the meaning of the word, but practically speaking, it does not exist.” 

 

“…That cruelty you mentioned just now, surely it doesn’t mean…” 

 

“You cherish life and ethics quite dearly, don’t you?”

 

He composedly lectured his niece.

 

“Therefore, it is not a place that suits you. It is not a place you can endure, so I would prefer your curiosity to stop here.” 

 

“But you’re giving me an explanation right now.” 

 

“So that you won’t step foot into that place on your own.” 

 

“Didn’t you say it can’t be seen and senses are limited anyway? What change would it make if I stepped in out of curiosity? It’s not like I can even go there.” 

 

“Normally, that would be the case.” 

 

“Normally?” 

 

“Your case has changed now.” 

 

“I have…” 

 

“Yes, you.”

 

He nodded.

 

“It is because you have been to the Labyrinth.” 

 

“That Labyrinth… what exactly is it?”

 

 “One could explain it as a single, massive play.” 

 

“A play?” 

 

“In modern times, we artists judge the structure of a Labyrinth like this.” 

 

“What? Artists?” 

 

“Stage, script, actor.” 

 

“….” 

 

“…In the past, they were also called setting, story, and entity.”

 

Lee Seonhae frowned.

 

“…I don’t understand.” 

 

“It would be unfamiliar to you. So I have no intention of telling you everything. However, to put it simply, you entered and came out of a demon’s den whose danger rating is considered considerably high even in this society.” 

 

“Wasn’t it too magnificent to be called a demon’s den?” 

 

“I believe I just said it was a play. It is another world that constantly repeats a history or a story. Did that space seem like a natural place to exist in reality to you?” 

 

“No, it wasn’t… exactly like that.” 

 

It was modern enough that there was no discomfort in using it, but somehow it felt like looking at a classic Western hotel. Even the general manager used a bell to call staff. 

 

“So that was… some kind of… dungeon?” 

 

“Dungeon?” 

 

“You know, the kind that appears in games. Like, catching monsters.” 

 

“…For the most part, you wouldn’t be able to catch them, but yes, if you call it a habitat for monsters, it might be a roughly correct metaphor. Think of it in a way that is easy for you to understand.” 

 

Baek Mujin set down his cup. A servant standing in attendance nearby approached and filled the cup with refined movements. 

 

“…?”

 

From that sight, Lee Seonhae suddenly thought of the hotel staff. Movements that were strangely disciplined. A shiver of realization crawled down her spine. She couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Are those, those people, the house attendants, by any chance from that, Labyrinth? Monsters? That? That?” 

 

“Calm down.” 

 

“Pardon?” 

 

“There is no need to worry; unlike what you saw inside, they are clearly human. I am not a person of such low judgment as to bring a goblin into my home.” 

 

“A goblin?” 

 

“The things you saw.” 

 

“No, what I saw was… uh, do you call the monsters inside that Labyrinth goblin? Is that it?” 

 

“You’ve roughly guessed it.” 

 

He lightly swirled his cup. Staring at the rippling surface of the tea, Baek Mujin continued.

 

“There are Labyrinths that have come to possess an ego. A Labyrinth that is itself the stage, the script, and the actor. We call such a thing a goblin.” 

 

“…Then all the staff I saw inside the hotel were…?” 

 

“No, judging by your story, almost all the staff there were likely parts of the Labyrinth. The goblin would be the guest who isn’t a person visiting that Labyrinth and…” 

 

“What about the General Manager?” 

 

“Yes, he would have been the only owner of that place.”

 

After taking a sip of the medicinal tea, he added more explanation.

 

“A goblin inhabits an already existing Labyrinth. It’s as if another Labyrinth stays within the Labyrinth while holding the initiative. Regardless of what form of contract that might be.” 

 

“…I did think that the hotel seemed to have two owners.” 

 

“There are cases where Labyrinths join forces like that. Ultimately, they are closer to concepts than living beings. When a larger story appears, a smaller story is bound to be devoured helplessly.”

 

Depending on the form, nature, and method of the concepts they hold, ‘cases of joining forces’ appear in various ways. Whether it’s equal cooperation, a relationship of employer and employee, or a slave contract. There were even cases of being absorbed.

 

“I remember you saying that the two masters seemed to have different opinions. That is the proof that the hotel and the General Manager are different Labyrinths. If they were the same Labyrinth, their management policies wouldn’t be so misaligned.” 

 

“….” 

 

“But it was interesting.” 

 

“…What was?” 

 

“The fact that you came out alive.”

 

Baek Mujin’s gaze landed on Lee Seonhae. His gray eyes swept over her as if appraising an object.

