Our Hotel Is Open for Business as Usual Chapter 142

During his physical improvent process, Yeon-woo had distinguished between 'Lee Yeon-woo' and 'General Manager Lee Yeon-woo.'

If the forr was the base version that suffered computational overload from human moral compunctions and inner turmoil, the latter was closer to an administrator (GM) version thoroughly optimized for this hotel's system and rules.

The result.

"Hello?"

"No."

"Oh. Hello."

"Yes."

The current Yeon-woo was lying neatly in the Operator's Quarters bed.

"Maybe five more minutes."

It wasn't ti for the 'General Manager' to take center stage anyway. The hotel now ran more or less on autopilot according to the system even without him. And he'd already roughed out the tutorial arrangents for the Human Guests.

'A short rest won't be a problem.'

A languid breath dissolved into the cozy air of the Operator's Quarters.

"Haah...."

It had been a long ti since he'd felt this clear inside.

"Rest. Rest."

"Thank you, Coco."

Coco took the blanket in its mouth and tugged it up to Yeon-woo's neck.

"Hush now."

"I have no intention of going to sleep."

"No?"

"Maybe I will."

Yeon-woo readily accepted Coco's consideration.

The compulsion to prioritize others' safety over his own life. The guilt of dragging innocent people into this hellish place.

That chronic moral dilemma had evaporated as though cache data had been cleared.

'With those irrational inner conflicts gone, processor computation speed has increased dramatically. Must be the effect of backing up the human conscience--which had been consuming 30% of my system resources--to an external storage unit, naly the Lover of Dawn.'

He murmured, feeling the 'portion' of himself that was separated from him.

"The blood I put into her is flowing stably, too...."

"Coco. Guarantee."

"All the more reassuring."

That 30% had been the part of Lee Yeon-woo responsible for compulsion and repression. He had resurrected while leaving the corresponding blood volu inside the Lover of Dawn.

What filled the vacancy left by that heavy partition was the administrator's rationality for controlling this massive system, and the arrogance of Velmareth.

'Now that the lag of unnecessary emotion has been eliminated, this is the optimal state for laying plans with maximum cold precision and efficiency.'

Though there was this:

"It's a peculiar feeling."

Having part of himself felt inside another's body, that is.

"It's like sharing a server with the Lover of Dawn, I suppose."

"Separation?"

"Not quite. I was worried there might be a personality-conflict bug if this happened, but the primary subject is still just . The operating system version that perceives the world and makes decisions has simply switched to administrator mode."

There wasn't another 'Lee Yeon-woo' remaining inside, nor were 'Lee Yeon-woo' and 'General Manager Lee Yeon-woo' experiencing ego fragntation.

He'd simply gained the authority to remotely control and calibrate the subject he'd fed his blood to.

'If there's no risk of ego collapse, I can instruntalize my blood to any extent.'

It was a sha that the counterpart being the sixteenth-century classical labyrinth 'White Crow' made code modification rather difficult, but even that registered as an interesting process.

"At this level, I think I can safely use my blood on others too. Could I make dicine? Full food products might be premature, but if I refined it into pills about the size of gongjin-dan...."

"Hush now."

"Don't try to put to sleep--think with . Isn't this fascinating? If I dilute and refine it to a level ordinary humans can digest, I could create a real-life panacea."

"Hush!!"

He wouldn't sleep, but he closed his eyes. Simply closing one's eyes dissipates a great deal of fatigue.

"I've been laughing nonstop since I resurrected--General Manager Mode really does make unusually sensitive to emotions. I vaguely understand how children feel when they laugh just from watching leaves tumble by."

"Child?"

"I take that back."

Including the tutorial, he was effectively fifty. His exiled conscience seed to prickle. Even with conscience on leave, comparing this old fossil to a child was enough to produce a flash of guilt.

Though it passed quickly.

"Then this really is pure excitent."

He appraised his own emotion.

"Twenty-six years."

"Yes."

"A full twenty-six years."

