Chapter 179

"From this moment, Mr. Kwon Do-heon, you have become a proper guest of our hotel."

A hand clad in a white cotton glove, black hair combed back neatly without a hair's breadth of error. And the smile at the corner of his mouth—perfect and mechanical to the point of artifice.

"Having shed your status as an unregistered visitor wandering through unauthorized zones, this hotel's system will now recognize you not as an object of indiscriminate exclusion, but as one to be protected and served."

"One to be protected—is that correct?"

"Of course. It is only natural that you enjoy the treatment and rights befitting a proper guest. However, I recommend you not approach 'authorized personnel only' zones such as the Greenhouse or the underground Hunting Grounds."

The General Manager lightly adjusted his glove.

"Even for a proper guest, safety in unauthorized zones is not included in the terms of service for our 'general guests,' you see."

"General guests…."

Kwon Do-heon's gaze landed on the lobby's "other guests," then was withdrawn.

"And, as it happens, I have one piece of good news to share with you, Mr. Kwon Do-heon."

"Good news."

"Yes."

As though presenting a special gift to an honored guest, the General Manager gestured toward the second floor.

"As you may already have heard, our hotel's second-floor Grand Banquet Hall is soon to open officially. To commemorate it, a grand opening banquet and private event will be held."

"A banquet."

"It will be a most meaningful and splendid occasion, gathering every notable figure staying at this hotel in one place. Now that you have become a proper guest, you and your companions, Mr. Kwon Do-heon, are granted the qualification to attend this banquet."

The smile at the corner of the General Manager's mouth deepened a shade.

"The most splendid and perfect stage will be prepared, so I shall look forward to you and your companions, our guests, attending and gracing the occasion with your presence."

Feeling a sudden sense of déjà vu at the sight, Kwon Do-heon clenched his hand.

"…."

"Please, do have a terrible time at our hotel."

"…I feel like I've heard that before."

"Yes."

That smile made him think of someone.

"I remember."

"…."

In truth.

There had been a "flashback scene" Kwon Do-heon hadn't told them about.

* * *

…….

…….

The lady had said that the soul of a black mage who had committed the most heinous sins could never reach heaven. If so, then the place where the lady would be must be somewhere in this hell-like world.

On that single belief, the girl wandered for centuries in search of the lady's reincarnation.

"You're so beautiful…!"

She did not believe in eternal love.

"Could you, by chance, be… an angel?"

Only—this person, that person, and again that other person.

The witch made "candidates" without number. Even if one among them truly was her lady, she swallowed them whole before that person could open her mouth and say "I do not love you" or "What a hideous sight you are."

"Monster…."

"…."

Whole, in a single stroke.

"…."

So that the one she took could never reach heaven for eternity, and would wander this world together with me. And so that, should the "candidate" not be the real lady, she would not be confused when she later met the real one.

The countless "ladies" offered up in this way became white birds, the witch's hands and feet.

"…."

It was satisfying, and unsatisfying.

Within a hollow vision riotous with blue wheat fields and crimson poppies. Beneath an indigo sky lashed by storm, a blood-colored mist rose up acrid.

The mindscape of a classical labyrinth, gnawing away at human reason.

"■■■…."

In an ordinary case, one would have been crushed by hallucination and clawing at one's own throat within less than three seconds of entering. The flames of the cross and the song that tore at the ears were nothing less than a lethal poison to any living creature.

But that person was different.

"…."

Step, step.

The sound of shoes treading this ominous territory was eerily even and composed.

A jet-black suit on which not a single mote of dust had settled, and an elegant jawline. A shirt collar fastened neatly all the way to the throat. And above all, pure-white cotton gloves fitted without a gap, as though to avoid anything filthy.

"■■■."

A hallucinatory toxin works by disrupting the brain's synapses and sending hormones lurching. But within this person's shell there existed neither blood to boil nor a nervous network to receive pain.

'A mechanical puppet with no fixed biological body.'

To him, this labyrinth's curse was nothing more, nothing less, than a slight smudge on a lens. That person did not so much as flinch even before the witch's beastly talons.

Presently his lips drew a graceful arc. A smile controlled to a perfection that bordered on artifice.

That was the way he smiled.

"—Thank you for the invitation!"

Pale skin and pure-white gloves.

That cool smile that, while reeking of dangerous Black Magic and Blood Magic, never once betrayed emotion. That tender yet arrogant manner that took hold of its counterpart without the slightest effort.

"Margareta—would that be you yourself?"

"…."

"Let us have a conversation."

It was her first meeting with the man who was a top-ranking executive of the Foundation and would later be called the worst blood mage in history—the previous "The Devil."

"Are you still searching for your 'lady'?"

And so, once again, love began.

* * *

The girl's ego, curled up within the witch, was utterly overwhelmed. It was because the puppet reflected in her eyes matched the conditions of "■■■" in a manner that made her skin crawl.

