Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 47

In Hotel One, an uncountably diverse range of collection items appears.

 

“Memory Cards and Classified Records are among them. There are items that can only be found right here on the 14th floor, inside the hidden Room 14. Though I’m sure you know this well, Coco.”

 

“Yes, you too.” 

 

“I’m saying this because I wasn’t certain.”

 

Too much blood had drained out. Since his brain’s utilization efficiency had dropped significantly, he made a point of speaking his thoughts aloud to organize them. Coco’s responses served as a fairly good verification tool.

 

“Since I’ve successfully finished the test, they should be here now.”

 

When the mini-game ended and the TV screen went dark, the old, rusted metal drawer supporting it had opened. Lee Yeonwoo gripped the drawer handle.

 

“Indeed.”

 

Inside the space, which opened easily with just a little force, were old photographs and documents.

 

“In the game… these were objects you couldn’t interact with until the test was over.” 

 

“Yes, it wasn’t.” 

 

“I thought they were just background images, so I didn’t even touch them until my third playthrough. I remember realizing only once I reached my fourth playthrough that they were elements obtainable only after a successful puzzle.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

“It was very unpleasant.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

A secret revealed only on the fourth playthrough. As someone who prided himself on playing meticulously, this was a point that dealt a significant blow to his pride.

 

Lee Yeonwoo flipped over a photo he had taken from the drawer.

 

“…Ah.” 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“No, a ‘memory’ just came to mind.” 

 

Memory Card. It is an item that forces one to recall the ‘memory’ contained within the corresponding card. Because of this item, early users used to speculate that the ‘General Manager’ was a person deeply involved with the hotel.

 

‘Whether as a perpetrator or a victim remains ambiguous, though.’

 

Perhaps he truly wasn’t human.

 

‘Something like an inanimate object, such as a surveillance camera.’ 

 

No matter which Memory Card he examined, the descriptions were too clinical to reveal the truth. The screams of the specimens and the records of the researchers were described as dryly as if they were someone else’s business.

 

Still, because subjective emotional descriptions weren’t entirely absent, Lee Yeonwoo had theorized that it was a person.

 

“Memory Cards are always like this. It feels as if the narrator is a ghost dropped right into the middle of the incident. An observer detached from everything, yet more deeply involved than anyone….” 

 

“….” 

 

“It seems you have nothing in particular to say on this matter.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

It was a mystery that remained unresolved even within the game. Since it might have been a part the developer left unfinished during setting design, it was perhaps natural that Coco, being part of the system, could not answer.

 

“Right….”

 

Lee Yeonwoo started to trace the ‘memory’ deeper but stopped. His situation was not leisurely enough to fall into contemplation while spilling blood. Since he had already registered them as data, he wouldn’t forget.

 

After confirming that even the Closed Records were registered in the encyclopedia, Lee Yeonwoo stood up.

 

“Let’s move to where the blood packs are.” 

 

“Yes!” 

 

“I hope it proves effective.” 

 

In the first place, it was questionable whether he could even consume it properly. Having only recently learned Blood Magic, and having lived his entire life as an ordinary, law-abiding citizen, he lacked confidence.

 

“—Cough!!”

 

“No!!”

 

And Lee Yeonwoo vomited blood again. It was a truly tiresome penalty.

 

* * *

 

A cold laboratory. A man on the operating table lies helplessly. He is like a living canvas. A researcher was engraving an elaborate tattoo onto his arm. It was not a simple pattern, but a form similar to a complex circuit diagram. Every time a tattoo was engraved, the body bulged upward, and the skin gradually became transparent, revealing the organs within. He struggled, letting out painful moans, but no one acknowledged his agony. The research team recorded the scene with expressions of satisfaction or thirst.

 

It was a narrow, dark room. A woman stands with pieces of iron embedded all over her body. Numerous chains and shackles were connected to her, constantly hindering her movement and inflicting pain. Reaching the limit of pain, she banged her head against the wall or bit her own hands. One could not tell why she had to endure that pain; if it was a punishment, what her sin was remained unknown. One only knows that the pain her body endures is a ritual and a trial. The pain, transmitted in its entirety, signals the situation.