The years he'd spent alone chewing through, tearing apart, and savoring this godforsaken, rcilessly difficult world of Hoone.

"I'm truly, deeply moved."

Eyes still closed, Yeon-woo laid his hand over them.

The 'General Manager Mode'--the version fully assimilated with the hotel--could read the current pings and movent paths of every user on this vast map like a real-ti minimap, even with his eyes shut.

"In this place I treasure most, there are finally three users besides ."

"Coco. Deeply moved."

"You saw that dynamic evasive maneuvering, didn't you? When real-world physics combine with the system's correction, you get buttery-smooth fras that were unimaginable in the dot-graphic era. The hit feedback and optimization are superb."

"Heh."

The second laugh sound had appeared, following last ti's 'heehee.' Yeon-woo opened his eyes and looked at the cat that had climbed onto his stomach. He seized those squishy cheeks and kneaded them.

"I'm not the only one who's excited, am I?"

"Correct!"

Coco rolled in Yeon-woo's hands. Yeon-woo, too, stroked Coco's squishy body.

In the space where the human dilemma of 'I must not harm others' had been wholesale deleted, only a pure joy toward the Human Guests who would enjoy this ga alongside him rippled gently.

"Mr. Kwon Do-heon must surely have been deeply impressed by this ticulously tailored tutorial gimmick."

In reality, Kwon Do-heon--the teenager who had been Rawi just days ago--was tearing his hair out in horror. But the in-brain filter of Yeon-woo in General Manager Mode was interpreting this as user imrsion.

"That brief rest was enjoyable. I'll take a proper one when I have the ti."

"Very good."

Yeon-woo sat up and reached out, silently jingling the Golden Bell that had appeared in his grip.

"If you would."

Staff approached and helped Yeon-woo to his feet, dressed him in a perfectly pressed suit, and arranged his disheveled hair to immaculate angles.

Other staff set a cup of black tea on the Operator's Quarters table and vanished without a sound.

"Later, it might be nice to invite the Drenched One or the Guest Without Taste for a al."

"GWT. Hate."

"Isn't that gentleman slated to beco a full-ti staff mber soon? Let's think of it as a welco dinner for a new colleague and try to be gracious."

"Eeing."

The freshly brewed tea had a rather pleasant aroma. After a few sips carried through the blood to his lungs, the Drenched One--who had taken up residence in one of them--sent a pleased vibration.

[Sixth Sense]

'The Drenched One demands more sugar.'

Not pleased--throwing a tantrum. Yeon-woo ignored it.

'This situation is a perfectly rational operational structure that benefits everyone.'

To safely return Kwon Do-heon to his original world, the hotel's system rules ultimately required filling up 'Nightmares' and following the proper checkout procedure.

Then wasn't this the natural course of action?

"To accumulate Nightmares, one must fundantally be exposed to extre fear and stress environnts."

In other words, the conclusion followed that the act of placing Human Guests at the brink of life and death was the most efficient thod for sending them ho safely.

"Slowing the resource collection rate because of sentintal internal conflict is the most irresponsible form of managent--one that steals users' ti."

"Deeply moved...."

"But bear this in mind, Coco."

Yeon-woo added.

"I have not factored in permanent injury or physical death."

"Eing."

"Naturally. A user dying during gaplay is unacceptable. If the difficulty is that high, it would be worse than the old Hoone."

"Eeing."

"Maintaining appropriate tension while causing no lasting harm to health. That is the proper purpose of a ga's existence."

Conversely, excluding permanent injury and death, that fear was a mandatory process users must endure to see the ending.

'Why did I resist this? When this thod clearly benefits both sides.'

The off-state Yeon-woo had agonized over his conscience and struggled to spare users from fear, but the on-state version felt no reason to do so whatsoever.

"This ga was already in desperate need of new user influx."

"Yes."

Coco agreed on that point.

"Do you also rember the painful past when all our users left because of unreasonable difficulty?"

"Yes."

