Chapter 171

Chapter 171.

The Monster Guests loved the hotel Lee Yeon-woo managed.

The hotel under his care was always warm. It felt alive, felt loved. The monsters, each driven mad by their own deprivation, cherished that cruelly steadfast goodwill.

Because they knew the foundation beneath that flawless hospitality was affection.

"......"
"......"

But what if Lee Yeon-woo were gone?

Would this hotel still be the sanctuary they wanted?

This place was a paradise built solely upon his existence....

***

"--Cough! Hack, urghh!"

Seung-jae lay prone on the floor, dry-heaving for a long time.

The bloodshot madness that had nearly made him pull the trigger at empty air finally drained like a receding tide from his eyes--eyes that had been losing reason amid hallucinations of blood-tears streaming down walls and black thorned vines.

"Hnngh, nephew, water...."

"Haah... fuck, seriously."

Do-heon, who'd been burning sage leaves from his bag and blowing the smoke under Seung-jae's nose, slumped against the wall. He shoved the lighter back with still-trembling hands and gulped air.

'I don't think it shook me this badly when I did it in the indoor garden before. Why?'

Before the strange dissonance could sharpen, the owl descended onto his head.

"Hooeng."

"......"

Feeling the cooling sensation in his skull, Do-heon pulled a water bottle from his bag and held it out.

"You're going to win an award for shortening people's lifespans."

"Oh, bless you. Without my nephew, uncle really would've had his register erased and gone to hell."

"? I heard it's already been erased."

"Nah, that person just talks big. Hasn't got the spine...."

"For fuck's sake, just make up already."

"Hmm, I'd always like to."

Seung-jae swallowed the water and exhaled long.

"Phew, that's better."

"Honestly...."

Already the third episode. Do-heon sighed.

"This is because of that 'Sensitivity' thing?"

"Ah, right."

He leaned his head against the wall with his signature smile.

"It really hits you fresh. Why my eyes just rolled back and I tried to put a hole in my lovely nephew's skull. There's definitely a reason."

"Because this is a monster den that drives people collectively insane?"

"That too."

Let's see.

"How far did I explain?"

"To the part where Sensitivity is like an antenna."

Do-heon raised an eyebrow.

"There's a hidden world that normal people can't see, and Sensitivity picks up the frequencies of that invisible world."

"Right. Feeling something off, seeing things others can't. Most Artist abilities are based on this 'Sensitivity.'"

Having said that, Seung-jae heaved himself upright.

"But having a high-performance antenna isn't all sunshine."

"Like just now?"

"Exactly. Especially in labyrinths."

"But picking up clues others miss and extending your lifeline is clearly good, isn't it?"

Do-heon shouldered his bag and stood too. Seung-jae cast him a cryptic smile.

"There are pros and cons."

He jerked his chin at the black vines on the floor.

"A labyrinth isn't a simple monster den. It's a massive, malicious theater woven from horrific stories, screams, and killing intent. And that just plugs directly into the brains of people with good antennas."

"The theater? Into their brains?"

"Ever heard of Stendhal Syndrome?"

Do-heon deadpanned.

"How would I know something like that?"

"Is that really worth getting angry over?"

Seung-jae let out an incredulous breath.

"When someone with rich sensibility sees an overwhelming masterpiece, they get breathless and dizzy. That's called 'Stendhal Syndrome.'"

"The world really is full of all kinds of people."

"It's roughly similar. The higher someone's Sensitivity, the deeper they immerse, the more they resonate with the labyrinth's atmosphere and narrative."

"The more I hear, the further my inner Artist drifts from human."

Do-heon's expression turned complicated.

"Isn't that basically a different species?"

"Some people do see it that way~...."

Seung-jae sniffled through the lingering sage smoke.

"When that happens, you end up like me just now or the Director in the paper bird--your mind blanks out. Plenty of Artists get Offered that way."

"'Preserved' as the labyrinth's 'character,' right?"

"Yeah, that."

He nodded, shoving aside a pulsing vine.

"Some get swept away because their Sensitivity is too raw. Others because something about that labyrinth resonates perfectly. The ways to go mad are varied~"

Do-heon's face crumpled.

"No matter how I hear it, it seems better not to have."

"Ordinary people barely have any Sensitivity."

"Then ordinary people don't go mad in labyrinths?"

"If the frequency doesn't match, how's the broadcast going to play?"

Seung-jae checked his revolver with a clink.

"Mentally, they're perfectly comfortable and safe. Probability of going mad, drastically lower."

"Sounds better than having superpowers and team-killing because your mental breaks."

"My, our nephew sure holds a grudge."

He curled his lip.

"Instead, they become meat shields and get torn apart first."

"......"

"Pardon?"

"Ordinary people."

"What?"

"Think about it, you brat."

Seung-jae waved his gun.

"With Sensitivity that low, they can't detect traps or monsters' killing intent at all. And with zero power to overcome threats, they simply can't survive."

He tapped his gun.

"Artists can grasp the rules and perform miracles. They just have to take the labyrinth's malice straight to the brain because the antenna's too sensitive."

"......"

"Call it the price. The harder you fight to survive, the greater the risk of your mind breaking first and walking into the abyss on your own."

He shrugged.