 

It was a massive liquid tank. Several human forms are submerged within. Their bodies were grotesquely deformed, appearing as if they were part of a building. Limbs were hardened like pillars forming walls, and faces had turned into something like statues on a ceiling. All had their eyes closed, but one could sense that they were alive. The liquid in which they were submerged was slowly dissolving them, using them as material for something. Their existence is fading, yet they understood that even death could not bring salvation.

 

This is an experiment and a ritual carried out by the longing of people who wish to achieve something.

 

* * *

 

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Lee Yeonwoo let out a low lament.

 

“Dear me….”

 

Stepping out of the room where the CRT TV had been placed, a long, narrow hallway appeared. It was a dark corridor where all kinds of dolls hung by their necks from the ceiling, dangling loose. 

 

“This is truly hazardous to one’s mental health.” 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but a game can only be enjoyed when it stays a game. No matter how much I say I don’t feel much of an impact from this kind of stimulation, that was only true when it wasn’t reality.” 

 

“Impact?” 

 

“Yes, now I feel an impact in a different sense. I suspect it would be rather difficult not to feel anything.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“I’m an ordinary, law-abiding citizen with standard sensibilities. I believe it’s entirely justified to feel unpleasant when placed in a situation like this.” 

 

His reaction was within a perfectly common-sense range.

 

“Hello?” 

 

“This is sudden, but I’ve wanted to ask for a while—you, Coco, are you using that ‘Hello’ as a synonym for asking ‘Are you okay?’” 

 

“Yes! No?” 

 

“It’s not entirely unacceptable.” 

 

It wasn’t illegal, after all.

 

‘It’s not like Coco has to go out of the hotel and lead a social life right now, and above all, I can more or less understand what Coco is saying….’

 

To be honest, that point was a bit unsettling. Due to the narrow path, Lee Yeonwoo continued speaking while being forced to brush against the hanging dolls.

 

“During the tutorial, it was hard to know what you were saying. So I used to ask you over and over again. Do you remember?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“But now, no matter how nonsensically you speak, I can roughly understand your true meaning. Even without making an effort to analyze it. Conversely, I can’t even explain why I understand it that way.” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“…Let’s just say it’s thanks to my excellent adaptability and literacy.”

 

Had some structural change occurred within him as well when the tutorial ended? By the time he shook off those thoughts, the narrow path ended.

 

“….”

 

And an even narrower path appeared.

 

“Haa…” 

 

“Hello?” 

 

“There’s no reason I can’t be okay.” 

 

It was a path he already knew. He just didn’t want to go.

 

Lee Yeonwoo crouched down. The ‘crouch’ function of the system seemed to be working normally, but a terrible dizziness washed over him. It was the result of a broken body combined with excessive blood loss.

 

“I’m already dreading the moment I have to stand up later.” 

 

“Hello.” 

 

“I’ll try to be careful.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

His vision was already swaying. He was holding onto his consciousness, but the fact remained that a blood transfusion was urgent. He exhaled a sigh and pushed his body into the extremely narrow ventilation shaft.

 

“Ugh….” 

 

“Hello?” 

 

“This is embarrassing, but I think I have to take back my words.” 

 

“Yes?” 

 

“I don’t think I’m going to be okay.” 

 

A darkness where he could barely see ahead. The smell of dust stinging the tip of his nose, the corpses of insects, and the texture of rotting flesh were palpable. From here on, he had to crawl through this. 

 

‘My mind is so hazy I can barely tell front from back….’

 

Blink.

 

Through the darkness, he saw Coco’s two eyes.

 

“….”

 

Lee Yeonwoo let out a hollow laugh.

 

“…Only your eyes are visible right now.” 

 

“Ing.” 

 

“Just what kind of structure are you in to be there?”

 

Given the form of Coco he knew, there was no way those two round eyes could fit into his field of vision while he was crawling prone.

