He could not stay curled in this dead-end room any longer. The hunter had not fully left this zone, so sitting still would eventually get him caught. He needed a way through.
'No choice.'
What Yeon-woo ultimately chose was the first thod he had considered.
'Accepting the risk and moving from room to room, hiding as I go.'
[No?]
Two eyes in the dark filled a text window with displeasure. Still on about that. It was getting absurd.
'Please stop harassing Room 14. I will use my own legs.'
[No?]
Ignoring Coco's objection with practiced ease, Yeon-woo silently pushed open the box's door and slipped out. Pressing his ear flat against the cold wall, ominous signs seeped in on the chill air.
Such as this stinging aroma of lemon and mint.
'I am truly sick of this coffee sll.'
[GWT. Rude guest.]
'I agree.'
Yeon-woo pressed his aching solar plexus and peered out cautiously to observe the opponent's movents.
"......"
He was pacing near the far end of the corridor. Fortunately, his gaze was not turned this way, and he was walking a good distance ahead.
Yeon-woo moved his feet as silently as possible.
'This is not a ga.'
What's more, a pursuit like this against The Guest Without Taste did not even exist in the original. aning there were no set rules for when the opponent would turn around.
But....
[Coco. Assurance.]
'Is that so.'
What in this hotel was more certain than Coco's assurance? Considering that, it seed The Guest Without Taste, walking ahead, would not suddenly look back.
'Fortunately, the distance between rooms is not far.'
Feeling the exotic coffee scent gradually thin, Yeon-woo crept into the first room without incident.
And what he found there.
'There is a cabinet.'
[Yes!]
An old cabinet.
The system window's text flashed briefly. Sowhat bare, but having sowhere to hide was enough. He opened the cabinet door. The narrow space was thick with the sll of tal and mold.
But perhaps due to its age. He could not fully muffle the sound of the iron door opening.
"Oh."
Clink--...
"......"
"...There, it was right there...."
The sound of cutlery clashing closed in at once.
'Oh no.'
He could not make another sound.
Instead of entering the cabinet, Yeon-woo hid in the blind spot behind the cabinet itself, against the wall. At the very least, he would not be visible from the entrance.
'He is circling.'
He froze, breath held. The faint light leaking under the entrance was cut and reconnected by passing shadows. The tap of a cane on the floor, a tallic scrape like a plate being scratched.
Through it all, the tang of blood seeped in.
"......"
"......"
Clink, clink....
'He is passing.'
[Yes.]
'Thank goodness.'
The Guest Without Taste seed to deliberate, then headed toward the end room where Yeon-woo had been monts ago. Now was the chance. After searching that room, he would certainly circle back this way.
'I need to move. If he searches this room again, it will be too hard to move.'
[Pardon?]
Coco's window flickered with worry, but Yeon-woo slipped from behind the cabinet and pressed himself against the wall.
"......"
[Yes.]
Now.
The instant the hunter had fully entered the end room, Yeon-woo launched himself soundlessly into the next room. Fortunately, this one had a decent amount of furniture.
'Should I move two rooms at once?'
No, no.
'There is not enough ti to risk going further.'
He wedged himself under a dusty desk. The dust stabbing at his lungs nearly triggered a cough, but he clenched his teeth and held it back.
'A reflex like this, by now....'
Then, footsteps passing through the corridor vibrated along the wall.
"Heh...."
A sound that could have been a laugh or a sob.
"Heh, heh... ha...."
"......"
"Not here."
Clink.
"Where might you be?"
Clink.
"Where are you, my friend?"
It felt as though he had been invited to a banquet in ruins.
Regrettably, The Guest Without Taste was by no ans a stupid pursuer. He would be calculating precisely the range from which Yeon-woo could have moved since the sound.
'Then he will reach here soon.'
[That is correct.]
[GWT. Rude.]
'Is behavior not defined in the ga felt that way?'
He suspected it was a similar mindset to the hotel's other staff, but.
'That is not what matters now.'
Under the desk was not a perfect hiding spot. The mont The Guest Without Taste set foot inside, detection was a matter of ti. Yeon-woo listened harder to the unfolding situation.
