When he opened the hotel's door, stepped inside, and waited for the master of this place.
"Thank you for visiting."
The voice that greeted the guest was composed.
A clean, asured tone that didn't match the youthful face. Pronunciation, cadence, timbre. Like a well-trained newscaster. A perfect fit for this hotel.
And precisely because of that, it gave off a sense of wrongness.
"A pleasure."
"Yes, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to stay for one night."
"One night's stay, confird."
The appearance was sharp and intelligent. The glasses and suit projected a refined impression. A smile was present, but not an ounce of emotion showed. The brows were dark, the eyes narrow.
'A fox....'
...Too round in the pupils to be a fox.
As he observed the eyes behind the lenses, the narrow gaze curved even more gently. A smile with the power to seize another's attention.
'Knows how to use its body well.'
Whether skilled at staging, or born with the temperant. Either way, not an instinct a newborn Dokkaebi could possess. He confird that the thing before him was no re byproduct of a Labyrinth.
"Then," said the thing, having drawn his attention with natural ease.
"Allow
to assist with your check-in."
"......"
Indeed.
"...If you would."
Gazes drifting through the air.
Not re hallucinations. What grazed the edges of Baek Mu-jin's senses was a convergence of countless souls and gazes, collapsing into a single point in the empty air.
Soundless, courteous, and well-ordered though they were.
'With density like this, it's certainly....'
Enough attention to trigger a Dokkaebi's apotheosis.
"......"
"Hello?"
And there—another Dokkaebi.
'...Unlike this ambiguous one, that is unmistakably a Labyrinth.'
Sothing clumsily mimicking a cat. A glimr of selfhood peeked through, confirming it as a Dokkaebi. That one appeared to be the essential master of this Labyrinth called 'Hotel One.'
'Then what is this?'
What was this thing, now handing him a key?
"I'll escort you to Room 9, 17th floor."
"The 17th floor. Very good."
"In that case, before you enter, allow
to brief you on a few matters."
"That the hotel is in its Soft-Opening Period, so services may be lacking across the board, and so communal facilities may be unavailable? And that als may be difficult to prepare?"
"......"
"...My niece was in your care."
The old man bowed his head. A greeting rendered in classical courtesy, exactly as this Labyrinth would prefer.
"I've co to offer both apology and gratitude for the trouble caused."
Requesting a stay had been part of that gesture.
This Labyrinth took the form of a hotel, and it operated under its own rules. Defying those rules ant disturbing the master's sensibilities. That was not what Baek Mu-jin wanted.
He wished to maintain a good relationship with them.
Rare things were worth that much.
"Might we have a conversation?"
"...Of course."
A satisfactory answer.
***
The thing guided Baek Mu-jin to the elevator.
'22nd floor.'
Quite high up.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass, a rain-soaked forest stretched below. It was arranged too beautifully to believe this was inside a Labyrinth.
'Is this, too, the manager's influence?'
The 'manager' guiding the way spoke.
"I apologize that I'm escorting you personally rather than a mber of staff. As I ntioned, this hotel is in its Soft-Opening Period, so so services are limited."
"And this place?"
"Fortunately, we recently completed the initial maintenance of the hotel's facilities, so unlike Director Lee Seon-hae's party last ti, I'm able to bring you here to the lounge."
"A lounge. Is the entire 22nd floor like this?"
"The 22nd floor houses the Sky Lounge and Dining. Overnight guests are welco to visit at their convenience and enjoy the dining. However, the lounge's maintenance isn't yet complete...."
"I don't see any staff."
The atmosphere was different from the lobby. Not only staff—no 'guests' were visible either.
"There seed to be no shortage of staff. You didn't assign any to the lounge?"
"They're not trained for this area, I'm afraid.... I ask for your understanding."
"Very well."
Friends.
'Uses friendlier language than the appearance suggests.'
The lounge was pleasant. A rare thing on Korea's narrow land—a space that combined stunning scenery with genuine comfort. The sofa he sank into was soft and plush.
'There's a clear intent to run this hotel as a proper establishnt.'
It was unlike an ordinary Labyrinth.
'Had it truly been like those others, the best it could manage would be a clumsy imitation of human things, assembled for show.'
But this place was different.