 

Especially not vertically.

 

“It’s disappointing if you’ve completely given up on acting cute just because I can’t see you.”

 

Currently, Coco was likely not in the form of a cat. Yet his hands felt no physical substance. It was as if integrated with the darkness itself. 

 

Exhaling a small sigh at the pressure of the closing passage, Lee Yeonwoo put strength back into his body.

 

“I clearly understand your will to help me.” 

 

“Yes.”

 

Despite appearing that way, she was leading the way in her own way. It was a sign for Lee Yeonwoo, whose physical condition was a mess, to follow her eyes as a landmark so he wouldn’t get lost.

 

Lee Yeonwoo let out a groan and pulled his body forward.

 

“…Thank you.”

 

He was in no position to refuse goodwill.

 

* * *

 

“….”

 

The gentleman in the burgundy coat tilts his head.

 

“….”

 

He passes before the broken CRT TV.

 

“….”

 

Making the sound of clashing cutlery.

 

“Belmares….”

 

Clink…. Clink….

 

* * *

 

A bone-chillingly white hospital room.

 

A watery noise leaked through the grid iron bars at the bottom of the wall. It was a transparent sound, like stepping into a puddle on a rainy day, but much more sloshing and heavy.

 

Soon, a bright red liquid flowed smoothly through the gaps and began to take shape.

 

“—….”

 

It let out a hoarse breath, and fangs lightly brushed between parted lips.

 

“…Is it starting to get difficult?”

 

Having taken the form of a cat once more, Coco trotted across the floor and replied. 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“I’m going crazy.” 

 

It was now at a level that could not be explained simply by saying he was hungry. A strange hunger he had never felt before scraped at his insides. He felt as if only his skin remained.

 

‘I gambled too much.’

 

From the middle of the ventilation shaft, he hadn’t even had the strength to crawl. His mind grew clouded, and the interval between penalties shortened. He had judged that reaching the blood packs at this speed was impossible.

 

So, he had committed a mad act, just like when he rescued Director Lee Seonhae.

 

“To think I’d use the tool I brought in hopes of using it effectively like this.” 

 

“Yes….” 

 

“It’s quite ironic.”

 

He had taken the chainsaw out of the inventory, fixed it in the passage, and passed through by manually disintegrating his own body.

 

“Hello?” 

 

“Yes, I am alive.”

 

A chainsaw is a useful item that can be obtained even without capital. It is used for destroying blocked doors or passages, but originally, it could not be used for any other purpose.

 

However, he judged that there would be no such constraints here, now that it was reality.

 

‘It’s a bit heavy, but its destructive power is certain.’

 

Lee Yeonwoo suppressed a sigh. The losses were heavy. He had to leave the chainsaw behind on the other side of the passage.

 

“Now there’s only 38% battery left.” 

 

“Ing?” 

 

“That’s how it turned out.” 

 

If it had been an actual phone battery, it might have been different, but it was far too little blood to maintain a physical body. Still, Lee Yeonwoo’s gamble of choosing speed over preserving blood seemed to have been successful to some extent.

 

“To think I’d be this glad to see packs containing someone else’s blood.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo headed for the white refrigerator.

 

Upon opening the massive refrigerator door, blood packs were hanging densely. In the game, they were background objects that couldn’t even be interacted with, but now they had become physical substances he could grasp in his hand.

 

“….”

 

Ultimately, with a short sigh, he bit into a pack.

 

The fangs he had transformed in advance easily pierced the thick plastic. Fishy, thick blood surged into his mouth. With the pack in his mouth, Lee Yeonwoo slowly slumped down against the refrigerator wall.

 

His breathing gradually began to stabilize.

 

“….” 

 

“….”

 

For a long time, only the sound of swallowing blood echoed within the hospital room.

 

“…Haa.”

 

It was unpleasant.

 

“This is unfortunate.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“It’s delicious.” 

 

“Ing.” 

 

“I must be going crazy.”

 

He was definitely out of his mind. 

 

“It’s too delicious….”