Hotel Takeover
Geon arrived at the hotel riding Art Pega with Merino in tow.
[Welcome. We've been waiting for you, Gauntlet-nim.]
As we stepped into the hotel interior, a rabbit in a suit greeted us in the first-floor lobby.
It wasn't Madam Rabbit. The rabbit that came to greet us looked similar at a glance, but since I didn't feel any connection to it like with my own monsters, I knew right away it was a different individual. A closer look revealed subtle differences in its facial features.
[Please, take the elevator. I'll guide you straight to the Building Owner.]
An elevator waiting on the first floor. The rabbit staff member opened the doors and politely ushered us in.
"Thanks."
[Excuse me.]
"Yangyang! Thanks yang!"
Once we were all aboard, the doors closed. Then it shot upward, piercing straight through the ceiling at high speed.
We arrived at the Building Owner's room. After stepping out of the elevator, I slowly approached the Building Creator.
The Building Creator looked drained of energy, slumped on the floor.
"Kkuri. It's me."
I called out to it softly and cautiously. Since it was said to be skittish, I didn't get too close. I kept a distance that wouldn't feel overwhelming.
[Ung... Gauntlet?]
"Yeah, it's Gauntlet."
I crouched down to meet its eye level.
[Gauntlet has arms and legs now ung.]
"You've always had arms and legs."
[Ung? No, you didn't have them before ung.]
"......"
[You really didn't have them before ung!]
"Yeah... you didn't have them originally, but on the way here, you got lucky and they grew out."
The Building Creator's face lit up. Its mouth curved all the way to its ears. Playing along with its joke had cheered it up.
Merino and Art Pega, who had come with me, also greeted the Building Creator.
"Hello yang. I'm the greatest dimensional chef, Merino Ulla yang."
[Pleased to meet you. I'm the secretary from headquarters assisting the Explorer with various paperwork, Art Pega Unicorn.]
[...Ung. Hi.]
The Building Creator was still shy. It scanned us monsters once more, then muttered to itself in a barely audible voice.
[Good... no scary-looking ones, no mean-looking ones ung.]
Seemed like it didn't have a bad impression of us.
[But didn't you say you brought food ung? Where's the food ung?]
The Building Creator looked around. A growl came from its stomach.
I told it to wait a moment and asked Merino to make a cake. Merino shouted "Yangyang!" plucked a bunch of her wool, mixed it with horn dust like clay, and spread it evenly over a small mattress we'd brought from headquarters.
That turns the mattress into a cake. I'd tried it once before. Not only did the texture match, but the taste was the best cake I'd ever had.
While Merino worked diligently on the cake, the Building Creator ignored Madam Rabbit and stuck right to the Hedgehog.
[Duumba?]
[Hi. Let's be friends.]
[Sounds good yot. New students are always welcome yot.]
[Ung? Student?]
[I run a dance class yot. So from now on, you're my student yot.]
[I don't get it, but okay ung.]
Unlike its earlier behavior, the Building Creator showed surprising affinity for the Hedgehog. It seemed immune to fear and shyness around cute creatures. Selective timidity, in other words.
"Yangyang! Delicious cake is done yang! I added extra saliva just for you, so eat up yang!"
Merino's dish was finished before I knew it. The Building Creator approached the mattress, sniffed it, and took a cautious bite.
[Euung...!?]
Its eyes went wide. A shocked expression.
[D-Delicious ung! Super delicious!!!]
"Hehe yang. My cooking can't possibly taste bad yang."
The Building Creator devoured the mattress voraciously.
No further persuasion was needed. After confronting it through Iris and treating it to Merino's cooking, the Building Creator said it wanted to be friends first. It craved that cake every day. Easier than expected.
[Delicious ung! Delicious ung!]
"Yeah, eat lots."
Using cushions in the room, Merino made more dishes. The Building Creator kept eating nonstop, and I sat nearby stroking its head. Naturally, to tame it—its red spot was on the crown of its head.
While at it, I chatted with Madam Rabbit about her and the Building Creator. That's when I learned the hotel needed special fuel to operate. Extracted from the bodies guests paid with for entry—various organic materials from living beings or soul fragments fueled the hotel.
No worries about fuel shortages. Guest payments covered operations. Even if guests stopped coming, no issue—Zapan could supply infinite fuel. For other villages, maybe, but this hotel would be our headquarters anyway.
Madam Rabbit shared more stories. The Building Creator, munching cushions, had fully let its guard down. Not tamed yet, but it spilled its life story freely.
And one shocking new fact: The Building Creator was a special evolution of the Dollmaker—the monster that turns foes into teddy bears.
Details: Born a Dollmaker, if it never turned a single life into a doll over long years, it could evolve into a Building Creator. But the odds were minuscule. Probability of another in the Ancient Labyrinth neared zero.
Made sense—Dollmakers were aggressively vicious by nature. Only a non-aggressive mutant that fled at first sight, never striking back, could evolve. Thus, this was likely the only one.
The Building Creator claimed it never dollified anyone as a Dollmaker, never killed. It hadn't known fulfilling those conditions would evolve it.
Chatting away, the Building Creator was tamed before I knew it. The red spot changed color ridiculously fast compared to other SS-grades.
Anyway, with it tamed, the hotel takeover was complete.
[Ung? It's over? Nothing feels different.]
"No feelings toward me at all?"
[Ung. Same as before taming. Exactly like when I decided to be friends with you.]
"...You must be the type who flings open all your heart's doors once you decide to befriend someone."
No change post-taming, then. What a peculiar creature. Probably just too pure-hearted.
"Anyway, Kkuri. Mind if I tame all the hotel staff too?"
[Ung. Staff are my friends, my friends are your friends, so okay.]
"And the current guests? Planning to tame them all too."
[Ung? They're not my friends... Uhmm... Dunno, do what you want.]
Decision made: Tame the staff gradually, then every guest. They couldn't use force in the hotel—fish in a tank, basically.