From the deploynt of staff to the state of the facilities, to the manager's guidance. He finally understood how an ordinary person like Seon-hae had managed to co out so intact.
When their eyes t, the thing curved its gaze gently once more.
"Is the seating to your liking?"
"Not bad."
A question ford in Baek Mu-jin's mind.
'What does it want?'
It was certain this being couldn't be dismissed as a re accessory of the Labyrinth.
Seon-hae had said the two owners disagreed and there was conflict, so this 'manager' couldn't possibly be part of the cat-mimicking monster.
'Nor is it another Labyrinth possessing a self.'
Labyrinths were, by nature, beings of twisted temperant. They couldn't form normal relationships with others. Even when they took an interest in humans, the end was always a tragic destruction.
'But Seon-hae ca out alive. So did her young subordinates.'
In that case....
"......"
"I've prepared tea."
"...Why didn't you send for a staff mber, as you did in the lobby?"
"As you can see, there aren't many staff here."
"Understood."
In the lobby, the thing had used staff to carry luggage. Rung a golden bell, if he recalled. The crisp, clear tallic note still lingered at his ear as if etched there.
"Do you enjoy it?"
A subjectless, abrupt question. But the other party answered with natural ease.
"Of course. Since ancient tis, tea has been a fine companion to warm the body when one is weary."
"What is this?"
"I've brought buckwheat tea."
"Any reason?"
"On a rainy, fog-laden day, is there a better tea to share with a new friend?"
"To already count this old man as a friend—I'm honored."
The scent of buckwheat rose.
"A fine aroma."
"Thank you."
"Take a seat."
The General Manager sat in the chair facing Baek Mu-jin.
Baek Mu-jin observed the thing's silhouette reflected in the dark window glass. He let his gaze rest on the rain-soaked forest for a mont, then shifted it back. The thing's bearing remained immaculate throughout.
It looked as though it were part of this hotel, but hadn't he already sensed that couldn't be the case?
'Has it been here quite long?'
Baek Mu-jin clasped his knees and bowed his head once more.
"...Thank you again."
"I'm glad you would say so."
"I'm the one who's grateful, for not refusing an old man's sincerity."
He'd been so scrupulously polite that he'd half-expected a refusal, but the young one simply smiled and accepted his gratitude. In that, Baek Mu-jin sensed a peculiar warmth.
Sothing like pride, or perhaps relief.
"I believed that I had done sothing worthy of receiving thanks."
"Yes... saving a life is that kind of thing."
This being placed weight on life. It was favorably disposed toward humans, considerate, and attentive.
"......"
...But you?
"You're so kind to an unfamiliar guest—you must be quite fond of this hotel."
"My, what a mischievous thing to say. It's true that I'm fond of this place, but I don't live my life needing a reason to be kind to people."
"Simple goodwill?"
"When you live in a place this remote, an unfamiliar guest becos a welco sight."
"I suppose that's true."
Glad to see people, he says.
'Well.'
Had it changed, or had it always been this way?
"...Hmm...."
The tea was quite good. Even by Baek Mu-jin's standards.
"I've brought a gift."
"I see."
"I worry that you won't be particularly pleased by it."
Baek Mu-jin understood good and evil, but didn't place value in those categories alone. So he'd brought what this being would most likely prefer, though he suspected it wouldn't land well.
"Might I hear about this gift?"
"I've brought a death row prisoner."
"......"
Eyes as round as a full moon regarded Baek Mu-jin.
In silence, the circular pupils gazed into him as if peering into his soul. The face, stripped of its smile, resembled not a fox but a tiger. Just as the fleeting thought that he'd have preferred this room a touch darker crossed his mind—
"Ah, I see."
As before, the narrow gaze curved.
"Might I ask the reason?"
"The reason for bringing a gift is always self-evident."
"You thought I would like it."
"I find myself regretful. You clearly don't."
Baek Mu-jin looked at the pitch-black Dokkaebi perched on the thing's shoulder.
"The gift was not intended for that one."
"Our hotel isn't well-known enough for rumors to precede it. Did you perhaps hear sothing?"
Baek Mu-jin took a sip of tea. The last ti he'd co here to retrieve his niece, the mont he'd set foot before this place, he had slled the stench flowing like an underground spring beneath this space.