"Yes, my lady."

"■■■…."

"Shall we lower your voice just a touch more?"

"My lady."

"Just a little more."

That touch in its cotton glove was gentle, without warmth.

"You're doing very well, Greta."

"…My lady…."

"Excellent."

Control disguised as tenderness.

"Your devotion always pleases me."

The lady had been pale and sickly, drained of all color from never seeing the sun. That person, a mechanical puppet, likewise had a pallid complexion in which not a single drop of blood circulated, utterly devoid of vitality.

The lady's terrible witchery, crushing red poppies to brew the elixir of black sorcery. And he was the foremost blood mage among a group that trampled life underfoot and carried out cruel experiments.

"My lady, my lady…."

"Make your touch gentler still."

"Yes, I will."

"Place your hand upon my shoulder."

"I…."

"Now lift your eyes and look at me."

Being a machine, he neither grew angry nor wavered, always oppressing his counterpart with a perfectly composed smile and using them as a tool. That manner resembled the "lady's" hypocrisy exactly.

In the past, the lady who had envied the girl's healthy body and yet used her while feigning tenderness….

"Come closer."

Even the way he, while calling to his side a creature drenched in blood and filth, wore pure-white gloves as though he would not be contaminated by so much as a hair—that fastidious image, too.

'Ah.'

The girl's worn-down soul shuddered, brimming with rapture.

'Found at last.'

'This one is my lady.'

'Our lady….'

My love.

This time you've prepared such a perfect, beautiful body for me. The soul confined within that body—able to be a gentleman, a woman, an old man, or a child—is hypocritical to the point of filth.

Within that bone-deep, familiar sense of control, the girl gladly gave her side to a promising "candidate."

"Do you know what people call you?"

"What do they call me…?"

"'The White Crow,' it seems."

Today, the soft lips that had become a woman's alighted on the feather-covered back of her hand.

"You're no mere crow."

"Then am I a witch, my lady?"

"Not a witch, either."

"Then what?"

"My darling child, Greta."

As their fingers interlaced, the monster's hand became a human hand and settled in between his white gloves.

"You're a lover."

"…."

"A darling lover who breathes only until each daybreak…."

What an intoxicating whisper this was.

'He won't run away.'

'Look, even now—he's holding me down.'

Leading me, caging me in his arms.

You, whispering a deceitful love, are dear to me.

The girl, too, knew that he treated her as a tool. But because the lady of the past had been the same, this was no different from a firmer proof of "love."

'But….'

At the same time, she knew.

'This person cannot become my perfect lady.'

'There's a fatal flaw.'

'He's a cold mechanical puppet.'

He lacked that frail and beautiful body the girl had so admired and the lady had so cursed. There was no way to know whether this one had a body, whether it was beautiful, or how frail it might be.

And that was why this person could not become "my lady."

"Because if I have no body, your story cannot be brought to an end."

"…."

"Isn't that so?"

Even her ugly desire, that person took into his eyes.

"How impudent."

The poppies blooming over the glove of the clasped hand revealed that impudent heart.

"You've ruined my glove."

"I ruined it."

"Since it seems it can no longer serve its purpose, I'll make a gift of it to you."

"In exchange, please take my eyes."

"Your devotion is admirable, so show me your eyes."

"Please take both of my eyes…."

Trading the flowered glove for the two eyes of this body, the girl obtained love. She proved it.

"My lady."

"See to it that someday you come to find me."

"My lady."

"Then I'll return your eyes."

"My lady."

"And then you'll come to see the world."

Every last bit of it. He knows everything about me.

"Love…."

"There you go with that again."

"I love you."

"Are you pouring out your heart to a machine?"

"Please say that you love me…."

And that is why it is intoxicating.

"Please, just once."

Not merely the "Lover of Dawn," but call me "my lover."

'So that I may devour you.'

And so this feathered monster deferred the moment he would obtain a true body and love her perfectly, and merely waited in silence for that shadow to come.

Time passed thus, and the Foundation fell.

* * *

At first, she didn't know.

To swallow even one more "lady," to search even once more for "my lady," the girl had wandered every kind of place like a wraith. The one who came to find her was always "The Devil."

And so it was only when "The Devil" could no longer be felt anywhere in this world that the girl realized the situation. He was no longer beneath the same sky as her.

What remained was the "White Crow."

"Ah…."

With "eyes" that had bloomed anew, the girl looked at the white cotton glove that still bore its hanging flowers.

"…."

She should have swallowed him then.

"My lady."

What if you were my lady?

"My lady, my lady…."

But you told me to come find you.

"I will."

I will come to you.

"■■■■."

She crossed the sea that had hemmed in the land and began to wander aimlessly to every place her feet could reach, doggedly tracking that thick scent of Blood Magic.

Holding only one blind yearning: to someday find the "lady" made perfect with true blood and flesh, and at last preserve her like a taxidermy specimen within an eternal love.

