Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 44

“To think that ‘Sixth Sense’ would trigger all the way out to a guest who has already left the hotel.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

“Broadcasted straight to me, even providing sights I had no particular desire to witness.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

“It’s insane, isn’t it?”

 

It seemed this ability possessed no concept of personal privacy. 

 

“It was never like this when it was a game. Truly disappointing in so many ways…” 

 

Lee Yeonwoo laid his body down on the bed inside the manager’s quarters. Having spent the entire time staring at the control module’s hologram, his eyes burned agonizingly. 

 

It was no mere trick of his imagination. Lee Yeonwoo wiped away the bloody tears streaming down his eyes with his hand. 

 

‘My body truly does not follow my will.’

 

A hand drenched in blood.

 

“….”

 

A surge of revulsion washed over him.

 

There wasn’t a single decent pair of pajamas in this hotel, and his physical body spilled blood at every turn. His reality looked like this, mocking his obsession with keeping his bedding and attire pristine at all times. 

 

The fact that a person could not live like a human was far more draining than he had imagined.

 

“…Haa…” 

 

He felt like he might go mad, but he forced himself to calm down.

 

“There is one fact that has become clear through my conversation with Baek Mujin-ssi. It’s that even the background lore of this game has been manifested into reality. Meaning, at the very least, there exists a corresponding weight of time behind it.” 

 

Baek Mujin had said it clearly. That he smelled the scent of death and blood. That he heard layers upon layers of screams and even felt the sounds of prayers offered to a god that should not exist.

 

“If he were a person possessing that sort of supernatural ability, then yes. That…” 

 

“Yes?”

 

“The fact that the head of a major domestic conglomerate is actually a psychic is still shocking, but moving past my personal impressions and getting back to the main point.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What he felt certainly aligns with the background setting of Hotel One.”

 

A front hotel established for the unethical experiments of a cult. A massive dungeon forged from the concentrated negative thoughts within that place. That was the true identity of the hotel explained in the game, Hotel One: Eden Within the Nightmare.

 

“However, a question remains. A game is merely fiction, so for it to be implemented into reality and suddenly generate a history that never existed is a causal contradiction. That makes no sense.” 

 

“….”

 

“Where on earth did that history originate? Could it be that the story inside the game was an actual history that existed all along, and the hotel from another dimension was transferred over here in its entirety? Or… if not that…” 

 

“Hello.”

 

Squish—.

 

Just as he was about to fall into the abyss of his thoughts, a fluffy sensation pressed against Lee Yeonwoo’s face.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“…Please get down.”

 

“Ing.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

“Iing.”

 

Even while grumbling, Coco submissively climbed down. If not for the hotel’s operating policy, he would be a cat one could communicate with remarkably well. Not that he was a good cat by any means, though. 

 

“…Anyway, the only thing that’s certain is that the game has become reality.”

 

Which meant. 

 

“That is what’s so absurd.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“To me, it was nothing more than a game…” 

 

Any gamer has had this imagination at least once. How great would it be if the currency and resources in a game were real? How fun would it be if this virtual world actually existed?

 

‘Of course, given the nature of this game, I never once thought that way.’

 

Regrettably, that imagination had now become reality.

 

“I’m not particularly glad.”

 

“No?”

 

“It’s a pity.”

 

It wasn’t any other genre; it was a horror hotel management simulation. A world-building filled with all sorts of monsters, evil resources, and cruel recipes. Having such a thing actually exist in reality was a bit problematic.

 

‘And now I’m one of the co-owners of that hotel.’

 

I’m truly going crazy. Lee Yeonwoo wiped his face with his dry hands.

 

“My body has become a game character, and the history and resources of the hotel are all derived from the game. To sit here and hear things like ‘you must eat them’ or ‘you’ve repeated death’ with a straight face… that’s just a bit much.”

 

“That’s just a bit much?”

 

“A bit….”

 

It was indeed. 

 

“….”

 

Honestly, it was embarrassing.

 

‘It’s just a game setting.’

 

There was something cringeworthy about saying he had actually experienced it.

 

It was true he had experienced it through a game, but that wasn’t reality. But now, that fake history had become real. He had even actually died. Though he eventually came back to life.

 

“I feel like I’m not acting my age.”

 

“That’s just a bit much.”

 

“You’re making excellent use of that, Coco….”

 

The impact was considerable. It felt like hearing a friend or colleague say, ‘That really is a bit much.’

 

“It’s not that I don’t grasp reality. I’m not avoiding it either. I clearly recognize that this hotel, my body, and the surrounding situation are real.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“But as time passes, I’m coming to see myself more as a game character than a human. Even though I’m trying to stay on guard. As if it’s a natural evolution.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Perhaps that’s why… the situation doesn’t feel particularly severe to me.” 

 

If it is Lee Yeonwoo and not someone else, he does not die. Not within this hotel. Therefore, he couldn’t help but fall into a fundamental deliberation at this point.