"Far from rumors—I didn't even know a hotel like this had been erected here. Contrary to what you fear, I've heard nothing about this place. I simply knew it was a building raised upon corpses."
As it happened, it was a type he knew well.
"A building raised upon corpses."
"Did you know?"
"Of course."
The General Manager smiled neatly. A calm smile.
"It is my hotel."
"......"
He would need to revise his thinking sowhat.
'It's not being unilaterally held captive by that unwholeso thing.'
The black cat. A monster that crouched down, straining to appear harmless, fawning over its 'friend.' That was the culprit that had shackled the General Manager.
'But it isn't as though it's simply languishing in captivity.'
The story appeared more complicated than he'd expected.
"I slled death in this hotel. The thick scent of blood, the screams layered upon screams. Prayers offered to a god that should not exist. Such things cannot be hidden by dressing them up prettily."
"Would it be visible to just anyone?"
"Honestly, it would be difficult for anyone to discern it as precisely as I do. But even a mildly perceptive person would feel the wrongness. The sense of sothing being off. Just as Seon-hae, who knew nothing, felt the distortion here...."
"......"
"Seon-hae is doing well."
"...I'm relieved."
Faint but unmistakable relief. Baek Mu-jin spoke on, toward the smiling thing.
"The energy and nature here were so ferocious that I wondered whether a gift of this caliber would suffice. I've no idea what you'll use it for or how, but when you drag a death row prisoner who's hit rock bottom into a place like this... everyone tends to be pleased."
"I hadn't realized my tastes were considered that peculiar."
"It isn't peculiar."
He drank his tea and continued.
"It is special."
The value.
How high would the value of this thing ultimately climb?
What an exceedingly rare and strange being.
'Yes, that's right.'
His claim of having heard nothing about this place was the truth. But once your hair turns white, many things beco visible without needing to be told.
Baek Mu-jin's gaze slowly traced down the other's form. As though following the trajectory of a mainspring that had gone awry sowhere, long, long ago.
"What do you consider yourself to be?"
"......"
The thing answered drily.
"...I consider myself a person."
Does he truly know who he is?
"Am I wrong?"
"No."
It was good that he'd approached with courtesy.
"You are not wrong."
He'd nearly ruined a precious connection.
***
Dokkaebi.
Beings born from objects steeped in human emotion and ti, spirits unique to Korea who have lived alongside people.
A fundantally different existence from the 'self-aware Labyrinths' Baek Mu-jin had described to Seon-hae. In folklore, they may have played mischievous tricks, but they were spirits who honored honest rules and kept their loyalties.
'To think such a spirit ended up trapped in a Labyrinth like this.'
The young Dokkaebi looked up at Baek Mu-jin.
"Will you be alright?"
"Yes, I'm rely curious about the place. Don't worry about this old man."
"I'll guide you, but I do hope you won't find it unpleasant."
"The older you get, the fewer things surprise you."
He had requested a tour of the hotel from the manager.
The first thing he wished to see was the Aqua Park. That river of the dead where Seon-hae had set foot and barely returned alive. He was curious what he could asure there.
The doors to the 23rd floor Aqua Park opened.
"This is the place."
"......"
Clean floors and bright lighting.
Warm air, as if standing on a beach or inside a greenhouse.
And... the peaceful sound of water.
"Unexpected."
"May I ask what is unexpected, without causing offense?"
"I'd expected at least a water wraith to be lurking...."
The water was truly pristine.
"......"
Why?
'For a Labyrinth that should not be this clean.'
The screams and suffering, the sll of blood that had seeped from every corner of the hotel—none of it remained here. As if nothing had ever happened, only water as transparent as gemstones rippled gently.
'Then where were all those anguished cries kept?'
The answer ca only when he looked at the young Dokkaebi standing beside him.
"...Ah."
"......?"
"It's nothing."
Indeed, so that's how it was.
The breath that had halted before a wide, deep body of water, and the vicious sounds of water swirling inside that body. The ice-cold hands thrashing in a dying breath, and the tail of a water beast.
And the terrible sll of blood.
'So this is why it couldn't leave the hotel.'
Dokkaebi were a truly foolish kind.
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