'I need to find my next timing to move.'
Clink.
Clink.
"......"
Clink.
'Ah.'
The sound stopped.
'Positionally, in front of the second room.'
Yeon-woo imdiately crawled out from under the desk.
Peeking carefully from the wall, he saw the figure's back beyond the entrance, peering into the second room. Under the buzzing lights, the sprawling shadow filled the corridor.
"......"
Yeon-woo fell into deliberation.
'...The opponent has a better read on the terrain than I do.'
The possibility that this was a trap designed to make him reveal himself was real.
The opponent had walked this corridor multiple tis. Yeon-woo, by contrast, had been too pressed to observe his surroundings while fleeing. If either of them were to set a trap, the other side's would be more effective.
'Is moving to the next room really the right call?'
But.
'I cannot stay hidden here, either.'
The room across looked empty, and the diagonal distance was too far. There was only one option. Rather than wait to be tagged, gamble.
'I cannot stay here indefinitely.'
[Yes.]
'Yes, I will be found soon enough.'
Yeon-woo checked the corridor once more. And the mont The Guest Without Taste pushed his head deeper into the second room -- he stepped out.
"......"
And.
'Oh no.'
There was nothing in that room.
"......"
Clink.
"Well, well...."
Clink.
"What poor manners."
He knew the mont he entered.
That the end of this hide-and-seek had been decided the instant he had hidden in the second room. Yeon-woo let out a wry laugh at the vast shadow looming above him.
A shadow writhing as if alive slowly halted. And grew, very slowly, in size. He thought he could feel the presence behind him descending along the nape of his neck.
A brief silence.
"......"
"......"
A lukewarm hand.
A hand large enough to cover Yeon-woo's entire face wrapped around his shoulder with the languid deliberation of a spider's legs. The sound of cutlery murmured softly at his ear.
When those fingers brushed his neck and cheek, Yeon-woo could not help but laugh.
Clink.
"...Haha."
"May I have so?"
"No."
As if that were even a question.
The large hand coiled around his throat.
***
Being caught by the hunter did not an losing his life on the spot.
Yeon-woo silently brushed his nape. The white gloves showed no marks. Aside from a few drops of blood sared during the chase and dust from the stale air, he was remarkably intact.
"......"
How absurd.
Bewildernt swept over him. He did not know what trick had been played, but when his vision had gone black and he ca to, he was no longer on the 14th Floor but in the dining room.
'A thought I have had identically in different places ever since coming to this hotel, but I cannot fathom the chanism. There is a faint scent of blood lingering....'
Could this be a form of Blood Magic? The thought crossed his mind briefly, but seeing the rapturous banquet laid out before him, Yeon-woo let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"...Ha."
A chase scene that did not exist even in the ga -- he had wondered what would happen if he were caught.
'Having broken every last rule of our hotel, it cos back to this.'
The Guest Without Taste, which devoured Human Guests in the order of positive emotions, negative emotions, then blood. Its feeding always took place at the dining table.
Just like this very mont.
"......"
"......"
Silence stretched. A stillness ant to observe and simultaneously pressure him.
'As I expected, he decided to go after my mind....'
At the sa ti, another thought surfaced.
'I should have surveyed my surroundings more carefully while running.'
To think the grace period he had earned through acting and phlebotomy would end this emptily. Whether or not the guest knew his bitter feelings, The Guest Without Taste smiled, eyes curving into crescents.
"Let us dine together."
"Dine."
Yeon-woo knew what awaited behind this kind invitation.
"Very well."
Whether he refused, or accepted.
'My emotions will be eaten in the end.'
Most unfortunately, this was already the second penalty, following The Drenched One.
***
Anywhere blood had fallen, he could go.
And so, the bedchamber of this pitiable spirit, who had bled in his sleep, was no exception.
There had simply been no reason not to visit a place he could visit, for the sake of conviction.
"......"
And there, The Guest Without Taste saw a Tarot card.
Clearly inscribed: The Devil.
"......"
"......"
"......"
That beca the second reason for conviction.
"...It is you."
He might, perhaps, have known this person.
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