…….

…….

* * *

"Everyone, it's a crisis."

"A what, a vibe?"

"Fuck—a crisis, I said."

Kwon Do-heon came back blanched white.

"The General Manager really is 'The Devil.'"

"Aw, we're screwed~"

Kwon Seung-jae laughed heartily. Dan-cheong, already in the midst of resignation, nodded silently.

"And in the middle of all that, you want to find your memories?"

"Anyway, he's only 50% 'The Devil,' so there's room for extenuating circumstances, right?"

"Remember this, kid—that bastard's a natural disaster whether you cut him in half or slice him sideways."

"By the way, this is a bit awkward to bring up now, but I'm a proper guest now."

"Whew, the youngsters these days really do have a knack for getting things done."

"The General Manager says he'll allow it, so at the very least I won't be picked on anymore."

At his nephew's words, Kwon Seung-jae laughed again.

"Good heavens? When were you ever picked on~ I've never once seen a labyrinth play favorites with a human like this."

"What I got wasn't being picked on? Seriously?"

"What game-type labyrinth actually pops up guide windows like a real game, hm?"

"Ah."

Kwon Do-heon suddenly recalled.

"Come to think of it, the guide window hasn't appeared since I gathered all the items."

"Ah, that's probably…."

Cha Do-hyeon, who had been quietly listening, raised a hand and announced.

"Probably angry because of me?"

"Why are you only saying that now? Mister, are you out of your mind?"

"You're all really too hard on a national treasure of an actor."

Cha Do-hyeon went on.

"I used every cheat there was, so it's no wonder the labyrinth's master got angry. And on top of that, our Director showed up and—special treatment or not—lopped off the head of one of the labyrinth's components, so…."

"Now, would you look at this rascal."

The Director turned to Cha Do-hyeon.

"And who was it that opened the way all that distance, then?"

"Come on, was I the only one who opened it? That Tarot card over there had a hand in it too."

"Where's there a card here, you brat."

"I mean Mr. Hyeon Si-gyeong. Yes."

As Cha Do-hyeon shrugged, Hyeon Si-gyeong rolled his eyes, and then—

Wheeet.

"Use your words, I keep telling you."

Wheet….

"Fine, suit yourself."

The Director decided to give up.

"I knew the General Manager was 'The Devil' long ago, so there's nothing to be shocked about now."

Lee Seon-hae said.

"Be honest—you were a little shocked, weren't you?"

"Aye, my heart just took a round trip down to the tip of my big toe."

"Honestly, same here."

Get away from our kindhearted Yeon-woo, you devil.

"So how… how is it that they can't be separated? That criminal?"

"The 'General Manager' is probably a chimera made from the previous No. 15 fused with the person called Lee Yeon-woo, most likely?"

Cha Do-hyeon said, stroking his chin.

"If anything, the fact that the proportion of the components fluctuates is a fortunate thing for humanity."

"What's that, like quibbling over the apple content in a peanut-apple-flavored snack?"

"Once you're a chimera, you're sort of like a peanut-apple-flavored snack, yeah."

"What in the world is he even talking about?"

Lee Seon-hae looked thoroughly fed up.

"Why on earth are there still so many parts I just don't understand…."

"You think I'm any better off?"

Hong Gyeong-yeon felt truly hard done by.

"I'm the only pure civilian here with nothing to my name, you know."

Kwon Seung-jae looked at Hong Gyeong-yeon with warm eyes.

"How did a young fellow's life get so tangled up…."

"Do you think I tangled it up myself?"

After a brief deep breath, Hong Gyeong-yeon regained his composure.

"I'm going to get the worldbuilding straight before long."

"Worldbuilding? What worldbuilding?"

"About this labyrinth and the world of the Gaps…."

"Isn't that fellow an Artist?"

At Kwon Seung-jae's question, Hyeon Si-gyeong answered.

"He is not."

"Won't he be one before long?"

"He will not."

"Seems he's not in his right mind."

"It will not manifest."

"What a topsy-turvy world~"

Cha Do-hyeon, who had been listening, grinned and looked at Kwon Do-heon.

"So what are you planning to do now?"

"What else would I do."

Clutching the memo, Kwon Do-heon answered.

"I'll do as I was told."

Right after, Kwon Do-heon asked.

"So what do we do now?"

"Would you look at this brat? Isn't that the very question I just asked?"

"Well, what do I know right now?"

He honestly didn't have a clue.

* * *

『Please be kind to my guests.』

『You may be able to find a better method in Room 444.』

"Hngh."

"…."

Deep in the water, the Water Wraith rolled her eyes.

"…Ah…."

She was so sick of it she could go mad.

"These worm-like bastards drag their feet and refuse to give me back the face I knew."

"Yes."

"To learn that I wasn't the only one who thought so—at least my heart isn't left empty."

So when exactly is my friend's right mind coming back?