"Objectively, Artists have it best inside labyrinths."

"What about mages?"

"Mages are spiritual energy masses, so it's worse~ Far more horrifying. Worse than death."

"I really hate this."

Either way sounded like a dumpster fire.

"But isn't it strange?"

Seung-jae grinned at his nephew.

"As a Detection System Artist who sees through weaknesses and truths, your antenna should be the most sensitive. So why haven't you been swept up or gone mad?"

At that,

"......"

Do-heon was briefly speechless.

"...Uh, well."

"I'm not suspecting you, so relax."

"When you say it like that, it sounds like I'm some secret mastermind."

"I've been thinking about it~ Might be the system?"

"System?"

"Your guide window."

He pointed at the void Do-heon was presumably looking at.

> [SYSTEM] Status ailment [Madness Contamination] begins applying to the entire party.
> [SYSTEM] Safe Zone effect and [Script] application temporarily pause contamination increase.

"You said it looks like a game."

"If this isn't a game, what is it?"

"Right, that."

Seung-jae narrowed his eyes with interest.

"Thanks to that, you're reframing this whole situation as a game and pushing it away."

A system barrier objectifying the situation with zero room for emotions.

"How much did the General Manager take to you during that brief disappearance?"

"You're saying the General Manager keeps me from going mad? On purpose?"

"Looks like a remnant of that 'Lee Yeon-woo' entity's influence. Even though the current 'General Manager' should be neutral, you're being favored."

"Even if you say that, I...."

He didn't even know who 'Lee Yeon-woo' was.

"......"

"Goodness, why the waterworks again?"

"...Tch...."

He was irritated.

"Whatever, I guess my mental's just strong. Or maybe losing memories broke something. Whether he favors me or not, what would I even know?"

"Dug too deep, huh~ Sorry."

They were pushing through the boiler room when--

"Hooeng."

"Oh."

The white owl cried once, flew up, and snatched an incoming black paper bird. Break's over.

"Haaaaah...."

"My, the earth might cave in."

"Let it cave."

"Careful what you wish for."

Do-heon sighed and snapped the revolver shut. Click.

"This is the worst game ever."

He wanted to run this instant.

***

"......"
"......"

Coco asked.

"Hello?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

The General Manager smiled as always.

"Which may be why it feels all the more regrettable."

Plain truth cannot wound.

"Once this project is finished, I'll do a proper overhaul."

"Coco. Guarantee."

"I look forward to it."

The day this 'game' was completed wasn't far off.

"? No?"

"......"

Hm.

"How regrettable."

A bit far, apparently.

***

> [New product data loading... 19.7%]
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***

Meanwhile, the Grand Banquet Hall.

"......"

The Guest Without Taste stood in the center of the still-unlit yet lavish banquet hall, gazing into the silence.

"......"

"I'm going back, greenhorn."

"Where do you think you're going?"

The vampire glanced at the Water Wraith.

"Unlike me, you are clearly a member of this place. Conduct yourself with the dignity befitting that, Spirit of the Waters. Do you not pity the young Dokkaebi who contracted with you?"

"My friend didn't contract with me without knowing my pitiful circumstances."

The Water Wraith said, then added after a silence.

"Though these days, he might not know."

"What a delightful saint."

"Don't compare my pool to some paltry stone tower, revolting creature."

"Greenhorn and now revolting--even your epithets are antiquated."

"Rotten blood is none of my concern."

The vampire smiled.

"But this place is your pond, your river, and your sea, is it not?"

"You have some eyes after all."

The Water Wraith did not deny it.

"So you want me to decorate."

"No. I merely escorted you because the small, adorable devil attached to the General Manager seemed anxious."

"That child worries too much."

At that moment, the vampire's form shifted to its true nature.

"I don't want him reduced to a mere monster."

With pale white hair and wicked red eyes, the vampire regarded the Water Wraith.

"If he truly becomes a monster, do you think he'd spare you even a shred of genuine warmth?"

"......"

"Was what you wanted a monster's meticulously crafted pity? What you receive now isn't friendship--it's merely a warm machine's careful maintenance."

The Water Wraith listened, then asked.

"And so?"

"I like this place."

"Without you, I'd have felt the same. Wretched creature."

"Even if this place takes the form of entertainment for the living, its essence won't change."

"You wouldn't know, but this place has always taken the form of entertainment."

"All the more reason to have no qualms."

The vampire bared his fangs.

"I did not stamp my seal on the invitation without thought."

"That surprises me."

"Organizing a banquet on behalf of an inexperienced master is a vassal's natural duty."

"Who decided you're a vassal? Get lost."

"Let's prepare an event."

"This is why greenhorns are presumptuous."

"Hear me out, Nature."

The white-haired vampire approached and bent to look at the Water Wraith spilled across the floor.

"I want the living things in this castle to leave as soon as possible."

"You're the one who let them in."

"Were you so different?"

"If I hadn't, the ones already here would have died."

"And the General Manager would have kept rewinding time."

"Unpleasant, but agreed."

"I intend to restore my young master to a fully intact human."

To which the Water Wraith said plainly.

"I'll open the door."

The door to Room 444.

Where there was water, the Water Wraith existed. She could do that.

It was not a difficult thing.