Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 52

What Lee Yeonwoo did was simple. He had merely substituted his own body parts—fingers, ears, or eyeballs—for the blood packs used as lures in the game.

 

After all, they were ultimately just lumps of blood mimicking a human form. 

 

“That way, I can learn the trick of how to seize control of the opponent from the inside when my main body is eaten.”

 

“….”

 

“Coco?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You seem to be in a very foul mood.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“My goodness.” 

 

Lee Yeonwoo moved the hand that had just begun to regenerate. Fumbling through the sightless darkness, he touched the area where the sound had come from. A soft texture met his fingertips.

 

He caught the monster cat just like that and pulled it into his arms. Though showing signs of dislike, Coco allowed itself to be pulled in obediently as she was caught. Lee Yeonwoo whispered in a low voice as he held her.

 

“Won’t you forgive me?”

 

“No.”

 

“How firm.” 

 

Even so, staying quietly cradled in his arms was already no different from declaring it would yield. Since the clever cat couldn’t possibly not know that, this was practically a tacitly granted absolution. 

 

“I am aware that I’ve done something crazy.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo let out a deep sigh and felt his own face. The spot where his eyeball should have been was squelchy and sunken. Even the texture was not smooth.

 

Extracting an eyeball cleanly while in the middle of a sprint was a task of higher difficulty than expected. It was his first time butchering a human, after all. Thanks to that, even the surrounding skin had been torn away with it.

 

“But didn’t the other parts come off quite cleanly thanks to the blood collection tools?”

 

“No.”

 

“You’re being far too objective.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Coco’s mood was still hitting rock bottom.

 

‘If only I were certain that Coco was the perpetrator who kidnapped me to this place, I could mock it for turning the tables, but it’s a real shame things turned out like this.’ 

 

Lee Yeonwoo didn’t yet know if Coco had truly kidnapped him or if it was a simple accomplice. After all, there were clearly things Coco didn’t know about this hotel or Lee Yeonwoo.

 

‘I don’t know if it’s just acting like it, though….’

 

Lee Yeonwoo regained his train of thought and continued.

 

“…Thanks to getting a sufficient blood transfusion in advance, it didn’t reach a lethal dose. As you know, it was all cut away after calculations. Both the speed and the stability.”

 

“I am not well.”

 

Its vocabulary has grown again. How commendable. 

 

“I admit that it was a very ignorant way to draw blood, but won’t you understand the situation? It’s not like I wanted to use such nonsensical tools.”

 

He used his hands for parts that could be easily torn off, like ears or eyes. However, it was impossible for parts that included skeletal structure. He had to borrow the power of tools, but he had nothing else in his hands at the moment.

 

“I even ended up leaving the chainsaw, which feels merciful by comparison, somewhere in Room 14.”

 

Instead, Lee Yeonwoo had packed every ‘blood collection tool’ he encountered while coming and going into his inventory.

 

“….”

 

“Since I had at least those things, I could attempt something like this.”

 

This place is the world of a brutal 19+ horror game. There was no way a sensible piece of medical equipment would exist. 

 

‘Was it an Iron Maiden?’

 

A torture device with sharp spikes driven into the inside of an iron coffin.

 

Modified from its original form to bind only specific body parts, it was a malicious object that proved humans had been treated as less than livestock.

 

After all, it was a design that didn’t even keep the possibility of keeping the target alive in mind.

 

‘That thing,’

 

It performed amputations.

 

Simultaneously with attachment, it severed the relevant part and squeezed out the blood.

 

Not just arms or legs, but even small terminal tissues like fingers. It was a tool focused on the efficiency of purely harvesting blood rather than the purpose of inflicting pain.

 

So, perhaps that was why it was named a ‘blood collection tool’ instead of a ‘torture device.’

 

“Still, there is no major blow to me. If it were a normal body, I would have died of excessive bleeding long ago, but aren’t I originally a mass of blood? Regeneration is also possible, albeit limited.”