 

“Not a single part of you is severed, it’s not that you became unable to speak, and your eyes see well. Even so, if it had ransacked your mind, it would have been hard to deal with, but seeing that you recovered in five days….” 

 

“Are you speaking ill of your lovely niece who just came back from the dead?” 

 

“Of course not. I am merely marveling.”

 

He sipped his tea.

 

“Who wouldn’t be surprised if someone who died at a funeral opened the coffin with their own two hands and walked out?” 

 

“Was it to that extent?” 

 

“There was a Labyrinth within a Labyrinth. Moreover, you were a powerless commoner with not a single tool to resist. How could it be possible for an infant to survive in a surging tsunami?” 

 

“The General Manager helped me a lot, so that it wouldn’t be dangerous.” 

 

“I am saying that is what doesn’t make sense.”

 

As Baek Mujin tilted his eyes, the waiting secretary held out a file. Lee Seonhae looked at her uncle with a puzzled expression, and he gave a silent nod as if telling her to check it comfortably.

 

“….”

 

Lee Seonhae opened the file. Then, she grimaced.

 

“…! Ugh.” 

 

“How does it look to you?” 

 

“What the, I just ate.” 

 

“I know.” 

 

“What is this gore… wait, are these real photos?” 

 

“It was a lucky case.” 

 

“Pardon?” 

 

“Despite being struck by a Dokkaebi, didn’t a trace of them remain?”

 

The photos were horrific.

 

The bodies had vanished, but the surrounding wallpaper was stained the color of internal organs. The arrangement of furniture was bizarrely twisted as if mimicking the victim’s final posture, and one wall was folded as neatly as a shroud.

 

“Humans who touch a goblin often fail to leave even a corpse behind. They are absorbed into structural gaps or erased like an error that doesn’t fit the design.” 

 

“….” 

 

“Even if a corpse remains, it is like that. It should be seen as a structural failure rather than a corpse. Even if the form remains, the anatomical order is completely destroyed—dozens of arms sprout, or a heart is divided into four, a brain grows from the chest, or an expression repeats across the entire body…” 

 

“…Ugh…” 

 

“The skin is human, but the inside is hollow. Only empty space remains where organs should be, or they are reconstructed entirely. I’ve seen cases where the spine turns into wind chimes and makes noise, and cases where they repeat the moment of death forever.” 

 

“Ugh, wait a second.” 

 

“You’ve experienced two Labyrinths, yet you seem to not know what they are. It must be because your body and mind came out too intact. So, I wanted to let you know. The danger of the things you faced.”

 

At his gesture, the secretary withdrew the file. Lee Seonhae’s face was already deathly pale.

 

“…This is…” 

 

“A goblin does such things. It also appears as if they damage the world that is not human. One who meets them does not die as a person, but becomes an error in the structure.” 

 

“Ah…” 

 

“Distortions can also occur in the place of the deceased. A door that was there disappears just because one person vanished, an entire day evaporates, or the senses of those who remember that person begin to misalign. If not that, a stigma remains.” 

 

“A stigma?” 

 

“A distortion left in a perfectly fine office, or the sound of a bell that never existed ringing continuously at the end of a hallway. Or a room where no one remembers who died… things like that.” 

 

“….”

 

Lee Seonhae let out a long breath.

 

“…It’s not just dying.” 

 

“So, like the victims in the photos you just saw, those who left even the traces of a corpse were the lucky ones. If even they are called ‘lucky,’ then what of you?” 

 

“…Is it a miracle?” 

 

“It is a miracle.”

 

Baek Mujin gestured, and the attendant approached and set down a cup. It was the same cup, same tea as Baek Mujin’s.

 

“Drink.” 

 

“…You wouldn’t let me drink this when I was little?” 

 

“One who belongs entirely to the surface will fall ill if they drink it, so I had no choice then. How good would it have been if I could have brought you into this world sooner just by letting you have a cup of this tea.” 

 

“No, ha, no…” 

 

“But you have already stepped foot in there. It’s a great relief; since you were originally a child with talent for such things, it must have been much easier to endure.” 

 

“….”

 

Lee Seonhae recalled the events at the hotel.

 

Encountering the massive eye deep in the Aqua Park pool. Lee Yeonwoo, who had reacted by saying ‘It’s surprising you’re alive and well’ when she told him about it.

 

He must have clearly known such facts too.

 

“…You’ve been talking about talent, talent for a long time, so I thought it was talent for filming movies. Since you always live with the word ‘art’ on your lips, Elder.” 

 

“And what do you think now?” 

 

“My talent, could it be, for survival? Is it something like that…?”

 

“I am glad you realize it even now.” 