 

“How must I live to truly survive?”

 

It was a contemplation regarding his own identity and the direction of this hotel. 

 

“Hello?”

 

“Are you asking what is to become of my sense of self before jumping straight to that point?” 

 

“Yes.”

 

“If you thought I could solve that by agonizing over it now… you are gravely mistaken, Coco.”

 

An identity is something that naturally forms as one lives. Just as a kindergartener shouting ‘I’m a fire truck!’ eventually grows up to become a dutiful taxpayer, the day would come when he, too, would define himself. 

 

“The problem is the process of reaching that point.”

 

“No?”

 

“Don’t reject it already and just listen.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Supposing that I were to return to society one day.” 

 

“No?”

 

“Do you have no intention of listening to me?”

 

“No?”

 

Lee Yeonwoo ignored it.

 

“Even if I were to return to society, with my current body, an ordinary life is nearly impossible. Because of that, I had to be extremely careful throughout Mr. Baek Mujin’s stay.”

 

The game system, the Ritual of Red Heart Dissection, the high-level bugs, the Wet Person’s contract… 

 

“Because these settings are all tangled up, I was left in a vulnerable state and wasted most of my time in the administrator quarters. While I could perform my duties remotely through the management module inside the room, the threat to my survival the moment I step out the door is far too great.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Since it was originally that kind of game, it’s only natural.” 

 

Was Hotel One not originally a game where you learn through death?

 

“The aftermath of death is a problem, but now that resurrection consumes massive resources… I’ve reached a situation where I must avoid death by any means necessary.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo added as he checked the management module.

 

“Even if we are only accepting monster guests from the Open version, that doesn’t mean this has become an environment where ordinary people can stay.”

 

“No?”

 

“I will not listen. We will not admit human guests. At any rate, due to these reasons, the speed at which the hotel’s resources accumulate is excessively slow. At this rate, we cannot even prepare items to counter the contract penalty of the ‘Wet Person’.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

“Therefore, research into improving my physical state is not an option, but a necessity.”

 

However, what worried him was.

 

“If there is a problem after all… if I neglect this body while we have already entered the main game, there is a high risk of the system going haywire. With our current operating system, securing time for research is utterly impossible.” 

 

“Research?”

 

“Right. My body wasn’t even my major. There will be a lot of trial and error.”

 

Even so, the foundation was still far too insufficient to automate the entire hotel.

 

“So I’ve been thinking, Coco.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“In this game, there was definitely… Cough, hack, blegh…!!”

 

“Noooooo!!!”

 

Lee Yeonwoo, who had vomited profusely onto the bed in the quarters, spoke again as if nothing had happened.

 

“There definitely was a ‘Maintenance Feature’ in this game.” 

 

The Maintenance Feature. 

 

A feature that paused hotel operations to reconfigure new facilities, themes, or concept spaces. Decorating the hotel—or ‘Hot-Deco’ for short, as Lee Yeonwoo abbreviated it. 

 

“Originally, it’s a feature only veterans who have mastered the Close version would even try. I recall it as a hidden function obtainable only by conquering the non-existent floors, which aren’t even necessary for normal play.”

 

Managing the hotel right now was already stressful enough; what was there to decorate? For ordinary players, managing guests and repairing facilities was already overwhelming. This was content for users who truly had nothing else to do.

 

“However, this… as I recall….”

 

“….”

 

“…It’s a function that is only unlocked by conquering the central control room, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What a pity.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo dragged his heavy body upward. The sight of him sitting blankly at the head of the bed made him look just like an office worker who was dying of reluctance to go to work. 

 

“It’s a confirmed matter that one must go to the central control room to activate that function. The problem is that since it’s one of the ‘non-existent floors,’ the process of conquering it is quite cumbersome.”

 

“No?”

 

“I don’t think you should blindly defend your own hotel with your eyes and ears shut. There were parts that were uncomfortable to look at even in the game, so I wonder how it will be now that it’s real.”

 

This was the part Lee Yeonwoo was worried about.

 

“Is Hotel One not a game prohibited for those under 19?”

 

It went without saying, but it was a game where death was common and the process was cruel. It was also the reason Lee Yeonwoo had died so many times during the tutorial.

 

“But right now, my body is no different from soft tofu, is it?”

 

“…!”

 

“…I’m asking if this body can handle high-intensity cutscenes from a 19+ rated game.”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

A heavy silence descended upon the comfortable quarters. 

 

“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one worried.”

 

And here I thought I was just a worrywart.

 

* * *

 

“For now.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo said as he hovered around the 19th-floor guest rooms.

 

“I understand that it’s okay for me to die.”

 

“No?”

 

“Yes, that’s right. Even if I die, I will be resurrected, but because the game system is applied incompletely, there is a high possibility that my body, which is already a mess, will deteriorate even further after resurrection.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo felt like he wanted to go a little crazy.