 

“No.”

 

“Well, it wasn’t easy. This is quite difficult. I thought I had studied in my own way, but as expected, real-world application is different. Nothing goes the way I want it to….”

 

“Yes.”

 

A technique Lee Yeonwoo had acquired during his scuffle with the ‘Wet Person’ last time. The ‘Emergency Restoration Protocol’ is a technique that forcibly restores a human form when scattered in a blood state.

 

‘It borrows the hotel’s resurrection mechanism, so it’s actually different in nature from regeneration.’

 

Strictly speaking, it was a method of defining the current state as ‘death’ and then forcing a ‘resurrection’ systemically. It was closer to restoration than recovery. 

 

However, what Lee Yeonwoo needed right now was pure recovery to fill in the missing parts.

 

‘And that’s why I’m going through this trouble.’

 

His head was spinning from pulling together all the knowledge he had and didn’t have to repair his body.

 

Even if that ‘head’ itself was merely a lump of bloody water, it felt that way. At any rate, since he was wearing the skin of a human, an organ like the brain seemed to receive a corresponding load as well. 

 

“On this side, I’m busy regenerating the body, and on that side, I’m busy trying to win….”

 

“Yes.”

 

“An eyeball is certainly much harder to create. The limbs, which could more or less function once flesh was attached to the bones even clumsily, are in a completely different field from this. This neural network, no, was it not this side? This is driving me crazy.”

 

“Hello?”

 

“Don’t worry. Although an eyeball might be difficult right now, regeneration is progressing step by step. The confrontation with the monster is also only the equivalent of one finger so far. Since I’ve learned that subduing it with that much volume is difficult, I just have to increase the intensity from now on.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo agreed.

 

“Actually, I’m anxious.”

 

What if it fails? 

 

“Then the blow will be a bit large.”

 

It was painful and exhausting. Even if the pain was recognized by being substituted into ‘information,’ the fatigue from the pouring volume of information was real. The act of tearing off his own body to feed a monster was also not something to be done in one’s right mind. 

 

“Did I decide too hastily?”

 

There was no way he wouldn’t fear pain and death.

 

It was a laughable thing. He wasn’t some great person, nor did he have the leisure to spare. He did something stupid for something he didn’t even know was a person or what, who had no relation to him.

 

But,

 

“There is… a value that only such stupid acts possess.”

 

That’s how life is. It doesn’t run on calculations alone. Efficiency isn’t always the right answer.

 

“I’ll regret it if things go wrong, but even if I went back, I’d make the same choice. That would make me more like myself. What else can I do?”

 

“….”

 

“…Ah, I think I can see a bit now.”

 

“….”

 

“No, ah. The retina is backward… this is driving me crazy.”

 

Because his mind was in a rush, the assembly wasn’t working properly either. Lee Yeonwoo just closed his eyes again.

 

Since things had turned out this way, it seemed better to put effort into capturing the monster rather than regenerating the body. Diversifying investments was something one could only do when the situation permitted.

 

He listened to the scream that had clumped together just as it was.

 

Just like that.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

He falls asleep to the approaching commotion.

 

* * *

 

And then, it is seen.

 

With pitch-black hair, pale skin, wearing the formal suit of this hotel—the new owner of this place. And seen behind that back… seen….

 

‘The door.’

 

‘It’s the door.’

 

‘It’s the door leading out.’

 

It’s an exit.

 

‘I can get out.’

 

That thought alone consumed them.

 

Nothing else could be seen, and they could no longer think. They either didn’t know they were excited or were mad even while knowing. They were blinded by the fact that this was the last chance. No, they had been blind for a long time.

 

So, please.

 

‘I want to go out!!!’

 

Stretching out a hand in a hurried mind.

 

They caught him.

 

‘….’

 

No, was it right to say they caught him?

 

‘….’

 

Are you sure?

 

‘….’

