Chapter 163

Chapter 163.

"Did you know?"

The vampire spoke.

"The Ouija board actually originated in the 1890s and was marketed as a party game."

"I've heard about that as well. It wasn't sold as a frightening tool for summoning spirits, but as a mystical game for families and couples to enjoy."

The General Manager nodded and added.

"A type of board game, you could say."

The Water Wraith, currently taking the form of a child, scrunched her face.

"What's that?"

"Oh, how uncultured."

"The amusements of the living are none of my concern."

"Knowing and enjoying are separate matters, aren't they?"

At the vampire's jab, the General Manager thought.

'Says the one who doesn't even know RPG Maker games.'

[Yes. Rude.]

Coco agreed, but true to form, the General Manager didn't let it show.

"There are many rules. Never do it alone, ask permission before ending and say goodbye at GOOD BYE, and so on. I'd say they're closer to play rules that set the horror mood."

"And naturally, not every Ouija board has a spirit dwelling in it."

The vampire rested his cane and waved his hand elegantly.

"Most of the time, it's the result of muscles moving involuntarily in response to thoughts or expectations the living cannot control. Multiple fingers resting on one spot--it's an inevitable outcome."

"But if you're saying that...."

The General Manager asked.

"Then intervention is possible."

"Of course."

The vampire curved his eyes, apparently delighting in what was to come.

"Blood Magic is ultimately a type of magic, after all."

This was no different.

"......"

"Please, go on, General Manager."

"Do all blood mages end up like that?"

"Not everyone who learns Blood Magic becomes a vampire."

"That's a relief."

He'd rather not live that shamelessly at that age.

***

Eventually, all staff left the mountain.

"Ta-da, one Ouija board~"

Do-hyeon produced the board his manager had brought.

"Everyone know how to use it?"

"No."

"No."

"Civilians, I swear."

Gyeong-yeon pushed back against Do-hyeon's flat non-insult.

"Our genre isn't that."

"Your life genre sure seems like it, though."

"......"

Damn, nothing to say again.

"...S-so."

Gyeong-yeon stammered.

"You said this incident seems connected to the hotel."

Do-hyeon had said there must be a cause behind the Water Wraiths' rampage, and that he needed to assess the situation but lacked the talent for it, so he'd have to borrow a tool's power.

"I still don't know if this is a dream or reality...."

"Isn't that usually what you say when something's too good to believe?"

"It's also used when something is bewildering or absurd."

"Fair point--you'd know better than me, Ms. Hong."

Do-hyeon nodded agreeably, and Gyeong-yeon glared at him with a look that said 'annoying.' He was technically her senior, but there were many moments she found him genuinely irritating.

Do-hyeon, however, seemed unbothered.

"Let me organize."

He just seemed... enjoying himself, really.

"From what you've told me, 'Hotel One' is definitely a labyrinth. A very unusual one at that. You don't normally see labyrinths with two Dokkaebi layered on top of each other."

He folded one of the two fingers he'd held up.

"And one of them, according to our Director, is an indigenous Dokkaebi?"

"That's our uncle's claim."

"You said it's friendly to humans, so even if it's been Offered, there's a high chance it hasn't been fully absorbed. And the last time you saw it, it looked like a drowned corpse."

"Right, that scared us half to death."

"Then it may be in a Water Wraith state."

Do-hyeon tapped his arm with his finger, arms folded.

"You said it got taken by some Water Wraith while trying to save the Director."

"That's right."

"And the next time you visited, it had become the 'General Manager.'"

"Also right."

Gyeong-yeon, hearing all this, tore at her hair again.

"......"

"Gyeong-yeon, deep breaths."

"Hooo... haaa... hooo... haaa...."

Do-hyeon asked.

"Is that actually working?"

"If I don't do at least this, I feel like I'll actually lose my mind...."

"Just curious. Deep breathing almost never breaks a labyrinth's hold."

"I told you I'm not under its hold...."

"Not very convincing."

He shrugged.

"If Mr. Baek hadn't vouched for you, I wouldn't have believed either of you."

"Because labyrinths are that hostile to humans?"

"Even indigenous Dokkaebi aren't exactly safe. The two officially registered in Korea do favor humans, but separate from that, they can unintentionally become disasters."

Anyway,

"My thinking is that the entity called 'Lee Yeon-woo'...."

"Could you please call him a person?"

"That person called Lee Yeon-woo may have done something. Water Wraiths definitely follow water's nature--they clump together well. They scatter just as easily, though."

"Then it's a signal from Yeon-woo?"

That sounded a bit strange.

"He's not the kind of person who'd lure people into danger...?"

"Then maybe he's already been consumed?"

Do-hyeon said flatly.

