Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: 8. Nighttime Day-Use Room (2)
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Room 208 was a typical motel room.
It was about six pyeong in size with a double bed, and under the desk that doubled as a vanity was a small refrigerator.
The bathroom was right to the right of the entrance where Young-woo now stood.
The toilet and sink were so close together that he worried his shoulder might bump the underside of the sink while doing his business.
"…It's ridiculously cramped."
"Yeah."
Young-woo and Ye-chan took in the room's layout at a glance, let out sighs, and pushed their bicycles toward the upper part of the entrance.
The dirty tires from the road ride left black streaks on the floor, but it didn't matter.
Thud.
Seeing the bicycles lean slantwise against the sack full of rocks, Young-woo confirmed the door was locked, took off his shoes, and stepped inside.
Then he realized belatedly.
‘The lights are on.’
Probably part of the "day-use service."
‘I wonder if the water works properly.’
Young-woo's gaze landed on the showerhead inside the narrow bathroom.
His physical fatigue wasn't that bad, but mentally he was drained.
He'd been through too much in one day.
The scuffle at the exchange, his first kill, the Greatest Swordsman, the goblin fight, and Councilor Jang Seon-bok of Gumi City.
"Hoo."
Young-woo visually confirmed the locked door again, set his shield and Early Bird on the floor, and took off his backpack.
Next.
‘Can I even take this off?’
He fumbled around to remove the makeshift scabbard cinched at his waist.
He found a small button on the side-rear of the belt.
Pressing it deep with his fingernail released the seam.
Click.
Finally free of the scabbard, Young-woo helped Ye-chan, who was fumbling at his own waist, and said,
"I'll shower first. Let me know if anyone tries to come in."
"Oh, yeah, sure."
No sooner had Ye-chan replied than Young-woo stripped off his clothes without hesitation and entered the bathroom.
The vanity mirror immediately reflected him.
His naked body looked like meat starting to rot, covered in black and blue bruises everywhere.
In contrast, the Gumi's Greatest Swordsman title above his head shone excessively bright.
As if boasting it was the reward for all those bruises.
"Ah."
Only then did Young-woo remember something and touch the spiral tattoo on his left chest.
Then.
Flash!
The title above his head vanished without a trace.
‘Touch-activated, huh. Ridiculous.’
Young-woo stood before the showerhead with his headspace cleared.
With some tension, he turned on the water.
Creak.
What happened next was fairly surprising.
Whoosh!
Water burst out immediately, without even a moment's pause.
"Whoa, holy shit."
Young-woo let out an involuntary exclamation as the stream hit him.
Even though it had only been a day since his last shower, it felt like the first time in over a decade.
* * *
When Young-woo emerged refreshed from the shower, Ye-chan, who had been sitting at the desk, approached and held something out.
Rustle.
"What's this?"
"It was in the fridge."
What Ye-chan offered was a can of orange juice.
"You can just take this without paying?"
As Young-woo took the juice, a notice appeared in his view.
* All provided items must not be removed from the room.
Drinks in the room could be consumed, but not taken to stockpile.
‘Of course.’
Young-woo cracked open the can and took a swig while scanning the room again.
‘...Weirdly, no computer.’
Did motels without computers even exist these days?
Young-woo tilted his head, then thought maybe the system had deliberately removed it.
In this insane world, would they really let you use a computer all night for just 3,000 in day-use fees?
‘Be grateful they have a working shower.’
Young-woo stared at his scattered clothes on the floor, then suddenly realized.
‘Oh.’
That he was naked.
"You... go shower quick. I need to put on a robe."
Awkwardly grabbing the robe from the desk, Ye-chan nodded hesitantly and began carefully undressing.
Rustle, swish.
"......"
Somehow, it was an embarrassing moment.
Young-woo deliberately made a loud noise as he lay down on the bed.
Poof, the sheets sank under him, cradling his weary body.
An immense sense of relief enveloped him in an instant.
"Hoo......"
Finally, the end of this endless day.
「01:16:32」
The abnormal weather timer still clung to the top of his vision, but he couldn't care anymore.
Sleep crashed over him, weighing down his eyelids.
He vaguely heard the sound of water pouring somewhere, but even that faded soon.
And then......
.
.
.
Bang.
.
.
.
Bang, bang!
.
.
.
Boom, bang!
‘Goddamn it, what lunatic is banging on someone else's door at this hour......’
Young-woo thought this in his half-sleep and snapped his eyes open.
"Gasp."
He remembered where he'd fallen asleep.
A motel under day-use service.
In other words, smack in the middle of this deranged world.
Boom!
The earlier loud noise came again.
This time, he pinpointed the source.
"Is anyone in there? Open the door, please!"
Someone outside was pounding mercilessly on the door.
「00:06:46」
The timer at the top of his vision had already dropped to under three minutes.
‘I must've slept over an hour.’
His memory of falling asleep was hazy, so it must've been deep sleep.
Flick.
Sitting up cleared the drowsiness instantly.
Young-woo first checked the room for signs of intrusion.
Missing items or other people's footprints, anything like that.
"Mmm......"
