A thin whisper, as though about to break.
There was a sound lingering at his ear.
A formless resonance, a directionless sound. A lody like a ghost playing an abandoned piano caressed the outer rim of his ear, toying with it.
"...sanctus... sanctus... sanctum... non est...."
Neither too fast, nor too slow.
"noli tangere... noli... noli... no...."
Sounds always reached his ears. Spoken by no one, yet unmistakably voiced by soone's throat—such sounds.
Perhaps a hymn that once praised God.
"in luce, non remanet...."
An infected language,
a masterless prayer,
words with only structure remaining.
"hymnus fractus...."
It sounded like a confession of love, and also like words one wished to say but never could. Did it resemble an unvoiced scream? It did not weep—it was a vibration that tingled faintly around the eardrum.
"oratio inanes...."
"verba sine fides...."
"noli tangere...."
He rolled his eyes upward to look at the light.
"miserere...."
Or perhaps he was looking beyond the light.
"...illumina mortuos...."
These pale ears were always open.
Within them, thousands of syllables overlapped, and among them—hymns and curses. Love and death, things left unspoken, all swirling. And so the man smiled softly.
"...Aha."
Evidence that soone was not yet dead crystallized in his ears. Joy was approaching.
"Lucy."
"......"
"It's almost ti to head to the recording session—are you ready?"
"......"
"...Oh."
The man who'd approached him—the manager—murmured, looking at 'Lucy.'
"You seem to be in a good mood today."
"Yes."
'Lucy' curved his blue-gray eyes in a smile.
"I feel good."
I feel good.
He closed his eyes beneath the bright lights. He saw not through his eyes but through his ears. And very softly, the na from before it had taken form resonated sowhere deep inside his brain.
"......"
Rawi.
"......"
Seo.
Those were not words but notes. Not lyrics but syllables. Not nas but pitches.
He said nothing. But sowhere far away, 'soone's speech began to slow strangely.' Rawi called his friend's na twice, and Seo 'walked without hearing his own footsteps.'
"miserere...."
They didn't know yet. That harmony had already entered their ears.
"...illumina mortuos."
He stopped whispering.
The air fell silent, and blue-gray eyes that seed to walk upon the quiet opened. He smiled softly.
"Mm...."
"Done thinking?"
"Yes."
"What's gotten into you, answering right away like that?"
"Because I'm happy."
In a very good mood.
"...Did you have a nice dream or sothing?"
"...Hehe...."
Whether he'd evaded the question or the laugh itself was the answer—
'Lucy' rose from his seat. The manager followed behind as though accustod to it, switching off the lights in his singer's residence. His taciturn artist simply walked ahead with steps as precise as a priest's.
Watching his retreating figure, the manager shrugged.
"Well, there's a first for everything."
At any rate, his singer seed to be in a good mood, so it was a pleasant start to the day for him, too.
***
[Archive]
[Monster Guest]
[Na]
[The Tongueless Hymn]
An incarnation of blasphemy in human form.
A devil who resonates alone, with only the structure of what once praised God remaining—he sings with his mouth closed and sees the world through his ears.
His song is composed of a structure older than language, and it gradually deconstructs the inner self of any who listen. He turns every sentence you speak into song, manipulates mories, and nullifies them.
He appears when you have made 6 or more 'Noble Choices,' and infects the surrounding area. He rely exists, and his song rely resonates. There is no way to stop him.
Only refusing to add harmony to his song. And 'non-response'—the refusal to understand him—will be your sole counterasure when receiving him as a guest.
So that your language does not beco his notes,
so that your mories do not beco his score.
Exercise caution.
"......"
※WARNING※
Should you enter 6 or more contracts, he will not forget you, and so—
"Embrace your new friend."
'Lucy' sang.
***
Blink—
"......"
...Yeon-woo opened his eyes.
'...Did I fall asleep?'
No—it would be more accurate to say he'd lost consciousness.
Atop his body lay Coco, and atop Coco sat No. 14. His hand fumbled until it found Coco's squishy cheek and kneaded it. As though it had been waiting, Coco began to purr and nuzzled its head against Yeon-woo's chest.
After lightly patting Coco's head, Yeon-woo looked around.
"...Here...."
Sowhat unexpectedly, his voice ca out smoothly.
"Ahem—what happened to the forr administrator who was here?"
"Yes."
"Disappeared while I was synchronizing?"
"Yes!"
"That's different from the ga."
Then No. 14 sidled up. Having climbed to his shoulder, it cautiously tapped his ear.
"What... ah."
Yeon-woo nodded.
"Co in."
"...? No!!"
Startled by Coco's protest, No. 14 scrambled in a panic back into Yeon-woo's body through his ear. The sensation was still peculiar, but it wasn't as horrifically jarring as before.
Yeon-woo rubbed at the area around his ear, then slowly trailed his hand down to the nape of his neck.
"......"
SCRATCH—
He scraped the skin.
Leaving a reddened, swollen mark, he rose from the spot with composure.
"The synchronization was completed successfully."
"Mm."
"It'd be best not to bully No. 14 too much, Coco."
"Yes."
"For now...."
"......"
"...Shall we go take a look?"
Perhaps because he'd just synchronized with the hotel. His senses felt strangely dulled. Or rather, not dull so much as everything felt numb.
It truly felt as though his entire body and mind had been converted to data.
'This might be what characters inside a ga feel like.'
