Chapter 191

Cha Do-hyeon was an actor who possessed both ability and renown, so employing a few workarounds within the labyrinth was well within his capability. This pitch-black room he now shared with Lee Seon-hae was likewise the product of such a workaround.

This room always prioritized the actor, the writer, and the director over the labyrinth.

"Director Lee."

Cha Do-hyeon pressed down gently on Lee Seon-hae's shoulder and whispered in a voice tinged with a smile.

"Confident?"

"Not at all."

"This is your first and last chance."

"I'm curious what your intent is in bringing up a story I already know well."

"Because this time, I really do want us to gain a family member."

A low, settled voice.

"An Artist family member."

"……."

Lee Seon-hae, who had been studying the script, shifted her gaze to Kwon Do-heon, who was tying a black piece of paper around Seome's ankle.

"…That would be nice."

She wished it would all turn out well. All of it.

* * *

Kwon Do-heon did not know a person called "Lee Yeon-woo."

To be precise, it was more accurate to say he'd forgotten. And that was exactly why it weighed on him. Piecing together the clues, it seemed the man had helped and protected him during the time he'd lost his memory. Any human being would naturally be bothered by that.

The General Manager, on the other hand, was frightening. His thoughts were unreadable, and although he appeared helpful, something about him was always unsettling. Hearing that the two were different personalities sharing one body triggered an automatic black-and-white logic.

Lee Yeon-woo is good, and you must be evil.

"Who is Lee Yeon-woo?"

In that instant, a heavy air descended upon the hotel.

"……."

"……."

Fuck.

'I'm not going to be the one who gets screwed first, am I?'

"Hoot."

"Hah, seriously…."

Seome fussing on his shoulder only made his heart more restless.

But the water was already spilled. Having picked a fight so openly, he could hardly go "Oh dear, my apologies" and take it back.

"That, um, person called Lee Yeon-woo. It seems like he was someone I knew during the time I lost my memory."

"Ah, during the time you lost your memory, you say."

"They tell me he helped me in various ways. Is he perhaps a guest here? Or staff?"

"This is not an amusing prank."

The General Manager smiled pleasantly.

"You already know there is no such person here, do you not?"

"……."

Kwon Do-heon felt a bit like crying.

'Can't I just run away right now?'

Not a chance.

'Someone save me.'

That expression, which was clearly displeased and then some. A smile no different from the usual, yet somehow denser and more vivid, enough to raise goosebumps. It felt as though he'd walked into a tiger's den on his own two feet.

'But everyone said as much.'

Even that water ghost had warned him. If he got swept up in this moment and simply acquiesced, it would be the end.

"Hoo-hoot."

"Sigh…."

Kwon Do-heon drew a deep breath and fixed his gaze straight ahead.

"No, he does exist. Lee Yeon-woo."

"Oh."

"He was definitely here. He's just out of sight for personal reasons. My eyes happen to be very good."

"Indeed."

The General Manager replied in a low voice.

"However, no person called 'Lee Yeon-woo' exists in this hotel, sir."

"Who is Lee Yeon-woo?"

"It is not a name I am familiar with…."

"I'm asking where he is right now."

Do-heon drove the final wedge.

"What kind of person is Lee Yeon-woo?"

And then, snap.

"……."

"……."

The singing that had been gently filling the hotel cut off as if by magic.

A corridor filled with dreadful silence. Kwon Do-heon gripped the revolver so tight his fingertips went white, and stared straight into the General Manager's eyes.

He could see those cool golden irises twist, ever so slightly.

"You're right. He does exist."

Kwon Do-heon's body seized at the General Manager's docile answer.

"But have you never considered this? From a systemic standpoint, that existence is nothing more than a temporary update file that interferes with perfect hotel operation protocols and needlessly wastes resources… or a 'system error' that ought to be erased."

"What are you—"

"I prioritize the hotel's integrity and the maintenance of its rules above all else. The 'Lee Yeon-woo' you speak of is an intruder in the system—a type of malfunction. And I do not like it when my plans are disrupted."

He took one step closer.

"Nor do I like having the 'General Manager' denied by a guest."

Golden eyes blazed.

"I know why you asked that question. I see now—my staff have been whispering ill winds. They urged you to deny me…. Is that not so?"

"……."

"Why? Did this place not please you? You were not hurt, and you did not die. Have you no wish to enjoy this game further? This is a space meticulously crafted in every detail, and we serve solely for our guests. I have never once coerced any of you in this place. The door has always been open."