 

‘….’

 

‘….’

 

…There was a very strong scent of fresh blood.

 

‘…Ah?’

 

On the tip of the tongue.

 

Too,

 

Much.

 

* * *

 

If caught by the monster in the 2nd Pursuit, one would see two types of dead endings. Having the body torn apart, or being eaten whole. Lee Yeonwoo analyzed the latter case as a kind of ‘reflexive action.’

 

The grounds were sufficient.

 

‘Because the latter is a cutscene that only occurs when the blood pack lure is used excessively.’

 

The original purpose is to catch, and it’s just that after picking up and eating blood packs, it might have perceived the playable character as a blood pack too. Since it doesn’t look sane no matter how you see it, it would be easy to follow momentum.

 

He judged it would be the same this time. Since he had been feeding it parts of his body all the way here, it would eventually try to swallow even the ‘me’ here. It would have become accustomed to that taste in a short time.

 

‘Even so.’

 

Despite having gone through verification and practice in advance.

 

‘It’s overwhelming.’

 

He was successfully eaten, but… holding onto the monster, onto these people, was far from easy. Had he not adapted bit by bit through prior practice, it would have been even harder than this. 

 

Heat that feels like blood will evaporate. Cold that splinters every joint. Light that burns the skin and darkness that blinds the eyes. Amidst the pressure consuming the entire body, there was one thing that was the most horrific of all.

 

…They were terrified.

 

‘My apologies.’

 

It was because they were already in a state of hyper-excitement. Furthermore, the fear that they would be eaten by Lee Yeonwoo himself, or that the only door would be closed like this, had been added.

 

Being pulled, torn, and hearing the screams in a place that was already cramped to bursting, his spirit was naturally drained. He was dazed by the touches that he couldn’t tell were resentment, obsession, or pleading.

 

“….”

 

He had never thought… that this task would be easy.

 

Starting from his fingers, he gave up his entire body. He cut it off and tore it away with his own hands. And he gave it as food to the monster. Beyond that, he had to subdue the opponent with the ‘me’ that was separated from himself.

 

It was something he was prepared for.

 

“….”

 

Even so, it really, truly hurts.

 

‘…Why did something like this have to exist?’

 

Blood and blood mix to become one. Memories and sensations are shared through that passage. Beyond the horrific screams, a living, pulsing pain. A vivid despair. Not a taxidermied history, but a hell itself that was still throbbing.

 

Why, something like this.

 

“….”

 

Lee Yeonwoo calmed down. He decided to calm down.

 

Right now, he was standing at a crossroads of whether to leave this hell forever or to break it off even now. And Lee Yeonwoo was learning the trick. The way to maintain composure even in this chaotic situation.

 

He just needed to forget that he was human for a very brief moment.

 

‘Exclude emotions and focus on calculations.’

 

Then the work is fast.

 

“….”

 

In fact,

 

It wasn’t even a difficult task.

 

We can get out.

 

‘….’

 

‘….’

 

‘…Really?’

 

Yes.

 

Let’s go together.

 

* * *

 

A concrete hallway where blood and pieces of flesh were clumped together.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“…….”

 

How much time had passed?

 

Lee Yeonwoo, who had barely crawled out through the blood and debris, dragged his staggering body and slumped against the wall.

 

“Whew….”

 

There was no strength in his entire body.

 

In front of him lay a sprawling mass of squelchy mucus. It looked like a limp piece of flesh, and also like a byproduct left over after all the juice had been sucked out.

 

The remains of the monster left after he had absorbed it.

 

“Ha, haha.”

 

Lee Yeonwoo covered his mouth with a hand trembling from fatigue.

 

“It was… a bit dangerous.”

 

“Yes!”

 

“I think so too, Coco.”

 

His entire body was covered in blood. Although the Emergency Restoration Protocol had been completed successfully, the traces of rolling around on the blood couldn’t be erased as an aftereffect.