"Don't assu that just because I've beco this way, I'll exclusively take your side, Coco. The administrator must always remain neutral, and this ga needs to beco accessible enough for beginners to enjoy."

"Yes...."

Coco reluctantly yielded.

"The ti has co for us to raise this ga back up with our own hands, Coco."

"Correct."

"It wasn't intentional, but since these precious guests have arrived, we must ensure they fully enjoy this hotel's content before they leave."

"Coco. Resolved."

"For now, it seems they're gradually adapting to the tutorial system, which is encouraging."

Yeon-woo set down his teacup with a slight smile.

In his field of vision, three users, plus the figures from The Gaps probing this hotel's existence from outside--every object and variable was aligned as clearly as on a monitor.

"If it can't be avoided, we may as well enjoy it together."

If he'd known job satisfaction would spike this much, he should have embraced General Manager Mode far sooner. The sensation of focusing solely on perfect system operation was imnsely refreshing.

"Well, then."

His condition restored by the moderate rest, Yeon-woo adjusted his glasses and rose languidly from his seat. Atop that pale, immaculate face, vivid golden eyes held every being in the hotel.

He locked his gaze precisely on the guest currently tracing the edge of the map.

"Thank you for visiting our hotel."

"......"

"How may I assist you?"

To the Hanged Man facing him, the General Manager posed the question.

***

> [SYSTEM] Tutorial complete! You have learned the basics of combat (shooting/defense/evasion).

Do-heon waved away the thin smoke curling from the revolver.

"Sothing about... a consulting advisor, I heard."

He asked, incredulous.

"You're really... good at fighting?"

"Adults have their circumstances."

"Freezing-cold 'adult circumstances'... Just say you're ex-military without the runaround."

"Aah, it's a long story. Your uncle's been moonlighting on the side for a while~"

The uncle shrugged breezily.

"Right, now that we've knocked the rust off your combat instincts, let's get moving."

"Do you have a phone? A phone? Let's call for help first--don't cops co out here?"

"The cop friend I ntioned should be waiting in the first-floor lobby. The man reads fortunes like nobody's business, so once we link up, you'll feel a lot safer."

"What kind of cop reads fortunes? Nothing but weirdos around here."

Do-heon understood. This was a place where, unless you were one of those 'weirdos,' not even the police could reach. Seeing that understanding, the uncle let out his signature chuckle.

"Don't waste your eyes on pointless things. Keep your guard up. Stick right behind your uncle."

"The overprotection is insane. You've skipped so many family events you must've forgotten--I'm eighteen?"

"Nah, you'd be nineteen? You've always had sharp eyes, and that's what worries your uncle. I'm afraid you'll see sothing above your pay grade and lose your mind."

"Fuck...."

He couldn't not curse from the chill that ran through him. So this unsettling place even had things that could drive you mad just by looking.

"...Fine. Let's find that friend-or-cop person first. I don't want to spend a single extra second here. I was sleeping fine and now this."

The two boarded the ornate brass elevator at the end of the corridor. When Do-heon pressed the button, the heavy iron doors began to close with a clean chanical hum.

And just before the doors shut.

"......"

The corridor lights outside the elevator went out one after another, and darkness advanced. Then the doors closed completely. Cold sweat ran down Do-heon's back.

"...Just now, in the corridor...."

"Hm? Sothing there?"

"Didn't you see it? The lights went out and sothing was coming."

"Aah, stuff like that. That's exactly what I told you not to look at."

"I was the only one who saw it?"

"Look at the wrong thing and you'll get seriously hurt~"

"This is insane...."

The uncle's attitude, the sensations lingering in his own body, the way his skull was accepting this insane space far too easily. All of it was strange beyond asure.

Do-heon quietly tightened his grip on the revolver.

'I can get out of here... right?'

DONG-- DONG--

An ominous bell tolled from sowhere.

It rang heavy beside his ear, announcing midnight.

***

> [SYSTEM] Objective updated: Take the elevator to the 1st-floor lobby and rendezvous with the 'cop friend.'