Baesena's Lie and the Dream of Easy Money
Baesena was telling one little lie.
Humans always say lying is bad. They say you shouldn't hide things from each other. But that's only true between fellow humans, right? If a monster lies, humans get suspicious. If a monster hides something, humans get scared. Even if that monster is truly kind and means well for humanity. Just because they're not the same kind of being, humans reject them. That's human nature at its core.
That's why Baesena was lying. If it got found out, she might lose trust—or become something to fear. Maybe even get pointed at as a traitor by a bunch of Special Task Force agents. It wouldn't matter. It'd hurt her heart for real, sure. But heartache means nothing compared to human deaths. Getting finger-pointed at is nothing next to the greater good of humanity's survival.
Snip.
Snip.
The sound of scissors echoed. She checked the time. 4:21 AM. She'd been wandering the hotel forever—had it really gotten this late already?
"Mm... no big hauls today either."
Baesena let out a small sigh. It was day seven at the hotel. Only six days left to stay. She'd pretty much concluded on day one: the missing people had probably all died here. Still, what if even one was alive? Or if she could at least find a body? But this place seemed to devour everything without a trace. She probably wouldn't find anything even after six full days of searching, but Baesena started walking again anyway. No other options. Might as well memorize the hotel's layout thoroughly. If she couldn't save victims, the least she could do was not let their numbers grow.
As she walked, squelch—something squished underfoot. Blood soaked the sole of Baesena's shoe.
Snip, snip.
More scissor sounds. She looked up. At the far end, a girl in a maid outfit was snipping away. The floor was drenched in blood, her clothes splattered. Yet she kept slicing necks without pause. Her movements were eerily precise. Not the work of a rank amateur.
Baesena narrowed her eyes instinctively and approached the girl.
"Are you a guest?"
The girl asked. Joo Miyoung, was it? Baesena shook her head.
"Nah, just passin' through."
"I see. A haircut, then?"
Joo Miyoung asked. Baesena refused, obviously. Who'd nod yes while watching a serial killer's head get lopped off?
"That's a ton! How many killers showed up anyway?"
"Who knows. Never bothered counting the guests."
"Gotta be way more than ten, right?"
"If you say so."
Miyoung finished up, utterly disinterested. This girl was probably a monster too. Seemed like pure humans only existed around Mayuri anyway.
Mayuri. The fixer who tames monsters by trapping them in human bodies. First time seeing one of Mayuri's tamed (human-shaped) monsters at work, and damn, she was good.
"Mayuri said seven killers today. This many—do they respawn or something? Kill one, another pops up to fill the spot?"
"No idea. Ask Mayuri about that."
And this monster only cared about haircuts. Baesena hadn't planned on getting chummy anyway, since she wasn't human. Feeling oddly deflated, she kept walking. Still, useful info—better share it. She told Lisa.
"Thanks for the heads-up. Doesn't change what we gotta do, though."
And day broke. Mornings meant Mayuri woke up. By then, Lisa would've cleaned the bloody halls spotless, starting the day like nothing happened.
"Seon-ah, how was the night...?"
"Yep, all good!"
Baesena answered Mayuri's question just like that.
"Good if nothing happened... You'll scout the hotel now, right, Seon-ah?"
"Yeah, planning on it!"
"Need any help?"
"Nope! Why don'tcha rest, Yuri?"
Baesena's words made Mayuri want to sigh. At this point, she'd love to be assigned some work... Everyone else was busy, and slacking alone felt awkward. Especially since Baesena always spared humans the tough stuff.
SUBJECT:Human Shelter
The shelter interior houses countless dolls, handling all internal operations. They manage crop cultivation and processing for food, production of daily necessities, cleaning, maintenance—not to mention residents' meals and hygiene. The dolls describe this system as "a measure to prevent resident overwork deaths and accidents."
Baesena wasn't just a born worker—she had this knack for turning people into lazy bums.
With nothing to do, Mayuri checked her bank balance.
UL Urim Bank: 700,000,000 KRW
She knew she'd leave this world someday, but waking up to a fatter balance always lifted her spirits. Still kinda bittersweet. She'd planned to give each office girl 1.3 billion, but nope—it was 1.3 billion just for her.
Hmm.
...Can't I challenge the killer hotel again?
The thought popped up. Killer Hotel was single-challenge content originally. Makes sense. Repeatable? The game would be too easy, not just late-game nerfed.
But that's game logic. This was real life now. Maybe she could redo the same anomaly? Apply the Cute Girl Mod outright? Subjugate the whole Killer Hotel and farm 1.3 billion every visit? Become the ultimate shameless rice bug????
...But how?
"How do I even apply the Cute Girl Mod here...?"
Being a rice bug wasn't easy...
With that in mind, Mayuri sought out Baesena again.
"Seon-ah, got a question."
"Shoot."
"While wandering the hotel... ever spot anything like a manager? Or the anomaly core itself...?"
Subjugate the ambiguous hairdresser with Cute Girl Mod, and the salon came too. Maybe this hotel had something similar? Nab that, and infinite 1.3 billion farming might work.
That's why she asked, but—
"Nah, nothing like that."
"...Nothing?"
"Yeah! I searched every nook and cranny—nope!"
Baesena said.
Figures... Rice bug dreams over. Gotta earn it legit. Chasing get-rich-quick schemes? You never appreciate the money. Sweat and blood make you value it.
"Trying to resolve the anomaly, right? How about capturing all the killers?"
"Huh?"
"Y'see, the killers are basically hotel staff, yeah? What if all the staff betrayed the hotel and joined Yuri's side? Bet we could control the anomaly then."
Baesena suggested.
Possible? Cute Girl Punch only hit true monster cores. Didn't work on Baesena's clones, so probably not on killers either.
Still... tempting. One more shot at rice bug glory?
Sweat for value? Bull. Perfect cutie Mayuri knew money's worth without sweat. Rice bug all the way. Worst case, no loss—worth a try.
But,
"Y-you sure...? Capturing killers ain't easy......?"
"I can do it! Had to anyway!"
"Had to?"
Baesena nodded at Mayuri's question.
Night fell again. Baesena patrolled the halls.
Vrrrreeee!
A chainsaw roared loud. Far off: a masked hulking man. Serial killer vibes all the way.
"Found you."
Baesena stepped forward. Clack—her heel echoed softly. The man turned. Charged with terrifying speed, slamming the chainsaw down.
Kagagagak!
The chainsaw bit into Baesena's scalp. Teeth spun, shaving her down. Blood sprayed. Was she really a doll? Felt more like soft meat.
Human or doll, a single Baesena couldn't beat a killer. Each had normal human strength.
Yeah. Each one.
From behind—a new Baesena appeared.
Thud!
The fresh doll grabbed the killer's leg. He swung the saw, decapitating her. Look up—another Baesena grinned.
Hahaha!
Hahaha!
Baesenas charged. Arm severed in a flash. Leg smashed. Chest pierced.
Stepping over the fallen one, the next approached. Forehead neatly sliced, blood spurting.
Hahaha!
Hahaha!
Hahahahahahaha!
Baesena, Baesena, Baesena, Baesena, Baesena, Baesena, Baesena, Baesena, Baesena.
Countless Baesenas laughed, surrounding the killer.
SUBJECT:Human Shelter
Prior misinformation on this entity corrected as follows. It was believed clones were produced inside "the world's safest shelter," but this was deliberate disinformation spread by the entity. In truth, its shadows generate clones, and all clones possess the same ability. When questioned on the deception, the entity replied: "If my management rank rises, it'll be harder to protect humans."