"No matter how much he resists, the scales can always tip. If so, he'd be closer to 'General Manager' than 'Lee Yeon-woo' right now."

He didn't know exactly what this 'General Manager' was or how it was constituted, but--

"Then he could absolutely be trying to draw people in."

"When you put it that way, it really does sound like a Water Wraith."

"It's their species trait--grabbing innocent people."

Gyeong-yeon, who'd been listening, asked.

"So right now, Mr. Yeon-woo has stopped being Yeon-woo... and become a state called 'General Manager'...."

"Rather than a state, it might be better to think of it as an entirely separate being."

"And that being is wearing Mr. Yeon-woo's mask and trying to draw us in?"

"Based on the circumstances so far, the probability is high."

As Do-hyeon nodded, Seon-hae spoke.

"So,"

She tapped the Ouija board.

"You want to gather information with this?"

"More or less. I don't know what Mr. Baek intended by introducing me, but I can't do anything without information."

He continued.

"I'm not sure if the ghost incidents here are directly connected to that hotel-shaped labyrinth, but Water Wraiths simultaneously intervening in mainstream society on this scale isn't common."

Meaning the Ouija board could at least help determine the truth.

"Normally, Water Wraiths don't have the power to manifest this blatantly in reality. So someone helped them."

"No matter how I think about it, this is too far from Mr. Yeon-woo's style...."

"Then wouldn't that support the theory he's been consumed? But here's the thing."

Setting up the Ouija board, Do-hyeon asked.

"If that's the case, what are you asking me to do? Our Director?"

"......"

"Be specific."

A voice laced with amusement continued.

"There's no such thing as a way to save everyone."

To that, Seon-hae spoke.

"Two detectives who'd also been to our filming location entered that hotel. One is an Arcana Member, Hyeon Si-gyeong. The other was a Gaps consultant, Master Nakdo."

"Oh my, is that so?"

"They said they were going to rescue a nephew. In other words, three Human Guests are currently trapped in that hotel. Whether they're doing well or not, I have no way of knowing, but...."

Seon-hae glanced at Gyeong-yeon's anxious face, then looked back at Do-hyeon.

"I have a bad feeling."

"I like that."

He met her eyes and said.

"We Artists are very fond of the word 'feeling.'"

An Artist's intuition always has form, even without evidence.

"I keep wondering--is this Director an Artist?"

"I'm not."

"But surviving a labyrinth on your own two feet is odd for someone who isn't...."

"I didn't exactly walk out on my own."

"Tch, survival specialist then?"

"Wow, you sound exactly like our elder."

"Artists' eyes all see the same things."

He shrugged.

"Alright, so first priority is checking the hotel situation and hopefully rescuing those three. That about right?"

"For now, yes."

"Let's begin."

Do-hyeon sat in the chair and looked at the board on the table. He picked up the planchette.

"I'll serve as the medium."

Tap,

The planchette was placed on the board.

"--Is anyone there?"

***

The vampire's red lips drew a smooth arc.

"They knock."

He raised his hand gently.

Between his loosely splayed fingers, invisible magical power undulated. It wasn't the crude method ghosts used to create poltergeists.

It was the method of the blood mage known as the 'worst' currently in existence--the Lidmar.

"Watch carefully. It may prove useful later."

"I'll take note."

"The living's bodies are laced with countless blood vessels. If you grip and shake the flow of blood rushing to their fingertips just slightly...."

The vampire's fingers tapped the air as though pressing piano keys.

"They'll walk right in under the delusion that they opened the door themselves."

***

Tap,

Tap-tap.

A strange pulsation was felt at the tips of Do-hyeon's index and middle fingers resting on the planchette.

"......?"

A pulse. Completely different from his normal heartbeat--an unpleasant, hot throbbing as though someone were forcibly splitting the rhythm and shoving it in.

"...Huh."

Do-hyeon's eyes narrowed.

"This isn't a Water Wraith."

It wasn't the chill of a spiritual entity's touch.

The blood flowing through his arm, the iron in his veins, had unanimously begun obeying a foreign master--a blood mage's command--beyond his own will.

"It's a blood mage. At this level, it's no amateur--at minimum a Lidmar...."

"What's that now?"

"Could it be 'Count Dracula'?"

Swiiish--

The planchette slid.

Not the jerky, trembling movement of typical spirit possession. As if waltzing across the board--a trajectory so smooth and elegant it was unsettling.

"Ugh."

Do-hyeon's face soured.

"I don't like this guy."

"Wh-what?"

"Everything about it feels affected."

"Is that really the issue right now? It's actually moving!"

"It's supposed to move. A premium talent like me set up the board."

Seon-hae, whose hand was also on the planchette, spoke.