Yeon-woo the character and Yeon-woo the person were now more distinctly felt than before. He hadn't quite gotten a handle on it yet, but this might prove useful later.
'But for now....'
"Yes."
"Yes."
The accumulated fatigue was far too great.
'I should rest a while.'
Of course, that wouldn't be easy here.
Yeon-woo placed Coco on his shoulder and approached the door. The massive door opened according to his will, and the corridor beyond was still.
"......"
Not a single drop of blood remained on the floor.
"...Do you know where The Guest Without Taste went?"
"Yes."
"Is he still inside the hotel?"
"Yes."
That was reassuring news.
"I'll need to arrange a eting."
Even as the layout surfaced naturally in his mind, Yeon-woo walked the corridor. He needed to confirm whether the 14th Floor's conditions had truly changed as they did in the ga.
"Ah."
He nodded.
"They're certainly not charging at
like before."
"Yes."
The warped walls, the Watchers' eyes, the creaking movents of the monsters all registered. But they no longer rushed at him like hunting hounds.
They halted at the edges of his vision, lowering their gazes from a respectful distance, like servants catching sight of their master. He could tell the gestures were of reverence and respect rather than fear.
"...Their reactions are similar to the hotel staff who handle guest services...."
"Yes!"
"I see."
He understood.
The 14th Floor was still full of chaotic lighting and the crackle of frayed wires. But the rhythm within had changed. The entire corridor submitted to his breathing.
The flickering panels, the nodding caras, all of it.
"......"
A stillness of space that showed complete control had fallen into his hands.
"No need to look around further."
"Hello?"
"The forr administrator's condition doesn't need to be checked right away."
"Yes."
"Adequate rest is important in any line of work."
As Yeon-woo turned the corner of the corridor.
"Let's head back."
"Yes."
The Operator-exclusive elevator ca into view.
It was ti to return to the Quarters and enjoy the softness of a bed.
***
"......?"
The young man rubbed his neck.
"......"
"Senior?"
"...No, wait...."
After briefly scanning his surroundings, the young man turned to his 'junior.'
"Felt like soone was watching us."
"...If you're saying that openly, it must an it was just your imagination?"
If there were actual surveillance, he wouldn't be saying it out loud. At the junior's words, the 'senior' nodded.
"Guess it was just ."
"So even our senior gets confused sotis."
"I'll choose to believe that's not sarcasm."
"Dude, that hurts. Do I look like that kind of guy?"
"A little...."
"......"
The junior muttered to the senior with a sour face.
"You're sneakily blunt, you know that?"
"Still, you've got to speak your mind."
The senior shrugged and examined a piece of paper.
"Got a religion?"
"Irreligious to the bone."
"Sa."
Then again, trusting in and relying on a god in a world like this was a tall order. Swallowing those words, the senior read down the paper. It was a tangled cipher, but not difficult to read.
"Small rcy, I suppose."
"What is?"
"Our mission site this ti is a cathedral."
"There are cathedrals here too?"
"No, more precisely...."
WHOOSH!
He burned the paper.
"The Golden Grotto."
The senior turned to the junior.
"We need to go to the Golden Grotto."
"......"
The junior held back a sigh behind a smiling face. He looked deeply unenthused.
"...That Dokkaebi den?"
"Sothing like that."
"You'll protect , right?"
"Mm... I'll try."
"Wow, cold."
"I think you're colder than ."
Cleaning his gun, the junior asked.
"Lower floors, or upper floors?"
"Don't worry, upper floors."
"Then let's knock it out and get back."
"Even so, I think a little tension would be wise...."
SPLAT, SPLAT—
"Let's go, Rawi."
"Yes sir, Senior."
"I told you to call
Seo."
"I'll use it once we're a bit closer~"
"Guess I need to try harder."
The two walked on, treading through blood.
***
Yeon-woo woke from sleep.
"......"
"Hello?"
"Yes, I slept... well."
A vivid emotion, different from what he'd felt walking the 14th Floor, surfaced on his face. It was distinctly a look of displeasure.
"...But why do I feel so strange?"
At that, Coco tilted its head and asked.
"Hello?"
"No, I didn't have a nightmare. But it feels as though I did...."
It felt like soone had been watching him. Or like he'd been watching soone else.
"It's hard to explain."
"Mm?"
"I don't know the cause either."
[Manager Grade: Lv.764]
[External Observation Level: 4]
"......"
"Ah, I see."
He felt as though he'd just found out.
"Is an external Monster Guest up to sothing?"
It already felt ominous.
'And the level's gone up, on top of everything.'
Not exactly welco. When your level rose with nothing to your na, all it brought was events too difficult to handle.
'This ominous feeling is probably part of that.'
His intuition had developed to this degree. At this point, it was becoming difficult to insist he was human with any confidence. Yeon-woo let out a slow breath into the revulsion and bewildernt scraping at his insides.
"......"
He raised a hand and checked his own condition.
"...I didn't die, did I?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, that was a slip of the tongue."
There were things you could say and things you shouldn't. Checking via the Interface, the synchronization had taken roughly a day, and he'd just said sothing terrible to Coco, who'd waited around twenty-three hours.
'My words are still coming out carelessly, even though I'm trying to be careful....'
The aftereffects of having his emotions consud by The Guest Without Taste were this severe.
"......"
Having checked the Interface, Yeon-woo rose from his spot.
"...Then shall I get back to work?"
"Yes?"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"I'm in my right mind."
Who are you calling crazy.
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