 

“This is driving me crazy.” 

 

“In this world, we say one has ‘good receptivity.’”

 

A world that an ordinary person can never perceive, nor step foot in. However, cases often arise where one gains a foothold in this world through various triggers. It is a number that can by no means be called small.

 

“You were originally a child with the talent to enter this world. I thought so seeing you survive every place where you should have died. Unfortunately, it seems you haven’t awakened.” 

 

“Awaken? You’re using very grand words. So what changes?” 

 

“Shall I explain it simply?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“You become a psychic.” 

 

“….”

 

Lee Seonhae stroked her chin. She muttered.

 

“Real Harry Pot○….” 

 

“Don’t go around calling yourself a wizard anywhere.” 

 

“Why, is it embarrassing?” 

 

“Well.”

 

Baek Mujin gestured silently, and Lee Seonhae drank the tea.

 

“….”

 

…It was a scent and taste she had never experienced in her life.

 

“…The feeling is…” 

 

“How is it?”

 

“It’s warm yet refreshing? Savory and thick? Yet it’s light? What is this?” 

 

“It seems there are no abnormalities.” 

 

“What happens if there are abnormalities?” 

 

“You might see things you couldn’t see before.” 

 

“You gave something dangerous to a niece who’s about to have her mental state shattered. No, wait, things I couldn’t see? Is it like a ghost-eye, that sort of thing?” 

 

“You can think of it similarly.” 

 

“This is really going to kill me. Then ghosts really exist too?” 

 

“It’s the reason shamans exist in Korea.” 

 

“This really drives me crazy.” 

 

“And the reason shrines exist in Japan.” 

 

“Haa…” 

 

“Of course, most of them are frauds. Empty husks. You shouldn’t believe every shaman is real just because you heard this story. If you really need one, it’s best to trade through your uncle.” 

 

“….” 

 

“So.”

 

Baek Mujin set down his cup. The clack of the teacup hitting the saucer broke the silence.

 

“Have you calmed down?” 

 

“…Yes.” 

 

“Then I must hear more about that goblin.” 

 

“What are you going to do?” 

 

“I must repay him.”

 

He continued his words in a toneless voice. 

 

“Since it wouldn’t be bad to form a connection with a goblin of that caliber.”

 

* * *

 

“…Are you visiting in person?”

 

At the question from the man who entered the office, Baek Mujin nodded.

 

“I shouldn’t send a proxy for such a task.” 

 

“It seems you are assuming a traditional goblin, Chairman.”

 

It was a statement predicated on the fact that communication with a general goblin is nearly impossible.

 

“Otherwise, how could Seonhae have come out alive, that soft and weak thing.” 

 

“It might not be.” 

 

“Everyone in this field knows that traditional goblins have gone extinct in Korea.” 

 

“My opinion is that there can’t be another goblin in Korea except for the two local deities. Nor has there been a major incident recently that would cause a goblin to be born.” 

 

“A goblin isn’t born only when there is an incident visible to our eyes. It is even more so for traditional ones. Don’t you think so, youngest?”

 

Baek Mujin put on his coat.

 

“I heard the story that you’ll be moving to a subsidiary soon.” 

 

“Yes, Chairman.” 

 

“You say soon, but it looks like it will take quite some time to organize things as you wish. Do you find this field that loathsome?” 

 

“I am… of Seonhae’s type, after all.” 

 

“It is a world you could sufficiently enter with just a little effort.” 

 

“I do not wish to go.” 

 

“Every single one of those called children fails to satisfy.” 

 

“I am sorry, Chairman.” 

 

“Insolent fellows.”

 

He approached the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. When he lightly tapped the glass surface with his cane, an endless black space rippled and revealed itself instead of smooth glass.

 

“No one knows exactly what kind of being the one who helped Seonhae is. Whether it’s a young goblin, a Labyrinth’s goblin, or if not…” 

 

“….” 

 

“If he is truly human.”

 

Baek Mujin added as he pushed himself beyond the black space.

 

“Won’t we have to see to find out?”

 

Soon, his presence vanished completely.

 

The man who had been left in the dark office also quietly left the place shortly after.

 

* * *

 

And Lee Yeonwoo.

 

“….”

 

He was crawling into the hotel on all fours.

 

“Did I almost die just now?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“I must be insane.”

 

His top and bottom were already a mess with blood. With every step he took, blood squelched inside his shoes. The absurdity was greater than the unpleasantness.

 

Did it look that delicious? One guest who likes blood secretly spoke to him.

 

“May I eat it?” 

 

“No.” 

 

“What are you going to use it for?” 

 

“I’m going to eat it.”

 

“Oh.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

This is mine.