Meanwhile, Ye-chan, who had been sleeping on the floor, lifted his head with eyes half-open.
"Wh... what's going on?"
"Someone's trying to book the room."
Young-woo checked the bathroom last, picked up the Early Bird from the floor, and approached the entrance.
Thud, thud! Thud!
Even now, the unknown person was hammering the door like they might break it down.
‘They guaranteed sleep rights, but that didn't mean undisturbed sleep, I guess.’
Would opening the door let them barge right in?
‘I think it said day-use restricts entry by others.’
As Young-woo placed his hand on the doorknob, sure enough, a blue text box appeared.
「Opening the door will generate a barrier allowing only day-use occupants to enter.」
「For group stays, check the person through the barrier, then adjust entry fees and max capacity.」
Without hesitation, Young-woo flung the door open.
Whoosh!
As soon as it opened, a blue curtain rose over the threshold, blocking the fist of the person about to knock.
Thump!
"Huh!"
"......!"
Young-woo and the outsider both startled.
The outsider was surprised because the room owner's face matched the one on the commemorative coin.
Young-woo, on the other hand.
‘What the...’
Was shocked because it was a woman.
Not just any woman, but one lugging a backpack stuffed with all sorts of weapons and petrified food.
A small dagger in a waist scabbard, one-handed sword in her right hand, Steel Round Shield in her left.
An axe, spare one-handed sword, and another Steel Round Shield were strapped tightly to the backpack with rope.
‘Am I still dreaming? What kind of person is this?’
The most thoroughly armed of anyone he'd seen, and carrying all that gear suggested her strength and stamina stats were no joke.
"What is this...?"
Young-woo muttered unwittingly.
The woman glanced above his head and tilted hers.
"Huh... not him?"
She was puzzled; he looked just like the Greatest Swordsman on the coin, but no title.
His first impression was also far too... ordinary compared to her imagination.
"You're not Gumi's Greatest Swordsman? Then why's there nothing? The Greatest Swordsman should have..."
She trailed off mid-sentence.
Then she stared straight into Young-woo's eyes and said,
"Forget that—time's running out! Open the door!"
「00:03:41」
Time was indeed tight, as she said.
But Young-woo had no desire to play hero even in bed.
"Look for another room."
With that, he tried to close the door.
The woman pounded the barrier frantically.
"This is the last room! No one's letting me in!"
"Of course. So find an empty one."
Creak.
The door gap began to narrow.
The woman practically screamed.
"I'm pregnant!"
And this tactic worked pretty well.
Young-woo halted, leaving about a centimeter gap.
"Huh."
The woman hadn't expected him to almost close it and flinched reflexively, gauging his reaction.
"It's true. But no one believes me."
No wonder—her belly showed no sign of swelling.
If true, she must be early in the pregnancy.
"You're pregnant and... running around like that?"
"I have to protect my baby. If I die, so does my child."
Her eyes were deadly serious as she said this.
"Your husband?"
"Killed by goblins."
"......"
At this point, Young-woo had nothing to say.
From behind, Ye-chan, who had overheard, murmured softly.
"We've woken up anyway... isn't it fine?"
"We barely slept an hour, and you want to pull an all-nighter because of her? We won't have stamina tomorrow."
"I'll take watch. And we can take her weapons and tie her up."
Ye-chan seemed determined to let her in.
He'd always been soft on kids, after all. No way he'd ignore a pregnant woman's claim.
‘Tied up and disarmed, she shouldn't be much trouble... but do we really need the hassle?’
Even as Young-woo thought this, he felt some pity.
Circumstances suggested the couple challenged goblins, and only the wife survived.
Assuming her story was true.
「00:02:11」
Time had dwindled to two minutes.
They really were out of time now.
"You're really doing this? You've got two people. Like the kid said, tie me up—just let me in, please."
"......"
After a moment's hesitation, Young-woo decided to let her in.
"Wait."
He spotted a keypad in the corner of the barrier and pressed ‘3’.
Beep.
「Max occupants changed to 3.」
「Set group fee?」
Young-woo looked at the woman again.
"The money."
"Huh?"
"How much can you pay? Check the time left and answer carefully."
"Oh."
She looked blankly for a second, then snapped to and pulled something from her pocket.
Rustle.
Amusingly, it was a commemorative coin with Young-woo's face.
"It's all I have. Take it all."
All? It was just one coin—10,000 karma.
Considering the room's 3,000 karma day-use fee, it was a huge profit.
"Yeah. That's fine."
Young-woo set the group fee at 10,000 karma, and the blue barrier turned green.
「Group entrants must pay the fee to enter.」
The message appeared for both him and the woman.
"I just push it through...?"
She cautiously slid the coin through the green barrier.
Rustle.
The coin passed through, enveloped in a green protective membrane.
It seemed to safeguard the coin until entry was complete.
A system to prevent room owners from pocketing fees and slamming the door.
Once she fully entered, the protective membrane peeled off the coin.
Her pitiful aura vanished instantly.
"Damn expensive night. Should've come earlier."
She plunked the coin on the desk and alternated glances between Young-woo and Ye-chan before asking,
"Nice robes. Mind if I shower too?"