"YES."

The planchette had reached the section marked YES.

"No idea what it's confirming."

"That's not really the point right now."

Do-hyeon, the questioner, asked.

"Are you in 'Hotel One'?"

YES.

"Good. Are three people including 'the Hanged Man' inside?"

The planchette moved to spell out letters.

"V... I...?"

"VIP? What a character."

They were there, at least.

"Alive?"

Alive.

"Were the ghost incidents at the villa intentional?"

No response.

"Are they connected?"

They were connected.

"Then...."

Do-hyeon rolled his eyes and asked.

"Is this an invitation?"

The instant the question ended, the skin at the tip of Do-hyeon's index finger split open.

"...! Mr. Cha--"

"Don't touch me."

He quietly watched his own blood engulf the planchette.

"I factored in this much when I volunteered as medium."

The blood that flowed onto the wooden board didn't soak in--it writhed like a living creature, coalesced into a sphere, then hardened solid. As if....

"Oh?"

In the shape of a wax seal, like those old nobles used to stamp their letters.

"Double-tailed lion, fork and knife. And fangs...."

"Wh-what is this? A two-tailed lion is a Bohemian symbol, isn't it?"

"Close enough. Now I'm certain. This is definitely Count Dracula's emblem."

In this context, it signified the symbol of Bohemia.

"You've been mentioning this Dracula--"

"I don't mean the literal Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel. It's a name people borrowed for a classical labyrinth. A very old vampire."

He examined the seal.

"This is a mark designating prey, a brand on his attendant disciples, and also used as a pledge seal."

"Could you please explain it so a civilian can understand?"

"It's either a murder notice or reservation sign from the seal's owner saying 'this is my prey,' or an order to his attendant disciples to do the slicing for him, or a tattoo carved into those disciples' bodies."

"Why can't I understand this??"

"I think you just don't want to. Anyway, given this development, in my assessment...."

In this case,

"It can be read as an invitation."

"With all due respect, how is that different from a vampire's murder notice or reservation sign?"

"Sharp question, but I asked earlier--'Is this an invitation?'"

The response to that was effectively an affirmative.

"This fellow, from what I know, is a narcissist to the bone."

"Like you?"

"Funny, I wonder who'd pick up the pieces if I walked out right now?"

"I'm sorry."

"Ms. Hong is so easy to talk to."

Do-hyeon stared at the blood that had burrowed into the board like veins. It was clearly pulsating.

"Still, this is a pretty unique case...."

Squatting in someone else's house and using his own seal.

'The labyrinth alone is remarkable, but if it's that self-important Count Dracula, all the more so.'

Which is why this wasn't a prey-marking. It was closer to a literal 'invitation.' Do-hyeon rolled his eyes.

"Did they form an alliance?"

"What?"

"Rare, but not unheard of."

A simple labyrinth would be one thing, but self-aware labyrinths--Dokkaebi--sometimes formed mutual cooperation systems. That such an old classical labyrinth would ally with a newborn one was surprising, but--

'If it's a labyrinth born from The Foundation's death throes.'

That would be worth it.

'Especially since Count Dracula reportedly has ties to The Foundation's Devil.'

But if so....

"......"

Do-hyeon grinned.

"This is more serious than I expected."

"Is this... is this okay?"

"Calm down, Ms. Hong. The flow isn't bad at all."

Having spoken as if coaxing his audience, Do-hyeon murmured.

"A vampire indeed--quite refined in how he handles humans."

He knew exactly where to prod to make people bite.

"Did you say this 'General Manager' friend is also a vampire?"

"A blood mage... is what our elder called him."

"Really?"

After a long silence, he smiled.

"Hey,"

Do-hyeon asked his final question.

"Is 'the Devil' there?"

A smile of conviction.

***

"......?"

The General Manager blinked.

"There isn't one."

"Hmm."

"The person in question says no, so what's there to deliberate?"

"I have much to say but I'll restrain myself."

The vampire said with perfect nonchalance.

"It is 'the Devil,' after all."

"Anyone can see that's not asking about the card."

"I'd rather not lie to the guests I'm inviting to my banquet."

"Says the man who lies like he breathes?"

"But it does seem like it'd be fun."

The Water Wraith, who'd been quietly listening, cut in.

"Looks like we'll be getting more Human Guests."

"Simply having more guests isn't enough to convince--"

"It'd make clearing the current guests' route easier too."

"--me. You're right."

The General Manager nodded.

"I am 'the Devil.'"

"Yes!"

Under both owners' decisive confirmation, the planchette moved.

***

YES.

"Ha!"

Do-hyeon bared his teeth in a grin.

"Would you look at that?"

Things were getting interesting.