 

‘Nothing goes the way I want.’

 

This hotel would not let Lee Yeonwoo die. The tenacity with which it tried to keep him alive was palpable. But it would be problematic if he became even softer as a price.

 

‘If I get any softer, I’ll just be water.’

 

In fact, Lee Yeonwoo’s current state was no different from a mass of blood. If he died a few more times, he wouldn’t even be able to maintain a human form.

 

‘It’s horrifying just imagining it.’ 

 

“Yes.”

 

“Thank you for understanding.”

 

Humans are creatures that rely quite heavily on vision. If he became a mass of blood, he couldn’t even guess how his humanity, which he had cherished so carefully, would be worn away.

 

“…So….”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Clearing the tutorial with a bug used to cause a side effect where the character’s pixel dots would break. Let’s apply that to this body. Think about what kind of disaster would unfold if the real me ended up in a ‘broken dot’ state.” 

 

“No.”

 

“Your speech is suddenly becoming quite fluent. Yes, that’s exactly it.”

 

There was only one conclusion. He must avoid death if possible.

 

“The problem is that it might not be a situation where I can live just because I want to.”

 

He muttered as he scanned the surroundings.

 

‘I brought the tools I expect to be most useful, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to use them properly in that frantic situation.’

 

But he was mentally prepared. Now, he just had to enter the ‘event.’

 

‘…Has the room not appeared yet?’

 

He had been looking all the way down from the top, but Room 14 had not been found yet. But it was only a matter of time. He was looking for an event location… to find the supplies… to go to the ‘non-existent 14th floor.’

 

“Let’s go down one more floor.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The two of them stepped into the elevator. The time it took to descend to the 18th floor was short.

 

“My senses have become much clearer than during the tutorial. It’s different from when a user indirectly perceives a game character’s information as if, well, receiving a signal. The problem is that it lacks a sense of reality.”

 

The elevator doors opened, and Lee Yeonwoo stepped into the hallway.

 

“Even so, the fact that I’ve come to ‘perceive’ pain is a definite reality.”

 

“Ing….”

 

“That is also the reason why I must improve my physical condition as soon as possible. In a hotel overflowing with ways to die, even if it comes in the form of information, if I repeatedly encounter pain and death, it’s only a matter of time before my brain breaks down. I do not want to end up like that.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

“However, a human being, you see.”

 

Is quite a pitiful creature.

 

“Can actually die simply from being in too much pain.”

 

“….”

 

“Yes.”

 

Commonly known as death from shock.

 

“When the autonomic nervous system collapses and blood pressure drops sharply due to extreme pain or psychological impact, causing death. Or sudden psychogenic death like ‘Voodoo Death,’ where the breath stops due to a powerful emotional shock, is not uncommon for humans.”

 

He didn’t know how far his shallow medical knowledge would apply in this world. However, this body was no longer a mere clump of game pixels. Curiously, it subtly conformed to the structure of the human body. 

 

‘I need every scrap of knowledge I have and then some. I have to use my head.’

 

For the sake of dignity. 

 

“So it’s not a situation where I can be relieved just because it’s perceived as simple information.”

 

“Yes….”

 

“What if I go into shock from information overload? What if I can’t even maintain this form because of it? Or what if my heart stops because I feel a massive fear at the sight before me?”

 

Then he would devolve past soft tofu into water tofu.

 

“I’d like to avoid such a situation if possible.”

 

“Coco….”

 

“I see, thank you. I’ll take that to mean you feel the same, Coco.”

 

“Yes….”

 

“You seem completely drained of energy.” 

 

“Ing….”

 

“I see.”

 

It seemed his turning into water tofu wasn’t a very pleasant prospect for Coco either. Thinking that she was quite merciful for a wicked monster cat, Lee Yeonwoo focused on the current situation again.

 

“It’s a game made of sprite images, but Hotel One is a game with cutscenes. I learned it by repeating the files so many times, and this game has surprisingly many cutscenes.”

 

And they were all unfathomably cruel.

 

“So, what I’m trying to say is.”

 

“….”

 

“…This is why I didn’t want to step outside the quarters.”

 

Room 1814.

 

A slightly ajar door.

 

A lowered gaze.

 

“….”

 

…A slender, skinless hand, reaching out from within.

 

It was gripping his ankle tightly. 

 

* * *

 

“Oh.”

 

An empty hallway.

 

“May I eat?”

 

A guest who liked blood asked. He asked politely. He asked toward a wall where nothing existed.

 

“May I eat it?” 

 

Because no one answered, the guest waited. Blood was thick beneath the wall.

 

“May I eat it?” 

 

On top of it, a neatly severed hand. A single, bright red wrist wearing a glove. On the blood-soaked mass of flesh. Five fingers stretched out straight. Pretending to be flesh.

 

Belmares.

 

It’s you.

 

“….”

 

Ah.

 

Ah.

 

“…It would be delicious….”