"……."

"You walked in of your own accord, enjoyed my consideration and respect, and now you deny me."

Another step, closing the distance, he whispered low.

"Why?"

Why?

"Wasn't it fun?"

"Hehe!"

With that voice, grotesquely sunken, the silence filling the corridor shattered. CRACKLE, CRACKLE—!! The instant an ear-splitting electronic screech burrowed mercilessly into his eardrums,

the General Manager laughed with delight.

"Then let's make it more fun!"

"Ah."

A blood-red system warning window crashed violently across the whole of Kwon Do-heon's vision.

▶ [SYSTEM] Warning: Hostile action by guest detected.

▶ ※Special Event: 'Owner's Mischief'※

▶ Mini-Game: 'Arcade Run & Gun' commencing!

"In… insane…!!"

"Arcade Run & Gun, commencing!"

"Can't you just fucking not?!!"

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

Every light in the corridor went out in an instant.

"Rawi!!"

"I'm going to lose my mind…!"

White feathers from the "White Crow," which had been rampaging in defiance of the hotel's order, came storming in from the far end of the corridor. The overwhelming volume, clearly intent on blinding him, choked the breath from his lungs.

"Sunbae-nim!!"

"You really are just using me as you please now, aren't you?"

"You said you'd help!!"

"You're right."

FLUTTER—!!

Seome took wing powerfully.

"You're my junior, after all."

They would survive. Without fail.

* * *

A red thread was drawn across his cheek where razor-sharp feathers grazed past.

"Left."

SCREEEECH—! HACK!

Tearing through the white curtain that blanketed his vision, the witch's minions burst out, shrieking grotesque cries. Lee Seon-hae's eyes rolled dryly.

"Below, then up. A little further ahead."

The speed at which a monster draped in rotten hide crawled up walls and ceiling on elongated limbs was absurd. Sensing the gap narrowing, Kwon Do-heon gripped the revolver tight.

"Don't calculate."

Right now, the blind instinct to survive mattered more.

"Empty your head."

BANG! BANG—!!

The heavy report hammered his ears.

The revolver's hefty recoil shuddered from wrist to spine. Thankfully, the system's aim assist was still active. Which also meant the General Manager's mischief did not intend "death."

"A little more to the side—there. That's it."

The aimed bullet punched clean through a minion's skull. SPLAT! Foul mucus splattered messily over the heap of white feathers.

"Four rounds left from here. Shoot more carefully."

[Remaining rounds: 4/6]. The sentence appearing in real time on the Black Script blinked red. Meanwhile, the monsters numbered dozens of times more, so evasion and defense took priority over attack.

With every step back, the chill rushing from behind seeped deep into his joints. She could feel it vividly—Kwon Do-heon choking down the rising terror and the screams.

"Almost there."

Run a little more.

"Then stop and turn around."

When he lifted his head like that,

"……."

He would see the surveillance camera on the ceiling.

"…There."

That operating lens, visible with particular clarity only to his eyes.

"Now."

Shoot.

* * *

BANG—!!!

* * *

SPLAT!!

A grotesque rupturing sound echoed through the corridor.

"……."

"……."

Drip, drip….

"Hk—"

In the silence that descended once more, only the precarious sound of blood drops falling could be heard.

"Haah, hah…."

"Step back."

"Where the fuck am I supposed to step back to…."

"Just a little more."

Seome, who had been guiding Kwon Do-heon per Lee Seon-hae's instructions, warned from the shadows.

"He'll be truly angry now."

In the spine-crawling stillness, Kwon Do-heon's unusually keen eyes fixed on the General Manager's form. What Kwon Do-heon had aimed at and shot was clearly the CCTV, its metal lens turning. But….

What had burst open was the General Manager's left eye.

"……."

There was no scream. That silence chilled him to the marrow.

A human would naturally have screamed first. But the General Manager stood rooted in place, rigid. Even his remaining right eye did not blink—as though a clockwork mechanism had broken in some exquisite doll.

As if to break that frozen state, a single trail of bloody tears ran down his pallid cheek.

"…! Ugh—"

"Quiet."

From that point on, dark-red blood poured from the gaping left eye socket.

'No, that's clearly—'

Was it red? Black? Or was it gold?

'My eyes hurt.'

Blood drops trailing down a porcelain-white cheek stained the neat uniform collar, but he merely rolled his intact right eye, slow and languid, to stare at Kwon Do-heon.