 

Was it because his tension had relaxed a bit after realizing the gamble was a success?

 

“Truly,”

 

Thick veins bulged on Lee Yeonwoo’s pale face. As his subsided reason returned, anger finally followed.

 

“I must have been crazy.”

 

Lowly things did lowly acts.

 

* * *

 

A part of his body—that is, the existence of ‘me’—takes on the habit of trying to consume the opponent the moment it is absorbed by someone. The monster that had tried to swallow Lee Yeonwoo could not escape that yoke either.

 

That was a separate issue from not having gone through the ‘conversion process.’ In the end, just as with the ‘Guest Without Taste’ last time, Lee Yeonwoo ended up being forcibly shared all the memories and sensations of the Room 14 monster.

 

“This is truly unpleasant. Why on earth is this….”

 

“Hello?”

 

“I guessed that it would be a real history. Just as with the ‘Wet Person,’ I thought the monster in this Room 14 event would be an entity that truly existed.”

 

He thought.

 

“But the scale of this is too large.”

 

The monsters in Hotel One are the embodiment of some negative concept. Just as the ‘Wet Person’ was born from the deaths of those who drowned. However, the memories held by this event monster were of a different trajectory.

 

It wasn’t simply a level of having many victims; the background area itself was disparate.

 

“The language used by the researchers and the interior design were completely different. The races of the victims were also… varied. Summing it up, this is not a localized incident that occurred within a single building or group.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

He had hoped she would say it wasn’t.

 

“…You’re saying this is Hotel One?”

 

The Hotel One Lee Yeonwoo knew was not like this. Of course, there were more than enough settings that hadn’t been depicted, but it felt as if grotesque realities had filled all the undefined gaps.

 

“The game hasn’t simply been actualized. Is this… a merger of the game and reality?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“….”

 

He took off his glasses and wiped his face with his hands.

 

“…What kind of crazy….”

 

“Ing?”

 

There had never been such an absurd moment.

 

‘Just where on earth was my game used for?’

 

At this point, it was at a level where the game was used to contain reality. He had read a history that was that impossibly vast. After all, there was no way such a thing could have been contained in Hotel One from the start.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

Let’s calm down.

 

“…Whew….”

 

He calmed down.

 

‘Since the result isn’t bad, it’s fine.’ 

 

If it was a truth he would encounter someday anyway, he just learned it a bit early. Acquiring information is something that increases the survival rate the earlier it’s done. At any rate, didn’t he succeed?

 

“If you commit crazy acts several times, it becomes a career.” 

 

“Yes?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Whether being ground away by a filter, having the body torn by a chainsaw, or being shoved into the maw of a monster, the fundamental pain was similar. The important thing was the fact that he had become quite accustomed to the sensation of becoming blood and acting.

 

Thanks to that, he survived this time as well.

 

“But this time, I truly stepped onto the threshold of death. Grinding myself in the ventilation shaft was an attempt outside the system, but since this is a death defined within the game….”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Luck was on my side. Thanks to the systemic sense I’ve learned with my body, I was able to avoid fatal points. Because of that, it seems it didn’t go as far as a death judgment.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Drinking excessive amounts of blood in advance must have played a part. They say for one who has learned blood magic, the more blood, the better. There was too much blood lost while having a battle of nerves with this friend internally.”

 

“Hello?”

 

“In fact, I’m not that okay even now. I’m dazed, and there’s no strength in my body. To think avoiding the eyes of the game system would be this difficult. It felt like my brain was being rummaged through….”

 

Lee Yeonwoo stood up staggering. He turned the doorknob.

 

“Then now, let’s slowly head out—”

 

“Can I eat it?”

 

He closed it again.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“…Hello?”

 

To Coco’s hesitant question, Lee Yeonwoo answered with an expressionless face.

 

“…Maybe not?”

 

It looked like a situation that was a bit not okay.

 

Why are you over there?