Presently, his pallid hand rose. Fingers that moved stiffly, like a wooden puppet's, wiped at the blood running down his cheek.

He looked down at the thick fluid clinging to his fingertips.

"Aha."

And in that instant, Kwon Do-heon saw it clearly.

An emotion that had no place anywhere in the system's behavioral patterns. A thoroughly private and human feeling that only a living creature could feel, flooding into that hollow eye.

Unmistakable fury. A "system error" that should not have existed.

"You quite thoroughly,"

Even as dark-red blood spilled endlessly from his left eye, the corner of his mouth curved mechanically wide. In that uncanny valley created by the blood-drenched face and the artificial smile,

goosebumps rose.

"—hate me, do you?"

The voice that leaked between those lips sounded like the growl of a tiger.

* * *

"…!!"

CLATTER—!!

Lee Seon-hae shot to her feet.

"What, why? What happened?"

"It hasn't changed."

"What? What hasn't? You need to tell me…."

"Still."

Lee Seon-hae, gone ashen, could not tear her eyes from the Black Script in her hand.

"It's still the 'General Manager.'"

* * *

Blood-red system error windows exploded across every corner of his vision, flickering violently.

▶ [An error has occurred.]

▶ [An error has occurred.]

▶ [An error has occurred.]

▶ [An error has occurred.]

▶ [An error has occurred.]

▶ [An error has occurred.]

"……!!"

▶ [An error has occurred. Initiating system recovery.]

▶ [Warning: The General Manager's mental contamination level has exceeded the threshold.]

▶ [DANGER: The causality of 'Hotel One' is collapsing.]

"What the—"

"Snap out of it, get back!"

"What the fuck is happening?!!"

"Can't you see?!"

▶ [Initiating system recovery.]

"The General Manager is holding on!!"

A staggering "system retention force."

The corridor—the hotel's innards—began to convulse violently, screaming. The entire labyrinth was resonating with the Manager's uncontrolled rage, and he could feel it running wild through his whole body.

Space itself was warping at will.

"Run, now!!"

"Oh, fuck this…!!"

TAP!

Kwon Do-heon moved his feet fast.

The once-solid marble floor shuddered and heaved up and down like the hide of a living creature. The corridor, which had stretched in a straight line, buckled at random, tilting like a steep cliff.

"Hrkh—"

"Keep your balance!!"

Windows that had been firmly set in the walls melted away in an instant, reappearing madly at random positions—ceiling, floor, and elsewhere. His head spun in the most literal sense.

Too much visual information hammered him mercilessly. The General Manager knew his weakness precisely.

"My eyes are, too much—"

CRACKLE! CRACK!

The elegant chandeliers on the ceiling flickered neurotically, scattering sharp glass shards like thorns. The countless guest-room doors lining both sides of the corridor opened and slammed shut—CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!—like the jaws of beasts chewing prey.

Each time a door opened, dense shadows appeared in the gap, belching thick red fog that seemed ready to devour Kwon Do-heon.

"Wait, is this—"

"It's been like this for a while now—it's not just the General Manager. He's unleashed the 'White Crow'!"

"This is fucking insane!!"

All this from asking one question.

"There isn't a single sane place in this entire building!!"

If he didn't get out of this mad space, he'd be crushed by the labyrinth before the General Manager could tear him apart. Kwon Do-heon seized the revolver with trembling hands and, instead, came to a stop in the middle of the corridor.

"…?! What are you doing, Kwon Do-heon? Hurry…!!"

"Are we actually running away right now?!"

"What?!"

"I said, are we running?!!"

THUD, THUD, THUD!!

He shouted as if to match the tremendous noise.

"Director, please!!"

* * *

"……."

"…That, what was it called?"

At Lee Seon-hae's sudden question, Cha Do-hyeon furrowed his brow.

"If you only say that much, I don't know either."

"Crimson Core."

Lee Seon-hae spun to face Cha Do-hyeon and cried out urgently.

"Hurry…! What exactly is that?!!"

Cha Do-hyeon let out a flabbergasted laugh.

"I'm not even a blood mage, how would I know—"

"Cha Do-hyeon!!"

At the desperate call, Cha Do-hyeon, who'd been hesitating, opened his mouth.

"…Simply put, it's blood. Not the heart."

"I already heard that!"

"There's a saying in Blood Magic."

Cha Do-hyeon continued in a low voice.

"Let the one without a heart lead the blood."

The first thing a vampire discards.

That was the "heart."